The Hits Keep on a Comin’
Location: Twin Palms, Palm Springs,
CA
After my dinner at the In N Out. I didn’t want to
risk replng the whole Mia fiasco, so I killed about 4
hours swinging by the smaller joints along the
highway. Around 3:00 AM, I did a drive-by at my own
house (talk about ridiculous) to make sure she and
her 10,000 little indians hadn’t come back.
I was in the clear. The lights were on, but no busses
or cars. An empty driveway never looked so good. I
figured Jilly must have come back and left the lights
on for me before he went out for his usual all night
horizontal tango. All was well.
As I got closer to the front door though, I heard
music coming from the inside of the house... my
music. Some chick’s voice was singing along, poorly.
Under any other circumstance, this would’ve brought a
smile to Ol’ Blue Eye’s face, but I’d had a day of
days already and wasn’t looking forward to another
ambush. I decided to be a little more 007 about going
in, so I went around back, up to the sliding glass
doors to peek inside. There she was, drunk on my
carpet and singing “Love and Marriage” at the top of
her lungs and in three keys.
She rolled over and looked up at me as I entered the
glass doorway.
“Frrrrannk! Whadaya’ doin’ here?”
She tried to push herself up from the carpet, but
landed back on her mink pillow with a giggle. Yep,
she was a pickled herring.
“Marilyn, let me call you a cab. You aren’t even
supposed to be out, ya’ know. Someone’s going to see
you.”
At this point she starts stripping off her dress.
Marilyn always does this. It wasn’t always a sexual
thing for her, more a reaction or second nature thing
to her. Some people wave, some people hug, some
people shake hands. Marilyn strips... then fucks.
"Leddum’ zee me Frannk. I bet dayve neeeeever zeeme like this before.”
“Marilyn, the whole universe has seen you like this before. Come on, let’s get you dressed and on the road home.”
“Whoops! I’m zeem to’ve loss my dress Frankkk!” she giggles, then says, “yoor not gonna’ git maaaad, are you... Fraaankie?”
I really hate it when they call me Frankie. This ain’t the 40’s anymore, but with Marilyn, I let it pass. You’ve got to let quite a bit pass when it comes to Marilyn.
“Marilyn, come on kiddo. You’ve had more than enough and it’s late baby. Get your costume on and I’ll drop you back at your place.”
She grabbed her drink glass, a real shocker as usually she skips the pretense of drink wear and goes for the source.
“Frannnkkieee, ders moore leff in da bottle. I’ll haf had... I’ll haff had... wha wuz da queshin?”
She looked bad, really bad. Her skin was like fine sand paper. Her makeup was plastered on so thick it came with a warranty against cracking and chipping. Her hair had been sprayed into place with enough lacquer to give it a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval against gail force winds. Madame Tussaud’s version of her looked better. She smelled like a pool hall... cigarettes, booze and urine. Not an attractive perfume for a lady, but Marilyn defied the definition of lady. She was the most beautiful woman in the world and yet the way she treated herself, made her the ugliest broad I ever met. She’d been better off if she’d really died in ’62.
I started getting her feet back into her dress.
“Frannkkkee?”
“Yeah doll, what is it?”
“Warez Jaaack?”
“He’s gone baby, you know that.”
“I noooo thaaaat. Buh wenzee comin’ baaack?” She sounded like a lost kid when she talked like that.
I looked her square in her nearly closed eyes as she tried to focus on mine. She either didn’t realize or couldn’t except the facts on that score. I almost told her straight out. I almost told her that Jack wasn’t part of the plan. He’d checked out for real. He didn’t walk away from the life, he was shoved out the door and when that happens, there’s no coming back, ever. I almost told her how it didn’t matter because he didn’t love her anyway. Jack didn’t love anybody, except himself. She was just another toy in his collection and one that was at the bottom of a very big toy box.
“Yooo think’e mizzez meee, Frannnnk?”
“Sure kid, sure. I bet he wishes he could be right here right now.”
I couldn’t tell her. She’d really walk away from the life in a permanent way if I did. Maybe that’d be better for her, but I just couldn’t break her heart like that. I’d never forgive myself. I resumed my costuming chore.
“Immmjus lookin’ for luvvv Frannnk. Immmjus lookin’ for... sommmeone ta’ like me forrrr.... somwun ta’ liiike me for... me. Not summ stoo, stooop, stooopid movie poster. Ya know?”
At this point her forehead was against mine. I’d all but zipped her dress back up, when instead, I dropped it back to the ground. God, I’m a charitable fuck when I wanna’ be. I grabbed her chin in my hand and said, “Come on kid, let’s go warm the sheets. Bring the bottle with you. Leave the glass.”
