Drabbles, cont.
Apr. 27th, 2006 10:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
itsallovernowThese have been much slower going, but no less fun. But I'm only going to post them one at a time as I complete them.
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redstarrobot wanted something original and "Chandleresque", so a modern twist on an old trope:
The girl at the counter looked like Betty Grable before she became Betty Grable, back when she was still plain Elizabeth and her hair was brown and shiny and she had freckles on her nose that roamed freely and didn't fall into perfect patterns. The girl, in fact, looked enough like Betty Grable that I kept staring long after it was polite. She had on old-fashioned high-waist trousers and a short sleeved silk blouse and '40's shoes, lolling against the counter with a sexy innocence that they taught down at Stella Adler and it took me a minute to figure out that she was wearing a costume. She turned her head towards me and the curls bounced against her back and I looked back down at my menu, scrubbing my face while she paid for her coffee.
I hadn't shaved that morning, figuring there was no one to shave for. Since Kara left three days before, I'd been figuring that a lot. But three days worth of stubble, plus the general ripeness of my t-shirt weren't gonna make much of an impression on a pretty girl with shiny hair and Dresden eyes.
I stared at the menu like I wasn't gonna order the eggs over-hard and ham and coffee just like every morning, rubbing my thumb along the thin greasy plastic, trying to keep track of Betty out of the corner of my eye. I'd just gotten a nice look at the arch of her back under the thin silk and the way she was rolling her left foot loosely in the stacked heel when my vision was interrupted by the wide tie and sizeable sweat stained belly of Manny Soba.
"Well Ace, I see you're still frequenting the high class joints."
Manny slid his considerable bulk into the booth opposite and snagged my mug of coffee.
I put the menu back into the metal tongs at the side behind the salt and the ketchup and tried to catch Wanda's eye, waving for another cup of coffee. She glared at Manny's back, but sauntered over with a chipped mug.
"And you're still workin' that tough guy lingo. Your agent call yet?"
Swirling the coffee around in his mug, Manny fixed me with the eye, cold and black and dead as a fish in the L.A. river. "Nah, he's too busy bein' indicted for tax fraud."
I swallowed hard, bitter coffee etching a pattern in my soft palette. "Tax fraud, huh?"
Manny nodded, shifted his bulk so I could see the snub-nosed gun holstered on the inside of his wrinkled sport coat.
"So you're not up here for an audition, I take it."
"Business," he said.
I swallowed again.
"Pictures," he said. "I heard you've got some naughty pictures of some people doing naughty things."
"Christ Manny, no one says naughty this early in the morning."
He shifted his bulk, giving me a nice glimpse of the gun, and the glint of his badge riding low under the sway of his belly.
"I think when you took those pictures, you maybe got an eyeful of somethin' you shouldn'ta seen."
Wanda set down the plate of ham and eggs. The ham was overcooked and the eggs were runny and it didn't matter because I'd just lost my appetite.
"Who told you about the pictures?" I fiddled with my fork, clinking it against the heavy plate.
"Kara," he said, and took a sip of his coffee. "Never was too fond of you bein' a private dick."
"Better than being a dick in public," I muttered, and Manny ignored me.
"Need those pictures, Ace. Gotta dead girl and a real mouthy boyfriend and something that smells bad about all of it."
I looked to the side, looking at KC up at the counter, popping gum and fishing pennies out of the mint dish. Betty Grable was long gone and I was in a world of trouble.
"Okay," I said. "Okay."
redstarrobot wanted something original and "Chandleresque", so a modern twist on an old trope:The girl at the counter looked like Betty Grable before she became Betty Grable, back when she was still plain Elizabeth and her hair was brown and shiny and she had freckles on her nose that roamed freely and didn't fall into perfect patterns. The girl, in fact, looked enough like Betty Grable that I kept staring long after it was polite. She had on old-fashioned high-waist trousers and a short sleeved silk blouse and '40's shoes, lolling against the counter with a sexy innocence that they taught down at Stella Adler and it took me a minute to figure out that she was wearing a costume. She turned her head towards me and the curls bounced against her back and I looked back down at my menu, scrubbing my face while she paid for her coffee.
I hadn't shaved that morning, figuring there was no one to shave for. Since Kara left three days before, I'd been figuring that a lot. But three days worth of stubble, plus the general ripeness of my t-shirt weren't gonna make much of an impression on a pretty girl with shiny hair and Dresden eyes.
I stared at the menu like I wasn't gonna order the eggs over-hard and ham and coffee just like every morning, rubbing my thumb along the thin greasy plastic, trying to keep track of Betty out of the corner of my eye. I'd just gotten a nice look at the arch of her back under the thin silk and the way she was rolling her left foot loosely in the stacked heel when my vision was interrupted by the wide tie and sizeable sweat stained belly of Manny Soba.
"Well Ace, I see you're still frequenting the high class joints."
Manny slid his considerable bulk into the booth opposite and snagged my mug of coffee.
I put the menu back into the metal tongs at the side behind the salt and the ketchup and tried to catch Wanda's eye, waving for another cup of coffee. She glared at Manny's back, but sauntered over with a chipped mug.
"And you're still workin' that tough guy lingo. Your agent call yet?"
Swirling the coffee around in his mug, Manny fixed me with the eye, cold and black and dead as a fish in the L.A. river. "Nah, he's too busy bein' indicted for tax fraud."
I swallowed hard, bitter coffee etching a pattern in my soft palette. "Tax fraud, huh?"
Manny nodded, shifted his bulk so I could see the snub-nosed gun holstered on the inside of his wrinkled sport coat.
"So you're not up here for an audition, I take it."
"Business," he said.
I swallowed again.
"Pictures," he said. "I heard you've got some naughty pictures of some people doing naughty things."
"Christ Manny, no one says naughty this early in the morning."
He shifted his bulk, giving me a nice glimpse of the gun, and the glint of his badge riding low under the sway of his belly.
"I think when you took those pictures, you maybe got an eyeful of somethin' you shouldn'ta seen."
Wanda set down the plate of ham and eggs. The ham was overcooked and the eggs were runny and it didn't matter because I'd just lost my appetite.
"Who told you about the pictures?" I fiddled with my fork, clinking it against the heavy plate.
"Kara," he said, and took a sip of his coffee. "Never was too fond of you bein' a private dick."
"Better than being a dick in public," I muttered, and Manny ignored me.
"Need those pictures, Ace. Gotta dead girl and a real mouthy boyfriend and something that smells bad about all of it."
I looked to the side, looking at KC up at the counter, popping gum and fishing pennies out of the mint dish. Betty Grable was long gone and I was in a world of trouble.
"Okay," I said. "Okay."
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hhhmmm
Date: 2006-04-27 07:38 pm (UTC)Re: hhhmmm
Date: 2006-04-27 08:35 pm (UTC)Re: hhhmmm
Date: 2006-04-27 08:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 07:40 pm (UTC)Speaking of Hollywood holes-in-walls, there's a Mexican place east of Highland and west of Cahuenga, north side of the street, that does smoothies that are more liquid than solid. Go there and get the #10. Tasty as all hell.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 08:34 pm (UTC)And I will absolutely try the smoothie place.
I think I want this piece to go somewhere, which is a surprise to me!!
no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 08:50 pm (UTC)http://www.latimes.com/news/local/los_angeles_metro/la-me-briefs27.3apr2 7,1,2511340.story?coll=la-commun-los_angeles_metro
no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 08:55 pm (UTC)Because everyone knows someone who's a realtor, and Ace was doing a little divorce work for his friend's partner who thought his boyfriend was cheating on him and ended up with pictures of a meeting that no one should have been aware of.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 08:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 08:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 08:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-27 11:39 pm (UTC)