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on june 10, 1988, carl darby, who had been johnny wilson’s only friend at work, quit wal-mart suddenly, and johnny never saw him again. johnny would miss talking to carl, but he was also relieved, because carl was suspected by many of his fellow workers of being gay, and johnny was always afraid that some of that suspicion would rub off on him.
a new ten-cinema multiplex opened a mile down the road from the wal-mart. johnny began spending a lot of his time off there. he had more free time, because there was not as much overtime as there had been. johnny had little preference for one type of movie over another. he just liked “going to the movies”, going through the ritual of buying a large coke and popcorn, and sometimes a box of sno-caps, and sitting in the darkened theater.
jenny could not find work, and spent most of her time watching televison. on september 27, she happened to see the famous “willie horton” ad, which was broadcast nationally, and paid for by supporters of vice president george h w bush’s campaign for president. the ad criticized bush’s opponent, michael dukakis, for allowing persons convicted of violent crimes to receive weekend furloughs from jail and prison, when dukakis had been governor of massachusetts.
although jenny had never taken any interest in either local or national politics, she resolved to vote for bush. but when she went to the polling station six weeks later, she could not vote because she had not registered to do so, not realizing that it was required.
26. 1989
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