"The Honor of a Newsboy" is a short story first published in the posthumous collection Look at the Birdie in 2009 and reprinted in Complete Stories in 2017.
Plot Summary[]
Charley Howes, police chief of a Cape Cop village, is investigating the murder Estelle Fulmer, a "Jezebel waitress" who was beaten to death. The prime suspect is Earl Hedlund—a loner who lives off a small inheritance that he has carefully invested in the stock market—whom Estelle once told off. His only activity now is checking the financial pages of the daily newspaper and graphing the stocks. He was the village bully thirty-five years ago and in many ways has remained so. A dog called Satan, a Great Dane/Irish wolfhound mix, spends most of his time on Earl's property, scaring people off. When Charley arrives at Earl's house, he finds no one home, but outside there is a large stack of newspapers under a brick, indicating that Earl wasn't in town at the time of Estelle's murder. However, he notices that the Wednesday paper is missing. Just then, Satan begins barking in the distance at the arrival of Mark Crosby, the ten year old newsboy on his bicycle, who arrives looking straight ahead, pretending the dog isn't even there, impressing Charley with his bravery. He asks Mark if he's seen Earl, but Mark says he hasn't been around all week and leaves his Saturday newspaper under the brick. Charley asks if he's sure that he left a paper Wednesday, and Mark replied "[i]t's the rule" that if nobody has said to stop, he has to deliver the paper for six days. He gives his word of honor that the paper was delivered.
Earl arrives, telling Charley that he was at his brother's in Providence all week and came back when he read about the murder, assuming he'd be the main suspect. Earl starts reading the just delivered paper, irritated to remember that it's a Saturday and there are no market reports. Charley asks about Wednesday's paper, but Earl says none was delivered because "the kid was too lazy to bring one". Charley is offended that Mark's "word of honor" has been questioned, but Mark says he's got something better than his word, since he was sick that day and his father delivered the paper. Charley knows Mark's father who, although brave in some ways, has had a lifelong fear of both Earl and dogs. Mockingly, Earl gives his "word of honor" that Mark's father wouldn't come near him or Satan, and tells stories of how cowardly Mark's father had been as a child. Mark, crying, bicycles away. Charley, heartbroken for Mark, leans his head against the window and sees the Wednesday newspaper inside. Earl, knowing what he's seen, gets ready to fight, but Charley just tells him to stay there and follows Mark to tell him that his father really did deliver the paper. Mark asks him if Earl's stories are true. Charley tells him they were, which means his father must have been very brave to follow the rules and deliver the paper. Realizing he left Earl alone, Charley returns to find him gone. His body is found two hours later, having been killed by Satan while making for the railroad tracks. Charley's theory is that Satan saw Earl running and smelled his fear, and when Satan saw how scared he was, he killed him.[1]
Adaptation[]
A 18-minute short based on this story called The Last Days of Charley E. Rays—originally titled If We Must Die—was released in 2016, starring Len Cariou as Charley, Maryann Plunkett as his wife Isabel, Stephen Payne as Earl, and Emmett Hylande as Mark. It was directed by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic, who co-wrote the screenplay with Christina Lazaridi.[2][3]
- ↑ "The Honor of a Newsboy", Complete Stories, pp. 733-738.
- ↑ The Last Days of Charley E. Rays, IMDb.
- ↑ IF WE MUST DIE - An award-winning dramatic short based on a Kurt Vonnegut Novella directed by Antoneta Kusijanovic, Vimeo.