Chapter 6
Harvey wants to meet you!
I was going to knock or ring the doorbell, but instead, we just open the door and walk right on in.
It’s crowded, smoky, and there’s a stereo blasting Led Zeppelin.
I’d always sort of wondered what Austin River’s place might look like.
He has a lot of red in the decor. He must like it.
The round sofa in the sunken living room is maroon, and the rug we’re standing on in the entry has red and orange circles all over it. The only red I don’t see is his head.
“Wow,” Linda says. “His place is pretty far out.”
Beside the door is a table with a large wooden bowl. It’s full of keys.
“It’s not that great,” I say to her as Steve Windell comes over to us.
He’s wearing black shades with white frames on top of his head. His bright purple shirt is unbuttoned almost to his naval, showing his fluffy black chest hair and a gold chain. He used to be in Teen Street and a couple of TV shows. I’m not sure what he does now besides go to parties.
He shakes my hand. “Didn’t think you’d come.”
I scan the crowd. “Does he know you invited me?”
“I told you, man. It’s cool.” He looks over at Linda and raises a brow, his eyes roaming all over her body. “And who’s this?”
“I’m Linda.” She holds out her hand for him to shake.
He takes it and kisses it. “My cheri amour.”
I don’t even care really. Linda is a groupie with tits like Charo and a giggle like Suzanne Somers.
She’s been hanging around Hot Night for a while, and she’s been trying to get into my pants for months.
One thing’s for sure, looking like Pete Laden has given me endless access to pussy. Even pussy I don’t really want.
“Well,” Steve says. “Either of you want a drink?”
“I’d love one,” Linda says, looping her arm through mine and grinning up at me.
Steve inclines his head for us to follow him, but before we do, I take my keys from my pocket and toss them in the bowl.
As we push through the crowd toward the mini bar, I brace myself.
Steve was drunk and high when we were at Osko’s, and he was yelling over the music that I should come to Austin’s New Year’s party.
I declined at first, but he scribbled Austin’s address on a cocktail napkin and stuffed it in my pocket.
I made a lot of excuses to myself, and I really didn’t have anything to do on New Year’s Eve besides go to a club.
Curiosity is what got the better of me. I haven’t seen Austin at all since we both wound up at Studio 54 on the same night a few months ago.
I got to thinking about how mad he’d be at me inside his home.
I also thought it would be funny if I went to his party and he never knew I was here.
I would be in his home all night long and he’d never know.
There are enough people here for me to blend in with.
There are a lot of people here, in fact.
Is he really this popular? His last movie was a flop.
I didn’t see it, but that’s what I heard.
Steve shoves a drink in my face, and I take it. He also hands one to Linda with a little bow.
“Is he in here somewhere?” Linda asks Steve. “I’d love to meet him. I watched his show all the time.”
I unlink my arm from hers.
“I dunno.” He looks around the huge living room and glances up at an indoor balcony that overlooks the downstairs. “He’s around here somewhere. You got any acid?”
I shake my head. “Sorry, man.”
He shrugs. Then looks at someone behind me and Linda. “Excuse me.” He grins. “Fox at twelve o’clock.”
As he swaggers off, Linda looks up at me. “Did you bring any, you know, party favors?”
“I don’t do that stuff. I’ve got a little pot, though.”
I spot some people I sort of know. I take Linda over to hang out with them. I anxiously keep an eye out, but as time goes by, I don’t see him. I do see Margie Thurmond, smoking a cigarette and looking foxy as hell. I figured Austin would be wherever she is, but he’s not.
A bong gets passed around. I have another couple of drinks.
Someone cuts a line on the coffee table, and Linda does a bump. I look around again. Am I actually going to pull this off? It’s too bad I won’t be around when someone tells him they saw me here and his head explodes.
People start skinny dipping in the pool, and that reminds me I need to take a piss. I get up from the sofa and wander around, looking for a bathroom. I’m buzzed enough to feel like the floor is sinking with each step I take.
I wander down one hall. Don’t find it. I wander down another hall.
Don’t find it. I wander into a den where there’s a small gathering.
People are sitting on the floor on cushions.
There’s a coffee table in the center with scattered tarot cards and lines of coke all over it.
It reminds me of the parties Peach and Pete would have.
When I look up, I look up right into the eyes of Austin Rivers.
It’s clear he’s had some blow and probably a few other things. Surprise is the first thing to cross his face. Then rage.
He stands up and barrels toward me. “What are you doing here?” He shoves me, and I stagger back against a wall, causing something with glass to fall and break. Everyone around us looks over and gets quiet.
“Hey, hey!” Steve Windell comes out of nowhere and gets in front of Austin, holding him back. “Be cool, man. Be cool. I told him he could come.”
Austin’s rage shifts to Steve. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
“He’s not bothering anybody, man. And he brought some choice grass.” Steve looks over at me, giving me an emphatic look. “Some good shit, right?”
I catch Steve’s drift, but I’m too wasted to keep a straight face. “Blue Dream. Real mellow.”
“Come on, let him stay,” Steve says. “He’s too stoned to be driving anyway.”
Austin relaxes and takes a step back. I can’t help but start laughing.
“Don’t fucking steal anything, or I’ll slit your throat.” Austin holds up his finger, like he’s scolding me, his eyes unfocused.
I hold up my hands and laugh some more. “Scouts honor, Hollywood.”
He cusses at me, and Steve drags him back in the den, and I realize I still have to pee.
Like magic, I find a bathroom right behind me.
After I zip up my pants, I notice Austin’s got seashells on the sink.
One for an ashtray and the other holding soap.
I take the one holding soap and stick it in my pocket.
Before I know it, it’s midnight and there’s champagne being passed around.
That motherfucker actually has one of those big screen color televisions with a remote control.
Someone flips through the stations to find the countdown in Times Square.
People start gathering in the living room.
I look around for Austin’s red head, but I don’t see it.
Everyone raises their glasses and counts down with the TV.
1978 lights up on the screen and there’s confetti and streamers being thrown everywhere.
I down my champagne and give Linda dirty kiss.
I wonder if Austin would be mad if I fucked her in his house.
There’s got to be an unoccupied bedroom somewhere.
Margie Thurmond comes around shaking the bowl that was sitting by the door. The keys jingle as she makes her way through the crowd. I watch her while Linda yammers on about something. The next time Margie appears, I see the bowl is empty. I don’t see anyone dangling the keys to a Jaguar anywhere.
People start pairing up. I see Steve is even going home with a chick. The crowd starts to thin out, and as it does, I hear Margie yelling something. Then she stands near the front door and jingles a keychain. “Who’s are these?”
People around her shrug and shake their heads. I go over to her and take the keys from her hand. I place them in my pocket.
“Oh,” she says, looking me over. “Hey you.”
She’s a total babe. She’s hotter than Linda. She’s wearing a gold halter top that leaves her back bare and is tight across her breasts. I’d fuck them both in Austin’s house. That would really piss him off. I start laughing again.
Margie looks from me to Linda. “Guess you’re spending the night with me.”
“Just you?” Linda pipes up.
Austin comes over, stands next to Margie, and puts his arm around her waist. He cuts his eyes over to me like I might have something to say about it.
“There he is,” Linda says. “The man of the house.”
I’m not sober, but I’m not so wasted I don’t know up from down.
Or dick from pussy. Or that this feels a little off.
Suspicious. There’s a look on Austin’s face I’ve never seen before.
He’s flushed from the alcohol. His tongue licks at his pink lips.
He reaches up to scratch his square jaw.
His brown eyes are a little bloodshot, but they’re focused right on me.
I’m noticing these things because I think he wants me to.
The look in his eyes is almost predatory. Hungry.
It’s as if he knows this is an absurd twist in the story, and he’s daring me to go along with it.
Margie glances around the living room. “Looks like it’s just us now.”
“Looks like it,” Linda says.
Margie leans on Austin’s shoulder and grins at us. “What do you say we go upstairs?”
I look at Austin once more. His brown eyes get darker as his pupils dilate.
I glance at Linda, who smiles seductively.
Everyone watches me, waiting. I look Austin right in his eyes when I shrug and say, “Fine.”
June 1978
“So what happens again?”
“The teacher turns the kids into apples,” Sunny says over the phone. “She wiggles her ears and sticks out her tongue.”
“What is she, a wizard?”
“Ladies can’t be wizards.”
“Says who?”
“I dunno.”
In my periphery, someone walks by the phone booth. I turn to see Canyon. He says he doesn’t listen in on our phone calls, but he’s always lurking.
Sunny’s quiet for a moment. The TV hums in the background, but it’s hard to tell over a crackling connection.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Are Laura and Seth still there?”
“No.”
“Then what’s going on?”