William Vollmann - The Royal Family

What’s in the envelope? said Tyler.

Smooth opened it. — Warnings about vigs, he said. The usual stuff.

In fact, I really don’t like that Brady all that much, the taxi driver said.

Yeah, we figured that out, said Tyler.

And how do you vote, Henry? said Smooth.

I’d vote for her, sure.

You erectile old understater, you. Well, you know already that she’s going to leave you, said Smooth. Consider yourself already left. I know I’ve said that to you before, but you clam up every time. So I’m going to keep hammering away. I’m going to force the little thighs of your soul apart until you answer me, Henry.

Why should she leave me?

People die, you stupid ass. Sisters-in-law, for instance. People get tired of people. People get sick. People run away.

So all you’re telling me is that nothing lasts forever.

Yeah.

What if I tried to become more like her?

You’re just becoming more like the rest of us, Henry. You’re turning into a sneaky, money-hungry bullshitter.

Whatever, said Tyler, getting out. He passed two vigilantes in the attire of Brady Boys. The first one was sweaty and out of breath. — We chased ’em a couple blocks and then they split up, so we split up, the vig was saying. I caught one guy…

Smooth leaped out of the taxi, giggling. Tyler looked into his eyes and said: Are you doing speed again?

If you’re doing crystal, you — literally, you… you… When you find a good thing and don’t know when you have it, that’s another thing people don’t understand.

Oh, for God’s sake.

For Cain’s sake, you mean.

From the doorway of the Jewel Hotel, Strawberry was drunkenly laughing: You get burned out. You get tired! and she gave the tall man a kick in the ass. The tall man snickered.

Afternoon, Justin, said Tyler.

Hey, boy, said the tall man. Where’s your faggoty car?

Don’t you remember how I drove it up your ass last night? Where’s Maj?

Upstairs in Strawberry’s room. She said you could wake her if you came by.

All right.

Hey, Smooth, what’s up? You look doped up.

If you ever do a three-way scene, don’t do it in Sac, laughed Smooth. That’s what I learned from my experience.

I don’t have time for your bullshit. Gotta make a run. Maj is in Room Twenny-Nine.

Strawberry led them upstairs to the lobby where they each paid five dollars to the unshaven clerk, and then Strawberry unlocked the door of number twenty-nine and laid her finger on her lips, pointing to the Queen snoring softly on the unmade bed as the TV said: See, these agents I guess you could call ’em of the Queen, they lie in wait for girls at the bus terminal. Runaways, innocent girls without much experience of the world. They love it there.

I expected that, said Smooth. That’s just how it was before, see. The Chosen People would show up and say, all right, open the gates of your city. If you let us in right now, you’ll be our slaves forever. If you don’t, we’re going to besiege you and then kill you all — well, kill all the men, I guess, rape all the women and children and sell them for slaves…

Dan, there’s nothing about raping children in there. That’s just your wishful thinking.

Well, sometimes I get carried away.

Mute the sound, would you, Dan? We already know the crap they’re going to say.

True enough, said Smooth. It’s not beautiful.

Should we wake up Maj?

You want my advice? My advice is no. Anyway, I’m getting jealous of you. You don’t help her be objective. She needs an easier person to be objective with — like me…

The Queen opened her eyes and said: We got to get everybody together now.

And so (excepting only Dan Smooth, whose presence was required in appellate court) they all assembled on a hot dark night in a room at the Lola Hotel on Leavenworth Street, Lily’s room actually, tomb of ignoble desperation transformed by her into a dreamy hive of noble madness where she could rest and get high behind locked doors, no longer seeking any solution but searching nonetheless for something which in Beatrice’s case would have been God but for Lily comprised a flickering candle-flame to burn away the darkness inside her until the wax had melted and she had to go outside again to sell the hole between her legs which once had been a penis and which she now thought of as tissue neither male nor female, merely some orifice upon whose functioning, like that of her anus, the health of her body depended — no honey meant no money, and without money she’d be vomiting in the sink again. Heroin lit the way for her, and so did the Queen, but so also did what might as well be called self-improvement. Still at some remove from the innermost reaches of divinity where the Queen ceaselessly trod and where the crazy whore and Sunflower quite simply dwelled, Lily reflected in her eyes her glittering, glancing fishy friendships with the other women of the streets, who mostly despised her for her instability, in accordance with Darwin’s laws; and because the Queen did not speak of her very frequently, it was easy enough for them, egged on by pitiless Domino, to make fun of her stench and bleating voice, although they had to agree that she was inoffensive; she’d never fought anybody. Quite the contrary — there lived in Lily, as in Beatrice, Sunflower and the Queen herself, a longing to give of herself. In Sunflower’s case, the longing had been to give everything so that self would be exhausted, whereas the Queen and Beatrice were sweetly busy in their doings; as for Lily, what she dreaded most was disappointing others, which was why she had rendered allegiance to the Queen, of whose goodness and kindness she had no doubt; the Queen wanted to become her mother, and how could Lily have the heart to refuse? Having pledged herself, in one of her typical Lilyisms she continued to sleep apart from Maj whenever she could afford to do so because if she lay down too long among other people, their images sometimes began to dance around behind her eyes with increasing velocity until they became nightmares which spent themselves furiously inside her soul. Whenever a man paid her more than twenty dollars she always asked him: You want a picture of ugly old me? I can give you a photo of my ugly, ugly pussy if you want. I have one right here in the pocket of my… — She laughed until she cried whenever the man said no. When he said yes, she searched for the photograph but she was all out; she didn’t have any more.

The wall in her room said LETITIA ROSA 10-20-96. Letitia Rosa was Lily’s real name.

The wall also said:

Rule Numero Uno: Don’t use God’s name in vain.

Do — always Respect everyone and speak with a pleasant tone of voice.

Don’t bring anyone in unless you let me know first and I okay it.

What occurs in 26 stays between the present party. Our Business — stays our Business — no exceptions.

When I say go, time to go! No potting around.

3 chances—3 times are 86ed from 26.

Break bread — no nasties.

No money, no honey.

Pay before you stay.

Some bucks before you fuck.

No tight ass so tight it squeaks when you walk, you cheap something for nothing busters.

Money’s made for us and you to spend.

You show love and fairness you get the same and most of the time even better my friend. Good people deserve great service.

Love’s 3 Ms—

My Mom

My Money

My Man

Don’t play the player cuz the player don’t pay.

Sex is evil all is sin sin is forgiven so sex is sin.

Suck me fuck me make me bleed kinky sex is all I need.

Jealousy has no set conspirator so beware of the coy steps of happiness for deep within the heart lays the truth of their interactions which you see by looking past the lost in despair. Smile and you’ll always get trapped cuz demons are here.