Van Meter

[Rob Jackson]

> Back in the first sequence it's Van Meter who calls Zoyd to say that  
> the window-jump has been "rescheduled" to the Cucumber Lounge (Note  
> VM's omission of detail: "Somebody said it got rescheduled.") The  
> Cucumber Lounge is where VM lives (Mob-owned). When Zoyd arrives, VM  
> nags Zoyd to hurry up because "We'll be losin' the light". He  
> changes the subject when Zoyd asks him "why is everybody here  
> instead?" and frames the revelation of Hector's arrival awkwardly as  
> a question: "Guess I can tell you now you're here, is there's this  
> old buddy of yours, just showed up?"  (pp. 8-10)
>
> VM's words, actions and facial expressions all through this scene  
> indicate that he is lying, hiding from Zoyd his own role in  
> orchestrating the rendezvous with Hector, and turning the window- 
> jump into a media circus. The way VM is described by Pynchon here is  
> designed to show him betraying his guilty conscience. It's clear  
> that VM is still on Hector's payroll (as well as ... ) even in 1984.

A couple more notes on this ...

The term "rescheduled" that both Van Meter (8) and Zoyd's local TV  
station contact use (1) is TV jargon for a late change in programming.  
It equates also to the way that Frenesi and Flash are being dropped  
from "the Program" later on (88).

The title of VM's "house newsletter" in the "commune" out back of the  
Cucumber Lounge is also relevant. It's "The Blind-Side Gazette" (9).  
According to an online 'Urban Dictionary', the term "blind-side" is  
street slang referring to the way that a "dopefiend" will attack  
someone "suddenly and without warning". Another source defines the  
particular vernacular use of the term as "to conspire against someone  
secretly".

It's interesting also that Pynchon, using the same "show don't tell"  
strategy of characterisation, lets us know that VM is a former marine  
by the way he calls out "Corpsman!" when he chases after the  
paramedics (12).

No matter how strong his loyalties to Zoyd, and it's clear that the  
friendship between the two is long-standing and mutual, VM is  
definitely still a member of the "snitch community", and fickle. He  
knows that Zoyd's window-jump has been "rescheduled", while Zoyd  
doesn't, so he is obviously in on whatever deals have been going on  
behind Zoyd's back. He deliberately waits until Zoyd has arrived at  
the Cuke before he mentions that Hector's there and waiting to see  
Zoyd, so he's "blind-siding" his friend on that count also.

That VM's deceiving and manipulating Zoyd is clear; that he's doing it  
for profit is clearly implied. The "fatal five-spot" which VM  
"grabbed" from Hector back at the Gordita Beach house was definitely  
"not the last" (24), it was the first of many. As far as Zoyd's  
concerned, though he enjoyed the benefits from the proceeds of the  
snitching that went on ("groceries ... gas ... pot"), Hector's  
recruitment of his dim-witted friend Van Meter has proved "fatal" for  
him in many other respects.

... will try to catch up with the IV group read later on too. I must  
have missed the announcement that it had been "rescheduled" as well ...

cheers