Samuel, September 1993

It was just like a movie, or a dream. Everything moved so much slower as I biked my way towards his house. Sunset was upon us and I was not paying any attention to sounds, visually drinking in the totally new landscape of Key West. The pastels, the florae, the buildings, and the people staring back at me in a way they never did back in Missouri.

Then there was his house. He answered the door and kissed me, with confidence and submission. Melting and molten all at once, he was beautiful physically, like Harry Hamlin. As dusk darkened into night, he put on The The’s “Love is stronger than death,” and we sat on the couch, facing the pool, the music a complimentary background for our passions.

Like a damn movie, or a dream I tell ya. He had everything down perfectly. The scenery, the mechanics, the dialogue…and he practiced endlessly. As I found out later, every day, almost, always with someone new. Bummer. Samuel slept with many, many, many people. Beautiful Samuel was the first of many questionable sexual decisions made during my stay in Key West.

Repaying her father, Key West, September 1993

“Daddy’s home, to stay.”
-The Stray Cats, “Daddy’s home.”

I went to smoke, and at the shop, everyone smoked out front. I could look down the sidewalk and see that all the employees of the various shops were also outside, smoking. September is a slow month on the island. There were no tourists to attend to, so no one did too much but smoke.

Some of them would stand in the doorway, others talked amongst themselves, and others sat near the street on the big plant boxes. I would sit inside the shop to escape the heat sometimes, but mostly I liked being outside. Key West was very new and I wasn’t oriented to the day to day yet. So nothing at all was still new and exciting to me.

I noticed the girl coming towards me. She walked slowly, her feet crossing over the other without being pigeon-toed, each step dreamily slow. She had short hair and glasses and a tee shirt and shorts. I smoked by the door this day, the music from inside loud enough to be overwhelming as she approached. I exhaled smoke as she asked me something lost in a laugh, consumed by the music.

“I’m sorry, what?” I said, thinking she would repeat her question. She looked at me for two beats, and with her right hand, tried to slap me in the testicles. She was quick, like a fast-pitch softball pitcher. But my reflexes were faster, and my move to deflect prevented serious harm.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I said, shocked at the surreal, sudden provocation. I took a step back and she giggled. She turned to the right and kept walking. I was unsure of a course of action, as the situation was so unexpected. So I stood in the doorway, watching her move slowly down Duval. Two shops down, she succeeded in her actions because the man she hit hadn’t been paying attention to what had happened to me just 30 seconds before.

He was as shocked as I was, and she kept walking dreamily on, thinking, I assume, of her father.

The Star-Maker, Key West, September 1993

“Life in your New World, turning round and round, making some sense where there’s no sense at all…”
-Icehouse, “No promises.”

I smoked a lot, and had recently made the acquaintance of several other nearby employees and owners of the shops on the 600 and 700 blocks of Duval, as we all smoked outside. Casual, hi, howyadoin’ types of people that, were it not for cigarettes, I probably would not have met. Smoking was the immediate bond between us. I looked forward to talking with one or the other to pass the time, so as not to think about my present situation. We had left stable jobs in stable Branson to explore the world and all its wonders, and now here I was, in Key West, bringing in five dollars an hour selling t-shirts and bathing suits. I wrote lots of postcards in the beginning, lying to my friends about the exciting times I wasn’t having in the hopes that those times were soon to come.

September was oppressively hot and still, and the act of cigarette smoking was not that pleasurable to my lungs. But my hands were busy and the nicotine was a welcome embrace to my system when nothing else was happening. The man was in his early 50’s by appearance. He had brown hair and a mustache. He gave me the once over, and I saw him look at my crotch. He approached and struck up a conversation.

“I must say you are very beautiful.”
“Thank you.” I said, feeling a tad off-guard at his forthrightness.
“Are you making enough money?”
“I’m workin’ on it,” not really sure what he meant.

“You know, if I had your looks, I’d be sitting on a gold mine.”
“Thanks.” I said again, now guarded.
“Listen to me and think about what I said. I said, ‘If I had your looks, I’d be sitting on a gold mine.’ Think about it, let your mind expand on it.” He stared directly at me, into me, his gaze unblinking, focused and dark. I looked down and took a drag.

“I’ll do that.” I said, now thoroughly creeped out, not making eye contact again.
“Yeah, you do that.” He said. “I’ll be around.”

For the longest time, I was unsure of what this exchange was, other than some odd come-on. Later, I heard about the pornographers from Miami that were always on the lookout for new talent. Then everything made sense. He never came back around; my promising career in movies given to someone prettier, more willing to play ball, someone less naïve.

He was the possessor of men’s looks and their bodies. He made them famous and empty simultaneously, their gold becoming his.

Scott, late September 1993

We were both from Missouri. I trusted him almost immediately. We became friends. He was the day manager at my first job in Key West.

My bosses had two shops less than 50 yards from the other, diagonal to the other. The smaller was all black and white clothes and was totally cool, circa 1985. The larger store sold more upscale clothing, pricey jeans and leather jackets, some clubby shirts, and lots and lots and lots of underwear and swimsuits. Many thongs were sold to people whose physiques did not merit said thongs. But hey, it’s their world—I’m just the guy behind the counter selling them a thong.

I usually worked the smaller store by myself, while two or three employees would be scheduled for the larger store. Scott always worked at the larger store. He’d come from St. Louis and had run into a little bit of trouble up there, but wasn’t too specific. He was very handsome, with black hair, dark brown eyes, great facial structure, and quietly intense. He’d come in early (7 a.m.) to do the books, and stay all day, sometimes leaving as late as 10 p.m.

He wasn’t allowed to drive, for whatever reason. I didn’t ask. Work was very important to him, and he always worked hard. Sometimes, though, he’d call me when nothing was going on, and tell me to lock up and come over to the other store. Then he’d give me money to go to the bar across the street and pick up some beers. But this was only if we weren’t busy. We’d then stand outside the bigger store, drink beer, and watch people walk by. He was a cool boss.

Both stores had fairly kickass sound systems, as the owners liked and wanted loud music for “ambience.” This was fine by me. Loud music took my mind off the disorienting change of my day to day life. Less than a month ago, Branson was still the reality, and I had no idea what life would be like here. I certainly hadn’t counted on this.

Everyone is fucked up all the time. It’s a small island, so no one has to drive anywhere, and it’s easy to overdo whatever you do when you walk. Crazy drunks. Vomit on the sidewalks in the morning. So many homeless people on Duval Street at night.

It’s dirty here, and so fucking hot! I sweat more than normal, so I’m always wet and uncomfortable. I’ve had a low-grade fever for about a week. Everything is more difficult because it’s unfamiliar.

My roommates both work at the Copa. One is bartending and the other is working the door. They’re not making any money. Neither am I.

I make $5.25 an hour. Our rent is $1100.00 a month, plus utilities. Since we’ve just moved here, we need outrageous deposits for the phone and electric, not to mention first and last month’s rent and $550 for a security deposit. Our air-conditioner was built before anyone thought of energy conservation. It’s always on, yet it’s never cool in the apartment.

Our deck looks out onto an alley and a small parking lot. We can look into the second floor of the Heartbreak Hotel, serving those arriving to or departing from Key West, who will not, or did not make it here. Checking in there must taint one, in some unseen way. Lots of anger resounding from those “hotel rooms.” The smell of crank would drift across the alley, permeating our deck experience with that miserable burnt chemical odor.

There always seemed to be a fight in progress. The screams would always escalate in intensity. Although we could hear them, we could never really tell what whoever was fighting was fighting about. Should we call the cops? No way. Those pissed off, abusive crank maniacs from God Knows Where we might rat-out can look right through our windows into our place, too. No, no thanks. More crank ‘ill cure what ails ‘em.

Tourist season hasn’t begun, so the only people out are locals. It’s their vomit I’ve been seeing. Most of the people who are out during September must be alcoholics. They have to be. I’ve never seen so many drunks in such a small concentration. Long past fun, most are aggressive or pathetic.

Lots of coke around here, too. I was pulled off the dance floor at the Copa while trying to fend off a guy’s coke-laden fingers aiming straight for my nose. He was extremely offended when I declined he drug-filled hand. I tried to be conciliatory, saying “I don’t do coke. If you have a joint, I’ll smoke it with you…” But it didn’t work. He left in a huff, and got back behind the bar. Everything is so different here.

Rent is due October first. We are two hundred dollars short. I get paid in two days, on October second. That is too late and I know it’s too late. Our landlord was very specific. Late days are charged. And the bank puts a six-day freeze on cashing newcomer’s checks. I don’t have enough money now, and certainly not enough to incur late fees. There isn’t a solution.

I start to freak out, crying alone in the smaller clothing store. I call Scott, then close the shop for a few minutes, and meet him out in front of the bigger store. Would the owners go for an advance on my check? He asks if everything is all right, and I start to overflow, crying despite my efforts.

I tell him about my (our) financial situation and rent being due, and I try to restrain my emotions, but it’s still not working. He became very calm and told me to wait there for a moment. He went to the back of the store and came back with $200 dollars. It’s his money. “Pay me back whenever you can. Whenever. Really.”

Wow. This guy who barely knows me, but trusts me enough to loan me money. Here, in Key West, where I’ve already learned not to trust anyone, he trusts me. Things will be all right. My panic subsided as I realized I’d made a friend, my first true friend, in Key West. I paid him back eight days later, the first opportunity I had.

Wednesday night, October 1993

“We are who we are. We’re just like anybody else.”
-The Other Ones, “We are who we are.”


She told me a story once, about growing up in the boot heel of Missouri, before he became a transsexual. His uncle was a clock maker and repairman, and there were over one hundred clocks in his shop. He visited often, as his uncle was non-judgmental about how he was different from the rest of his family. Sometimes they would wind as many clocks as they could, the alarms and chimes and ticking one giant, cacophonous, beautiful sound.

His family hated the way he was. His effeminate nature, his original thoughts, and his general behavior frightened them. But his uncle was good to him. When he died, he took one of the clocks as a memento.

He tried not to think about growing up in Missouri. This was difficult, though, as those were his formative years, like it or not. He went back a couple of years before, in 1989, this time as a drag queen. The experience wasn’t pleasant. He had not gone back or spoken with his family since.

She had good pot and needed to talk sometimes. She, I, and a guy who had been a professional photographer in New York had come over to the apartment, taking a break from the Wednesday night ritual of dancing at the Copa. She kept rolling joints and telling me about how great Key West was as opposed to the narrowness of Missouri. The photographer sat and listened, contentedly stoned and intrigued about how different life could be in the mid-west as opposed to the East Coast. The photographer had had a promising career until manic depression made him unreliable, not worth hiring.

I was really uncomfortable with my first impressions of the transsexual. She screamed in my face as well as the face of our mutual acquaintance during a drunken introduction. Later I realized it was just her exuberant way of saying hello. “Ahhhhhhh!” She had shrieked, rolling her head around her shoulders, arms extended upward.

She said sometimes she would wind the clock and think of her uncle. She stroked the long blond hair of the photographer who sat next to her, who still listened intently. It was 3 a.m. when we got back to the bar; and most of the people had already cleared out. The transsexual disappeared when the photographer and I went for a drink. I saw her out the next night and asked her where she’d gone. She said she’d gone to another bar, looking for someone. But she didn’t say who.

Hurricane Andrew – Key West, October 1993

Barometric pressure drops. The winds intensify. The clouds darken. The coming storm is at hand… Hurricane Andrew smashed into South Florida in 1992 with furious natural vengeance. South Floridians who lived through the experience will never forget the destruction, the devastation, the aftermath of Andrew. The next year, still new to the Keys, I met Hurricane Andrew in his human incarnation.

I made the acquaintance of Ray 10 days to two weeks before Fantasy Fest in October of 1993. We worked together at two clothing stores on Duval Street. He was 32, 5’10, strawberry blonde hair with green eyes, chiseled features, and beautiful teeth. He was very attractive and ambiguous regarding his sexuality. He emitted major “Is he or isn’t he?” vibes, and flirted enigmatically with whoever came into the stores. I really hoped he was gay, as I was almost instantly smitten.

Ray was a fast talker. Armed with a firm, learned grasp of the language, 150 beats-per-minute staccato/articulate delivery, and an amazing Intel-inside, mega co-processor memory, Ray could really steer a discussion. A rapid-fire onslaught of charm, a smattering of facts, and great heaps of shit, he never ceased to amaze, either. He could and did talk with people from all over the country about their club scenes, the arts, escoterica, etc., plumbing the depths of his unlimited conversational wellspring. He talked constantly.

When we were alone, he talked about being a gigolo, kicking cocaine in Honolulu, past sex partners, jacking off for money from and in front of very rich men, yachts, after-hours clubs in New York, and other weird and personal things I won’t mention here, with such velocity that, the more he talked, the more shadowy he became. He was intense and charming and intelligent and glamorous and charismatic and sinister. And his whole trip zipped along at 90 miles an hour. Always. He was trouble, and I was completely transfixed.

We kissed once. We had met for drinks earlier, gotten very drunk, when Ray said he had to meet someone and would I like to come along. Sure, I had said, without much hesitation. We walked east, towards an affluent cluster of large houses.

During our walk, Ray told me about the wife of the mob guy that he had started sleeping with a couple of days earlier. She had come into the store with her husband, but he didn’t stay long. When he left, she flirted purposefully, gave him her number, and told him to call later that day, which he did. And that’s where we going.

“I don’t know about this,” I said. He said everything was cool and not to worry. He was having fun, and she gave him a lot of money for sex, so no problem. Did I want to join in? No, no thank you. “Maybe I should go…” He wanted me to at least walk him to the house, maybe look at the inside. “The house is fucking beautiful, Lance. You really should see it.”

And then we were there. We went through a gate into a darkened courtyard and followed a stone path to the side of the house. The house was beautiful on the inside, immaculately furnished, and well lit. Someone very rich owned this house. We stood in the shadows before he went in, talking for a moment, when he told me I was a good person and that I probably shouldn’t be hanging out with someone like him. Which enticed me even more, of course.

The air was humid and still, and though it was late in the evening, October’s heat still remained. I stayed quiet for the most part, saying nothing other than variations of “Are you sure you want to do this?” There was no turning back, though. He wanted to go.

Then he kissed me. His hands were on my cheeks, his kiss very tender. He said “You’re a nice person. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I was shocked and pleasantly surprised by the kiss, but saddened that he was leaving to go have sex with someone else.

I was fascinated that he seemed to have no conscience about any of his actions, and that charm alone had carried him this far without any major repercussions. He seemed to be a very lucky person. Nothing bad happened to Ray when he slept with the mobster’s wife, and he was a couple hundred dollars richer for the experience, so he was happy with the outcome. I was beginning to become concerned about Ray’s developing picture. His real colors were more…careless/dangerous/turbulent than I had romanticized.

A few nights later, for whatever reason, Ray flipped out and spent all his paycheck on liquor and crack, clicked into gonzo mode, and headed for the clothing store. He was scheduled to work that night, but five hours earlier. Two or three people always worked the bigger store, and one person worked the smaller store. Since the shops were located diagonally from each other, I could see into the bigger shop from across the street. I was outside smoking when Ray went inside.

The next few minutes was like watching a SNL skit come to life. Without hearing the dialogue, I could see the hand and arm gestures of conflict from both Ray and the two employees. Then, without context, Ray jumped onto a glass display case containing sunglasses. He wanted to do a propeller spin to the floor, he said later. So in the course of a cigarette, I see him enter, wave his hands wildly, and then he was standing on top of the glass case, nothing above his mid thigh visible. Then, in that split second, instead of jumping, he broke through the glass. By the time I realized what was happening, there was nothing to do but watch him drop.

For all of the event’s suddenness, Ray remained balanced. It was a struggle, him twisting backward, jumping out of the case, then righting himself perpendicular at the last moment, glass and mirror and reflected light falling all around those beautiful legs. I heard the crash from across the street, even though the larger store’s doors were closed. I went back inside. Should I call the owners?

No need, as Ray had run across the street and come into my shop. He was shaken and tweaked, threatening to kill the other two employees who’d pushed him out the door and wouldn’t let him back in. He escaped the whole incident with only one deep cut on the top of his foot. He asked me to clean him up. “I already picked the glass out.” He said. I didn’t want to get involved, but I didn’t want to piss him off, either.

After he was bandaged, I told him to leave, as the cops or owners or both were probably on the way. He thought that was a good idea and told me to meet him at the Copa later. I told him I would, just to get him out of the store. His freakish behavior, ramblings, and repeated death threats against the other two boys began to give me the spooks. I didn’t think it would be too cool for him to turn on me, and for me to turn into Daffy Duck, ho-hoo!-ing down the street, Ray-as-Elmer-Fudd, chasing close behind, ax or rifle in hand. No Es frijol people. Not cool.

After work, I did go to the Copa. I had remembered, that after annoying the staff for a week straight, Ray had been 86’d, and couldn’t get in. That was cool with me, and I spent the rest of the night alternating between my roommates’ bars, getting tremendously drunk in the process. Pretty much like any other night. Almost like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

A couple of hours later, I staggered home and passed out on the four foot, rattan, kind-of couch positioned in front of the air conditioner in the living room. I was unaware that Ray and two new buddies were trying to break into our apartment, presumably to steal what little belongings we had for drugs. Our neighbor heard the commotion and threatened to call the cops. They ran away. I slept through the whole thing (Yeah, pretty, I know) and didn’t know about the night’s climax until the next day, when the neighbor told me. He seemed to be disgusted with me also, probably knowing I was home and blind drunk at the time.

After that night, coupled with repeated physical and death threats and some stalking on his part, my friendship with Ray became strained.

Early morning or late night, Key West – November/December 1993

At 4:30 almost every morning, if I was up, which was usually, because it was too hot to sleep, or I was too fucked up or not fucked up enough…

Waiting for my roommates to get home from work at the Copa. Dreading their arrival.
Drunken accusations thrown about, yelling, bullshit-drama almost every night about this time. The same two of us would yell at the same two of us. We began to hate the other. I would sit there, staring, the lights, but nothing else, on. I made no sounds waiting for them, waiting for it to begin again.

But before they’d get home, sometimes, someone, some guy but not the same guy probably, would be getting his dick sucked outside our window, as we lived next to an adult book store. And although it wasn’t the same guy (probably), they all said “Yeah…suck it…” In tones hushed, yet commanding and loud enough to be heard through our windows on the second floor.

Near the end of the first 100 or so days All of December, Key West 1993

Counting backwards, still…

December 31

It was getting close to midnight and 1994 was seconds away. Not everyone in the bar had a glass of champagne yet, so my job was not yet complete. Laughter, drunken celebration, anticipation all around me, but I had to get those drinks out, so excuse me please. Everyone around me celebrates, their hopes and aspirations, all rising up to meet 1994, while I ran behind, or around them, changing their ashtrays, cleaning their messes, pulling their bottles and glasses.

What would 1994 hold?

December 27

We were really here. We were really stuck here, _____ and I. The overcast weather and humidity mirrored our temperaments. Max is gone. Our phone is still out.

Both _____ and I, though, are making money. Key West is jam packed full of people, therefore, so are the bars. And during this week, we worked hard. People are tipping generously. Hopefully we can pay the over $600 dollar phone bill soon.

_____ is homesick. Physically she feels better than she did yesterday. There’s nothing I can say to make things better for her. I feel very guilty for her situation. I feel responsible for her missing her family over the holidays and corresponding reaction and actions.

December 26

_____ still hasn’t recovered from Christmas Eve. Something isn’t quite right with her mind. She pointed a knife at me and asked me if I was scared of her. When I said I wasn’t, she said, “You should be. You should be.”

She hasn’t eaten today and only a few bites of chicken yesterday. Her mouth contorts with disgust when she looks at me. Her blue eyes radiate with hate. I don’t know this person. I am scared of her. Not for myself, really, but for what she might do to others, or her real self locked behind that countenance somewhere. She really got hammered two days ago.

I found out today what happened. The Copa hosted a “Turnabout” for Christmas Eve. A Turnabout is a lip sync performance by the staff, while bartenders from other bars work for them. Proceeds usually go to charity. The men dress up as women, and the women dress up as men. Hence, the name “Turnabout.”

_____ was dressed up as Kenny Rogers and was paired with a bartender named Ramon, who was dressed as Dolly Parton for their duet of “Islands in the Stream.” A couple of _____’s friends came in shortly before her performance and made her do a bunch of coke. _____ can’t say no. She doesn’t want to offend anyone; even if said offended might be a gaggle of cokeheads.

_____ does several rails with these girls, drinks some more, then proceeds to attack Ramon onstage. She tried to pop his breasts, then hugged and humped him, then screamed at him, storming offstage in the middle of the song. Then she passed out. Some bartenders brought her home. One of them told me what had happened. _____ doesn’t remember anything after arriving for work.

There are people everywhere. They crowd the streets, not paying attention, talking loud. There’s nowhere to go; no place for quiet. I leave the apartment and walk around for awhile, hoping _____ will be all right for an hour or so without hurting herself. I don’t know what to do.

December 25
Christmas at the beach!!

_____’s breathing was less labored than before. It was becoming clear she wouldn’t overdose on this holiday. Since it was around two p.m. Central Standard, and since our phone had not re-connected itself like I had asked God and Santa for my one Christmas-time miracle, I would have to go somewhere to find a pay phone. Hopefully one in a semi-private location, because the wholeness of my aloneness was biting down hard as I decided on and pedaled to a pay phone at Fort Taylor beach.

It was cool, drizzling, overcast, windy, and quiet. No one else was in the immediate area. Good. I didn’t want anyone to see me. I looked out onto the water. The darkness of the clouds extended to a point beyond visibility, beyond the horizon.

It was a sad day all over. I was fully aware of the fact that I was gonna be in bad circumstance for awhile. And then…I realized that I realized this! A Christmastime epiphany! Mental thunderclap, explosions, and the strength to fake some holiday cheer for my family’s sake because after all, I was calling from the beach and everything was fabulous, excellent, and why wouldn’t it be?
The sky darkened and the wind picked up. The drizzle intensified. It was cold and snowy in Missouri where the whole family was gathered. My displacement weighed heavy in Mom’s voice. Her baby was missing; somewhere else, away. She could hear, but not see or touch me. Her tone was sad, hollow.

It rained and I cried long after hanging up, staring at the trees bending leftward, and at the crashing and rippling waves, the only visible movement to the end of the horizon.

December 24

The three of us had our Christmas Eve meal at Subs of Miami. We were equally miserable. Howard bitched the entire meal about how lonely he was and how he hated and alternately missed New York, along with other gripes I tried not to pay attention to, as I didn’t want to feel any worse than I already did. ____ and I ate more or less in silence.

It was our first Christmas here. No family, our roommates from Missouri freshly departed, very few friends, and almost no trustworthy ones. Well, this is as bad as it gets, right? Just then, a colossal bunny-hop/conga line came dancing through the Subs of Miami, started outside by a stupid-ass guitar player from the bar next door who was too peppy not to be a detriment to everyone. We stared at each other in silence as the progression of drunken straight hopper hopped and extended their legs by us, keeping up with the person just in front of them, laughing, 30 or 40 of them, past our sullen table, through Subs of Miami, in Key West, on Christmas Eve.

We left Howard and went home to shower and change. _____ was in the shower and I was on the deck smoking pot, when gunshots rang out. They sounded close. I went to the bathroom and told _____ what had happened. We learned later that it was a Conch man that was killed. Just out of the Navy, a new father, knew all the locals, loved by everyone, starting a new life, killed on Christmas Eve 1993. An innocent bystander between two people with guns and drugs. We knew none of this information then, only that those shots weren’t good. Those shots were a violent, staccato portent to the course of the rest of the evening.

There’s something unsettling or unholy about being slammed shitless at work on Christmas Eve night into Christmas morning. We stayed busy until 2 a.m., and then, nothing. Everyone had gone to the Copa, so, after closing and cleaning, Howard and I went there, too. We couldn’t find _____. We danced for awhile, but I wasn’t really into it, so I left to go home.

From a distance, I saw Max get into a cab. He didn’t say goodbye. I yell to him and he flinches, pretending not to hear me. I guess he thought it would be easier this way. He left on Christmas Day. I haven’t seen him since.

As I opened the door to our apartment, I saw _____’s naked body sprawled out on our bed. She was on her back, outlined in sweat, her breathing heavy and labored, unconscious. Panicked, I quickly jumped on the bed and rolled her onto her side. I had no idea what she’d taken to end up in her current state.

She’s barely breathing. I woke her once. She mumbled something incoherent at me, and then slipped back into the depths. So I lay there, with all the lights of the apartment on, holding her on her side so she won’t choke on her own vomit, just in case she should vomit.

I can hear a party going on next door, as our bedroom adjoins the other unit. The cadences of laughter and speech and several conversations at once were in contrast to the buzz of silence on our side and the occasional noise _____ made, trying to breathe. I made a conscious decision to stay with her and ride this one out, rather than call the paramedics. Because phone service was cut yesterday, I’d have to leave and go use the pay phone.

Anything could happen while I was gone. I suppose if she got worse, I could ask the neighbors to call for me. So I stayed there, listening to the partygoers next door, thinking about how our very different circumstances were separated by this wall that I could hear their laughter emanate from. I held _____ still, whispering for her to relax, hoping she never stopped breathing.

About 5 a.m., as the party next door is in high gear, someone knocks on our door. _____ is somewhat stable in her labored breathing, so I got up and answered the door. In sweeps this drag queen in a beautiful red satin dress, bouffant hair, holding a bottle of champagne, spreading Yuletide cheer. “Merry Christmas darling.” She says in a throaty whisper, smiling.

“The party’s next door.”
“Oh…” She says, her smile on pause, then, “I’m sorry—excuse me.”
“Can I keep the champagne?” I ask, attempting a smile.
“No.” She says, not smiling, grabbing the bottle, sweeping back out of the apartment. And then she was next door, where the noise level went up for a moment the moment she walked in.

I went back into our bedroom. I’m very tired, but I stay awake until after 6, to make sure she still breathes. Christmas morning arrives as I fall asleep from the day before.

December 23

Our phone has been cut off. We owe over $600 to the Phone Company. $210 of the bill is ours. Our former roommates called yesterday from Miami to get their half of the apartment deposit back. But since the rest of the bill is theirs, we told them to fuck off, on speakerphone no less. Now, at least we won’t hear from them again. We can’t. We ain’t got no phone.

The rash around my waist has spread to behind my underarms. _____ has it too, as well
as people who’ve slept in our bed. I’m freaked out because I still don’t know what it is.

December 21

Our two other roommates left today for Miami. Their departure comes three days after telling us they wouldn’t leave for several more months and giving us proper notice. _____ is completely freaked out by this turn of events. I’ll never forgive either one of them for this. They have left us alone at a critical time.

December 18

Went to a birthday party for the man with whom Max is staying. There were less than 10 people left when we arrived just before 5 a.m.. They’d all been doing coke since about 1 p.m. that previous afternoon and were all pretty “geeked out.” When one “geeks,” that person has done so much coke that they move in spasms. They jerk their head to talk with you, or their hands jerk to light a cigarette. They move like someone afflicted with Cerebral Palsy. Glamorous. Max and I had smoked a joint, so I couldn’t relate to this scene at all. They all jabbered at each other in a little circle, except for the birthday boy, who sat away a little distance, observing. He was a lawyer in town.

I knew of him before I knew Max, as he had come into the bar before. Some acquaintances of mine referred to him as “The Devil.” He had an almost soundless gait, floating almost, and a peculiar, serene expression pasted to his countenance at all times, in all circumstances. He would simply “appear” places, not producing any resistance or sound, seemingly an inch above ground, always surrounded by some motherfuckers of ill repute, smiling that weird little half-smile, taking it all in. Creepy.

And there he was, smiling that smile, surrounded by these geeked out cokeheads, still presiding in the moment, even close to sunrise. He watched Max and I talk with each other, focusing on us, cutting through the extraneous noises. He would smile and nod at us occasionally. Then he’d re-narrow his eye just a bit, still listening.

December 17

At the beach

I see him in the water
Through my hazy, stoned perception
Moving slower,
Coming closer,
Head down as he rises,
Out of the water,
Onto the sand,
Smiling
As he walks.
Swinging his arms
With fluid, flirty
Motion,
His mouth upturned in almost a perfect curve.
His teeth shine.
His square cut trunks cling to his thighs.
His curly brown hair form ringlets
From water’s saturation.

He turns away, just for a moment,
Then turns back,
Another smile forming,
In motion again,
As he bends down to kiss me,
Gently,
On the beach, by the water.

As bad as the rest of my life is now,
This man is equally good.
I am so thankful for my friend Max.
I feel so much better around him,
And for the knowledge
That people like him, do indeed, exist.
He’s sexy and intelligent.
He has a good heart.
We make each other laugh so much!
Sometimes it takes awhile longer than others, but
When I am with him, I do forget everything else.
I can relax.

I like him.
I love him.
I could fall in love with him.
So why does he have to leave?

He stands before me, the sun behind his head, his aura aglow, smiling.

December 15

Both ____ and I have terrible rashes extending from armpit to ankle. The rash is painful, and is worst around my belt line, where the sores break easily and ooze constantly. Other people have slept in our bed and are now getting sores on their body too. What the fuck is this? We can’t afford a visit to the doctor. ____ and I are both freaked out, as our rashes only get worse.

December 14

He was frolicking in the water at Fort Taylor beach, flopping around, standing up, a sexy look or pose, then more jumping. And laughing. And smiling the smile of a mischievous child aware that you’re aware what he’s doing is wrong and catching him in mid-act, but what the hell, he’s adorable…

I was shocked when he began to roll a joint right there on the beach. He told me to relax; a lot. “Everything will be alright.” “Relax” was the word. And when he said it to me, I would. Or at least I would try. We giggled and toked, sunning and kissing, smiling big, our secret behavior barely secret.

I could always eventually relax with Max. His energy had a wonderful, calming effect on me. So very soothing. Time spent with him seemed slower, molasses smiles, activities stretching out over the course of an afternoon seemed so much longer. He was a living example of Zeitgeist.

After almost three months of unwanted come-ons and general bullshit behavior by tourists and other locals, I decided to gain 20 pounds and grow a beard so “they” would leave me alone. Needless to say, my roommates thought I was insane. “You’re crazy.” “Are you insane? – What is wrong with you?” was their response.

So I didn’t gain the weight, but I did grow a beard. And I didn’t cut my hair. There, that should do it. And it worked. My beard was not very attractive, and my hair was kind of weird and unkempt, and people stopped noticing me, which was what I wanted.

I had been fired from my job at the clothing store earlier that day, and was drowning my sorrows at the Copa, at the bar by the dance floor manned by a roommate. I was watching the crowd while drinking, hoping the dancers would cheer me up. One guy seemed to be dancing with everyone around him. He was cute and entertaining as he bopped around, smiling and grooving, moving person to person, enjoying himself as much as the others enjoyed being around him. When he would stop for a break, he would stand a few feet away, nodding and smiling at me. Then he was back on the dance floor, grooving once again. I began to realize that I really enjoyed watching him.

Awhile later, he came back again, smiled and nodded again, then came over. He began to talk and question, eliciting my responses, comforting tones re-enforced with wide open eyes, sincere, positive, warm, in unison with his voice. He glowed. My response to him was immediate, but I still remained cautious.

My inhibition didn’t last long, though, as we’ve seen each other every day since. He has come along at just the right time.

December 12

Scott has an outstanding warrant from another state.
I have helped Scott rent a car with my credit card.
Now Scott has disappeared, and his uncle calls me regularly, knowing I know something.
But I didn’t, I swear.
What went down never occurred to me.

His uncle tells me I could be arrested for aiding and abetting a fugitive.
Holy shit I’m naive.
Why did I even get involved?
I have to lay down now.

December 10

I started at the One Saloon last night. It’s dark and they are renovating, so everything is coated with sawdust. The bar by the dance floor is under plastic. They are still places to stand, though. The manager says it’s all right for people to stand back there. “Just don’t let them get too crazy.” I bar back, so I stock and fill and empty. Last night wasn’t too busy, but the manager says that will change.

December 9

They all come home from the Copa smashed and screaming at each other, every night. Especially _____, but the boys are right there, too. Then I get to be in the middle. Fun!

The only reason I mention this is because it hasn’t happened in two mornings. They’ve been in Miami for the second time in less than a month. It’s obvious they want to move, and if _____ and I could afford it, that would be great. _____ and I get along very well together, and we would be perfectly happy without them around. But the rent between two of us is too much.

They’ve said, though, that they won’t move for awhile and I have to believe them. _____ and I hung out on the deck, smoked pot, listened to the roosters crowing in Bahama Village, and laughed amongst ourselves.

December 5

Got fired today, for the first time ever, from the clothing store. Scott and I told our bosses the other two employees were ripping them off. But the other two employees were also sleeping with our bosses, so they won. I’ve never been fired before, much less over trying to do the right thing. I’m stunned.

December 1

_____ got drunk last night and told this beautiful guy how obsessed I was over him, on the dance floor, at the Copa. I don’t think he feels remotely the same way. I don’t want to look at or be near him. That will be difficult, though, as he works two stores down from where I work. Beautiful.

December 31

The crowd counts down the final seconds (“Four! Three! Two! One!”), then the collective New Year’s celebration reaches climax for a minute or so. The kissing and yelling and drinking and spilling of alcohol and groping of the revelers is a just reward for making it through another year. The confetti, smoke, and music in the air, the temperature in the 60’s at midnight on this new January morning; it’s all un-natural to me. I view the festivities with detachment. They celebrate while I endure.

I watch the crowd for some sense of happiness or fulfillment or encouragement via osmosis. But the scene leaves me flat. I return to work with a growing dread of the offerings offered by this new year 1994, a week from my 28th birthday, unaware of just how difficult the experiences of the coming year would actually be. “Tommy’s out of Bud! Go change the keg!” The manager screams at me over the crowd.

I head to the cooler, humming a tune to block out the ill feeling welling up inside of me. I think to myself, “There should be snow on the ground.” I don’t even like snow. “Without it, everything is wrong.” A few feet away from me, a man is laughing.

Welcome to 1994, Lance. Try to be brave.

Winter 1993

Vincent and I would drive around the island in his pickup. He, dropping off bags of weed here and there, me, along for the ride. We enjoyed each other’s company. He would get extra food when we’d order out, when I couldn’t afford it, because he felt I was losing too much weight.

Which, in reality, I was. I was not taking care of myself, working too much, and constantly popping ephedrine tablets. Ephedrine is one chemical ion away from being classified as a meth-amphetamine. Did you know that?

I only found that out a few years ago, and not when I lived in Key West. I’m a little hyper anyway, and being strung out on ephedrine and caffeine did make me lose weight. “Eat! Eat! You’re a growing boy!” He would say, making me finish whatever he had ordered, taking care to insure I lost no more weight. He was very nurturing of me.

He was the first one at work to offer a friendly hand. That meant so much, as I was intimidated by the unfamiliarity of my new workplace. I was there as an apprentice. If I showed any promise or talent, my boss would hire me on. Which he eventually did, but at first, there was no such guarantee. But none of that mattered to Vincent.

I worked in silence those first couple of weeks, learning the photo-stat machine, how to use an exacto-knife, how to cut a rubylyth, and how to typeset. Simple procedures to someone skilled in graphics, but unfamiliar and difficult for me. So I worked quietly, doing what was asked, timid and unsure, praying for patient responses to the inevitable mistakes I kept making. He responded to every mistake and question with a smile.

He sold me weed. He kept me fed. He was patient and helpful. He was actively concerned about my well being. He came along at just the right time.

My dealer became my friend.

Missouri dirt road – Key West, winter, 1993-94

I have twisted my ankle or fallen may times running that dirt road. Rocks, ruts, the downhill slope, staring out onto the view…all contributing to falls or injuries received. Rolling pastures on the right, tree line, bluff, lake, more pastures and view, to the left. The road leads past a farm, up and down two smaller hills, then to a fork in the road.

To the right, the gated part of the road leads almost directly to the lake. I have been there many times. My father and uncle used to fish there. When I didn’t want to run the full distance, I would take the right fork. And I would end up here. The lake that used to be a river’s dam-controlled current rolls by, a constant 53 or 54 degrees. The air is heavy with fog or humidity, depending on the time of day. I would stay here, catching my breath for a moment, then turn and begin the walk up the many hills toward home.

But, if I chose to run further, I took the left fork, which sloped rather sharply downhill. My speed could not help but increase. Looking down at the my vibrating legs and knees and shoes that preferred to go pigeon-toed, demanding rigorous thought for opposite results. Stretching out, each graceful, successive shock, meeting the downward sloping earth, sure-footed, cautious, but faster each time.

My friend Inertia goads me on, urging my legs to keep time with some theoretical construct involving mass, velocity, and resistance with no consideration to rocks, ruts, and variable terrain. Inertia whispers “Faster, faster!” The sound of wind rushes by my ears. I become aware of my grunts that correspond with the shock of each step. Then, the hill levels out and my pace slows, re-adjusting to the flattened terrain of the road next to the lake.

Trees and the waterline on the right, a green, sloping and sheer bluff on the left, and the rutted dirt road, leading through the outskirts of the magical forested mountain. To the left, the sounds of animals in the leaves. They observe from a protected distance as I pass through their territory. Lake Taneycomo floats gently by, its heavy, chilly fog rising and dissipating. The occasional fisherman passes by in a motorboat, breaking the lake’s glass-like surface. Sometimes the fog eliminates visibility entirely on or near the lake. Although those conditions make running unsafe, the reduced temperature and liquid air are comforts on the last stretch of the four-plus mile trek.

My beating heart and breaths fell into rhythm miles ago. My thoughts focus on faraway constructs and situations. I am not really running. I am somewhere that is not…there…or anywhere else. I am thought as I exercise my body. I am years ago. The lake, the stillness of surroundings, my heart, the quiet, and my recuperative breaths are this world. I long to stay here.

I get off the Stairmaster. My 45 minutes are up. All around, guys are lifting and cruising, laughing, talking about the upcoming night. Where they’ll go, what they’ll do, who they’ll do… All set to the beats of the DMX blaring techno music throughout the gym.

None of this is familiar. None of this is comforting. Everyone seems so happy. I can’t connect with any of it. I feel lost. I stare at some of their faces for clues on what I might be missing. Nothing. I don’t understand.

I leave the gym quietly and unnoticed. As I walk back to the apartment, the people that pass by begin to fade. I start the long walk back up the hills. I take care to mind the ruts, slowly traveling the road back home.

It’s January of 1994, and I run that dirt road more now than I ever did when I lived in Missouri.

Between December of 1993 and May of 1994

I have biked through the Key West cemetery almost every day. I am usually alone, pedaling slowly, stoned, sometimes stopping for a closer inspection of a tombstone, but only sometimes. I loved listening to the resounding stillness as I pedaled along the path. But, at times, there were others present.

Some sang, to themselves, loud and soft. Others talked with those in graves. Others did grave rubbings. Some met my eyes when I looked at them, searching for some empathic trace of their motivation. Others paid no heed or looked away, as I pedaled to or from work, thinking of death, other thoughts, and now, of the strangers along the way.

1994, sometime, a little dazed, maybe…

When I lived in Missouri, I sort of believed in Angels and Devils. When I lived no where else, I thought my convictions were strong. When I lived near my parents, I thought I was sane. When I lived near my family, I thought I had roots. When my friends were around me, I thought I was loved.

When I lived in Missouri, I longed for excitement. I yearned for sex with beautiful men, for fun, for a life that to me, for me, has always been unreachable and unrealistic. Now I just want calm, sleep, and to write un-interrupted. But I don’t think this will happen soon.

What has happened? Where am I going?

Perception, or hallucination? January 1994

Sometimes, while dancing at the Copa, if I was intoxicated or manic enough, I could see thin lines of light or connecting webs of energy from all those dancing around me, to me, and to others throughout the building. It was brilliant, with energy, lights, motion, and the feeling of having tapped into something not of this plane. No thought was necessary to dance. Coordination operated from the subconscious, along with access to these perceptions, normally hidden.

Sometimes the experience was so powerful the music would fade, leaving my breathing as the only sound. I became acutely aware of the synchronicity of our collective movements. I was also able to imagine how the dynamics of the people in this one bar on this block in this town connected with people all over, and how my, and their, dancing, their movements, their behaviors, contribute to the overall rhythm of our existence. These flashes were beautiful, powerful, temporary, and comforting in the way that, to me, proved there was indeed some higher power at work. And what wasn’t understood by the whole of us was still all right, as the divine is (of course) beyond our comprehension.

But something always brought me back. An obnoxious drunk, laughter, another dancer bumping into me… The music would return. The connections would dissipate. And I would again be left on this plane, intoxicated, disappointed, and disoriented by what had happened.

Cary the Angel – 1994

"Oh what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer…Oh what, wow, that I’ve ever seen…"

-Sister Sledge, "He’s the greatest dancer."

"What is the light that you have shining all around you. Is it chemically derived?? Cause if it’s natural, something glowing from inside, shining all around you, its potential has arrived. Looking into space it surrounds you."

-The Flaming Lips, "What is the Light?"

The Europeans are less inhibited than Americans, so it is much more fun to dance with them…

There is a response triggered deep within the being of some people that only a few types of music could elicit. The shedding of self-consciousness. The ability to float through and around the rhythm rather than dancing to the beat. Heightened awareness yet very selective focus. Unconscious unified aerobic respiration. The duality of frenzied physicality and the relativity of a trance-like state running parallel. It is old and innate and powerful and is experienced by far too few. But that is also what makes it special.

The dancer is black and his features are beautiful. It seems apparent that he is happy, yet he rarely speaks. Usually he is dancing by 12:30, no later than 1:00. And when he dances, it is Motion. A sight to behold, so beautiful, so graceful… He is a dancer. More than that, really. I think he’s an Angel. I can’t really prove it, but this man inspires such positivity from those around him when he is in his element of the Dance Floor. The smile this man has when he is in harmony with himself and the rhythm! His movement is coordination from some other plane, very precise and fluid, twirling like a drill bit, then bending like long grass flowing in the wind. Amazing.

He only comes out at night. His beauty is so striking, so appropriate. He dances and sweats and gleams, throwing off so much wonderful energy, freely given to whomever is dancing around him. His drown-brown eyes have a smile all their own when he’s inspired and inspiring.

I would dance next to him or just watch from a few feet away. I always felt like I was in the presence of an Ethereal rather that a mere mortal, because men are too closely linked with the earth. Sometimes I thought he would just float off somewhere in mid-step, his movement that light. People would start dancing all around him, spontaneously, just to be close to his energy, his impact that profound.

There is no doubt he is very old, as he has fully mastered the language of rhythm, yet he is not boastful of his talents. My friend Ana says that no one in Key West is deserving of him. He is too special. I hope he’s not lonely, because I think she is right.

He draws out what is good of the people who dance near him, and for those moments, that time, it’s all that is important. This lone beacon, a divinity, joyfully dancing alone after midnight in a club in Key West.

No one living ages 38 – 45, February 1994

It hurt to remember. Yet, in this context, he felt he must.

The letter came from Maryland. It was late winter, and my boss wasn’t prepared for its arrival. The letter was from the parents of an old friend. Enclosed was a picture, along with a letter telling him that his old friend had died two weeks earlier. He had lingered, and his death had taken a long, painful time to arrive. His name was George, and he and my boss had known each other back when they were in their 20’s, smokin’ hot and wild and loose and sexually free.

I had arrived at work a little late that day, tired but amped from the pot of coffee I’d ingested just to get there. He sat at his computer, alternately staring at the half-empty monitor, the picture, the keyboard, and his hands. He didn’t say too much at first, just that an old friend had died. He gave me some work due at the end of the day and returned to staring and being quiet.

Then, not more than a few minutes later, he jumped up and said, "Let’s go upstairs." This was the cue to get high, as we smoked a lot of pot at work. So we smoked a joint in silence, and I sat on a box, looking at him looking out the attic window. "Should we go back to work?" I suggested, snapping him back to the present.

He stared at me for a moment, then said "No, let’s go for a drive." Ok. It was becoming obvious we wouldn’t get much work done today, anyway. We went back to the studio; told the secretary we were leaving, leashed his insane, hyperactive, and not very bright Dalmatian, walked downstairs, and got in his Jeep. The nutso Dalmatian had to be watched closely when we drove, as she had a tendency to jump out while the Jeep was still moving. When she was properly secured, my boss turned the ignition and we proceeded to wander around Old Town, no destination in mind. We cruised the streets, watching people, looking at houses, enjoying the 75 degree February morning. The wind blew, the trees rustled, and the dog barked and bit, not sitting still.

He began to tell me about George, their younger days, the friends they had, the things they did together. Then he told me about the other friends that he had who had also died. How he knew them, how they died, what they meant to him, and that, one by one, they had all gone and left him alone. "Do you know what that’s like? I have no friends. They’re all gone. AIDS wiped out everyone I loved. There’s no one left…"

I kept silent. No, I couldn’t know what that’s like. I had no idea what to say. Nothing was most appropriate.

He had been friends with a really famous gay porn star, as he’d told me on many occasions before. Porn made him money, but he was also an accomplished artist. His art came from discarded construction equipment, metals, woods, even soil. He had gained some notoriety in southern California for his work, but he too, had died, leaving only the legacy of his mega-star porn career behind, his sexuality overwhelming his creativity as a lasting impression.

Somewhere, in the course of my life, I picked up on a statement concerning the process of grief upon the death of a family member or loved one. A loose paraphrase like, one never really "gets over" the death of someone close. Little by little, the pain becomes manageable, and the sorrow will recede. With the process of time, the death of a loved one becomes, simply, a burden one can bear. But you’ll still remember. You will never completely "get over" it.

"There’s no one left, Lance. I have no friends my own age. I’m the last one…" He never cried, but the remembrance of those friends now gone came back, each old friend heaping more memories upon the burden he could hardly bear to begin with. I rode shotgun and kept quiet, letting him talk when he needed, letting him remember what he needed.

It was a beautiful day, that winter’s day in Key West, with the sunshine, the clouds here and there, the color, and the light. That crazy dog, though, was of no comfort to her master. Oblivious to his pain, she just wouldn’t sit still. We drove around for several more hours, then returned to the studio. Our jobs had not completed themselves, and he worked in silence, typesetting like he had done the day before.

Dummy the cat – Key West – 1993, 1994

The cat that had lived around the apartments for apparently a grillion and a half years adopted us immediately. This ancient Siamese cat, emaciated, barely able to walk more than twenty or thirty steps before laying down wherever he was… His cloudy, glaucoma-blue eyes looking up at me… His little body shaking while he meow-ed for my attention. He would sit outside our door, or Mark’s across the way, in the shade, still not protected from the heat, waiting for either of us.

One of my roommates found the cat nothing but a nuisance. But the cat’s age and obvious tender demeanor really touched me. I would feed and pet him while he shook. The cat seemed to visibly deteriorate during the first few months of our stay, cancer, or some other equally terrible affliction his worst enemy. Although he wanted our affection, he never attempted to enter the apartment and was content to just stand and shake by the front door.

On a particularly hot day in early spring, I opened the door to give him some food and in he came. Trotting almost, entering the apartment about 10 steps before stopping. He stood there, next to the ladder to the loft, obviously drained from the exertion. "Dummy, c’mere…c’mere," I said, from two steps away. He shook, but continued no further.

He moved his head slowly around the room as his legs stood rigid and his chest expanded and contracted heavily. Upon closer inspection, he looked worse than usual. I let him stay inside awhile. The air conditioner with the Buick-sized engine roared and ate electricity in compensation for the little cool air it provided. Dummy barely moved during his stay.

In the evening after sunset, the temperature cooled a bit and I attempted to pick him up, but relented because he seemed so fragile. The very act of lifting him could’ve broken him. I sat on the floor and directed him, slowly, to the door. He stepped down the step and stopped; then lay down. I looked outside a half an hour later, and there he was, next to the bowl of water, looking at me.

The next day he was gone and none of us saw him again. Sturdy little fragile cat, his eyes conveyed some understanding he was unable to articulate otherwise. Sweet little thing. I cried when I knew he wasn’t coming back.

Our first dinner together – February, 1994

We were eating outside. We were talking, enjoying our mutual company, the time passing in a relaxed, yet quick fashion, when we agreed on some point in the conversation. I looked over at you. You were looking back at me, with those gentle, coy, smiling, twinkling, beautiful eyes, your lips half parted, glad to agree. Your.. You really touched me.

Is this where it has begun?

His very presence/When it began.

March through May, 1994/Key West

He could be so concerned
And caring
And thoughtful
And sweet.

He would visit me at work,
At the studio or at the bar,
Bearing food,
Or a note,
Allowing me to take a much needed break,
In the care of someone so handsome and so
Attentive.
My feelings for him deepened.

When we went to lunch,
we almost always ate at the Compass Rose.
Great comfort food, outdoor dining, and lots of cats.
___ always had great stories.
His timing, his humor, his perspective…
An endless stream of entertainment and affection.
All the while, my devotion to him continued to grow.

___ had seen and done much in his life, and
had met with more than his fair share of adversity,
yet,
when he slept, his countenance reflected
an innocence undamaged by past events.
I loved to watch him sleep.

_____would take a Troll doll or a plastic Chicken McNugget and hide it around the apartment, sometimes in a glass of water in the freezer, in the bathroom, underneath the sheets, always in an unexpected place.
He made crank calls.
He would meow-talk.
I appreciated the laughter he gave me.
He was compassionate and rational and had the most beautiful blue eyes. Direct, unwavering, full of warmth.

He made me feel like everything would indeed be all right.

That spring, in Key West, Florida, I began to fall in love with ______.

Monday night at the One Saloon – spring 1994

Mondays and Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays featured strippers at the One Saloon. I worked Sunday through Thursday, bar-backing on Monday and Tuesday. Because the Copa was not open on those days, Monday and Tuesday were also our busiest nights. If you have never bar-backed, I must tell you it’s very physical work. Hauling kegs to and fro, on the run, always emptying or filling, lugging this or that to this or that, helping the bouncer…lots of busy work. It’s hard to be a good bar-back because you should always be thinking about your next move while continuing to bust serious ass. And I was a good bar-back.

When bar-backing, I’d get to work a little before 9 p.m. and would always leave around 5 a.m. Work could be such a blur, clearing the ashtrays on the rail, progressive stocking for the bartenders, getting change, keeping drinks off the pool table, reprimanding stupid drunks…Juggling these little balls of responsibility as responsibly as possible. The customers were of no help, obstacles to my working rhythm. Then there were the strippers.

The profession of choice of the sadly beautiful and traumatized, stripping offers an allure, a glamorous mythology very different than the reality in which strippers actually live. As a result, some were difficult to work with. But some were not. We had some regular and semi-regular dancers, some too regular and some one-time only(s), for whatever reason. There were also strippers whose reason for never performing there again was more obvious.

This Monday night was packed. The strippers danced mostly on the main bar, as it was bigger and the center of the club, and the dancers could attract the most attention there. The problem with the main room was maneuverability, as the pool table dominated a lot of floor space. As a bar-back, people, then the pool table, were my biggest impasses. Their loud drunken conversation, cigarettes swinging wildly, their utter non-attempt to move out of the path of an oncoming keg, almost every motion, behavior, direction or action taken made my job just that much harder. And the pool table was too big for the room and very popular. So I had to be alert, assessing situations, as they develop in order to be as effective and inconspicuous, weaving through the crowds with as little interference as possible.

It was already shaping up to be a crazy shift. Monday was our night. When the Copa was closed, their employees came here. One of the owners spun on Monday and Tuesday, and was one of the best DJ’s I’d ever heard. He always had the best, newest, sweatiest, pumpin’ music on the island, and was completely in touch with and control of his dancers on the floor. I’d watch him during spare moments, dancing around, reacting and provoking, loving every beat as much as those dancing. And, of course, we had hottie strippers, alternating sets, writhing and grinding in twenty-minute increments. So we all worked, at a running pace, all night long, every Monday night.

We filled up early. It was a late winter’s night, but still very warm. Since there was a snow storm on the East Coast from D.C. to New York, those snowed-in down here did what their neighbor back home did, under the circumstances: got crazy drunk, and had lots of sex. Everyone made the most of the situation, and they were all up-up-up! Tonight.

I don’t really remember that second stripper. He could have been that Brazilian guy or even the 24 or 25 year old, nicely toned and goateed guy…I don’t know. The French guy, who never stripped there again (that I knew of), made quite an impression as the opening stripper.

Henri, Hercule, whatever his name was, spoke almost no English, having evidently just arrived from France. But if anyone could survive, nay, flourish on one’s looks only, it would be him. He was firmly planted in that upper stratosphere of physical beauty, in the company of super models and the really "beautiful ones" found in the more select resorts and playgrounds around the world. And, he liked to dance naked, as we were about to find out. Now this would not be a problem in Miami, where dancing nude is legal, but here in Key West, it was not. Henri, or Hercule, had not been briefed as to the differing legalities of the two cities hosting his performances and the ramifications thereof. Or maybe he understood, but just didn’t care.

I was in the bar closest to the dance floor, stocking for and talking to the bartender, when a chorus of shrieks, yells, screams and laughter, total pandemonium, erupted from the center of the bar. The bartender and I looked toward the main room as the intercom phone began to ring. On the bar, Frenchy was totally nude, swaying back and forth, twirling his incredibly huge cock in a circular motion, as if it were a pocket watch. The uproar was deafening. The bartender was laughing hysterically along with the crowd, stunned at this unexpected turn of events. The phone was still ringing, so I answered it. The manager was behind the main bar. I watched him scream into the phone at me, demanding I get jumbo-cock down immediately, as he was too busy serving drinks to do it himself.

That scene, hopefully, will never fully dissipate from memory. That so, so perfect-looking French guy, twirling his disturbingly gigantic appendage counter-clockwise, in a groove, with shrieks, gasps, laughter, and admiration from the crowd his feedback. His presence was inciting chaos, of which I have now been charged to stop. So I crawl through the hole, weave through the crowd, grab his thong from the manager, motion and talk French-Fry down to ground level, and put a stop to his penis; pronto!

"Oh, no no…You’ve got to come down now…" I’m waving him down from the bar, and he’s smiling, as if he has no clue he’s done anything wrong, his big, big cock still swinging. He bends down towards me and I take his hand, motioning him to come down with my right hand, pulling down with my left. The crowd in front catches on to what’s happening, and starts to boo. I look over at the manager, who’s still serving drinks, motioning me to continue getting him down off the bar.

French is devastatingly beautiful up close. Perfect teeth and smile, clear, aquamarine eyes, symmetrical features, and naked! I clear a path through the crowd, my left hand holding his hand, in my right hand, his thong, until we can get to the stripper’s dressing area behind the front bar. "Keep this on please." I say, shaking the thong at him.

He’s smiling. I think he understands, but I’m not sure. He is so beautiful… He puts on the thong.

I saw him a few minutes later, during the other stripper’s set, off in the corner, thong around his thighs, giving a patron a chance to examine that big ol’ salami up close and personal. Well, I tried. There was still a lot of work to do. The crowd wasn’t leaving, the music still pumped, and we stayed busy up until 4 a.m.

The little match girl

Leighanne had small breasts, for a stripper. She looked like Uma Thurman all beat up, after spending an inordinate amount of time in bars, either working or drinking. She was wild, outrageous, and took delight in shocking others, embracing and provoking The Unexpected. Laughing, a smile bursting into a laughter, then an incredibly filthy comment, followed by more laughter was always part of the conversation. That’s how she was, and still is, for all I know.

Her bar-trick claim to fame was splitting matches, putting them on her breasts, and lighting the matches with another lit match dangling tight from her mouth, then dancing around. Visually, it was a little more stunning than that description. She never drank beer, only clear liquids. She loved shots, too.

She came to One Saloon a couple of times when I still worked there. I could hang out when we weren’t busy, so I would talk with her and her friend(s) when they drank. She came in once with one other guy, and they stood at the main bar, drinking and watching the strippers. She flirted with one stripper, and he flirted back, in the way that gay men flirt with straight women, along with some condescension thrown in, as he was unavailable to her.

She called him down to her, as he was dancing on the main bar, just above us. He wriggled down, smiling, as Leighanne says to him, "I wanna smack your ass!" The stripper laughs, clearly delighted, for whatever reason, and said "Yeah—Ok!" He turned around and bent over, sticking his ass in her face, confident of a sexy (but bearable) spanky spank from this little girly-girl here.

Leighanne looked over at us, arched one eyebrow, licked her palm, slung her arm back, and struck the stripper as if she were holding a whip. Only, it was her hand. The sound was a loud, bass-y resounding pop! The sound was full. It had legs. It had chops. Tears involuntarily welled in the stripper’s eyes. He was visibly shaken.

I think his feelings were hurt, too, as a lot of people were laughing. Leighanne was laughing, too, and trying to get the stripper to turn back around so she could see the welt develop.

Spicy, she was.

Conch Independence Days

The sky was clear that afternoon/early evening. We were armed with tomatoes, hot dogs, and oranges. And the day was so beautiful! A few clouds, upper 70’s, a light breeze, and every boat that could be was afloat for "The Battle that Never Was." A gigantic, surreal, food-fight-made-up-re-enactment of the defining moment of Key West’s Conch Independence Days.

Some background: As a result of the Mariel boat lift in the early 1980’s, an increase of drugs and illegal aliens headed up U.S. Highway One from the Keys into Miami. The DEA decided to roadblock the Keys to stem the huge number of immigrants and drugs surging into the area, and then consequently, into the rest of the country. Ordinarily, the drive from Key West to Miami is between three and a half and four hours, depending on speed and conditions. During the roadblock, travel time to and from Miami doubled. I’m sure there was a lot of tension and frustration and many more reasons prompting the city’s course of action, but the roadblock is the only one I heard.

So, in response to the situation, the citizens of Key West seceded from Florida and the United States. Someone fired a single gunshot into the air. They surrendered, and applied for federal relief as a defeated nation. And they won! The roadblock was ceased, and the government withdrew. Ha! Take that! Not too bad for a bunch of potheads and drunks, huh?

And each year, in honor of that singular achievement, they throw one hell of a party. A food fight. A fuckin’ massacre. I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed so hard. Maybe once. But I wasn’t in love, then. So this memory is sweeter..

We went out on the water early. There were already many others sailing about, the excitement of impending fun was felt all around. Everyone was amped. One could hear lots of laughter and happy, positive cadences in the rhythms of distant exchanges. The sun was still in the sky, lowering slightly, increasing anticipation. The water became more and more congested with jet skis, yachts, pontoon boats, sailboats, the Coast Guard; you name it, they were there.

And then they were all throwing food. It was amazing. Observation craft like the Schooner Appeldore were attacked: By us! The Captain was totally shocked when we started pelting them. We struck hard, then got out of there. As we were leaving, another boat started to attack the Appeldore as well. You just wanna watch, huh? Not today.

Jet skis ripped by, turning sharply, splashing us, then zipping off, like dragonflies. The Coast Guard pounded us with their firehose. We were falling and yelling and incapacitated and laughing. And as they were driving off, sprayed us one more time, for good measure.

The gambling boat was dead ahead. I had an acquaintance that was the Second Captain of the Fun Kruz. The owners of the boat wanted you to think "Cruise," but I always said it like it was spelled. Kruz. Three levels of Kruz, to be exact. Gambling, drinking, and buffets on one big funtabulous six hour international (waters) cruise. And we were coming up fast from behind.

When we were a little less than 50 yards away, my Fun Kruz buddy popped his head out one of the windows directly in front of us, taunting and laughing, daring anyone from our boat to hit him. So I threw a tomato at him. Actually, I winged one at him, missing the left side of his head by inches, the tomato exploding against the back wall of the second level. Staring and stunned, my friend ducked back out of view. And then everything went crazy.

The people on all three levels on the backside of the boat began to throw their buffet food at us, all at the same time. There was nothing we could do. I wanted to duck, but I couldn’t help but watch all the food, flying in the air, hitting the water, the boat, and us. Rolls, pork chops, pickles, chicken legs, fruit…it was totally and completely off the hook. We couldn’t stop laughing. People on our boat were taking cover under the tarp, but a few had fallen and were left exposed, howling with adrenaline and delight, flailing around in buffet food.

At one point, I remember looking over at ______, an excited smile and bursts of giggles emanating from him, his buoyancy, a comfort of which I was so thankful, and I could not ever remember a time in which I had been so happy. He was talking with a friend, slowly turning to look at me looking at him, and he was smiling. He was smiling at me. And at that moment, my heart expanded, reaching the inner walls of my skin, happy for acceptance.

The fighting continued for twenty or thirty more minutes, sunset heralding the end of battle, signaling peace and victory for all participants. We went back ashore, and I pedaled to my apartment to change for work. I would be barbacking this evening at One Saloon, and would be working hard until 5 a.m.. I go to work at 9. It’s now 8. I am exhausted. I have given up my only chance to nap between my day job (10-5) and my night job (9-5). I brew a pot of coffee, take five tablets of ephedrine, shower, and am content with my decision.

The night goes by very quickly. It is very busy in town. We have strippers tonight. It’s also our five-dollar "Drink and Drown," all the draft you care to drink, but not necessarily care to enjoy.

The music is good, I’m sure, as it always is on Monday and Tuesday, and the crowd is deep and thick throughout the bar. But none of it matters. I keep hitting replay, slowing it down, watching the wall of water, the jet ski screaming by, frame by frame, watching the tomato arc gently by Troy’s head, laughing, ______’s head, slowly turning to me in the middle of a burgeoning smile… And soon, I will once again be with him, sleeping by his side.

I drop a keg, unhooking and moving the empty one, mightily push and slide it into place, make the new connection, and call to the bartender that the free flow of Bud can continue. I smile down at the keg, smiling at him smiling at me. And then I return to collecting empty beer bottles along the back rail of the bar, into and around the dance floor.

Key West, spring/summer 1994

He is such a restless sleeper.
He is plagued with recurring nightmares.
He is a hypochondriac, too.
I lay my hands on him at night, while he sleeps, in an attempt to heal him, or at least, ease some of the chaos that invades his sleep.

His sleeping body relaxes a bit, if only for the awareness of my, or another’s presence.
But the terrors never fully go away.
His tossing and turning, his sub-conscious fears, concern me.
I can do nothing for him in this realm of his existence.

Me and ___…summer, 1994

"I have a drug problem and a love issue. Or maybe I have a love problem and a drug issue…"
-Alley Sheedy, "High Art"

He held the little brown bottle underneath my left nostril while I was on top and inside him. After inhaling while pushing in the opposite nostril, we would repeat the process on the right. Then I’d hold the bottle for him while he did the same. And then, our systems would flood and rush, expand and contract, our vision becoming blurry, then focused. Sometimes we could return the bottle to the nightstand before total immersion in our passion was complete. The feeling of being inside him, kissing him deeply, cradling his naked body, joined, locked, not wanting to breathe, under the influence of this drug amyl nitrate, was love itself.
We would meet each other’s thrusts, changing positions, clinging to the other with feverish intensity. Total arousal, spiritual and physical one-ness, an overwhelming sense of everything pleasurable and good, saturation of psychic and empirical senses, all possible from the contents of that little brown bottle.

The feeling would last only a few minutes, then we would do more, usually still joined, before the effects of the drug wore off entirely. Little yellow dots would appear before my eyes, travelling across my vision before dissipating. ___’s eyes were wide; his breathing in gasps, while his sphincter muscles tightened and relaxed around my penis. It was complete and total, sensual over-load. I would bring him closer to me, no space between our torsos, arms wrapped and clinging to the other, flooded with love, in physical and gaseous form.

"This isn’t wrong – how could this be wrong if it feels so good? I’m not bad – this isn’t bad, is it?" He would ask these types of questions during intercourse. He needed re-assurance. He needed to be told he was good. And I would always re-assure him, holding him close, both of us close to sexual ecstasy, that he was not bad, that we were not bad, that we were in love. Our passion, rising, our thrusts, synchronized, our orgasms, imminent.

By the time we came, our eyes were bloodshot, and our skin had taken on a yellowish, jaundiced pallor. This was the down side of constant inhalation and use of amyl nitrate. Afterward, the walls would return, the intense emotions of the recent past, were forgotten. His psychic distance, the aloof posturing, always came back.

Other than this altered state, emotional penetration of ______ was denied.

Sexual penetration was all he would ever allow.