Charlie Pickering
Charlie Pickering is a deeply disturbed anti-abortion activist whose long history of mental instability makes him a perfect instrument for Ed Deepneau's violent agenda. A member of the radical splinter group The Friends of Life, Pickering is driven by a fanatical belief that abortion providers and their supporters are murderers, a conviction that leads him to attempt the assassination of Ralph Roberts, whom Deepneau has labeled a "Centurion" and a "baby-killer." His attack, which fails only because of Ralph's possession of a can of Bodyguard spray, marks a critical escalation in the novel's conflict between the forces of the Purpose and the Random, and ultimately leaves Pickering a catatonic shell after Ralph inadvertently severs his connection to the life-force.
Identity and Background
Charlie Pickering is a man with a long and documented history of severe mental illness. Detective John Leydecker notes that Pickering has "made the grand tour" of psychiatric institutions, including Juniper Hill, Acadia Hospital, and Bangor Mental Health Institute, facilities known for "free electrical treatments and jackets that button up the back." His delusions are not new; in the late 1960s, he was convinced that Senator Margaret Chase Smith was a Russian spy and wrote letters to the police and FBI claiming to have evidence. By the time of the novel's events, his obsession has shifted to abortion, and he has become a member of the pro-life group Daily Bread, which later evolves into The Friends of Life. He is described as having a "zany shock of gray hair" that reminds Ralph of both Don King and Albert Einstein, and he wears thick horn-rimmed glasses that magnify his eyes, making them look like "strange fish." His physical appearance is coupled with a nauseating breath that smells like "spoiled bacon cooking slowly in a bath of garlic and rancid butter."
The Attack on Ralph Roberts
On October 3rd, 1993, Pickering tracks Ralph to the Derry Public Library, where Ralph is reading a book on dreams. Pickering materializes silently in the reading room, draws a hunting knife from a scabbard beneath his Snoopy sweatshirt, and sits down beside Ralph. He presses the knife into Ralph's side, whispering ecstatically about wanting to see the color of Ralph's guts when he "let[s] them out all over the floor." He calls Ralph a "Godless baby-killing Centurion" and a "fucking Centurion," revealing that Ed Deepneau has indoctrinated him with the paranoid belief that Ralph is part of a conspiracy to steal and sell fetal tissue. Pickering's eyes are described as "disconnected and oddly frightened," the eyes of a man who "would see signs in the sky and perhaps hear voices whispering from deep in the closet late at night." He prods Ralph with the knife, drawing blood, and is on the verge of committing murder when Ralph, remembering the can of Bodyguard spray that Gretchen Tillbury gave him, sprays it into Pickering's face.
Aftermath and Fate
The Bodyguard spray temporarily blinds and incapacitates Pickering, who screams that he is blind and that his skin is melting. He is arrested and identified by the library assistant as "Charlie Pickering," the same man who had been caught the previous year in the WomanCare parking garage with a can of gasoline and a knapsack full of bottles, preparing to firebomb the clinic. Despite his violent history, a judge had sent him to Juniper Hill for treatment rather than prison. After his attack on Ralph, he is charged with first-degree assault with a deadly weapon. Ed Deepneau, who had been using Pickering as a tool, posts his $80,000 bail in cash, a move that shocks even the police. Pickering later participates in the assault on High Ridge, where he is cornered by Ralph and Lois. In the ensuing struggle, Ralph, in a moment of uncontrolled power, inadvertently severs Pickering's connection to his life-force, leaving him a catatonic shell, slumped against a wall with a "large pinkish spit-bubble" appearing between his slack lips. He is no longer a threat, but his fate serves as a grim testament to the destructive power of both human madness and the supernatural forces at play.
