December 17, 1983

Charlie woke up early that Monday morning.

He was glad that the weekend was over. He

didn't think he got more than a few hours

sleep the entire weekend. His dreams were

haunted by visions of men with machine

guns chasing him and the sound of Kyle's

laughter. The day after the incident at the

Taco Hut he called work to inform them he

wasn't coming back in. It was Stuart Dane

who picked up. After Charlie said he quit he

asked Stuart, "How did your date with Easy

Ev go last night?"

   Charlie could hear the sneer in Stuart's

voice when he said, "I got more from her

than you would have, bag boy."

   "I'm not your bag boy anymore, asshat. And

don't worry about that burning sensation in

your groin. Just go to the doctor to take care

of it. You'll probably end up with a herpes

sore that's bigger than your tweezer dick."

   "Ohh, someone's got a mouth on them

today. I'm shocked. You were always such a

timid little fag. When did you grow some

balls?"

   "When I fucked your mom the other night."

Charlie hung up. He said, "I always wanted

to tell that fucker off."

   He picked the phone up and called over to

the Conrad house. Mrs. Conrad picked up.

"Hello?"

   "Hello, Mrs. Conrad. It's Charlie."

   "Hello, Charlie. How are you doing?"

   "I'm fine. Is Andrea home."

   "No, she's gone away for the weekend with

Taylor."

   Charlie heard the voice in his head, "Ooh, a

romantic weekend getaway. I hope Taylor

remembered to pack the Astroglide. It makes

ass pounding that much easier."

   Charlie muttered, "Shut up."

   Mrs. Conrad asked, "What was that,

Charlie?"

   "Umm, nothing."

   "Well, I'll let Andrea know you called."

   "Okay. Can I asked you a question?"

   "Sure."

   "Is Andrea happy?"

   "What do you mean?"

   "Is she happy with her life and all? With

Taylor?"

   "She seems to be. Why do you ask?"

   "It's just we haven't talked in a while. I just

wanted to see how she was doing?"

   "I understand. I like Taylor a lot I must

admit but I wouldn't have had a problem if

Andrea chose you. You two were very close

and I saw it in your eyes on the night of the

prom. You care about her very much."

   The voice said, "She could have been yours

if you had more balls, Charlie boy. It

wouldn't have mattered anyway since you

would have been dead meat by now but at

least you would have gotten a chance to pop

the seal on that little bitch before you got

iced."

   "I got to go, Mrs. Conrad."

   "Okay.Say hello to your mother for me."

   "I will. Goodbye."

   As he hung up, the voice said in a mocking

tone, "'Is Andrea okay?'" I almost puked

when you asked her that. I thought you were

a man after what you said to Dane but you

turned back into a little pussy."

   Charlie said out loud, "Fuck you. If you 

don't like it then get out of my head."

   "I'm going. I don't want to be around when

you tell your mom your plans. She's going to

turn on the waterworks, you know. Just don't

turn into a wimp with her like you did with

Mrs. Conrad."

   "Up your ass with broken glass."

   "That's the spirit. Bye now."

   When Charlie felt the presence leave him,

he said, "You left me to deal with my mom

alone. Who's the little pussy now?"

   As Charlie packed his things into his duffel

bag he thought back to Saturday night. As he

had feared, his mom didn't take the news of

him leaving well. "First your no-good father

leaves us and now you want to do the same.

Fine. Leave and don't come back. See if I

care." She spent all of Sunday in her room.

Charlie tried to talk her into coming out but

she wouldn't, no matter how much Charlie

promised to come back to visit.

   Charlie walked upstairs from his basement

room. Hr went into the bathroom to grab his

toothbrush. He passed to door to his

mother's room. He thought about knocking

and telling her he was leaving but he didn't

need to hear her scream at him some more so

he left. First he drove over to Burger Boy to

get breakfast. As he sat in the booth eating

his Burger Boy bacon and cheese muffin and

the greasy but good hash brown patty Charlie

kept looking out the window towards the

darkened Taco Hut on the other side of the

shopping center. Looking at the place where

he was supposed to die made him feel more

alive. He saw his reflection in the window

and saw he was smiling.

   After he ate he went over to the bank to

withdraw all his money. It wasn't a lot but it

should have been enough to get him out to

California. After that he would have to trust

that the deal he had made was legit. There

was a feeling nagging at him as he left the

bank. He wasn't sure what it was but he

decided to drive back to his neighborhood

one last time. As he turned the corner onto

his street he saw Taylor's car pulling away

from in front of the Conrad house and

driving towards him. Charlie ignored the

voice in his head urging him to give Taylor

the finger as he passed. Charlie stopped in  

front of the Conrad house. He saw Andrea

opening the front door of the house. She

looked over her shoulder and saw Charlie's

car. She smiled and waved at him. She picked

up the suitcase at her feet and went into the

house.

   The voice said, "Aww, is wittle Chawlie

sad that he didn't get to say goodbye to his

wittle Andrea? Poor wittle Chawlie. Get

over that whore already, you limp-wristed

sissy. Be a fucking man. You have the rest of

your life ahead of you, a life that I gave you,

don't ever forget. I promise you women who

will make you forget her. Now let's go. The

future I have for you awaits. Do you have

the notebooks and pens I told you to bring?"

   "Yeah. Now will you shut up and leave me

alone for a while?"

   "Okay. I'll leave you to morn for your

failed love. Just drop it soon. I don't want to

have to listen to this shit for the rest of the

time before I claim your soul. I promise you

won't hear from me until we get out west.

Talk to you then."

   Charlie was glad when the voice went

silent. Listening to that voice all the way

across the country would have driven him

insane. He thought, if you're not insane

already.

   Charlie began the long drive south. He

drove all day, stopping only for gas. When

the sun went down he pulled into the first

motel he found. After he checked in he went

out to get some dinner. Once he ate he went

back to the motel and went to sleep. He

slept for two hours and then woke up. Once

he was awake he would spend the rest of the

night writing down what he dreamed about

down to the last detail. In the morning he

would check out, get some breakfast, and

then get back on the road. It was a ritual he

repeated as he drove south towards Florida.

When he got to Florida he went west along

the Gulf of Mexico until he hit Texas. He

went through Texas and was halfway

through Arizona when the voice returned.

"Let's hit Vegas."

   "I don't have the money for Vegas. I just

have enough to make it to California. Plus

this two hours of sleep a night is killing me."

   "You forget who you're talking to. Las

Vegas is Sin City and guess who happens to

be the king of sin. I'll have your back so you

got nothing to worry about. Besides, you

need to start enjoying the life I gave you. I

promise you that you'll leave with more

money than you have now. And once you're

out in California there will be plenty of time

to rest up."

   "Why do I have a feeling that you're not

going to let this Vegas thing drop? Okay,

I'll go."

"Go over to the MGM. There will be a room

set up for you."

   When Charlie got to Vegas he did as the

voice instructed him to. When he walked up

to the front desk of the MGM he asked the

man behind the desk if there was a room for

Charlie Jobson. The man looked through the

registry. "Yes. Mr. Blackwell called the

reservation in about an hour before you

arrive. The Presidental Suite, is it?"

   Charlie was about to ask who Mr.

Blackwell was when he heard the last part.

"Umm, yes. That will do. Tell me, is Mr.

Blackwell around?"

   "One never know about Mr. Blackwell. He

comes and goes as he pleases. Sometimes it's

years between visits but he is one of our

most valued guests."

   "He sure is a man of wealth and taste, isn't

he?"

   "Indeed." The man handed Charlie the keys

to the suite and asked, "Do you need help

with your bags?"

   Charlie picked up his duffle bag from off

the floor and said, "This is all I have. Thanks

anyway."

   "Enjoy your stay, sir. If there's anything

you need, call down to the front desk."

   Charlie walked over to the elevators. He

got into the first one and went all the way to

the top floor. When he entered the suite he

was in awe. The suite was bigger than what

he was used to living in. As he walked

through the rooms of the suite he heard a

phone ringing. He picked up the nearest

phone. He wasn't surprised by the voice on

the other end. "Enjoying the good life yet,

Charlie boy?"

   "This place is amazing. I guess I should

call you Mr. Blackwell?"

   "That's the name I use when I make my

occasional visits to Earth. Nathan Ian

Blackwell. A rather regal name, don't you

think? I usually come up when I want to get

away from the business of ruling Hell or if I

need to check with my associate who handles

my business dealing on Earth. We might run

into each other once in a while."

   "How will I know it's you when I do run

into you?"

   "Open the door to your suite. I'm right

outside." The phone went dead.

   Charlie put the phone down. He walked

over to the door of the suite and opened it.

Standing outside the suite was a tall man in a

black suit with black curly hair and green

eyes that sparkled like emeralds.  When he

smiled at Charlie it reminded him of a shark.

When he spoke  Charlie recognized the voice

that came out of Kyle and had been in his

head ever since. "How's my boy?"

   "I'm okay."

   "Okay? You'll be more than okay once this

night is over. I want you to shower up and

get something to eat from room service.

Don't worry about the price. Everything's on

me. Check out the closests. There are clothes

and suitcases for them. Take the notebooks

out of your bag and leave the bag with your

old clothes in it and leave the bag outisde

your suite. I'll have someone come up to

take them off to Goodwill or something.

Those clothes and that ratty old bag might be

good for a supermarket stockboy but that's

not you anymore. You're going to be a

success. You need a suit. After you shower

and eat and try on your new clothes, come

down to the casino. I'll be waiting for you."

He turned and walked back to the elevators.

   It was over an hour later when Charlie

stepped out of the elevator in his new suit.

As he walked over towards the casino he saw

Blackwell walking towards him. Blackwell

smiled and said, "You look great." He leaned

forward and said in a low voice, "Check your

suit jacket pocket. There will be enough

money to start you off with here. And don't

worry if you start losing at the tables. You

will win back whatever you lose threefold

eventually. If you won all the hands you

played it would draw too much attention.

Me, I lose more than I win when I come here

but that is only because I chose to. What

does money matter to me? But you'll do

fine. Come, tonight the town is ours."

He patted Charlie on the arm and turned

towards the casino. Charlie followed him.

   As they walked through the casino,

Blackwell asked, "So, while you were up in

your suite, did you make any phone calls?"

   "I did think about calling Mom but I knew

she'd probably start with the guilt trip so I

decided not to."

   "Anyone else you thought of calling?"

   "No. What's with all the questions?" 

Charlie stopped walking. Blackwell smiled

when he saw the look of realization on

Charlie's face. "So you haven't thought of

her at all since you left Delaware?"

   Charlie shook his head. It was true . He

hadn't thought of Andrea since he saw her

going into her house before he left.

Blackwell said, "I told you that you'd soon

forget her. That part of your life is over now

and it won't come back, no matter how much

you may want it to or at least thought you

wanted it to." He pointed over at one of the

blackjack tables. "I have a feeling about this

table. Do you know how to play?"

   "A little."

   "Just follow my lead. You'll do fine."

   They sat down at the table. A waitress

came over. Blackwell ordered two single-

malt Scotches. The waitress left to put in the

order. Blackwell reached into his jacket

pocket and took out a roll of one hundred

dollar bills. He took three bills off of the roll

and placed them on the table. The dealer 

took the money and slid three hundred 

dollars of chips in front of where Blackwell

sat. The dealer looked at Charlie and asked,

"Are you in, sir?"

   Charlie reached into his jacket pocket and

felt the roll of money that Blackwell said

would be there. He tried to keep the shocked 

look from off of his face as he took the roll

of one hundred dollar bills out of his

pocket. It was the most money he had ever

seen at one time but he didn't want to come

off like it was. He took four bills off the 

roll and put it on the table. As the dealer 

gave Charlie his chips he looked over at 

Blackwell. Blackwell smiled like a proud 

father and said, "Your first night here and

you're already trying to show me up. You

really have grown some balls since when 

we first met."

   They began to play. Charlie followed

Blackwell's lead. It wasn't long before 

Charlie caught on to the feel of the game. 

The chip pile rose and fell as the evening 

went on but Charlie wasn't afraid when the 

chips were low. He knew Blackwell was on

his side. It was a few hours and a couple 

Scotches later when a white-haired man in a

tux came over to the table with two younger

and larger men in dark brown suits behind \

him. He walked over to where Blackwell 

was sitting. The man said, "Nate, you old

crumb bum. Long time, no see."

   Blackwell smiled as they shook hands. 

"It's great to see you, Frank. You're looking

as good as ever."

   "Look who's talking. I've known you for 

how many years now? And you haven't aged

a bit. You're a regular Ponce de Leon."

   "Frank, there's someone I'd like you to

meet." He looked over at Charlie and said, 

"This is Charlie Jobson. He's a young man

that I've taken under my wing."

   The man turned towards Charlie. Charlie

stood up and they shook hands. Charlie said,

"It's an pleasure to meet you, sir."

   "Cut out that 'sir' junk. Call me Frank. 

And sit down. Don't let me interrupt your

game here. 

   Blackwell said, "Charlie's going to be a

famous screenwriter."

   "Is that so?" He looked at Charlie and

said, "Maybe you can write something for

me someday."

   Charlie said, "Sure thing."

   "I like your face, kid. Here." He took out

a hundred dollar bill and put it on the table.

He said to the dealer, "Deal out some luck

to my new friend Charlie here."

   The dealer put down two cards in front of

Charlie. The card facing up was the King of

Hearts. Charlie knew what the other card

was. As he turned it over it was the Ace of

Spades, jst as he saw it in his head. He said,

"Blackjack."

   The man slapped Charlie on the back. "I

knew you were luck, kid. You should have

no problems in Hollywood." He looked over

at Blackwell and said, "I got to go. I'm

meeting Dino for dinner later."

   "Give Dean my warmest regards."

   "You got it, pal." He looked over at

Charlie and said, "It was nice meeting you,

Charlie. Enjoy yourself here and good luck

to you."

   "Thanks. It was great meeting you."

   "Same here." He looked back at the two

large men behind him and said, "Bruno,

Tony, let's get moving here. chop-chop."

   After they left, Blackwell looked over at

Charlie and said, "Enjoying the highlife so

far?"

   "It's something."

   "And it only gets better. We'll play a couple

more hands and then we'll cash out and head

someplace else. There's one more thing I

want to get done for you." They played a

couple more winning hands and then

Blackwell said, "It's time. Go out front.

There will be a limo waiting. I'll take care of

the money.

   Charlie got up from the table and walked

through the casino. He felt a little buzzed but

it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. When

he stepped outside he saw a row of limos in

front of the hotel. He wondered which one

was theirs when he heard a voice calling him.

He looked around and saw a young man in a

chauffer's uniform waving him over. He

walked over to the man and the limo he was

standing by. There was something familar to

Charlie about the young man but it wasn't

until he got a good look at the acne-marred

face that he knew who it was. He didn't

recognized the voice since it was Blackwell

that was taking through him but there

was no way that Charlie could forget those

crazy eyes.

   "Kyle?"

   "Hi, Charlie. Remember me from the Taco

Hut?"

   "Yeah. I'm a little surprsied to see you." He

thought, yeah especially since the last time I

saw you, you were shot full of holes and

spitting up blood.

   "I work for Mr. Blackwell now. It's a much

better job than working at the Taco Hut.

Here, let me get the door." He opened the

door and Charlie got into the limo. Kyle

closed the door. A couple minutes later he

opened the door again and Blackwell got

into the limo. He sat across from Charlie.

He asked, "What's the matter? You look like

you just saw a ghost."

   "I think I did. What's Kyle doing here?"

   "Where did you think he would end up

after he died. His soul was too evil for

Heaven. I figure I'd put him to use until he

was ready for his transformation."

    "Is that your plan for me when I die, that

I'll be your butler or something."

   "No, I have bigger plans for you and the

others." Blackwell lowered the partition

window and said to Kyle, "You may drive."

He pushed  the button to raise the partition

as the limo pulled into traffic.

   Charlie asked, "Others?"

   "What, don't feel as special now? You'll

always be special to me since you were the

first but you won't be the last in my little

project. What I'm planning I need a lot of

souls. I just made my second deal last night.

There were these two young men, Steve and

Rob. They grew up together in a small town

in Wisconsin. They had recently come home

from college for Christmas. They had been

drinking and driving around the back roads

when they drove off of a bridge and into a

river. Rob was supposed to escape from the

car and Steve was supposed to be trapped in

the car and drown. That was how my

Opposite planned it. I did my time freeze

trick just as the car was about to hit the

guard rail and go into the river and then I

appeared to Steve in the back seat as you see

me now. I told him who I was  and what his

fate would be if he didn't take my deal. I also

told him that for him to live another most

die in his place. To his credit, Steve didn't 

hesitate like you did. He didn't have the time.

He grabbed Rob by the back of the head and

rammed his face into the steering wheel

until his face was a bloody pulp and his nose

was driven into his brain. Steve jumped out

of the car just as time unfroze. He got away

with only minor injuries. Now he has to live

killing his best friend since childhood but

that's not my problem. You got off lucky. At

least I didn't make you kill anyone. Maybe I

should have. After you left Taco Hut maybe

I should have had you go over to Taylor's

place and with a Holloween mask and a

butcher knife and give Taylor and Andrea

the slasher movie treatment. Speaking of

slasher movies," Blackwell reached under

his seat and pulled out Charlie's notebooks.

"I hope you don't mind but I'm going to take

these with me when I leave for Hollywood.

There's a producer friend of mine out there

who will loves these. Your work is done for

now so you can rest up for a while. When

you make it out to L.A., go to the Cheteau

Marmont. Stay out there for a few days until

you get a call for a meeting with the

producer. Does this sound good to you?"

   "Yeah."

   "Is something wrong? You seem a  bit

off."

   "It's just happening so fast."

   "It's a rollercoaster, isn't it? I didn't feel

like I had enough time to break you in slowly

so I've kind of pushed the highlife on you

quicker than you might have thought you

could handle but you're doing fine so far. I'm

proud of you. Now, a couple more things

before I take my leave of you." He reached

into his jacket pocket and took out a key.

He handed the key to Charlie and said, "This

is for a safe deposit box at the hotel. When

you check out you present this to the man at

the front desk and ask for your belongings.

It's the money we won tonight. I threw my

winnings in with your since I don't need the

money. And you'll get more money after the

meeting with my producer friend. A bit of

free investement advice; keep an eye out for

Kilgore Enterprises and Microcom. Once

you see those on the market, invest heavily

in those stocks. You'll be set for life. Any

questions?"

   "I can't think of any now."

   "Good. Now we got the business out of the

way, it's time for the pleasure."

   Charlie felt the limo come to a stop. The

partition came down and Kyle said, "We're

here. I'll get the door for you, sirs." He got

out of the limo and walked to the back. He

opened the limo door and Blackwell and

Charlie got out of the limo. Charlie loooked

around. He saw that they were out in the

desert. He could see the lights of Las Vegas

in the distance. The limo was parked in front

of a two-storey ranch house. He saw two

rows of bungalows behind the house.

Charlie asked, "What is this place?"

   Blackwell pointed to a pink neon sign that

read, MISS AIMME'S RANCH L'AMOUR.

   Charlie said in a low voice, "You brought

me to a brothel?"

   "Oh, lighten up. It's no big deal. I just

thought it was time you got some action.

You don't want to hit L.A. as a virgin, do

you? Don't tell me you're holding on to

some silly notion about meeting that

someone special first. Forget it. There is no

such thing as love. If there was don't you

think that it would have been you and

Andrea? No, she chose Burger Boy because

he was older and drove a cool car and he was

better looking than you. And he fucked her

because she was young and willing. I'd bet

my throne in Hell that she wasn't the first

piece of barely legal ass that Taylor got his

fry grease covered hands on. He was dipping

into the employee pool long before Andrea

showed up and once he gets bored with her

he'll go for the next bit of fresh meet that

shows up at Burger Boy with a job

application. Take comfort that Andrea will

soon get her heart broken like she broke

yours. She may even wish she chose you but

it will be too late for the poor little tramp.

She'll have to find someone else to whore

herself out to."

   Charlie grabbed Blackwell by the front of

the shirt. "Just shut up about Andrea. I won't

hear you talk like that about her."

   Blackwell pushed Charlie away from him.

"You're lucky I need you. I wouldn't put up

with anyone else putting their hands on me

like that. What's the matter, angry that I'm

implying that at best Andrea is a naive fool

or, at worst, a conniving whore? Is that

what you don't want to hear? Fools or

whores, that's the female gender in a

nutshell but don't hate the messanger who

tells you this. Hate the one who set up the

rules." He glanced up to the sky.

   "Are you saying that if I do this I'd be

getting revenge against God?"

   "If that's how you want to look at it.

Revenge against God or Andrea or whatever.

It will also prepare you for what awaits in

L.A. It is crawling with whores and the naive

who are looking for that big break. I figure

to save you from being eaten alive by the

whores and as for the naive, you give them

the Burger Boy treatment, Use and dump.

You'll never be hurt again. Trust me on this

one. I know that not being hurt again is the

one thing you want more than anything right

now. Well, the path to pleasure and no pain

starts here and now. We'll go in there and I'll

pay for your evening so do whatever you

like and fuck as many whores as you want.

Fuck the whole damn brothel if you think

you can. After I pay for everything then Kyle

and myself will tak our leave of you. There

will be another limo waiting out here for

you when you finish. Are you ready?"

   Charlie looked at the brothel. He wondered

if Blackwell had a point. In the past it

seemed the game had been rigged against

him but now things were rigged to go his

way so why not take advantage? He knew

that ever since that night he met his fate at

the Taco Hut that he had been trying to hold

on to the old Charlie. Maybe it was time to

put old Charlie to rest and become a new

Charlie.

   He said out loud, "A death to the past."

   "Yes. In a way I was wrong on the night

when we first met and I told you that you

wouldn't die that night. A part of you did

die with the others. But that Charlie deserved

to die. He was weak. The new Charlie I see

before me is strong and takes what he wants

and is no longer afraid."

   "Okay. I'm ready. Let's do this."

   Blackwell smiled. "Good. I knew you

would come around to see things my way.

I could see the darkness inside you growing.

Follow me." They walked towards the

brothel.