Dhalgren by William Gibson

Author:William Gibson [Gibson, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, Library Sourced
ISBN: 9781480461680
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2013-12-09T15:35:00+00:00

2

He woke alone.

Kid sat up, with his eyes closed, for half a minute. The air in the loft was heavy and dry. Would the pulsing at the back of his head become a headache? People moved in other rooms. The bathroom door closed three times. Grinding his knees on the blanket, he turned for his clothes.

Denny’s were gone.

In another room a black woman laughed.

His pants were still on. He shrugged up his vest and, with neither buttoned, climbed down. One of the sleeping bags was still occupied. Two others were shed in quilted rings.

He leaned on the wall to pull up his boot. He wished again he had the other, but felt habit dissolve the wish. He went into the hall wondering if he’d encounter Denny or the girl first.

From the door ahead, light slapped across the hall and made him squint.

“Hey, Dragon Lady!”

Kid looked in.

Nightmare, squatting on one of the mattresses, kneaded his thick, scarred shoulder. “Hey, Dragon Lady, you been down!”

The gorgeous beast dazzled about the shabby room.

Nightmare let himself thud backward against the wall. A figure under a blanket moved away. Nightmare laughed and rocked and jangled.

“Down and back! Oh, hey, man. And back!” Dragon Lady turned, killed her lights. And laughed. Kid watched her stained teeth gape.

A dozen people slept around the room. Nightmare and Dragon Lady talked on raucously:

“I brought you coffee!” She breathed heavily, breasts stretching her vest’s rawhide laces. “Adam and Baby are out there now putting it together. Found a whole fucking warehouse full!” Her face was long and dark as bittersweet chocolate. “Brought you back a whole carton.”

“Instant?”

“No.” She made a fist. “No!”—insistent as an economics teacher. “The real thing. My boys are making it in the kitchen.”

Nightmare rocked and hugged his shoulders. “Hey, we’re gonna do up a little caffeine here! That’s really good. Oh, Yeah!”

Copperhead suddenly, knees wide, swung up to sit. Head low between his shoulders, he shook his hair. Freckled hands crossed on his darker genitals, he blinked at the room. His lids were puffy so that you just saw two slashes of gold; which turned toward Kid. Copperhead frowned, cocked his head; his mouth hung open, his lips, marked with a line Kid knew was dried blood (because his own gums bled when he slept), sagged from even, yellow teeth. The girl in the pea jacket moaned and tried to wedge between the cushion and the couch-back.

Nightmare swung his hand at Kid. “That’s him.”

“Sure looks like him.” Dragon Lady’s heavy lips pursed.

Nightmare’s thin ones grinned.

“What you wearin’ that thing around the house for?” Copperhead asked.

Kid looked down at the orchid—on his hand. “It makes shaking my dick after I take a leak a real adventure.” He took a breath, tried not to search out the memory; searched and found a blank.

“Not to mention zipping up your fly,” Copperhead said. “It’s open.” He turned to pull his pants out from under the blond girl, who squeaked and tried to roll into the upholstery again.

“That’s him?” Dragon Lady asked, mocking.

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