Shame Read Free

why many radio personalities did much better as voices than as people. Kip thought he was God’s gift to women. During the break he’d suggested that Elizabeth hang around until he was off at 1:00 a.m., at which time they “could catch a bite, or whatever.”
    That’s why very long bubble baths had been invented, Elizabeth thought. To wash away certain days.
    “I’m afraid the reports of Gray Parker’s body parts,” Elizabeth said, “have been greatly exaggerated.”
    Even Shakespeare, Elizabeth comforted herself, had often resorted to ribaldry to amuse the groundlings. Over Kipper’s laughter, she continued. “I’m not referring to the size of his organ. Of that, I have no knowledge to offer. But the rumors of his bodily remains have persisted for years.
    “The basis for the talk, I’m fairly certain, stems from his attempts to have his organs donated. Parker wanted his death to have some meaning, or at least that’s what he publicly stated, but his method of execution didn’t allow that. To be usable, organs have to be removed while the donor’s blood is still circulating, and his being electrocuted eliminated that possibility.”
    “You don’t think there’s any chance, then,” Dave asked, “that someone collected a souvenir?”
    “No,” Elizabeth said. “He was cremated just a short time after his execution.”
    “Then how’s come I keep hearing there’s a big market out there trafficking in everything from his fingers to his ears to his, well, you know?”
    “Guess we’d call that a
Gray
market,” Kip said.
    Elizabeth let their laughter die down before answering. “No part or parts of Gray Parker survived his execution,” she said, “but that’s not to say there hasn’t been a morbid history to collecting of such souvenirs. There was a hanging in Kentucky in the thirties where people fought over the disposition of the death mask, and worse, hacked off pieces of the body as keepsakes.”
    “You got
whut
in your freezer?” said Kip.
    “And it wasn’t that long ago when sideshow exhibits displayed the bodies of executed criminals. But luckily, those days have passed.
    “Incidentally, Dave, the rumor about Parker and his supposedly gargantuan organ isn’t anything new. The same stories were told about John Dillinger. It seems that every generation wants its villain to be some sort of superman. Why that is, I don’t know.”
    “Thank you,” Dave said.
    He sounded sort of breathless, Elizabeth thought. She hated to think what might be exciting him.
    “In the pursuit of science,” Kip said, “I think I should take this opportunity to offer a twenty-five-dollar reward to anyone who can produce Gray Parker’s penis in a bottle. It’d make a hell of a centerpiece at a
cock
tail party I’m having next week.”
    Kip gave Elizabeth his best “Ain’t I a bad boy?” look. She mentally added another five minutes to her long-awaited bath.
    “And now,” Kip said, “I’m afraid we’re going to have to kill a little time with a commercial. Stay tuned for more of Elizabeth Line and true crime.”
    Kip patted Elizabeth on her knee, took off his headphones, and stood up. The removal of his headphones caused his toupee to tilt. “Got to powwow for a minute with Chief Engineer,” he said.
    Elizabeth didn’t tell him it looked as if he had already been scalped. He patted her shoulder before leaving the room, and she began to reconsider her stand on the death penalty.
    The broadcast room was in semidarkness. Elizabeth didn’t know whether the Kipper liked to do his show in a dimly lit studio or whether the lights were low for her benefit. She rolled her head but couldn’t get a crick out of her neck. With a sharp movement of her head, she was able to produce a resounding crack. It was a good thing the sound hadn’t been broadcast, Elizabeth thought. Chiropractors would have been flooding the lines. She closed her eyes and felt the tiredness in her body. It was her job, she reminded