Vinton slowly drove a Checker Marathon taxi north on 8th Avenue, toward 41st Street, eating chop suey with a plastic fork from a paperboard oyster pail squeezed between his thighs. Chopped sewage, that’s what it means. They don’t eat it in China. Chopped sewage, whatever the Chinese cooks could find laying around for the drunk miners, drunk fucks eat anything: chopped sewage. Tastes so fuckin good though. If this is sewage, make the manhole my feedbag. What do they put in it? Fuckin addictive. Clutching the plastic fork in his teeth, he turned the dial on the radio. Almost immediately he stumbled across Melting Pot by Booker T & the MGs on WBLS, about a minute into the groove. Right fuckin on. Wish I knew an organist like this, fucker’s got chops.
A hooker in knee-high red vinyl boots caught Vinton’s eye as she gestured dramatically in conversation on the corner in front of the glaring red and green neon of the Terminal Bar; a chubby balding man in a grey suit stood swaying on the sidewalk listening to her. Could be a fare. The fat fucker looks stewed though, I don’t wanna mop up no barf back there. Vinton slowed down in front of the Hi-Hat Lounge, then pulled over in front of the Exchange Bar next door to the Terminal. The hooker looked over made eye contact with Vinton and nodded: he nodded back: knew it. Still gonna wait to see if that goofball can walk a straight line. If not, I’m peeling. She can find some other chump. He shoveled another forkful of chop suey into his mouth slurping in the sprouts. The hooker slowly moved toward the cab, swaying her hips as she walked. He hasn’t paid yet, this is still part of the seduction. Not sure this cat is up to it. The balding man turned in slow motion then began to follow: Vinton watched him closely. The first step was shaky but he actually didn’t sway too much: tipsy, not stewed. Looks like Uncle fuckin Fester.
The hooker leaned down into the passenger window. ‘Hey stud, you mind—ohhh shit this is my song motherfucker! Crank it up!’ She smacked one hand excitedly; Vinton laughed, coughing a sprout onto the steering wheel. He leaned forward and spun the dial, Hammond organ oozing loudly out onto 8th Avenue. White teeth flashed between purple lipsticked lips as she leaned back in: ‘Honey, you mind if I conduct some business back there?’
‘Long’s I don’t gotta clean nothin up, it’s all yours.’ he said.
‘Natch.’ she said, then turned to the balding suit. ‘C’mon, Huey, shake that ass inta the cab, honey. Cheaper’n a hotel room’ She opened the door, then followed him in. The suit was already breathing heavily. He’s an easy sell half her work is already done for her.
‘Where to?’ Vinton asked, looking back at her in the rearview mirror.
‘Anywhere quiet, shug.’ she said, pulling out a compact and preening into it.
‘How about the meatpacking district?’ he asked. Get a decent fare outta that. If he’s. If it’s him paying, I could. Don’t wanna fuck her around though. Working girl and all.
‘Sure, baby.’ she said, snapping the compact closed.
‘You paying?’ he asked.
‘Nuh uh baby, I mighta been born at night, but it wasn’t last night, you dig me?’ she laughed. Now that’s a musical laugh. Makes you wanna join in. The suit is paying, could take 9th the whole way, but doubt he’ll notice if I swing around to take 7th all the way down. Turn at 14th. Nice fare.
‘You got it.’ he said, and flipped the meter down as he pulled out into traffic. He turned right at Forty Deuce: beyond the row of shops, a pimp in a yellow Bond’s suit and some cat with pin-straight flaxen hair and a white blonde mustache screamed at each other under the marquee of the Anco Theater, chest to chest, puffed up like two roosters. Like Erik and Len’s rooster. The hooker in the backseat craned her neck out the open window to watch as they rolled by, then slumped back with a thump as the cab pulled past the Roxy Burlesk. Bizarre Action. ‘Ooh, Knuckles about to carve that mother up.’ she said. ‘That fucker in the Barbie hair don’t know he about to be ventilated, you hear me?’
Vinton looked into the rearview mirror at that yellow suit. Knuckles: the pimp Roz was talking about up at the shooting gallery. Small world. Huey in the backseat leaned back against the seat, breathing loudly. That fucker better not upchuck. Looks like it’d Jimi Hendrix him at this point. ‘He ok? I don’t want no barf, ya dig?’
‘Huey is a-ok.’ she said, then leaned over toward the suit, rubbing her hand slowly over his crotch. ‘Ain’tcha honey ... huh?’
‘Spiffy,’ the doughy man mumbled, eyes still closed, then let out a long sigh.
‘See?’ she said. ‘He spiffy.’
Vinton laughed, nodding. ‘Right on.’ he said, turning right again at Nedick’s on the corner of 42nd and 7th. His eyes moved to the Hotel National sign, just beyond Forsyth’s dirty book store, behind Nedick’s. There it is. Hotel National. Laid my first there. Rhonda Ball. And boy could she. Built like a brick shithouse. You Keep Me Hangin’ On by Vanilla Fudge playing. That drumming. Sounded like going to war. Duh duhduhduhduh duh duhduhduhduh! Was easy as hell to ball to. Wish Netta could drum like Carmine Appice. Shit, I wish she could drum at all. You really don’t need me. You just. Keep. Me. Hangin. On. All about organs tonight. Those tits of Rhonda’s, shit, goddam. Cling for dear life to those babies. Still to this day, the finest tits I’ve ever seen in person. Even Mooschi’s couldn’t beat them. Wonder whatever happened to Rhonda? Last time I saw her was at the Filmore East. Dancing with that cat in gold lame pants, hands down the front of his crotch. Almost killed me. But balled Roz for the first time later that night. Look how that worked out. Jesus. Her hands down the front of those gold pants.
Speaking of which.
Vinton’s eyes darted to the rearview mirror where the hooker in the back had her hand inside the doughy suit’s pants, working him. Not sure I wanna see what he’s packing. Half of it must be hidden inside his gut fat. Nauseating. As he watched, the hooker smiled at Vin in the mirror, then pulled out her teeth and bent over the suit’s crotch. False teeth. Huh. Didn’t. Well, it would. It would be a selling point, I guess. That would make for one helluva. Damn. Thought she’d wait until we got to the meatpacking district. She slurped over the suit’s prick as the Booker T song vamped under the soloing organ. A lot of solo organing going on in this cab. How long is this damn song? Vinton was suddenly sharing his jeans with a telephone pole. Damn, the A still running through me I guess. Gives ya a hardon could poke someone’s eye out with. Wonder if they’d notice if I? Fuck, are you some sorta goofball? You wanna crash inta a goddam wall? Just jerk it once they’re outta the car for fuck’s sake.
Melting Pot ended, fading into It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World by James Brown. Vinton turned the volume knob down just slightly. The slurping in the backseat prompted him to turn it back up almost immediately. This one’s fucking good too. Slow, simmering. This is a man’s man’s man’s world, but it wouldn’t be nothin. Nothin. Without a woman or a girl. As the cab approached 14th Street, Vinton watched two cops handcuffing some cat on the sidewalk in front of a pizza joint. He looked for traffic the other way, and peered at the Bickford’s sitting on the north-east corner. Grab a coffee after. He turned right a third time, onto 14th, toward the quiet of the meatpacking district. The area was mostly deserted as the cab approached Washington Street, save for a handful of smoking men decked out in black leather from head to toe. Vin made a left at Washington and slowed the car to a crawl as he approached 13th Street. He pulled the cab to a stop beneath the iron canopy of Atlas Meats. He left the car running and peered through the windshield at the corner: the 2-story building catty corner to where they parked was nearly identical. The doors were all shuttered closed. The streets were deserted.
Vinton peered back at her in the rearview mirror. ‘Ok, we’re here. Have at it.’ he said.
She leaned forward. ‘Huey done took a nap in the meantime.’ she said, making eye contact with Vin in the mirror. ‘You smoke grass, shug?’
‘Only in an emergency.’
She laughed once. ‘This count?’
‘You read the papers lady?’
She laughed again. ‘Russians done shot a rocket at Mars.’
‘The revenge of Sputnik.’ he said. She fished around inside her black glittering pocketbook, then pulled out a sizeable joint and waved it behind the plexiglass. He nodded, then turned the ignition off. ‘Not in here, or I’ll never hear the end of it back at the office.’ He waited for her to exit first (in case this was a con) then followed her out. She already had out a small gold colored lighter with a tiny clock in it: thumb clicked it: soft woomph of ignition and she introduced the end of the joint to the flame. After a couple drags she passed it to Vinton. He took a pull, listening to the city: the streets were so quiet that he was certain he could hear water lapping against the Chelsea Piers. ‘What’s your name?’ he asked, handing the joint back to her.
She took a drag and held it in, letting the silence stretch. ‘Street name is Ms Love.’ she said, her voice tight. ‘Really it’s Delia.’ she said, handing the joint to him. ‘Or Dee Dee.’
‘Delia.’ he said, rolling it across his tongue.
‘Or Dee Dee.’ she added.
‘Or Dee Dee.’
‘What do they call you, shug?’
He exhaled and watched the smoke in the light of the castiron lampposts. He could just make out the moon behind a crust of violet clouds. ‘Vinton.’ he said.
Delia nodded. ‘Vincent huh.’
‘No, Vinton.’ he corrected.
‘Like Bobby Vinton.’
‘Like Bobby Vinton.’ he agreed.
They smoked for a minute in silence, then she asked: ‘You think Tricky Dick will go down for any of this shit? Not handing over tapes and shit?’
Vinton laughed as he exhaled. ‘Not a goddam chance.’ he said.
She joined the laughter. ‘Me neither.’ she said, then flicked what was left of the roach into the cobbled street and opened the door to the backseat of the cab. ‘Well, time for Huey’s wakeup call.’ she said to Vinton, wiggling her false teeth at him from between her purple lips, then ducked inside the car. He snorted, shaking his head. She’s got character. That probably goes a long way in that profession too. He climbed into the driver’s seat, easing slowly softly into the creaking vinyl. He turned the radio back on: Marvin Gaye sang: —yee heeeee, let’s get it on. He snorted again, turning into a muffled giggle. That’s a bit on the nose. He caught his own reflection in the rearview, smirking, as he peered briefly at Delia dealing with Huey. This shit has given me the giggles. He exhaled lightly, happily, relaxed. Needed that. Change in luck or something.
‘Well, fuck me.’ he heard from the back. ‘This fucker dead.’ Delia said flatly.
Vin’s body jolted tight in the span of a second. ‘He’s what?’ Jerking his head around, he stared through the plexiglass at Huey. The fat bastard laid with his head tipped back on the seat cushion, his jaw hanging agape deeply into his double chin. ‘Oh my jesus christ.’ he whispered, then licked his lips as he looked past Huey out the back window. Still mostly deserted. Just a couple leather queens back on 14th. ‘Holy jesus fucking christ.’ Why does shit keep fucking up for me? Jesus jesus jesus.
‘Be cool baby.’ she said from beside the rotund corpse.
‘You sure that fucker’s dead?’
‘Sure as shit.’
‘Jumped up jesus christ on a pogo stick.’ he whispered, turning to peer down 13th, then to where Washington Street curved south. Empty. Like the Omega Man. I think we’re alone now. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around.
‘Just be cool baby.’ she said slowly. ‘Don’t sweat it. This ain’t my first rodeo.’
‘Um.’ he said.
‘We just gotta find somewheres to ditch this cat.’
Vinton swallowed. ‘The piers?’
‘They got pigs that patrol the river.’ she said, looking around. ‘Maybe under the elevated tracks there.’
He followed her gaze. It was inky black beneath the elevated track of the West Side Line. Right on. ‘Yeah.’ he said, shifting the cab into gear and rolling slowly around the corner then under the elevated tracks. He stopped the car.
‘Think yer gonna hafta help me with this.’ she laughed.
He climbed out of the cab and hotfooted it around to her door. She was rifling through the man’s alligator wallet when Vinton opened it. ‘He got kids.’ she said as she turned her head to squint at a photo. ‘Mm mm mm,’ she said. ‘Slapped by an ugly stick.’ She pulled all the cash from the wallet and quickly counted it. Impressively fast. She’s used to counting greenbacks in haste. She handed Vin half, then slipped the wallet back inside Huey’s jacket.
‘You’re taking this pretty well.’ he said, as he grabbed hold of Huey’s lapels and pulled him toward the sidewalk.
‘You ain’t kiddin.’ she grunted, pushing on Huey from behind. ‘I make a Jackson a week offa this clown. Or did. Shit. This wad helps though, and I didn’t hafta suck much on his sad little prick.’ Something gave and Huey poured out onto the street, his head smacking off the iron curb as he landed. They both winced at the impact. His inert form become one with the street like a discarded ice cream cone. Vinton took a slow leisurely look at the streets around them, Roz had told him many times that acting suspicious is the first step to getting caught, then he casually returned to the driver side door and climbed back inside. His eye caught the remains of the chop suey on the seat beside him. Ugh. He tossed it from the window as he pulled away. In the rearview mirror it was already difficult to see Huey’s form in the shadow of the elevated line. Could be just a couple trash bags. Hefty. He turned left onto 10th Avenue and noticed a light out of the corner of his eye near the river. Flashlight. Patrolling the piers. ‘Dig it.’ he said to Delia or Dee Dee, motioning with his chin toward the roving flashlight.
‘Toldja.’ was all she said in reply, then pulled out her compact and grimaced into it, picking at her false teeth with a long purple nail. Vinton peered back at the river, watching the pig snooping around until he turned left again at Little West 12th Street.
‘Where can I take you?’ he asked, peering into the rearview mirror as he turned left on to 9th Avenue.
‘Terminal Bar works for me baby.’ she said. Killing Me Softly with His Song blended into the end of Let’s Get it On. They listened in silence as Vinton turned right on 14th and then made his way back north on 8th Avenue. As the cab approached 40th Street she leaned forward. ‘Baby, if you ever lookin for a good time, you know where to find me.’ She winked.
He nodded as he pulled to the curb. ‘Ideally with less corpses’ he said.
She laughed as she opened the door. ‘Livens a Wednesday night up.’ She was enveloped by a group of girls in bubble cuts and plastic boots. Vinton pulled out the cash she handed him and counted it. Hundred and forty clams. Not too bad. Not too bad at all. He shifted into drive again and pulled away from the curb. He couldn’t see Delia amongst the other girls as he peered into the rearview mirror. False teeth.
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