The Cold Six Thousand - James Ellroy [128]
Kinman chewed ice. “With no contraband checks?”
“He would appreciate that courtesy, yes.”
“ ‘That courtesy’ will cost $5,000 per month, in cash, nonrefundable.”
Littell popped his briefcase. Littell dumped forty grand. Drac gave him fifty. He kept and tithed ten.
Kinman whooped. Janice Tedrow walked in.
She limped. She swung a cane. She rubbed a scar on her lips.
62
(Dak Sut, 11/7/64)
Heat. Bugs. Bullshit.
Dak Sut featured peasants. Dak Sut featured clay-mud. Dak Sut featured thirty-three huts.
ARVNs called peasants que lam. Chaffee called ARVNs “Marvin.” Pete called them “Marv.” Chuck called them “Marv.” Bob Relyea called them “Sahib.”
Wayne itched. Wayne slapped bugs. Wayne scoped Dak Sut. He saw pigs. He saw rice bins. He saw the Dak Poko River.
A bridge. Brown water. Thick jungle ahead.
They flew up. Three Marvs came along. Chaffee hired a Huey. The pilot slurped wine. Chuck and Bob tossed hate tracts out.
Wayne itched. Wayne slapped bugs. Wayne wore fatigues and a .45. Wayne packed a 12-gauge pump.
GI gear—kadre kustomized. Dum-dums and beehive rounds—steel darts encased.
Laos was close. The Marvs knew the way. The Marvs had their guide—some ex-Cong stashed in a hut.
Tran Dinh camped near Saravan. Tran Dinh had men. Tran Dinh had two Hueys prepped. They’d fly to Joe Warlord’s camp. They’d “negotiate.”
Wayne itched. Wayne slapped bugs. Wayne scoped Dak Sut. Peasants hovered. Mesplède dispensed Kools. Pete hit hut 16. Pete hauled the Cong out.
Chuck deshackled him. Bob rigged a collar. The Marvs leashed him up. Nice collar—poodle-sized and spiked.
Chuck fucked with the leash. Chuck laid some slack in. Chuck cinched the Cong up.
Wayne walked over. The Cong wore black pj’s. The Cong wore torture cuts.
Chuck said, “Bow wow.”
Bob sang “Walkin’ the Dog.”
They moved out.
They walked single-file. They crossed the Dak Poko. They hit the province hut. The Marvs greased the hut boss—five bucks U.S. The hut boss swooned.
They hit Laos. They walked foot trails. Hills and brush cover. Krazy Glue clay.
The Cong walked ahead. Chuck snapped his leash. Chuck named him “Fido.” Fido tugged. Fido walked barefoot. Fido stretched his leash.
Wayne walked rear point. My craaaazy life—Army Airborne to this.
He killed time in Saigon. He read his chemistry texts. He hit the USO. He ordered the Vegas and Dallas papers. He moved into the lab. He stored his Durfee file.
He filed tips. He summarized tips. He ate at the Go-Go. He dug on the weird food. He offered the owner some help.
The fried monk caused damage. The fried monk burned beams. The fried monk scorched the paint job.
Wayne repainted. Wayne redrilled beams. The pimp hung around. Wayne watched him. Wayne learned his stats:
Maurice Hardell/aka Bongo/ex-QM PFC. Stockade time and a pervert DD.
He watched Bongo. He watched the kadre men. The kadre men watched him. They knew his stats. They dug on them. Chuck spieled them out.
He got their stats. Pete supplied them:
Guéry hated Reds. Mesplède hated Reds. They killed Congo rebels. They killed Algerians. Chuck hated Reds. Chuck was ex-CIA. Chuck killed Fidelistos.
Flash hated Reds. Flash killed Reds. Flash used to pimp girls in Havana. Flash split Cuba. Flash hit the U.S. Flash robbed liquor stores.
Flash knew Guéry. Flash met Pete. Flash met John Stanton. Chuck knew Bob. Bob pushed hate tracts. Bob mailed hate tracts to prisons.
Chaffee was a blueblood. Chaffee went Army. Stanton was a blueblood. Stanton went to Yale. Stanton knew Chaffee’s dad. Stanton owned United Fruit stock. The Beard kicked UF out of Cuba. The Beard fucked with their stock.
Cuba drove them. Cuba drove Pete. Cuba drove the dope plan. Cuba drove Viet ops. Something said Cuba drove Dallas.
They talked:
Guéry and Mesplède/Chuck and Pete/Flash Elorde. They spoke English. They stopped. They spoke Spanish and French. They said “Dallas” trilingual.
Dallas—a noun—a city in Texas. Dallas—the break point for him.
He waited since childhood. He notched a fast fuck. He dropped his Dallas punchline. He fucked Janice. He jeopardized