on it, you had me so fucking hard.” Eliot smirked at him, and JJ leaned a little closer, whispering, “You gonna spread for me tonight, pretty boy? Come on, you know I had you beggin’ for it last time.”
“Nah,” Eliot said, just to be an asshole, seeing the flare of frustrated anger in JJ’s eyes and loving it. “I’m done here. See you next time, man.”
Eliot pushed back from the bar without another word and headed toward the deserted dressing room, where he scrubbed off the body glitter with some baby wipes and then pulled on a T-shirt and jeans, stuffing his cash in his front pocket.
He waved at the other two men as he left, ignoring JJ’s sullen pout, pushing through the front door into the night. It was mid-October, and the desert nights were cooler but still plenty warm. Eliot walked the streets for a little while, his sexual compulsions eased for the moment, all the alcohol he’d drunk keeping the black demon quiet.
He wandered into a twenty-four-hour bodega and bought two tall boys and a bottle of cheap vodka, slipping a couple of twenty-dollar bills into the bottom of the brown paper bag as he made his way to the park two blocks over. Actually “park” was a generous word for the patch of brownish green grass that stretched about half a block through this rundown old neighborhood, but Eliot knew just where he was going.
He walked over to one of the rickety benches that ringed the park, nudging the shopping cart full of trash and other bits and pieces of a shattered life out of the way so he could sit down. A man with long matted gray hair sat on the other end of the bench, rocking, muttering to himself, and Eliot perched next to him, ignoring the stench of a body that probably hadn’t seen soap in months.
He pulled the tall boys out of the bag and set them aside before unscrewing the cap on the bottle of vodka and folding the brown paper bag down around it so just the opening showed through the top. Eliot leaned closer and put the whole thing in the other man’s shaking hands. Seeing he wouldn’t be able to lift it to his mouth without dropping it, he wrapped his own fingers around the man’s filthy hands and helped him guide it to his lips.
“That’s it, Sam,” Eliot murmured. “Take your medicine. And there’s some food money in the bag for when you’re feeling better. Don’t let anybody take it this time, just leave it in the bag, okay?”
The man took a few more gulps of vodka, and before long his hands steadied enough so he could hold the bottle on his own. Eliot let go of him and popped the top on one of his own cans of beer. Sam began muttering and rocking again as he drank, “Can’t find her. Can’t find her. I left and when I came back, she was gone. You seen her? She’s so sweet. So precious. You seen her?”
Eliot drank beer and sat next to the insane old homeless man, feeling the black demon roil restlessly, starting to whisper in his ear. The calm before the storm.
All of a sudden Sam grabbed his arm and leaned in, hissing, “Am I crazy? She said I’m crazy.”
Eliot gave a sad smile and patted Sam’s hand. “Yeah, man, we’re all crazy here.” Sam subsided and Eliot drank, wondering if anyone would bring him vodka when he was the one rocking on a bench in a forgotten park.
We’re all crazy here.
Chapter 5
LOREN RANG the doorbell and rapped on the front door to the large and impressive Scottsdale home, shifting impatiently from foot to foot. It wasn’t even 7:00 a.m., but Loren couldn’t wait any longer to talk to Eliot’s mother. He’d killed a few hours in a nearby diner, ordering a breakfast he didn’t touch, frustrated as hell he couldn’t just go over at 4:00 a.m. and roust her out of bed. He wasn’t a grief-stricken seventeen-year-old fool anymore, and he was going to fucking get some answers.
He heard the clicking of heels in the entryway, and then the door opened a fraction, a green eye peering out.
“Yes?” a feminine voice
“Nah,” Eliot said, just to be an asshole, seeing the flare of frustrated anger in JJ’s eyes and loving it. “I’m done here. See you next time, man.”
Eliot pushed back from the bar without another word and headed toward the deserted dressing room, where he scrubbed off the body glitter with some baby wipes and then pulled on a T-shirt and jeans, stuffing his cash in his front pocket.
He waved at the other two men as he left, ignoring JJ’s sullen pout, pushing through the front door into the night. It was mid-October, and the desert nights were cooler but still plenty warm. Eliot walked the streets for a little while, his sexual compulsions eased for the moment, all the alcohol he’d drunk keeping the black demon quiet.
He wandered into a twenty-four-hour bodega and bought two tall boys and a bottle of cheap vodka, slipping a couple of twenty-dollar bills into the bottom of the brown paper bag as he made his way to the park two blocks over. Actually “park” was a generous word for the patch of brownish green grass that stretched about half a block through this rundown old neighborhood, but Eliot knew just where he was going.
He walked over to one of the rickety benches that ringed the park, nudging the shopping cart full of trash and other bits and pieces of a shattered life out of the way so he could sit down. A man with long matted gray hair sat on the other end of the bench, rocking, muttering to himself, and Eliot perched next to him, ignoring the stench of a body that probably hadn’t seen soap in months.
He pulled the tall boys out of the bag and set them aside before unscrewing the cap on the bottle of vodka and folding the brown paper bag down around it so just the opening showed through the top. Eliot leaned closer and put the whole thing in the other man’s shaking hands. Seeing he wouldn’t be able to lift it to his mouth without dropping it, he wrapped his own fingers around the man’s filthy hands and helped him guide it to his lips.
“That’s it, Sam,” Eliot murmured. “Take your medicine. And there’s some food money in the bag for when you’re feeling better. Don’t let anybody take it this time, just leave it in the bag, okay?”
The man took a few more gulps of vodka, and before long his hands steadied enough so he could hold the bottle on his own. Eliot let go of him and popped the top on one of his own cans of beer. Sam began muttering and rocking again as he drank, “Can’t find her. Can’t find her. I left and when I came back, she was gone. You seen her? She’s so sweet. So precious. You seen her?”
Eliot drank beer and sat next to the insane old homeless man, feeling the black demon roil restlessly, starting to whisper in his ear. The calm before the storm.
All of a sudden Sam grabbed his arm and leaned in, hissing, “Am I crazy? She said I’m crazy.”
Eliot gave a sad smile and patted Sam’s hand. “Yeah, man, we’re all crazy here.” Sam subsided and Eliot drank, wondering if anyone would bring him vodka when he was the one rocking on a bench in a forgotten park.
We’re all crazy here.
Chapter 5
LOREN RANG the doorbell and rapped on the front door to the large and impressive Scottsdale home, shifting impatiently from foot to foot. It wasn’t even 7:00 a.m., but Loren couldn’t wait any longer to talk to Eliot’s mother. He’d killed a few hours in a nearby diner, ordering a breakfast he didn’t touch, frustrated as hell he couldn’t just go over at 4:00 a.m. and roust her out of bed. He wasn’t a grief-stricken seventeen-year-old fool anymore, and he was going to fucking get some answers.
He heard the clicking of heels in the entryway, and then the door opened a fraction, a green eye peering out.
“Yes?” a feminine voice
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