Sugar Valley (Hollywood's Darkest Secret) (42 page)

Tom pointed his finger through the large
hotel room, toward the window where Darell was standing, the window
from which you could see his billboard. Tom said, “He’s right over
there.”

Henry smiled, walked over to Darell, and held
out his hand for him to shake it, saying, “Hello, Darell, my name
is Henry Schultz.”

“Hi, I’m Darell O’Conner.” His voice was
nervous. Shaking Mr. Schultz’s hand in a lengthy manner, Darell
felt as if he was about to pass out.

“I know who you are, almost all of New York
does too. By next year, all of Hollywood will know you also, as a
matter of fact, the whole United States will,” stated Henry,
hearing Darell swallowing his saliva in a loud way.

Gulp...

Tom offered Henry a seat, asking in a
straight-out manner, “So, let’s get down to business, shall
we?”

“Yes, I think that’s a good idea,” Henry
answered, sitting down at the same time. “Darell, I think by now,
Tom has already explained to you why I’m here. Has he not?” he
added while Mr. Fryer handed him one of Darell’s photos.

“Yeah, but I want to hear it from you.”
Darell took his glass and started filling it with champagne,
getting ready to hear the words that he had always dreamt of
hearing, that Jose and Damen also visioned they would hear some
day.

“Alright, I want you to be the main character
in my movie. The movie is called The Point of a Well, it’s a drama
and action movie,” explained Henry. Then Tom Fryer interrupted
him.

“When will this movie start filming?” Mr.
Fryer took another puff of his cigar, staring at Henry with a
smile.

“First, I want you to put out that cigar, and
secondly, I was talking to Darell. I’m going to only answer
Darell’s questions. If he wants to know what a bad agent you are, I
will tell him,” Henry replied, seeing Tom looking at him in a
scared way. “Put it out now, Tom.”

Tom put out his cigar as fast as a crying
baby could cry and looked at Henry with a terrified look in his
eyes. He thought about all those times, all those incidents when
Henry saw him assaulting young female stars and abusing others. Tom
knew Henry wouldn’t really tell Darell or anyone else. He knew
because Henry realized that Tom saw him doing a lot of illegal
things himself. In a sick way, Tom and Henry knew they were both
even.

“Now, the movie will be shot in February of
next year. That’s only two months away and you have to memorize the
whole script by then. Are you capable of doing that?” Henry
asked.

“Oh, yeah, yeah, I could do that,” Darell
responded, realizing he didn’t even know what Henry said to him.
All Darell was thinking about was why he called Tom a “bad
agent.”

“Okay, that’s great. If you do choose to do
the movie, our starting salary is 1.5 million,” Henry announced.
Darell came back into focus of Henry’s words, the words “1.5
million” allowed him to terminate “bad agent” from his mind.

Darell stared, surveyed his eyes on Henry in
a serious way, took a sip of his champagne, and questioned with
shock, “What did you say?”

“One and a half million is our starting rate.
Do you want more?” Henry asked as he looked at Mr. Fryer’s facial
reactions; he knew Tom would make Darell ask for a higher
salary.

Tom spoke, “Well, I think,” but then Henry
cut into his words.

“Well, I don’t care what you think, now be
quiet,” he said, staring at Mr. Fryer with a sinister look.

“I think 1.5 million is a sufficient amount,”
Darell replied. Looking at his glass of champagne and taking a swig
from the bottle instead, Darell added after finishing the bottle,
“Yeah, that’s enough.”

“Alright then, I’ll see you guys tomorrow to
discuss more about it,” said Henry, shaking Darell’s hand.

“I’ll be right back,” Tom said to Darell as
he followed Mr. Schultz to the door. The both of them walked
outside in the hallway and stood there motionless, staring at each
other in silence. Mr. Fryer closed the door, whispering, “Why did
you call me a ‘bad agent’ in front of my client?”

Henry started to walk away, responding with,
“Because, you are.”

Tom grabbed Mr. Henry Schultz by the
shoulder, allowing him to stop against his wishes, and said, “Hey,
all that’s in the past, I’m a new person now. Besides, you’re just
as bad as me.”

“Listen, we are not the same. You break the
law by either assaulting, hitting, or doing any other sick things
you do,” Henry stated in a vigorous tone.

“Used to, remember that, the key word is
‘used to.’” Tom then paused from talking, seeing that a married
couple walked down the hallway and passed them slowly.

“Whatever, that’s the way you do it, I break
the law by just stealing money. At least the way I do it is the
American way. The way you do it is the sick way. Now, get out of my
way,” Henry demanded, taking Tom’s hand and throwing it away from
his shoulder.

“I changed, I really did.” After Tom’s words,
Henry stopped dead in his tracks and turned around.

“Listen, just drop the whole discussion. What
we did was a long time ago, I know it was for me. I don’t know if
you still do that sort of stuff, and I don’t care, at least not
anymore. I’ll be here tomorrow at noon. I’ll also be there next
week for the premiere of his new movie, and I’ll bring the contract
and some papers for Darell to fill out. Tell Darell I said ‘Merry
Christmas.’” Henry began to walk down the hallway, pointing his
body away from Tom’s, he started to move faster to escape Tom
Fryer’s sight.

“Okay, and Merry Christmas to you,” Tom Fryer
spoke, seeing Henry entering an elevator and watching Mr. Fryer
wave to him as the elevator doors closed.

Henry said in a low tone to himself, “Yeah,
Merry Christmas to you, you scum.”

Tom Fryer ran back to Darell’s room and saw
him sitting on his bed with a shocked and timid look on his face.
He ran up to him and asked with a sincere face, “Darell, are you
alright? What’s wrong?”

“Tom, did he say 1.5 million?” asked Darell,
looking up at Tom’s wrinkly face.

Tom Fryer started to laugh, seeing Darell
falling down on his bed and passing out from the shock and liquor
mixed together, he replied, “That he did, my boy, that he
did...”

Chapter Thirty

Vivian paced around the apartment, staring
at the time that read 12:30 a.m., she ran over to the window and
looked out at the California streets, showing tears in her eyes
from worry. “Where the hell is Damen?” she shouted toward Jose,
looking at the star on top of the Christmas tree, closing her eyes
a bit, and praying for his safety.

“He’s probably working late tonight,” Jose
responded, staring over at the clock as well.

“Look, it’s already past midnight, I’m
calling the police.” Vivian pushed Jose out of the way to get to
the phone. Panic caused her feet to move her with such force.

Helen came out of the bathroom, saw Vivian
with the phone in her hand, putting it up to her ear, Helen asked,
“Vivian, what are you doing?”

“I’m calling the police.”

Helen dried her wet, showered hair with a
long white towel, questioning, “How are you doing that?”

“Easy, I just dial it. Not all blondes are
stupid. As a matter of fact, all blondes are smart.” Vivian’s angry
voice caused Helen to start laughing, and Jose just stared at the
both of them. “What are you laughing at?”

Helen’s laughter became silent, looking at
the phone up to Vivian’s ear, she asked, “Vivian, is anyone
answering?”

“They haven’t picked up yet.” Helen’s
laughter became known again, louder as could be, she looked at
Vivian and nearly had a stroke.

“Vivian, girlfriend, put the phone down.”

“Why? I have to call the police, Damen hasn’t
come home yet,” said Vivian, seeing Helen walking over to her, she
then grabbed the phone.

Helen held the phone up to Vivian’s ear,
questioning, “Vivian, listen, do you hear anything?”

She tried grabbing the phone away from Helen,
shouting, “I haven’t got time for these games.” After she grabbed
it, Helen stopped laughing and looked straight into her eyes.

Helen pulled the phone away from her worried
grip, placed it down on the receiver, and stared at Vivian once
again. “Vivian, it’s not a game, there is no phone. The phone
company shut it off three hours ago, we didn’t pay the bill.”

“Oh, that’s just great,” she screamed in
craziness. That’s when Damen walked in the door. “Where have you
been?” Vivian approached Damen and hugged him tightly, realizing
her worried mind in every forceful squeeze she could give him.

“Just driving around,” he replied with some
amiable happiness. “Guess what?” he added, sitting down on the
couch and staring at the Christmas tree’s lights.

“What?”

Vivian and Helen sat beside him on the couch,
while Jose just stood there, waiting to hear Damen’s next words.
Damen then started laughing in craziness, responding, “I got fired
today.”

“Are you serious?” Vivian asked, hearing Jose
making a small laugh come out from his mouth; he was laughing at
Damen’s laughter.

“Yeah, and it gets even better, I was fired
by a director.” They all stared at him in a dumbfounded way.

Helen and Vivian still stared at him, but
Jose had to know why he was laughing, and had to ask, “Why are you
so happy about that?”

“Why am I so happy? Is that’s what you asked?
Well, if it wasn’t for me getting fired, I would have never talked
to the cabdriver,” Damen replied, with them still looking at him in
a confused way.

“Wait a minute, who’s the cabdriver? Please,
explain yourself, because we’re still confused about why you’re so
happy. Baby, are you on drugs?” Vivian questioned. She looked at
Damen and stared at his pupils to see if they showed any signs of
being on drugs, and he still kept on giggling.

“No, I’m not on drugs, I’m just not confused
anymore. This whole week I was ready to pack my bags and go back
home to Ridge Crest. I couldn’t take it anymore. But then I got
fired and yelled at by a movie star. I got in a cab and drove off.
That’s when the cabdriver started talking to me, and he knew what
was wrong,” Damen explained. Vivian finally realized what he was
talking about, but Jose and Helen didn’t.

“Does it have anything to do with what you
explained to me up by the big Hollywood sign?” Vivian asked in a
low tone.

Jose and Helen still gawked at him in a
puzzled manner, even after he responded, “Somewhat, but even more
personal things.”

“Okay, good enough for me.” Vivian looked at
Jose and Helen, adding, “So, what did the cabdriver say to make you
so happy, honey?”

“He said, ‘don’t give up, son.’”

Jose stared at them both, saying, “Okay, I
give up, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Never mind, Jose, this isn’t the time or
place to explain it. I’m just happy you’re home, Damen,” Vivian
spoke.

“Yeah, me too. Hey, Jose, do you realize that
this is the first Christmas we spent without Darell?”

“I know, it feels weird. I miss the little
punk,” Jose replied with a grin.

“What do you mean, ‘little’? He’s only a week
younger than you, and I’m a week older,” Damen stated.

Helen then asked in an amazed fashion, “Do
you guys mean your birthdays are a week apart? You, Jose and
Darell’s?”

“Yep, that’s correct. Darell’s the youngest,
I’m the oldest and Jose is the middle guy,” Damen responded,
punching Jose lightly on the shoulder. “Jose gets jealous a lot
because he’s the middle person, but we still love you,” he added in
a joking way.

“When’s your birthdays?” questioned Helen.
She got up and turned on the Christmas lights on the window; Vivian
turned off the room lights at the same time.

“Mine is February 7, Jose’s February 14, and
Darell’s the 21,” explained Damen, lighting his cigarette in the
darkness.

“Wow, that’s amazing. It’s like an omen of
some kind,” said Helen, looking up at the glittering, multicolored
lights on the tree.

“It’s just coincidence, that’s all,” said
Jose, staring through the darkness at Helen.

“Maybe it is, but maybe it isn’t,” Vivian
stated, looking at her brand-new watch, twinkling in the tree’s
light. “It’s getting late.”

Damen kissed her lightly on the forehead,
saying, “So what, I don’t start working at the café till noon.
Besides, it’s Christmas.”

“Well, in actuality, it’s no longer
Christmas, baby. But I’ll be lenient, in an hour we’ll go to bed,”
she said as Jose and Helen yawned.

“Hey, Helen, who’s taking the place of Mr.
Fryer? Isn’t he in New York right now?” Jose asked. Damen looked at
him with a shocked face, he couldn’t believe that Jose could say
that name in front of Vivian.

“His assistant’s taking over for now. Mr.
Fryer is coming back next week for the premiere of Darell’s new
movie,” Helen replied. Vivian took Damen’s cigarette and began
smoking it fast, trying to calm her nerves from hearing that
dreadful name.

“What day is that?” asked Jose.

“I think it’s January 1.” Helen then watched
Vivian in confusion as she still kept on smoking the cigarette,
even after it was out.

“Hey, isn’t that when the dinner is, Jose,
the one with Julienne Wells?” Damen questioned, noticing the
tobacco from Vivian’s cigarette was all gone, and she was still
puffing away.

“Yeah, that’s the day.” Jose began looking at
Vivian in a strange manner also.

“I think this is great, you’re going to a
dinner to meet casting agents, and Darell is going to be back in
Hollywood,” Damen spoke, seeing that Vivian finally noticed the
cigarette was all smoked; she put it in a glass ash tray.

Jose suddenly noticed the razor scars on
Vivian’s wrist, speaking at the same time, “How is he going to find
us?”

“Well, aren’t you going to that premiere
dinner?” Vivian asked.