VLVL2 (14) Cagey Old Pro, 268-274

[Paul Nightingale]

At the beginning of the chapter, Brock's doubts concerning Frenesi are
quickly overtaken by an account of his "own baby, his gamble on a career
coup ..." etc (268), which as quickly segues into a working definition of
his "genius" (269). At this point he becomes "her inescapable witness", not
"all that surprised to find himself with a hardon" (270), and then Roscoe's
version of events takes over: "So far, officially ... this place didn't even
exist". Going back to the chapter's opening lines, one might recall:
"Officially he was up to have a look at the physical plant and inspect the
population of ... PREP" (268). For Brock, unofficially, the purpose of the
visit is to find Frenesi; for Roscoe, the repetition/correction is a
reminder that Brock's "gamble ..., his thin-ice special" could end in tears.

The nature of their relationship is disputed: "Roscoe had come to see
himself not as sidekick so much as Cagey Old Pro" (270). Brock has in mind
"the perfect underling, whom he imagined as a sort of less voluble Tonto"
(271). And then: "In that memorable dope-field shoot-out, Brock had followed
Roscoe dumb and terrified as a recruit obeying his sergeant". Their
bickering recalls the screwball couplings of Takeshi and DL, Vato and Blood:
that Roscoe "tried not to bother the prosecutor with details of how, often
semi-miraculously, he got things done" (271) will perhaps recall his first
appearance (148) when Brock seems to have volunteered him for the role to be
taken by Takeshi.

Hence Brock's belief in his own intellectual prowess--itself a means to
glossing over the way Frenesi has undermined his belief in his sexual
powers, which in turn, as we shall see, is in counterpoint to his sense of
social inferiority--is challenged here by Roscoe.