Aloha from Hell

Josef stares at me. Maybe the Nazi face is right for him after all. Like all good goose-steppers, Kissi think they’re better than everybody else. In their minds they’re high-rolling, comped-in-Vegas true angels. God, on the other hand, thinks of them as being like the black sludge that rolls into sewers. When he thinks of them at all.

“We’re done for now. I’m going inside. Keep your phone on,” I tell him, and start back to the hotel.

“The beast in your room is very pretty,” says Josef. “Her true face is, at least. Much better than that human you wasted your time with before. You should thank Mason for getting rid of her for you.”

I head back for him, trying to decide if I should rip out his tongue or stomp his ribs into marmalade. But he’s gone before I even turn around. Like I said, Josef is fast.

I go to Candy’s room, climb over the broken furniture as quietly as I can, and lie down next to her. I’m exhausted from getting up early, fighting the hangover, and torching my hand. A club like Dead Set won’t open its doors until at least eleven and I’m betting Cale won’t be there before one. There’s time to get a few hours of sleep.

Candy stirs when she feels my body hit the mattress. Takes one of my arms and wraps it around her, pulling me onto my side until my front is pressed against her back. It feels strange to be in a bed with another person. Strange in an okay way. The kind of strange a person could get used to.

I don’t even feel sleep coming on, but the room goes soft around me and I’m somewhere else.

I’m making coffee in the kitchen of the old apartment. Alice is on the sofa doing a crossword puzzle. Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, a weird fetish anime version of Alice in Wonderland is on TV with the sound off. X is playing “The World’s a Mess It’s in My Kiss” from a little boom box on the counter.

Alice says, “What’s an eight-letter word for ‘bountiful flora’?”

“I have no idea. You know I hate crosswords.”

“ ‘Genocide,’ ” she says, and fills in the squares.

“What?˭ 1C;What01D;

She doesn’t look up.

“How about a five-letter word for ‘Pinocchio’s kin’?”

“I don’t know.”

“ ‘Sheol.’ ”

I leave the coffee and walk over to the sofa.

“What kind of a crossword is that?”

“ ‘Saints’ bones.’ Seven letters. ‘Armageddon.’ ”

I sit down next to her. On the TV, a dominatrix version of the Mad Hatter is coming on to cartoon Alice.

My Alice looks up, smiles, and kisses me lightly on the lips.

“Here’s one that’s two words for ‘a makeshift mantra.’ ”

I look over her shoulder at the puzzle. It’s completely normal except that she’s filling in all the answers in strange runes or pictograms I’ve never seen before.

“ ‘Orphée.’ ”

“Is this a dream?” I ask her.

She shrugs.

“You tell me. This is in your head. Would you be more comfortable if I was a dancing midget?”

“In another dream, before the Drifters hit the city, you warned me about something that was going to happen to me. Is this one of those dreams?”

“What’s a five-letter word for ‘banker’s holiday’?”

The X song starts up again. She must have it set on loop.

Go to hell see if you like it

Then come home with me

Tomorrow night may be too late

The world’s a mess it’s in my kiss

“ ‘HOLOCAUST,&/font>

“I’m going to make this right, you know. I’m going to make Mason pay for what he did to you and me.”

Alice finishes the puzzle and sets it on the coffee table. I can see it better now. Even though she was coming up with different answers, the puzzle is filled in with the same seven symbols, over and over again.

She leans over and puts her arms around me. Rests her head on my shoulder, watching the TV.

“That’s one fucked-up movie,” she says.

“I don’t know why I picked it.”

“Yeah, why would you possibly pick Alice in Wonderland?”

“Oh. Right.”

She pulls me closer.

“You know I love you, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you need to stop goddamn obsessing all the time. I’m dead. Boo-hoo. You’re Sandman Slim. Boo-hoo. The universe is a lot bigger than us.”

I shake my head. Reach for a cigarette. She lets go so I can lean forward and grab the lighter.

“I know all that. But a lot of little stuff still hurts like Hell.”

“You’re telling me? I’m the one who got a knife in the back.”

She says it right after I light up. I try to move away, but she holds on to me.

“That’s really what happened?”

“Yeah. You’ve got to give Mason credit for that. Sending Parker to do it fast. The guy knew how to do it. I hardly felt a thing.”

“If you know that, then this isn’t a dream.”

“Maybe not a hundred percent. But it’s still a dream.”

“For a long time I was afraid of knowing what happened to you.”

“Gee, I hadn’t noticed. Now you do know. It’s time to get your ass past it.”

I take a drag off the cigarette. She takes it from my hand and puffs. Hands it back to me. Her fingertips are blue to the point of almost being black. They don’t look like a living person’s hands.div height="0">

“I don’t know what to do next.”

Alice punches me on the arm.