Chapter 12
Elaine awoke in the morning in the strange bed, feeling the presence of a stranger beside her. And it was like a hundred other mornings in a hundred other beds. The same old feelings of remorse and self-disgust were welling up inside her, filling her with bitterness.
And then she turned her head to look at the sleeping man beside her. All at once she sensed that something was different this time, that for once there existed more between them than a one-night interlude in the eternal search for kicks.
They hadn't gone to bed together for kicks. There was a lot more than just physical attraction between them. This man was Kenny Ricketts, and though she had only known him one night, she knew him better, understood him more completely than any man she had ever given herself to.
She knew that this was true for herself, yet she had no way of knowing what last night had meant to him. She could only guess. She could only hope.
He seemed different, yet she had been fooled before. Maybe she was wrong once more. Maybe he had seen in her an easy mark and taken her to his room, certain of the outcome, despite the promise he had made that he wouldn't force her.
He hadn't needed to force her. She had been more than willing, once the need had seized her. She lay staring at the sleeping man while her mind seethed with doubts.
Then he awoke slowly, rolled over and smiled at her. Some of the doubts went away. There was something different about Kenny. A kindness, a tolerance born of wisdom. Probably the results of his near-fatal accident in the airplane and the long months spent in a hospital.
His hand reached over and gently stroked her cheek, then grasped her head and pulled her to him. It was a tender kiss, a mingling of mouths that went on for a long time.
Then he sat up.
"Hey, it's late. We'd better get up and go check on your sister."
For a moment she had forgotten. And then the old panic seized her again. From the fierce, dope-glazed expression in Warren Lasswell's eyes last night as he peered out at her, she wondered if she weren't already too late.
But they had to try. They had to see what could be done to save Brenda.
She threw back the covers and jumped quickly to the floor. Kenny rolled off the other side of the bed. They faced each other for a moment, both of them naked, and there was not the slightest embarrassment.
And then she pulled on the dress, quickly, slipped on a pair of shoes she had taken from the suitcase. While she combed her hair, Kenny fixed a pot of coffee.
They had toast and coffee, then quickly went down to the street and headed for Warren Lasswell's house. At the corner Kenny stopped and unlocked a car that was parked at the curb.
"Hop in, Elaine," he said. "We might as well take my heap and get there quicker."
It was a Plymouth sedan that rattled continuously as they bounded over the cobblestone streets. Elaine was soon lost in the tangled maze of winding streets as Kenny seemed to turn at almost every corner.
In the daytime the town looked much different than it had at night. It was a sleepy little town built on the side of a mountain. There were church bells ringing in the distance, sandle-clad peasants driving burros. At one corner she saw two painters with their easels erected in the street.
Kenny stopped beside a high wall, and Elaine recognized the door where she had seen Warren Lasswell last night. They both got out of the car.
The knocker sounded loud in the morning stillness as Kenny banged it several times. There was no response. He knocked again.
They stood for five minutes, and nobody came to the door. Elaine felt a chill of apprehension run up her spine. The place was too quiet.
"Somebody should show up after all that racket," Kenny said to her.
"Could we climb over the wall?"
"It wouldn't be easy. Did you notice the top?"
When she looked up she discovered that there was a continuous ledge of broken bottles stuck in cement. Sharp shards of glass that would cut anybody who tried to climb the wall.
"I guess that's out," she said numbly.
Kenny knocked again and they waited.
And then they heard the sound of footsteps behind them. They turned and saw a ragged, skinny man, who looked like a beachcomber with a blond beard, coming across the street toward them.
"Kenny-" he hissed, motioning to them. "Man, you'd better cut out from there fast. That place is poison...."
"What do you mean?" Kenny said curiously.
"Get in the car and roll, man. I'll fill you in later."
Elaine was impressed by the frantic seriousness of the man. She pulled open the car door. When the three of them were seated, Kenny pulled away from the curb and headed back toward town.
"This is John Weber," Kenny said to Elaine.
"Junkie John," the man said sadly. "I'm a two-bit dope freak with a sixty dollar habit. I ain't got many miles to go, so nothing much can happen to me. But I don't want to see you kids get in a jam for something you didn't have nothing to do with...."
"What's the scoop?" Kenny said impatiently.
"A guy cashed in there last night."
Elaine caught her breath. She felt her insides contract, her knees begin to tremble.
"At Warren Lasswell's?" she said.
"Check," the man said, looking up at her with watery eyes. "He's probably still there, and the fuzz hasn't found out yet. But they will. Everybody there last night cut out and left him lying on the floor."
"Were you there?" Elaine asked.
"All the way. Like man, it was a real blast. This Lasswell, he's richer than any man ought to be. He invited every junkie in town. I went because he was giving away goods, and I got a habit to feed...."
"Was a blonde girl there?" Elaine asked eagerly. "Her name is Brenda-"
"The crazy chick in black tights and nothing on top? She was walking around like a mummy with her boobs hanging out...."
"She's my sister," Elaine said with a catch in her voice.
"Too bad," the junkie said, blinking his eyes. "Was she shooting it up?"
"She wouldn't have been there if she wasn't Man, I never seen such a blast."
"How did the man die?"
"Man, it was crazy. The whole scene. This Lasswell is way-out. A real weirdo. He had this big wheel of fortune set up on the wall and there was a deck of the stuff on every number. I never seen so much goods in my life. If I had it I wouldn't be giving it away. I'd stash it good and live it up for twenty years. You don't know where I could get a fix? Man, I'm sick already. And when this trouble busts loose, this town will dry up like a cinder in hell...."
"What happened to the man?" Elaine said impatiently.
"What man?"
The unshaven junkie sitting between Kenny and Elaine began to twitch nervously. His eyes and nose were running. He clutched his middle as if he were in great pain.
"Yeah, the man-" he said, nodding his head. "Lasswell didn't tell us one of the decks was uncut. It was his own private little joke. Playing God, he was. Using us poor junkies for his sport...."
"And the man took a fix of uncut heroin?" Elaine said with a pained gasp.
Junkie John nodded his head sadly.
"That's the way it happened," he said with a shudder. "This poor guy, I don't even know his name, he took a geez and went out. Number twenty-three on the wheel. Oh, Lord, and I had twenty-two just before him. The wheel of fortune. Kinda makes you wonder about the meaning of life...."
"And everybody left?" Elaine said fearfully. "Warren Lasswell and my sister?'
"Everybody-" the junkie said with a ponderous nod. "And left that poor guy lying there on the floor. Didn't even try to bring him around. But if I was going to go, I'd just as soon it was from an over jolt. They say you don't feel a thing. Just go floating off like an angel...."
"Do you know where they went?" Elaine said.
"Who?"
"Warren Lasswell and my sister."
"They took off for New York in his Jag. Said he wasn't going to sweat it out in a Mexican pokey. But he's got the money to make it. The rest of us got to disappear into the woodwork and sweat it out cold turkey, cause this town will dry up now as sure as I'm sittin' here."
Elaine clenched her hands into frantic knots on her knees. She fought to hold back the tears as long as she could, and then they came out in a gush. She covered her face and tried to stifle her sobs.
"Where do you want to go, John?" she heard Kenny say.
"Like man, where can I go? I've had it. But I hope I've given you a hand."
"You have, John," Kenny said impatiently. "We appreciate it. Would you want to get out up town?"
"Any place will do. I'm just bumming around."
Elaine felt the car stop. She opened the door and let the junkie slide out. Then she sat down again, tears still streaming down her face.
She felt the touch of Kenny's hand as it rested gently on her knee.
"Don't worry, Elaine. Well find your sister."
"But how?" she sobbed. "She's on her way to New York with that monster."
"We'll follow them."
She looked over at him.
"You can't go all that way. I won't let you-"
"I'm ready to move on," he said with a smile. "This place was beginning to bug me. I'll be glad to get back to the big city for a while."
"I can't let you do it, Kenny," she said, gripping his arm. "I'll get there by myself...."
"How?"
"I'll hitchhike. That's the way I got here."
"And after you get there, how will you find Warren Lasswell and your sister?"
"I'll find them somehow," she said hesitantly.
"Have you ever been there before?"
"No," she admitted reluctantly.
"Then you'd never be able to find them alone. You'll need my help. I know my way around. I know where to make connections. I'm acquainted with a lot of the pushers. And they know me along 'the street'. They won't clam up if I start asking questions."
She stared at him wide-eyed
"How do you know so much about it?"
"Because," he said gently, laying his hand on her knee. "I had the habit once myself. Picked it up in the hospital when they gave me stuff to kill the pain. I stayed on it when I got out. I was really hooked, so I stayed in New York where I could get the stuff,"
"But you're not on it now?"
"No," he assured her. "And I never will be again. I broke the habit two years ago. I came down here to get away from the temptation. But they've got pushers here too. I managed to stay off it. But I know the problem, and if you want to save your sister you need someone like me."
"I do need you, Kenny," she said tiredly. "If you really want to help-"
He smiled at her then and pulled her closer to him with a gentle pressure of his arm around her waist. She leaned against his shoulder, ready to surrender herself to his firm, guiding protection.
She needed him more than she had ever realized. Without him she didn't think she could go on.
"You're wonderful, Kenny," she whispered.
"You're pretty great yourself, Elaine. I think we both need each other. What's say we hang together for a while and see how it works out?"
"Yes," she sighed, tilting her face, awaiting his kiss.