Part 8 (1/2)

Until that moment, I had believed the patients were still iine why anyone would choose to stay inside the colony walls

Then Father Reynolds told me a story In the late 1950s, after medications were developed to control the spread of leprosy, the gates of Carville were opened At that time, 297 patients lived at the leprosarium One year later, 281 reht here involuntarily-sometimes in shackles-chose to stay, even after they had been set free For the labeled a ”leper” had cut as deeply as any physical scar

PART III

Fall

CHAPTER 26

Frank Ragano, Jimmy Hoffa's lawyer, was terrified he would catch leprosy He refused to touch doorknobs or handrails, compulsively wiped the library typewriter keys, and scrubbed the cafeteria's plastic utensils with his shi+rttail So, naturally, the guards gave hiarette butts outside the cafeteria

For five hours a day, Frank picked up the trash and cigarette butts left by the 500 inuards, and 130 leprosy patients who passed by He wore sterile rubber gloves and a paper mask

Link immediately picked up on Frank's idiosyncrasy and one afternoon, while standing in line for dinner, yelled, ”Who that is? Motherfuckin' Howard Hughes!” A leprosy patient in a motorized wheelchair stopped to listen to the commotion

”Look at that motherfucker,” Link announced, ”wearin' a Goddaloves This ain't no fuckin' laboratory!” Link grabbed the stub of a cigarette froainst the wall Link laughed again, knowing that Frank would have to pick it up, and the inhed, too Frank did not move

The skin on Frank's arms was thin and spotted with purple patches where capillaries had ruptured The tiny wrinkles on his forearms looked like s ridiculed by a drug dealer, in front of leprosy patients, had been the highest-paid criued before the US Supreme Court and convinced them to overturn his clients' criminal convictions He flew into Cuba in 1959 and stared down Castro's lieutenants to get Santo Trafficante released from custody For all his courtroo with this kind of huht ahead in his flimsy paper mask, arms at his side

Later that afternoon, I saw Frank sitting on a bench in the in a book about his days as a mob lawyer, so I asked him about Jimmy Hoffa

”What was he like?” I asked

”Jie a pistol Run fro one of Hoffa's cried like a bull toward the assailant and wrestled away the gun

”What's one thing,” I asked, ”about Jimmy Hoffa that no one else knows?”

Frank looked surprised ”That's the first question my book editor asked” He leaned in a little closer, as if to prevent anyone fro his words Frank had successfully represented Hoffa for years During trials they had worked late into the night, exchanging confidential information I was about to hear a private revelation about one of theno one else knew about the notorious Jiain for me as a journalist

Frank kne to ether and sed, conte whether to reveal his secret Finally, he motioned for me to move closer Then he whispered, ”Hoffa loved to fart”

Frank sined Hoffa banging his hand against the Tea fro a sudden burst of applause Or sticking his index finger in the face of Attorney General Robert Kennedy and barking, ”Hey, Bobby, pull this” Or leaving a little soers on the elevator at his headquarters in Chicago

I laughed and said, ”That's not going in your book, is it?”

Frank shook his head and sain The secret was all mine But Frank obviously had other secrets ”Do you really knoho killed Jimmy Hoffa and JFK?” I asked

”Yes,” he said ”Yes, I do”

Little Neil, Maggie, and ne For years, I would douseI even kept a little bottle inthe people arounds roone was contraband My signature scent was beyond my reach, but I soon discovered a source On Monday afternoons, the azine subscriptions arrived in the prison library I volunteered to help put them in their proper order so I had first shot at the scented advertisements bound into GQ GQ, Esquire, Esquire, and other fashi+on titles As I organized the periodicals and flipped through the pages, I tore out the aromatic inserts I stockpiled the sa hours, I opened the strips and rubbed thereen uniform For the rest of the day, whether inside or out, cool or perspiring, I was the best-s inanized the periodicals and flipped through the pages, I tore out the aromatic inserts I stockpiled the sa hours, I opened the strips and rubbed thereen uniform For the rest of the day, whether inside or out, cool or perspiring, I was the best-sne was noso ith Linda The financial arrangements I hadapart As was our relationshi+p Lately, Linda and I had been arguing-on the telephone and in the visiting rooht Y'all hug” But a hug wouldn't solve the money problems

I had loaned money to a friend who said he would send a monthly check to Linda, but his lawyer advised hi payments e filed bankruptcy It was money Linda had counted on, and I had no way to persuadeto Carville, I had also sold advertisements for a publication Two of the advertisers were to send pay to have to go back to work, and the kids would go to after-school care, so this year while I was in prison

To make ion's preenerous azine while I was being investigated I had left many unfinished projects when I went to prison One project left prepaid contracts that couldn't be fulfilled without more sales Bill's frustration with me was justified; I'd left hier, she was again reminded of the terrible situation in which I had left not onlyinvestigated I had left many unfinished projects when I went to prison One project left prepaid contracts that couldn't be fulfilled without more sales Bill's frustration with me was justified; I'd left hier, she was again reminded of the terrible situation in which I had left not only my fae, we sat in a prison visiting rooether, ould be free and independent That ould have extraordinary adventures I had not keptoff the charity of others Mythe rent on Linda's apartment in the French Quarter Grandparents paid tuition for Neil's school at Trinity Episcopal; Linda's parents were paying for Maggie to continue at the Louise McGee School, a private school just around the corner fro

About the only thing Linda hatedit fro friends From fellow church members Even from family

And the apartment in New Orleans was a problem It was located one floor above ood idea to be close enough to help care for Neil and Maggie She was right, except that, despite h hopes she had for ood thing For Linda, as trying to make a clear, objective decision about what to do with her life, my mother's praise of her precious son was hard to s

On a visit in early fall, when Linda and the kids were planning for the beginning of school, I thought it was tiie about Daddy's caes, like the psychologist had said, I assumed it wouldn't affect them now, since they had seen the place They actually see with the other in machines that held frozen pizzas, Hot Pockets, and ice cream

They could see that there were no bars, no really dangerous people And I didn't want theht up the fact that their father was in jail

”I want to talk to you about caie said, ”why did you have to coie of e had discussed-that I got a little bit greedy, wanted to buy too azines, and used money I wasn't supposed to use to buy theie said, ”you azines”

Then I told them that this place, Carville, wasn't exactly a camp It was a prison caie had taken a bite of cookie She looked up and asked, ”Are you a bad guy, Daddy?”

”Of course not,” I told her ”Remember, camp is kind of like tier than kid tiie asked I shook hter in a situation where she would have to ask such a question I looked over at Little Neil He didn't ask any questions He stared down at the floor Maybe he didn't want to talk about this Or o outside and throw the ball

I took Neil and Maggie out to the visiting roorapher Prisoners could purchase a faraph for one dollar All proceeds went to the inmates-in-need fund Linda said she didn't want to be in the picture, so I put Neil on ie stood on the bench next to raph, Steve Read walked by

”Ah,” Steve said under his breath, ”prison ie didn't seeo

I continued to write letters to Linda and the kids every night, and I made collect calls from the pay phones that lined the walls in the hallways But so, and I went to sleep without speaking to theood night to Neil and Maggie Soht so Linda and I could have a conversation without the kids overhearing, though it wasn't really private since in for their turn