In the morning I rose with a stinker of a headache over my left eye and a jean pocket that made the sound of a Morris dancer when I walked. Lighting a cigarette I popped the window to air out the beer fart aroma Johnny had unconsciously been blasting out from the floor and settled
down in front of the typer with no outline of what was to come. Feeding a virginal sheet into the inky jaws of the Remington I punched out:
ABUSEMENT PARK
Written by
Douglas Morgan
ACT ONE
EXT. HALL OF MIRRORS - NIGHT
There was a knock on the door which I ignored. It repeated itself as my fingers slowed and the punch, punch, punch of the keys cooled. Setting my Marlboro on the lip of the ashtray I walked to the door, pulled on a tee and unlocked the round chrome handle. Mrs. Chu lingered in the hallway, more uncertain than I'd ever seen the ballsy Korean boarding school mistress. Smiling with her entire face she
inched forward and I prayed to God that Johnny would remain unconscious and silent for a little longer.
'How is the writing coming along, Douglas?'
'Slow, painful, like passing walnuts.' I said before adding I
imagine.
'I read your book,' she said more to the ground than my face. I had birthed and sent out Love For Sale: Inebriated Adventures in LaLa Land through a small beatnik publishers in Venice with zero success. It dealt with a lot of demons not to mention my attempted exit stage left
in this very room 'I thought it very good, very shocking but good.'
'Thanks Madam Chu.'
She giggled every time I called her madam 'My daughter
Veronica, she's med student at Brown. Her relationship ended and is coming home for the holidays. She's had bad time of it with emotionals
and seeing…'
That I'm a head-case too.
'…that you've had your problems…' her voice broke and the words faltered as though victim of an unreliable power supply.
'I'll talk to her if you want.'
'She's a good girl, very smart, very sensitive…'
'I completely understand. Why don't you give her my name, my number and tell her when she's ready to talk she can come look me up.'
'Yeah, me too.' groaned Johnny as he slowly scaled the side of the bed. A naked, drunken King Kong of a man.
Her face turned red, her eyes flickered, bouncing in a chaotic pinball pattern around her round little wrinkled face before muttering something and disappearing back down the corridor; banging on doors and screaming to shut up.