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called “The Switzerland of the West,” which reminded him of the village below Frankenstein’s castle; he went to San Jose’s “Little Egypt.” He went to Sacramento, whose newspaper the Sacramento Bee coined the word “hoodlum,” to describe the early quality of life you had here.
    San Francisco led the world in two professions: prostitution and vigilantism, and Barbary Coast used to be the biggest red-light district in the country.
    So as not to draw attention, LaBas moved into a modest little house below Grove Street in the “Flats.” He had rejected life in a tick tack with “a sweeping view of the gateway to the Pacific.” Wasn’t much to do in the town. It closed at 2:00 A.M. and mostly earlier. There were coffee shops on San Pablo Ave. which played string quartet music. The hills above the University were dominated by structures out of Buck Rogers. Richard Pryor lived there for a while. It was Edward Teller’s town, with a little artsy-crafsty thrown in to give it a semblance of elegance. The police ran it with an iron fist in collusion with some old-line businessmen.
    Sometimes LaBas would go over to the Roxie Theater in Oakland. Walter Cotton dominated five frames in “Gordon’s War.” Remember that name. Walter Cotton.
    On other occasions, LaBas would escort Ms. Better Weather to some of the restaurants: Pot Luck, Narsai’s, The Anchor, Le Petit Village, Casa de Eva, Kabul’s, Yangtze River. And, oh yeah, Oleg’s. Oleg’s had good manners.
    Berkeleyans danced at Harry’s, Ruthie’s Inn, the New Orleans House and the Tenth Street Inn, a block of Mississippi on Gilman Street. They listened to music at Mandrake’s across the street from the Toulouse.
    Minnie, Ed’s daughter, was still agitating about the Gumbo Works going public, even though Ed’s death had caused the near dissolution of the factory. She called them Elitists. Well, they were, kind of. Maxwell Kasavubu had given orders that things would have to speed up because there were no students in the summer and the Moochers had to work twice as hard. Behind their backs, the Berkeley Hills’ supporters referred to Moocher programs as “nigger physics”; a comment on their use of 19th-century physics metaphors to explain them.
    The Gumbo Works was getting back on its feet. LaBas had stalled the creditors for more time. The Gumbo Workers had returned to their usual shifts and most of Ed’s old customers remained with the firm.
    Ms. Better Weather, Ed’s assistant, had really shown LaBas the ropes and acquainted him with the U.C. Works processes. Often he would show her a thing or two about how it was done in the east. Occasionally they would stop in a restaurant after work.
    (The Toulouse, a restaurant named after the French painter, was a popular hangout. Berkeley had always liked things French. In the 19th century a “Second Empire” fad swept through the campus area, whose building plans were designed by a French architect. The Mansard style.

CHAPTER 11
    (The Toulouse, a restaurant on University Avenue in West Berkeley. Elder, a medium-sized man wearing glasses and neatly groomed hair, is standing behind the bar. He has the appearance of being efficient and is cleanly attired. Above him, on a platform, is a television set. He is watching a football game. Next to the television is a poster of a handsome black woman, holding a spear. Her legs are spread apart. Across the aisle is a bulletin board announcing jazz and poetry events. The modest chairs have a tiger-skin decoration on the seats. Many types of people are seated about: chicanos, blacks, whites, yellows, browns—all races as well as all classes. People are playing chess and reading about revolution. Bill Jackson has just destroyed a hapless victim with two queens and a rook. During the day the “regulars” come in. On school nights it’s American Graffiti.