THE TWO MEN AND THE STRIPPER PULLED UP TO THE HOUSE A little before two in the morning. Everything was dark. The Fairlane was parked near the house and the headlights of the man’s car shined on it and they could see Noon sitting behind the wheel.
The one driving leaned over the wheel and said of the place: Thought it’d be nicer.
The other said: How about you, sweetheart. Still want to have a go?
It’s two weeks’ worth of dancing, she said.
Okay.
Noon stepped out of the Fairlane and walked toward their car. His hat was pulled low and they couldn’t see his face. He walked to the door behind the driver and opened it and got inside and sat a moment. The girl and the guy in the passenger seat were looking at him with suspicion. Finally the guy behind the wheel turned in his seat.
Well? he said.
Well what?
Are we doing this?
Doing what?
Listen, the driver said, you—
I am only teasing, Noon said. You all need to lighten up.
He smiled strangely at them.
You all seem nervous, he said. Are you nervous?
No one spoke.
Here, Noon said.
He reached into his pocket. He pulled out a glass pipe. He handed it to the girl. Handed her a lighter.
What is this? she asked.
Something that will help you, Noon said.
She watched him. She looked down at the pipe. Then finally said: Fuck it.
She brought the pipe to her lips and lit the end. The glass flared. The flame scorched the crystal and the crystal pulsed a deep orange and when she dragged on it the flame bent and righted and then bent again as she pulled in the smoke. When the lighter clicked out and the pipe smoldered and the crystal went black, a ribbon of glaucous smoke spun into the air. Then she handed the pipe and lighter to the guy in the passenger seat and he did the same. The driver was the last to hit it and when the smoke left his lips Noon said, Another?
They all agreed and hit it again and when Noon was satisfied with the state they were in, he said: Shall we?
They walked to the house with Noon leading. Then he stopped and turned to the woman and said, I want you to wait in the house.
Aren’t we all going into the house? one guy asked.
Stop asking questions, Noon said. Then to the woman: Wait in the house, please.
The woman climbed the steps. At the door she said, It’s dark.
Yes, Noon said. Are you afraid of the dark?
She stared at him for a moment. Then she pushed through the door and stepped inside.
Follow me, Noon said to the two men.
He led them around the house. He slid an iron bar through the handles of the cellar and opened the doors. The smell of mildew and human waste tumbled out. The two men covered their noses. One used the collar of his nylon jacket. The other a bandanna. The one with the bandanna said, Jesus Christ. He said, What the fuck am I walking into?
Noon led them down the steps and pulled the string. The girl flinched lazily at the sudden light. She was seated on the chair and her arms were tied to the post. Her pants were soiled and there was vomit on the cellar floor beside her. Noon turned to the men.
You can get undressed now, he said to the men.
There was a camera mounted on a tripod in the corner of the room.
What the fuck is all this? one said.
This is where you are going to have sex with my girlfriend.
The fuck is that over there? the other said.
That’s a mask, Noon said.
Just then there was a knock on the cellar door.
Your girlfriend? one of them asked.
You have a bad habit of asking questions, Noon said.
A man stepped in and came down the stairs. He was wearing expensive boots. A Stetson hat. When he reached the floor he nodded at Noon.
Is this what got me out of bed?
The two men looked at him. Then they looked at one another. Then back at the man again.
Are you Conrad Price? one said.
Let’s get one thing straight, Price said to him, I’m Chief Price to you.
Yes sir.
Price looked at the girl and then back at the two men. Price said, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb. Though for the life of me I can’t tell which one is dumber.
Noon was standing in the shadows. Price turned to him.
Come on out of the shadows there, Price said. You’re being too dramatic.
Noon came into the mephitic light. He removed his ball cap. The bones of his cheeks under the tight skin were like palette knives. Noon didn’t take his eyes from the men.
What are we all doing in this basement together? Price said.
He said we were going to . . . , the one said.
Going to what? Price said.
Said he wanted to make a movie.
A movie? A movie about what? Two dipshit speed freaks looking to get their dicks sucked?
The two men were silent.
Price walked over to the girl. He knelt and balanced on the toes of his Lucchese boots. He took off his Stetson and held it in one hand and with the other he lifted the girl’s chin. Her head was heavy. Her eyes could not focus.
You don’t have to worry, sweetheart, Price said. These two here, they aren’t going to hurt you. I’m going to take you out of here, okay. Getting you out of here tonight. Get you cleaned up, get you something nice to eat. Get you some good clothes. How does that sound?
He pointed back over his shoulder.
Those two over there, he said. Those two are bad people. Degenerates. Junkies. They didn’t touch you at all, did they?
He looked back at Noon. They touch her yet?
Noon shook his head.
That’s good, Price said, looking back at the girl. I’d hate to have that happen. Those two are like stains you can’t remove on a nice piece of fabric.
He patted the girl’s knee.
This will all be over soon, he said. I promise.
What the fuck is going on here? one of them said, interrupting.
Price winced. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He stood up and turned toward him.
What’s wrong with your voice? Price asked.
Nothing, he said.
That’s the worst sounding voice I’ve ever heard, Price said. Your voice makes me want to cut off my ears. What was it you so rudely asked me?
What the fuck is going on? he said.
I suspect you’re going to have sex with this girl and my friend over there is going to film it. And then he’ll probably kill you.
Both men were beginning to shake. The crystal had hit them hard. Even their teeth were chattering.
Price looked at them and cocked his head.
You two get high before I showed up? he asked.
He gave it to us, one said. Just to take off the edge.
What edge?
I don’t know, he said.
Price took a step closer.
You seem nervous, Price said. Do I make you nervous? Do they seem nervous, Mr Noon?
Yes, Noon said.
Seem nervous to me too, Price said. It’s insulting.
Insulting? the other said. We ain’t trying to be.
Oh, but you are, Price said. Because you’re not taking this seriously. You’re not taking this seriously just like you don’t take me seriously. Do I seem serious to you?
Yes sir, one said.
That’s good, Price said. Because I’m a serious man and this is a very serious thing. You kidnapped a girl and locked her up like a dog and let her shit herself and then you were going to rape her. Does that sound serious to you?
Whoa, one said, holding up his hands. We didn’t kidnap her. We didn’t tie her up. She was here when we got here. This is how we found her.
Is that true? Price asked Noon.
Noon shook his head
My friend says you’re lying, Price said.
There was silence for a moment. It was broken by a loud thud overhead. All the men looked up into the joists.
You got a friend up there? Price asked.
He looked at Noon. Noon nodded.
Ah, Price said. That must be the stripper they killed.
Killed? one said. His eyes widened. Look, just let us get out of here.
Get out of here? Price said. I don’t think that’s a very good idea. That’ll screw up the plan.
Plan? the other said. What plan?
Were you not listening to my soliloquy about stains, Price said.
Your what?
Soliloquy, Price said. Speaking one’s thoughts aloud. Stains on a piece of nice fabric. Sometimes to get rid of them you just have to cut them out.
He turned to Noon and said nothing, only nodded, and Noon took out a pistol with a silencer sweated onto the barrel and pulled the trigger and opened a hole between the guy’s eyes. The guy dropped to the floor. The other one stood there uncomprehending. Noon stepped toward him and the guy looked up just in time to see Noon drop a noose over his head. Price threw the other end over the joist and Noon hauled against it. The joist moaned under the weight. The guy kicked and flailed like he was riding some ridiculous bicycle. He was twisting in and out of the shadows. His fingers were working in vain against the rope. Finally he quit moving and hung there with eyes aghast. The blood from the other one ran over the uneven cellar floor.
Price stood over the girl a moment. Then he looked back at Noon and said, She’ll do.
Price walked up the steps and left Noon with the girl. Noon walked over to her and pulled a syringe from his pocket and uncapped it and stuck it in the girl’s arm. Her head fell forward. He pocketed the syringe and stuffed the pistol in the waistband at the small of his back and unchained the girl and lifted her from the chair and carried her up the steps, over the gravel drive. He opened the back door of the men’s car and laid her inside. He straightened up and looked off down the road. He could see the taillights of Price’s truck receding in the darkness. Then Noon walked to the house. Up the rotting steps and into the house. The woman said something then the quick flash of a single shot lit up the open doorway and then it was dark again.
Noon carried the dead woman into the cellar. He sat her in the chair and tied her to the compression post. Her head bowed forward. He crossed the cellar to the mask then returned to the hanged man and put the mask on him and gave him a push and he swung, a slow pendulum, like the weights of a morbid clock. He went to the camera and pressed record and for a long time he taped the man just swinging.
When he left the cellar he went to the Fairlane and opened the passenger door and went into the glove box and took a videotape from it and set it on the dashboard. Took a screwdriver and went around to the plates and removed them. He went to the dead men’s car and removed their plates. Went back to the Fairlane, swapped the plates, and wiped the car clean of his fingerprints. Then he went to the dead men’s car and got in and started the engine and drove off with the girl in the back seat.