Rathan Krueger's Blog, page 5

Daily Dialogue: Mirror Addictions

Jasmine

I just wanna say thanks for helping me all these years.

Kelly

What? Don’t mention it. What’re friends for, right?

Jasmine

There are plenty of friends who wouldn’t help an addict. Fuck, I wouldn’t have helped me. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.

Kelly

Just stay clean. That’ll say enough for me.

Jasmine

You look good now.

Kelly

You’re just saying that because I helped save your life.

Jasmine

No, really. You look really good. You’ve lost so much weight.

Kelly

It’s been two months since we’ve seen each other last, so I probably look a lot different now.

Jasmine

Yeah, I didn’t wanna say anything when we hugged earlier, but I can finally make my fingers touch.

Kelly

I was thinking the same thing.

Jasmine

How’d you do it?

Kelly

Gave up sugar.

Jasmine

That’s it?

Kelly

Pretty much. I mean, sugar was a major part of my life for a long, long time.

Jasmine

Remember when I used to wake up to you drinking a syrup you made out of sugar and water?

Kelly

Yes. And I hoped you had forgotten that.

Jasmine

How could I? It was my sugar.

Kelly

I know, I know. I was a fat ass. Now, I’m a slightly-fat ass.

Jasmine

What made you quit?

Kelly

It became increasingly aware to me that I might not make it to 50, with all the sugar I was eating and the fact that diabetes has carved a large swath through my family tree.

Jasmine

Who’s left?

Kelly

My father. Dunno for how long, though. I don’t mean it so morbidly, but he’s old, y’know? And he’s got the beetus.

Jasmine

Did you quit all at once, or stretched it out?

Kelly

I don’t have the constitution or the fortitude to baby myself through any habit-kicking. I scorched the earth until it was coated in caramel.

Jasmine

Wow, that’s bold. What was that like?

Kelly

I cried. A lot.

Jasmine

Why?

Kelly

I LOVE candy and sugar. And I spent an embarrassing amount of money on them. I wasn’t just burning my addiction. I was making ashes the gross national product of a small nation.

Jasmine

It wasn’t that bad.

Kelly

It looked like it.

Jasmine

What was transitioning like? You lived a life with sugar and suddenly cut it out of your life. That must not’ve been an easy experience.

Kelly

No, not at all. Not one bit.

Jasmine

Did you get the D.T.’s?

Kelly

The what?

Jasmine

Delirium Tremens. The shakes.

Kelly

Oh. No, none of that. I just got REALLY sad for, like, two weeks.

Jasmine

Why?

Kelly

I didn’t know for a while, but I figured that it was because I wasn’t getting any dopamine.

Jasmine

Oh yeah, sugar’s phenomenal for that.

Kelly

I know, Jasmine. For two weeks, I was quite aware of that fact.

Jasmine

Were you suicidal?

Kelly

As close as you can get to it without reaching for the shotgun.

Jasmine

Wow.

Kelly

But it takes about two weeks for your brain to wire a new routine into itself, so I was better with Week Three. Then the pounds started rolling off.

Jasmine

That doesn’t happen unless your diet was mostly one thing.

Kelly

It fucking was, Jasmine. Looking back, I’m amazed they didn’t take my foot years ago.

Jasmine

And now, you can fit old shirts because I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen you wear this one.

Kelly

It’s not old. It’s new. It’s all new.

Jasmine

What do you mean?

Kelly

I had to buy a new wardrobe because I couldn’t fit anything anymore.

Jasmine

Wow. Good job. Your wallet might not think so, though.

Kelly

The money I saved from buying junk food went to buying clothes, so it didn’t know better.

Jasmine

…how much junk did you buy?

Kelly

Don’t look at me like that. This all came from Goodwill.

Jasmine

Why not Salvation Army?

Kelly

They hate gays.

Jasmine

Ah.

Kelly

I shouldn’t have chucked away everything, though.

Jasmine

Why not?

Kelly

Because I know I’ll get fat again.

Jasmine

…what?

Kelly

I know I’ll probably crack and go back to sugar someday. So I’ll enjoy being skinnier for as long as it lasts.

Jasmine

Fuck you.

Kelly

Excuse me?

Jasmine

Fuck. You. Kelly.

Kelly

Where’s this coming from?

Jasmine

Are you serious? Are you fucking serious?

Kelly

Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?

Jasmine

Are you really that blind?

Kelly

I guess fucking so, since I don’t have a clue what the fuck your problem suddenly is.

Jasmine

I thought that with you kicking sugar, you were finding out what it was like with me and heroin.

Kelly

Heroin’s a little worse than sugar. Just a little.

Jasmine

That’s not the fucking point! You were just as addicted as I was. I thought you saw that.

Kelly

You’re just being overly dramatic.

Jasmine

No, I’m not, you heartless bitch!

Kelly

I think you need to relax.

Jasmine

You really don’t know what this means, do you?

Kelly

No, bitch. Enlighten me.

Jasmine

What you’re saying is that it’s ok to be strong against an addiction, for a little while.

Kelly

You’re putting fucking words in my mouth, that’s what you’re doing.

Jasmine

No, I’m just pointing out what I see. What you can’t see. We had this conversation once, but we were in different places.

Kelly

I think I’d remember telling you that you were a sugar addict.

Jasmine

Fuck, stop making this about fucking sugar!

Kelly

YOU’RE the one who said it was like heroin!

Jasmine

Four years ago. My birthday. Remember it?

Kelly

I’m surprised that you do.

Jasmine

I don’t. I only know about it because you told me. I was so wasted. It was after I relapsed.

Kelly

I know. I had to carry you to the tub because you shit yourself and was too far gone to even crawl. How is this like sugar?

Jasmine

Would you ever let that happen to you?

Kelly

Let what happen to me?

Jasmine

Would you ever want sugar so badly that you wouldn’t care if you shit yourself, as long as you got some?

Kelly

This isn’t about me.

Jasmine

Yes, it fucking is! Would you?!

Daily Dialogue: Winglady in the Hard-Gay Fields

Maggie

How do you feel about boys?

Penny

Boys as in boys, or boys as in men?

Maggie

The latter, but feel free to comment on the former.

Penny

They’re ok. Why?

Maggie

I think I want one.

Penny

…which?

Maggie

The latter.

Penny

But you’re–

Maggie

I’m kidding. I love women too much for that.

Penny

You almost scared me.

Maggie

Almost? I can smell your sweat.

Penny

One: gross. Two: stop it.

Maggie

I wanted to say that I’m ready for a relationship.

Penny

I get to finally play wingman– wingwoman– winglady in a gay club?

Maggie

From rainbow flags to dykes and fags.

Penny

You… You can say those words?

Maggie

Semantic satiation.

Penny

English.

Maggie

You say a word enough times to rob it of its power, good or bad.

Penny

Does it work?

Maggie

Most of the time, but any word can be used positively or negatively. We call each other “bitch.”

Penny

Every chance we get.

Maggie

But if I were to call you, say, a potato–

Penny

I’d resist every urge to toss my chair at you.

Maggie

So, yeah.

Penny

The gay world is fine with people saying dy… dy…

Maggie

Dykes and fags, you can say it. And no, we trolls under the rainbow bridge aren’t fine with those words.

Penny

But you said them.

Maggie

It’s complicated. As my winglady, it’s best if you just abstain from those two words.

Penny

Ok. What do I call gay women and men, then?

Maggie

I’ve been partial to Sapphos and Queermos.

Penny

You made those up.

Maggie

One of them. Everyone knows about lesbians, but no one knows why they’re called that. It’s because of the myth of Sappho. She loved her some womens. And the women lived on the island of Lesbos. For some reason, people gravitated towards the island instead of the woman who lay waste to it.

Penny

And Queermos?

Maggie

It’s like Sapphos, only for dudes.

Penny

Has it caught on?

Maggie

No, not really. People look at me funny, then I have to explain things.

Penny

So why keep saying them?

Maggie

Because I like using them. And I’m hopeful.

Penny

Which gay club are we going to?

Maggie

Probably the most non-threatening one, in your case.

Penny

Why?

Maggie

Because you’re cute, and there’s no tasteful sign that you can carry saying that you don’t have the gay. Instead of worrying about you carried off during the night by a pack of Sapphos, it’ll be best to find a club that enjoys gays and straights.

Penny

But won’t I have to deal with dude-bros?

Maggie

Yeah, but women don’t give up.

Penny

And guys do? We can go to a club that goes hard-gay, I don’t mind. I can get belligerent if a woman doesn’t get the hint. We’ll be there for you, anyway, not me. I could also use the ego boost.

Maggie

Heh, fair enough.

Penny

Which club have you been to that’s gone the hardest-gay?

Maggie

Wow, the hardest-gay… There was one where women had no problem fucking in booths.

Penny

Yeah, I don’t wanna go to that one. I’m not a prude, I just don’t wanna catch an STD along with the beat.

Maggie

No, I get it. I was only there once.

Penny

Did you enjoy a booth?

Maggie

Mmmmaybe.

Penny

What’s in second-place?

Maggie

I think we can do that one. It had women in cages.

Penny

Ooo.

Maggie

“Ooo?”

Penny

I always wanted to dance in a cage.

Maggie

…really? What the fuck, why?

Penny

Are you kidding? Dancing as sexy as I want while everyone’s all looky and no touchy?

Maggie

Well, I guess we’re going to that one.

Penny

Yippee-skip!

Maggie

You know I’m gonna record you when you get in one.

Penny

That’s why I’m not gonna until you have your hands on some Sappho’s ass.

Maggie

Damnit. Well played, detective.

Penny

Thank you, thank you. Why do you want a relationship now?

Maggie

I just feel it’s time.

Penny

Your biological clock’s ticking?

Maggie

Only counts if you want a baby.

Penny

Oh yeah. So there’s no other reason?

Maggie

No, should there be?

Penny

Most people do it because they’re tired of being lonely.

Maggie

I’m not most people, though, am I?

Penny

Nah.

Maggie

It’s like when you have a taste for something all of a sudden.

Penny

You wanna taste a gal’s panty hamster, eh?

Maggie

I can do that whenever I want. I’d rather taste just one gal’s panty hamster for a while, besides mine. See how that works.

Penny

Aww, so romantic.

Maggie

As romantic as I’m gonna get.

Penny

I know. I’ve been around you on a few Valentine’s Days.

Maggie

You’re not gonna ask the obvious question?

Penny

Obvious?

Maggie

Why I’m looking for love in a club?

Penny

I got so excited by being a winglady and a cage dancer that I glossed over it. Yeah, why are you wookin’ pa nub in a club?

Maggie

Dating sites have never been good to me. I’m more of a tactile gal.

Penny

Doesn’t the mad bass yo make it hard to conversate?

Maggie

We just have to get a little closer, darling.

Penny

Heh, I get ya. I should pick out a skirt. Fuck that, I’m gonna buy a skirt.

Maggie

Um, that might be a problem.

Penny

Why?

Maggie

Because the cage is suspended. People can look up.

Penny

Let ’em! Heck, I’ll go commando, give ’em a real show.

Maggie

You’re not supposed to attract attention if you don’t want it, Penny.

Penny

I’ll be in a cage.

Daily Dialogue: The Musican Uprising

Janet

This line is insane.

Paris

That flagpole has been mocking me for hours now.

Janet

Yeah, look at it standing there. Jerk.

Paris

We should knock it down.

Janet

Are you mad? And lose our place?

Paris

Yeah, you’re right. It’s just nerves…

Janet

It’s ok, I understand. Whose turn is it to see if the band’s here yet and be disappointed?

Paris

I was disappointed an hour ago, so it’s your turn.

Janet

But I don’t wanna be disappointed again…

Paris

You don’t have to do it now.

Janet

I don’t have to do it now. Why do we put up with it?

Paris

Put up with what?

Janet

The bullshit of musicians. We pay their salaries, damnit. They should at least turn up on time.

Paris

The art life?

Janet

Artists can still tell time. I bet they’ll be watching that clock to see when their concert’s over.

Paris

I’ve never seen a clock in a concert in a concert hall.

Janet

Me either! So– Shit. Watches.

Paris

Shit. Watches.

Janet

So why do we put up with it?

Paris

Because their music means a lot to us?

Janet

Yeah, but we have their albums.

Paris

They don’t get a lot of money from them, so we gotta do what we can for them at shows.

Janet

And yet, they’re late. I don’t completely buy the helpless artist gimmick.

Paris

What do you mean?

Janet

Musicians make the songs, right?

Paris

Last I checked.

Janet

So they’re in control of the product, right?

Paris

One would believe so.

Janet

Why don’t they act like it, then?

Paris

A record exec’s not gonna listen to a musician.

Janet

Why not? All those musicians in that Tidal commercial–

Paris

Tidal?

Janet

The streaming music thing “for artists.”

Paris

Oh yeah, that. Go on.

Janet

If all those musicians REALLY cared… wouldn’t they have gone on the music equivalent of a hunger strike?

Paris

How?

Janet

Like saying, “Oi! We’re not making anything new until musicians get treated better!”

Paris

They can’t afford to do that.

Janet

Did you see that commercial? A sea of millionaires. They could take that stand.

Paris

Britney Spears.

Janet

What about her?

Paris

Have you bought her last album?

Janet

Uh, no.

Paris

Her second album?

Janet

Twice!

Paris

Twice?

Janet

I listened to my first copy so many times that the CD started to warp.

Paris

Now you see.

Janet

See what?

Paris

Why the musicians didn’t take Custer’s Last Stand.

Janet

I don’t follow.

Paris

The music landscape changes so quickly that it’d be easy for someone at the top to tumble.

Janet

I highly doubt that someone’s gonna replace Madonna.

Paris

Don’t they have contracts or whatever to keep them working?

Janet

They can be renegotiated. Especially if they got smart.

Paris

Smart? They seem pretty smart to me.

Janet

Do you know how much Britney Spears probably got paid for the two copies of her second album I bought? Probably a few quarters. MAYBE a dollar. I dropped around 15 bucks a piece. A musician makes the song and the company puts it out. That sounds like a 50/50 partnership to me.

Paris

Thanks.

Janet

For what?

Paris

Helping me prove my point. Musicians are worth a lot more than they’ve been convinced they are. I won’t even get into how much they make from streaming things.

Janet

Wait, I thought we were trying to figure out why we put up with musicians’ bull.

Paris

And now we’re talking about how they need to up-rise. It’s ok, society laughably says that women don’t need to make sense, so I don’t have to.

Janet

You’re not gonna start chasing people around with your bra, are you?

Paris

So you can chase after me and BOTH of us lose our place in line?

Janet

Damn my madness.

Paris

So. Back to causing the musician uprising because we’re tired of their bullshit.

Janet

Being kind because we wanna be cruel?

Paris

Laughable society.

Janet

Gloria Steinem would beat you up for saying that, by the by.

Paris

Camille Paglia would understand, though.

Janet

Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa.

Paris

Are you… Are you having a stroke?

Janet

Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’? Michael Jackson?

Paris

OH! Ok. How do musicians start their uprising?

Janet

Well–

Paris

Wait. Wouldn’t them complaining about money seem like Poor Little Rich Kid?

Janet

Yeah, if we were only talking about the musicians on the Tidal commercial. But we’re not, are we?

Paris

No, not really. Well, maybe Madonna. I still like her.

Janet

She is likable. Especially when she sings Skin.

Paris

Off of Ray of Light?

Janet

The very same.

Paris

I love that song. And album. And her.

Janet

She is lovable. She is also someone who could be Custer.

Paris

Wait. Custer was a racist psychotic.

Janet

Damnit. Do we have any other American martyrs?

Paris

Probably.

Janet

Well, think, woman!

Paris

What ab– THE LINE’S MOVING!! THE LINE’S MOVING!!

Daily Dialogue: Gossip in the Loft

Izzie

Wow, she’s pregnant. I can’t see her with a kid. Fuck, I can’t see her fucking.

Melody

I know, right? I can’t see her kissing anyone.

Izzie

I saw it once.

Melody

What? Really? What was that like?

Izzie

Weird. Really, really weird. I was meeting her and her fella somewhere and– There was tongue.

Melody

Ewwwwwwwwwwwww! I mean, she’s a pretty girl.

Izzie

Yeah.

Melody

And she has every right to act like a woman.

Izzie

Of course.

Melody

It’s just…

Izzie

Weird.

Melody

Really weird.

Izzie

Fucking weird. Wow. Pregnant.

Melody

I almost wanna be in the room when she has the baby.

Izzie

To see if she really has girl bits? Me too.

Melody

We’re being too mean.

Izzie

I don’t think I’m being mean.

Melody

We’re kinda being mean, what were we talking about?

Izzie

Nothing, really. We were just catching up while I paint my daisy.

Melody

Oh yeah. I still find it interesting that you paint those.

Izzie

They’re for me now.

Melody

Because no one buys them anymore?

Izzie

Yes and no. All of my paintings are for me and I love each one that I do. If no one bought them, I’d still paint. No one wanting the daisies means that they’re just for me, and I don’t mind being selfish with my art.

Melody

I think the daisies catch people off-guard, and that’s why they don’t sell.

Izzie

Why, because I usually paint murder tableaus?

Melody

Yeah, maybe. The grand guignol crowd tends to not also fawn over flora. At least, not the innocent kind.

Izzie

Excuse me for having variety.

Melody

Hey, aim your darts at someone else. I like the daisies. Maybe they’d sell if you surrounded them with corpses or flayed flesh?

Izzie

No, daisies stay alone. I do like the idea of flowers and flayed flesh, though. Maybe buttercups.

Melody

Why not daisies?

Izzie

Because I’m not into crowd-pleasing so much, and I have a particular idea for daisies.

Melody

Aren’t artists into gratification? Or glorification?

Izzie

Artists are supposed to give people what they need, not what they want. If people got what they wanted, art would become stagnant. With the murder tableaus, it’s a coinkidink that wants and needs mesh.

Melody

Why?

Izzie

Do you like taking cough syrup?

Melody

Like a working girl giving free blowjobs.

Izzie

Do you like washing up?

Melody

Long showers are the best.

Izzie

Coinkidink.

Melody

Do you wanna be famous?

Izzie

I want my work to last at least as long and humans survive.

Melody

Then you wanna be famous.

Izzie

I guess so.

Melody

What about fans? Well, of course you want fans, why else would you put your art out there?

Izzie

I don’t think I want fans.

Melody

Bull-lollipopping-shit.

Izzie

What?

Melody

If you don’t have fans, you don’t survive.

Izzie

If I don’t have money, I don’t survive.

Melody

Then you do it for the money?

Izzie

Fuck no. I do it because I love it. Doing it takes up a lot of my time. If something’s taking up so much of my time that I can’t get a “normal” job, then I have to make money from it. To make money from it, I have to put it out there. Putting it out there, I get fans. So I don’t do it for fandom, but I enjoy having them.

Melody

Do you want a lot or a little?

Izzie

I want enough. Whatever amount matches the effort I put into things.

Melody

You seem pretty effortless, though.

Izzie

To you, maybe.

Melody

I’ve seen you blaze through paintings. I’m sure more people than me would consider that lacking effort.

Izzie

Just because I’m able to work faster than most people doesn’t mean that I lack anything except mind blocks.

Melody

And hand cramps.

Izzie

Heh, I get those like everyone else.

Melody

But let’s be real: you wouldn’t mind being queen.

Izzie

Queen of what?

Melody

Of the art world.

Izzie

I want to be the best. If that means “queen,” I’ll take it. But I don’t want to be the next “insert artist here.” I’d rather be the first. Being the only would be even better.

Melody

The only? Is there room for such originality these days?

Izzie

I’ll make room. The heir apparent to a fated kingdom.

Melody

Fated?

Izzie

In that it hasn’t been built yet, but the land is cleared.

Melody

You’re an oracle as well as an artist now?

Izzie

Dunno. I’m not sure if the future exists.

Melody

Rather dystopic of you.

Izzie

I didn’t mean it in the “…fuck, we’re doomed!” sense. I meant that there’s no way we can prove that the future exists.

Melody

What? Sure, we can.

Izzie

How?

Melody

We have calendars, dummy. And can make plans.

Izzie

But all that happens in the present. There’s no way that we can SEE the future in any sort of way like we can for the now or past.

Melody

Is this the sort of thing you think of when you paint?

Izzie

More like when I comb my hair.

Melody

You do have a lot of it, so I can see why you can waste time like that.

Izzie

Shaving armpits is a waste of time.

Melody

Eww, no. I’m not having this conversation with you.

Izzie

But you’d save yourself so much grief if you–

Melody

Not. Having. This. Convo. Wait, you shave your legs.

Izzie

Yeah, because I’m not a savage.

Daily Dialogue: Harley and Ivy vs. the Brotherhood

Harley

I get knocked down! But I get up again! And yer never gonna keep me down! I get kn–

Ivy

Why, in the name of all that’s green, are you singing that song?

Harley

‘Cause it’s true, Red!

Ivy

Could you think of a less-annoying way to be a weeble-wobble?

Harley

A wha? Are ya drunk or somethin’?

Ivy

A weeble-wobble. You know, those balloon toy things that you stand up straight no matter how many times you push it.

Harley

Ooo! I want one.

Ivy

You can’t have one.

Harley

Why not?

Ivy

What made you start singing?

Harley

I told ya already.

Ivy

No, you didn’t.

Harley

Oh yeah. I socked a guy in tha mouth with a baseball bat.

Ivy

Uh… huh.

Harley

Don’t worry, he deserved it.

Ivy

I’m not worried about that, most men deserve it.

Harley

He called me a bimbo!

Ivy

People still use that word?

Harley

Actually, he used another b-word, but my delicate female sensibilities can’t ever repeat such a word.

Ivy

Was there anyone around who saw?

Harley

Piles!

Ivy

Damnit, Harley, I don’t wanna have to move again because yet ANOTHER city wants us dead.

Harley

We don’t haveta worry about that. They were piling on tha guy.

Ivy

Why would they do that?

Harley

It’s what happens when you use that b-thing at a feminist convention.

Ivy

YOU were at a feminist convention?

Harley

I had to use tha bathroom, an’ they had free entry. More conventions need ta be free. There was one in San Diego I went to that charged SO–

Ivy

Why would a guy call a woman a bi–

Harley

B-word!

Ivy

–at a feminist convention?

Harley

He was with some other folk across tha street protestin’.

Ivy

Why would a group of guys–

Harley

And broads.

Ivy

What?!

Harley

Stockholm Syndrome’s a crazy thing, Red.

Ivy

Why would they protest so close to something that empowers women?

Harley

The mob descended too quickly fer me ta ask. I couldn’t hear over tha screams, anyway.

Ivy

Were they bloodcurdling?

Harley

Worthy of a Gothic novel.

Ivy

That’s what I like to hear.

Harley

I even recorded it!

Ivy

I’ll probably regret asking but, why?

Harley

For my new band.

Ivy

We’re wanted criminals, remember?

Harley

That’s why it’ll be an electronic band, silly. Just me an’ a computer an’ some mad beats, yo!

Ivy

Please don’t ever say that again.

Harley

Yess’m. I also managed ta snag one a’ their flyers.

Ivy

Oh?

Harley

Part a’ it’s torn off an’ half a’ it’s covered in blood and shame, but ya can get the gist a’ it.

Ivy

“The Brotherhood of Brotherhood?”

Harley

I didn’t say they were tha most creative hatemongers.

Ivy

“…liberate the rights of men back from the lessers…”

Harley

Hey, yer skin’s startin’ ta change color.

Ivy

“…back on their backs with a smile…”

Harley

Yer skin matches yer hair now, Red! Uh oh…

Ivy

“…where they belong…” Where is this convention?

Harley

Uh… What convention?

Ivy

The one with the soon-to-be-ripped-to-pieces-by-my-hands idiots out in front.

Harley

Ya don’t have ta worry about them. They’re all hospitalized.

Ivy

Where’s the hospital?

Harley

We’re wanted criminals, remember?

Ivy

We’ll be a little more wanted, then. Or a lot more. Depends on if I leave one breathing.

Harley

But there’s more than one way ta get revenge.

Ivy

None are more satisfying.

Harley

Ya really wanna go back ta tha clink fer those dummies, Red?

Ivy

…no.

Harley

Calm down an’ talk ta me fer a while, then.

Ivy

How do I get revenge that doesn’t involve me getting shipped back to Arkham?

Harley

By bein’ yerself, silly.

Ivy

Huh?

Harley

Tha Brotherhood a’ Brotherhood–

Ivy

Such a stupid name…

Harley

–stands for everythin’ yer not. Right?

Ivy

Yeah.

Harley

So, what better way ta get revenge than tha keep bein’ you?

Ivy

I’m also a murderer, in case you forgot.

Harley

But yer not only a murderer, are ya?

Ivy

No… I guess.

Harley

What else are ya?

Ivy

A woman who won’t let anyone think that they can control or take advantage of me.

Harley

Yup!

Ivy

A woman who lives her life at her standards and no one else’s.

Harley

Yup yup!

Ivy

A woman who loves herself and won’t let anyone stop her from doing that.

Harley

Yup yup yup!

Ivy

Thanks, Harley.

Harley

No problemo.

Ivy

What was the name of that feminist convention?

Harley

Uh… Tha Sisterhood a’ Sisterhood.

Ivy

You’re kidding.

Harley

Nope. I got one a’ those flyers, too.

Ivy

Ugh. I need a drink.

Daily Dialogue: The Folly of Superstition

Gloria

What do you want from life?

Ramona

The same thing everyone wants, I guess. Happiness and a quick death.

Gloria

What do you want from life?

Ramona

You just asked me that.

Gloria

I know, and I don’t believe you.

Ramona

What’s not to believe?

Gloria

Happiness can be anything. Does rape make you happy?

Ramona

Of course not.

Gloria

It makes some people happy.

Ramona

Well, they’re fucked-up and not me.

Gloria

What makes you happy, then?

Ramona

I don’t feel comfortable saying.

Gloria

Why?

Ramona

Because…

Gloria

Are you superstitious?

Ramona

What’s that have to do with anything?

Gloria

Are you afraid to say what makes you happy because you’re afraid that it might be taken away from you?

Ramona

Who isn’t?

Gloria

A child. For some reason, the older someone gets, the more superstitious they become. Kids joke around with stepping on cracks to break their mothers’ backs. Adults make sure to avoid cracks. And adults are supposed to be the smart ones.

Ramona

It’s easy to understand, though.

Gloria

No, it’s not. Being afraid of fire is easy to understand. Being afraid of the number 13 isn’t.

Ramona

But it’s unlucky all over the world.

Gloria

How do you feel about the number 88?

Ramona

I don’t feel anything towards it.

Gloria

In Japan, it’s the unluckiest number in the world.

Ramona

Why?

Gloria

It doesn’t matter. What does is that knowing that superstitions are pointless. How can you want happiness, yet be afraid to admit what makes you happy?

Ramona

Because it might get taken aw–

Gloria

How? How is it gonna be taken away? The faeries hiding in the wood that you knock on?

Ramona

What?

Gloria

Knock on wood. That’s about faeries who wait for any opportunity to mess up your life. Knocking on wood keeps them tucked away.

Ramona

Oh. That’s stupid.

Gloria

So is staying mum about your happiness. Are you ashamed of it?

Ramona

No! No one should be ashamed of what makes them happy, short of pedophiles and the like.

Gloria

Then say it.

Ramona

But… But it might–

Gloria

If you fucking say that it won’t happen, I’m gonna beat you with my shoe. Can’t you see how irrational you’re being?

Ramona

It’s not irrational.

Gloria

Yes, it is! You’re practically afraid of your shadow!

Ramona

I’m not nearly that bad.

Gloria

Then tell me one thing. One thing that’ll make you happy.

Ramona

I… I…

Gloria

One thing, Ramona. It won’t go away just because you say its name.

Ramona

…getting who I always wanted.

Gloria

Who is he? Or she?

Ramona

She–

Gloria

Isn’t me, is she?

Ramona

No, she’s an abstract. And you’re not my type.

Gloria

Good. Wait. Did you just come out to me?

Ramona

I… Wow.

Gloria

Tell me about your abstraction.

Ramona

I always liked the idea of ensnaring a woman who keeps weaving in and out of my life.

Gloria

Why, why not just take her the first time you see her?

Ramona

I like the game of it. We see each other once, for a little while, and drifting apart. Growing as people during the gaps. Coming back, finding out a little more about each other, until…

Gloria

Until what?

Ramona

Until we’re perfect for each other.

Gloria

No one’s perfect.

Ramona

I didn’t say that I wanted a perfect woman. I said that she’s perfect for me.

Gloria

What’s the difference?

Ramona

Perfection isn’t an absolute. It changes from person to person, country to country, generation to generation. Being perfect for me means that I can see past her flaws because she fits me so well.

Gloria

Those are pretty hard to find, no matter what.

Ramona

Only the best for me. Even if it takes a while.

Gloria

So, the woman who’s perfect for you would make you happy. Is she everything?

Ramona

No. I’m not so blinded by the potential of love to think that having it is the only thing one needs in life.

Gloria

What else is there, then?

Ramona

Satisfaction. Or gratitude. I can’t decide.

Gloria

Satisfaction comes from within. Gratitude comes from outside.

Ramona

Satisfaction, then. I don’t want my happiness to be dependent on more than my abstraction.

Gloria

Satisfaction with what?

Ramona

Life. Knowing that I’m living my life how I want with as little compromise as possible, with as much comfort as possible.

Gloria

Not many people get that.

Ramona

You underestimate my ambition.

Gloria

Fair enough. Your abstraction and satisfaction. Anything else?

Ramona

I think so. Everything else can fall under those umbrellas.

Gloria

What do you want from life?

Ramona

My abstraction, satisfaction, and a quick death.

Gloria

Do you hear that?

Ramona

What?

Gloria

That’s the sound of the world not ending after you admitted your happy things.

Ramona

Heh, I guess so.

Gloria

How do you feel about getting it out?

Ramona

Feels good.

Gloria

And how do you feel about coming out?

Ramona

Heh, feels good. But let’s not make a big thing out of it. It’s not like I cured cancer or anything.

Gloria

You’re uncomfortable with coming out?

Ramona

I’m uncomfortable with the fact that coming out is still something to be celebrated. There shouldn’t be… an out process. It should be accepted just like any other thing. Or perhaps that’s just my modesty talking.

Gloria

Says the woman who wants only the best for her. Is your abstraction really an abstraction, or does she have a name?

Ramona

I’d rather make one up.

Gloria

Why, because you’re superstitious?

Ramona

No, because you’ll give me an unbelievable amount of shit about her if I don’t.

Gloria

Heh, ok. Well, make up a name for her.

Ramona

Famicon.

Gloria

Thanks for making things difficult for me…

Ramona

Hey, I’d rather not spend the night washing off shit.

Gloria

Famicon, eh?

Ramona

You’re not gonna guess her.

Gloria

No, I’m not. But I’ll give it the ol’ college try.

Daily Dialogue: XX/XY Pangs

Hanna

I didn’t go to my father’s wedding. I think that’s what I regret the most.

Emma

You were angry. A lot of people were.

Hanna

I can’t know if I had a right to be, though. It’s… Who sits around and thinks that something like that could happen to them?

Emma

No one, but isn’t that what life’s about? Not knowing?

Hanna

Yeah, but… Couldn’t he have known before he married my mother, before he got her pregnant, that he was gay and didn’t ever feel like a man? Why’d he put us through all that shit, why is he putting us through all this shit, if that’s the life he wanted?

Emma

Do you hate him?

Hanna

I don’t know.

Emma

Why?

Hanna

Because I don’t know whether he’s my father or my mother now. Do you?

Emma

He– She’s your mother.

Hanna

But my mother gave birth to me. My mother was the damaged one when The Big Lies came out. My mother…

Emma

Your mother was your father once, but she isn’t anymore. Having two mothers can be great, right? What name did she choose?

Hanna

Beatrice.

Emma

Beatrice can be good to you, as good to you as a mother as she was when she was your father.

Hanna

Beatrice is a jealous bitch.

Emma

Why do you think she’s jealous?

Hanna

Because, try as hard as she can, she can’t do what my real mother or myself can.

Emma

What?

Hanna

Have a baby.

Emma

Has she ever shown her jealousy?

Hanna

No, but I’ve known my father long enough to see– FUCK! Can’t you see how aggravating this is for me?

Emma

You hate Beatrice?

Hanna

…yes.

Emma

Then why do you regret not going to her wedding?

Hanna

Part of me wanted to see her in a gown.

Emma

Was there a part of you that wanted something else?

Hanna

…yes.

Emma

What did it want?

Hanna

To burn the gown off of her.

Emma

Which part is bigger?

Hanna

The one inside me.

Emma

When was the last time you saw Beatrice?

Hanna

When I saw her or when she saw me?

Emma

Both.

Hanna

Months before the wedding, last week in a bathroom.

Emma

Which is which?

Hanna

She saw me months ago.

Emma

Which bathroom did you see her in?

Hanna

At the movies, when we saw the last Terminator.

Emma

Is that why you got weird for the rest of the night?

Hanna

Yeah.

Emma

How do you know she didn’t see you?

Hanna

Because I would’ve been covered in ashes when you saw me comes out of the bathroom.

Emma

When was the last time you saw your… um…

Hanna

I talked to my real mother last night.

Emma

How’s she coping?

Hanna

She stopping pulling strands of hair out, finally. I don’t ever wanna get married.

Emma

Why?

Hanna

I don’t wanna be as dedicated to someone as my mother was to my father. That can hurt you in ways you can’t ever cope with. I know, I see it every time I visit my mother.

Emma

But love can do so many great things.

Hanna

I’m not arguing love, I’m arguing dedication.

Emma

Then you think people should be polyamorous?

Hanna

If they want, but that’s not my point.

Emma

What is?

Hanna

That people can love whomever and however they choose, but don’t dedicate your life to them.

Emma

What if they spend their life with the one, or ones, they love?

Hanna

If they happen to do so, great. But it shouldn’t be a requirement. I’ve seen what happens when people are obligated to be together forever. Some can do it, more can’t than the world would like to believe.

Emma

People like who?

Hanna

The ones who get beaten or cheated on but stick around because of two rings and a sheet of paper.

Emma

People get beaten and cheated without marriage.

Hanna

Yeah, but you can’t say that a lot of marriages don’t have those things in them.

Emma

Do you think Beatrice will have those things happen to her?

Hanna

Dunno. I can’t wrap my mind around her wife wanting sex from her.

Emma

Why not?

Hanna

She didn’t fully commit.

Emma

What do you mean?

Hanna

She still has a cock.

Emma

How do you know?

Hanna

When you live with someone who’s transitioning, they tell you everything like an excited child.

Emma

Did she say why she kept it?

Hanna

I asked a few times, but she, heh, skirted around the issue.

Emma

At least they’re in love?

Hanna

And utterly dedicated to each other. The queen is dead, long live the queen.

Daily Dialogue: Waiting for the Man

Mercedes

I’m bored, let’s go somewhere.

Amanda

Can’t. Waiting for a package.

Mercedes

Leave a note for the delivery dude to put it behind your garbage can or something.

Amanda

It’s a TV.

Mercedes

Who orders a TV by mail?

Amanda

A broad who doesn’t wanna pay an extra three hundred bucks at the store down the street.

Mercedes

Haven’t you heard of price-matching?

Amanda

The owner wouldn’t haggle for shit.

Mercedes

Aren’t there other stores around here?

Amanda

Yeah, and the prices keep climbing.

Mercedes

No haggling?

Amanda

None.

Mercedes

Don’t they realize that this is a buyer’s market?

Amanda

I also didn’t wanna deal with traffic.

Mercedes

What traffic?

Amanda

You’re a shut-in, so you wouldn’t understand that–

Mercedes

Hey, hey, I’m not a shut-in. I’m just broke.

Amanda

Well, you haven’t set foot outside in a week, so you don’t know that it’s construction season.

Mercedes

Fuck no, no construction season! That takes forever!

Amanda

It does.

Mercedes

The lanes go to shit and every time I’m on the road, EVERY TIME I’M ON THE FUCKING ROAD, no one’s working. Day, night, even bufu hours of the morn.

Amanda

Bufu?

Mercedes

Butt-fucking.

Amanda

I didn’t know there was a time of day deigned for ass play.

Mercedes

There isn’t, it’s just a– Construction’s stupid, ok?

Amanda

And lazier.

Mercedes

How can it get lazier?

Amanda

Only half the street’s repaved in certain parts.

Mercedes

It’s always been like that, though. They work on one side, then move to the other, making my life miserable.

Amanda

No, not like that. The street’s are paved, but they’re only half as high now.

Mercedes

The hell you say?

Amanda

There’s the street, then inches above are manholes. It’s like driving over dead bodies. Which is kinda cool. Shh.

Mercedes

Aren’t those like, I dunno, road hazards? Are you sure they’re not halfway finished?

Amanda

Stripes are painted, signs are taken away.

Mercedes

I’m glad I’m broke now.

Amanda

I’m not, because that means I’m buying food tonight.

Mercedes

But you get to watch stuff on a new TV. I still wanna go out, though.

Amanda

So go out. Plenty of things for a broke chick to do. You can’t afford to drive, so you don’t have to suffer the roads.

Mercedes

I’m not going on another nature hike.

Amanda

Why not? They’re fun.

Mercedes

The first time I went, I was a feast for the mosquitoes.

Amanda

Only the female ones.

Mercedes

Huh?

Amanda

Females are the only ones that suck blood.

Mercedes

What the fuck, Nature? Women get blamed for so much in this world. You don’t have to prove the idiots right sometimes.

Amanda

Yeah, it sucks. Heh.

Mercedes

The SECOND time I went on a nature hike, a deer exploded on me.

Amanda

You never explained how that happened.

Mercedes

It was hot and I was walking–

Amanda

Walking during a nature hike?

Mercedes

Walking during a nature hike. Then I saw a deer lying on the grass. With a fucking HUGE belly. I thought it was gonna give birth, so I snuck closer. It was dead and by the time I realized it, the heat got too much for its bloated stomach and burst all over me. I threw up all the way to the river that was close by and dove in. My clothes wouldn’t get clean enough, so I left them and had a brisk career as a streaker on the way back to my car. A mosquito got me near my snatch, but I’m SO glad that it wasn’t ON my snatch because that would’ve been terrible.

Amanda

I never liked birth scenes. They were always boring.

Mercedes

Thanks for being supportive.

Amanda

What? You survived and were lucky enough to not have to deal with a bite during your record-scratching routine. Even birth allegories bored me.

Mercedes

You didn’t like the Chestburster scene in Alien?

Amanda

It was boring. If it just burst out and ran off, I would’ve been more terrified. Because what does that?

Mercedes

So… You could buy an alien bursting out of someone’s chest, but said alien building strength is absurd?

Amanda

I’m gonna pull the “women don’t make sense” card and–

Mercedes

Can’t. Burned it when you tried to convince me that dogs can’t look up.

Amanda

But it’s true! If you would’ve bought the dog, you would’ve seen that I was right.

Mercedes

I’m perpetually broke.

Amanda

What do you spend your dough on, anyway?

Mercedes

Investment opportunities.

Amanda

Stocks? Didn’t Wolf of Wall Street teach you anything?

Mercedes

What’s that?

Amanda

“What’s that?!” Thank you.

Mercedes

No problemo. For what?

Amanda

For telling me how to break in my TV when it gets here. You and I are gonna watch the Caligula of the 21st century

Daily Dialogue: Rage, By Any Other Name, is Titan

Shelby

Why are you listening to Careless Whisper?

April

The music player on my laptop’s on random.

Shelby

Yeah, but I’ve been hearing it for the last hour and a half.

April

It’s a good song?

Shelby

What happened this time?

April

What do you mean?

Shelby

You only listen to songs with saxophones when you’re sad.

April

No, I don’t.

Shelby

What about the time you were listening to Baker Street all afternoon, only to find out that you lost your job?

April

It’s a good so–

Shelby

There was the time when you tried throwing me off with Mr. Saxobeat because it was a dance song, but I figured out that your car broke down.

April

I just put in a catalytic converter, too…

Shelby

So. What’s wrong now?

April

I can’t talk about it. I mean, I wanna talk about it. But I can’t.

Shelby

Why can’t you?

April

Abstinence.

Shelby

You can’t give up fucking if you haven’t gotten any in months.

April

Ha. Ha. Fuck you. And that’s not what I’m abstaining from.

Shelby

What is it, then?

April

Part of abstaining from something, Shelby, is that one can’t talk about it.

Shelby

I didn’t realize that moratoriums were part of the recovery process.

April

Tis.

Shelby

Well, I’m tired of listening to George Michael, so we gotta get through this.

April

I told you–

Shelby

I remember. Water. Mizu. Aqua.

April

Huh?

Shelby

Those three words mean the same thing, just in different languages.

April

What’s your point?

Shelby

That you can talk about something without speaking its name by calling it something else.

April

Substitution? Could work.

Shelby

Let’s get to the bottom of your Cthulhu.

April

Leave your geekery out of my problems, please.

Shelby

Damnit. Fine, what do you suggest we call your problem?

April

My Titans.

Shelby

On, so I can’t make a Lovecraft reference but YOU can make an ultraviolent anime one?

April

I said YOUR geekery.

Shelby

Fine. Jerk. What about your Titans?

April

It’s come to my attention recently that my care for my Titans has negative effects on my professional life.

Shelby

In what way? Or ways?

April

You know how I feel about opinions, right?

Shelby

Everyone in America is entitled to one and the consequences of such.

April

And you know how I feel about giving mine.

Shelby

Yeah, you’re a Wobbuffet.

April

A what?

Shelby

There’s a Pokémon that only counterattacks. You remind me a lot of it because you only have something important or bileful to say if you’re attacked first.

April

On. I guess I am a Wobbuffet.

Shelby

What’s your spirit animal have to do with anything?

April

I’m terrible with acting, and great with reacting.

Shelby

I know, that’s why I called you a Wobbuffet.

April

Well, my Titan reared its ugly, giant head in a professional situation recently and things went very bad.

Shelby

How bad?

April

I’m banned from working in three counties.

Shelby

Oh. That’s not as bad as three countries.

April

Might as well be.

Shelby

How’s you get banned in three counties?

April

My opinion.

Shelby

You can’t be fired for your opinion. First Amendment Rights and whatnot.

April

I can if they lead to bringing about a “destructive environment.”

Shelby

What’s that mean?

April

I caused a riot.

Shelby

THAT WAS YOU?!

April

Yeah…

Shelby

They still haven’t put out those fucking fires!

April

I know…

Shelby

You got off light by getting banned.

April

Their lawyers didn’t want them to cause a PR disaster by throwing a transgendered into the clink.

Shelby

Yeah, we don’t need another Orange is the New Black. What was the riot about? Did someone call you a tranny?

April

No, everyone at the job was cool with working with me. I mean, some of the gals were jealous because I never have to deal with periods, but life goes on.

Shelby

Yeah… bitch. What caused the riot?

April

My Titan.

Shelby

You might have to be a little more detailed for me.

April

My… inability to… accept… certain things about the country. Yeah, that’s about all I can say without wanting to cause Kristallnacht 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Shelby

Fair enough. You gotta put that rage into something productive, girl.

April

Like what?

Shelby

Why not take up the saxophone?

April

It’s heavy.

Shelby

What, you’re saying that women can’t lift heavy things? Sounds like setback talk to me…

April

Don’t you DARE call me a fucking setback.

Shelby

What’re you gonna do, Wobbuffet? Huh?

April

Start learning the sax parts of Careless Whisper.

Script Peek: Mother Nature

Last week, I was reminded of a horror screenplay contest that had 12 days left. I thought it’d be an interesting challenge to write a script with no preparation in 12 days. Chan-wook Park’s Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance was written in two weeks and that turned out fine. The rules I gave myself were that I couldn’t know the ending until I got there, I couldn’t think too far ahead, I have to make a turn anytime I feel that I know what’ll happen next while making the turns fit the story, and to not restrict myself in darkness, sex, or violence. If I don’t make the deadline, that’s fine because it’s still a nice experiment. But I’ll definitely try to meet it. I have more pages written, but here are the first five. Everyone gets to see the effect of all those Daily Dialogues.

FADE IN:

INT. FANCY RESTAURANT – NIGHT

The building, scattered with couples, is like a large, white

canopy, with glass walls and string lights along the

ceiling. The restaurant is lit only by the tiny lights,

which makes the conversations all the more intimate. One

such dialogue of intimacy happens twixt two women.

The woman with the bleach-white hair, beads threaded all

over, wears a polka-dotted dress. Her name is GLORIA

WHITTAKER. She rests her chin on her folded hands, like a

cradle, and looks lovingly into the other woman’s eyes.

GLORIA

You have a very interesting last

name, Ms. Barker-Bathory.

BIANCA BARKER-BATHORY slowly spins a spoon lengthwise twixt

her thumbs and forefingers. Her crimson hair is parted to

the left, and she wears a black, sleeveless dress that zips

up front.

BIANCA

My parents married, but didn’t take

each other’s last names. When I

entered their lives, they chose to

give me both.

GLORIA

Makes you sound…

BIANCA

Married?

GLORIA

Regal.

BIANCA

That’s a little better than

married.

BIANCA’S bare foot trails up and down GLORIA’S fishnetted right calf.

BIANCA

(cont’d)

Especially now.

GLORIA smiles.

GLORIA

You tend not to hear wedding bells

on the first date.

She then opens her legs.

BIANCA

I’m more interested in choirs.

She puts down the spoon and picks up her glass of red wine.

GLORIA glances around and scoots her chair closer to the

table, until her chest presses against it.

GLORIA

The entire choir?

BIANCA gently shakes her head as she sips her wine.

BIANCA

Just an alto singer.

Her foot raises high and between GLORIA’S thighs.

GLORIA slowly drops her hands to the sides of the table and

grips them as she closes her eyes.

GLORIA

Oh yeah?

BIANCA smirks.

BIANCA

Yeah.

She continues sipping her wine as GLORIA’S breathing begins

to slow and grow heavy, as her thighs tighten around the

tantalizing foot, as her hips begin to slowly rock.

GLORIA

My voice can get pretty high.

BIANCA

I bet.

And, suddenly, BIANCA stops. She then sits back and crosses

her legs. GLORIA’S eyes shoot open and look around for

someone who could’ve spotted them.

BIANCA

No one saw us.

GLORIA sighs.

GLORIA

Then why’d you stop?

BIANCA

I’d rather be your only audience.

She holds up her glass.

BIANCA

(cont’d)

And I still have more wine.

GLORIA snatches the glass with a grin, drinking as much as

she can before coughing.

BIANCA leans in with her napkin and dabs the wine around

GLORIA’S ebony lipstick.

GLORIA

I guess we better go to your

theatre, Ms. Barker-Bathory.

BIANCA licks the wine-stained napkin.

BIANCA

I guess so.

INT. BIANCA’S LOFT APARTMENT – LATER

The freight elevator gets to the floor as the two make out

as if they taste like candy, the sweetest white chocolate.

GLORIA can’t keep her hands off of BIANCA. BIANCA is more

still, but is still enjoying herself.

BIANCA pushes herself away, her red lipstick smeared with

her kissing partner’s black lipstick.

BIANCA

I have to open the door.

GLORIA pulls her back, lips smeared in a similar way.

GLORIA

Mmm, no, you don’t.

BIANCA

I will when I tell you where I

found a junkie once.

GLORIA pushes her away.

GLORIA

Yeah, open the door.

BIANCA lifts the door and lets GLORIA walk into her

APARTMENT. She follows, after pressing a button, and lowers

the door slowly.

The elevator whines its way up.

Being a loft, it’s essentially one giant room. One wall as a

series of windows with a second-story view of the

neighborhood. BIANCA keeps the loft sparse. Different rugs

are scattered on the wooden floor like patches. All the

lighting on the inside comes from white cubes on the floor.

A canopied bed occupies one corner, and a kitchen area

occupies another. A wine rack as high and wide as the grave

stands next to the refrigerator. The BATHROOM is tucked away

by the kitchen.

BIANCA

Gloria, I know it’s not much…

GLORIA

Hmm?

BIANCA

But take a look around. I’m gonna

get more comfortable.

GLORIA smiles.

GLORIA

Then your lips can finish what your

toes started.

She makes a disappointed noise.

GLORIA

(cont’d)

That sounded better in my–

BIANCA shuts her up with a kiss, then goes to the bathroom.

GLORIA looks around the APARTMENT, then goes to the antique,

mirrorless dresser near the bed. Above it, on the brick

wall, are two framed painting reproductions: Caravaggio’s

Judith Beheading Holofernes and Jacques Resch’s Retour. She

squints at the Neo-Surreal Retour, and leans in close to the

Baroque Judith.

GLORIA

(cont’d)

Wow, a Caravaggio.

She walks to the window wall, then stands at it while

looking down. The bar across the street is loud and has the

only people around for at least two blocks in either

direction.

Her fingers trail her neck as she remembers the magic at the

table.

GLORIA

(cont’d)

You kn–

A butcher’s knife is STABBED through the base of her skull.

The blade goes through her mouth, chipping a tooth.

GLORIA’S head SLAMS into the window as the blade PIERCES

through the glass by inches.

The elevator groans downward, bringing tendrils of fog with

it.

She SQUIRMS as she CHOKES on her blood, the same blood

that’s staining her bleach-white hair and polka-dotted

dress. The same blood that SPLATTERS onto the window,

spiderwebbing cracks from the blade.

Her screams are gurgled groans… then coughs… then

nothing.

BIANCA waits until the victim is utterly dead before YANKING

the knife out and watching the corpse DROP onto a rug.

The elevator door is raised and the fog belches outward.

BIANCA

Make sure her right leg is ok,

Wendy. I don’t want the same

mistake that happened to Camille.

From the elevator, a woman steps out. A woman in only the

loosest term. Her grotesque figure is hunched over and

wrapped in bandages, and her back is covered with long nixie

tubes. Four on either side. The glass tubes flicker various

numbers with a red-orange, pulsing glow. The bandages are

tattered, dangling, and molding. Each step is helped by her

spike-like crutches that are stitched to her wrists. Her

blood-red eyes twitch as they examine parts of the room

before seeing the late GLORIA. The steps grow quicker as she

makes her way to the corpse. The hem of the dress is flung

up, and the grotesque woman gazes at the right leg as a fly

would its meal. WENDY looks at BIANCA.

WENDY

The leg is good, my queen.

Her voice is beautiful.

BIANCA

Good. Begin your preparations, and

tell your sister, Lisa, to clean

the blood.

(smirking)

I shall have a bath.

BIANCA walks away, first to the wine rack and then to the

BATHROOM, as she takes a bottle and takes off her dress.

WENDY

Yes, my queen.