Sugar Valley (Hollywood's Darkest Secret) (30 page)

Vivian shook his hand, and smiled, saying,
“Oh, you’re welcome.”

Damen started to shake his hand, when
suddenly he questioned with interest, “Why didn’t you just kick
them off the set then?”

“Because, they’re the only ones that had a
S.A.G. card, besides the bigger actors,” the director replied.

“What’s a S.A.G. card?” asked Damen, seeing
that John Loblet was standing right behind the director.

“What? Oh, I get it, that’s a joke,” the
director said with laughter. “You’re pretty funny.”

Suddenly, John’s ticked-off self stepped into
the laughter and pleasant conversing, asking, “What’s going on
here?”

The director turned around, faced John’s tall
figure, and spoke with a phony smile engraved on his face, “Listen,
you’re going to be in this scene. This was just a practice
scene.”

“Oh, so when are we going to do the scene?”
After John’s question, the casting agent named Erin approached them
once again.

“Here, let him, Erin, explain it to you. I
don’t have time for this.” The director took Erin by his shoulders
and placed him right in front of John, blocking out his annoying,
whiny voice from his important ears.

Erin asked John, “Oh, um, what was the
question again?”

“When are we doing this scene?”

“Oh, um, we decided to do this scene last.
That’s going to be after we finish the movie. We’ll get in touch
with you,” Erin replied. He walked away and left John Loblet
standing there in confusion as to what was happening.

“When will that be?” John questioned as the
woman, with Vivian’s clothes on, approached him.

The director walked up to Erin after hearing
the argument that was coming out of John’s mouth. He went in front
of Erin and said to John in a loud shout, “Probably in four months.
Now, sit down and shut up.”

The woman questioned, “What’s going on here?”
while stretching Vivian’s clothes some more.

“Shut up.” The woman immediately stifled
after hearing the director’s tyrant words of warning, and turned to
Vivian, seeing a small grin on her face.

Vivian and Damen walked out of the restaurant
to avoid any arguments, and sat on a hot curb with a cigarette in
their mouths while laughing out loud. The director walked out and
passed by them. He stopped for a moment and said, “You see, even a
director can be an actor.”

Vivian laughed at his remark, questioning,
“So, what scene are you guys doing next?”

“We’re gonna do the kidnapping scene in about
an hour. You know, we need a couple of extras to be in that scene?
They’re gonna be shown a lot,” the director answered, seeing Vivian
discovering he was giving them a hint.

“You mean us? We were already shown up-close
in this scene,” Damen mentioned as Vivian pinched him on his leg;
she wanted him to shut his trap.

“Yeah I know, but don’t worry, we’ll put you
into a different wardrobe,” replied the director. Vivian and Damen
got up to follow him, excited toward their new accomplishment in
extra work.

“You know, at the end of the day, I have to
explain a lot of things to you about Hollywood,” Vivian said to
Damen with a smile.

“Oh, yeah? Come here.” Damen kissed her lips
and hugged her, adding, “I guess this is where every acting career
begins.”

“Trust me, Damen, we haven’t even reached the
beginning yet; this is only the start.”

Chapter Nineteen

The film shoot finally finished at 12:00
a.m. Feeling fatigued, tired, exhausted and cranky, Damen and
Vivian walked down the streets of Hollywood with the lights
gleaming into their eyes. The ground was still warm from the sun’s
cookout on the earth, but a cool breeze was finally felt, and they
both enjoyed it. Their motion was getting slower, being like
drunks, holding onto each other for balance. These two humans
conversed on a lot of topics, but stopped when Vivian asked in a
tired tone, “Why don’t we just take a cab?” Another cool breeze
blew against them, revealing smiles with a definition of
comfortableness.

“The motel is just three blocks away from
here,” he spoke, holding onto Vivian’s dried-up, sweaty hand. “I
can’t wait to tell Jose and Darell about extra work. They’re
looking for a job anyway.”

“Are you gonna try to make them jealous?”

“Hell, yeah. Ever since we came here, they’ve
been shoving their good luck in my face, especially Darell. Now
it’s my turn to get even,” he replied in a joking manner.

“Are you serious?”

“No, of course not. Why would I honestly try
to make them jealous? I’m not like that.” Suddenly, Vivian noticed
Darell and Jose across the street from the motel. Seeing their
tired silhouettes, she stopped and tapped Damen on the
shoulder.

Damen was about to enter the motel building’s
entrance, when Vivian questioned, “Hey, isn’t that Jose and
Darell?”

“What?” Damen popped his head out of the
motel entrance and stared at Vivian while she still stood on the
sidewalk. She pointed her finger toward a bus stop where Jose and
Darell lay sleeping. Damen couldn’t believe it, he figured they
must of got drunk and passed out quickly.

They ran up to them and nudged their
shoulders. “Awe, isn’t this cute, you guys were waiting up for me,
but you fell asleep anyway.”

Jose woke up to Damen’s familiar voice. He
got up to Damen’s face, saying, “What the hell, man, where were
you?”

“I was working. Why, what happened?” asked
Damen, feeling his own smile coming off of his face, like grease
dripping off a french fry.

Darell awoke, seeing Damen in his tired view,
he pushed Jose aside and announced, “What happened? This is what
happened, we were kicked out of the motel, Damen.”

Damen got ticked off at their tones toward
him, so he shouted, “Oh, so I guess it’s my fault now. Listen, I
told you guys to start looking for jobs. Did I not?”

“Yeah, but if you were here, then maybe...”
Jose screamed, with Vivian interrupting him.

Vivian stepped in the argument, shouting,
“Maybe what? Listen, it’s not Damen’s fault for this. Just tell me
how much you guys need and I’ll loan it to you.” She whipped out
her checkbook and pen, awaiting Jose to say the amount.

Damen pushed her checkbook back into her
purse, looked at her, and tried to speak through his eyes. But
then, he looked at Jose and Darell, saying, “Vivian, you don’t have
to do this.”

“Listen, I know one of you guys will make it
as an actor, if not all of you. So, I know you’ll have the money.
Or even when you get a job, you could pay me in little amounts. I
just don’t like it when people argue over money. Don’t worry,
sweetie.” She then ran across the street and entered the motel,
leaving the boys there in a speechless phobia; they were afraid to
tell her “no” again.

Following Vivian into the motel, with Damen
questioning them, “How much do we need?” they came up, and walked
behind her.

“It’s two hundred dollars for a week, plus
one-hundred and fifty-two dollars that we owe,” Jose replied. They
walked up to the front desk where Vivian stood, with Jose adding,
“We came back in here three times so far, and this asshole keeps
raising the amount we owe, Damen.”

She put her pen down on the checkbook,
saying, “Okay guys, how much?”

“Three hundred and fifty-two dollars. We need
two hundred to stay another week and a hundred and fifty-two to pay
what we owe,” Jose answered. His voice sounded snotty, but sincere
at the same time. It was like he didn’t want her help, but didn’t
want to turn it down either.

“Okay, I’ll give you guys five hundred
dollars. This way you’ll have more time to get a job and get paid.”
She then wrote out the check and handed it to the manager who was
just standing silent, listening to their troubled conversation.

“Thank you. Do you wish to have your old room
back?” The motel manager waved the key to their old room in one
hand and held the check in the other, having a greedy smile that
reflected his greenish-yellow broken teeth that resembled corn.

Jose swiped the key from the man’s grip,
saying, “Yeah, thanks for nothing. I bet the roaches missed our
ass.”

“Thank you,” mumbled Darell, shaking Vivian’s
hand in slow motion.

Jose ran up the stairs with the plastic bag
full of their things. Vivian just stood there, baffled at his
ungratefulness. The heat from the day still wafted through this
motel, dancing in the hallways and still keeping the aroma of
cooked urine. But Vivian still waited, she wanted Jose to say,
“thank you” for her kindness.

Damen shouted, with loudness, so his voice
would echo through the staircase and reach Jose’s ears, “Jose, come
back down here and say ‘thank you’ to Vivian, she just saved us
from sleeping in the streets.”

Jose stopped in his tracks when he heard the
loud echo from him. He walked down the sticky, roach-filled stairs
slowly, and said, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she spoke in an unwelcome
way.

Damen walked Vivian outside and waited for a
cab with her. They saw a cab approaching. With Vivian’s hand raised
high in the hot air, Damen mentioned, “You see, that’s not like
Jose to not say ‘thank you’ right away.”

“Well, if it isn’t, then I don’t understand
why. I mean, he’s not in any movies or TV shows. That’s where this
business, Hollywood, usually changes people,” she explained, seeing
the cab stopping right at her feet.

“I don’t know. I don’t care anymore, Vivian.”
Damen opened the cab door for her, and waited for her voice to
start up again.

“Whatever he’s hiding or whatever he’s doing,
I know for a fact that in the future he’s gonna have it rough.” She
then sat in the cab motionless and waited for Damen to close the
door.

Damen was speechless, thinking of what Vivian
meant by those words; he suddenly closed the door for her and
questioned, “Why do you say that?”

“Remember, what comes around, goes around,”
she replied before kissing him goodbye. “I’ll see you tomorrow.
Don’t forget to remind Darell about his ten o’clock appointment he
has with Mr. Fryer,” she added with a low voice.

“Ten o’clock appointment? When?” The cab
started moving slowly, but Damen walked on the side of it, waiting
for Vivian to say something through her opened window.

“In three days. He’ll know what you’re
talking about. Also, don’t forget about the extra work tomorrow.
See ya, sweetie.” The cab then moved faster, Damen not being able
to keep up with the pace, he started to run with it, and conversed
with her as long as possible.

“I won’t forget. I’ll meet you at the set
tomorrow.”

“Bye, sweetie,” Vivian said again. She drove
off into the Hollywood lights as Damen stopped and fell to the
ground, panting his smoke-filled lungs, and trying to catch his
breath through the smog-filled breeze that blew around him.

He went to his motel room and saw Jose sound
asleep. Darell was watching TV when he reminded him about the
appointment in three days. Darell and he watched television and
talked for about an hour. The conversation began to end by Darell
saying, “Damen, I’m scared.”

“What are you scared about?” Damen’s eyes
started to get heavier, but he wanted to stay awake for this
moment, this precious night that reminded him of the old days in
Sugar Valley; the old days that really weren’t that old.

“I’m scared about, about, you know, fame, and
becoming a movie star. I know it will happen to me, very soon,”
Darell replied, seeing Damen’s eyes starting to get wider.

“You are so conceited, Darell; you never used
to act like this before.”

“That’s not what I mean. I know we all will
make it, it’s a gut feeling,” Darell explained in a medium tone.
The television’s lights began to flicker, making their darkened
room create patters on the walls; the roaches ran through the
patterns with happiness: their masters were back.

“Oh no, not another one of Darell’s gut
feelings.” Damen then gave into his eyes and allowed them to fall
down like they wanted to, still grinning from Darell’s words and
how the “gut feeling” came up once again.

Darell whispered, “Yes, I feel it will happen
to us. I’m just so scared of that... Just that word ‘fame’. Before,
I wasn’t afraid because we weren’t here, in Hollywood. But now we
are, man. I guess the closer I come to fulfilling my dream, the
farther I want my dream to become reality. Remember when we used to
always talk about it in the Valley? Remember when we used to always
read and act those stupid scripts? It seems so long ago, when in
actuality, it was just last week. Damen?” he asked before he turned
his head and saw Damen dead asleep.

Darell lit a cigarette and blew the smoke at
Damen’s face, seeing the cloud of nicotine spinning around his
head. “The only time I could talk to you guys is when you’re
sleeping. I just want you to know, that whatever happens to us or
whatever I become, I will always, even though it may sound highly
corny and I’m not being gay on you guys, I love you guys. You’re my
friends; you’re kind of like my brothers. If I’m ever stuck up or
snotty in the future, I want you to remember that. Damen, you’re
more like a brother to me than Jose is. I mean, I know I act stupid
sometimes, but that’s just me,” he said, looking at Damen’s sealed
eyes and trying to believe they were open. “You know what’s so
funny about this whole trip?” he asked to Damen’s sleeping face. “I
didn’t ever want to become an actor, I don’t think I really do now.
The funny part about it is, I was the first one to get an agent.
Isn’t that ironic? Well, goodnight, Damen.” Darell closed his eyes
and lay on the floor, hearing the pitter patter of little roach
feet crawling around the room, staying up late past their
bedtime.

Damen opened and revealed his eyes, looking
at Darell. He gave a grin, a moment of strict silence, and then
whispered, “Goodnight, brother.”