STRUM, KARL, AND MARLENE
They wound up at Church that night. Everyone was out the night before, so no one was really out tonight. Those who were out just hang around in tattered clumps by the bar and on the dance floor drinking and talking about the stuff that everyone always drank and talked about. It was boring, but Rusty wanted something to do. So he went to Church.
Rusty liked Church because he was a friend of Spooky's. Spooky was a Goth chic that had a shop named Ultra in the back of the bar where everyone hung out. Spooky liked Rusty because Rusty liked Siouxsie and the Banshees, so Rusty hung out a lot in Ultra. Spooky loved New Model Army and sold used clothes and stuff that she made and videos of the local bands and clove cigarettes, which everyone wanted, including Karl. Karl always came in the shop for a few minutes every night to say hey and buy a clove or two.
Karl was an art-punk who loved to do cocaine and had long black hair that was spiked on the top (like a Ziggy Stardust mullet). He always wore jeans, boots, and a long black trench coat. Rusty didn't like cocaine very much, but he liked Karl. Karl didn't really like Rusty. Karl liked Strum. Strum was Spooky's brother and straight, so Strum didn't like Karl, but Strum used Karl to get cocaine. Rusty and Karl met at Ultra through Spooky. Rusty wanted Karl, and Rusty thought Strum and cocaine were ways of making that happen.
Strum talked to Rusty because Rusty was a friend of his sister's. Strum had black spiked hair and the coolest leather jacket with the coolest bands painted all over it and the tightest black jeans with the coolest boots ever made. All the girls in the scene wanted him. But Strum was dating Marlene, one of the bartenders at Church. Marlene was an emaciated woman with white hair that flew everywhere stiffly. She had big eyes and tight breasts and sinewy arms. She was a twig: Nancy to Strum's Sid. Marlene sometimes gave Rusty free drinks at the bar. Marlene liked Rusty and tried to get him to hang out in the gay scene, away from the punk scene, but Rusty wasn't interested. The queers weren't punk, and Rusty had a thing for punks.
Gacey had moved into a new apartment after the Zodiac House ended. The landlord kicked Gacey out because he wanted to remodel or something. Gacey was living with Peggy in a basement apartment around the corner from the old Zodiac House. He was making a living off of cocaine. Zodiac hadn't played around much in a while and there were no plans for any kind of reunion anytime soon, so Gacey sold coke. Karl was always over at Gacey's house because Gacey always had cocaine. Strum hung out at Gacey's because they were in the band together. Peggy and Strum used to fuck, but that was a long time ago. Now, they barely spoke.
"She hates that I do coke," Strum said.
"Who? Marlene?" Karl took the tray of cocaine and inhaled a line. He passed the drugs to his left.
"Spooky. She hates cocaine. She wants me to stop doing it." Karl looked at Strum seriously. He felt a small pang of panic. Karl knew that if Strum weren't doing cocaine anymore then he would never see him because he only saw him when they met at Gacey's to get high.
"Fuck that bitch," Karl said and laughed. He looked at Strum who frowned. Strum didn't reply. He just took a swig of beer.
"Marlene is totally cool," Rusty said from behind Karl, "She gives me free drinks at Church all the time."
"That's cool," Karl said to Rusty, "I don't know if Spooky has your best interest in mind, that's all I'm saying dood."
"She's my sister, and don't call me dood," Strum paused for a second, "Let's talk about something else. What's new?" Karl looked away from Strum.
"Uh, nothing," Gacey began. The front doorbell rang and he got up to answer it. Peggy was home from work and she had a few friends with her. She bounced down the stairs and joined the circle of drug users.
"Look what I got," She bubbled as she threw a rather large bag of cocaine into the center of the circle. The room shifted with interest. Peggy looked at Strum, "Want some?" she asked.
"Sure," Strum said and snatched the bag from the floor. He opened the ziplock and let his finger taste the cocaine. "It's good," he said.
"Of course it is, silly," Peggy said smiling. She wanted to have him again so she moved closer, hoping the cocaine would bring them together.
"Here," Strum said handing the bag to her, "break out some lines."
Peggy took the tray of cocaine and finished what little bit was left on it after it had been passed around the circle of punks. She dumped some of her cocaine onto the tray and, using a driver's license that someone had left on the tray, she cut the powder into five gigantic lines. "From Dusty to me to you," she announced and handed the tray to Strum. "Where's Spooky?" Peggy asked Rusty.
"Dunno," Rusty replied as he took the coke from Strum. Rusty did a line and passed the tray to Gacey.
"Cool," Peggy said. She watched the cocaine circle the room. When the tray came back to her empty she laid another series of lines out for the room. "That's all from me," She announced, "so enjoy!" Strum did his line and looked at Peggy, who was putting her bag of cocaine into her bra. She stood up and went into her bedroom, closing the door. Strum stood up and followed. Karl looked at Strum and Rusty looked at Karl. Gacey laughed and did his line. "Here," Gacey said, pulling an eight-ball or two from a box sitting next to him on the floor.
Bill Berry says, "I was born in Detroit, Michigan and live on Cape Cod. I am a college professor who teaches writing and language. Presently, I am busy with my dissertation on identity and writing. My creative work is inherently transgressive. I want people to feel challenged; my fiction reflects this."