be with you. I swear to God I do.’
She curled into a ball on the floor begging me not to make her go.
I remember I got her to her feet and made her leave. I told her I’d bring her stuff by later, in the next couple of days, but that I didn’t want to see her anymore. The last thing I told her was that she was a hooker. That in my mind she was now just a prostitute. I stood there in the hallway of the Mizpah and said it to her, just like that.
She was leaning against the hallway, crying. Her eyes red, her nose leaking, and tears everywhere.
‘Don’t,’ was all she said. Then I went back into my room, shut the door and locked it.
Jerry Lee came in that night but I couldn’t tell him what had happened. I just lay there, sleeping a little here and there, mostly I just felt ruined and exhausted. When I’d get to sleep it was bad. Tossing and turning, and waking with the shakes. The next morning I called in sick again. Jerry Lee and I went down to the Golden Nugget and had breakfast, and I walked him to work.
I spent most of the day at the river, and by the end I decided to try to talk to her. That I would go to her place and see what she said.
When I got to her room, though, it was empty. The curtains were open and I could see all their things were gone. I went to the manager and he said they had checked out that morning, the two of them, but he didn’t know where they’d gone.
19
THE NEXT MORNING I wrapped the dog in my coat and carried him down to the street so no one would see him. It was going to snow again. The temperature was dropping. We went all the way down Virginia Street to Landrums, the old lunch counter which sat only eight people. I got bacon and eggs, saving the bacon for the dog, who waited outside underneath the bus bench. I got a coffee to go and drank it to keep warm as we walked towards Jerry Lee’s old room. I took side streets so the dog could walk on lawns.
When we made it back downtown I walked past the El Cortez Lounge, and as I did so, Al Casey came running out. I was across the street from him, and when the traffic cleared, he made his way over.
‘Jesus, Al, what happened to you?’
He was dressed in an orange jogging suit and his face was swollen with two black eyes, his nose was bent and bruised, therewas dried blood around his nostrils, his lips were cracked and covered with Vaseline. There was a bandage on his head.
‘Damn, I’m out of shape.’ He bent over to catch his breath. ‘Where you going?’
‘To my brother’s place. What the hell happened to you?’
‘I was walking home the other night after I’d rented a movie and a couple of these redneck bastards were waiting outside that gay bar on Virginia. The one with numbers on the outside. Near the vegetarian joint. Anyway, they called me a queer, and pushed me down and kicked the shit out of me in that parking lot across the street. I don’t know why they did it. I thought I was gonna die. It was that bad. Finally I just curled up in a cannonball and tried to wait it out. All because I was wearing a light green suit and walking by that place. I didn’t even know who the fuck they were, I’d never seen them in my life. My question is, why would you want to beat up a guy just for walking down the street? It was just terrible, Frank. And guess what movie I was renting?’
I shook my head.
‘ Chitty Chitty Bang Bang , for Christsakes. It was Saturday and I felt like being in a good mood. You know? And they stole the movie. I remember one of them picked it up and looked at it, then just took it.’
‘Jesus,’ I said. Al was drunk, and blood from his nose began to drip on his suit.
‘Your nose is starting up.’
‘I’m a fucking mess,’ he said. He took a napkin from his pocket, tore a small piece from it, rolled it with his fingers and stuck it in his nose. ‘Guess where I’m going?’
‘Where?’
‘You know Darren Hofchek?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘He’s a guy who used to work at the
She curled into a ball on the floor begging me not to make her go.
I remember I got her to her feet and made her leave. I told her I’d bring her stuff by later, in the next couple of days, but that I didn’t want to see her anymore. The last thing I told her was that she was a hooker. That in my mind she was now just a prostitute. I stood there in the hallway of the Mizpah and said it to her, just like that.
She was leaning against the hallway, crying. Her eyes red, her nose leaking, and tears everywhere.
‘Don’t,’ was all she said. Then I went back into my room, shut the door and locked it.
Jerry Lee came in that night but I couldn’t tell him what had happened. I just lay there, sleeping a little here and there, mostly I just felt ruined and exhausted. When I’d get to sleep it was bad. Tossing and turning, and waking with the shakes. The next morning I called in sick again. Jerry Lee and I went down to the Golden Nugget and had breakfast, and I walked him to work.
I spent most of the day at the river, and by the end I decided to try to talk to her. That I would go to her place and see what she said.
When I got to her room, though, it was empty. The curtains were open and I could see all their things were gone. I went to the manager and he said they had checked out that morning, the two of them, but he didn’t know where they’d gone.
19
THE NEXT MORNING I wrapped the dog in my coat and carried him down to the street so no one would see him. It was going to snow again. The temperature was dropping. We went all the way down Virginia Street to Landrums, the old lunch counter which sat only eight people. I got bacon and eggs, saving the bacon for the dog, who waited outside underneath the bus bench. I got a coffee to go and drank it to keep warm as we walked towards Jerry Lee’s old room. I took side streets so the dog could walk on lawns.
When we made it back downtown I walked past the El Cortez Lounge, and as I did so, Al Casey came running out. I was across the street from him, and when the traffic cleared, he made his way over.
‘Jesus, Al, what happened to you?’
He was dressed in an orange jogging suit and his face was swollen with two black eyes, his nose was bent and bruised, therewas dried blood around his nostrils, his lips were cracked and covered with Vaseline. There was a bandage on his head.
‘Damn, I’m out of shape.’ He bent over to catch his breath. ‘Where you going?’
‘To my brother’s place. What the hell happened to you?’
‘I was walking home the other night after I’d rented a movie and a couple of these redneck bastards were waiting outside that gay bar on Virginia. The one with numbers on the outside. Near the vegetarian joint. Anyway, they called me a queer, and pushed me down and kicked the shit out of me in that parking lot across the street. I don’t know why they did it. I thought I was gonna die. It was that bad. Finally I just curled up in a cannonball and tried to wait it out. All because I was wearing a light green suit and walking by that place. I didn’t even know who the fuck they were, I’d never seen them in my life. My question is, why would you want to beat up a guy just for walking down the street? It was just terrible, Frank. And guess what movie I was renting?’
I shook my head.
‘ Chitty Chitty Bang Bang , for Christsakes. It was Saturday and I felt like being in a good mood. You know? And they stole the movie. I remember one of them picked it up and looked at it, then just took it.’
‘Jesus,’ I said. Al was drunk, and blood from his nose began to drip on his suit.
‘Your nose is starting up.’
‘I’m a fucking mess,’ he said. He took a napkin from his pocket, tore a small piece from it, rolled it with his fingers and stuck it in his nose. ‘Guess where I’m going?’
‘Where?’
‘You know Darren Hofchek?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘He’s a guy who used to work at the
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