William Vollmann: Whores for Gloria

I promise, said Jimmy.

See, that's a fuckin' guy here, man! cried Code Six admiringly. A good reporter, he don't give up his sources!

Don't reveal nothin', agreed Jimmy.

Code Six cackled: He'd sit in goddamn jail till. . till that old-ass buildin' there fell down in the street!

And crumbled , Jimmy shouted, opening another beer.

And fucked everything up before he. .

At the very least , Jimmy said.

OK, said Code Six. I tell you my advice. — Oh, shit, here comes those dragons again. I never would've believed I'd see dragons. Not that they're dragons really; that's just what I call 'em. Jimmy, you think you kin buy me another jug? No? OK. I tell you my advice anyway.

Shoot, said Jimmy.

You want my advice? said Code Six.

Jimmy said let's have it, fella.

Well, said Code Six, my advice is go ahead and use those bitches and take everything you need from 'em make their hair Gloria's hair if that's what you gotta do make their eyes Gloria's eyes an' feel free to cut their motherfucking cunts out!

At the Coral Sea bar on Turk Street the men were drunk and friendly and said where you from and Jimmy said from here and one guy said he was from New Mexico and Jimmy said say fella do you know where Cuba, New Mexico is? and the man said sure do and Jimmy said my ex-wife and I took a train ride through New Mexico once on the way to Louisiana and I remember we stopped there yes I think was Cuba and bought some Indian jewelry you know that turquoise and silver stuff — of course that was over twenty years ago now. — The guy said you don't look that old, but on the other hand I look older than I am so I guess that makes up for it.

On his way out a drunk said look at this! and Jimmy saw a military patch on the drunk's shoulder and the drunk cried Eighty-Second Airborne! and Jimmy laughed and punched the guy on the shoulder, right on the patch, and they both shook hands.

The Queen of the Tenderloin

On Jones Street Jimmy met a lovely black whore who stood smiling at him and fixing her hair and he could just imagine ripping her panties off and spreading the cheeks of her ass and giving it to her right up the butt and he said to her wow you are so beautiful you are the Queen of the Tenderloin and the whore said big deal that means I'm the Queen of Nothing and Jimmy laughed and laughed and said yep you whores always have all the answers.

Gloria

Then Jimmy remembered his purpose and he went down to the Nitecap on Hyde and O'Farrell, seeing across the street Melissa waiting with slender legs drawn very close together and high heels shining as white as new ice on the sidewalk which was stained with giant figures like something pouncing on something, and Melissa had drawn her arms in and was looking back over her shoulder at him with her lips parted, her lower lip parted, her teeth as white as her high heels, and her eyes were like mirrors in which he could see his affection so needfully reflected as she stood waiting with that eternal backward look, the darkness at the bottom of the hill ahead of her. Jimmy nodded at her and said without saying it Gloria thanks you. And I love you. It was and always will be a beautiful train ride. And he went around the block and came back to the Nitecap and sighted on a black whore who wore big dark sunglasses and he knew that she would cross the street to meet him, that she would be sweet and serious with him and he wondered so does that make her desperate? does it? she'll probably say to me she can't pay her rent for tonight unless she gets just forty more dollars, but is that being desperate if it happens to her every night or is she used to it like I'm used to it? Anyhow he thought it's time to see that loveliest thing in the world, the VAGINAL RAINBOW, the glory of cunt, cunt, cunt. . and her name was Dinah and he picked her up, semi-hard, and she took him to her hotel on Mason Street and Dinah was so happy when Jimmy got out his money. Dinah's pimp Jack was there, and he took the forty and went out saying enjoy yourself my friend and live long and prosper and then Jimmy said to himself doing what I am about to do I do for Gloria out of love for Gloria out of belief in Gloria, and Dinah said are you praying and Jimmy said oh baby hurry up and spread your legs and let me get in you.

Dinah

When they were done Dinah said give me ten dollars more and Jimmy said give me a lock of your hair to treasure forever and Dinah said if you love me you'll give me a tip and Jimmy said if you love me you'll give me a lock of your hair and also your nose and mouth and Dinah lay in bed pouting and said she was hungry and Jack said too bad I spent the whole forty on dope and Dinah said please gimme five dollars so I can have breakfast I'm so cold and so hungry and Jack said aw come on you're not gonna make a girl go hungry are you and Dinah shivered and wrapped herself up in blankets and Jimmy said I'll give you ten dollars for a lock of your hair and Dinah said no that's voodoo and Jack said stop whining you chocolate covered yummy little black bitch I'm gonna cut your hair now do you want length or thickness? and Jimmy said length is the primary consideration and Jack said where's that stiletto you had and Jimmy said the blade's pretty dull and Jack said never mind I have a razor and he pulled a long skinny lock of Dinah's hair straight up from her scalp and Dinah reached up and felt it and said that's too much! and Jack said never mind I was fixing to cut your hair anyway you'll never notice it and Dinah said what do you want it for anyway and Jack said to Jimmy I could tell just by looking at you you're a muff diver, I'm telling you Dinah is real good to eat out her pussy just pops and pops like popcorn and there are some times of the month when you could just light a match from her forehead she is so beautiful and Dinah screamed when Jack started sawing across the hair with his razor and Jack said oh shut up you spoiled bitch and Dinah said you watch it or I'll show him my bruises and Jack said cut the crap with a butter knife and Jack said there you are I don't have a rubber band for it but I'll put it away for you all nice in a matchbox.

Home Again

Hey there Jimmy you look happy said Pearl and Jimmy said oh Pearl the best damn thing happened today better than a whore with two cunts I was walking down Sixth Street and ran into my old buddy Code Six that I was in the service with and he said he had met Gloria last week and she was thinking about me! (I guess she tried to get in touch with me when I was at the Hotel Canada but I didn't have my forwarding address) anyway she gave Code Six this lock of hair for me to remember her by. — Jimmy I'm really glad for you, smiled straggly-haired old Pearl. Hey, boys! Did you hear that Jimmy and Gloria are getting back together? — But although there were half a dozen men in the lobby no one answered because no one cared.

The saddest thing was when Dinah smiled widely or laughed on the bed with her legs spread, as if she were having a good time in that room full of dirt and steam and the radiator hissing and clanking. Her bed was three canted mattresses; the dresser was missing a drawer, and there was a bloody tissue on top of it, and the walls were bare. Jack sat on the bed, shooting speedball into his arm, and Dinah yawned and scratched her itchy cunt.

The young girl stood half in a rectangle of sunlight on a wall, hands on hips, holding a beer in a paper bag, and the knife of light slit her down the middle so that under the nightgown one breast was bright and one was dark and the knife sliced down the shorts she wore (the tail of the nightdress tucked in), and with two fingers she plucked one cuff away from the other to accentuate her crotch which the knife sliced through and down between her legs and she was very majestic and mysterious as she stood proudly half-faced in the light. And her pride was firsdy that she could make almost any man's dick hard, and secondly that when men fucked her she lay perfecdy still and her thoughts were somewhere else, so that the rasp of drunk-breath in her face was no closer to her than the patter of raindrops on the roof when she was sleeping. For we all must build our worlds around us, bravely or dreamily, as long as we can we shelter ourselves from the rain, walling ourselves in gorgeously.