twenty-eight

The first film Smitty showed us was of a blond Swedish-looking woman going down on a black man. The movie was silent and must have been made in the early sixties, maybe even before then. I had never seen this kind of thing on film before so at first it was a shock to my system. Veronica sat quiet between me and Smitty on the edge of the bed. She didn’t comment at all on the movie. Smitty just stared at the images on the screen and sipped his drink.

It was dark. The only light in the room was the flickering from the projector bulb and the pornography on the wall. The first film ended how one would imagine it to, but despite the predictability of the conclusion it was still strange and surprising to see it actually happen. Smitty stood up and asked if I wanted another drink or if Veronica needed anything. She shook her head but I asked for another. Smitty told me to help myself as he pushed some buttons on the projector and the reel started to unwind.

I tried to grab Veronica’s hand before I got up to make my drink but she subtly moved it away. I was just trying to see if she was okay. There was a distance growing between us. She didn’t look at me at all during the first film, even when I tried to make eye contact with her. She did give my hand a squeeze just after the lights first went out, right before the initial image of the Swedish woman’s painted face. But that was it. Now she chose to ignore me.

Smitty was using his cigarette lighter as a flashlight to examine the many small reels of smut he had in his box. I thought that the name Smutty would be a more fitting moniker for the man and I chuckled at this revelation. But I knew it wasn’t funny and I wasn’t having any fun. I realized it was the pill taking its effect.

I made my drink. I was waiting for the lights to come back on but they never did. The record reached its end, the needle quietly spinning and skipping on a groove near the spindle. Smitty lifted the arm and dropped it where the first song started. We were about to be subjected to the same dreadful ELO all over again.