DOCUMENT INSERT: 12/26/64. Pouch communique. To: Pete Bondurant. From John Stanton. Marked: "Hand Pouch Deliver Only"/ "Destroy Upon Reading."
P.B.,.
I approve the general outline of your plan and agree that our ultimate goal should be to provide on-island dissidents with the weapons our net profits secure. That said, I should again point out that you're jumping the gun on the Cuban end of things. Make no specific profit distribution plans until our in-country costs can be assessed, with all monies flagged for laundering through appropriate Agency fronts. We do not want our Cuban "contributions" to be traceable back to our Las Vegas business.
To close: The Saigon cleanup will be implemented soon. A Can Lao contingent will secure the area around Khanh Hoi, but I have been assured that the lab will not be touched. Have Tedrow secure the lab and be off the premises by the a.m. of 1/8/65.
Por la Causa, J. S.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 1/6/65. Body-wire transcript. Marked: "Route to: Director/Blue Rabbit/White Rabbit/Father Rabbit/Live Tape Destroyed/Read & Burn."
Location: Washington, D.C. (Lafayette Park). Date: 1/4/65/0842 hrs. Speaking: CRUSADER RABBIT/PINK RABBIT.
CR (conversation in progress): What I (static/ambient noise) read in the press. Dr. King sounded encour-- PR (laughing): With Martin, nonviolence extends to the absence of invective (pause/2. 1 seconds). No, Hoover was rude and intractable. Martin said he was shaking.
CR: No progress, then?
PR: None. lle did not affirm or deny the existence of the bugs and the taps. (Static/2.8 seconds.) Didn't really press it. He's so goddamn Christlike at times.
CR: Dr. King was wise not to rile him.
PR: You're right, Ward. You have a hateful lunatic in his declining years and a hugely important figure in his ascent. You have to believe that people will see through to the gist of that.
CR: Never condescend or underest (ambient noise/2 .9 seconds) abilities.
PR: That was reinforced for Martin soon after.
CR: How-- PR (interrupting): Martin received a letter, and regretfully Coretta saw it first. It was allegedly written by a Negro man, who urged Martin to kill himself. There were (static/3.3 seconds) references, and I won't comment on their veracity, to philanderings that Martin (static/ 1.6 seconds) may or may not have committed. Coretta was (pause/O.9 seconds) well, she was devastated.
CR: Jesus Christ.
PR: That about says it.
(Static/ambient noise/9 .3 seconds.) PR (conversation in progress): No saint, but I never fully grasped the man's evil nature until that moment. (Pause/4. 1 seconds/PR laughs) Why so glum, Ward? Really, you're looking positively spectral.
CR: I can't give you any more money, Bayard. It's getting too risky on my end. (Static/0.8 seconds) later, but not for the foreseeable future.
PR: You needn't (pause/2.2 seconds). Stop with the glum looks, child. You've done the cause a world of good, and I for one hope you'll stay in touch.
CR: I want to. You know how I feel.
PR: I do indeed. I enjoy our talks, and I rely on your perceptions of the FBI mindset.
CR: I'll continue to offer them. And I'm always passing through D.C.
PR: I'm always good for a drink or a cup of coffee.
CR (static/3.4 seconds/conversation in progress): Dr. King have planned?
PR: We've got a big push coming up in Selma, Alabama. We're making plans to reprise "Freedom Summer" in Mississippi, and we've targeted Eastern Louisiana in June.
CR: You've got a strong Klan presence there. The Baton Rouge Office has a substantial file.
PR: Bogalusa's a simmering hotbed of our pointy-headed friends. We're going to mount voter registration drives and vex them out of their sheets.
CR (laughing/ambient noise/20 seconds): Anticipate resistance?
PR: Yes, but Martin was encouraged by the FBI's presence in Mississippi last summer, and he's convinced that the evil Mr. Hoover will work for the safety of our people, however reluctant-- (Sustained static/tape ends here.)
DOCUMENT INSERT: 1/7/65. Courier message: Saravan, Laos, to Saigon, South Vietnam.
To: Wayne Tedrow Junior. From: Pete Bondurant. Marked: "Hand Pouch Deliver."
W.T.,.
Be ready to follow first shipment stateside a.m. of 1/9/65. Be off lab premises by 1/8. Urgent! Respond today!
P.B.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 1/8/66. Courier message: Saravan, Laos, to Saigon, South Vietnam.
To: Wayne Tedrow Junior. From: Pete Bondurant. Marked: "Hand Pouch Deliver."
W.T.,.
Board up lab & vacate immediately! Urgent! Respond immediately!
P.B.
67.
(Saigon, 1/9/65)
Let's stay. Let's get close. Let's watch.
The lab was secure. He pouched Chuck last night: I'll meet Pete/Tan Son Nhut Airport/flight 29. I packed the shit. I hid it--check the box marked "Flamethrower Parts."
Let's linger. Let's get close. Let's watch the "Cleanup."
The Can Lao hit last night. The Can Lao precleaned. They stinkbombed the Go-Go. They ran out the patrons. They ran out the whores. They locked up the dope den. They secured the O-heads. Said O-heads dozed on.
Wayne checked his watch--6:14 a.m.--Wayne checked his window.
Marvs draped flags. Marvs unfurled banners. Marvs muscled vendors out. Marvs stole their cash. Marvs dumped their stalls. Marvs cued hose crews up.
The crews aimed. The crews fired. Water smashed walls and stalls. Water squashed fruit. Water launched debris and scoured graffiti. Vendors flew--flyweights--hose confetti.
The Marvs raised banners. There's LBJ. Dig his big schnoz and Smile of Love. There's Premier Khanh. He's got big teeth. Dig his Big Smirk of Love.
A vendor flew. Water tossed him. Water tossed rickshaw bikes.
"You a watchin' motherfucker."
Wayne gulped a tad. Wayne turned around. Wayne saw Bongo.
In his tight fruit briefs. In his pointy fruit boots. With a chubby whore.
"You know what I like about you? It's that 'meek-shall-inherit-the-earth' thing. You like to watch, but you never say a motherfuckin' word."
The whore wore skfvvies. The whore wore thigh hickeys. The whore wore cigarette burns.
"You like her? I call her 'Ashtray.' You don't need to reach for one when she's around."
Wayne shut the window. Bongo hoisted his balls. Bongo pumped up his veins.
"I figured I'd trade you for a taste. I get to geez, you get to watch Ashtray french me."
Wayne smiled. Wayne gulped a tad. Wayne unlocked his closet.
He prepped water. He prepped a spike. He prepped a spoon. He prepped horse. He cooked it. He siphoned it in.
Bongo laughed. Ashtray giggled. Wayne blocked their view. He siphoned in ammonia. He siphoned in rat poison. He siphoned in strychnine.
Bongo said, "You slow, you know that?"
Wayne turned around. Bongo looped a tourniquet. Bongo tied off a vein.
Wayne saw it. Wayne tapped it. Wayne jabbed it. Wayne pushed the plunger in sloooooow.
There now--how's that?
Bongo lurched. Bongo jumped. Bongo sprayed piss and shit. Bongo fell down and spasmed and thrashed.
Wayne stepped back. Wayne watched. Ashtray stepped up close.
Bongo coughed foam. Bongo coughed blood. Bongo bit his tongue off. Wayne stepped up. Wayne stepped on his head. Wayne cracked his skull.
Ashtray held her nose. Ashtray crossed herself. Ashtray kicked Bongo in the balls. Wayne grabbed him. Wayne dragged him. Wayne dropped him down the air vent.
Ashtray said, "Bongo cheap Charlie. Bongo number ten."
Wayne saw Leroy and Cur-ti. Wayne saw Wendell Durfee.
More cleanup--his and theirs.
Wayne cleaned the lab. Wayne watched the outside show. Marvs hosed monks. Marvs hosed walls. Marvs abridged graffiti.
The vent shook. Rats bopped through. Rats found Bongo. Rats ate him.
10:05 a.m.--flight time soon.
Theeeeere-- Voices and clumps now--two clicks downstairs. There--it's coming--you knew it would.
Wayne walked down. Wayne stood on the landing. Wayne found a shadow patch.
There--ten Can Lao goons. Two five-man teams paired off. They've got flashlights and silencered magnums. They've got hoses/flamethrowers/sacks.