The disentanglement of Spirit from Flesh has a Scent and an Aura all of its own, my Love. One day I will show you, let you Smell and Taste it with me. We will disentangle our Spirits from our Gross Bodies and entwine forever, cut away the wretched excess.’”
“This is crazy,” Cameron said.
“Sounds to me like you were talking about John Heimar, the kid you picked up on Santa Monica Boulevard on December 19,” Arvo said.
“I didn’t pick no kid up. And I didn’t write that shit, either. It’s not me, man.”
“How about this one.”
Again Maria read in her low, husky voice. “‘I surround myself with your Image. I stand against my wall and I project your Image onto my Skin. I feel the warmth of the Light brush over me and I think it is you gently caressing me. But you were so far from my Arms and I saw you kiss him. I watched him put his Arms around you. I couldn’t bear it. You know what I can do, you have seen the Fruits of my Labors.’” As she read, the cut opened on her lower lip and a thin trickle of blood oozed down her chin. She wiped it away with a tissue.
“Real purple prose, that one,” said Arvo. “Sound familiar?”
“What is this? This is sick, man.”
“Let’s get back to Sally for a minute. You treated her well, did you?”
“I already told you. I behaved like a gentleman.”
“Why were you so good to her?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why treat her with such respect? You didn’t show the same esteem for Detective Hernandez here. Anyone would think you hated women.”
Cameron glanced at Maria and said nothing.
“But you looked out for Sally, didn’t you?”
“Because there wasn’t anybody else to do it.” He ran his hand over his hair and wiped it on his jeans. “She was a stranger over here. She had that English accent and all, looked lost half the time. And she was so vulnerable.”
“But she had Gary, didn’t she?”
“He couldn’t always be around, could he? Gary was busy. People hit on her, you know, Sal. Good-looking chick like that. People hit on her all the time.”
“And you stopped them?”
“If I could. If I was around.”
“How did she react to that?”
“To what?”
“You using your muscle to keep guys from hitting on her.”
“How would I know? She never said.”
“Was she impressed?”
“I told you, I don’t know.”
“You mean she never even thanked you?”
“That’s not why I did it, man.”
“What’d she do? Just ignore you?”
“Yeah. I guess. I don’t know.”
“But you still protected her to the best of your ability?”
“Yes. But I didn’t kill anyone for her. Is that what you’re getting at. Someone says I killed someone? Is that what this is all about? Well they’re a liar. They’re a fucking liar.” His eyes flashed with anger and he banged his fist on the table.
“Hey,” said Arvo. “Calm down, Mitch. Tell me, how did you feel when you found out that someone else hit on her?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Someone told me she was the tour mattress. Everyone fucked her. Everyone but you. She just ignored you.”
“Hey, I don’t like—”
“I don’t care what you don’t like, Mitch. Tell me how you felt when you knew someone else had fucked her.”
“I didn’t feel anything. Why would I?”
Arvo rested his hand on the table as a signal for Maria to take over. She did it smoothly. “Did you wonder what you could do to make her like you?” she asked softly. “Do you think women are impressed by tough guys, Mitch? Do you think they like it when people kill for them?”
He sneered at Maria. “Women like men to fight over them, sure they do. Like those two guys in the club tonight, when you came over. You must’ve seen what was happening there. Fucking peacocks preening themselves. Strutting their stuff.”
“Like to see some blood flow, do they?”
“Sure they do.”
“Is that what you like, too, Mitch. See a little blood flow? Is that why you hit me?”
“Look, I already explained about that. Sorry, my mistake.”
Maria sat back and let Arvo pick up the reins again. Cameron glanced between the two of them. He was getting so he didn’t know where to look. “Gary didn’t treat Sal very well, did he?” Arvo asked.
Cameron crossed his arms again. “They weren’t getting along. They were close to splitting up by then.”
“Way I heard it is he liked to humiliate her, force her to go with other guys. Even women. Do threesomes, gangbangs, that sort of thing.”
“This is bullshit, man. I don’t have to listen to this.” Cameron stood up but Joe pushed him back down again. “You’re not free to go,” he said. “Sit down.”
“Hey, that’s police brutality.”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” said Joe. “Stay seated and answer the man’s questions.”
Arvo went on. “You admit that Gary didn’t treat Sal well, and that bothered you, made you protective toward her?”
“I’m not saying anything against Gary. Look, some guys just have problems relating to women, you know. That’s all.”
Arvo scratched his cheek and Maria took over again. “What do you mean by that, Mitch?” she asked. “Exactly what do you mean?”
He glanced at her quickly, then looked down at the table. “Well, Gary was a genius, right? He wasn’t like you and me.”
“And that gives him permission to humiliate women, does it?”
“I’m not saying that. You’re twisting my words. That’s just what a fucking woman would say.”
“What are you saying, then?” Maria pressed on. “I’m just trying to understand where you’re coming from, Mitch.”
“Just that people like Gary are different, that’s all. You can’t judge them by ordinary standards. Like Miles Davis. He was another genius, but I read a biography said he wasn’t that much of a gentleman to the women in his life either.” He looked up at Maria again and fixed her with his eyes.
Maria didn’t even blink. She just went on slowly, softly and insistently. “So being a genius allows men to beat and degrade women. Is that what you’re saying?”
“No. I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is that people like Gary are different, and sometimes they have, like, problems relating to women. They’re a bit fucked up, that’s all. Genius and madness, they’re pretty closely related. I’m not saying it should be condoned or anything.”
“That’s an interesting point, Mitch. How would you describe yourself: genius or madman?”
Cameron shrugged.
“Or maybe it doesn’t matter. The way you just described it, they’re pretty much the same, aren’t they?”
“That’s not what I meant. I’m no crazy.”
“Did you want to make up to Sal for the way Gary treated her?”
“I never thought about it that way. I was just being nice, you know. It’s my nature.”
Arvo picked up the questioning again. “What happened after she went away? Did you lose touch with her?”
“Everyone lost touch with her, man.”
“Ever try to find her?”
“No. Why would I do that?”
“Maybe you just couldn’t stop thinking about her?”
“What?”
“Watch much TV, Mitch?”
“Not a lot, no.”
“We noticed you got two TVs in the house. Big screen in the living room and a smaller one in your bedroom.”