The Cold Six Thousand (61 page)

He rotated east. He rotated south. He did kadre biz. He cooked dope in Saigon. He ran dope in Vegas. He ran guns through Mississippi.

Profits were up. Kadre kosts accrued konkurrent. Guns moved south. They lost
Tiger Klaw
. They lost Skipper Bruvick. They bought a new boat. They armored it. They bought a new skipper. Dick Wenzel—seaborne merc—tight with Laurent Guéry.

Tiger Klaw II
. Out of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

Wenzel made Cuban runs. Wenzel brought Laurent. Wenzel brought Flash and Wayne. Wenzel was good. Wenzel was bold. Wenzel had boulder-size balls.

The runs went goooood. No glitches/no bullshit/no surprise attacks. They probed the coast. They grappled up. They met Fuentes and Arredondo.

They dispensed weaponry. They fed insurgents. The funnel moved inland. The coast fed the hills. The kadre fed fuel to
la Causa
.

The kadre was kautious. Pete said trust no one. Pete decreed poly tests. Laurent ran said tests. Laurent ran the Port Sulphur hot seats. Wayne tested clean. Flash tested clean. Ditto Fuentes and Arredondo.

The Cuban runs worked. Mucho runs with no glitches and shit. Bob worked. Laurent worked. They shagged guns. They hid their sources. They said they hit the Minutemen. They said they hit John Birch. They said they tapped Army QMs.

Bob played it close. Bob cited need-to-know laws and source restrictions. Bob shagged good guns. Bob made concessions.

His sources feared tracebacks. His sources dipped their guns. His sources burned serial numbers. Pete hated it. Pete craved confiscation. Let’s tell the Beard that it’s
us
.

Bob shagged
good
guns. Bob shagged
dipped
guns. Pete went along with it.

The funnel ran to Cuba. The funnel ran back. The funnel ran information. Fuentes reported. Arredondo assisted.

Dig it: Skirmishes/village raids/running fire. Varaguay/Las Tunas/
Puerto Guinico. Insurgents hit. Insurgents kill. Insurgents die. Insurgents find replacements.

Good, but:

No major battles
yet
. No major progress discernible. No kadre guns thus decisive.

Wayne loved the Cuba runs. Wayne ate Dexedrine. Wayne notched seven run-notches. Dick Wenzel played skipper. Pete made two runs. Flash and Laurent made seven.

They got close. They dropped guns off. They shot inland. They torched huts. They scalped Fidelistos. They saved the scalps. They dry-cured them. They burned on their initials. They tallied them. They nailed them up. They served as boat decorations.

Wayne had sixteen scalps. Flash had twelve scalps. Laurent and Pete had nine each. Pete craved more. Pete craved escalation.

The war escalated. Their crops escalated. White horse escalated konkurrent. Mesplède ran Tiger Kamp solo. Mesplède brought in reinforcements.

Chuck was dead. Tran was dead. Pete was stateside. Laurent was stateside. Flash was stateside. Wayne was on rotation. Mesplède needed help. Mesplède bought more Marvs. Mesplède bought some Can Lao goons. They backstopped him. They ran the slaves. They surveilled the chemists.

Wayne knew the Tran story. Pete told him late. Pete said it’s all kool. Mr. Kao’s boys
rent
the lab. They work there on
your
rotations. It’s kosher. Goons guard
your
lab. Said goons pay tribute to Stanton.

The war escalated. Big troop stats swelled through ’66. Kao escalated. Kao pushed horse in France. Kao pushed horse in Saigon.

To slants only. No round-eyes. No GI biz.

Kao formed a dope squad. It was all Can Lao and all klandestine. They swarmed Saigon. They trashed “O” dens. They made them horse pads.

They ran said pads. They sold horse. They kept said pads klean. They scrubbed floors and swabbed spikes.

Kao had his fiefdom. Kao had export and Saigon. The kadre had Vegas.

They shared lab space. They shared vats. They shared guinea pigs. Junkies swarmed the Go-Go. Junkies geezed upstairs. Kao’s chemists
used
them. They brewed new formulas. They tested dosages. They notched fatalities.

Wayne rotated east. Wayne saw the war grow. Wayne saw horse grow konkurrent. Wayne rotated west. Wayne saw the war grow—every night on TV.

Barb saw the war. Barb loathed the war. Barb watched the war on TV. There’s Barb. She’s in Da Nang. She scores this white powder.

She toured Da Nang. She saw the maimed. She saw Pete fucked up. She dug pills. She craved more. She found it. She found horse. She sniffed horse. She disproved Pete’s assertion:
We
control horse/we contain horse/all whites verboten.

Barb flew home. Barb brought hospital snapshots. Barb watched the war on TV.

She had Pete full-time. She loved it. Pete loves the war. Barb hates the war. Barb sparks
their
war for real.

She ragged the war. She talked antiwar shit. She rode horseback.

She took tastes. It went up her nose. It went there under Pete’s eyes. She scored horse. She disproved Pete. She disproved containment.

Small tastes. No arc up to skin pops. No mainline spikes.

Wayne knew she did it. Pete didn’t. Wayne looked at her closer. Wayne loved her long-distance. Wayne lived to WATCH.

He watched in Vegas. He watched in L.A. He watched in Vietnam. The war escalated. The war was the Life uncontained.

Pete was wrong. We couldn’t win. We couldn’t force containment. Pete was wrong. White horse would reign. White horse would smash containment. Barb proved him wrong. GIs would follow her. White horse would reign uncontained.

Wayne watched the war. Wayne read body counts. Wayne prowled dope galleries. Wayne logged rumors.

More troops were pledged. That meant more bomb runs. That meant more ground expansion.

Mr. Kao expanded. Mr. Kao bombed Ba Na Key. Dope fields burned. Mr. Kao’s Laotian rivals de-expanded.

Stanton said Kao’s kool. Kao won’t fuck us. We’re localized. We’re self-contained. We’re fine in West Vegas.

Wayne and Pete knew otherwise. Wayne and Pete knew this:

We’re
too
localized/we’re
too
contained/we’re hamstrung in West Vegas.

Wayne pressed Pete. Wayne pressed the case. Let’s press Stanton. Let’s press Carlos. Let’s tell them this: Let’s push white horse in L.A.

Pete said, “Don’t shuck me.” Pete said, “It’s about Wendell Durfee.” Pete knew him. Pete knew his shit. Pete knew his dreams.

Bongo/King Arthur/Cassius Cool/black faces/white backdrops/white sheets. Cur-ti and Leroy. Otis Swasey. The dead whore/her trailer/the ball in her teeth.

The dreams reran. The dreams dredged Wayne Senior. It was dream clockwork. Dream and wake. Father Rabbit’s there on your pillow.

The dreams recycled. The dreams reran. The dreams ran in rotation.

Rotate east—see Bongo—you killed him there. Rotate west—see
black faces—you found them there. Rotate south—see new faces—they lynch that type there.

White sheets. Klan sheets. Bob Relyea—Wild Rabbit. Bob tweaked him.

Bob told him: Your daddy loves you. He misses you. He told me so. He digs on you. He’s Daddy Rabbit. He’s hip. He’s cool. He funds my Klan. We fight mail fraud. We help Mr. Hoover.

We hate smart. We contain. We consolidate. We fuck the bad haters. We spread the good hate.

Dreams. Reruns. Rotations.

Sleep on planes—crash time zones—see faces. Hate smart. Consolidate. Hail Father Rabbit!

The dreams reran. The concept held. The gist accrued: He needs you. He sees you. He
wants
you.

(Las Vegas, Bay St. Louis, Cuban Waters, 4/1/66–10/30/66)

W
ars:

The real war. The TV war. Barb’s running fire.

They watch the news. He comments. He says we’ll win. Barb says we shouldn’t. Barb says we can’t and we won’t.

He says I’ve
been
there. He says I
know. She
says
I’ve
been there. She says
I
know. They escalate. They debate control. They debate containment. TV wars—parlor shit—sniper attacks.

It raged. It escalated. It stopped. Barb nuked him. Barb won.

She said, “Nobody’s controlling the war, and
you
don’t control the dope traffic, because
I
met a doctor in Da Nang, and
he
sends
me
little tastes, and I boot them when I get bored to death or afraid that you’ll fall off a fucking boat in the fucking Cuban sea.”

He flipped out. He threw shit. He taxed out his heart. He tossed chairs. He broke windows. He chucked the TV out. One hoist—two hundred pounds airborne. One badass heart-patient trick.

The TV flew. The TV dropped fourteen stories. The TV dive-bombed a blue Ford.

He raged. His veins throbbed. His pump swelled. He crashed. He dive-bombed the couch. Barb talked up a truce.

I’m no junkie. I sniff it. I taste it. I never shoot up. I hate your work. I hate the war—it covers you.

He tried to fight. He gobbled air. His pump puttered and slogged. Barb held his hands. Barb held the cat. Barb talked
très
slow.

I hate your work. I hate the Life. I hate Vegas now. We’ll ride it out. We’ll survive it. We’ll win.

They made up. He got calm. He got some back-end wind. They made love. They wrecked the couch. The cat refereed.

Shit got said. Shit got aired. Shit went unsaid. No vows of abstinence/no vows to stop/no vows to change.

Truce.

They split the Stardust. They moved into the Cavern. They bought a new TV. Barb watched the war. Barb sulked and judged. He worked the biz. He ran dope. He ran guns.

Barb worked the Cavern. Barb wore go-go gowns. Barb showed off skin-plus. Dig it: No pinholes/no bruises/no tracks.

Truce.

They lived. They made love. He traveled. Barb flew then. He knew it. Barb flew White Powder Air.

They lived the truce. He nailed the Shit Clause:

Barb was right—the war was fucked—we couldn’t win. Barb was right—they had big love—they’d stick and win. Barb was wrong—white horse had teeth—white horse bit to win.

White flag/ceasefire/truce.

He conceded points. He owed Barb. He brought her to Dallas. The truce held. The clause held. The ink ran.

You’ve got Barb. Jane is dead. Ward knows it. Ward said it once. Ward said Jane left me. Ward stopped short then.

Ward knew Jane’s backstory. That scandal file told him. Ward could fill in the rest. Arden runs to Danny. They set sail. Gulf waters entice. They’re tapped and tired—long years of flight.

Ward lost a woman. Carlos lost a boat. Carlos lost a spy. Carlos lost Danny. Carlos
killed
Danny. Carlos dropped
la Causa
flat.

The new boat bored him. The boat runs bored him. It was gadfly shit. The runs bored Pete. The runs vexed Pete. The runs stressed his pump.

Coast prowls and gun transfers—too easy. Raft runs and scalp hunts—light counts.

It’s 1/66. Pete gets frustrated. Pete sends Flash in. Flash is Cuban. Flash is dark. Flash fits right in.

Flash tours Cuba. Flash meets Fuentes and Arredondo. They hit the hills. They tour kampsites. They see kadre gun-stocks.

Big kampsites. Big personnel. Big inventories stocked.

They lead a raid. They run sixty men. They blitz a Militia camp. They flank in. They lob shells. They pop bazookas. They run in under cover. They flank wide. They throw Zippo flames.

They killed eighty men. They lost three men. They shaved beards boocoo. Pete loved it. Pete revived behind it. Pete dropped pump weight boocoo.

Weight was weight. Shit was shit. Work was work. The docs said don’t smoke. He did it. The docs said eat light. He did it. The docs said work light. He said Fuck You.

He worked the dope biz. He worked Tiger Kab. He worked the Cavern. The Cavern pandered. The Cavern rocked.

Hipsters loved it. Hipsters dug Milt C. and Junkie Monkey. Horn dogs loved it. Horn dogs drooled for Barb B. Sonny Liston loved it. Fruits loved it. Fruits swished in and Liberace’d.

Wayne Senior came by. Wayne Senior waxed nice. Need some help? Call if so—I know grind-joint casinos. Pete waxed nice. Pete said sure—I’ll do that.

Wayne Senior came back. Wayne Senior lost money. Wayne Senior talked.

Life’s cruel. Life’s odd. Ward Littell’s with my ex. How’s my son? I know he’s tough now. I know he works for you.

Pete waxed nice. Pete waxed bland. Pete waxed noncommittal. Wayne Senior talked. Wayne Senior talked truce. Wayne Senior said I miss my son—I know he’s been wiiiiiild places.

Wayne Senior waxed anxious. The word was out—Drac’s on his way. Drac the bloodsucker. Drac the Mob puppet. Drac the greedy centipede.

The prelude ran long. Pete worked it for three years. Pete notched some gooood benefits.

You’re forty-six years old. You’re a killer. You’re a frog arriviste. You’re rich. You’re worth two million legit.

Pas mal, mais je m’en fous
.

Preludes and fringe benefits. Money and debits. Barb and white horse. Barb and ennui. Barb and Vietnam.

They played a game. He got her nude. He got in tight. He checked her arms. He checked her veins. He checked her toes. He tickled her all over. He checked for needle tracks.

None.

It’s contained. I control it. I taste little drops.

He checked her ankles. He tickled her. He traced her veins. She touched him. She pulled him in.

The game helped. The game hurt. The game took him back:

It’s hot. His heart rips. He leaps for her shoe.

(Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., Boston, New Orleans,
Chicago, Mexico City, 4/1/66–10/30/66)

M
ourner. Lover bereft.

She died. She left a file. She left a legacy. He tracked her southbound. He ran logic.

Logic:

Otash sees the scandal files. Otash spots Carlos and Jane. Otash calls Pete. Pete doubts Jane. Pete’s doubts
pre-
exist. Jane runs. Jane finds Danny Bruvick.

He called airlines. He checked flights. He found the name Arden Breen. She flew to Mobile, Alabama. She flew to Bon Secour.

Logic:

Pete had Gulf ties. Pete ran guns. Pete gigged from Bon Secour. Pete interceded. Pete bucked Carlos. Pete made Jane run.