when a reinforcement cavalry regiment finally arrived on the scene of the battle, they found Custer had received over thirty-two assorted stab wounds, arrow punctures, and rifle shots, was scalped, and had his penis and scrotum cut off and stuffed in his mouth?”
—
That night after dinner, they walked together on a path along the bank of the Little Bighorn River. They slapped mosquitoes off each other’s necks, and Perry threw pebbles in the air to make the bats dive to the ground in pursuit.
“It’s because they can’t see,” he said, “that’s why they chase a pebble. They emit noises too high for the human ear to hear and it’s like sonar. The sound bounces back to the bat, and that’s why they think any small thing flying in the air is probably a bug.”
“Bats have eyes don’t they?”
“I think so.”
“Well, they must be able to see a little then. I’m nearsighted too; I know what that’s like. It’s not the same as blind. General?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think you could catch a bat that way, if you wanted to? Like have a net ready and when one swooped down for the pebble you could snag it?”
“Maybe. But, I guess this begs the question, what would you do with a bat after you caught it?”
“I don’t know, keep it for a pet. Let it hang upside down from a hanger in my closet. Nice and dark in there. They are kind of cute, especially when they are babies.”
“Bats? Cute? I don’t see it.”
“Pretty much anything that is a baby is cute. I read somewhere that’s Mother Nature’s way of helping something defenseless survive. Like, when I was a kid and we had cats that lived out in the barn. My dad always hated those cats, and bitched at the way they kept producing litters left and right up in the haymow. But, I remember one time I came out to the barn to get him for supper. He was sitting on a hay bale playing with a little calico kitten that was barely half the size of one of his boots. The rest of the litter mewled and rolled over each other in a pile of hay, and my dad had a gunnysack and a piece of twine in one hand and that little calico licking the other. I was young, maybe seven or eight, but even then I knew what he was going to do. He looked at me standing there in my barn boots, I was probably crying, I don’t remember. Anyway, he didn’t say anything, just pitched the calico back in the pile with its brothers and sisters. He threw the gunnysack and twine in the trash on the way out of the barn, and he carried me on his shoulders all the way up to the house. I don’t remember him doing that very much.”
They had been holding hands but Kat pulled away and walked on a few steps ahead.
“Let’s head back. These bats suck at what they do. The damn mosquitoes are eating me alive.”
—
In Perry’s room at the War Bonnet, she stopped him when he went to put on the uniform.
“Let’s just do it like normal people tonight. If you don’t mind.”
“Normal people? I thought you liked what we do.”
“General, you know I do. It’s just tonight, I don’t want to be your Indian tonight. How about we do something different. How about you pretend I’m your wife. How about we do it like that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Please, what does she wear to bed? How does she like it?”
“I don’t know, Kat. It feels like a wrong thing. Dishonest.”
“Just once, General. Then we can go back to the old way until you leave. You said yourself that you were unsure what was the affair, what was the marriage.”
She had her arms around him, and was rubbing her fingers in tight circles down his back. Looking down on her he could see where she had missed some white face paint behind her ear.
“Okay. Fine. She wears one of my T-shirts and a pair of my boxer shorts. I usually work late and she likes to read. Most of the time she’s asleep with her book by the time I get to bed.”
“Sometimes do you wake her up?”
“Sometimes.”
“Sha, I bet you do. Okay. Go into
—
That night after dinner, they walked together on a path along the bank of the Little Bighorn River. They slapped mosquitoes off each other’s necks, and Perry threw pebbles in the air to make the bats dive to the ground in pursuit.
“It’s because they can’t see,” he said, “that’s why they chase a pebble. They emit noises too high for the human ear to hear and it’s like sonar. The sound bounces back to the bat, and that’s why they think any small thing flying in the air is probably a bug.”
“Bats have eyes don’t they?”
“I think so.”
“Well, they must be able to see a little then. I’m nearsighted too; I know what that’s like. It’s not the same as blind. General?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think you could catch a bat that way, if you wanted to? Like have a net ready and when one swooped down for the pebble you could snag it?”
“Maybe. But, I guess this begs the question, what would you do with a bat after you caught it?”
“I don’t know, keep it for a pet. Let it hang upside down from a hanger in my closet. Nice and dark in there. They are kind of cute, especially when they are babies.”
“Bats? Cute? I don’t see it.”
“Pretty much anything that is a baby is cute. I read somewhere that’s Mother Nature’s way of helping something defenseless survive. Like, when I was a kid and we had cats that lived out in the barn. My dad always hated those cats, and bitched at the way they kept producing litters left and right up in the haymow. But, I remember one time I came out to the barn to get him for supper. He was sitting on a hay bale playing with a little calico kitten that was barely half the size of one of his boots. The rest of the litter mewled and rolled over each other in a pile of hay, and my dad had a gunnysack and a piece of twine in one hand and that little calico licking the other. I was young, maybe seven or eight, but even then I knew what he was going to do. He looked at me standing there in my barn boots, I was probably crying, I don’t remember. Anyway, he didn’t say anything, just pitched the calico back in the pile with its brothers and sisters. He threw the gunnysack and twine in the trash on the way out of the barn, and he carried me on his shoulders all the way up to the house. I don’t remember him doing that very much.”
They had been holding hands but Kat pulled away and walked on a few steps ahead.
“Let’s head back. These bats suck at what they do. The damn mosquitoes are eating me alive.”
—
In Perry’s room at the War Bonnet, she stopped him when he went to put on the uniform.
“Let’s just do it like normal people tonight. If you don’t mind.”
“Normal people? I thought you liked what we do.”
“General, you know I do. It’s just tonight, I don’t want to be your Indian tonight. How about we do something different. How about you pretend I’m your wife. How about we do it like that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Please, what does she wear to bed? How does she like it?”
“I don’t know, Kat. It feels like a wrong thing. Dishonest.”
“Just once, General. Then we can go back to the old way until you leave. You said yourself that you were unsure what was the affair, what was the marriage.”
She had her arms around him, and was rubbing her fingers in tight circles down his back. Looking down on her he could see where she had missed some white face paint behind her ear.
“Okay. Fine. She wears one of my T-shirts and a pair of my boxer shorts. I usually work late and she likes to read. Most of the time she’s asleep with her book by the time I get to bed.”
“Sometimes do you wake her up?”
“Sometimes.”
“Sha, I bet you do. Okay. Go into
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