Free Stairway to Forever by Robert Adams

sure it was enough left in your account and at least two of mine to handle things day to day here."
    But Fitz still frowned, saying hesitantly, "I still don't know. I'm still not sure that I like the idea of having so much of my money so far away. It's not as if we—you and I—were living under some kind of totalitarian dictatorship with confiscatory tax laws and tactics."
    Gus lowered his voice to conspiratorial levels and leaned forward in his chair. "Fitz, most folks don't have them no idea just how damn close to broke the Guvamint of the U.S. of A. really is these days. It's a

    goddamn shame, too, when half or more of the other countries in the whole damn world owes the U.S. of A. money they ain't never even made a try at paying back, some the fuckers sincet World War One. And it seems it ain't been one frigging pres'dint or congress we's had is ever had them the guts to get up on they hind legs and get as hardnose with all these furrin deadbeats as they all of the time gets with they own hardworking, taxed to death folks here in the U.S. of A., neither.
    "But, enyhow, cain't nobody—individuals or guva-mints—keep living on next year's money for too long at time. If you don't b'lieve that, just look at how them dumbasses runs New York City has fucked they selfs up trying to run a fucking welfare state and tax all the businesses to death to give the money to bums that mostly won't even try to work for a living and has got so broke now they can't even pay salaries to the folks he works for them. Naw, Fitz, if you or me or enybody elst tried running their affairs like the Guvamint's been doing, off and on, for the last near-forty years, sincet Roosevelt started it all, we'd be bankrupted and most likely in jail, to boot.
    This here shit they calls deficit financing' has done brought a country that was the biggest and bestest and strongest and richest in this whole wide world less then twenny year ago damn near into the fucking poorhouse. So whin them Treasury boys sees a way they can maybe lean down hard on some little feller, who ain't incorporated and with a whole damn pisspot full of high-priced lawyers hired on just to keep guys like the I.R.S. off of him, well then, they just gets as hard and horny as a quarn'tined stud bull. Their hot little hands gets to itching and their sticky fingers gets to twitching, and they swallers

    whole bottles full of nasty pills three times a day, too.
    "And whin that time comes for you and me, Fitz— and I got me this here feeling that it's damn close to that time for us!—unless you's made up some way to perfect what's really yours and not really theirs or the frigging Guvamint's to take, all you can do is just lay down and spread your legs whin the legal-robbers tells you to, because eny way you turn, your ass is gonna be grass and the I.R.S. is gonna be the fucking lawn mower, see. If it's enything that crew really hates and despises, Fitz, it's folks that is self-employed and don't work for somebody elst what will take chunks out their pay ever month and send it off to Washin'ton to keep the fat-cat politicians and all the perfessional leeches they calls bewreaucrats stocked up on plenty of French cheese and wine and Russian caviar and all." The coin dealer sounded exceedingly bitter.
    He drained off the last of his liter of dark beer and demanded, "You got you a passport, Fitz, a current one?" At a nodded silent answer, he went on, "Well, you keep her on you all the time, hear? What money is left in this country, aside from the penny-ante local funds, I've done got spread out in four diffrent banks—one in New York, one in Frisco, one in Illinois and one more in Texas—that ought to keep the bloodsuckers busy long enough for you and me to get out and away, when it comes down to that, see. Oh, and keep a suitcase packed up, too. Chances is good that whin you has to move, you gonna have to move some kind of damn fast, for sure."
    After Gus had departed for the drive back to