The Erection Set

“Screw it, little blonde doll, I’ve lived my life. I tried to cut out and nobody will let me. So it’s over. Don’t let it rub off on you. I’ve outfoxed the cops on three continents and left my stupid little mark on society and there’s nobody left to cry for me so what the fuck do I care, understand? It’s almost over, but before that damn last chip goes on the table we’re going to leave a clean house behind us.”

“Dog ... you said ... we are.”

“The royal plural, sugar. Forget it”

“I love you.”

The way she said it hit me right in the pit of my stomach and every muscle in my body went tight. I looked down at her and saw the stillness in her face and knew what my father saw when he screwed my mother in that lonely room atop the building in Mondo Beach and for the first time I saw something else the rain had given me. It was in her face and the highlights came out beside the tiny smile and kaleidoscope images went past my mind without being recognized and I had to think hard to unwind enough to say,

“Don’t, kid.”

It was like the first time I had seen her, with Raul bending over her giving the big pitch and she read him off so beautifully. She threw the rain away from her face and smiled. “I’m only a two-way woman, Dog, I’ve known men, I’ve gone down on them, I’ve had it backward, I’ve experimented in women ... but I’m still a virgin. Isn’t that terrible?”

“Get lost.”

“Unh-uh. I’ve been waiting.”

“Then wait for your guy. He may not be dead.”

“I really don’t care anymore.”

“Then you’d better start because something decent’s got to be left in this fucking world.”

“Who’s going to kill you, Dog?”

“Everybody,” I said.

“Can I watch?”

I had held my pack of cigarettes in my hand too long. They were soaked and I tossed them into the mud. She was smiling and I smiled back.

“With pleasure,” I said.

XXII

The rain had stopped, but the storm took over and it was wild outside. What had been rain was a slashing downpour, angling against the world like the creations of men were its enemy, trying to wash it down the drain so the earth could start over without all the needless ruination and I agreed with nature and went back outside to do what I had to do.

She met me in Tod’s and I knew everything had gotten all screwed up when I sat down and said, “Hello, Rose.”

Instead of answering she looked into her coffee cup and fiddled with a lone pretzel beside the saucer. “What happened?”

“You ask a lot,” she finally said.

“I know. I pay for it, too.”

There was no reason to push her. I let Tod bring me a beer, waited until he left and took the top off the glass, wiping the foam from my mouth with the back of my hand.

“What happened?”

Her eyes finally crawled up into mine. “They really your family?”

“Only partly.”

I reached out and grabbed her hand. “You hurt?”

“No.”

“Everything work?”

“Oh, you got your pictures, if that’s what you wanted. I couldn’t believe people could be like that.”

“What the hell happened to you, Rose?”

She sipped her coffee, took the cigarette I offered and let me light it for her. “You’re all Barrins, right?”

I said Yes.

“Buddy ...”

“Keep talking.”

“He’s a shit.”

“I knew that a long time ago.”

“Why didn’t you tell me what kind of a shit he was?”

“I set up the escape route, kid.”

“Thanks. Really thanks. I damn near didn’t make it.”

“Apparently you did though.” I sat back and grinned at her.

“Dammit, stop that smiling, Dog. Just because I’m a total professional whore doesn’t mean you have to smile at me like that.”

“It’s because I like you, kiddo.”

“Go ball yourself.”

“Not right now.”

When she looked up there were tears in her eyes and they weren’t new at all. “Lee’s going to hate me,” she said.

“Your fault.”

“Dog ... I’m not as tough as you.”

“But you’re as soft,” I said.

“What good does that do?”

“Remember ... I told you to marry my buddy ... he needs somebody like you?”

“Yes.”

“Do it.”

“Will he have me?”

“You must be out of your cotton-picking skull. He needs you.”

“But he doesn’t need you anymore, does he?”

“The sky is empty, Rose. It’s all over. Believe?”

“I believe.” She put the cup down and tried hard to smile until it finally worked. “You’ll really let us alone?”

“I will.”

“The bastard tried to kill me,” she said. “I went all the way with the bum and then he wanted to kill me. He never got screwed like what I gave him and then some more plus, but he got wound up so damn tight over something he was going to wipe me out. You know, Dog, I’m a big broad and I’ve been against these types before, but this guy is homicidal. If you hadn’t set everything up, I would have been over the terrace and a lump on the concrete.”

“You’re here now.”

“I should say ‘no thanks to you’ ... but it happened.”

“Enjoy it?”

“The slob couldn’t even get a normal erection.”

“Help him?”

“All I could for the photos.”

“Good.”

“By the way ... not like I never had pictures taken of me before, but what do you do with the negatives?”

“You can have them.”

“I couldn’t care less. Lee knows me.”

“Then let’s not leave any residue behind.”

“I told him, Dog.”

“What did he say?”