Langston looked at the doors with much curiosity.
“What do these doors mean? Where do they lead to?”
“I don’t know ‘bout the rest, but this one goes to Hock City.”
Langston looked at the door, and then back at Jesse with disbelief in his face.
“Trust me.”
Jesse walked toward the door, pulling out a key from under his shirt that hung on a chain around his neck. He placed the key in the keyhole and then turned the knob. It was made of brass with a Trillium flower design in the middle. Specs of light released from the knob as it turned, in the shape of the flower. The door opened, but partially. Langston looked at the door then back at Jesse.
“Well, what you waitin’ for? Let’s go,” Jesse said.
Langston scratched his head as he looked at the door again. Welp, here goes nothing, he thought as he pushed it open.
Hock City
Langston squinted his eyes. The bright lights of Hock City blinded him for an instant. The neon lights that were once miles away were now above his head. First he was bullied by the sun, and now he was irritated by artificial lighting. Once his vision focused, he looked up at one of the several illuminated signs. Some of the letters were missing.
elcom to Hock City.
The other letters blinked irregularly.
Many people were inside the walls, just as in the Pines. Men, women, children and more. Much, much more.
“So, these walls are they this high to keep the Desert Dwellers out?” Langston asked as he cast his gaze into the air. The walls reminded him of the stories about castles that he read as a kid. Dungeons and dragons?
Not this place, but close.
Jesse nodded his head in confirmation as he continued to weave between the people.
The walls appeared to touch the stars. They were made of a mixture of sandstone, concrete and debris. Anything that was solid enough to withstand the external forces, and that could be stacked. Around the top of the walls stood a lookout patrol. Members of this patrol stood near long hoses that ran from the ground. It connected to long pipes with makeshift funnels on the end.
“What are those?”
“Water. That’s how they catch the water – in those long things.”
“But I thought water was hard to get around here? Does it rain at all?”
“Yeah, it is hard. So hard that people kill for that stuff. Yeah it rains, but not often. When it does, that’s how they get it. Those long tube things run down to the water plant. Water is probably the most expensive thing you can find in the city.”
As Jesse explained, he and Langston walked down 777 Place towards more establishments. The more the streets improved with the more they walked.
Langston looked around and bewilderment filled his face. The people in Hock City were quite different; their demeanor was unlike anything he had seen before. Hock City seemed to have different residential requirements in comparison to the world outside its walls. Money was the main reason he assumed. Stay outside of the walls peasants.
Langston shook his face rapidly, in attempts to gain some composure. He felt like he needed to wake up, but he wasn’t asleep. He overheard various conversations as he walked past.
“Get the fuck outta here if you don’t have no lines! I warned ya’ last time! Don’t make me get my gun! I’m not playing this time!”
“C’mon man, I need those for the party lata’! I heard that Sadie Bell’s is goin’ be the place to be! I needs to look good, man!”
More conversations and outbursts filled the area.
“The sand people took my daughter! Please! Will someone help me find her?! Please, someone help me. I will give you all that I have. Please! Anyone!”
“I told you two to stop running through here! You are annoying my customers! Get! Get!”
Langston looked around and soaked up the scenery. The never-ending hustle and bustle. Insomniac surroundings. The lights of this place seem to always be on.
A fast-talking salesman grabbed his arm.
“Hey, how you kind sir! Come take a look at my goods. I got ale, I got shine, I got fizz that’ll knock ya’ on yo’ behind! I got shoes, I got blankets, I got these crazy little trinkets… – hey nice watch! – I got… ”
As the salesman spoke – at high speeds – Langston noticed people hunched over and leaning against the walls. Some were talking to themselves, immersed in full conversations. Others twitched while sleeping on unfolded cardboard boxes and blankets. Two odd-looking men fought over scraps thrown out in an alley.
“You got the last one! It’s my turn!”
“You snooze, you don’t eat!”
“I’m sick of yo’ shit, man!”
The salesman had his merchandise displayed on the remains of a bus stop bench with a cloth that hung over it. For sale in his stash, was muggy water in soiled bottles, various canned goods, miscellaneous expired snacks and mason jars of ale. Random pieces of clothes: a man’s polka-dot shirt, worn socks, penny loafers, a stained bra and more.
“I got the best ale in town! C’mon man, give it a go! You will like it, I guarantee! Oh, I know what you want – you want some action. Some action right? Hey, hey baby girl – come here! Huh, huh – how about this one? She will do you right! I will give you a discount too!”
Langston pulled his arm away, “No thanks.”
“Hey, I know you need something! You will need something eventually! Everybody got an itch that needs scratching! You won’t find better deals in this town! You got the lines, I got the time. Whether a rope or a gown, I can turn that frown…” the salesman continued his spiel as Langston pressed on behind Jesse. The further he walked away, the less he could hear of the sales pitch.
“What are lines?”
“What runs this place. What people here live and breathe for, outside of water. Lines can get you anything and everything. Just like water, they kill for lines too.”
Jesse pushed up his sleeve as he replied. His forearm revealed a meter, represented by six bars. Six bars, made of six individual blocks. Each one resembled the equalizer on a stereo, embedded into his skin. All of his bars were full. Langston looked on in amazement. His eyebrows rose as he held Jesse’s arm to get a closer look.
“Wouldn’t money be easier? Money would be -” Langston stopped his statement abruptly, as he grabbed his side.
Jesse shrugged his shoulders. “Human money no good in these parts anymore. That’s all I know. I heard about that money, but never seen it. We use lines now for everything,” he grabbed Langston’s arm, “You need water.”
“Yeah, like yesterday. I need to sit down. I feel like I am hallucinating. That thing in your arm, these people – everything.”
Langston could still fill the grip of the Desert Dwellers around his neck. Although his pain felt real, he had a hard time believing it actually happened. He had trouble swallowing.
“Madam Pearl gots plenty! C’mon. It’s not far!” Jesse exclaimed.
Langston grabbed Jesse by the shoulder abruptly. “Are you sure I am welcome here? These people keep looking at me funny, like I don’t belong.”
“You will be okay, I promise – cause you with me.”
The Line District
Hock City was once a well-kept place at first glance; but it was deteriorating due to the oddities and activities it contained. The cesspool outside the walls was beginning to seep inside at a rate that was hard to manage.
Despite the change, the city was adored. And the oddities? Some of the things weren’t things at all. Some of the people weren’t people; far from normal. Some residents stood two or three times the size of Langston. Some had more than four limbs, while others had more than two eyes. Some spoke with a weird tongue. Others didn’t speak at all.