"Don't you watch me!" "You think you're going to crawl into my brain and see a show?" "Is that what I am?" "Is that what you think?" "What I think, Mr. Ledbetter, is the temperature's dropping." "Well, I got legions of angels up here, like little moths, and they're going to beat the hell out of you with their wings." "Freaks." "I'm gonna crap you out, Stuyvesant!" " Who-Who's Stuyvesant?" " You're Stuyvesant." "I'm not Stuyvesant." "I'm with the department of social services." "No, you're a zit... on Stuyvesant's ass, but you're Stuyvesant just the same." "You're all Stuyvesant." "Tell him... don't send no more no-face errand boys to catch me, 'cause I hear ya coming." "I hear your chains - clink, clink." "You sound like defeat." "You even smell like defeat." "You smell like, like degradation." "Happy Valentine's Day, Caveman." "Hey, yo, Caveman." "Give us a fucking tirade, yo." "Yo, what's that fucker Stuyvesant up to, man?" "Help you?" "I don't know you." "No, no, no." "You on your own, son." "You got your troubles, I got mine." "Do I look like I can help you, huh?" "Help you?" "I don't even know who the fuck you are." "All right, Michael, thank you." "Mr.?" "Mr.?" "Got a pencil?" "A pencil?" "What do you want a pencil for?" "I wanna balance it on the end of my nose." "You want to write something?" "I got a pen." "Hey, keep it." "What the hey, right?" "Can I ask what you're writing there?" "You want your pen back?" "No, no, no." "It's okay." "You a musician or a- Mm-hmm." "What do you play?" "My skull." " I used to play piano." " You had a piano, huh?" "There were a great many at the school I attended." " What school did you go to?" " Juilliard." "Juilliard?" "You went to Juilliard, huh?" "How the hell did you wind up here?" "I'm here because that bastard wants me here." "What bastard?" "Don't play stupid." "The bastard that lives in that tower." "He sits in his tower, and he watches." "And what he sees, he doesn't like." "I mean, it curls his stinking, rancid blood what he sees." "And what he sees is a free man!" "That old Stuyvesant, you know what he says to that?" "He says, "We're gonna crush that nigger." "Oh, yeah, send some Y-rays that nigger's way. "" "Don't back off, pinstripes, you fucking coward." "Stuyvesant's gone and laced your mind with Y-rays." "You're living like a jackrabbit." "Oh, yeah, run, Stuyvesant." "But I see ya." "Stuyvesant!" "You see me?" "Well, I see you right fucking back!" "What lies are you telling us now?" "Yep?" "Lulu, listen to me." " Romulus?" " Stuyvesant killed someone." "Where's he calling from?" " Tell her I'm home." " He got a phone in that cave now?" "Tell her, my home is not a mansion, but it suits me fline." "He freezes to death, I'm not paying for his funeral." "She says" " I heard her." "Listen, Lulu, this time I've got the evidence." "You do, huh?" "There's a body outside my cave." "That's rough, Rom." "Listen, I just pulled a night shift." "I am sound asleep." "Please, child." "Please, just come on over." "I know what you're thinking." "B" " But this dead thing he left outside my cave, it's real." "It's so shiny real, it hurts the eyes." "...believed to be another victim of the Arctic cold wave." "The dead man was identified as Scott Gates, 20 years old, unemployed and homeless." "Oh, that sucked." "Can I go again?" "A young man has been found frozen to death here in Inwood Park." "You saw this no-face prop the body in the tree?" "That's right." "But you were in there in your bed the whole time?" "How'd you see all this?" "I told you, I saw it on my TV." "What kind of shows you get on that TV?" "All of them." "The whole heady broth of American culture, right?" "You get cable?" "Lieutenant." "Can I talk to you for a moment?" "Yeah, sure." "Look, I know this guy." "I've seen him around." "He's completely delusional." "Why don't we just- Get your hands off her!" "Take it easy, pal, we're just having a little chat." "Don't touch my daughter, squashface." "Ever!" "Your daughter?" "This man is your father?" "Why didn't you say something?" "Maybe I don't meet her momentous expectations." "But I'm still a witness." "I know who the murderer is." "Now you write it!" "Write what?" "The name of the murderer, which you already know." "Cornelius Gould Stuyvesant, now write it!" "Daddy!" "Tell him to write it." "I can't tell him anything, he's my boss." "Hey, what the hell, pal, that's the way I like 'em, open and shut." "How do you spell Stuyvesant?" "You know how to spell it." "Aah!" "Go ahead and kill me." "For Christ's sake, Rom." "I'm dead already." "Matthew?" "It's you who found him, wasn't it?" "Found who?" "Scotty." "He knew they were going to kill him." "Matthew, you're shivering." "I don't care." "You're too cold." "I loved him, Rom." "I wanna die too." "Okay." "Okay." "Not right now, okay?" "Come on." "They killed him, Rom." "He was just too beautiful for them." "Ah, God, Rom, wasn't- wasn't he beautiful?" "He was dead when I saw him." "Yeah, but you met him." "The dead kid?" "I don't think so." "Well, he knew you." "He said you weren't afraid to speak the truth." "No shit, Rom." "He called you "The Voice. "" "He did?" "He was just a kid." "He was fucking innocent till that bastard got his fucking hands on him." "Stuyvesant?" "David Leppenraub." "Who?" "David Leppenraub." "Don't you know, Rom?" "The photographer?" "I mean, he's fucking famous." "He does these pictures of angels, and everyone's always going on about how beautiful Leppenraub's angels are." "And, yeah, they're beautiful because they're Scotty." "Scotty was Leppenraub's model?" "He was his fucking slave." "He was so ashamed of the pictures, he wouldn't even show them to me." "That bastard took him up to his farm, tortured him, got him strung out on dope." "He-He even branded him, Rom." "He burned a heart on Scotty's ass." "And then when he was done with him, he threw him away, like a fucking piece of trash." "I found him on the street like that, you know?" "I didn't care." "He was still beautiful." "He was beautiful to me." "But he couldn't let it go, you know?" "All the shit that happened to him." "He kept telling me that he had this tape of the torture." "He was going to get a bunch of money from Leppenraub for it." "That's what got him killed." "You tell the cops this, Matthew?" "Come on, Rom, look at me." "Who do you think they're going to believe, huh?" "Me?" "Or the great David Leppenraub?" "What sins have you committed?" "Y- rays." "They're listening." "There's nothing you can do, Matthew." "You and me, we're too small." "He knows that." "He likes that." "You know him?" "You know Leppenraub?" "I don't have to know him." "I know the man he works for." "You have any-any sins to confess, my child?" "Come on, Rom, I feel ridiculous enough." "You can call me Daddy, no one listening." "What are we doing here, Daddy?" "Suppose I-I told you I knew who killed Scotty Gates?" "You did tell me and my boss." "Just-Just hear me out." "Suppose I told you that Scotty Gates was killed by a very famous artist?" "And suppose I found a way to slip you his name?" "David Leppenraub?" "You-You know about Leppenraub?" "Apparently, everybody knows about Leppenraub." "Scotty Gates was going all over town crying how Leppenraub had abused him." "So what?" "I think the same thing about my employer." "He told everyone he was going to get revenge." "So, Lieutenant Cork made a call, and Leppenraub said, yeah, Gates had tried to blackmail him, and he politely told Scotty to go to hell." "And then he politely murdered him." "There's no evidence of that." "Hell, there's a body in the tree." "Daddy, Gates was a nutcase." "No offense." "But he was running around in the middle of winter with no shirt." "Everyone thought he was going to freeze to death." "We think it's reasonable for us to assume that that's what happened." "Very, v-very reasonable, except for one thing." " What's that?" " He was murdered." "Daddy, you live in a cave." "You watch the news on a TV that's plugged into nothing." "You think there's a guy on top of a tower that's trying to take over the world." "You're not well." "Why don't you let me get you some help?" "And just who would you get to help me, Lulu?" "Just-Just who you got in mind for your old man?" "Rom, I-I got to get back to work." "That what you call it, Lulu?" "You call that work?" "Terrorizing innocent people while murderers roam the streets like rats, huh?" "And you ashamed of me." "I should be ashamed of you!" "You tell your boss he can't snake this one over on me." "Tell him he can't kill me, 'cause I'm reaching for my wallet." "He can't torture me with his anal broomsticks." "You tell Stuyvesant I'm going to tear his tower down!" "You" "Bored?" "Depressed?" "Tired?" "Need a lift?" "An added dimension?" "Baby girl, baby girl, I got what you need." "Fuckin' taste, man." "I" " I just need a front, man." "I got that smoke." "You know I'm fucking good for it, man." "Please, man, please." "Don't make me fucking beg." "I got that smoke." "I'll take whatever you got, man." "I'll lick your fucking pockets." "Come here." "Junkie, you offend me." "People like you, you're like fucking tumors, and I just want to cut your ass out" " Shaker, Shaker, undertaker, look what your garden has grown." "Get the fuck away from me, Caveman." "Yo, got that smoke." "Yo, yo, I'll give you two" "I'll give you two for one." "Can I offer you some?" "Sardine, be a sardine." "Get caught in the net." "Get squeezed in the cage." "Caveman!" "You want to disappear from this world, huh?" "Huh?" "You want to learn that trick?" "'Cause I can teach you." "You stinking' motherfucker." "Yo, yo, got that" " Come here, I got the smoke with me." "Roll with me, roll with me." "Matthew, come on." "You-You said there was a tape, right?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "Of the torture?" " And Leppenraub made it?" " Yeah, he made it." "So sick, he liked watching it." "But the guy running the camera, he wasn't into it." "Just doing what he was told." "So he made a copy of the tape for Scotty." "I guess he thought he was doing him a favor." "Protecting him." "So now Leppenraub has the tape back?" "I don't know." "But the cameraman, he must have the original, right?" "So what's his name?" "Where can we fiind him?" "How am I supposed to know?" "Why don't you ask Leppenraub?" "So, now you think you're a detective?" "I got eyes, Sheila, I can see things other people can't." "Like me?" "You still think I look like this after all these years?" "You're no smarter than when I married you, are you?" "I'm gonna fiind the evidence, Sheila." "I'm gonna nail this Leppenraub bastard." "Ah, baby, if your shit was a rocket ship, you could go to the moon." "Now why you gotta stick your nose in matters... that do not pertain to you, and don't give me some bullshit about love." "The dead boy knew me, Sheila." "He called me "The Voice. "" "It's Lulu, isn't it?" "You wanna prove yourself to her?" "You wanna win her respect?" "Try soap and hot water." "Try getting a job." "That's just what Stuyvesant wants, isn't it?" "Get a shave, get a job, relax." "Well, not this time, Sheila, because Stuyvesant left that valentine outside my door." "He thinks he got to me this time by leaving that particularly nasty, fucking insult." "It pisses me off." "Sir?" "Sir?" "You can't sleep in here." "It's like an oven in here." "What, are you trying to bake us?" "Are you making a pie?" "Sir, you're going to have to leave." " Will you marry me?" " I'm calling the police." "Call the preacher, my love." "I love you more than life itself." "I'm dialing right now." "I know you're dialing the preacher, my love." "I hear your heart beating, like a newborn... butterfly." "Arnold?" "Hello?" "Who is this?" "It's-It's Rom." "Romulus?" "Romulus Ledbetter?" "I do not believe it." "I thought you'd" "My God, I heard you were living in a cave or something." "A little rough, a little rough, but things are good now." "Uh, living in Tahiti." "Tahiti?" "W" " Well, San Francisco." "Was in Tahiti." "Okay." "Rom?" "Rom?" "Rom, are you there?" "No, no, no." "Everything's good." "Great." " How you doing, Arnold?" " Same old." "BBC's doing an opera of mine." "You're not still..." "composing, are you?" "Um, just-just did a piece for the, uh, the New Pastorale Festival." "Wow, that's great." "A sonata, uh, inspired by this guy David Leppenraub?" "You know his pictures?" "This is incredible." "David Leppenraub's a friend of mine." "Oh, my god!" "Is he?" "Hey, hey." "Listen, Romulus." "This is" " Well, I mean, it's just a thought, but we're having a fund-raiser up at David's farm." "That piece of yours, do you think you could perform it for us?" "This Saturday." "Oh, hey, look, it was just an idea." "Be glad to." "Great!" "Great." "This is gonna be some surprise." "Hey, mister?" "You got a suit and tie?" "You want a suit and tie?" "Got a gig upstate." "Old classmate got it for me." "Old classmate from Juilliard?" "Right." "You remembered." "Let me ask you something." "You say you went to Juilliard." "What can you tell me about, say, Scriabin?" "Who?" "The Russian composer, Scriabin?" "What can you tell me about him?" "Nothing." "Ah, of course you can't." "Take care, my friend." "Scriabin." "I can't see through to the least flicker of that man's divinity." "Poeme Divin's okay." "That Promethean chord of his?" "Nothing but a dominant ninth, few hocus-pocus suspensions." "Play the F-sharp it's "G," the "A" is B-flat." "You see what I mean?" "You can't impose divinity on a chord." "A chord's divinity has to come from the inside out." "You know?" "Betty?" "This is Romulus." "Hi, Romulus." "Romulus is a homeless man who needs a suit of clothes." "Uh, not-not homeless." "I live in a cave." "He's the one I told you about, remember?" "Remember?" "The music man, Bob?" "That's it." "Right." "Th-That's some view." "You'll grace us?" "Nice detail, Bob." "Bosendorfer '36." "Very good." "Everything in here is from the '30s." "Ohh, that's what it is." "Yeah, I'm a bankruptcy lawyer." "The depression was something of a golden era for my kind." "Please, play something, anything." "I" " I really couldn't." " Why not?" " Honey, if he doesn't want to play." "I wanna know if he can play, honey." "Please." "Fight it, baby." "Show Stuyvesant you're not scared of him." "Play the damn thing." "One hand-me-down suit coming up." "That was wonderful." "Why does it hurt you to play?" "That was another life." "You like?" "Oh." "Oh!" "Oh." "Romulus, what size shoe are you?" "Uh, 12." "Hmm." "Bob's a nine." "Well, maybe just keep 'em hidden." "There you go, Romulus." "We wouldn't want you to freeze to death." "A toast." "Honey?" "To the eternal cycles of failure... and reorganization, huh?" "So, tell us, who is Cornelius Gould Studebaker?" "Stuyvesant." "Darling?" "Maybe we better not talk about Mr. Stuyvesant right now." "Make you nervous, Bob?" "Something you don't want her to know?" "We wouldn't want you to freeze to death," "I really love that one, Bob." "Wouldn't want to fiind you propped in a tree." "What is it?" "It's a new weapon." "It's something I've never seen before." "Z- rays." "I'm so sorry." "I" " I really must be off." "If I've been impolite or ungenerous in any way, please, please, please, forgive me." "I" " I really must be off." "My undying gratitude for the clothes." "Woo, what are my chances of pulling this off?" "About zero." "Rubbing bellies with zero, unless you all simmer down!" "Look at you!" "You are a sight for sore eyes." "Remember Stacy Kensinger?" "Flautist, great lips." "Stacy." "Stacy?" "Uh, maybe she came after you left." "Why'd you leave anyway?" "I mean, nobody fucking ever leaves Juilliard." "Oh, well..." "got Sheila knocked up." "Really?" "That was it?" "Christ, you could have found some way." "Well, the last time I saw you was at Lincoln Center." "The snow out here is a different color." "You couldn't play that day." "Blue, like skim milk." "You know what I think?" "I think you were afraid." "You know how they say some people are afraid of success?" "Well, this therapist I've been seeing... thinks it's because we don't want to surpass our fathers." "Romulus?" "Rom!" "Great lips, where does it all go?" "Just didn't care much for recitals." "Hmm." "Yeah." "Lao-tse, how you doing, girl?" "Lao-tse, get down!" "She looks scary, but she's a sweetheart." "Hi, dog, hey." "Moira." "What a magnifiicent day." "Hey, dog." "You think I'm running a con, don't you?" "You think I'm the shoes and not the suit." " Lao-tse, stop bothering our guests." "You're right." "No bother." "No bother." "This is your brilliant friend." "Hi, I'm Moira Leppenraub." "I'm David's sister." "Mr. Ledbetter?" "Romulus." "Rom." "Lucinda!" "Baby, baby boy!" "Arnold tells me you're a genius." " At what?" " Music." "Oh, is that all?" "Why?" "Is there more?" "I can put a match in my mouth... and when the lights are out, I light up like a jack-o'- lantern." "The man does not promote me right." "Tell her about the time you burned a hole in your tongue." "Juvenile bullshit." "Sheila, what are you doing here?" "Watching you make a fool of yourself." "What are you doing here?" "I have to prove Leppenraub's guilty." "Prove to who?" "To the world." "To Lulu." "Lulu needs a father, not some psycho Sherlock Holmes." "You're gonna get yourself in deep shit." "Look at her." "Like a cat itching to get scratched." "You better watch your back, baby." " Shall we go in?" " I-I'll do it." "Oh, thanks." "Um, just this way." "Man on a horse." "I was at this exhibit, and it was basically penises- big, small, fat, skinny- all in pastel." "No, thank you." "Don't you watch me!" "Joey!" "Could you be a little less conspicuous, please?" "Sorry." "Please excuse him, Mr. Ledbetter." "He's a filmmaker." "I can't seem to get rid of him." "He's a filmmaker." "I can't seem to get rid of him." "Apparently, some people fiind my life terribly interesting." "I'm David Leppenraub." "I'm honored to have you here." "And-And I to be here." "I was very flattered to hear that my work inspires you." "Oh, well." "Why?" "Excuse me?" "Why do you like my work?" "Well- This one." "What do you think?" "What do I think?" "That's what I asked." "It's empty." "Empty?" "So empty, it hurts the eyes." "You see, the angel is-is looking heavenward, b - but he can't see because Stuyvesant has sucked out his soul and just left a shell." "He's empty." "So empty it hurts." "Now that I like, amigo." "It hurts the eyes." "Watch your head." "Does it hurt, Mr. Ledbetter?" "It's supposed to." "All great art is born of suffering." "Tell me what you feel." "In what dark, damaged place does it infect you?" "Deep, ancestral, primordial pain." "Shame, fear - that's what my work is all about." "Fear and transcending fear." "Guts versus fear." "It's really all there is." "I'm told I'm something of an expert on fear." "Let me show you this." "My latest." "What's your verdict?" "Guilty." "And your evidence?" "Don't have any." "Not yet." "That's a different kid, isn't it?" "It's not the same model who's in the other shots, right?" "You are perceptive." "Most people can't tell." "That's Joey, the asshole with the video camera." "My regular model had vertigo, and I needed him up in a tree, but heights made him twitchy." "Is that right?" "Who was your regular model?" "He doesn't work for me anymore." "Joey took his place." "Really?" "What happened to him?" "What difference does it make?" "Right, what difference does it make?" "After all, they're just bodies." "I mean, after the body's done, just chuck it, hang it from a tree." "You playing some kind of game with me, amigo?" "This stuff could go out of fashion real quick, right?" "People find out the real story, they don't want it in their house." "Who the hell are you?" "Suddenly, it's not worth millions" "What do you want?" "You want to blackmail me too?" "Stuyvesant wouldn't like that." " What's this Stuyvesant shit?" " What's this murder shit?" "I don't know who the hell you are, but you listen, I loved Scotty Gates." "Oh, I bet you did." "Like a son." "Why'd he run around telling people you tortured him?" "Because he went crazy." " Why?" " How the hell should I know, I wasn't even here." "I had an opening in Cologne." "When I came back, he was gone." "His boyfriend broke up with him, maybe that was it." "Love, it gets in your head." "Not yet!" "Love... it-it will- it will do that to you." "Look..." "I owe you an apology." "I'm-I'm sorry." "I" " I heard these rumors." "That's all right." "I suppose it's just part of being who I am." "Wild envy surrounds me... and rumors." "Too many goddamned rumors." "One of them actually had the nerve to call my work..." ""victim art. "" "Trying to believe these stories of oppression and cruelty." "Does it hurt?" "I like you, Romulus." "It's too bad you can't be with us longer." "Excuse me?" "Well, let me rephrase." "If the price of rapture... is a mountain of suffering, shouldn't the fee be paid?" "So long as nobody gets hurt." ""So long as nobody gets hurt. " I like that." "My brother likes to hear himself talk." "You'll get used to it." "Excuse me." "He died of fright, didn't he?" "Mr. Ledbetter, is now a good time?" " For what?" " To shoot you." "I guess now is as good a time as any." "Wow." "You're really scared of the camera, aren't you?" "Camera?" "I'm wanting to do a quick interview, so you can talk about whatever you like." "Where?" "I do a lot of taping there in the coach house." "Is that where you made the video of Scotty?" "What?" "Come on, Joey, you know what I'm talking about." "Look, there's-there's no tape, man." "That's just a rumor." "But you know better, right?" "Because you made it." "Shh." "Please." "You a cop?" "Mm-mm." "Well, how come you know about the tape?" "A friend of Scotty's told me about it." "You were a friend of Scotty's, weren't you?" "Scotty's dead, man." "But he still needs justice, right, Joey?" "Look, I don't want to talk about Scotty now." "Please." "You're scared." "You're scared of your boss." "Please!" "They'll hear us." "You don't know." "Well, why you so scared?" "Because I've seen what he can do." "You can't imagine." "Wh-Where's the tape?" "Romulus?" "It's safe." "I've been looking everywhere for you." "It's time." "Time for what?" "Piano time." "I haven't started yet." "Just play, baby." "Just get from this side of the piece to the other." "What?" "What is it?" "What am I smelling in this place?" "There's some foulness here." "The smell of mendacity and evil." "What is this stench?" "Is it the rotting boy delivered outside my cave?" "Is that what I'm smelling?" "The sweet valentine you delivered?" "What is this reek?" "Is it the smell of torture?" "The brand burning his flesh?" "Is that what I smell?" "It's all of you, isn't it?" "It's the smell of your heartless art and your bone-dry theories, like last week's vomit." "And the heart has vamoosed from this culture long ago." "And anybody gets wind of that- You tortured him, killed him and you make a videotape of it and call it art." "I won't have this." "You hang the body from a tree to teach the Caveman a lesson." "And you burn the Caveman's eyes out with blue skies and green ducks!" "Green ducks!" "Get your hands off me!" "I haven't found the clue yet!" "You lied to me." "You're still in that cave, aren't you?" "And you won't get me out of that cave, either." "You can't matchbox me!" "Stuyvesant!" "We're going to bring your tower down!" "Stuyvesant!" "Get out of here." "Lao-tse, what is it?" "What is it, you dumb dog?" "What?" "Lao-tse!" "Romulus?" "Lao-tse, come here." "You scared the shit outta me." "You here alone?" "Yes." "Why'd you leave the party?" "I hate those parties." "What the hell happened to you?" "Your-Your brother's hit man tried to run me over." "Photographers do not have hit men, Romulus." "Yeah, well you tell that to the no-face with the gun." "You're psychotic, aren't you?" "I" " I have brain typhoons." "Brain typhoons?" "Swarms of moth-seraphs howl in my skull." "Lies vex them." "Then you'll understand if I don't invite you in." "Mm-hmm." "Your brother tortured Scotty." "That is a vicious rumor." "And when Scotty started to spread the word around, your brother had him killed." " David loved Scotty." " Not what Scotty says." "Scotty had a nervous breakdown." "He was a dope fiiend." "Who made him a dope fiiend?" "Go on, girl, go on out." "Come in here." "Scotty was a junkie when we met him." "David likes damaged souls." "He says they make better subjects." "If it were true, if David hurt Scotty in any way, believe me, I would have known all about it." "Scotty and I were friends." "I was devoted to him." "What are you doing?" "Looking for clues." "What kind of clues?" "Well, this is the place that they did the shows, right?" "The torture shows?" "Oh, God." "Don't be scared." "It's not real." "It's all fake, Rom." "It's an illusion." "He uses prosthetics, clay, wax, all these props." "None of it's real." "David says he wants to "provoke the viewers," "None of it's real." "David says he wants to "provoke the viewers, set off tremors in the subconscious," I don't fucking know." "S" " See, what's that?" "What?" "That-That looks like real blood." "It is." "It's yours." "See, Stuyvesant uses Y-rays to terrify and-and destroy." "See, Y-rays are crude." "Y - rays are tax collectors and police brutality and drug wars... and backed-up toilets." " But this new weapon" " Z-rays." "Mm-hmm, Z-rays." "Z- rays are green and soft... like moonlight and seductive and... much more vicious." "Z- rays smell like a rich man's bank account." "They smell like success." "Rom, this is a great story." "I love the no-faces and that guy in the tower, but, um, you know it's bullshit, right?" "It's not reality." "No, of course not." "Okay." "Stuyvesant's much truer than reality." "Stuyvesant invented reality." "You're hopeless, aren't you?" "I'm hopeless." "Turn around." "What?" "Got a match?" "Yeah." "Were you scared?" "No." "Are you?" "Yes." "Some white girls will fuck any kind of black man." "Crazy, homeless." "Leave me alone, Sheila." "So, uh, what do you call yourself doing?" "Digging for evidence?" "I'm getting close." "Something happened here, I can feel it." "I bet you can." "I got Leppenraub on the run." "He knows I'm going to get him." "I'm going to nail that bastard." "I think you're being misled." "Misled by whom?" "By you, as usual." "I think you got it all wrong about these people." "You better open your eyes, take a look around." "Leave me alone, woman." "How'd you get in here, anyway?" "I rode in on your dreams." "Well, ride on out." "You better wake up, baby, before you get murdered in your sleep." "You hear me?" "You better wake up." "Don't mind a little dark." "Daughter?" "Jesus, Rom, what are you doing here?" "I didn't" " I didn't get you anything for Valentine's Day." "B" " But I found these, and they're still in pretty good shape." "Don't worry." "I" " I don't wanna come in." "I" " I just need a ride home." "So, where you been?" "What happened to you?" "I guess I cut myself shaving." "You don't wanna tell me, fline." "I haven't seen you shaved since I was a girl." "You look good." "I" " I needed a change." "There's a shelter in my precinct." "There's a waiting list, but, um, I could get you in." "See that building over there." "That used to be Sisters of Mercy Hospital." "Uncle Augustus- that's your great-uncle Augustus- he used to lecture there." "He was a surgeon." "Did I ever tell you about him?" "Look, Ward's Island." "D" " Do you remember that little playground?" "Yeah, you said pirates lived there once, and there was buried treasure." "You used to call me "Captain. "" "You used to dig in that sandbox for gold." " Look it, Daddy." " Once I found a balloon there." "You-You thought you found a balloon." "No!" "No!" "You cried" "Yeah, you cried when I wouldn't blow it up." "You did blow it up for me." "No, no, I-I bought a real balloon." "I blew that up for you." "Daddy, thank you for my flowers." "Little late." "Still, it's the only valentine I got." "I didn't get you anything." "Oh, you-you still could if you wanted to." "There is something I" " I kind of got my heart set on." "What?" "It's something I want more than chocolates or a car or" "What do you want, Daddy?" "The autopsy report on Scotty Gates." "I wish I could shake you." "Just shake all that crazy shit out of you." "Goddamn!" "Just a second." "Just for a fucking second, it was like we were... talking." "Like I was actually talking to my father." "You break my heart." "Get out." "Get out!" "Get the hell out!" "Matthew?" "Rom." "I changed my mind." "I don't wanna die." "Who did this to you?" "A couple of guys with stockings on their heads." "Like those fuckers you're always talking about." "Shut the fuck up." "They wanna scare you, Rom." "They wanna shut you up." "You gotta stay nasty on them, Rom." "Stay nasty on those motherfuckers." "Lao-tse." "Come on, girl!" "Whoo!" "You break my heart." ""The victim is the killer. "" "Does it hurt?" "Please." "It's supposed to." "Your pain moves me." "Tell me what you feel." "Shame?" "Please." " Fear?" " You're brilliant, okay?" " You're a brilliant artist." " You're soft." " Please!" " Soft as a pillow." "Please!" "How long" "Why don't" "Why don't you let me die?" "Faker." "You haven't experienced real pain." "...don't you let me die?" "How long" "Why don't you let me die?" "Faker." "You haven't experienced real pain." "...don't you let me die." "You don't wanna watch that." "Joey." "Give you nightmares." "So, you found my hiding place." "But you're not a detective... and you're not a cop, so who are you?" "I" " I'm the one that found the body." " The homeless guy?" " Not homeless." "I live in a cave." "So what the fuck you doing here?" "What if he saw you here?" "Scotty asked me to help him before he was killed." "He asked me to help, and-and I didn't." "So what, you feel guilty?" "You feel like it's your fault?" "Your fault." "Jesus Christ." "J" " Joey." "Joey." "What d-did he do to Scotty?" "Listen." "I came here... because I thought David Leppenraub... was the greatest artist of the human psyche who had ever lived." "That he knew all about suffering." "What attracts us to it, you know?" "Why we seem to reach out to it." "I wanted to be one of his disciples." "Carry his cameras, fiilm him, do whatever he wanted." "Whatever he asked, I did." "So did Scotty." "Except once." "Up in that tree." "See, Scotty was scared of heights." "David wanted to tie him to that branch, but no amount of dope would make him do it." "Give me your hand." " I can't." " Let go of the tree." "Give me your hand." "It'll be fline." "I can't." "I can't let go." "Would you just trust me, please?" "David, please, I'm scared." "I want you to be scared." "Come on, we're losing the light." " I can't!" " Scotty, if you damage that fucking cage," "I swear I will throw you out of this tree!" "But, David, he's terrifiied." "Get down, you pussy." "Get out of the fucking tree!" "Joey, take off your clothes." "You'll pose this one." "Scotty, get down." "I'm going, and I'm not coming back either." "Where are you going to go, Scotty?" "You're never going to touch me again." "I'm gonna tell everyone what you did to me." "Are you?" "So, he came down, and I went up." "And I was the crucifiied angel." "Greatest moment of my life." "I got to be inside Leppenraub's vision." "You have no idea what that meant to me." "And-And Scotty?" "I never saw him again." "Wanna know what I think?" "I think he brought him here." "I think he had Scotty in the freezer." "I think he froze him to death." "Give me the tape." "Why?" "We can flight him, go to the cops." "We can't flight him." "There's no evidence." "The tape!" "Against David's lawyers?" "They'd rip it to shreds." "You don't understand." "You can't flight him." "You can't run from him." "You can't just give up." "Why not?" "Don't you see?" "You're next." "You're the next angel." " I know." "Joey!" "Duck!" "Hide!" "Joey!" "Saw you with someone." "Who was it?" "Who?" "You were talking to someone." "Who was it?" "Romulus!" "What can I do for you?" "I need a place to stay." "The cave's not safe." "Uh, I don't think you can stay here, but I can call a shelter for you." "Come on in." "Come on in." "Have a lime rickey." "Hey, everyone, this is Romulus." "Hi, Romulus." "This is a Bob and Betty festival." "May I propose a toast?" "Sure." "To the eternal and-and everlasting cycle... of failure and resuscitation." "Hear!" "Hear!" "To the fact the cycle..." "seems to be stuck." "And-And the Bobs and Bettys are always on top." "Let's drink..." "to those on top, stay on top." "And let's drink to those poor slobs down below." "'Cause they'll always be "shitslogging. "" "Am I right?" "They'll believe all of the lies we tell them!" "You're losing it, baby." "Don't bother yourself, Betty." "No need to call the cops." "You're safe up here." "Nothing can touch you." "I need you to believe me." "Leppenraub Foundation, can I help you?" "I have a message for David Leppenraub." "Tell him this." "Tell him the Caveman made a copy of the tape." "Right?" "Joey Peasley has the original, but I made a copy." "And if he wants it, I'll sell it to him." "Tell him that." "My dearest Lulu," ""By the time you read this letter," ""they will have killed me." ""And you'll know that everything I've been saying is true." ""Get Matthew to tell you the whole story." ""Go to Leppenraub's farm." "Make Joey give you the tape," ""then take all the truth you've gathered..." ""and drive Leppenraub through the gates of hell." ""I'll meet him there just inside and deal with him." ""At this very moment, Lulu, in some other court of time," ""I live not in a cave, but in a tree house." "'A tree house by the sea." "Please, don't!" ""You and I are down on the sand making a castle." "'And your mother is wading through the shallows, 'gathering enough sand dollars to make us all filthy rich." "I love you." "Daddy. "" "I said don't fuck with us." "Where is it?" "If-If you're gonna kill me, you'd better do it quick." "They patrol around here." "Oh!" "You're gonna talk." "You have to kill me and torture me, but hurry." "Get to the killing." "No, no, no, we're not gonna kill you." "We're not gonna torture you." "See, that's too easy." "That's too cruel." "We're gonna torture your daughter, little Lulu. 135 Cole Street." " We're going there right now, Caveman." "Wanna come?" "No!" "Aah!" "Aah!" "See, Caveman, you're gonna go with us." "We're gonna party with that girl all night long." "Phone call." "Phone call." "What?" "Hell no." "I'll get your tape for you." "Where?" "Hey, hey, Captain." "You know the guy that owns that little videotape?" "Well, he wants it back, and he wants it back real bad." "No explanations." "Tell her where to make the drop." "I'd really appreciate it if you would bury that treasure for me." "Rom, what are you talking about?" "Did I" " Did I hear somebody with you?" "Yeah, yeah, you heard right, Captain." "Look, I-I know it's late for this pirate thing, but... these guys really need you to do that tonight." "Do what?" "Look, bury the treasure... at the place we talked about, where you found the balloon, and-and then clear out." "Hang up." "Rom, who is that?" "Look, Captain." "I won't ever ask you for anything again." "I promise." "I know you think I'm crazy, but-but I always keep my promises." "All right?" "Bye-bye." "Baby, what are you doing?" "If Lulu knew what I was talking about, I could call to her and warn her." "He will kill you." "But she'll get away." "What if she just turned over and went back to sleep?" "Then, we'll lose her." "But she's gotta be in that playground." " There's no other choice." " Come on, asshole." "Move!" "Let's go!" "Move your ass!" "What's your hurry?" "Look it, Daddy." "Is this it?" "Get in there!" "What the fuck is this?" "You want me to kill you, don't you?" "Police, don't move!" "Drop the gun!" "I got a gun pointed to your father's head, bitch!" "So don't spook me." "Put your gun down." "Do it, Lulu!" "Wanna see his brains, bitch?" "I said drop the fucking gun!" " Shoot him!" "He'll kill us both!" " Hell no!" "You think I'm gonna kill a cop?" "Put the gun down and I'll run." "Moth-seraphs of divinity of vengeance, I need you." "Put it down, girl!" "Lulu, kill him!" "Let him shoot me!" "Do as I say, I'm your father!" "Do you want me to kill your father?" "Put it down!" "Now." "Don't!" "Don't!" "Don't move!" "You fucker!" "Lulu, over there!" "He's over there!" "Daddy." "Daddy, Daddy, it's all right." "It's all right." "He's gone." "Are you shot?" "Am I?" "It's all right." "Really?" "We're not shot?" "You're alive." "I'm alive." "How can that be?" "He wasn't aiming at us." "He was trying to fiinish off his partner here." "Operator, this is Officer Ledbetter, New York City Police Department." "I'm at Ward's Island Playground." "I need a bus forthwith." "I have a perp shot and the other perp fled over the footbridge." "He's armed with a gun." "Send backup forthwith." "Shaker." "You know him?" "Mm-hmm." "Shaker." "It's Matthew's dealer." "We're looking for the one that got away." "We fiigured they must have overheard you and Matthew on a street, talking about this valuable tape and decided they wanted some of the action." "How's he connected to Leppenraub?" "Caveman, come here." "You see that pack of vermin down there?" "If Leppenraub's name comes into this, no more quiet investigation, no more slowly building a case, just fuckin' weasels everywhere you step." "Listen, Caveman, this is detective business." "All due respect, maybe it's not for you." "Maybe you need what's called a "rational mind. "" "Yeah, m-maybe- maybe you're right." "I should leave the police work to you." "Meanwhile, I'll give my fiirst press conference." "Oh, fuck!" "Caveman, what do you want from me?" "The autopsy report on Scotty Gates." "Your daughter dropped it off this morning." "Knock yourself out." "It says, "The-The 'periorbital' spaces... are-are free of extravasated blood and edema. "" "It says, "The-The 'sclerae'..." ""are an- 'anicteric. "'" "What it doesn't say is anything about a brand." "Matthew says Scotty was-was branded." ""Blood-red valentine on his butt. "" "Why didn't the autopsy mention that?" "It's just gone?" "Vamoosed?" "How'd it do that?" "What the hell's Stuyvesant up to now?" "Did you fuck Scotty Gates?" "Did you come all the way up here to ask me that?" "Mm-hmm." "Why?" "I have to know." "If you fucked him, then you saw his butt, right?" "Right?" "I guess so." "Then, you could tell me if-if there's a heart brand on his butt." "A heart?" "I guess I could." "If I saw his butt." "But..." "I didn't see his butt." "'Cause I didn't fuck him, 'cause he's gay among other things." "Do you think that I fuck everybody, Rom?" "You-You said you were devoted to him." "A different kind of devotion." "Hello, Romulus." "It's nice to see you again." "Hi, Moira." "You know, it's, um, it's interesting that you mention this heart thing." "I have a little confession to make." "You got what I want?" "Got a little atonement for me, master?" "Does it hurt?" "It's supposed to." "It's not over yet." "'Course not,Joey." " 'Cause it's not his money you're after, is it?" " What are you doing here?" "You want the glory, a little recognition, and he denied you." " Did you tell him that?" " I did treat you somewhat shabbily." "That time you took Scotty's place up in the tree," "I know I wasn't appreciative enough." "He didn't even acknowledge it was you." "He passed you off as Scotty." " I scoffed at your ambitions." " He didn't see your genius." "And that twisted your brain around in its socket, right, Joey?" "'Cause -'Cause you're a great artist." "You're a genius." "The master of suffering." "And yet, he called you a faker." "Soft." "Soft as a pillow." "Never experienced real pain." "You don't know what pain is." "Why the fuck did you talk to him?" "So, one day, you decided you were going to show Leppenraub... who the real master was." "So, you took Scotty in the big freezer, and you made your own art." " You froze him to death." " Are you saying I killed Scotty Gates?" "Masterpiece of suffering." "You're schizo." "Scotty was nuts." "He was homeless, that's why he froze to death." "Everybody saw him." "Everybody saw you!" "That wasn't Scotty Gates running around the village, that was you." "You're so beautiful." "You figured if Leppenraub could pass you off as Scotty, then-then you could too." "You played the victim, but the victim was the killer." "It's brilliant,Joey." "You're radiant." "You radiate Z-rays." " This is bullshit!" " Then you took the tapes you've made, and you-you put Leppenraub's voice on them from your interviews." "All that stuff he's been spouting, you put it all in." "Does it hurt?" "It's supposed to." "But they were just words strung together." "You twisted them so you could blackmail Leppenraub." " I told you to keep your mouth shut!" " Meanwhile, you were watching me." "You set me up." "And when you were ready, you-you left your valentine outside my cave." "'Cause you knew I'd go around ranting about the evil David Leppenraub." "The cops?" "They wouldn't believe me." "The rumors would scare the hell out of Leppenraub, so you became my nightmare." "You played me." "You knew all my chords." "You thought the no-faces could control me, but I'm a free man!" "You're insane!" "You're a lunatic!" "And you're a fucking genius!" "Tell him." "Tell him." "Tell him about the little moths that live inside your head." "They're not moths!" "They're moth-seraphs." "The moth-seraphs of divinity and vengeance!" "And they're sick and tired of your lies and your deceit!" "And they're gonna fly you straight to hell!" "Look at him!" "He's a lunatic!" "Do you really think he was going to help you, you asshole?" "If this is what you got, you got nothing!" "Scotty?" "Scotty!" "You set me up, you fuckhead?" "You're supposed to be dead." "Scotty, they said you were dead." "Get your hands off me, you stupid faggot!" "You're gonna die now, Caveman." " Joey!" " Drop the gun, police!" "Police!" "Get down!" "Matthew!" "Matthew!" "You never knew Scotty Gates." "How did you do it?" "How the hell did you know?" "So, how did you know?" "His heart." "Matthew said that Scotty had a heart branded on his butt." "But it wasn't in the angel pictures, and it wasn't in the autopsy report." "So, I asked Moira." "'Cause I thought maybe she had sex with Scotty." "So, I asked her about the heart, and she said of course she remembered." "But not on Scotty, on Joey." "Moira had sex with Joey." "Yep." "With me too." "These are good." "Can I have another?" "Maybe you should slow down." "Why did you let Joey have so much power over you?" "You could have called his bluff." "I mean, the police would have known the tape was a fake." "He wouldn't have taken it to the authorities." "He would have circulated it at parties." "Success is fragile, Mr. Ledbetter." "Do you know what it is to have a muse?" "I think I do." "Joey was nothing like him." "But sometimes, if the light was just right," "I could almost believe." "I guess I'll have to fiind another one." "Look at you." "Drunk as a skunk." "Oh, but I put a nick in Stuyvesant's armor." "Stuyvesant?" "Haven't you fiigured it out yet, baby?" "Don't you know what killed Scotty Gates?" "Not Stuyvesant, not Stuyvesant's no-face slaves, just craziness." "That's what makes all these victims." "None of your fancy demons, just plain ol', run-of-the-mill craziness." "That's the only beast you have to tame." "Rom." "I liked what you played, up at the party." "Little raw, little rusty, but it was good to hear." "You have a beautiful face." "In a strange turn of events, police were aided by a homeless man," "Romulus Ledbetter, who resides in a rocky enclosure in Inwood Park." "Ledbetter, known to locals as "The Caveman, "" "was instrumental in the capture and arrest of Joseph Peasley, who is suspected of murdering Scott Gates." "Gates'body was found in the same park on Valentine's Day." "A police spokesperson stated that "The Caveman" is a local hero." "Daddy." "I wanted to warn you." "You know, you could come home for awhile." "I mean, if you wanted to." "I don't think Mama would mind." "You know, just- just for awhile." "Y" " You know, Lulu, I don't think so." "Maybe some other time." "Thanks just the same." "Daddy, I want you to know..." "I am really" "I'm proud." "I'm proud of you."