Cherry Pie

THE TASTY - ROADSIDE LUNCHEONETTE - NOON

Suit and tie won't change the earth but it gets you faster service and
a free slice of cherry pie. Waitress is sure taking a long time sucking
her cherry. Maybe it's plastic. Anyway, she swallows. I gotta take
clinique for men more seriously, I look like a dog. Pay the bill,
tighten the tie, cock the cherry sucker a wink and hit the highway.
Flirting. It's like the warm froth on cappuccino before they shake the
cheap chocolate dust on top. You gotta blow.

LUCKY TUNA MOTEL - GRAVEL CAR PARK - MIDNIGHT

Same motel, same state of undress, same chick with the roman candle I
begged her not to run after stuck between her teeth trying not to
explode. I've driven countless dusty San Jose miles for it to happen.
But now my skin is cracking and I need the bathroom quick smart.
Confidence comes with the territory but when I see her all I need is
diacalm.

LUCKY TUNA MOTEL - ROOM 408 - TEN PAST MIDNIGHT

Sick a beatin' myself around the head with 'lastic bands coz he never
shows up. Drop an ice cube down my back to feel a shiver. I can smell
his gasoline 50 miles away and I know he's thinking about standing me
up. He wants to come in, wants to rip off my red dress and feel what's
underneath. But he's obsessed with white lines, y'know, the dots that
split his field of vision as he drives? You can't make love to white
lines, not in this State. I want to tear off my nails, glue my head to
the floor and drink industrial bleach, but then what? One day
everything I want will fall down from the sky? Well, I'm waiting.

ROUTE SIXTY SOMETHING - OLDSMOBILE - TEN AM

Bollocks. I scratch them. I eat salted peanuts like they no longer
grow. I drink cola through a straw. It goes everywhere, damn it. Maybe
I shouldn't drive so fast.

LUCKY TUNA MOTEL - TELEPHONE BOOTH ELEVEN AM

I have to push my mind off the edge of a cliff to remember. Look at me
open my mouth wide like a politician. It needs a damn good clean. They
say nicotine has antiseptic qualities. You stick a Viceroy in your
mouth and smoke comes out. OK, so he wants to go dancing so he can dig
me in black lace underwear with a peek a boo top, right? It has a
matching neckerchief so you can hang yourself if self-harm gets tame.
We stroll to the dime, it's a nearby bar. They have a table with glass
cups stacked around a bowl of cherry punch. He asks me if I'm OK. Well,
my life's a canal with an oil slick and a lit match but I smile. This
is the part where he usually talks about baseball and I fall asleep.
This time I stand there, eyes wide open. There's aurora in the
background over the dust plains.

COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE - MIDDAY

I guess I was just looking for cheap chicken. Something breaded, sorta
home baked. That's when I saw her. She was waiting tables and sucking
cherries at the same time. I didn't want to torch her, not there and
then but she wouldn't quit yacking. All night. I shouted "HUSH YOUR
MOUTH WOMAN!" You gotta understand a life on the road makes a man used
to his own company. You stick a dime in the machine and the ice comes
out. I guess that's when I set fire to her.

DIME A DOZEN CLUB - DIRT CAR PARK - HALF PAST MIDNIGHT

- Y'know I love to watch your hair blowing in the breeze.
- You like the colour? It's called aurora.
- How original. You mind if I light a cigarette?
- Na ah.
(PAUSE)
- What the hell you doin' fool? Your Viceroy's burning my hair. Gimme
that bowl of cherry punch damn you.
- Not all the punch sweetie! Leave some for the other folk.
- And just how many tips am I gonna get with third degree burns?
- You're really blowing the vibe now.

DIME A DOZEN CLUB - DIRT CAR PARK - 1.40AM

- Does anybody here want more cherry punch?
Pay the bill, tighten the tie, cock the cherry sucker a wink and hit
the highway; gears into first, check rear view mirror for sparks.
Aurora. Beautiful. Drive like the wind.

? Lita Doolan