And it bothers me that I ride the subway and am annoyed by homeless beggars, and then get home to find my wife has received a dividend check. And what bothers me is the fact that it doesn’t bother me, that I accept these things as a matter of course. And I have to ask myself, Jesus Christ, how far has this hippie from the sixties come?
And I don’t really know. The word liberal doesn’t embarrass me the way it embarrassed Dukakis, but as I get older and try to raise my family and make it in the outside world, I have to stop and look around every now and then and wonder just how hypocritical I am. I think I still have the same values that I had back then, back in the Age of Innocence, the age of peace marches and brotherhood, the age of Beatles and Dylan, the age of youth. It’s just the money thing that gets in the way.
So it bothers me, the satisfaction I get out of the Marvin Nickleson/Carlton Kraswell thing. Out of having had my first real paying client. And the thing is, despite how badly the whole thing went, despite being lied to, set up, framed, arrested, cheated, squeezed and mooched, I have a feeling if another chance came along for me to make two hundred bucks a day plus expenses, I’d probably jump at it.
And it bothers me that I feel that way. And I question my motives and I question my values, and I try to justify my feelings, and all in all I have to admit, no matter how hard I try to rationalize, the fact is I can’t do it. In point of fact, I have no excuse.
But I have bad teeth.
Books by Parnell Hall
Stanley Hastings private eye mysteries
Detective
Murder
Favor
Strangler
Client
Juror
Shot
Actor
Blackmail
Movie
Trial
Scam
Suspense
Cozy
Manslaughter
Hitman
Stakeout
Puzzle Lady crossword puzzle mysteries
A Clue For The Puzzle Lady
Last Puzzle & Testament
Puzzled To Death
A Puzzle In A Pear Tree
With This Puzzle I Thee Kill
And A Puzzle To Die On
Stalking The Puzzle Lady
You Have The Right To Remain Puzzled
The Sudoku Puzzle Murders
Dead Man’s Puzzle
The Puzzle Lady vs. The Sudoku Lady
The KenKen Killings
$10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles
Steve Winslow courtroom dramas
The Baxter Trust
Then Anonymous Client
The Underground Man
The Naked Typist
The Wrong Gun
The Innocent Woman
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Books by Parnell Hall