“Yeah,” Marty said, then turned to Josh. “I’m sorry things haven’t worked out for you.”
“No you’re not,” Josh settled back into his chaise lounge. “Because every writer who fails makes you feel better about being a failure yourself.”
It was exactly that kind of on-the-nose, preachy dialogue that made Josh’s writing so flat. Now Marty felt justified not returning his calls. That, and the fact that what Josh said was absolutely true.
“See you around,” Marty walked away.
They were mid-way up the block, nearly back to Melrose, when Buck spoke up.
“So that loser was one of your fucking friends.”
“Yep,” Marty replied.
“What the hell are your enemies like?”
Marty was beginning to wonder if there was really any difference.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
11:12 a.m. Wednesday
West of La Brea, Melrose became the self-consciously funky fashion center of Los Angeles before morphing, just as self-consciously, into the high-end, home decorating district as the avenue crossed San Vicente.
Marty and Buck were in the heart of the funky stretch, where stores with names like Wasteland, Armageddon, No Problem, Devastation, and Redemption competed in Marty’s mind as the Most Tragically Symbolic.
But the greatest accomplishment of these fashion-sellers wasn’t their prescience at picking business names but their skillful repackaging of thrift store hand-me-downs and garage sale castoffs. They discovered you could slap the word vintage on a ratty t-shirt, a rusted refrigerator, a dented Pontiac, or an old pair of reading glasses and suddenly it wasn’t an out-dated, beat-up, broken piece of crap; it was stylish. It was hot. It was cutting edge. Vintage clothes, vintage furniture, vintage records, vintage jewelry, vintage cars, even vintage food, in the guise of a fifties burger stand, could all be found here.
Vintage stuff wasn’t all that was hot on Melrose. Marty was surprised to see that an upscale porn emporium, selling ointments, videos, vibrators, chains, condoms, handcuffs, inflatable women, and anything else that might come handy in the bedroom, was doing a brisk business.
Obviously, no earthquake kit would be complete without a couple dildos.
Buck stopped to look at two mannequins, still standing in the shattered window of a clothing store that once offered “Goth Babe ensembles” and “butt pirate duds.” The female mannequin was dressed in an Edwardian dress with a seatbelt corset. The male mannequin wore a crushed velvet pirate shirt and leopard-print tuxedo jacket.
“What kind of fucking freak wears that shit?” Buck asked.
But Marty was more interested in the store next door, which sold old jeans, old shirts, and new Doc Martens-heavy, no-bullshit shoes that would be perfect for a post-quake journey over buckled asphalt. And a clean shirt, no matter how many people had worn it before, looked pretty good to him right now, too.
Marty stepped through the broken window into the store, wading through the piles of clothes on the floor.
“What are you looking for?” Buck asked.
“Some clean clothes and a new pair of shoes. See if you can find a size twelve.”
Buck drew his gun. “The hell I will.”
Marty looked at him wearily. “What are you going to do, shoot me again?”
“It’s what I do to looters.”
“I’m not going to steal anything. I’ll pay for it,” Marty turned his back on Buck and sorted through some shirts, looking for a large. This was the third time Buck had pointed a gun at him and the impact had worn off. “I’ll leave the money by the register with the price tags of whatever I take.”
“You’re stopping to go fucking shopping? What the fuck is the matter with you? I thought you were in a hurry to get home.”
“I am, but my feet are covered in blisters, my shoes are shredded. I need new shoes if I’m gonna make it. And look at me. What do you think my wife is going to say when she sees me like this?”
“She won’t give a shit how you look, she’ll be glad you’re alive-or the bitch can fuck herself and we end this long walk right now.”
“Fine, forget the clothes. But I need the shoes,” Marty spotted something on the floor. “And socks.”
Marty snatched up the socks, set a fallen chair straight, and sat down, yanking off his shoes. He could feel Buck’s anger without even looking at him. “It’s not about comfort, Buck. It’s about necessity.”
“Yeah, right.”
Marty’s socks peeled off his feet like a layer of dead skin. His feet were red and swollen, covered with burst blisters and festering new ones.
Buck picked up a pair of Doc Martens and tossed them at Marty’s feet. “A hundred bucks, cash.”
“I got the money.” Marty carefully put on the fresh pair of socks, but pulling the fabric over his tender skin stung anyway. He slipped on the shoes and tied up the laces.
Marty stood up and walked a few steps. His feet were sore, but this was an improvement. The shoes were stiff, but in a good way. It was like having his feet encased in concrete. He could walk over anything now.
“You ought to try a pair, Buck.”
He turned to Buck, and that’s when he saw the reflection in the cracked mirror behind the bounty hunter, the reflection of a orange-haired guy stepping out of the back room, cradling a sawed-off shotgun.
Marty whirled around and discovered that having two barrels aimed at him instead of one definitely had an impact-especially when they were held in the shaky hands of a strung-out guy with a face intentionally skewered with a dozen drill bits.
“Hi,” Marty said, his voice cracking. “Nice store you have here. It is your store, right?”
But the guy wasn’t looking at him, he was staring over Marty’s shoulder. Marty knew then, without even looking behind him, that Buck was aiming his gun, too, and that Marty was screwed front and back.
It was a scene out of a Hong Kong movie, repeated in a thousand inferior American homages, remakes, and rip-offs. The stand-off. Two men, standing eye-to-eye, gun-to-gun, the ultimate, obligatory showdown. Only there wasn’t supposed to be an unarmed man standing between them. A woman maybe, preferably the buxom love interest of the hero, but not some terrified network executive quivering in his new pair of Doc Martens.
It was a delicate situation, and whatever Marty said next could very well mean life and death for all three of them. And Marty didn’t want to die over a pair of shoes, so he would have to choose his words carefully.
Unfortunately, Buck spoke first.
“Hey, Ugly, seeing as how you’re so into body piercing, you’d probably enjoy having a couple bullets shot into your face. So, if you don’t drop the shotgun in three seconds, I’ll do you a big favor and start shooting.”
“Wait,” Marty said. “No shooting. Okay? Everybody just relax. This is just a misunderstanding.”
“You’re wearing my merchandise, maggot, that’s my understanding,” the guy with the shotgun lisped. It wasn’t easy speaking clearly with drill bits in his tongue and lips, and he wasn’t trying very hard.
“I was going to pay,” Marty tipped his head towards Buck. “Ask him.”
“One,” Buck said.
“Forget how he looks, Buck, he agrees with you,” Marty yelled, now more afraid of Buck than the guy with the shotgun, who’s arms were shaking even more. “He’s only protecting what’s his.”
“Two…”
“Buck, no!”
“Three.” Buck was about to shoot, when a woman’s voice distracted him.
“If you want to spill blood, good for you,” she said firmly, “Just don’t waste it in here.”
She was standing in the doorway to the street, wearing a Red Cross windbreaker and cap, her long, blond hair tied into a pony tail, her eyes hidden behind aviator sunglasses. Her hands were on her hips, her stance radiating her disapproval and disgust with the three of them.
“I got a couple hundred people who need blood and since you’re so eager to lose yours, why not give it to me instead of the flies? Besides, we’re giving out juice and cookies, and I don’t see either of you providing refreshments.”