Mrs. GARNER. The screen belonged on the outside of the kitchen. I have
a window fan and it gets dirty, and I take it off and hose it and clean
it, but I didn't put it back. I left it on the porch, and he wanted to
put it back.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was this a window fan in Oswald's kitchen?
Mrs. GARNER. It was in Oswald's kitchen, and he wanted to put the
screen up and asked me was it all right to put the screen up, and asked
me would I loan him a ladder and a hammer. The hooks belonged to the
screen to hook the screen, they was off, but I loaned him two nails and
told him to tack the screen on so far, so I could take the nails off,
and that would be it, so his wife come outside in the meantime with the
baby, and they was talking Russian and I couldn't understand what they
were saying.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you know it was the Russian language then?
Mrs. GARNER. No; I don't know. I just put two and two together when
they come out with that Russian, but I knew she was Russian. He told me
she was Russian when they came to rent the apartment. I don't know what
made me say it, but I told him, I called him Lee, I said, "Lee, why
don't you talk English to your little girl and your wife? That way she
could learn to talk English, and when the little girl goes to school it
wouldn't be as hard on her."
He said, "She has time enough to learn that," and he never had a nice
word to say to me after that. I think that must have made him hate me
or something like that, because he just passed me up all the time too,
and never turned his head to look.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he get the screen back up?
Mrs. GARNER. Yes; he tacked it back up, and I got my ladder and hammer
back, and he never even said thank you or nothing.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he tell you any specific reason why he didn't speak
English to his wife and girl?
Mrs. GARNER. No; that's all he said, they had plenty time enough for
that, something like that.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever try to talk to Marina Oswald?
Mrs. GARNER. Yes; I did when she would be outside hanging clothes. I
tried to talk to her and to the baby, I talked to both, and she would
put her hands over her eyes and start crying. I asked her how she felt,
and she would just do like this with her shoulders.
Mr. LIEBELER. She shrugged her shoulders?
Mrs. GARNER. Yes; and when she would see you she would not try to say
hello, and she always wore little pedal pushers around the house with a
little shirt, and her hair was straight pulled back and pinned down.
Mr. LIEBELER. This was Marina?
Mrs. GARNER. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did she have long hair?
Mrs. GARNER. Yes; long enough, about here.
Mr. LIEBELER. Down to her shoulders?
Mrs. GARNER. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you have any other contact with Oswald yourself,
personally?
Mrs. GARNER. Yes. One time I went for my rent, it was a few days past
due, the rent, and I mean, you know, when you let them go they wait too
long and they don't ever get it. It was a few days later, I was going
around the drive to see about my rent and he was starting out the drive
to catch a bus on the corner, and when he saw me he turned around and
looked, figured I was coming after the rent. I said, "Oswald, you got
the rent? The landlady is coming for the rent." He said, "Yes, I have
it."
He was fixing to go to the bus, so he turned around to walk up the
drive to go get the money, and I said, "Go on where you have to go; I
will get it later," and he just pushed me aside and went by me and went
and got the money and handed it to me.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he actually push you aside physically?
Mrs. GARNER. Yes, just like that, and I called to him and I said,
"Never mind; go where you have to go and I will get it later," and he
just took me like this and pushed me aside and just went, you know,
just went by me like that.
Mr. LIEBELER. He actually laid his hands on you?
Mrs. GARNER. Put his hands on me just like that, and pushed me.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he say anything?
Mrs. GARNER. He didn't say a thing. He come back and gave me the money
and that was it.