Los Angeles without a map by Rayner Richard 1955-

Author:Rayner, Richard, 1955-
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Playboy Enterprises, Playboy Enterprises, Waitresses, Employees, Waitresses
Publisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin
Published: 1997-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

96 / LOS ANGELES WITHOUT A MAP

armour plating. Barbara and I got out, and Moss gunned the Cadillac down the Strip.

'Where did Moss go?' said Barbara, yawning.

'Some club outside town.'

'He's gonna play there sometime?'

'I'm not sure. He wanted to meet someone.'

'Let's get some coffee.'

It was six twenty-three when we met the first man. He lurched towards us on the pavement. He was in bad shape, tall and scraggy, with a filthy, torn suit. He carried a copy of the Las Vegas News in one hand and in the other held a bottle of Pepto-Bismol from which he took long, gulping swigs. He seemed unhinged. 'Seven, nine, craps,' he babbled, 'seven, eleven, snake-eyes.'

'Are you OK?' I asked.

'Just tell me,' he said. 'Just say the word and I'll blow my brains out.'

'Don't do it,' said Barbara.

The man thought for a moment. 'No?'

'Really, no.'

The man lifted the bottle of pink liquid to his lips. 'You know something, lady, you're right. I've got to get right back in there. Just guts it out,' he said. 'Could you find it in your heart to lend me, say, $2,500?'

Five minutes later we met the second man. We had just walked past a metal pole, on top of which rotated an enormous silver shoe. That man had a red face and black hair like a Beatle wig. Fat wrinkled over his collar. I asked if he knew anywhere that was open for breakfast.

'You want coffee?' His accent was thick and clumsy.

'And something to eat.'

'I am Horst. I make you breakfast,' he said.

I said we didn't want to put him to any trouble. He was insistent. He took my arm and led us to a building set back from the road. From the outside it resembled a large, pink dog kennel. That was how it seemed on the inside as well. There was a smell of

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