6o Shorter Views
shop, souvlaki a n d h o t d o g a n d
pizza stands, hardware stores, liq-
u o r stores, drugstores, cafeterias,
coffee shops, a n d the s e c o n d story
rehearsal studios a n d the dry
cleaners—the h u m a n services that,
a l o n g the g r o u n d - f l o o r fronts o f
the two- a n d three-story buildings
(now d e e m e d wholly unprofitable
for the T o w e r i n g City), scattered
a m o n g the p o r n shops, peepshows,
sex palaces a n d fuck-film houses,
o n c e k e p t the area alive a n d livable
for a considerable residence—have
b e e n b o a r d e d u p o r shut d o w n .
" T h e crackers are drivin' o u t
the c o o k i e s , " has b e e n the call o n
the street for a year, now. ( ' C o o k i e '
refers to the b e n t s p o o n or bottle-
cap in its hairpin h o l d e r — t h e
c o o k e r — w i t h w h i c h h e r o i n users
traditionally boil u p a fix, as 'crack'
refers to the faint Rice Krispie
crackle o f the b u r n i n g rocks as
they h e a t to an o r a n g e glow in the
screened-off e n d o f the sooty glass
tube t h r o u g h w h i c h the drug's in-
haled.) B u t the crack trade, far
vaster, cheaper, m o r e visible, a n d
m o r e visibly d a m a g i n g than the
h e r o i n traffic o n c e was, is only part
o f the g e n e r a l d e c l i n e .
T h i s is the Strip: this is the
n e i g h b o r h o o d that, like n u m e r o u s
n e i g h b o r h o o d s b e f o r e it ( C a n n e r y
Row, Farrell's or Bellow's C h i c a g o ,
R u n y o n ' s Broadway) yearns to be-
c o m e a m e t a p h o r for the w h o l e
g r e a t A m e r i c a n outside. T h e r e is
n o r e t r e a t / a d v a n c e e x c e p t within.
Rose was d o z i n g in the ninth
row o f the b a l c o n y o f the C a p r i
an a n a l o g u e o f whites and white
culture within that A m e r i c a n /
Western c o m p l e x . Perhaps the
major appeal o f the analogy was
that the reversal, the subversion,
the overturning o f m o r e usual an-
alogical alignments o f primitive
a n d sophisticated, o f white and
non-white, initiated (at least mo-
mentarily) its ow n critique o f pre-
cisely the failures o f such racially
analogic thinkin g (the overriding
characteristic o f the culture it sym-
bolized) in the first place.
T h e kid w a t c h e d the movie a
few m o r e minutes; finally he
p u s h e d his c o c k bac k into his j e a n s
a n d z i p p e d u p . A minute later, h e
stood and w a n d e r e d to the bal-
cony d o o r to g o d o w n .
"Man," Rose was saying to R e d
( s h e ' d already said it n o w as many
times as s h e ' d said "Huh?" b e f o r e ) ,
"what the fuck is he g o n n a c o m e
b o t h e r m e for if h e ain't g o t n o
money? T h a t ain't right. I gotta get
m e s o m e m o n e y . W h a t does he
think I am?" Still half asleep, R e d
was r u b b i n g b e t w e e n Rose's legs
n o w — h i s reparation for sitting
beside her, offering what protec-
tion h e can while she sleeps or
works. "Man, what the fuck is he
g o n n a c o m e b o t h e r i n g m e for if
h e ain't g o t n o money, y o u hear
what I'm saying . . . ?"
T h i s interior?
All three whites there—or per-
haps just the relationship between
t h e m (its cultural, analogical rich-
ness) —I f o u n d, o n o n e level or an-
other, sexually attractive: both guys