Dreams Die First (25 page)

“We are a very proud people,” he said stiffly. “We don’t want charity.”

“Family isn’t charity,” I said. I took a sip of the ice water. “I’m beginning to feel this is too rich for my blood.”

“It will be a gold mine when gambling comes.”

“Julio, we’ve known each other a long time. Did I ever shit you?”

“No, Lieutenant, never.”

“Then don’t shit me. We both know that gambling is not going to come here. At least not before it comes to all Mexico. Do you think Acapulco is going to let you grab it off before they do?”

“But we have promises. From the highest officials.”

“Those are promises. I’ll believe them when I see them. The governor himself told me that he was awaiting approval from the federal government.” The grass had left my mouth dry. I took another sip of ice water. “Without gambling, this place isn’t worth burning down.”

Julio was silent.

The old count spoke for the first time since the meeting. “It could pay with all the tourist plans you told me about.”

“If they all worked. But not with the cost as it stands now. And at best, I would be lucky to just cover expenses.”

“Are you saying that you’re not interested?”

“I’m saying that I’m still thinking about it. Meanwhile, if you have another interested party, please feel free to talk to them.”

The count rose to his feet. “Thank you for speaking so honestly, Mr. Brendan. We will meet again when you have come to a decision.”

“Yes.”

Dieter got up and followed his father to the door. Julio didn’t move from his chair. “I’ll stay a few more minutes,” he said. He waited until the door closed behind him, then turned to me. “Okay, Lieutenant, we can talk.”

“I don’t buy that family shit, Julio. You got to have a better reason than that to lay down four million.”

“Like what?”

“Like fifteen private planes a week. All moving north.”

He was silent. He lifted his glass and took another belt of tequila. There was a smile on his lips, but his eyes were cold. “Where did you hear that?”

“You can’t stop people from talking. You know that.”

“Talk like that can get people killed.”

“Talk like that can put me out of business if I buy into this place.”

“The hotel hasn’t anything to do with the traffic on the airstrip. They don’t even own it.”

“Who does?”

“The local government.”

I laughed. “Then the von Halsbachs aren’t even in on the gravy? You really let them go down the path.”

“They built the hotel. I didn’t.”

“Who led them to believe that they would get gambling? You have a lot of friends here. I could see that at the party.”

“There would have been none of this if Dieter hadn’t let his fag friends bum rap the place. It would have worked out fine.”

“There’s nothing you can do about that now.”

Julio turned to my uncle. His voice was very respectful. “What is your interest in this, Mr. Lonergan?”

“I’m just an observer. I’m not interested in your business. You know I don’t deal.”

Julio turned back to me. “If you do buy into this place, where do I fit in?”

“You don’t. The Swiss bank can stay in, but those private planes can’t come anywhere near here.”

“That means a lot of money to me.”

“That’s a decision you’ll have to make before I make mine.”

Julio got to his feet. “We both have a lot of thinking to do.”

“That’s right.” When he had gone, I turned to my uncle. “Well?”

“I don’t know. He’s got to be dealing with a million a week wholesale. He’s not going to give it up that easily.”

***

“Julio is very upset,” Verita said at the dinner table. “He feels you do not like him.”

“I like him fine. I just don’t want any part of his business around me.”

“You did not invite him to dinner.”

Suddenly I understood. Face. It all had to do with face. After all, we were old friends, we’d been in the army together. “Where is he?”

“In his room.”

“Call him and ask him to come down. Tell him I assumed that he would be joining us and that’s why I didn’t say anything.”

She nodded and left the table.

Eileen looked at me. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

She looked at Lonergan. “Why don’t you tell him to stick to the magazines, Uncle John? He really doesn’t need all this.”

“He never listened to anyone when he was young. Why should he begin now?”

Verita came back. “He’ll be right down. He’s very happy.”

He showed up five minutes later, resplendent in a white tropical suit, all smiles. “Forgive me for being late,” he said.

A few minutes later Dieter and Marissa joined us and we had another superb dinner, from which we all rose sated.

“There is a mariachi show and native dances on the beach tonight if you care to attend,” Dieter said.

“I’m not as young as all of you,” Lonergan said. “I’ll just go back to my bed.”

I looked at him. In Los Angeles he never went to bed before five in the morning and it was now only midnight. “Are you feeling all right?” I asked.

“Just fine. I’m just not used to all this sunshine and fresh air.” He said his goodnights and went back down the path.

Dieter led the way and we followed him to the beach. A bonfire was blazing and there were blankets scattered on the sand. Next to the fire a five-piece group was playing “La Cucaracha.” We grabbed a few blankets, pulled them together and sat down. Other guests filtered onto the beach.

Dieter took out a gold cigarette case and offered it around. “Smoke?”

It was dynamite shit and in no time at all I was flying. I looked at the girls. They felt it, too. So did Dieter. But Julio just puffed at his joint. It seemed to have no effect on him at all.

The dancers began. They were amateur, mostly staff from the hotel, but they obviously loved it. We hit on the rhythm. Suddenly Marissa was on her feet, dancing with them, then Verita and, after a moment’s hesitation, Eileen. Julio watched them, smiling. Verita leaned over and pulled him to his feet.

Julio and Verita were so good that after a while everyone stopped dancing to watch them. I leaned back on the blanket.

Dieter sat facing me. “You must think us stupid, Mr. Brendan, that we do not know what is happening here.”

I looked at him without speaking.

“But there is nothing we can do about it. You must remember that we are newcomers here and a wrong word from them would strip us of everything we own.”

“If it could happen to you who are now Mexican citizens, imagine what they could do to me.”

“It’s not the same thing. You are a gringo. And even if they don’t like gringos, they respect the money and business you can bring. They would not dare alienate you. Besides, there is your uncle.”

“What about him?”

“He is a very important man in Los Angeles, is he not? He is the only man I think Julio has respect for.” He lit another joint. “Julio is a very important man down here, but your uncle is even more important. We have heard that without your uncle’s permission, Julio could not exist in Los Angeles.”

Julio was smiling and happy now, dancing with Verita. The other men standing around and watching all looked like Julio. He was really home.

But Lonergan had gone to bed. Suddenly I realized that he had changed the moment that Julio had appeared. He’d withdrawn into himself, like the boss who does not want to associate with the hired help. I remembered that once he had said, “How long do you think Julio would have protected you if I didn’t okay it?”

I looked back at Dieter. “How much do you really know?” I asked.

“Enough to tell you that Julio would never stop the planes from using the airstrip for you. The only man who could make him do that is your uncle.”

CHAPTER 36

I lay back on the blanket, letting the music swirl around me while I floated on the stars. The night sky was purple-black, the stars tiny Christmas-tree lights flickering on and off. I threaded my way through them, wondering if there really was a Santa Claus.

Marissa’s voice was soft in my ear. “Your girlfriend is very pretty.”

I rolled over onto my stomach. “She says the same thing about you.” I held my cigarette toward her.

She took several tokes, then gave it back to me.

“I’m sad,” she said.

“Why? It’s a beautiful life down here.”

“Nothing is what it seems to be, is it?”

“Reality is whatever you see. Even if no one else in the world sees what you see, it doesn’t make it any less real.”

She smiled. “You have an answer for everything.”

“I wish I did.” I sat up. “Life would be simpler.”

A burst of laughter caught our attention. The models, Bobby, the crew and King Dong had joined the party. Now they were really jumping around the fire.

Bobby fell onto the blanket beside me. “I couldn’t keep them away once they heard the music.”

“That’s okay. Let them have fun.”

“I’ll never get them up for a seven o’clock call tomorrow morning.”

“Relax.” I passed him the joint.

He dragged deeply. “How’s it going?”

“Okay.”

“Make up your mind yet?”

“Not yet.”

“If it’s money, my father told me to tell you he’s interested.”

“It’s not money.”

He turned to Marissa. “I’d like to do a set with you.”

She looked bewildered.

“Photographs,” I explained.

“Oh.” She smiled. “I don’t think so.”

“You’ve got a great body,” he said. “You’d look beautiful.”

“I’m not the type. It would be too embarrassing.”

“Tell her we’re very cool about it,” Bobby said to me.

“I’m sure she knows that.”

“As a publisher you’re not much help. She’d make a dynamite centerfold.”

“If I did your job as well as mine,” I said, “I’d be Bob Guccione.”

He dragged on the cigarette again, then gave it back to me as he got to his feet. “If you can’t lick ’em, join ’em. The music’s fantastic.”

They were into mean salsa now. I held my hand out to Marissa. “Come,” I said.

“Wait a minute.” Dieter held a coke spoon and vial in his hand. “This will get the motor running.”

Even before we finished, we were surrounded by the others and the spoon and vial moved quickly from hand to hand. By the time it got back to Dieter it was empty and everybody was high. Dieter sent for more coke and the party began to rock.

The musicians played at a faster pace and in addition to the coke and grass, Bobby had come up with a box of poppers. An hour later we were soaking wet, all strung out. I went back to the blanket and sat down. Age was catching up to me.

Samantha, the model, started it first. She ripped off her bra and skirt. “I can’t stand it,” she yelled, running toward the water. “Last one in is a stinker!”

A moment later the other models were getting out of their clothes and then we all joined in a mad scramble to shed our clothing and run for the water. In the midst of all the noise the band suddenly stopped playing. The silence was shocking.

I looked up. All of them, men and women alike, were staring at King Dong. Slowly he stepped out of his trousers. You could hear the collective gasp as they reacted to his nakedness.

Dieter’s eyes glazed over. Julio’s mouth hung open. The girls, too, were silent, fascinated, unable to turn away. I glanced around. Anyone who said that women didn’t respond to a big cock was crazy.

Julio’s voice broke the stillness. “
El toro.
”

Everybody laughed. “I don’t believe it,” Dieter said almost worshipfully. He started toward him, but King Dong had already begun to run into the water. He cut into the surf in a clean dive. We could see the girls clustering around him and hear their screams of laughter as he broke the surface.

Eileen dropped to the blanket beside me. “My knees went weak.”

I laughed. “He got to you?”

“I’m soaking wet. I almost came just looking at it. And I thought I’d seen everything.”

“Those were just pictures. This was the real thing.”

“I wonder what it’s like hard,” she said.

“You’ll never see it.”

“Why not?”

“Before it gets halfway hard, it’s drawn all the blood from his body and he faints,” I said with a straight face.

“Funny,” she said, raising her hand as if to hit me. Then she laughed.

I saw Marissa watching us with a strange expression on her face. I held my hand out to her. She took it and I drew her down on my other side. She seemed very stiff. So I bent over and kissed her. Her mouth was soft and moist.

After a moment she pulled back. “I think I’d better go to my room.”

“I thought you were with me.”

She looked across at Eileen. “Not now that your girlfriend is here.”

“Nothing has changed. After all, aren’t we all friends?”

“That’s right,” Eileen said softly. “Friends.” She touched Marissa’s face tenderly with her fingers. “Friends share. Friends love.”

Marissa’s eyes were wide. “I don’t know. I never—” She hesitated, then shivered suddenly. “I’m stoned.” Abruptly she got to her feet. She stood there, weaving slightly. “I’m going to my room.” She managed two steps before she swayed and began to fall.

I caught her before she hit the sand and put her gently on the blanket. Her face was pale and there were faint beads of perspiration on her upper lip. I checked her pulse. It was all right.

Eileen looked frightened. “She just passed out,” I said reassuringly.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“A wet compress on her forehead wouldn’t hurt.”

Eileen ran toward the surf, untying the kerchief from around her neck. It wouldn’t do much good, but at least it would make Eileen feel better. The only thing that would really help Marissa was sleep.

Between us we managed to get her to the cottage. I put her on the couch. A note on the coffee table caught my eye. I picked it up.

“We can put her in the other bedroom,” I said. “Uncle John’s moved out.”

I left Eileen in the bedroom to undress her and went out into the living room and made myself a drink. The junk had all worn off. I had come down from the high and felt strangely sober and wide-awake. Coke did that to me.