Dick and Leroy do their best to make friends, despite the frightening events on the helicopter. Dick comes across as a bone-deep rebel, a person who likes taking advantage of his privileges because he doesn’t much respect the system that granted them. He responds enthusiastically when he learns that Leroy’s wife, Charlotte, was involved in the civil rights movement down South. He also uses his special privileges to secure his fellow Black airmen a safe, comfortable place to unwind.
But as Dick and Leroy share a private beer on the porch, Leroy reveals that he felt Dick psychically probe his mind during dinner. He felt this sensation only one other time, he says: during the late-night assault in his barracks — the loyalty test, as Gen. Shaw later admitted. Naturally, Dick hadn’t mentioned any of this. “Stay out of my head,” Leroy says.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Dick responds, his voice tinged with fear. During the barracks attack, Dick read Leroy’s mind and found it to be completely unafraid of death, even with a gun to his head. He is the coldest customer that even a salty dog like Dick Hallorann has ever come across. Dick knows this would make him a terrible enemy … and an invaluable ally.
The scene is a tricky, fascinating exploration of how having supernatural gifts might actually affect a person on as basic a level as making new friends. It relies on the talents of Jovan Adepo and Chris Chalk, whose naturalistic performances make this outlandish subject matter feel like the real concerns of real men with real problems that go beyond a demonic clown.
I reviewed this week’s It: Welcome to Derry for the New York Times. Gift link!