Q: What happened then?
A: I remember feeling dizzy and sick to my stomach and mad at myself because this dame had taken her own clothes off, too, and she was really built, and she was rubbing up against me and her hands were all over and I knew damn well I couldn’t do a damn thing all drunk and dizzy like that, and then all of a sudden she makes this funny noise—
Q: What do you mean by “funny” noise?
A: I mean before she was all sexy, but now she sounded sort of scared, and she pulls me around and there’s this guy in the doorway and he’s got this suitcase in his hand and he stares at us on the bed and of course it’s too late to try and duck under the covers, and then he starts to swear and he drops the suitcase and runs over to the dresser like a crazy man and starts digging in one of the drawers, cussing all the time, not loud, but crazy like—
Q: What were you doing during this time?
A: I was froze, that’s all — froze, wishing I was a jillion miles away, wondering if it was real or was I dreaming it.
Q: And then what happened?
A: Then I remember he turns around from the dresser and he’s got this gun in his hand and it’s a big bastard, looks like it’s all barrel from where I sit, like looking down a tunnel, and then this dame is shoving something in my hand I can tell is a gun, but what do I care? It’s protection, that’s all I care about, and this guy starts to bring his gun up — and I shot first, that’s all. It was self-defense. He was going to kill us both, only I shot first.
Q: In self-defense...?
A: Yes, sir, What else? I never saw the man before in my life. What reason would I have to shoot a stranger?
Q: And then what happened?
A: The man fell down and he was bleeding real bad from the mouth and that’s when I really started to feel sick to my stomach and I got off the bed and tried to find the bathroom but I just about made it to the kitchen, because I remembering leaning on the stove and heaving into the sink and I didn’t think I was ever going to stop but at least getting that booze out of me sobered me up a bit. And after that I went back into the bedroom and the man was still lying on the floor bleeding. I sure didn’t want to go back in there, but my clothes were in there.
Q: When you went back into the bedroom, did you notice if the man was still holding his gun? You recall the prosecution made quite a point of the gun not being there when the police arrived.
A: I didn’t even look. Maybe the woman — Grace — took it.
Q: The woman, then, was also gone?
A: Long gone, but I got nothing against her getting out of there; it was smart. I guess while I was throwing up she just pulled on her dress and beat it.
Q: What did you do then?
A: I started to get out of there in a hurry. I didn’t even finish dressing. I grabbed my shoes and jacket and tie and started out, but I guess I took so long getting sick or pulling on my shirt and pants or something that when I was coming into the lobby — I ran down the stairs instead of taking the elevator — the cops were coming in the front door. I guess maybe one of the neighbors called in on account of the shot. It was a hot night and the windows were open. I guess that’s how they heard.
