Dad wasnโt a nice guy. I donโt think I need to tell you that. But donโt believe the media. I donโt think he was evil. People give him a bad rap, or, they gave him a bad rap for the wrong reasons.ย They didnโt know the man like I did.ย
He loved Emmett more. Told me himself, straight as whiskey. Emmett was tall, went to Harvard business school. Helped dad out in the oil fields. Well, helped in the oil fields at first anyway. He was clever. Had a melon like a jackknife and a nose like a bloodhound for finding tar sands. I never really knew how he did it. And well, look at me. I definitely took more after dad. Short fat and bad tempered. Ha! I really took after dad. I went to Harvard too, of course. But I went for geology. Fuckinโ geology. Yeah I knew dad better than any other man on earth.
Theres a way of knowing that only happens when you need someone to notice you. You need that like the air you breathe. You know everything about them. Learn the things they like, when their moods swing round, what they want and fear and dream about. Emmett didnโt have to care about stuff like that. Emmett was a golden boy.ย
He was quite skilled at finding oil wells.
You know he damn well was. Never did figure out how he did that. You know doc, now that you got me on the couch, you got me wonderinโ. You reckon it was somethinโ hypno-economical? It always did seem like he could sniff out tar sands from over the damn horizon.
It is possible. I would like to talk more about you, and your relationship with your father.ย
Bet you do. Emmett was the key to everything. Dad made a lot of money early on. Said he was real good at cards. Said he made money cheating loggers at table games up in Canada. Who the hell knows? Point is by the time I was born he was already speculating in land. WWI was a great time for that shitโฆYou knowโฆ You know that reminds me. You know what my earliest memory of dad was? It was him, covered in fuckin crude from a new well. Painted head to toe likeโฆlike a doll. One of those old ones you only see in antique shops these days. He was smilin wide with big bright teeth and big bright eyes. He was shoutin to Gert about something and they were both real excited.ย
That would be Gertrude Jager, your m-
Yes, of course. Apologies. Please continue.ย
We were outside. It was early in the morning and I could feel the sun on my back. I had this blanket Gert made me and I was holdinโ it in my little fist. Just like this. Hey doc what are you writinโ there?
Notes on our conversation. Was there any sign of hisโฆ
Ascension to the throne of the god-pharaoh? Ha. I was wondering when youโd bring that up. You know, I think it was Emmett.
Yeah. Well, it wasnโt nothinโ Emmett did per se. He just. Well, its a big family, lotta big personalities you know? Dad wasnโt the best about keepin a lid on his temper, but Emmett. He was a bit funny. Heโd work for hours on end. I seen him spend eight whole hours out in the fields, writing in some little notebook, come home to the house, and then spend eight more hours writing at the dinner table while the help brought him hotdogs. It was the same thing every time. Hot dogs, shredded cabbage, and beer. Heโd eat nothinโ but that for days on end. Then heโd get all quiet. Lock himself in his room, drink himself to sleep.ย
You werenโt concerned?ย
I was 15. And the familyโs got a lotta big personalities.ย
It was the Wolf Basin lode. You gotta think about that for a second. One million barrels of oil, right when uncle sam is at his thirstiest. Daddy had always hobnobbed with politicians, but they were practically lining up outside the door. They were buyinโ him dinner, and he would up and tell em to take a hike! Imagine that! He would come home late at night, I never seen him happier. He tell me about all the things he said to those men. Made him happier than a pig in shit.ย
The success is what changed him?ย
Maybe. It werenโt just the money. It was the power. The letters he got. Official United States letterhead. Cominโ in from the governor and senators and once or twice even president Truman. Sometimes Iโd see him at his desk just starin at em, not opened or nothinโ. He just looked at em. Thatโs when he started readinโ about Egypt and whatnot. Told me he wanted to know about the old kings. Wanted to rule his domain properly. Read all sorts of things about the middle kingdom and Ptolemy and Ramses II. Heโd ramble for hours if you let him. Then one day, he comes back from the Rio Grande in a homemade Nemes.ย
Thats the crown of the Pharaohs. He told us that. I think he made his outta old flour sacks. Said he was chosen by Aten to build a new kingdom-o-the-dead right here in Plano.ย
That seems quite sudden.ย
It was. It was sudden. Well- Well it was kinda sudden. I think it had somethinโ to do with Emmett. This was around when his funny moods were gettinโ bad. Real bad. He was workinโ himself to string. He werenโt eatinโ or sleepinโ. Dad had politicians comin over every damn day to look at the oil fields and Emmett was like a ghost. He couldnโt work! I think dad was scared, because he knew Emmett was the key and none of it would work without him. He started wearin the Nemes more. Wore it round the house with a collar and a robe and whatnot. Started carryinโ a scepter. All that. The politicians and the media thought it was a hoot. They thought he was just bein funny. Or like it was some freemason thing. He could get a laugh back then. They just thought he was beinโ funny.ย
You donโt seem to share the sentiment.
No maโam. Heโd go into these rages. They were kinda like Emmettโs but, I dunno. Different, but the same. Ranting and raving about the english language โdefilingโ sacred hieroglyphics, navigatin duโat, securin himself a place in the field of reeds. He even made the help carry around palm fronds to fan him with. Even bought that purple Rolls Royce so he could travel around like Cleopatra did. Said it was the color of empire. It was around then. Yeah. He wanted to tear down the western guest house, and rebuild it on the north side of the property, so he could build a temple to Aten on the western side of the property. He and Emmett got into one hell of a fight. Theyโd gone at it before but not like that. It did somethinโ to Emmett. He locked himself in his room, wouldnโt eat or sleep. Sure as hell couldnโt work. A month turned into two, then six. Thereโd be a day when it seemed like Emmett was his normal self then, well then heโd fall right back down into his mood. Then, well.ย
Some doctor said we oughta try lobotomy. You know, to fix Emmetts moods. Get him back to work. Dad jumped at it. With Emmett out of the fields he wasnโt making money half as fast as he used to. Practically dragged him to the doctors himself. Couldnโt get the pick behind his eyes fast enough the bastard. It broke him doc. Broke him ways I didnโt know a man could break. He-ย
He wouldnโt touch the table when he ate. Thought it would shock him like the doctors shocked him. He would break down crying and screaming if you asked him any sort of question. Ask him what he wanted for dinner and he wouldnโt know, and that would scare him, and it would scare him so bad he would tear out his own hair. Sometimes heโd just go quiet. Sometimes heโd just wander around the house. Then there were the nurses.ย
Yes Maโam. See, dad got Emmett right back to work. But Emmett uh. Lord. He couldnโt focus. You couldnโt leave him alone for two minutes without him abusinโ himself in front of everyone. Hands down his pants, priminโ the pumps. So dad hired a bunch of fancy whores to follow him around dressed as nurses. If we had good company over, and Emmett started to get the itch, theyโd just pull him into the next room like he was havinโ some kinda medical episode.ย
Hand to God doc. Tell ya the truth its nice to tell someone about it. This psychotherapy shit is pretty nice. God. I remember one day. Drivin out to the basin in dads big stupid purple Rolls. He brought me along just to take notes. I was shotgun with all the papers, dad in the drivers seat in his Nemes, Emmett in the back seat playinโ hell with the whores. We got out, miles and miles from any other living souls. I remember gettinโ to check one of the dericks. Big ol mean dinosaur lookinโ thing, high heat middle of summer. It was dad and I glarinโ up at it. I was trying to actually check the damn pumps, dad was sermonating loud nโ proud about the rays of Aten while one of the whores was tryinโ to suck off Emmett. And its like I didnโt even care. I didnโt care one bit doc. I was just tryinโ to check the sediment.ย
I- Well, youโve done very well for yourself despite everything.ย
Nah. Dad was fallinโ apart. I was just there to pick up the pieces. He couldnโt handle what happened to Emmett. Its like someone cut off dadโs own legs. It unhitched him from the world.ย
Well, he got convinced the Jews did it. Somehow, he got it into his head that the Jews were poisoning all the food in texas, and that uh -Jew poison- was makinโ Emmett like that. It was dadโs thought that the lobotomy woulda worked if it werenโt for the international bolsheviks. He would only ever eat food he grew on the family farm. Even turned a bit of the chemistry division of the business into that vitamin company.ย
Yes, its in my notes. Vitazon.ย
Vitazon! Thatโs the one! Said every pill had a bit oโgold in it, straight from the rays of Atem. Said it- Oh what the hell was it. Said it only worked if youโฆ There was some funny little jingle he wrote for it. Ah hell. The point was the pills only โworkedโ if you ate em every meal, and that meant subscribing to the company. A whole monthโs supply of Vitazon, that was all you needed to purge the Judeo-Bolshevism from your body. Buncha nonsense. Made good money though.ย
I see. Did you and your father ever reconcile before he passed?
Nah. He kicked the bucket before I got my big deal with the Saudis. Good riddance. You know what the last thing he said to me was? He called me while I was on a fishing trip up in big bear. I pick up the phone, and he starts rambling about how he wanted to be mummified. He wanted a full new-kingdom funeral. He said catholics werenโt allowed because they were a โsemitic people.โ I had him cremated, the bastard. But Emmett technically owns the estate. I think his ashes are kept in the temple of Aten, in one of those funny jars with the animal heads.ย
You know doc, I donโt really like thinkinโ about Emmett. Heโs living at the old house. But heโs got proper doctors to take care of him now. I saw to that. They send me letters every few months. Apparently heโs better than he used to be. Calmer. They say he just shuffles around the house wearinโ dads old Nemes. I think it makes him happy.