Uprising - The Suspense Thriller Part 1

UPRISING.

THE SUSPENSE THRILLER.

by Randy Boyd.

Acknowledgements

F IRST TO THOSE who have helped make this particular segment of my lifelong, personal uprising possible: To my mom, my biggest supporter: thank you for every ounce of love you give me. To my sister, Angelia: thanks for keeping at it, Big Sis. To the rest of my family: peace and love. To my second family, the Mancias, from the tallest to the smallest: muchas gracias. To Kat: you'll always be part of my heart and soul. Plus, more thanks: To my posse that was with me during the homestretch of this book, Philly, Billy and Henry. The Ale, baby! Pacers and Cavs represent! To Jake, for the luxury suite at the United Center and a whole lot more. To Rob Held, for the tons of tickets to one of the most special places on earth to me, Market Square Arena. May it rest in peace soon. Also, much thanks to Ben Barrett, Mike Doyle, Valentine Birds, Lysette Cardona, Eugene Rogolsky, Mitch Goldman, JoAnn Hickey, Warren Reingold, Neal Miller, Jerry Zamarin, John Preston, Darryl Pilcher, David Kalmansohn, Rondo Mieczkowski, Harton, Sandra, Darren and Louise. And to the rest of my friends who send good thoughts my way everyday: much love and thank you.

Now to those who helped directly with Uprising, the suspense thriller by Randy Boyd: Deep, never-ending grat.i.tude to Eric Wilson, Sundiata Alaye, Richard LaBont, Alan Bell and Joshua De Mers. All of you were right there when I needed you most. You are all truly angels who have helped me soar. Thanks to Julia Ryan and Emile Easton for watching my back. Thanks to Phil s.h.i.+ban for being Phil s.h.i.+ban. Thanks to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for being real and cool. Plus, sincerest thanks to Robert g.a.y.l.o.r.d, E. Lynn Harris, Karen Dale Woman, Luis Franco, DC and Zach. You have all contributed to the fruition of a dream.

UPRISING.

ONE.

H E HURRIED the last couple of feet to the pay phone, stride deliberate and heavy, eyes glancing both ways down the dark deserted street to make sure he was alone. Grabbing the receiver and dialing subconsciously, he repeated in his mind the words he prayed to hear on the other end of the line: You tested negative, sir.

The clinic picked up; it was a woman's voice, soft and professional. In the spare split second available, he imagined her saying it: You tested negative, sir. "Calling for my results," he sputtered out, too nervous to worry about altering his voice. He gave her his code number; she put him on hold. I'm happy to say you tested negative, sir, his brain chanted. The mantra that had gotten him through the last week.

He turned to peer up at the lights on Santa Monica Boulevard in the distance: a warm gust of wind came along and smacked him in the face, slightly ruffling the fake bushy eyebrows and fake gray-tinted beard that helped turn him into an old man. In a mild panic, he reinforced his disguise, straightening the eyebrows and beard and the nappy-haired wig under his green fisherman's hat, pus.h.i.+ng the wire-rimmed gla.s.ses up on his nose, making sure the small latex beer belly was secure underneath his faded blue workman's s.h.i.+rt and yellow golf jacket. He then used the reflection in the gla.s.s encasing surrounding the phone to check his face and the makeup that gave him crow's feet and raisin-like skin on his cheeks and brow. He looked like somebody's old black high school janitor if anybody bothered to notice.

Maybe I shouldn't have gotten tested this way, he thought. Maybe I should have gone to a doctor of the rich and famous who could keep his mouth shut. Maybe I should have never come down to West Hollywood dressed like this. A thousanda"make that a million maybesa"

The line clicked. When the woman finally spoke, he only heard one word: "...positive..."

Eyes shut, total blackness, the line went silent, the world went dead. Total blackness and death. That's all he felt. That and the rest of the world finding out, somehow, some way, someday.

The receiver fell and began swinging like a twisted pendulum, the woman's faint voice crying out to the night from within. For a moment, he stood there, eyes unfocused, lips trembling, mind disoriented. Then he began walking, too dazed to affect the limp that usually went along with the old-man getup. He thrust his hands into his pockets, grabbing at the envelope with the wad of cash in the right pocket and the blank check in the left. Complete thoughts were hard to come by. It was enough of a battle putting one foot in front of the other. He moved down the darkened sidewalk, thinking of everything and nothing, but mostly the headlines.

OTh.e.l.lO'S DEADLY SECRET: STAR IS GAY AND HAS VIRUS, The Enquirer would trumpet. Time, which years ago ran a cover story proclaiming him POP'S NEWEST ICON, would ask some sensational question like: BIGGEST AIDS VICTIM YET? And Rolling Stonea"which only last year said that "along with Michael Jackson, Madonna and The Artist, Oth.e.l.lo is one of those rare musical visionaries who thrives on transcending the decades"a"they would say something like: "An AIDS-related casualty sure to have 10,000 times the impact of the deaths of Queen front man Freddy Mercury or gangsta rapper Eazy-E."

A car horn a.s.sailed him, stopping him in his tracks. He discovered he was about to walk into an intersection and hopped back onto the curb just as a black Hummer made a sharp angry turn past him. Only then did he realize he had wandered up to Santa Monica Boulevard in the heart of West Hollywood, the neon signs and endless stream of cars all adding to the chaos in his mind.

A drink. He needed a drink. He hadn't had a sip of alcohol in years, part of the way he made sure the lean body underneath the senior citizen's outfit remained tight and worth millions. But now he craved alcohol, owed it to his nerves. How else was he going to get through the next minute?

He stumbled into the first bar he saw, a dimly-lit, narrow corridor with green walls and dark wood. From the bodybuilder bartender in a tight white T-s.h.i.+rt, he ordered a shot of JD, then another, then a beer to chase away the fire in his throat. Once finished, he stole glances at the half dozen men scattered about the bar: the trio of young Latinos practicing dance moves near the restroom in the back, two slender white boys playing pool, the bartender wiping the bar. Did any of them have it? Or was it more like which ones? Help me, he fantasized pleading to them, as if he'd just been mugged out on the street.

To perpetuate the fantasy, he turned away from the bar and faced the room, desperately wis.h.i.+ng he could say something to each and every one of them. He even opened his mouth, daring himself to speak. Then his eyes caught the video screen on the wall above the Latino boys. On it, he saw a younger version of himself. His first single, he realized, "Fun In the Sun" from the early '80s when he was in his late-teens. Sporting an Afro and a red headband, he was bopping around a Universal Studios downtown city block, wielding his electric guitar and galvanizing hundreds of people into a street party. A piece of fluff in retrospect, but it reached number two in Billboard and started it all.

The video only made life worse at that moment. Hastily, he reached into his pocket for the muscleman's tip and threw a five on the bar, realizing in the next second a big wad of the cash from the envelope in his baggy workman's khakis had fallen on the floor in the process. A couple thousand, mostly in hundreds, must have been lying there, exposed. In a panic, he eyed the others. They had all seen it and were looking at him with suspicion, awe, curiosity. Abruptly, almost apologetically, he knelt down and began cramming the cash into his jacket pockets, not bothering to organize it. When he was finished, all eyes were still on him as he rose up. Momentarily, there was a stalematea"Oth.e.l.lo with his stuffed jacket, the Latinos no longer dancing, the pool players no longer cueing their sticks, the bartender ever-so-slightly leaning over the bar. Oth.e.l.lo paused, trying unsuccessfully not to look at them. Then, he did the only thing he could have done: escaped through the front entrance.

Santa Monica seemed busier than before, full of even more clamor as he landed in the middle of the sidewalk and made an effort to distance himself from the bar while still walking like an old man with aging bones. Dozens of boys hurried toward him, then past him, their voices loud and carefree. From the street, cars blared music. Up and down the sidewalk, men and women pa.s.sed out flyers promoting boycotts, street patrols, dance clubs. Everyone seemed to have such a vibrant purpose except him. A block from the bar, he stopped and turned in all directions, signs he'd never noticed before overloading his senses: a poster in a bank window announcing an AIDS benefit, T-s.h.i.+rts in a storefront declaring I'M NOT GAY BUT MY BOYFRIEND IS, hot oiled pecs on video boxes stacked in a pyramid in the p.o.r.no store window, a billboard featuring two men lying stomach-down on a beach, an ad for gay vacations.

That last one caught him off guard more than the others.

Gay vacations? They actually have gay vacations? The thought provoked another realization: he had never walked down Santa Monica as himself, only as the old man. A nauseous wave sank in his stomach. Was it the JD or the revelations invading his life? He began walking again to keep from collapsing, this time feeling even more lost amidst the bustle of openly gay life around him.

"NOW FOR THE DOOZY of the night," Travis Little Horse announced from the podium as he moved his thick mane of jet-black hair over his shoulder and out of the way. "a.s.semblyman Weeks and his latest anti-gay, anti-AIDS, anti-life bill."

A m.u.f.fled collection of moans and groans came from the thirty or so men and women seated in the folding chairs in front of the podium, their reaction echoing off the rafters of the boarded-up leather bar that now served as the headquarters for ACTNOW.

"Like it or not, folks," he added in defense of the meeting's agenda, "Weeks is our next target, right after Mercy Hospital."

In a corner in the back of the room, still looking like an old black janitor, Oth.e.l.lo sat in a daze, slumped against the brick wall to his right. At least he made it here, he figured, considering the h.e.l.l his life had become in the last hour.

"Arnold Weeks needs to have a flaming fist shoved up his a.s.s." Next to the podium now was the one with dyed red hair who went by the name Freedom and had seemingly every orifice on his body pierced. He and Travis had started ACTNOW after deciding Queer Nation and ACT UP weren't militant enough in their activism. "Hog-tie him," he went on, "grease up a couple dozen arms and reach for his f.u.c.king tonsils." To this, he received a mild round of laughter and applause that was half appreciative, half nervous. Some of ACTNOW didn't know how to take Freedom, who was known behind his back as The Zealot, a t.i.tle he accidentally found out about and claimed with pride.

"The bill will never get through anyway," said a heavyset black man in his forties. "I say we forget this two-bit politician from Simi Valley and focus on the gay bas.h.i.+ng right here in our own backyard."

"I say we focus on the military," said a woman with a blonde mohawk, prompting several groans in antic.i.p.ation of the weekly debate that went nowhere. Even though ACTNOW wanted to be more militant, there was widespread disagreement on exactly how militant and where the group should focus its energy.

"California a.s.semblyman Arnold Weeks is a puppet of the most vile man in America." Freedom popped a ca.s.sette into the TV/VCR combo on top of the bar behind the podium and cranked up the volume. "Listen to this and tell me if you think we're wasting our time going after the rednecks. This is the latest direct from the Senate floor in DC."

On the thirteen-inch screen appeared Jimmy Herman, the senior US Senator from South Carolina. He was a bald, heavyset man well into his sixties with thick round gla.s.ses, chipmunk cheeks and razor thin lips. "If gays wanna kill themselves," he said with a thick Southern drawl, "let 'em, but we must stop funding their perverted disease with decent people's tax dollars. Let them get on with eliminating themselves from the face of G.o.d's green earth. That's fine with me, the Lord Almighty and the decent citizens of America."

Wadded-up paper and empty soda cans were sent hurling toward the screen, accompanied by boos and hisses.

"Your two-bit politicians hold this man up as a role model." Freedom paused the tape. "Are we gonna stand by and let them get away with this c.r.a.p?"

The discussion continued for another half hour before Travis quelled the debate the way he usually did, by saying they'd take up Weeks, Herman and the rest of the bigots once again next week.

"Maybe we should change our name to Act Like Wussies," Freedom said as a last jab as the meeting adjourned.

Oth.e.l.lo remained seated and watched the other members filing out. ACTNOW had some of everything, white boys with nose rings, butch d.y.k.es with their bike helmets in tow, black folk in African das.h.i.+kis, Latinos, Asians and a lot of people who wore their AIDS diagnoses on their sleeves. It was their audacity that led Oth.e.l.lo to the meetings six months ago, when he first decided that, if Michael Jackson could lurk around Disneyland dressed up like a freak, Oth.e.l.lo could venture down to West Hollywood and just walk among his people disguised as a harmless old man. It started with the bars, bookstores and coffeehouses, and he never said much to anyone for fear of being found out. It was enough for the most part just to be among them. Besides, he was never sure what he was looking fora"love, s.e.x, connection, nothing, anything. Then, one day, he stumbled upon an ACTNOW meeting just about to start. Now, he only went to the meetings, never the bars, bookstores or coffeehouses.

After most of the room had cleared, Oth.e.l.lo stood up, steadied his legs and approached Travis, who was near the podium wrapping up a conversation with two older, bearded men. In sharp contrast to Freedom's fiery hair, multiple piercings and pale, sinewy body, Travis Little Horse was like a California redwood. He had broad shoulders and a tapered waist on his six-foot-four Navajo frame. He had to be late thirties, a few years older than Oth.e.l.lo, and was known around LA's activist circles for his brains as well as his brawn. If only he didn't have a lover, Oth.e.l.lo had thought to himself on more than one occasion.

Travis turned to find the old black man waiting quietly and immediately extended his hand. "Joe, how are you tonight?"

"Been better, been worse," Oth.e.l.lo murmured in his scratchy old man's voice, exchanging a handshake with his worn, wrinkled hand that in reality was a skin-tight, caramel-colored glove with tattered fingernails and fingerprints that didn't match his own. He felt a pang of guilt that Travis only knew him as Joe, but there was no other way.

"Shall we?" Sensing the old man's distraction, Travis indicated the small room ten feet away. Oth.e.l.lo nodded and allowed Travis to lead the way to what used to be the deejay's booth. "This is good timing," Travis said once the door was closed behind them. "We've got a lot of battles ahead of us. We're going to need to bail a lot of brothers and sisters out of jail. That is, of course, if we can agree on what and what not to do. I'm sorry we had to bore you with the usual dissension."

Oth.e.l.lo mumbled absently, then removed the white envelope from his pants pocket and the rest of the money from his golf jacket. Handing the bundles to Travis, his geriatric hands were shaking, not from the exchange, for he was used to that, but from the woman at the clinic's voice still ringing in his brain.

"Bless both of you, Joe." Travis guessed thousands. At least five, maybe even ten. "Make it to the members.h.i.+p rally in the park tomorrow? Maybe you'd both like to come."

"That's a question, Mr. Little Horse." Oth.e.l.lo turned toward the window. "You know the deal. No questions."

"I just thoughta""

"I'm just her friend, who's been her gardener forever. She sends me down to do this because she knows I like men. She's older than dirt, got more money than she knows what to do with, and she wants us little fairy boysa"her term, not minea"to have something to fight with." He turned to face Travis. "On two conditions I seem to have to remind you of every time we do this."

"No questions and it's all anonymous," Travis said apologetically.

Oth.e.l.lo rotated back toward the window, thinking: and the studios are worried I can't act.

"And you'd better believe we appreciate it," said Travis. "Still, I can't help but think you'd get something out of being there, even if you stayed in the background."

Oth.e.l.lo stared out the booth, swallowing hard and breathing even harder. A handful of men and women were piling up the folding chairs, openly gay men and women, living and fighting every day in the trenches. "I'd like to go," he whispered. He felt the urge to reveal himself to Travis right then and there and ask him about the virus that was inside both of them: what it meant, what it felt like, what the h.e.l.l a newly diagnosed person was supposed to do now. "I'd give almost anything," he paused, almost sounding won-over, "but it can't be done." Without looking back, he flung the door open and made his escape, getting only a few steps before stopping, desperate to recant and do more than hand over a few thousand dollars he wouldn't miss.

But he couldn't. He was Oth.e.l.lo.

The sweat from the wig stinging his eyes, he fumbled in his pocket for the blank check, written on one of the dummy corporations set up for the restaurant, intended for one of the monsters otherwise known as his thankless siblings. It was still blank because Oth.e.l.lo couldn't remember which monster needed how much. Check in hand, he startled when Travis came up from behind to ask if he was all right. "Yes," he lied, then indicated Freedom who was at the bar, ejecting the videotape. "Can I have that ca.s.sette? The old lady will appreciate seeing it. And a pen. I need a pen."

Without another word Travis retrieved the video from Freedom and a pen from his own s.h.i.+rt pocket.

"I want you to take this check," Oth.e.l.lo told him. "The old lady gave me permission to use it if I thought the group was worthy." Using the ca.s.sette as a writing surface, he made the check payable to ACTNOW and scribbled in the amount. Then he signed it with a signature that was simply an elaborate version of the letter H. "You do what you have to do to fight for all of us," he said, grabbing Travis's forearm and forcing the check into his hand. Through gla.s.sy eyes, he gave Travis one final nod, then walked away, leaving the leader of ACTNOW and his organization $20,000 richer.

IN THE RUSTED tan Impala he used for his secret junkets, Oth.e.l.lo swerved his way through the Hollywood Hills with all four windows rolled down and a ferocious spring wind swirling around him. Even though he knew the hills well, he was going much too fast for the curves, which came upon him every few feet and caused the Impala to veer wide and smack against the brush bordering the dark narrow road. Only a few minutes removed from the ACTNOW meeting, his body was still trembling from the events of the last few hours, his mind still caught between disbelief and devastation. On the radio, a deejay's baritone voice crackled: "Here it is, the new number one song, the second single from his One Nation alb.u.m, Oth.e.l.lo with 'Go For Love.' I cannot wait for the upcoming toura""

He could only make it through the revved-up drum intro before he punched the first dial b.u.t.ton he could reach; but on this new station, the syncopated dance melody fading away was just as familiar. "Former number one song for you on the Power Station," the female deejay chimed. "That was the t.i.tle track from Oth.e.l.lo's One Nation CD. Man, that alb.u.m is still on top of the charts after debuting there nine weeks ago. It's number one on both the soul and popa""

This time he turned the radio off. It always seemed to happen that way: no airplay for hours, then they'd all do something by him. Sometimes they went in cycles and played his older stuff for days at a time. Usually he sat through every single play he stumbled upon, videos on TV includeda"h.e.l.l, he never tired of his own masterpieces. But racing through the hills, the only thing he could focus on was the image of one virus-filled cell, planted there years ago by Unknown, swimming around the channels of his body, hungry to attack, destroy and humiliate.

The Impala fishtailed and skidded to an abrupt stop parallel to an unmarked wrought-iron gate that was flanked by purposely nondescript shrubbery. The private entrance. With the opener in the glove compartment, he opened the gate, and after righting the Impala, drove slowly up the long winding driveway, trying to catch his breath and remove the fake eyebrows, beard, wig and gloves.

Of the many properties he owned, only this one felt like home. The Big House, he called it. It was a two-story, Mediterranean-style villa, bathed in white with eight bedrooms and two guest cottages, built on two separate lots merged into one, giving him a safe buffer from the world outside.

After the Impala was tucked away in the eight-car garage, Oth.e.l.lo staggered into the foyer feeling as though he'd just stepped off an all-day amus.e.m.e.nt park ride that hadn't been amusing. Minus the fake hair, latex and most of the makeup, he shuffled his way to the winding staircase, staring straight ahead but aware of the presence of some of the house staff in his immediate peripherya"two, perhaps three of them.

"Is Sweeney here?" he mumbled. A woman's voice answered, but he failed to register her response as he climbed the stairs.

Once in the master bedroom, he threw the videotape from the meeting onto the nearest white marble nightstand, unintentionally knocking over a digital clock and the flashlight kept there in the event of an earthquake. He then plopped down at the foot of the bed and stared straight ahead at the empty six-foot-high fireplace which was taller than him by a couple of inches.

So this is how I'm gonna die, he thought.

He began to replay all the orgies he had organized in the early '80sa"naked boys in naked rooms that were bare except for what was essential for all-night s.e.xfests: mats, mattresses, slings, booths, glory holes, nooks and crannies in darkened mazes. The designs varied, but never the intent and never two rules: check your att.i.tude at the door and everyone wears a black leather hood. Total anonymity. That was the only way Warner Brothers' rising star could have his c.o.c.k and eat it, too.

And so Sweeneya"his manager, the only person in the world he trusted, the only person who knew it wasn't the girls he was singing abouta"good ol' Sweeney would recruit the boys from the bars, the colleges, the gyms, the p.o.r.nos. And they came by the dozens in those days, to the Temple, Oth.e.l.lo's private name for the specially designed underground hideaway in a small house at the base of the Hollywood Hills, bought expressly for those occasions. They came all right: black, white, red, brown and yellow, most of them young like Oth.e.l.lo. And because he loved them the most, he gave Sweeney a thousand-dollar bonus for each buffed-out blond boy he reeled in. But no matter their skin color, they all f.u.c.ked, sucked, licked and swallowed like there was no tomorrow, for it was the tail-end of the golden years and they didn't know they were f.u.c.king, sucking, licking and swallowing death. They had no idea.

Oth.e.l.lo felt alive on those nights, tasting and caressing flesh for the pure hedonistic sake of tasting and caressing flesh, then moving on to another human being, then another, then another, then another, losing himself, finding his s.e.xuality, all while a black leather hood made him one of the boys.

Of course, it hadn't been entirely fulfilling. The next day, he would always feel alone and empty, only part of his soul satiated, the other part screaming for companions.h.i.+p and love, something he'd craved since adolescence. But with each alb.u.m and single and video, he became bigger and bigger until the prospect of ever being gay without a mask became a pipe dream. By the mid '80s, the plague was full blown and the orgies had ceased. Since then, he'd only had one-on-one encountersa"still arranged by Sweeneya"with a handful of bodybuilder hustlers who catered to the elite and discreet. But recently, even those furtive sessions had stopped, coinciding with his increasing fear of what may have invaded his bloodstream back in the good ol' days.

So this is how I'm gonna die, he wanted to utter aloud. Instead, he eased himself back onto the bed and tried to find solace in the latest platoon of drugs that were extending life and minimizing discomfort for many of the people he saw at the ACTNOW meetings. It didn't work. Hoping for distraction, he picked up the remote he found under his thigh and pointed it toward the forty-six-inch television screen in the corner to the right of the fireplace. Seventy-two channels later, zilch. He grabbed the ACTNOW videotape and made his way toward the VCR on top of the TV.

Thirty-two years of life in the closet, he thought, putting in the tape. I've sucked a ton of c.o.c.ks and never held hands with a man. I've listened to a s.h.i.+t-load of f.a.g jokes in the studio, danced around b.i.t.c.hes I couldn't care less about, pretending "baby, baby, I can't live without you," and now I could die from AIDS without ever saying "I love you" to another man.

He sank back down on the bed and the Southern drawl of South Carolina Senator Jimmy Herman took over the room: "h.o.m.os.e.xuality is the scourge of the American Dream from which we can trace most of society's evils." His thick round gla.s.ses were steaming up, his chipmunk cheeks flush with anger. "They do not belong in the military, nor our schools, nor in decent American neighborhoods near decent American families." He was beating his fist on the podium in front of him. "If gays wanna kill themselves, let 'em, but we must stop funding their perverted disease with decent people's tax dollars. Let them get on with eliminating themselves from the face of G.o.d's green earth. That's fine with me, the Lord Almighty and the decent citizens of America."

Oth.e.l.lo killed the VCR and sat paralyzed for a second. Then quickly he rewound the tape just a bit.

"...get on with eliminating themselves from the face of G.o.d's green earth."

This time he paused it.

"You slimy motherf.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

He heaved the remote at the screen, but failed to break the gla.s.s.

"b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. You're all b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."

His tone was full of disgust and astonishment, as if it had taken him this long to fully realize the ignorant and hateful nature of the world. Yes, people were that stupid and vengeful, it all seemed to be saying.

"This...."

He tried to speak, let the anger come out verbally, but no words came to him so he bolted up, grabbed the poker next to the fireplace, and like Ken Griffey, Jr., whacking one out of the park, he yelled, "b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!" and swung at the mantle, sending gla.s.s statuettes, bronze trophies, miniature gold records and four Grammies flying into pieces. Then, he went for the stereo system between the fireplace and television, smas.h.i.+ng its gla.s.s case until all that remained were shards on the floor. Next, he began hacking at the stereo system itself. "b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!" He had to yell something with each blow. "f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.ds don't!a"won't!a"f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.dsa"!"

Once the stereo was mutilated, he turned to the mirror that was as big as a picture window on the wall on the other side of his bed. First, he threw the poker at it, then picked up the mangled pieces of stereo and hurled them into the image of his bedroom, each one cracking up the mirror until it resembled a distorted puzzle. He then grabbed another poker from the fireplace and headed for the hallway that was almost as long as the entire house. There he was met by two of his live-in staff, his Asian house manager and the Mexican maid, both of them looking helpless and afraid. "Away from me!" was all he could yell, and not bothering to see whether or not they obeyed, he proceeded to destroy anything he came across: two ancient vases from one of the j.a.pan tours, a small statue of a naked Greek boy, the old wooden benches from the Renaissance, the ornate lamps from Italy. At the far end of the hallway, he toppled over the armoire from Paris, sending dozens of gla.s.s vases cras.h.i.+ng down, and swatted at the gaping ficus plants and attacked the French impressionist paintings on the wall. When he ran out of objects, he began whacking at the walls themselves, saying "b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!" over and over until he realized both staffers were still watching him, their eyes ripe with confusion.

"Get outta here!" He hurried back into the bedroom.

Jimmy Herman was still on pause. He thought of striking the screen with the poker but suddenly had a better idea. He raced out of the bedroom, through the now empty hall, down the stairs and out the front door, not stopping until he reached the guard's booth at the end of the main driveway.

"Gimme your gun," he ordered the redheaded young guard, who hesitated.

"If there's a problem, sira""

"There's no problem I can't take care of myself. Now give it to me."

The next-to-last thing the guard wanted to do was give Oth.e.l.lo the gun. The last thing he wanted to do was get fired.

Nine millimeter in hand, Oth.e.l.lo made his way back to the house. "I'll show you indecent, you f.u.c.king slimeball." When he reached the bedroom, he pointed the gun toward the senator's head. He'd never fired a gun in his life, wasn't even sure if he'd ever held one, but all he could think of was killing the man who epitomized the hate and prejudice that was killing him. Jaws tightly clinched, he c.o.c.ked the trigger. His hand started shaking, making the gun's aim unsteady. He thought of the giant screen he was about to shatter and doubt began to undermine his conviction. What the h.e.l.l was he doing? Mad enough to shoot a TV? Crazy enough to fire a gun? At a TV?

He thought of all the gla.s.s shattering and the mess. Then, he thought about the mess his life had suddenly become, faster than overnight. He imagined the one virus-filled cell swimming around the channels of his body, and in reality, he knew it was more than one cell, more like an army of cells, marching, attacking, destroying.