O n the U n s p e a k a b l e 59
the last few m o n t h s she's s e l d o m
g o n e for m o r e than ten dollars a
trick, since her interests have dwin-
dled pretty m u c h to the n e x t bot-
tle o f rocks—a h y p e r b o l e if there
ever was o n e : the "bottie," a plastic
capsule a shy c e n t i m e t e r l o n g ,
stoppered at o n e e n d with some-
thing like they p u t in the top o f
Bic pens; the "rocks," a b o u t h a l f a
crystal o f rock salt's worth o f
cooked-down c o k e b r o k e n u p into
smaller bits. C o s t p e r bottle any-
where from six to ten dollars.
Eight is average. T h e long-time
professional h o o k e r s w o r k i n g the
winter Strip outside have lost all pa-
tience with the new b r e e d o f "ten
dollar w h o r e " crack has created—
many o f t h e m only fifteen, sixteen,
and seventeen years old.
( T h e m e a n i n g o f the following
exterior u r b a n portrait is entirely
in terms o f what it tells us o f this
m o m e n t a r y travesty o f theatrical
interiority.)
T h e last three years have seen a
radical atmospheric and e c o n o m i c
shift a l o n g the Strip from the fall-
out o f the c o c a i n e trade—crack,
base, eightballs. It's part o f the
slowly g a t h e r i n g e c o n o m i c devas-
tation o f the entire n e i g h b o r h o o d ,
which is presumably p r e p a r i n g the
way for the brave n e w r e b u i l d i n g
as a large s h o p p i n g mall, with a few
theaters and business towers,
scheduled to b e g i n n e x t year: gro-
cery stores, comic-book stores, shoe
repair shops, drugstores, barber-
shops, bookstores, theatrical light-
ing and m a k e - u p stores, the m a g i c
B u t h e gave the guy a l o o k that
said, "Say s o m e t h i n g to m e , m o -
therfucker, a n d I'll bust y o u ! "
T h e r e was a wholly m a c h o aspect
to his exhibitionism .
T h e o l d guy s h o o k his h e a d ,
l e a n e d back against the wall, a n d
closed his eyes again.
T h e kid w e n t b a c k to licking,
m o v e d to the inside o f his wrist.
W i t h the e d g e o f o n e t h u m b h e
s q u e e g e e d u p s o m e clam o f c u m
that h a d fallen o n his d e n i m thigh,
ate that, a n d e x a m i n e d his lap a n d
g r e e n workshirt for any h e ' d
missed. W i t h a few m o r e tugs h e
m i l k e d his c o c k o f its final freight;
then, with the h u g e l y circular
t o n g u e m a n e u v e r five-year-olds re-
serve for d r i p p i n g c o n e s , h e
l a p p e d the last from his first.
( T h e above, o b s e r v e d purel y as
information—his actions a n d his
dress a n d his b e a r i n g , from polite-
ness to b e l l i g e r e n c e — t e l l only o f
w h a t is exterior to this tightly c o n -
v e n t i o n a l i z e d a n d wholly c o n -
tained c o m m e r c i a l , p u b l ic space.)
W a t c h i n g h i m , I f o u n d it easy to
see the entire non-white a u d i e n c e
a r o u n d h i m — m a c h o , male, a scat-
tering o f prostitutes, o f transsexu-
als, o f faggots, a n d largely ther e
for drugs a n d the safest o f safe
sex—as an a n a l o g u e for the w h o l e
o f A m e r i c a n (if n o t o f Western)
civilization. I f o u n d it equally easy
to see the trio o f whites—Rose,
R e d , a n d the y o u n g w o r k e r (again
sucking o n e finger a n d the next ,
n o w o n his left h a n d , n o w o n his
right, for any l i n g e r i n g taste) —as