19. THE NEON MAZE
Las Vegas: Tuesday 29th May 1990.
Slumped at my desk...... ..... I'm asleep again......
I can hear snatches of conversation in the room before I fall deeper into my own mind..... ...... Deeper into my own skull....... I'm back at St Peters Boys......
...... Before it was bulldozed and turned into council houses.....
The place is how I remember it: Long, winding corridors and low ceilings; mustard colored walls and small windows that never opened properly; large clocks mounted above the corridor doorways......
The only difference now is that I'm not in Portishead; outside are the favelas of Brazil.......
My feet are sinking into the rotting, chalky floor underneath the foot or so of stinking, putrid water.....
I can hear Hymie, but I can't see him....The bastard is taunting me:
"HEY ASSHOLE! WAKE UP FUCKO! NONE OF THESE FUCKING LIGHTS WORK! CRUMBY, CHEAP-ASS ENGLISH SCHOOLS....."
Outside, the sun is setting over the deserted favelas; I'm alone for miles around....
I can feel the loneliness in the pit of my stomach.....
The long winding halls are a maze of dark grey and brown.
Now I can hear Sarah calling to me:
"TONY! HELP TONY! TONY! PLEASE...."
I can sense Sarah and Hymie are just ahead of me- But I can't seem to catch them up...
.... They're one step ahead.....
Corridors only lead to more corridors and the ceiling is getting lower and lower......
The bastard is still taunting me:
"HEY FUCKO! YER THINKING WITH YER DICK TONE! THESE FUCKIN' BITCHES ARE TROUBLE! CRUMBY..... CHEAP ASS ENGLISH SCHOOLS....."
Suddenly I enter another corridor; the ceiling takes a sharp 180 degree turn downwards, meeting with the floor- I'm trapped!
To my right is a door with 'BOYS' written on it. I manage to push the door open- The water is now up to my knees.
I walk to the mirror.....
.... I need Tobey right now....
Maybe Tobey has the answers to all this... Tobey is nowhere to be seen...
Hymie comes bowling out of one the cubicles, stood at the sink next to me:
"JESUS TONE! WHAT TOOK YOU SO FUCKIN' LONG?!"
I place my hands on the sink, staring deeper into the mirror in front. Sarah is behind me, looking at me through the reflection. She says nothing.
Hymie is cutting lines of cocaine on the sink next to me:
"TONE! THOSE LITTLE ASS TOILETS... WHERE THOSE LITTLE ENGLISH CUNTS TAKE A SHIT?! PERFECT FOR COKE BRAH.... PERFECTO! THOSE CUBICLES ARE THE RIGHT SIZE TO CHOP UP THE YAYO! Y'KNOW WHAT I MEAN, RIGHT?"
As I gaze at my reflection, I'm looking for Tobey.......
Sarah is now chanting:
"DISINTEGRATE..... DISINTEGRATE..... DISINTEGRATE.... DISINTEGRATE...."
My eyes have turned into huge, black bubbles that burst violently..... Splattering blood across the mirror...
My teeth have started to fall out- I spit them into the basin and gaze back at what's left of my reflection.
Hymie is amused:
"Shit! That looks nasty! Hey Tone! You wanna line?! Just a little coke?!"
He turns his head towards me, opening his mouth and exposing a row of gold teeth, encrusted with diamonds:
"Gotta have teeth Tone! Gotta be able to bite through bone, wire... FLESH!"
I turn to my reflection as Sarah keeps chanting:
"DISINTEGRATE..... DISINTEGRATE..... DISINTEGRATE.... DISINTEGRATE...."
Hymie keeps on talking in my ear:
"Hey Tone... You see that bitch there?! I'm gonna fuck that bitch! Give her a baby with gold teeth n shit! A cannibal baby that eats other babies!!"
I stare back at the reflection waiting for Tobey. Sarah is still chanting:
"DISINTEGRATE..... DISINTEGRATE..... DISINTEGRATE.... DISINTEGRATE...." My skin in melting away from my skull, I'm disintegrating....
Hymie won't stop, his voice is slow- Like a broken cassette tape:
"BAAAAABIEEES-EAAAAATINGG-BAAAABIESS!
GOOOOTTA-HAVE-TEETHHHHHHHH......."
BANG!!
I'm back in the room- I'm awake! Something hit me in the head.
"Was that fuckin' necessary?" I can hear Hymie whinge at somebody.
"THA FUCK.... HE WAS SCREAMING LIKE A CRAZY PERSON HOMMES!" Lorenzo.......
I pick my drink up and swivel around to see something I don't like- WAYNE!
"What's this cunt doing here?" I ask Hymie. The cunt just shrugs and points at Lorenzo.
I light a fag at address the Mexican cunt: "Whats this CUNT! Doing in my room?"
Wayne is sat with Sarah on the bed, snorting a line off blow of a mirror. Lorenzo says nothing.
He walks over to the desk, looking out of the window:
"This guy is the connect..... He has a purpose here hommes. Yo' purpose is to meet the guy and get the sample n shit. You gonna meet Super mario and grab tha dose when the motherfucker calls, ya dig?"
I'm confused:
"Super Mario? What kinda name is that?"
"That's his street name," Wayne mumbles, snorting a line and passing the rolled up note to Sarah.
Hymie pipes up:
"He's a video game character!"
I'm stumped- Absolutely stumped:
"What are you lot fucking talking about?! This makes NO sense!!"
The coke has brought out the prick in Hymie:
"DO YOU LIVE UNDER A FUCKIN' ROCK TONE?! SUPER MARIO?! HE'S THIS FAT, ITALIAN PLUMBER WHO SAVES THIS PRINCESS.... HE HAS A BROTHER CALLED-"
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" I interrupt, annoyed. "I'm meeting some dodgy Italian geezer to buy coke?!"
"NO!" Talia spits. "HE'S A VID-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!! ALL YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES!" Lorenzo screams out, waving a meat cleaver he's pulled from his trousers around his head. "DUMB MOTHERFUCKERS..."
Everybody is now sat in silence, staring at the carpet.
Everything-
DUT DUT DUT DUT DUT!
We all jump fifty foot into the air!
DUT DUT DUT DUT DUT!
The phone... Somebody is calling the room.
DUT DUT DUT DUT DUT!
Lorenzo scolds Wayne:
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HOMMES?! PICK THAT SHIT UP!"
DUT DUT DUT DUT DUT!
Wayne dashes over and grabs the receiver:
"Errrr, hello......"
Lorenzo sprints across the room, spilling a bottle of beer in the process. He's stood behind Wayne, trying to listen in on the call.
Wayne says something he shouldn't:
"Oh hey! Wassup Mario!"
Lorenzo has his head in his hands:
"What the fuck is this motherfucker doing n shit! Dumb motherfucker....."
Wayne is turning bright red as the person on the other end of the line scolds him.
I can't help but laugh, this is too much fun- Watching these fucking assholes fumble around in the dark.
True professionals.....
Wayne puts the phone down and turns to Lorenzo:
"Yeah.... Marios good to-"
SMACK!
I'm now in hysterics as Lorenzo backhands Wayne across the head:
"THE FUCK YOU DOING HOMMES?! YOU NEVER USE A MOTHERFUCKERS NAME OVER THE PHONE BITCH! THOSE PHONE LINES ARE RIGGED N SHIT! COPS BE CHECKING THAT SHIT REGULAR HOMMES! CATCH A CASE DOING DUMB SHIT LIKE THAT!"
"HE'S A BELLBOY!" I blurt out. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING USING THIS PRAT?!"
Lorenzo ignores me and walks back to the window, reloading his metal pipe.
"FUCK YOU PUNK!" Spits Wayne, hurt he's been reminded of what he is. "You think your better then me 'cause you sit at a desk all day writing stupid shit on a typewriter?! I'm a real motherfucker! Not some pussy ass homo!"
Wayne is glaring at me with real hatred in his eyes. I lean back further into my desk chair and soak up his rays, considering my words carefully:
"So because I write... You think I've never worked a blue collar job? Is that correct?"
He continues to stare at me. I forge onwards:
"My first ever job was in a butchers with my Uncle Frank..... After that, I mopped floors at a retirement home... After that.... I became a nurse.... Back when a man being a nurse was considered 'homo'"
"So?" He responds, shrugging his shoulders- Not taking his eyes off me.
"So Wayne....." I say, holding his gaze, "take some pride in your job. What are you even doing here? Does your boss know what you're up to?"
He shakes his head, laughing:
"What are you?! A fucking idiot?! You think that this shit is what I wanna do for the rest of my life?! I got some big plans! Lemme tell you something..... I got the connection man, moving weight is the future and within a few weeks this shitty ass job will be a thing of the past! I'm gonna ballin' like a motherfucker! The future starts today!"
I'm intrigued:
"How old are you Wayne? Twenty-two? Twenty-three?"
"Twenty-four smart ass!" He responds, looking over at Lorenzo. "Shiftin' weight is where the stacks is? Right hommie?"
Lorenzo mumbles something as he stares out of the window again.
I turn my attention back to Wayne:
"Your a fucking prat Wayne! You know that?"
He ignores me and accepts a joint from Talia who scowls in my direction. Sarah grabs the remote from the television set and turns up the volume:
"Let's watch some TV.... Too much testosterone in the room....."