view, so I picked the park.
And I remember Chief looking at me and that left eye narrowing down for just an instant, and then he
said, “That‟s very generous of you, Jake.”
The Evil Eye. Looking back on it, I think Chief saw that move as a sign of weakness. To him, it was
winner take all.
The more I got into it, the faster arid faster the flashes came. The way the place looked, Daisies all
over Windsong, hundreds of them. And candles—my God, there must have been ten thousand
candles. It was a fire hazard there were so many candles.
And people. Three hundred maybe the top of the list. Black tie, a live orchestra, champagne, the
„works. Chief had seen to that. It‟s what you call taste, another thing the born rich inherit.
“I got to give you credit, Junior,” Teddy had said as I was straightening his black tie. “Three years,
man, you really stick in there.”
Was that it? Was it a test?
Before the guests arrived, Chief took the two of us out onto the porch and popped a bottle of
champagne and we stood there watching the sun go down. We drank a toast to Doe and threw our
glasses at the big oak tree at the corner of the house.
“One more year, boys,” Chief said. “And you‟ll be off to law school. The time‟ll fly. You‟ll be back
here in business before you know it.”
That was another part of the trap, Chief laying it all out for us that way, planning our lives. Only then
it felt good. When you‟re on the inside, it always feels good. When he put his hand on my shoulder,
there was lightning in his fingers. That‟s the way Chief was. That‟s the way all three of them were.
They were Lightning People. You could feel their aura crackling around them.
“It‟s a helluva night, lads,” he said. He didn‟t know the half of it.
It was dark and all the candles were lit and the guests were all assembled when she made her entrance
I still have trouble breathing when I think about that moment. My mouth gets dry and my hands shake
thinking about her walking into the eerie candlelight, dressed in white, with a scarlet sash that
tightened her waist and molded every magnificent line of her body. Talk about lightning. Everybody
applauded when she came in. She went straight to Chief and kissed him. Chief always came first.
Then she came to us and that soft spot was twitching like crazy and it was all I could do to keep my
hands off her. It was like that all night. I couldn‟t get close enough to her. I guess I never will.
The party ended about three in the morning and we were all a little drunk from champagne. Teddy had
latched on to this kind of dippy girl and the four of us piled i9to the dune buggy and drove out to the
beach. He threw me the keys. He was in the back, working up a little poon. When we got in the car it
was all Doe and I could do to keep our hands off each other. Well, we didn‟t. She leaned over and put
her hand down inside of my thigh and wrapped her fingers around my knee and squeezed it hard and
the electricity started humming.
When we got out there we took some dunes and spun around a few times in the moonlight. Teddy
popped a bottle of champagne, shook it up, and used his thumb to squeeze off a stream of it. We were
all soaked with champagne and the dippy girl jumped out and ran down to the surf and jumped in,
clothes and all, Teddy right behind her. We drove off and left them there, clawing at each other in the
surf.
And I remember Doe saying, „Stop soon, Jake. Please!” I never heard that tone in her voice before,
Husky, with a lot of breath behind it. I topped a dune and slammed on the brakes and we tumbled out
before the buggy was fully stopped. It tolled down to the bottom of the hill and stalled.
We were like animals freed from a cage. Touching, feeling, pulling. I found the soft spot in her throat
and when I kissed it I could feel her heart beating in my mouth and she cried out and pulled her dress
down and her breasts jumped free and I slid my lips down to her and opened my mouth as wide as I
could and sucked her up into it, feeling her nipple grow hard under my tongue. Then her hands
reached down and found me and she turned me sideways and began stroking me. Finally I unzipped
the dress and slid it down over her feet and she hooked her thumbs in the sides of her panties and slid
them off. „Then she helped me undress and we lay back for a minute and just stared at each other.
Then there was more touching and pulling and stroking until finally I felt her open under my
fingertips and she pulled me over on top of her and guided me into her, enveloping me, crushing me,
devouring me with her soft muscles
Nice going, Kilmer. That‟s putting it all in the proper perspective. Objective, right?
Sure.
26
SILVER-DOLLAR WOMAN
Oh, Jesus, just keep it in me!
Take it, take it all, baby.
Oh, god, don‟t stop!
You‟re all alike, can‟t get enough, can you, baby?
Never!
There...
More. . . oh, yes, MORE!
There.
What are you doing?
There...
Come on, you bastard, fuck me!
Hereitcomes, hereitcomes.
OH. . . ohoh, nownow, ohoh, nownow...
Here comes the fuckin‟ freight train!
Now. . . yes, now...
ONE potato, TWO potato, THREE potato, FOUR...
Oh, you. . fucking. . . m-m-machine...
GodDAMN!
Don‟t stop now, oh, sweet Jesus, don‟t stop now!
Gonna.. luck you. . . dead. . . l-a-a—a-d-e-e-e
Oh. . . God. . . NOW!
Yeah.
NOW!
YEAH!
NOW...
Later..
I‟m going to be sore for a week, you damn crazy...
Hey, you‟re the one keeps cryin‟. for more.
Yes. More.
Not enough anything for you, is there?
Not that.
Not just cock, ANYthing.
After tonight we‟ll have it all.
No such thing as ALL, baby. And no such thing as enough.
Fuck me again.
Gotta save u some spunk, lady. it‟s gonna be a long night.
When it‟s over.
We‟ll celebrate. I‟ll luck your head off.
Promise?
You got it.
Crazy doin‟ it tonight.
When‟ll he be here?
Fifteen minutes.
That‟s takin‟ it to the edge.
Ilove it. Gimme a kiss.
Sure. So long, babe.
He caressed her throat with his thumbs, running them, side by side, from her collarbone up along her