"Paul Levinson - Loose Ends 02 - Little Differences" - читать интересную книгу автора (Levinson Paul)

Today, he would try something more direct. He had no idea how many chances he would get to influence
events back here, but directly doing something, rather than attempting to prevent something, seemed a
surer way of getting what he wanted.

****

The bathrooms on the Jersey Turnpike and the inside of the bus all blended into one for Jeff. He looked
at the blonde napping next to him, felt the gun in his pocket, and shivered. Easy enough to get a gun in
Harlem, even in 1970, even for a white man. This was the world his ancestors were making for this girl.
Drugs in the bloodstream, death on the street, people crowded with despair on a dirty planet with
nowhere to go but down. The kids deserved more. The Earth deserved better. Could Jeff, with an act of
violence which was anathema to all he had been until nowтАФwith a gun which was itself part of the illness
he was trying to cureтАФmake it all not happen? The girl opened her eyes for a moment and smiled at
him.... He believed he could.

Are ya lis'ninтАЩ Nixon? Mercifully, there was no tear gas in Washington today. Just an echo of Pete
Seeger's voice, questioning Nixon in song as it wafted across the lawns, a refrain from an earlier
demonstration, emanating now from a kid with a banjo. History had been right about all those earlier
protest marchesтАФNixon hadn't listened, the politicians never did. But what did it even mean to think that
history was right, when the thinker was about to change it? Jeff was determined to make this
demonstration, of May 9, 1970, a little different...

He walked for hours, taking in the shifting, gathering crowds, until the light began draining from the sky.
Would that the soldiers could be so easily coaxed to leave Vietnam! Would that Nixon could be made to
see that he was slamming the door on the sky, bleeding it dry, with every budget cut he inflicted on the
space program.

тАЬHey, you were sitting next to me on the bus, right?тАЭ

Jeff turned to see the blond girl, who was holding a boy's hand, a good looking guy with skin the color of
coffee.

тАЬYes,тАЭ Jeff said, and smiled at them.

тАЬI think it's gonna go pretty good tomorrow,тАЭ she said. тАЬReports on the radio say the crowds are huge
already.тАЭ

Jeff nodded.

тАЬThey're handing out cokes and pretzels over there.тАЭ She pointed to a knot of people, far away.

тАЬI'm ok,тАЭ Jeff said. тАЬYou two go get something to eat. I'm gonna spend a little more time here.тАЭ

тАЬOk,тАЭ she said. тАЬYou take care. Hey, I don't even know your name. You said you were a professor
right? Who knows, maybe I'll take a class with you someday.тАЭ

тАЬArthur Bremer,тАЭ Jeff replied. The name just popped out of his mouth. He hadn't given it any
thoughtтАФbut he didn't feel good about saying Jeff Harris. Bremer seemed an appropriate name to use
under these circumstances. He, or someone else using his name, would take a shot at George Corley