First Posted: 19 March 1997
"Look T-bone," i say (be calm, be calm) "this wasn't my fault, ok? Like, i'm just trying to tell you is all, ok?"
With a visible pause T-bone seems to draw in on himself, his death-pale skin, those piss-holes-in-the-snow black eyes burning with that freaking intensity he has. His buckles jingle as a little shudder passes through him and he smiles. Oh, shit, i hate that smile...
"S'ok, we're cool," he tells me. "Just tell it to me so i know who's moving in on our operations."
I take a trembling breath, remembering. fuck fuck fuck fuck. "Ok, yeah, right. This all went down a few hours ago. About six-thirty, right, just before sunset. Perfect lighting for the shoot, right, coming in through those bay windows. Sorry, but i had to like, change, then find you. But i got here quick as i could, right? So we were well into the shoot, yah? Ok, so Long John is plowing the kid hard from behind. Good scene, right? I've got Jim-Jim and Nick doing double camera shots, 'cause i don't want to waste anything on this babe, right? Hot little blonde number. I mean, fuck, only maybe fourteen and already had fuckin' breasts you'd kill for, right?"
"I don't have all night, Turbo," says T-bone sharply. "Get to the fuckin' point, mutherfucker!"
"Yeah, yeah, ok, i'm just trying to tell you what was what is all," i mutter hastily. I fumble for a Marlboro. Flick my Zippo. Get it lit on the second try. Ah, better, yeah, better. "Ok, so besides Long John, Jim-Jim, Nick, and me there was Meat and the Hawk."
"You let Hawk in on the shoot?" T-bone demands angrily. "What kind of fucking idiot are you?" he shouts. His hand, snake fast whips out and grabs me by the throat. I frantically grab his wrists, pleading, pleading.
"No, no, T-bone, i had it planned, right, right? That's what Meat was there for, see? Like, Hawk was getting pushy. Said he'd brought in the girl, said he was, like, her manager and shit. So, like, he was making threats and i just figured, sure, fine, let him come along this time. After the shoot i'd have Meat take care of Hawk, right, you know?"
T-bone glares at me, then relaxes. "Yeah, ok. Smart boy. That's why i put you in charge, Turbo. So you were going to get Meat to whack Hawk after and take the girl, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, right!" i agree enthusiastically. Then the memory hits, the spray of blood, the thwack of entrails hitting the wall. "'Cept, that's not, like, our problem any more. Hawk's not going to be giving us any shit in the future." Yeah, and neither will Meat, or Nick, Jim-Jim... fuck fuck fuck!
I pick up my cigarette from where it fell and drag on it. Yeah, yeah, better. "Ok, so, like, we're doing the shoot. I've shot the girl up with some tranq, right. Take a bit of the edge off, give her that dreamin' look, so she's into it, right? That's what this shoot was for. Young cunt that wants it. Not a rape scene. Did that before, right? So, yeah, Long John's pounding the kid's slit, doggie wise, see, and she's bleedin', whimpering some. Great fucking shoot. Yeah. So We're all watching, right, right, getting good video, when the mutherfucking door just fucking exploded out of the fucking shit wall!" Fire and smoke, wood flying, deafening noise. fuck fuck fuck.
T-bone just stares at me. Pours me a shot from the bottle on the table. Nodding thanks i grab the glass and take the hit down. Pull on my Marlboro again. Yeah, better, better.
"You were telling me about the door," T-bone prompts. His leathers are dark. Not black. Like dried blood. Funny. I never noticed before. Why wouldn't i have noticed that before?
"Yeah, the door. So the door explodes in. And in comes this huge motherfucking shit stomper. Came out of the fire like black smoke from Hell! Something long flashed and tore Hawk apart. Practically cut the fucker in half... Blood, blood everywhere. Never seen so much blood. Not even when i plugged Harry-hart. His blood just puddled. Hawk... fuck fuck fuck. Hawk, like, vaporized, spraying blood everywhere..."
Fuck! I look at T-bone and jerk back in my seat! His eyes areglowing, his mouth open, staring at me, with this weird, fucked up smile. His tongue snakes out, licking his lips. Then his face blanks again, back to just his normal fucking Goth-boy spookiness and he leans back telling me, "Continue," in a hoarse, heavy voice.
"Yeah, right, right, ok. So, it turns out this guy's wearing some kind of fucking huge cape that's swirling around him. He kicks Meat on his way by then hurls himself into Nick. Nick screamed once, you know, then there was this cracking, ripping sound. I'm going for my thirty eight, right? Meat's getting up with that axe he likes to carry around in his fucking gym bag. Long John's freaking', right, stumbling back from the little bitch. She's just staring wide-eyed. Had to be the tranq, right, right, watching the shit hit the fan. Jim-Jim's dropping his camera and running for the shotgun when the guy comes up, blood dripping off him, looking crazy insane. He swings, like, this huge fucking sword of all the goddamned things, over the girl's back. Long John goes down coughing and gasping. I've got my thirty eight out now and i'm going to drop him. So i pump off a couple shots, but... Shit. I dunno, i'd of sworn i hit him, but maybe with that fucking cape thing of his, moving around like it was, maybe i didn't."
"What kind of cape?" T-bone asks.
"What kind of fucking question is that?" i snap back, lost in memory. Then, remembering who i'm talking with, i backtrack. "I mean, hey, sorry, man. I'm frazzed over this is all. Uhh...the cape, right, right. Black, i think, but the lights were down low, right. So maybe, you know what's that deep blue, indigo? Yeah. So maybe that. And huge. Like a giant shroud, hiding most of him from view. It had this sort of hood thing, too, covering his head. Oh, yah! And it was weird, i mean, it moved."
"What?"
"I'm telling you, T-bone, the fucking thing moved, right, right? I mean, like, what, we don't have any fucking windows open, right, and it's, like, moving around, like in a wind, pulling and tugging. And, and," the memory comes rushing back, Nick lying there, his chest gaping open, blood everywhere, "and, when the guy came off Nick it was like, like the cape didn't want to go with him. Like it was stuck on Nick, or something. And a bit later, when, like, he was down, i looked at Nick again..." My voice trail off. fuck fuck fuck...yellow bones cracked through, sticking jagged-like out... I swallow and continue. "When i looked at Nick again, the blood, it was gone. Like, wiped clean. Weird. Yeah, weird..." I reach over for the bottle, pouring myself another shot.
"You said he went down," T-bone says. "Did you drop him after all?"
"No, no man, i didn't drop him. Like i said, i shot at him, but then Meat goes wading into the picture, right? Swinging that big fucking fireman's axe. The guy just blocks it casually-like, with that sword of his. Meat tried to slice him again, and again the guy stopped the stroke. Then his left arm lashed out. And these, like, claws or something, slash across Meat. Swear to god! It was, like, claws, black and gleaming, instead of fingers!" Fast. Fast. He moved really, fucking fast! I slam back another shot of the whiskey. "So, like, i'm thinking, this is no fucking good, right, right? I mean, what, fifteen seconds and this guy's waxed Hawk, Nick, probably Meat, and, oh yeah, Long John. Not that Long John'd be good for fucking anything but fucking! So, like, Meat or no Meat, i just empty my thirty eight into them. And this time i'm sure i hit him. He jerked, right, right? Jim-Jim gets the same idea. He pumps the whole fucking load from his shotgun into them. Meat's head explodes in a shower of gore, blood mists in the air. The next shot turns Meat's shoulder to hamburger, not that he'd care now, but the force drove him out of the way. The last two shots slam dead into the guy, slamming him back, back against the wall. Blood dripping down onto the floor before he dropped down, that big sword falling from his hand. That weird fucking cape, though... It just seemed to wrap itself in around him. Then, then..." i trail off.
T-bone stares at me. I don't say anything, thinking. Thinking about the blood. Thinking about how fucked up things are. Thinking i want another cigarette. Yeah, yeah, right. So i light one up as T-bone says, "Ok, so. You killed the bastard, then. Well, this isn't good, Turbo, but it could have been worse. You were going to ice Hawk anyway, and Meat, well, fuck, he was always just meat anyway. And Long John was just road shit at that. We can find some other shit to replace him. Too bad about Nick, though. He was good with the camera." T-bone stands up. "So, you've still got the girl. You and Jim-Jim put the crew back together and use her till she drops. Business as usual."
I look up at him slowly. "No, man, that's just what i'm trying to tell you. It's not business as fucking usual!"
T-bone stares at me. Fucking cold as the Montana winters i left years ago, he stares at me. Bites out the words, "What do you mean."
I drag on my cigarette. "Jim-Jim and i looked at each other, looked at the mess. The girl was huddled up now. I don't know, tranq wearing off or something. Staring around at the fucking mess with this weird little smile on her face, like she knows something that we don't. But whatever, right? So we, Jim-Jim and i, go over to take a look at this guy, right? I mean, he is looking very stone cold, and i'm thinking we'd better cut before some Goody-shoes calls Mr. Blue, right? But we're also thinking we'd better find out who this shit is first. So Jim-Jim kicks him in the leg a couple times, just to make sure, right? Then he kneels down to pull the cape away so we can take a look at him. Weird shit... I mean, the guy's wearing this black shirt, right, and it's shredded from the two shotgun loads, right, and there's all the blood, right. So he's a stiff, for sure. Then, Jim-Jim's pulling back that hood thing on the cape so we can see his
face. Then, then, fuck! As Jim-Jim pulled the hood back, the fucker's fucking eyes fucking opened, his hand shot up and grabbed Jim-Jim by the fucking throat! And he just laughs this fucking laugh!" A chill sweeps over me and i hear it again. Low and harsh. Like stones grinding together. "Then, he's up, right? I mean, he's just fucking up and moving. Jim-Jim's screaming as the fucking dead guy's snapped upright, gripping him by the throat. He barrels past me, kicking me aside, slamming Jim-Jim into the far wall. Jim-Jim screams, then, then, then the scream becomes this gurgle. The guy's hunched over him, with that fucking cape spread out and around them both. And he's laughing that weird fucking laugh. And the girl. She's started laughing too. Not like him, the guy, but this weird sort of giggle, but like satisfied sounding. And then i hear this sound like, like slurping noises, like when you finish a shake with a straw. Fuck! That noise, and his laugh! That's going to haunt me," i say, shuddering at the thought.
I look over at T-bone. He's just sitting there. Perfectly still. Still as death, just staring at me. Fuck fuck fuck... "The, the guy, he slowly gets up, right, that cape gathering around him. His hood's fallen back and i see him for the first, like, time, right?"
"You saw his face?" murmurs T-bone.
"Yeah. Yeah, i saw his face," i agree. "Or, well, part of his face, sort of, i mean. I saw his eyes, boring into me. Sizing me up as he stalked over to where i lay. And, and i saw his mouth. His lips were pulled back from his teeth. He was grinning this fucking huge snarling grin. And blood! Blood was running dripping off his chin, running down his cheeks. Jim-Jim's blood. It was smeared all over, across his chest and... Fuck!" i shout. Then, with a sudden calm i didn't think i'd ever feel again, i explain, "I suddenly realized: he'd ripped out Jim-Jim's throat to drink his blood."
T-bone glares at me when i say this. He's not freaking like i'd thought he would. He's not shouting at me. He just asks, calm-like, "Are you sure? Absolutely sure." Like it's the most important thing in everything i've been telling him.
"Yeah, man, I'm sure." Then, "Hey! Like, don't take this personal like, or nothing, T-bone, but, like, i know you're into the Goth scene, man, and, hey, don't bother me, but like, i know some of you're buddies are kind of weird on that Anne Rice kind of shit. Like, you know, maybe man, this guy was weird on this stuff, too. Or something. I mean, he was wearing black, right, and there was that cape thing. Didn't have a white face or nothing, though. So, fuck, I don't know. But yeah, i'm sure about it. He tore out Jim-Jim's throat and was drinking his blood before he came for me."
"But you got away, Turbo," says T-bone, suddenly cold again. His eyes narrow as he stares at me. His voice drops. "Why did you get away?"
"Hey, T-bone, like, i didn't think i would, man. I mean, the guy, he gets up from Jim-Jim, right? And he's walking towards me, glaring at me like, you know, like a hungry dog staring at a roast sitting on the table. I'm crawling backwards, trying to reload my thirty eight. But, but my hands, you know, they're shaking, right? I mean, this fucking dead guy just got fucking up and fucking killed Jim-Jim! I back into the wall and he just stands over me, staring. Watching as i try to reload. Like it's this fucking game or something. Then he takes the edge of his cape, and, and this is fucking weird man, I mean, really fucking weird! He wipes the cape down over his face, across his throat, down his chest. Wherever the cape touches the blood it, you know, just, like, vanishes. Like it's wiped up, or something. Just...wiped away. Gone. Like it wasn't there. He looks over at the girl and he smiles. Not like he was smiling before, but, like, this soft smile. And i've been thinking about this since then. And it fits with what he told me. He was there for the girl, man. At first i thought, you know, like he was working for somebody else, like maybe one of the Seattle teams, you know? Get rid of the competition. But no, he was just there for the girl, like he told me to tell you."
Suddenly T-bone's leaning forward again, in my face, glaring at me. "He spoke to you? What the fuck did he say? You piece of shit! You've been wasting my time with all this other crap when he'd something to say to me?"
I don't fucking care any more. The calm i felt a couple minutes ago is still with me. T-bone's madder than i've ever seen him, but i just don't fucking care. It don't mean nothing. "Not you, specifically, T-bone," i say, patiently, softly. "The guy, he turned back and looked at me, scowling, like. He just reached down and took my thirty eight from me. Looked at it and laughed, like it was all funny. He tossed the gun aside, into the far corner, then grabbed me, pulling me up, hauling me off the ground. I knew i was going to die, so i guess i just didn't give a fuck. I asked, 'Who are you?' He smiled again, his lips pulling back from his teeth and he moved close to me. His eyes were, you know, far away. My old man, he'd been a marine in Viet Nam. Only part of him came home. They said he had the thousand yard stare. When i looked at my old man, yeah, i saw it. He would just stand there, you know, focused on infinity. Like this guy. The thousand yard stare. It's like, he wasn't talking to me, but to someone, something, else. He said, 'I am Mask of Dog. The Protector. The Guardian. I walk at the left hand of Man and sit, watching, by the coals of his fire.' Then his eyes sort of, uh, cleared and he saw me again. 'Tell your master the kitlings have a defender,' he said. 'Tell him this will all end. By me hand.' I remember that, because of the last part, saying "me" instead of "my"."
I take a look at the bottle on the table. But for some reason, i don't want another drink. Damn. Makes you think. "Anyway," i continue, "he let go of me, just dropped me, like he'd forgotten about me or something. He turned his back on me, picked up that sword next to Meat, and went over to the girl. That huge fucking cape of his twitched around him, then flared open as he reached for her. I saw her face, then. She didn't look scared or nothing. Like, you know, like she knew something. Not about him, per se, but just...something. Whatever. I don't know. He picked her up, then, holding her to his chest. She started crying then, softly, just gasping, sort of, as he cradled her against him, her head buried tightly against his shoulder. He kissed her forehead, said something to her i couldn't hear, but she stopped crying. That cape just seemed to wrap tighter around them. Huge and black. Then, then he looked at me again and grinned, that predatory grin. 'Remember,' he said. 'Tell your keeper.' He paused to spit on Long John, then he walked out the door with the girl. Just before he left he paused and said, 'Know you, Man, that we will never meet again.'" Thank god for that! "Then he was gone."
"That's it? He just left?" T-bone asks, incredulous. "Yeah, man, that's it. I mean, i looked around, decided i'd better cut before Mr. Blue showed. I dumped some gas around the room to torch it, right? It'll take the domes longer to root through and figure out what went down. Then I took off too. I stopped long enough to shower and change, to get the, you know, blood off, right? You know, being covered in blood is kind of suspicious, ok? Then i started looking for you." I sigh, exhausted. I'm tapped out. Need to just chill for awhile. Maybe re-think things. Like getting out of the business. T-bone's not going to be thrilled about my walking out, though. Well... "So, like, we cool, T-bone?" i ask, wondering, but still not caring.
T-bone just stares at me.
"I mean, i did what i could, right? I mean, like, what else was i going to do, right? The fucker ate fucking buckshot, man. I mean, you just don't fuck with that. I mean, i do video, right? You handle the other mutherfucking shit, right?"
T-bone just stares at me some more. Then, "Yeah, Turbo, we're cool. I'm on the mutherfucking problem. Not your concern no more. Come on," he says, rising from his seat, his leather jacket creaking, the chains on it glinting in the dim light. Gestures for me to follow. He leads me out the back way. As we pass Rocky Horror, one of T-bones, uh, enforcers, at the back door and step out into the alley he puts his arm around my shoulder and says, real quiet-like, "Won't be none of your concern no more."