A Naked Singularity: A Novel

by Sergio De La Pava

  “I wasn’t aiming for art Toom.”

  “Oh I know of course. I was just so shocked and affected by it that I felt I had to share that with you.”

  “ . . .”

  “I’ll make the necessary edits and we’ll file it. Well I should say I doubt, based on today, that we will actually end up filing it. And all that work for nothing. I hate to say it but you may have poured your very soul, as you obviously did, into the creation of this work and it may never be read by anyone, it may never so much as influence a single person’s actions. I just came to that realization, how awful.”

  “Wait a minute, maybe it is art.”

  “Well that’s the only downside to today’s events I suppose. I’m still thrilled. Can I be the one to tell Jalen the good news, well to write him about it.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Please, up until now you’ve basically had all the personal contact with him and I’m very grateful for that but I would love to do this. I think I could do it with appropriate concern for the fact that he and I do not have the relationship you have with him.”

  “It’s not that, and I’m not doubting your reading of the situation, it’s just that . . . if you’re wrong.”

  “I see, I’ll couch it appropriately don’t worry. It’s not just that it would give me pleasure to write the letter either. I also believe that writing a letter like that with potential good news fulfills an important obligation of ours.”

  “There’s nothing really that must be disclosed.”

  “Not that kind of obligation. I’m talking about an obligation I think we have to not only seek legal success but also to provide our client with the occasional ray of light and hope so to speak. Especially now that he’s in that outrageous enforced isolation. In a manner of speaking, we’re his only friends.”

  “All right but don’t go overboard.”

  “I won’t,” he said getting up to leave. “And don’t worry I’ll be sure to give you a copy of the letter for the file, ha ha!”

  I laughed too but not then, later, when I saw Ralph and the way he was dressed.

  “What’s the meaning of this Ralphie boy,” I said when I could. Like an overstuffed sausage, Ralph was encased in a tight crewneck sweater. Atop his head sat a beret-type lid and his similarly tight white pants ended a good six inches above his ankles. In his hands was a titanium Big Bertha golf club that he swung slightly between his parted legs in the hallway outside his door.

  “Hey pal,” he said. “Whattya say we try and get nine in before supper.”

  I laughed again.

  “So? Whattya say pal?”

  “Oh you were serious? What are you talking about?”

  “What am I talking about? What am I talking about? Golf! Nine holes. Let’s go pal.”

  “It’s like ten degrees out.”

  “I don’t care what degrees out it is. Somehow Mr. Monahan got the impression I’m this great golfer and now we’re playing on Sunday. You have any idea what this could mean to my future? I got two days to learn how to play golf. Surely you’re going to help me pal.”

  “How did Monahan get that idea?”

  “Uh humana, well never mind that! You gunna help me out or not?”

  “First of all, I’ve never played golf in my life. So there’s that. Second of all, even if I was an avid golfer, the current temperature is I think seven degrees. Seven.”

  “It’s just as well. I can’t learn to play golf in two days. It would take at least a week. Me and my biiig mouth!”

  “Guess you’re just going to have to tell the truth.”

  “The truth? Have you gone cuckoo? I’m serious, I’m calling Bellevue cuz you’re nuts!”

  “What then?”

  “Simple, I’ll just have to feign some sort of injury. Do you have any of those fake plaster casts around?”

  “No but good luck, let me know how it works out.” As I reached the top of the stairs to my apartment Ralph called out to me but so lowly that I debated whether to pretend deafness. When instead I answered he said someone had been there looking for me. My insides tightened and I sat on the top stair.

  “He didn’t give his name or anything but he seemed really interested in finding you that’s for sure.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “Hard to say.”

  “It was that detective who once before talked to you about looking for me right?”

  “Oh no it soytainly wasn’t him.”

  “I’m pretty sure it probably was.”

  “Oh no it definitely wasn’t him.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Oh I’m sure pal,” he said. “Wait here.” He went inside then came back out with a newspaper, The Post. I came down and took it from his hand. “See?” he said. “It wasn’t him.”

  On the front page of the paper was a picture of Assado’s head. I don’t mean to say that the photographer only captured Assado’s head within the frame of the picture. I mean that Assado’s head was now its own separate entity. I turned quickly to page three. It said what I already knew, that the head and its nearby body belonged to Homicide Detective Mondongo Qualtagh Assado and that it had been found, along with another decapitatee, at an uptown apartment known to function as a drug stash house. It said the other head belonged to known minor drug kingpin Juan Escalera and that the preliminary available evidence pointed to a dispute over drug money and that Assado was a dirty cop. And someone from the medical examiner’s office said there were no signs of serration meaning most likely that the excisions were achieved solely through extreme pull combined with torque or as another put it them heads was simply ripped off which led the police to conclude that either a machine of some sort or a great many individuals were involved as no single human could generate that kind of force. I put down the paper and dropped my wet face into my hands.

  “See what I mean,” Ralph said. “That’s how I’m sure it wasn’t him. Besides the guy was looking for you this time was bigger than the cop, much bigger. He was probably the biggest fella I’ve ever seen he was. No I take that back, he was definitely the biggest fella I’ve ever seen. He had arms like long fire hydrants pal. I once knew a guy named Harvey who we thought was pretty big but this fella today makes Harvey look like my friend Shirley, ha ha! Anyway I told him I didn’t know where you were but that you definitely lived here and should be back relatively soon. I don’t know, he didn’t seem to want to wait. He had strange skin too pal, in some areas.”

  I thanked Ralph and left. From a payphone I tried Dane at The Plaza but they said he wasn’t there. I tried him at his old apartment but a new tenant answered and I wondered why you would keep the same phone number as the previous tenant. And I got similar results the days thereafter and checked myself into a miserable hotel, the kind that still advertises Color TV as an attraction, and went to work only sparingly and then only to answer Jalen’s letters, letters I saved up and until the day Toomberg came into my office to start preparing for my hearing in Cymbeline; only we never did prepare because I left shortly after he entered my office, went to get my stuff from that dump, and moved back into my apartment for good. That day, the last day I saw Toomberg, I had been told multiple times, in the usual locations, that someone was looking for me and usually the person telling me this would have a strangely troubled look on their face. I was in my office alone with all the Kingg letters and after I read the newest ones several times I wrote Jalen a final letter and made a phone call. Then I hung up the phone ripped it off the jack and flung it across the room. Some people looked in and left without saying anything then a minute later Toomberg appeared smilingly unaware.

  “You’ll be glad to see I took your advice to heart,” he said. “I truly tried to contain my optimism in this letter even though every ensuing event since we first spoke has only served to increase it. Here’s the copy I promised you for your files. Oh I see you already have the Kingg letters out, perfect. Want to know why I’m even more optimistic now?” />
  “ . . .”

  “Okay, well I was thinking about what Conley said the other day regarding what I guess he would call the inherent unfairness of the mere existence of individuals who are mentally impaired. First, what are your views on the subject?”

  “ . . .”

  “Because I know Conley has this reputation as a bit of a strange bird but . . . go ahead get that . . . well? . . . aren’t you going to answer that? Casi!”

  “Huh?”

  “Aren’t you going to answer that?”

  “Answer what?”

  “The phone, you’re being paged from reception.”

  “Oh,” I clicked the red button. “Yeah Denise.”

  “There’s someone here to see you,” she was whispering. “He was here this morning too but he won’t give his name.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  “Okay.”

  “What?”

  “What did you say?”

  “There’s someone here to see you.”

  “Oh.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “I’ll come out.”

  “Casi?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t know how to say this but he’s really big and kind of scary looking and he seems really upset. Do you want me to call security?”

  “We have security? Since when?”

  “Well the building does.”

  “Oh, security? No that’s okay.”

  “He’s very big.”

  “So?”

  “He’s very angry, I don’t know.”

  “Who is he?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well what’s his name?”

  “He won’t give one. You want me to ask again? He’s upset.”

  “Never mind, I know who it is.”

  “You want me to say you’re gone for the day? He can’t hear me behind the glass.”

  “Right.”

  “Casi?”

  “Coming.”

  I stared straight ahead. Then I stood up and walked out on Toom, down the hall and out to the reception area. But the person waiting there for me was someone I had never seen before and after the slightest investigation it turned out he wasn’t even looking for me but rather some other attorney whose name was only slightly similar to mine. And he wasn’t scary looking at all, at least he didn’t scare me. Nor was he all that big either.

  chapter 30

  Who, if I cried, would hear me from among the Angelic Dominions?

  —Rainer Maria Rilke

  LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL

  #Z311

  Jalen Kingg

  Cell 9C-03

  Holman Unit

  3700 Holman

  Atmore, Alabama 36503

  Dear Mr. Kingg:

  I am writing to introduce myself to you. Enclosed with this letter is one of my business cards with all of my contact information.

  As you can see I am a New York City public defender and I, along with Melvyn Toomberg and Joseph Ledo, two other attorneys in this office, will be representing you pro bono during this stage of your appeal in the hopes of ultimately securing a vacatur of the death sentence you received.

  I will, of course, keep you informed of all relevant proceedings in your case but feel free to contact me at any time with any questions or concerns. Thank you.

  Sincerely yours,

  LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL

  #Z311

  Jalen Kingg

  Cell 9C-03

  Holman Unit

  3700 Holman

  Atmore, Alabama 36503

  Dear Mr. Kingg:

  I hope that you are doing well. With respect to the status of your appeal we are currently still awaiting delivery of the entire file on your case.

  Once we have received and fully reviewed these remaining documents I will contact you with information as to what legal issues we expect to raise and how we will proceed from a procedural standpoint. We expect that to occur relatively soon.

  Until then, feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss your case.

  Thank you.

  Sincerely yours,

  LEGAL CORRSPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL

  #Z311

  Jalen Kingg

  Cell 9C-03

  Holman Unit

  3700 Holman

  Atmore, Alabama 36503

  Dear Mr. Kingg:

  I hope you are doing well. I have made repeated attempts to contact you by phone but I have been unsuccessful so I will continue to write you these letters and hope you will respond to them.

  We have completed our review of the file on your case and have identified three issues that we anticipate raising in the district court. Having not heard from you, I don’t know what level of detail regarding our representation you’re comfortable with so I’ve just included with this letter various cases and other legal materials relevant to those three issues so that you might familiarize yourself with our expected arguments.

  Please call me, or if that’s not possible write me with any issues or facts you believe might be relevant to your appeal and that either relate to the events leading up to your arrest or to the circumstances of your trial and direct appeal. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.

  Sincerely yours,

  LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL

  #Z311

  Jalen Kingg

  Cell 9C-03

  Holman Unit

  3700 Holman

  Atmore, Alabama 36503

  Dear Mr. Kingg:

  I am writing to inform you that Joseph Ledo has left our office and will no longer be working on your case.

  However, Melvyn Toomberg and I continue to work long hours on your appeal and I assure you that we will capably and vigorously pursue every possible avenue to success.

  I again urge you to contact me to discuss your appeal in general and any specific information that you feel might prove helpful to us. Thank you.

  Sincerely yours,

  LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL

  Jalen Kingg #Z311

  Cell 9C-03

  Holman Unit

  3700 Holman

  Atmore, Alabama 36503

  Dear Mr. Kingg:

  I’m sorry I haven’t written to you in a while but everything is going real well with your appeal and we’re working very hard every day to write the best possible brief for you so that the judge will remove the death sentence from your case.

  I’m writing to tell you that I will soon be going to Alabama to visit you so we can talk about your case. Also Mr. Toomberg and I have decided that you should be interviewed by a psychiatrist so he can assess whether or not there is something about your medical condition that could prove beneficial to your case. I will let you know exactly when that is going to happen.

  Do you have any questions? If you do, please write me a letter and put it in the addressed envelope I’m including and I will write you back immediately. We will do everything possible to succeed on your behalf, I promise. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you.

  Sincerely yours,

  LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL

  Jalen Kingg

  #Z311

  Cell 9C-03

  Holman Unit

  3700 Holman

  Atmore, Alabama 36503

  Dear Mr. Kingg:

  This upcoming weekend I will be visiting you on both Saturday and Sunday. While I’m there we can discuss your case and what happened and what Mr. Toomberg and I hope to do to help you.

  The visits are already officially and firmly scheduled for those two days so please make sure you are available as it is very important for your case.

  I look forward to meeting you soon Jalen.

  Sincerely yours,

  LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL

  Mr. Jalen Kingg

  #Z311

  Cell 9C-03

  Holman Unit

  3700 Holman

&n
bsp; Atmore, Alabama 36503

  Dear Jalen:

  How are you doing? You should save these letters and answer them. It was very nice to meet you and I would enjoy receiving letters from you.

  And you can write me whenever you want to talk about anything, whether it has to do with your case or not.

  The next step is for Melvyn Toomberg and I to retain a doctor who will meet with you and evaluate you as we discussed during my visit. I will let you know who that will be and when you will meet him as soon as I know for sure.

  In the meantime, Melvyn and I continue to work hard on the brief that we will soon file on your behalf. We’re doing everything we can Jalen and we hope to have some good news to report to you soon.

  Until then, stay hopeful.

  Your friend,

  lawyer Mr Casi

  2330 Broadway

  Floor number nine

  New York, new York

  Casi;

  Thanks to you four visiting me because everyone hear says thas whut good lawyers do to to prupare a case for the litegation of trial testymony.

  i also agreee about the Maples house because i have never have the oppurtunity to live somewhere like that and i will show the same and simular respect for your doctor or you’re assisstant Mr. Melvyn Toomberg if or when they come to visit me.

  So thanks to you agin and i too think the news will be good because of you now been my lawyer.

  P.S. “i WiLL KNoW ANSER THE LETTERS YoU RiTE To ME BECAUSE i HAVE MET YoU AND KNoW THAT YoU HAVE MY BESTS iNTERST iN MIND AT ALL TiMES AS BECAME EViDENCE WHEN YoU ViSiTiED ME iN JAiL oN BoTH oF THE DAYS YoU CoME”

  LEGAL CORRESPONDENCE: CONFIDENTIAL

  Mr. Jalen Kingg

  #Z311

  Cell 9C-03

  Holman Unit

  3700 Holman

  Atmore, Alabama 36503

  Dear Jalen:

  I was very pleased to receive your letter and I look forward to more of them in the future. I hope you are doing well or at least as well as is possible under the circumstances.