"S" "StyLishSaLH/font" "I was once a shameless, full-time dope fiend." "Yeah, me" " Bob." "The sweet mother's son." "Me and my crew robbed drugstores." "I had done 'em all, up and down the Pacific Northwest, with pharmacies open or closed." "It didn't matter." "Except for technique." "But don't get the idea it was easy." "It's hard being a dope fiend." "And it's even harder running a crew." "Dianne was my wife." "I loved her." "Man, did she love dope." "So we made a good couple." "Whenever I got out of the joint I always ended up with Dianne." "Rick was my sidekick." "My muscle." "He was no novice to the life of crime." "His record showed a steady climb from juvenile offender to small-time thief." "He was gonna do just fine." "Nadine was Rick's old lady." "A counter girl he picked up during one of our jobs." "She was a piece of work." "She had no record." "Just a smile that caught us all a little off guard." "I was the undisputed leader then." "I carried the whole goddamn outfit on my back like it was my own newborn son." "But I guess, deep down," "I knew we could never win." "We played a game we couldn't win... to the utmost." "Good morning." "I like your hat." " Do you have wintergreen gum?" " I don't think we carry that." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Come out here!" "This lady's having a fit!" "Hey!" "Come on, she's bouncing all over the place!" "Come on!" "I think she might swallow her tongue." "Look at that." "She's turning blue!" "Excuse me." "Are you too busy to take some money for cough syrup?" "Just a minute, ma'am." "Wait a minute, man." "She's foaming here." "I need an ambulance." "A woman is having an epileptic seizure." " So how'd we do?" " So-so." "Are you sure you're OK?" "Hey!" "Let's go." "Come on." "Hurry up." " I told you to walk, not crawl." " You said walk and that's what we did." "Yeah, I said walk, but I didn't mean to go window-shopping." "Goddamnit, Bob." "Why do you gotta fix in the car?" "Can't you wait till we get home?" "Shut up and watch your drivin'." "Christ." "Look at this traffic up here." "Shit." "We gotta get home." "Idiot, move over!" "After any kind of drug haul, everyone in the crew indulged." "I laughed to myself as I pictured blues or Dilaudid in such great amounts that the spoon would literally be overflowing." "Upon entering my vein the drug would start a warm itch that would surge along until the brain consumed it in a gentle explosion that began in the back of the neck and rose rapidly until I felt such pleasure that the world sympathised" "and took on a soft and lofty appeal." "Everything was grand then." "Your worst enemy, he wasn't so bad." "The ants in the grass, they were just, you know, doin' their thing." "Everything took on the rosy hue of unlimited success." "You could do no wrong." "And as long as it lasted, life... was beautiful." "Goddamnit." "Oh, screw you, buddy." "Move over." "Where'd you get your goddamn licence?" "Shithead!" "All right, now, everybody just act cool." "Like we just got back from church." "Has anybody seen my lighter?" "So, I was working for this guy out in Valdez." "And I had this great idea to..." "You just put shit on it, and water." " Nadine?" " Give me the same as Rick, I guess." "I don't think so." " Why not?" " You can't shoot no goddamn blue." "Give her half of one, Bob." "That'll keep her in the crapper all afternoon." "Goddamnit." "I was in there just like you." "I ought to get the same as everyone else, even if I can't shoot it all right now." "That ain't the way things work around here, Nadine." "I mean, you don't do shit." "It's me that's taking the big risk." "What about Dianne?" "She didn't do anything either." "Really?" "That what you think?" "Don't give her a goddamn thing, Bob." "Kick her out in the street where we found her." "No, no." "Fair is fair." "You want your fourth." "You got it, Nadine." "But I ain't taking' on no apprentices and givin' 'em a full end of my thing." "You take it... and you get out." "Nadine, just take your half of blue, shoot it, and go puke awhile." "Sh." "Everybody just act cool." "Nadine, pick up..." "Come on!" "Pick up the drugs." "Rick, get your gun." "Get in the bedroom." "Back me up." "It's David." "It's just David." "David, what do you want?" "I just want to see you for a minute." "Let me in." " You alone?" " Yes." "Did you think I brought my rat-faced granny along to hold my hand?" "David, you're an asshole." "What the hell, pard?" "Have you finally gone completely crazy or something?" "What the fuck do you want?" " What are you holdin'?" " I ain't holding' diddly, small fry." "I was just thinking about going by your place to see if you had any speed." "Yeah, well, I got some speed." "Really?" "Come on inside." "You little fucker." "Aw, come on, Rick." "All right, you say you got speed?" "What kind of speed?" "I got crystal Methedrine." "This shit is good, man." "I've been up all night on the stuff." "Here, man." "Try one on the house." "How much of this shit you got on you right now?" "I got 10 grams." "Let me talk to Dianne." "Why don't you sit back and watch a little TV?" "All right." "Baby?" "This kid out here says he's got speed." "What do you want speed for?" "You know how ringy it makes you." "I know." "But listen." "What night is it tonight?" "It's Saturday night, right?" "Let's get some speed." "We'll fix up, then we'll go hit that big fat pharmacy." "You know the one." "Right next to the unemployment office." "Baby, you know how these things go." "It's like a crap game." "When you're hot, you shoot the works." "When you're cold, you lay off a bit." "Well, right now, baby, I'm so hot, I'm burnin' up all over." "All right, buster." "If you're so damn hot, why don't you lay me down right now and make love to me?" " Come on." "You know what I mean." " Yeah, I know what you mean." "So, did you watch I Spy last night?" "No, I watched Outer Limits." "I'm hot to steal." "Shoot, we could do that any time." "Come on." "Besides, we got company." "So, do you think you could get me a TV?" " Yeah, I could." " Colour?" "Yeah, but what could you do for me, man?" "How about some Valium, man?" "You look like you could use it." " Ten milligrams. 60 Valium." " That's cool." "Well, listen." "Don't tell Bob." "I won't tell Bob." "Fuck that guy." "Hey, twerpy." "We're gonna fix you up now." "You guys got any blues?" "Blues?" "Me?" "Hell, no." "You know how hard it is to get blues these days, David." "How about some morphine?" "I got good old morphine." "What'd you get, man?" "Morphine sulphate?" "You're crazy, man, cos I can't even read a stop sign when I'm on that crap." "My eyes get so far out of focus." "Besides, I'm not trading no uptown crank for no downtown trash." "What can I say?" "That's all I got." "That's all I can give." "That's bullshit, man." "You guys think I'm dumb." "I'm not as dumb as you think I am." "Hey, David?" "Too bad we couldn't do business, pal." "All right, man." "Fuck." "I'm sorry, OK?" " I didn't mean any of that." " It's OK." "It's all right." "So how many quarter grains of that morphine are you gonna give me for this?" "I'll hit you with nine quarters per package, and that's just cos I'm feeling good." "And because you're a real stand-up dude, I'll take all ten grams from you." "Ten grams?" "All right." "That's nine apiece." "Nine times ten is, uh..." "It's, uh, 75." "Yeah, 75." "Right." "It's 90, Bob." "Yeah, Bob." "That's 90." "Hey, Bob, how much do you want for her?" "How much of this for her?" "Huh?" "How much of this do you want for the foxy female?" "Hey." "What do you think I am?" "Some kind of closet pimp?" "I've never heard of such a violation of woman's rights in all my life." "Just out of curiosity, how many bags of speed would you give me for this girl?" "I, uh..." "I don't know." "You twerp!" "You touch me and I'll knock your block off." "She's mean, man." "All right, all right." "Let's finish this deal." " Sorry." " Pick up your stuff, David, and go." "We've got some things to do." "All right." "Sorry, Dianne." "Here, Bob." "Yeah." " All right, man." " All right." "Thanks." "All right." "You guys have a good evening." "Next time you step in the middle of one of my deals to help me with my arithmetic," "I'll sell you to the first one-eyed carnival freak I find for a pack of chewing gum." "Look at me, babe." "I'm hysterical." "Sorry, Bob." "Just try to remember." "Was it a round collar, a scoop neck, or what?" "It was a blouse." "A blouse." "Um..." "I really don't remember." "Dianne, are you goin' crazy or something?" "Dianne, what the fuck are you doin'?" "What are you on?" "Glue or something?" "Dianne, look." "We ought to be out workin'." "I know this hospital on the coast." "I know it's a virgin." "I know it is." "I mean, this place has got security zero." "I bet they got coke, mammy." "All those hospitals, they always hold big-time coke." "You're crazy, Bob." "We just pulled off the best score we make in months and off you trot looking for more." "Man, you don't know when to take a break." "Come on, Bob." "You know me." "I can't stand to go on for ever like this." "Come on." "Why don't you take me in the bedroom and just hold me for a while?" "What do you want me to hold you for?" "Look, Dianne, we ought to be out crackin'." " I thought you loved me." " Why don't we just..." "But you won't fuck me and I always have to drive." "Look, why don't we just, uh, uh, head up to that hospital right now and see if we can make it there before it gets daylight?" "I mean, babe, you're just gonna flip out when you see this one, man." "I mean..." "I can just see all those bottles of pills that hospital's holding for me right now." "Up against the wall!" " Up against the wall." " Don't give me any shit." "Shut up." "Check the other room." "All right, you two." "Turn around." "I said the other day "Bob's slowed down." Then you knock off another pharmacy." " Bullshit." " Didn't you expect me?" " I didn't make no drugstore in years." " Bullshit!" "Look, man, you ain't gonna find nothing." "Just let me phone my lawyer." "I'm sure he can straighten this whole thing out." " Do I look like I'm using?" " You piece of shit." "That's real nice, Bob." "Looks like you're hooked to the gills." " You got a warrant?" " Yeah, I got a warrant." "Pasted on the end of one of these slugs." "You give me any more shit, I'm gonna give you a good close look at one of 'em." "Whoa, heavy, man." "You guys been readin' too much Mickey Spillane or somethin'?" "You don't seem to understand." "Hey, come on." "Not those clubs." "Those are my Ben Hogans." "Why you gotta mess with the clubs?" " What are you hittin' these days?" " I got my handicap down around eight." "Eight?" "Bullshit." "Where do you play?" "Mayfield." "I hit a 75 last time I was out there." "I don't play public courses." "Mayfield is for pussies." "That's why you have that handicap." "How am I supposed to play?" "My clubs are all broke." "Have a heart." "Break two more, then leave the fuckin' clubs alone." " All right?" " Thanks, man." "Dianne, you haven't hid the drugs in some stupid place like the Frosted Flakes again, have you?" "I don't know what the hell you're talkin' about, fuckwad." " Jesus." "How old is she?" "Is she over 18?" " 22." "You're 22 years old, right?" " 22." " 22." "Lucky for you." "OK, kiddies." "Here's how it's comin' down." "You can just tell us where the drugs are and save yourself a whole lot of trouble, or you can sit there with your mouths shut and we're gonna tear this place apart board by board." "Now, how's it gonna be?" "Man, I love cops." "If there were no hot-shit cops like Gentry around the competition would be so heavy, there'd be nothing left to steal." "Right?" "All right." "You two take the car and get an apartment." "Get something on the west side." "We ain't hit nothing there in weeks." " It should be pretty cool by now." " OK, Bob." " Don't mess it up." " I'm not gonna mess it up." "Just relax." "Dianne and I are going over to my mother's house to get some new threads." "Something nice." " Oh!" " Hi, Ma." "Lord, it's my dope-fiend thief of a son and his crazy little nymphomaniac wife." "Ma." "Hey, Ma." "Please tell me what I did to deserve this." "Never knowing when there'll be a knock on my door telling me my baby's dead." "Green with an overdose." "Shot by a mad pharmacist or run over by a car while fleeing from police pursuit." "Why me?" "You have the clothes I left here last time I was sent to the joint?" "I threw them away." "I thought you'd never get out." "How could you think that?" "He is a thief and a dope fiend, and that is more important to him than I am." "If you say so, Ma." "He can go to prison." "He likes it there anyway." "Don't you, Robert?" "Why do you hate Bob and I so, Mama?" "What have we ever done to make you hate us so?" "I don't hate you, Dianne, and I don't hate Robert either and the Good Lord knows that to be the truth." "I truly feel pity for you both." "You are grown-up now, and yet you still act as children who wanna do nothing but run and play." "You cannot run and play all your life, Dianne." " Is there anything else of yours up there?" " Give it away." "I can always get more." "To be sure." "You'll just go steal some more." "Shut up!" "So, this is our new home." "Yeah, Bob." "Why do they call it "Josephine"?" "I don't know." "The guy that rented it to me is named Dale." "Maybe "Josephine" sounds better." "The last time I dropped acid, I decided to make a self-portrait." "Groovy, isn't it?" "I can just see all those bottles of pills that hospital's holding for me right now." "Our stereo buy of the month." "Hot dog!" "Bob, speaking of dogs, do you think that Rick and I could get a little pup?" "Just a little something to hold and pet when you guys are gone?" "No." "No fucking dogs." " What have you got against dogs?" " Look, no fucking dogs, and that's final." "Why don't you tell them what happened to the last one we had?" "If you want them to know so much, why don't you tell them?" "I don't want to discuss it." "We had a dog once." "His name was Panda." "The cutest little pup you ever did see." "That little guy used to follow Bob wherever he'd go." "Anyway, what happened was the police were after us during a raid... on a drugstore in the city." "He came out of the bedroom and he stopped at the closet and then he swung at me with that iron bar." "Little Panda got out of the car and ran away." "We looked everywhere but there wasn't time." "The heat was on us and we had to get out of there." "We thought the little guy got hit by a car or something." "But no." "The police had him." "Somehow they knew he was our dog." "They followed him all the way home." "He led them to us." "They put us in jail... and they put little Panda to sleep." "For a brighter coat, whiter teeth and a more even disposition, there should only be one choice." "Rich gravy." "No cereal." "Gravy..." "Nadine, do you have any idea what you've done to us by just mentioning dogs in our home?" " No." "What'd I just do?" " You've no idea?" "No, I don't, Bob." "What'd I do?" "You just put a 30-day hex on us." "That's what you did." "Our luck just flew out the window for the next 30 days." "You got a calendar so we'll know when this hex ends?" "What month is it, anyway?" "Jesus, Bob." "You never told us anything about not mentioning dogs." "The reason nobody mentioned dogs, Rick, is because just to have mentioned a dog would have been a hex in itself." "Are there any other sacred things we're not supposed to mention?" "Yeah." "As a matter of fact there are." "We might as well discuss 'em now, being as we're shut down for the next 30 days." "Hats." "OK." "Hats." "If I ever see a hat on a bed in this house, man, like, you'll never see me again." " I'm gone." " That makes two of us." " Why a hat?" " Because that's just the way it is, sweetie." "And there's mirrors." "Never look at the backside of a mirror." "It'll affect your future because you're looking at yourself backwards." "No." "You're looking at your inner self." "And you don't recognise it because you've never seen it before." "Anyway, you can freeze into motion your future, and that can be either good or bad." "In any case, we don't want to take any chances." "But the most important thing is the goddamn hat." "A goddamn hat on the bed is the king of 'em all." "Hell, that's worth at least... what?" "15 years' bad luck, or even death." "And I'd rather have death cos I couldn't face no 15-year hex." "Relax, hon." "Just go lay down awhile." "You been on the go for days now." "This 30-days thing ain't gonna kill us." "Don't let it get you down, Bob." "Sometimes bad luck can be good luck." "I mean, think of all the times we had a flat tyre or engine trouble or something and we made it to our score late thinking it was bad luck." "Then we'd find out for some reason it was good luck." "You know what I mean?" "Hell, I can't figure it out." "I just know from years of experience the things to look for and the signs and..." "You know what it's like?" "It's like, who's ever managing such things is saying" ""Go out there and get it."" ""It's there for the taking, kid."" ""Everything's free this week." "I'll let you know when your time's up."" ""You'll see the signs."" ""Hell, all you gotta do is look for the signs."" "Shit." "Sorry, baby." "Sorry about that, baby." "So what's going on?" "Why don't we just go in, we plant some stuff on them, we drag 'em on in?" "It works all the time." "I'll tell you why not." "I don't wanna get Bob Hughes on no bullshit possession beef, and that's all we'll get him on unless we catch him cold, on his way home from a score." "You know that." "Yeah, yeah, yeah." " Who is it, Bob?" " I don't know." "I thought you knew." " Hi." " Did I wake you up?" " No, no, no." " No." " We were awake, weren't we, Rick?" " Well, I don't know what to think." "I saw this sinister-looking man with a ladder creeping around outside my bedroom window." "I know that I wouldn't be able to sleep a wink if I thought there was some crazy sex maniac running around loose out there." "Now, you just relax." "We'll go down there and check it out immediately." " Thank you very much." " We'll check it out as soon as we can." " Good night." " Good night." " Good night." " Good night." " Night." " Bye-bye." "What the hell is she doin' up at two o'clock in the morning?" "It's Gentry." "Yeah." "I bet he followed us when we moved." "Son of a bitch." "Yeah." "Well, I guess we'll have to teach him a little lesson, huh?" ""The reason you can never get Bob Hughes for possession of narcotics is that he has an arrangement with the guy that lives on the north side of him."" ""They have a line between their houses."" ""Bob signals the guy when he wants the stuff."" ""The neighbour puts it on the string." "Bob pulls over what he needs and leaves the rest in the other house where you can never find it."" " Bye, Daddy." " Bye-bye." " Excuse me." "Got a sec?" " Yeah." " You live here, right?" " Right." "I live next door." "I know it's none of my business..." "What do you suppose he has in that sack?" "You think it might be junk?" "One thing I am positive of - it's not his goddamn lunch." "About two o'clock this morning, I look out my window and there he is." "A big, ugly son of a bitch wearing a long, dark raincoat, and he's standing on top of this ladder looking in your upstairs windows." "He's got one hand underneath his raincoat." "From where I was standing, I gotta say, it looked kinda sick." " I'll shoot the son of a bitch in the balls!" " Now hang on a second." "Did you see the way they talked?" "All the gestures?" "They got something goin' on." "They ain't just casual acquaintances." "Yeah, I can see that." "For a second there, it looked like that big guy was gonna jump on Hughes and stomp his guts out." "I would've liked to have seen that." "OK, I know what you guys are thinkin'." ""What's old Bob got me into this time?"" "Well, let me tell you, this is gonna be something." "You guys are gonna love this." " Dianne, where you goin'?" " I'm just gonna go get my cigarettes." "All right." "Hurry up." "You're not gonna want to miss this one." " Rick, where you goin'?" " I'm just gettin' a beer, Bob." "All right." "Don't come crying to me when you miss out." "OK." "Sh!" "Here they come." "There's two of 'em." "Come here." "Come over here." "All right." "They're making their move." "One guy's climbing up the ladder." "I hope he gets pissed off at them, man." "OK." "The neighbour's comin' out of the house." "Holy shit!" "He's got a shotgun!" "Well, I'll be a son of a bitch." "Show time!" "Whoa!" "Holy shit!" "Bob, I wanna talk to you about what happened last night." "We told the investigating officer all we knew." "We have nothing further to add." "You little punk." "Halamer and Trousinski know you set them up, and I can honestly say they are anything but happy about it." "Now, Bob, I'm gonna make a suggestion to you." "Why don't you take a nice long drive somewhere far away from here?" "Wait a minute, Gentry." "I won the goddamn war, not you." "Who are you to dictate the terms?" "Why don't you find a small-town police department where you can be sheriff and all you gotta worry about is Saturday night drunks and kids on Halloween?" "So you think you won the war, huh?" "Pick him up." "You're just a junkie that got one of my officers shot." "And as soon as he gets ahold of you, everybody'll forget you ever existed." "Let him go." "You little piece of shit." "Let me give you a hand up, Bob." "Fuck you, Gentry." "Don't forget your clubs, pal." "Work on your handicap." "Don't think Gentry was running us out of town, because I can stand the heat." "We were splitting' because things were going all wrong." "Nadine's hex was a little more powerful than I had calculated." "It was time to change the scenery, which happened when you went crossroading." "Dianne got the narcotics together and sent them ahead by bus to depots across the Pacific Northwest so we could rendezvous with the drugs as we needed them." "We couldn't afford to be caught with a car full of narcotics, so we had a backup plan in the form of a hole punched in the floorboard of our car." "When the flashing red lights became a reality, down the hole went the stash." "Is something the matter, Officer?" "Then we'd go to the next rendezvous, which was hopefully within eight hours, before the drugs wore off." "No construction stiff workin' overtime takes more stress and strain than we did, just trying to stay high." "We rented this truck not necessarily because we need another vehicle." "But we can move easier in a vehicle like this." "It's got the right licence plates so the average Joe will just think we're a couple farm boys and a prostitute in town for a little joyride." "Hey!" "I always wanted to be a farmer, Bob." "Whoa." "Did you guys see that?" " What?" " The transom." "You guys didn't see the open transom?" " No." " What's a transom, Bob?" "It's all clear in the back." "All right." "Gimme a lift, then meet me around back." "Ready?" "One, two, three." "Nadine, take these and put it inside the truck." "Rick, step in here." "I want you to look at these two safes." "See them over there?" "Rick." "Let's go." "Shut up!" "Christ!" "You're finished, hopheads." "You blew it." "Hey, babe, you playin' cards?" "Who's winning?" "What's the matter with her?" "Nothin'." "Cocaine." " Holy shit." " What is it, Bob?" "Powdered Dilaudid, that's what." "A whole, untouched one-eighth ounce bottle of powdered D." "Whoo!" "Should be another partially filled one in here somewhere." "You see it?" "Rick, do you have any idea what this little bottle is worth?" " No, Bob." "What's it worth?" " This here little bottle... has got 840-some-odd sixteenths." "And at ten dollars a sixteenth, that comes to around 8,400 dollars of the best goddamn pharmaceutical dope money can buy." "What a find." "This here little bottle ought to last the three of us a week." "I'd better take that." "Guess we must've outrun that hex we had on us, eh, Bob?" " Sure glad we started crossroading." " Bob?" "Let's shoot it." "You gotta be careful with this stuff." "It can kill you." "Dianne, get a glass of water." "Do it slow." "I'll show you how we're gonna hide this stuff." "Right up here." "Now, we'll take this stuff and then we'll cross over a couple of these units and stash it over somebody else's room." "Wow." "Hey." "Hey." "Come on." "Buck up." "So you blew it." "Big deal." "Listen, we're gonna go out for a couple of hours, but we'll be back in a little bit." "What'd that son of a bitch say about me?" "He didn't say anything about you." "Yeah, but he's not gonna take me along any more, is he?" "Then one day you'll all just drop me off somewhere and you'll never come back." "Nadine, what are you talkin' about?" "Come on, honey." "You're with me." "I'm not gonna leave you anywhere." "He is a goddamn..." " Shut up!" "...hog!" " Hog!" "Hog!" " Hey, shut up." "Come on, honey." " Hog!" " Don't do that." "Please, Nadine." "We got a good thing goin' here." "Why do you want to rock the boat?" "I just can't stand their superior ways." "And all that crap about hexes." "You don't believe that stuff, do you?" "Look, Nadine, I don't know." "OK?" "I mean, all we have to do is not talk about pets and not leave any hats on any beds." "Now, what's hard about that?" "I'm just gonna prove to all of you that a hat on a bed doesn't mean anything." "Hey, Rick." "Let's go." "Come on." "I really wish you hadn't done that." "You're just goin' out with them tonight." "When you come back, I'll show all of you." "When I come back, I don't want to see that hat on the bed." "All right, honey?" "You know, Nadine, there's just no talking to you sometimes." "Fuck." "Hey, Rick." "Rick." "Rick." "Don't be too aggressive, man." "We're just trying to create a diversion." "OK?" " I don't want anybody gettin' hurt." " OK, Bob." " OK, babe, you all set?" " Yeah." "Prepare to die." "Demerol." "Shit." "Argh!" "This just isn't like him." "Bob is like a rabbit." "In and out, and no nonsense." "That goes for a lot more than a hospital pharmacy." "Mrs Robb to Admitting." "Mrs Jane Robb to Admitting." "Fuck!" "I don't think he's gonna come." "Why don't we go back?" "They got him." "Bastards got him." "I know it." "I can feel it in my heart." "Dirty bastards." "Nadine." "Oh, my God." "Honey?" "I'm home." "You're not gonna believe the shit that happened to me tonight." "What's goin' on?" "Who put the goddamn hat on the bed?" "She did, Bob." "She didn't mean anything by it." "She bit it." "Where'd she get the stuff?" "She couldn't have done this on no two sixteenths." "What's she been doing?" "Saving it up?" " Who gave her this?" " What is it?" "Damn!" "She must've picked it up off the floor of the truck when we were collecting these bottles." "Conniving little bitch." "Bob?" "You can't say that about her, Bob." "She's dead." "You don't say anything bad about her." "Rick." "She beat you." "Your own woman beat you out of your cut on a score." "She got what she deserves." "Listen, man." "Not only that." "She threw a hex on us we'll all be lucky to outrun, huh?" "She left us with an OD'd stiff, which is paramount to a murder beef in this state." "For Christ's sake, get this goddamn hat off the bed!" "Cold." "Hell, it's like trying to raise a couple of kids when you take on a couple like that and try and teach 'em to steal." "Know what I mean, Dianne?" "All these kids." "They're all TV babies." "They've been watching people killin' each other on the boob tube for so long, it's all they know." "Hell, they think it's legal." "They think it's the right thing to do." "I know, hon." "I'm gettin' real tired." "Poor Nadine." "She was just a goddamn kid." "Now what?" " Hello." "Are you Mr Hughes?" " Yeah." " Are you planning to check out today?" " No." "Why?" "Well, you see, sir, we have prior commitments in the form of a reservation for your room today." "Today?" " You mean check out today?" " I'm afraid so." "You see, we're having a sheriffs' convention in town and all these rooms have been reserved in advance for them 90 days ago." "All right." "Could I go down to the office and talk to you in about ten minutes?" "Give me ten minutes." "We're gonna know some of these guys, I'll bet." "I don't believe it." "I don't fuckin' believe it." "A sheriffs' convention, no less." "Why couldn't it have been a Tupperware convention?" "Or better yet, an undertakers'." "Excuse me." "Hello?" "Anything?" "Sorry, Mr Hughes." "You should have let us know you intended on staying this long." "Look, I've got a colleague in that room and he's sick with the mumps." "I'm afraid to move him." "I mean, what if they should spread?" "The doc said all we need is another day." "He can travel in another day." "Come on." "Come on." "Lock him up." "He did it." "Lock him up!" "Guilty!" "Guilty!" "It's gonna be one heck of a time getting her out of that crawlspace." "Don't know if I'm ever gonna get my nails done now." "Nadine really got to you, didn't she, Bob?" "Yeah, well, I'll tell you what's wrong." "I'm afraid some big fat cop's gonna come rumbling through this door any minute." "He'll say "Get outta this room." "This is my room."" "Dianne." "Yeah?" "I love you." "I love you, too." " Hey, Dianne?" " Hm?" "We have that blue garment bag?" "The big one." "Dianne?" "Don't worry, Bob." "We'll make it." "We always do, don't we?" "Honey?" "Let's go, dear." "We're gonna miss our flight." "Hi." "Wow." "What a busy day." "What do you say we go up to the attic, divide the stuff up with Rick and give him the big end?" "Don't count him short." "What's going on, Bob?" "What are you thinking about?" "Nothin'." "I'm thinking about, uh..." "heading' back home." "Gettin' in the 21-day methadone programme." " Cleaning up my act." " Are you kidding?" "No, I'm not." "Dianne," "I can't do it any more." "I'm not goin' on no withdrawal programme." "So what's gonna happen to me?" "Why don't you come with me?" "No, thanks, buster." "Not a fucking word do you mention about all this." "Right out of the clear blue sky you say you're gonna clean up your hand." "And you know I can't." "Look, Dianne, do what you want." "Take whatever we got." "I only need enough to get me home." "Get the shovel." "I'll take care of her." "Go back to the truck." "Go." "Have you ever been on a withdrawal programme before?" "No." "I see." "How long have you been on drugs altogether?" "All my life." "Then this isn't your first time withdrawing?" "No." "This is my first time withdrawing on methadone." "How old are you now?" "26." " Are you married?" " Uh, yeah." "Where is your wife?" "I don't know." "Do you have children?" "No." "Um..." "Do you have a job?" "No." "Do you have a Social Security number?" "No." "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" " Yeah, a few times." " What were they?" "What felonies were you convicted of?" "What do you want?" "My life story?" "Look, lady." "I'm a junkie." "I like drugs." "I like the whole lifestyle." "But it just didn't pay off." "You know, you don't see my kind of people." "Cos my kind of people, they don't come down here and beg dope." "They go out and get it, and if they miss, they go to jail and they kick alone with nothing in some holding tank." "I'm sorry, Bob." "I don't mean to hassle you." "All this is required." "I'm sorry if you think it's unnecessary." "Have you ever considered becoming a counsellor and helping other addicts with their problems?" "No." "Why not?" "Well, to begin with, nobody - and I mean nobody - can talk a junkie out of using." "You can talk to them for years, but sooner or later they'll get ahold of something." "Maybe it's not dope." "Maybe it's booze." "Maybe it's glue." "Maybe it's gasoline." "Maybe it's a gunshot in the head." "But something." "Something to relieve the pressures of their everyday life, like... having to tie their shoes." "Tom, you got some mail here." " Bless you." " You're welcome." "Father Murphy." "Hey, Tom." "Well, well." "Bad Bobby Hughes." "Imagine seeing you here after all these years." "You live here too?" "I have nowhere else to go." "There is no demand in the priesthood for elderly drug addicts." "An indiscretion in 1970- you were inside, I believe... resulted in my descent to this sorry state." "As a matter of fact, I'm feeling a bit sick right now." "Are you holding?" "Nope." "They got me on this 21-day thing." "Methadone." "What about yourself?" "Oh, sure." "I'm on the programme." "But sometimes I get a little bit ahead of my schedule." "You understand?" "And sometimes I think some junkie nurse may be stepping on my medication." "But I can't be sure." "How about it?" "You wanna score?" "Nah." "But I'll keep you company." "This here is an art work." "A work of art." "So is that." "More art work." "Look at the bole on that tree there." "That reminds me." "I used to know an old croaker." "I think it was on that street." "Maybe it was the next street over." "Ah... he'd write like a major." "Tom knew his way around the old neighbourhoods." "I'd known Tom since I was an altar boy." "Benevolent Father Murphy, the most notorious dope fiend on the Coast." "When he was holding he'd always share with those who weren't." "He was very kind." "Tom was king then." "He had it all." "His ass was covered in this life and the next." "I bet he shot a million bucks in his arm." "OK." "This is what you call a radial-arm drill press." "Get the drill you want, putting it in the holder." "Make sure you've got a good grip on it." "That brings your drill down to your work." "Position it over the hole." "That's your clutch." "This is your power feed." "This is the clutch that engages the power feed." "Put that in and just let it drill." "You go to work loaded, it'll show." "Being loaded's like being drunk." "You drink or get high in the morning, your boss is gonna see it." "You'll get fired, then you're not making money." "Then you're gonna have to do something else." "You're gonna have to rob, steal, sell." "You know?" "Um..." "Somewhere in that robbing you might end up killing your best buddy over a fix." "You'll go down the tubes." "There's no other way around it." "The more you use, the longer you use, the further down you go." "Then you're gonna find you're on the bottom." "Catching up on your reading?" "You didn't stay gone long, Bob." "What happened?" "Nothing happened." "I hear you're on a methadone programme." "You don't think that'll keep Trousinski from jumping your ass, do you?" "To tell you the truth, I haven't given it much thought." "You know, for once I'm not here to hassle you." "Trousinski lost his gold badge over that little incident." "He's working traffic." "He's made so many goddamn threats, he's almost gonna have to hurt you." "And I don't wanna see that happen." "Man, look." "What can I say?" "I got a job, you know?" "What happened out there in the sticks, Bob?" "Where's Dianne?" "You know how whimsical women are." "She found some other dude to chase after and off she went, chasing' after him." "I find that a little hard to believe." "You and Dianne have been running around together since you were little kids." "I hope you make out on that job of yours." "And I sincerely hope that you straighten up a little bit." "Take care of yourself, Bob." "My old lady's still out there right now." "Yeah." "I can't do nothing with her." "I tried." "I told her to come." "She won't come cos she's doing her own thing." "What I was doin', I was goin' right to the source." "Right to the source." "Where do they make drugs?" "In the drugstores." "If you want some money you go to the bank, huh?" ""Yeah, honey, I gotta stop by the bank and the drugstore." "I'll be home after a while."" "What are you crying for?" "You want to do the drugs, you gotta pay for 'em." "Where's my fuckin' money, you bitch?" "Punk." "Where the fuck's my money?" "Come on." "This is the third time I had to ask you." "What are you gonna say?" "Say something." "You want me to beat you more?" "Hey, David." "What do you think you're doin', man?" "Huh?" "What do you think you're doin'?" "This kid's cryin', man." "So?" "It's business." "What do you care?" "Why don't you go away and mind your own business?" "What do you care?" "Cos it bugs me." " Take a walk." " Hey, man." "Come on." "Goddamn!" " David, why don't you grow up, man?" " I am grown-up." "Asshole!" "Why didn't you do something, man?" "What's up with you, man?" "I thought you..." "Man, I'm not buying you no lunch." "You know, Tom, you told me a lot of the old-time stories about how you used to stick your arm in between the bars of the cell and a guard would come by and he'd fire you up a shot of morphine." "They never did that for me." "They don't do that for anyone any more." "Narcotics have been systematically scapegoated and demonised." "The idea that anyone can use drugs and escape a horrible fate is anathema to these idiots." "I predict in the near future right-wingers will use drug hysteria as a pretext to set up an international police apparatus." "I'm an old man and I may not live to see a final solution of the drug problem." "You know what, Tom?" "You might have missed your calling." "You should have been a philosopher." "Well, Bob, in another life, perhaps." "In another life." "Who is it?" "Who is it?" "Hey." "Jesus." "What kind of a dump is this?" "And where is the female?" "You might as well trot her out." "You don't ever change, do you, Dianne?" "Goddamn right I don't." "Why should I?" "I was just commenting on how good you look." " Yeah?" "I'll bet." " Hey, how about a cup of tea?" " Yeah." " Yeah?" "So, how's that methadone thing workin' out?" "So-so." " I got a job." "Did I tell you that?" " No shit!" "Where are you working?" "Oh, just a machine shop over on Western." "Yeah?" "What do you do there?" "I, uh..." "I drill holes." " Drill holes?" " Yeah." "I drill..." "I drill these holes that, uh, bolts fit into." "Yeah?" "How do you like it?" "I'll tell you the truth." "It's kind of a drag, but it pays the rent." "Then you're really serious." "You're gonna go on with this thing." "Yeah." "Dianne, why don't you take your coat off and stay awhile?" "I can't." "I got people waiting for me out in the car." "I just came to see how you was doing." "Here." "That's from Rick and the rest of us." "We kind of thought you might need a taste once in a while." "What happened?" "What made you turn around that day?" "Was it me?" "Did I do something wrong?" "No, babe." "It wasn't you." "It was Nadine's death and the hex she threw on us with that hat." "Then I panicked when I looked out to the parking lot and I saw all those cop cars." "I knew I was dead." "So I started coppin' deuces." "I prayed like I'd never prayed." "I said "God, Son, Devil, whoever you are up there, please have pity on me."" ""Please let me get this poor girl's body out of this hotel room and into the ground so I don't have to spend my life in prison."" ""And, God, if you'll do that for me, I'll show you my appreciation by goin' home, gettin' on the methadone programme, gettin' a job and livin' a virtuous life."" "We got out, and I promised, so here I am." "Are you gonna stick with it for ever?" "Well..." "You know, Dianne, for all the boredom the straight life brings, it's not that bad." "I mean, even this crummy little room ain't so bad." "I mean, I actually wake up some mornings and I feel like something good's gonna happen today." "You know?" "I'm a regular guy." "I got my regular job." "I got my regular room." "And now I got you." "You're crazy, Bob." "You're really crazy." "Dianne, why don't you go downstairs and tell your friends that you're gonna spend the night, come back, and bed down with me for a little while?" "I'd like to, Bob." "But I got another old man now." "I'm..." "I'm Rick's old lady now." "Ain't that a gas?" "I work for Rick." "There we were, teaching that brat to steal, and now I'm on his crew." "Things sure can get screwed around, can't they?" "Yeah." "And, Bob, you know me." "I might have been a lot of things, but I never was a tramp." "Bob, I gotta go." "Hey, Dianne?" "It's really good to see you." "I mean, you look really good." "I wish I could win you back." " Who is it?" " Tom, it's Bob." "Open the door." " Hey, what's this?" " It's a gift." "I won't be needing it." "I got my new programme down so..." " A gift." "Wow." " Knock yourself out." " Mmmm..." " I don't know what's in there." "Let's just see what's in there." "God bless you, my son." "May you go to heaven." "Now..." "Oh, yeah." "This..." "This is for squares." "Never touch the stuff." "But this..." "A hundred sixteenths of Dilaudid." "This should earn you an indulgence." "Where's it at, Bob?" " What do you want?" " We want your dope." "You think if I had dope I'd be sittin' in this flea trap?" "I'm on a methadone programme." "You come around for dope?" "That's a laugh." "Shut up." "I ain't fucking, man." "You want it the hard way and we're just the guys who are gonna give it to you." "Is that you, David?" "You listen to me, you little punk." "I'm goin' straight, man." "I ain't fuckin' bullshitting you." "I'm goin' straight." "You oughta try it sometime." "It's good for the soul." "Fuckin' liar!" "Where is it, Bob?" "We know this is all a scam you're playing." "Where is it?" "Where the fuck is it?" "Nothing is more life-affirming than getting the shit kicked out of you." "I knew it in my heart." "You can buck the system, but you can't buck the dark forces that lie hidden beneath the surface." "The ones some people call superstitions." "Howling banshees." "Black cats." "Hats on beds." "Dogs and the evil eye." "So I relaxed and gave in to the notion that, for the very first time in my life," "I knew exactly what was going to happen next." "Fuck." "Now I'm gonna kill the son of a bitch." "I bet ya the next bastard we capture will tell us where it's at." "So he's tough." "They ain't all tough." "I say kill him." "Did you hear me, Bob?" "Come on." "Let's go." "Is he gonna make it?" "Let me get him for a second." "Bob." "Can you hear me?" "Bob, who did this to you?" "Was it Trousinski?" "Bob, tell me." "Who shot you?" "The hat." "The hat?" "Bob, did you say "The Hat"?" "Tell Dianne... to look out for the hat." "Tell her." " OK, Bob." " OK?" " So The Hat shot you." "Right, Bob?" " No." "The TV baby shot me." "The TV Baby shot you but The Hat was with him." "Who's The Hat?" "You gotta tell me so I can tell Dianne." "Never mind." "I'll tell her myself." "We gotta get him outta here." "It's this fucking life." "You never know what's gonna happen next." "That's why Nadine spiked herself with the easy way out." "That's why Dianne keeps on goin' like she does." "See, most people don't know how they're gonna feel from one minute to the next." "But a dope fiend has a pretty good idea." "All you gotta do is look at the labels on the little bottles." "You gotta know how to read the signs." "That's what the hat on the bed was, which is why I'm not scared." "I paid my debt to the hat." "The irony was fucking brilliant." "The chickenshit cops were giving me an escort to the fattest pharmacy in town." "I was still alive." "Hope they can keep me alive."