Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished - Revised & Expanded Edition (35 page)

The Leprechaun (1983) 

According to Spignesi’s
The Lost Work of Stephen King
⁷³
the five pages that make up
The Leprechaun
were the beginning of a rewrite of some thirty pages King lost from the back of a motorcycle “…somewhere in New Hampshire during a Harley-Davidson trip from Boston to Bangor.” Apparently the original intention was for
The Leprechaun
to be a full-blown novel, although this seems unlikely, at least with the King family as characters. 

The story was apparently never completed and has not been published. Copies of the fragment circulate in the King community and acquiring such a copy would be the reader’s only opportunity to read and appreciate this partial tale. 

In the story a little boy saves a little man. “Once upon a time
–
which is how all the best stories start – a little boy named Owen was playing outside his big red house…” but was bored because “…his big brother and big sister, who could always think of things to do, were in school. His daddy was working, and his mommy was sleeping upstairs.” 

At the front of the house Owen saw his sister’s new cat, Springsteen, toying with something in the grass. Owen disliked Springsteen partly because he thought the cat was always trying to eat his pet guinea pig, Butler. Springsteen was big and black and had “…deep green eyes that seemed to see everything.” The reader will be excused if reminded of the cat Church from
Pet Sematary
. Owen knew that not only did Springsteen like to kill things; he also “…liked to play with them before he killed them. Sometimes Owen would open the door in the morning and there would be a dead bird on the doorstep … Owen would ask permission to bury the dead bird. Sometimes his mommy or daddy would help him.” 

When Owen investigated he found Springsteen’s latest victim, a “…
person
, a tiny little man wearing a green hat made out of a leaf. The little man looked back over his shoulder, and Owen saw how scared the little guy was. He was no bigger than the mice Springsteen sometimes killed in their big dark cellar.” Springsteen had injured his victim and challenged Owen for possession of the prize but the boy saved the little man by picking the cat up, even though Springsteen bit and clawed. Putting the feline down and “…trying to think of the very worst thing he could he added, ‘Leave him alone or I’ll put you in the oven and bake you like a pizza!’” Springsteen continued to challenge Owen, who said, “I don’t care if you
are
mad! …You can’t kill people on our lawn even if they
are
little!” 

The cat then ran away and Owen found the little man, “…lying on his side … Owen touched him gently with his finger. He was terribly afraid the little man was dead.” When Owen inquired if he was all right the “…fellow in the grass made a face and clapped his hands to his ears …” and Owen realized his voice must “…sound like thunder to such a small person.” Owen now saw that the man’s shirt “…was not just the color of
grass; it
was
grass. Carefully woven blades of green grass. Owen wondered how come they didn’t turn brown.” At this point the fragment ends. 

Spignesi relates a further episode from the lost original in which Owen made the leprechaun a house from a Band-Aid box. 

The only other character mentioned in this fragment is Chris, Owen’s friend, “…the big boy who sometimes came to play with him … but Chris was in school…”  

The description of Springsteen stalking the guinea pig is classic King:  

…he would jump up on the shelf where Butler’s big glass cage was and stare in through the screen on top with his hungry green eyes. Springsteen would sit there, all crouched down, and hardly move at all. Springsteen’s tail would wag back and forth a little, and sometimes one of his ears would flick a bit, but that was all.
I’ll get in there pretty soon, you cruddy little guinea pig
, Springsteen seemed to say.
And when I get you, I’ll eat you! Better believe it! If guinea pigs say prayers, you better say yours!
 

Considering King’s love affair with rock music the choice of name for the cat is quite amusing. 

We should also note that the struggle between a little man-like creature and a cat forms the basis of the screenplay
General
and a segment of the related movie script
Cat’s Eye
, although the roles are reversed in that tale, with the cat being the hero. This is no coincidence, as both
Cat’s Eye
and this piece were written in the two-year period of 1983-1984. It’s possible that when King abandoned
The Leprechaun
he may have incorporated the concept in the screenplay.  

This work is classified in the Maine Street Horror Reality, as it was set at Owen’s home. Although the author never comes out and states Owen is Owen
King
this is rather obvious and can be safely assumed. Of course, we know that the Kings lived in Maine! There is no timeline setting for this story but as Owen was below school age, we can again assume it is set about 1983. 

The links to King’s other fiction from this tale derive from the various Kings referred to in it. 

Stephen King is referred to in this work as Owen’s novelist father, “…Daddy said, and went off to work on a novel – that’s what he did for work.” Stephen also appears in a similar context in
The King Family and the Wicked Witch
. He appears as a horror author mentioned by Ardelia Lortz in
The Library Policeman
; is mentioned as an author in
The Regulators
,
Thinner
,
Slade
and the
Prime Evil
version of
The Night Flier
; and as the narrator of
The
Blue Air Compressor
. King appears in the last three books of
The Dark Tower
cycle, with his family also being mentioned in
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah
. 

Tabitha King is referred to in this work as Owen’s novelist mother, “…Mommy said, and went off to work on a novel – because that was what she did for work too.” Tabitha also appears in
The King Family and the Wicked Witch
. Joseph King is the four-year-old son of Stephen and Tabitha and brother of Naomi who ate the crying cookie Witch Hazel gave him in
The King Family and the Wicked Witch
. In this story he appears as the older brother of Owen, although he is not mentioned by name. 

Naomi King is the six-year-old daughter of Stephen and Tabitha and sister of Joe who also ate the crying cookie Witch Hazel gave her in
The King Family and the Wicked Witch.
In this story she appears as the piano playing older sister of Owen but is not mentioned by name. Owen, the hero of this tale does not appear in the earlier King family tale. However, most King experts believe that the poem
For Owen
is dedicated to the Kings’ youngest son. 

This whole work is most unusual in that it appears to use the King family as characters. The only other tale in which this occurs is the aforementioned
The King Family and the Wicked Witch
. While that story has seen print, the publication was an obscure Kansas newspaper. King has not allowed that story to appear in any other publication, including one of his own collections. The decision not to widely publish either story would appear to be a wise one. Doing so would probably bring unnecessary ridicule upon King as restless critics might take such publication as an opportunity to attack one of the world’s most popular writers for being egotistical or suffering from hubris. 

The fact remains that both this story and
The King Family and the Wicked Witch
are actually delightful children’s tales and King’s usual empathy for children and his ability to write their characters as we remember ourselves at that time in our lives shines through yet again. Perhaps King will one day compromise by rewriting both with fictional characters and publishing them as children’s short stories? 

⁷³
The Lost Work of Stephen King
, Stephen J. Spignesi, p.146-147
 

Man with a Belly (1978) 

Man with a Belly
is one of King’s relatively rare crime stories. First published in
Cavalier
for December 1978, it was reprinted in
Gent
for November/December 1979. Copies of these two issues are quite difficult to come by, with
Cavalier
coming to market much more often but even that sells for $100 or more. Those seeking a copy should contact specialist online King booksellers. 

In this America Under Siege story an old man tries to control his young wife and reaps the consequences. A 78-year-old Mafia boss Vittorio Correzente offered hitman John Bracken $50,000 to rape his wife Norma:  

The story was simple, and yet there was a beautiful circularity to it which Bracken appreciated. Correzente had married Norma White because he had an itch. She had accepted his suit for the same reason. But while his itch was for her body, her bloodline, and the heat of her youth, hers was a much colder thing: money … Norma White was a compulsive gambler. 

Don Vittorio’s self-image was at stake:  

The matter could have been resolved simply and suddenly if he had been cuckolded by some young tony in tight pants, but to be cuckolded by his own wealth was more complex and contained a bitter irony which perhaps only a Sicilian could fully grasp … (
he was
) never afraid to show the iron fist inside the glove. He was a man with a belly, in the Sicilian argot … He had struck upon the solution because it was fitting. It was pure object lesson and vengeance all in one. He had chosen Bracken because he was independent and unlike many hit men, he was neither homosexual nor impotent.  

King’s representation of hitmen here is rather interesting! 

Bracken took the job, “He reflected that it would be the first contract in his career where the weapon would need no getting rid of.” After Bracken raped Norma in a park he said expressionlessly, “I am told to tell you that this is how your husband pays a debt to his honor. I am told to tell you that he is a man with a belly. I am told to tell you that all debts are paid and there is honor again.” Norma convinced Bracken to walk her to her second apartment, “the one not even Benny Torreos (
Correzente’s consigliore
) knew about,” and on the way offered him twice what her husband had paid to do a job for her. Bracken demurred that such a thing would be bad for business but Norma told him it did not involve killing Vittorio. “Bracken said sardonically: ‘Rape is out.’” 

On arriving at the apartment they made love, in Norma’s words, “…in a civilized way” and: 

…she poured out her virulence toward the man she married … he was a wop, a stinking spic, a lover of sheep, a crude bludgeoner who went to chic restaurants and ate pie with his fingers; a grabber and a twister, a blacker-and-bluer of flesh; a lover of junk shop gimcracks; an aficionado of Norman Rockwell; a pederast; a man who would not treat her as a diadem but rather as a brace for his sagging manhood; not as a proud woman but as a dirty … joke to bolster the admiration of his pasta-eating, sweaty associates. 

The next morning:  

she made this proposition: “Make me pregnant. I will pay you do to this … He wants a child. Could he make one?” She shrugged. “Perhaps lasagna is good for potency. I, however, take pills. He knows I take them.” Bracken sipped his coffee. “Stud service?”  

Norma’s plan was to go to Vittorio offering to be the good wife and to give him a son, “I’ll get what I want, which is freedom of the tables. And he will get what he wants, which is an heir.” 

Bracken agreed to the proposition, $100,000 his fee. “Ten weeks after the contract with Don Vittorio had been fulfilled, she killed the rabbit ...” and Bracken left town. 

Seven months later in Palm Springs, Bracken received a call from Torreos about the Don,  

“He wants to see you. He’s dying.” Bracken thought carefully, knowing his life almost certainly depended on his next words … “Why does he want to see me?” “To ask a question.” The connection was very bad, and Bracken knew that to simply replace the instrument in its cradle would likely mean death. The family has a long arm. It was either go to Vito, or run … “How is Mrs. Correzente?” he asked politely. “Dead,” Benny Torreos said flatly. “She died last month, in childbirth.” 

With no other alternative, Bracken went to the Don, only to find him on his deathbed and relatives congregating, “The women … were dressed in black, and shawled. Even the business suits of their men seemed old-fashioned, as if death had dragged Sicily back into the fabric of the clothes and the wearers by force.”  

Calling Bracken to the bed the old man said, “They told me you did a good job. You do. You have killed my wife and me.” He then claimed pride had made him continue to make love to Norma even after suffering a minor stroke, as he was determined to place a child in her belly. One night, after announcing the pregnancy to the world, the couple had argued, bringing on a massive stroke. Running for help Norma had fallen on the living room steps and also had to be hospitalized. After telling Bracken this, the Don whispered, “You see? The irony?” Bracken simply replied, “Benny said you had a question.”  

The Don responded by telling him the baby had survived but was in an incubator, “‘They say the baby has pretty blue eyes.” Bracken said nothing. ‘You made one of Norma’s eyes black. But they were brown. And there is no blue-eyed Sicilian.’” Bracken again pointed out there must be a question but the Don said he had asked it and his doctor had responded that it was only a matter of genes, “I do not know genes, I only know what a dying man lies in beds and thinks.” 

Bracken leaned forward and told the old man he was stupid, “Death has made you senile. I have my own belly. Do you think I would take my own leavings?” He said the baby’s eyes would turn brown but that Vito would not see it. Bracken then rose, “the room was white and full of death,” and left for Palm Springs.
 

No timeline or city location is given in the story, nor is it linked to any other King fiction, making it very much a stand-alone tale. 

As is often the case with these uncollected stories it is disappointing that King has not allowed
Man with a Belly
a wider audience. All three main characters are conceptually interesting and the storyline bold, even if the ending is somewhat unsatisfactory (compare it, for instance, with a similar scene in the movie
Braveheart,
when Princess Isabelle, daughter in law of the stroke-bound and mute King Edward whispers in his ear that the child she is carrying is not her husband’s but that of the King’s worst enemy, William Wallace). There are some inconsistencies – where did the Don think Norma was later the night he organized her to be raped? If Norma was such a terrible gambler why did she still have the $100,000 she used to pay Bracken for his “stud service?” King has her explain it is money from her wealthy Boston family but it seems unlikely a compulsive gambler could have kept such funds aside and this explanation rings hollow. Finally, one wonders if a woman, just brutally raped, would take the rapist home, make love to him and pay him to get her pregnant, even in these circumstances. 

This tale shows King in his crime genre mode and that alone makes the story interesting for King students and hardcore fans alike. King’s reasons for not including it in a collection are unknown but we speculate that, as the story was written very specifically for the men’s magazine market and includes brutal sexual content, he may have felt it would not reflect well upon his overall work if included in one of his later short story collections. Quite possibly, he simply does not like the story. There does remain a slim possibility that King will allow its republication at some point, perhaps in a crime anthology, rather than one of his own collections.