We Can Build You

Scanning the letter, I saw the word Stanton pop up again and again; Barrows was answering a letter from Pris having to do with it. But I could not get the hang of Barrows’ thoughts; it was all too diffuse.

Then all at once I got the drift.

Barrows had obviously misunderstood Pris. He thought the idea of refighting the Civil War with electronic simulacra, manufactured at our factory in Boise, was a civic enterprise, a do-gooding patriotic effort along the lines of improving the schools and reclaiming the deserts, not a business proposition at all. That’s what she gets, I said to myself. Yes, I was right; Barrows was thanking her for her idea, for thinking of him in connection with it … but, he said, he received requests of this sort daily, and already had his hands full with worthy efforts. For instance a good deal of his time was spent in fighting condemnation of a war-time housing tract somewhere in Oregon … the letter became so vague, at that point, that I lost the thread completely.

‘Can I keep this?’ I asked Miss Nild.

‘Please do. And if you’d like to comment, I’m sure Mr Barrows would be interested in anything you have to say.’

I said, ‘How long have you worked for Mr Barrows?’

‘Eight years, Mr Rosen.’ She sounded happy about it.

‘Is he a billionaire, like the papers say?’

‘I suppose so, Mr Rosen.’ Her brown eyes twinkled, enlarged by her glasses.

‘Does he treat his employees good?’

She smiled without answering.

‘What’s this housing project, this Green Peach Hat, that Barrows is talking about in the letter?’

‘That’s a term for Gracious Prospect Heights, one of the greatest multiple-unit housing developments in the Pacific Northwest. Mr Barrows always calls it that, although originally it was a term of derision. The people who want to tear it down invented the term and Mr Barrows took it over – the term, I mean – to protect the people who live there, so they won’t feel spat upon. They appreciate that. They got up a petition thanking him for his help in blocking condemnation proceedings; there were almost two thousand signatures.’

‘Then the people who live there don’t want it torn down?’

‘Oh no. They’re fiercely loyal to it. A group of do-gooders have taken it upon themselves to meddle, housewives and some society people who want to increase their own property values. They want to see the land used for a country club or something on that order. Their group is called the Northwest Citizens’ Committee for Better Housing. A Mrs Devorac heads it.’

I recalled having read about her in the Oregon papers; she was quite up in the fashionable circles, always involved in causes. Her picture appeared on the first page of section two regularly.

‘Why does Mr Barrows want to save this housing tract?’ I asked.

‘He is incensed at the idea of American citizens deprived of their rights. Most of them are poorer people. They’d have no place to go. Mr Barrows understands how they feel because he lived in rooming houses for years … you know that his family had no more money than anyone else? That he made his money on his own, through his own hard work and efforts?’

‘Yes,’ I said. She seemed to be waiting for me to go on, so I said, ‘It’s nice he still is able to identify with the working class, even though he’s now a billionaire.’

‘Since most of Mr Barrows’ money was made in real estate, he has an acute awareness of the problems people face in their struggle to obtain decent housing. To society ladies such as Silvia Devorac, Green Peach Hat is merely an unsightly conglomeration of old buildings; none of them have gone inside – it would never occur to them to do so.’

‘You know,’ I said, ‘hearing this about Mr Barrows goes a long way to make me feel that our civilization isn’t declining.’

She smiled her informal, warm smile at me.

‘What do you know about this Stanton electronic simulacrum?’ I asked her.

‘I know that one has been built. Miss Frauenzimmer mentioned that in her communications both by mail and over the phone to Mr Barrows. I believe Mr Barrows also told me that Miss Frauenzimmer wanted to put the Stanton electronic simulacrum onto a Greyhound bus and have it ride unaccompanied to Seattle, where Mr Barrows is currently. That would be her way of demonstrating graphically its ability to merge with humans and be unnoticed.’

‘Except for its funny split beard and old-fashioned vest.’

‘I was unaware of those factors.’

‘Possibly the simulacrum could argue with a cab driver as to the shortest route from the bus terminal to Mr Barrows’ office,’ I said. ‘That would be an additional proof of its humanness.’

Colleen Nild said, ‘I’ll mention that to Mr Barrows.’

‘Do you know the Rosen electronic organ, or possibly our spinet pianos?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘The Rosen factory at Boise produces the finest electronic chord organ in existence. Far superior to the Hammerstein Mood Organ, which emits a noise nothing more adequate than a modified flute-sound.’

‘I was unaware of that, too,’ Miss or Mrs Nild said. ‘I’ll mention that to Mr Barrows. He has always been a music lover.’

I was still involved in reading Barrows’ letter when my partner returned from his mid-day coffee break. I showed it to him.

‘Barrows writing to Pris,’ he said, seating himself to pore over it. ‘Maybe we’re in, Louis. Could it be? I guess it isn’t a figment of Pris’ mind after all. Gosh, the man’s hard to follow; is he saying he is or he isn’t interested in the Stanton?’

‘Barrows seems to say he’s completely tied up right now with a pet project of his own, that housing tract called Green Peach Hat.’

‘I lived there,’ Maury said. in the late ‘fifties.’

‘What’s it like?’

‘Louis, it’s hell. The dump ought to be burned to the ground; only a match – nothing else – would help that place.’

‘Some do-gooders agree with you.’

Maury said in a low, tense voice, if they want someone to burn it down I’ll do it personally for them. You can quote me, too. Sam Barrows owns that place.’

‘Ah,’ I said.

‘He’s making a fortune in rentals off it. Slum rentals is one of the biggest rackets in the world today; you get back like five to six hundred per cent return on your investment. Well, I suppose we can’t let personal opinion enter into business. Barrows is still a shrewd businessman and the best person to back the simulacra, even if he is a rich fink. But you say this letter is a rejection of the idea?’

‘You could phone him and find out. Pris seems to have phoned him.’

Picking up the phone, Maury dialed.

‘Wait,’ I said.

He glared at me.

‘I’ve got an intuition,’ I said, ‘of doom.’

Into the phone, Maury said, ‘Mr Barrows.’

I grabbed the phone from him and hung it up.

‘You –’ He quivered with anger. ‘What a coward.’ Lifting the receiver he once more dialed. ‘Operator, I was cut off.’ He looked around for the letter; it had Barrows’ number on it. I picked up the letter and crumpled it into a ball and tossed it across the room.