by Jess Walter
Dupree looks over at Vince Camden. His mouth is open a few inches and he’s watching as if this were all happening to him.
“I’m gonna get dressed and then we’ll go,” Dupree says quietly.
Vince nods without looking away from the screen.
Dupree comes back out in jeans and a sweater. He keeps his handcuffs at his side, hoping Vince won’t notice them, unsure why it even matters. Debbie sees the cuffs and raises her eyebrows. On TV Reagan is ebullient, confident; he belongs—I am not frightened by what lies ahead and I don’t think the American people are frightened by what lies ahead—jet-black hair hard-parted on the right, cuff links peeking from the sleeves of a pressed white shirt, beneath shoulders built to fill a dark suit, and already he looks more presidential than the man he beat, and Nancy beams skeletal at his elbow—Together we’re going to do what has to be done. We’re going to put America back to work again—and he raises his thumb to the throng of supporters and the Reagan signs bounce and confetti rains on the hotel ballroom.
History is just the memories you haven’t had yet. History is this cycle of arrogance and fall, arrogance and fall, and as soon as something happens, you can’t remember when you didn’t know it would happen, when there was any other outcome than the one in front of you. Reagan waves. Even if it had been the cliffhanger we were expecting, it would have been the same. This is the most humbling moment of my life.
And finally, Vince sits back on the couch. Looks up and smiles.
Dupree can’t quite read the look on his face—a kind of be-mused surrender, the recognition of irony, perhaps. “What is it?”
“I just realized: I’m going to be convicted of credit-card fraud.”
At the very least, Dupree thinks. But he doesn’t want Vince to clam up, so he says, “Look, if you cooperate, if what you say is true about your friend Ray, who knows—you could be out in a year or two. Maybe even less.”
“No, I know,” Vince says. “But it’ll still be a felony.” Again that ironic smirk.
“Yeah,” Dupree says, waiting. “So…”
“Nothing…Nothing.” Still smiling, Vince turns to the TV—the screen a blur of confetti and balloons and bunting, and at the center of it, an almost seventy-year-old man vowing to free his people of their fears and insecurities, to make them stop feeling puny and vulnerable, boldly promising to lead them into the past.
Vince turns away. “So was I the crow or the lake?”
“I don’t know,” Dupree says. “Both, maybe.”
“Yeah, that’s kind of what I thought,” Vince says. “Ready?” He stands, offers Dupree his wrists, and begins his life.
AUTHOR’S REFERENDUM # 672
The following shall be thanked for their contributions relating to this book, including but not limited to: editing, support, over-service and patience, in accordance with grammatical law and authorial appreciation.
Other Books by Jess Walter
FICTION
LAND OF THE BLIND
OVER TUMBLED GRAVES
NONFICTION
RUBY RIDGE: The Truth and Tragedy of the Randy Weaver Family (originally released as EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW)
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
CITIZEN VINCE. Copyright © 2005 by Jess Walter. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Walter, Jess, 1969–
Citizen Vince: a novel / Jess Walter.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-06-039441-2 (acid-free paper)
1. Police—Washington (State)—Spokane—Fiction. 2. Spokane (Wash.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3573.A4722834C57 2005
813'.54—dc22
2004046828
05 06 07 08 09 BVG/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
EPub Edition © JUNE 2012 ISBN: 9780061959301
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