Читать книгу Hurricane Street - Ron Kovic - Страница 16

Massapequa

Burned out and exhausted, I spend most of the summer at my parents’ house in Massapequa, resting up in my room and taking notes in a black-and-white composition notebook for what I hope will be my first book.

In July I receive a collect call from Nick telling me that the Patients’/Workers’ Rights Committee has fallen apart, and that many of those involved are being punished. “Woody and Jafu are on the psychiatric ward. Willy and Danny are confined to their beds, being punished for complaining, and the rest of the guys are afraid to say anything! You gotta come back and help us. They really came down hard after you left and things are worse now than ever. You gotta come back, brother!” shouts Nick over the phone, sounding desperate.

I patiently listen to him, promising to return right away, but I know I won’t be going back anytime soon. I am still exhausted, and besides, why would I want to return to all that madness at the VA, all the threats and intimidation?

It is summer on Long Island and I am home in Massapequa and there seems to be no better place in the world to be at this moment. I spend the remainder of July and August in my room continuing to rest and taking notes for the book that I hope to write as soon as I get back to the West Coast.