Even Flow Read online

  Even Flow

  Even Flow

  Darragh McManus

  Winchester, UK

  Washington, USA

  First published by Roundfire Books, 2012

  Roundfire Books is an imprint of John Hunt Publishing Ltd., Laurel House, Station Approach,

  Alresford, Hants, SO24 9JH, UK

  [email protected]

  www.o-books.com

  For distributor details and how to order please visit the ‘Ordering’ section on our website.

  Text copyright: Darragh McManus 2011

  ISBN: 978 1 78099 131 3

  All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this

  book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publishers.

  The rights of Darragh McManus as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright,

  Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Design: Stuart Davies

  Graphic inserts designed by Darragh McManus

  Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

  We operate a distinctive and ethical publishing philosophy in all

  areas of our business, from our global network of authors to

  production and worldwide distribution.

  Copyright Acknowledgements

  ‘To avenge, in a sense, was simply to equalise, to seek a requisite balance’

  Don De Lillo, Players, pages 120-121, Alfred A. Knopf, 1977

  ‘This is ladies’ night, and the feeling’s right’

  Ladies’ Night, Kool and the Gang, verse 1 lines 1-2, from Ladies’ Night, DeLite Records, 1979

  ‘…with the absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out of their own bodies’

  Howl, Allen Ginsberg, line 76, from Howl and Other Poems, City Lights Books, 1956

  ‘Love may be blind, but love at least knows what is man and what mere beast’

  Down, Wanton, Down!, Robert Graves, lines 9-10, from Poems 1930-1933, Arthur Barker, 1933

  ‘Causes of homosexuality are not fully understood. According to the most widely accepted theory… Most homosexuals appear no different from other members of their own sex’

  Karlfred B. Broderick, World Book encyclopaedia, page 275, Scott Fetzer, 1986

  ‘How can they see the love in our eyes and still they don’t believe us?’

  The Boy with the Thorn in His Side, The Smiths, verse 2 lines 4-5, from The Queen is Dead, Rough Trade, 1986

  ‘True terror is a language and a vision’

  Article “Dangerous Don DeLillo”, Vince Passaro, from The New York Times, 1991

  ‘She lies and says she still loves him, can’t find a better man/ She dreams in colour, she dreams in red, can’t find a better man’

  Betterman, Pearl Jam, chorus lines 1-2, from Vitalogy, Epic, 1994

  ‘I love you, Mary-Jane’

  Hits from the Bong, Cypress Hill, verse 2 line 4, from Black Sunday, Ruffhouse, 1993

  ‘Leave the road and memorize this life that passed before my eyes/ Nothing is going my way’

  Find the River, REM, verse 1 lines 10-12, from Automatic for the People, Warner Bros., 1992

  ‘He-Man Woman-Hater’

  He-Man Woman-Hater, Extreme, from Pornograffiti, A&M, 1990

  About the Author

  Darragh McManus is a writer and journalist. His first book, GAA Confidential, was published by Hodder. He also published a comic novel, Cold! Steel! Justice!!!, as an e-book under the name Alexander O’Hara. For more than a decade he has written reviews, features and opinion columns for several papers, including The Irish Independent, The Sunday Times and The Guardian. He lives in the west of Ireland. Even Flow is his first crime novel. His second, The Polka Dot Girl, will also be published by Roundfire.

  www.darraghmcmanus.com

  For Majella

  To avenge, in a sense, was simply to equalize, to seek a

  requisite balance.

  Don De Lillo, Players

  Chapter 1

  Masters of the universe

  HE’D never realized how cold it would be hanging upside-down outside a 32nd storey apartment.

  Clifford Hudson hung there, by his ankles, hair falling away from his face, and tried to focus on this. It really was cold up that high, even though it was only September. The wind whipped about his head and bare torso, the hair on his legs pricked awake by the chill. He’d been in similar places before—climbed mountains, gone skiing, dived in deep, freezing water—but this was different. Now he had no protective clothing, no bodysuit made of cutting-edge, futuristic material, gleaming like a silver spaceman in the Alpine sun. Now he was wearing just boxer shorts, the wind was cutting into him like frozen needles, and he was cold. And now, of course, he was also scared.

  Steve moaned again, something like, “What did I do, what did I do?” Hudson wished Steve would shut up; let him think. Let him remember how the two of them had come to be tied up, in heavy duct tape and women’s clothing, strapped together like two slabs of beef in a butcher’s freezer, suspended in mid-air by a rope that lead back inside the apartment window. The world spun around his head then, inverted and dizzying. Brilliant Manhattan lights, smaller pinpoints across his namesake Hudson River, the inky sea of night-time, glimpses of those black faces. The bastards were toying with them, he realized. The big one, he was spinning the rope. Playing them like a goddamn human yoyo. Hudson could picture the other one, the talker, the one with the red bow tie, smiling as he gave his pal the order. That smug smile you could make out beneath the mask; that controlled, terrifying smile.

  He felt nauseous; too much blood gone to the head, too many chemicals already in the blood. Nauseous, but still defiant. They were steadying the rope periodically, steadying him before those placards they held up to his face. Red bow tie crouched on the windowsill, leaning over toward him, whispering almost: “Everyone’s watching. Go on. You’ll feel better for it.” He wouldn’t do it. To hell with them—who did they think they were?

  Hudson struggled and kicked against his binds, like a fish squirming on the hook, but it was no use. He was stuck, way up here, with Steve, who was crying like a little pussy and really starting to annoy him. Then Hudson realized that Steve had pissed down on both of them, that unmistakable hot trickle turning cold almost instantly in the night and the height. Well, this was just fucking great. These were Lagerfeld, pure silk, not cheap, and that idiot had spoiled them. He’d have throttled the silly little shit if he could only get his hands free.

  How did this come to pass, Hudson thought? And then he remembered. Right, the party; Steve’s bachelor party. Now he felt like crying too, crying from terror and anger but also thwarted pleasure. Fuck the three of them for ruining everything—the evening had been going so well up to that point.

  It had gone just fine. Hudson was on several kinds of high by the time he arrived at Steve’s apartment block in Tribeca. The stage was set, the guys had arrived; everything had been laid on for them. Steve was in situ from an early hour, obviously, as the guest of honor. Hudson had arranged it all: the drinks, the sounds, the little treats scattered about the apartment in broad glass bowls. Steve was his best friend, his bro, his future business partner, in all probability; and now he was getting married, and Hudson was going to make sure it was perfect. This was the least Steve deserved.

  He’d popped out for an hour, to meet a few associates, once the vibe was burbling away nicely. Lively but not too crazy, not yet. You had to build up to that point, that pitch where everyone lets go. He knew all about this stuff; he was an expert in helping others to have a good time. Call it a God-given talent. Now Hudson reached forward
and pressed the intercom for Steve’s apartment. A voice answered, slightly drunk: “Come on up.” He tried to place it as the door snapped open and he moved inside. Might be that jack-off Leopold, though Hudson couldn’t remember inviting him. Leopold—what a stupid name. He’d have to be a jack-off with a name like that.

  Hudson moved up several flights of stairs, their bare concrete walls and metal steps, the designer communist sort of look that was so hip with certain types of people in certain areas. Passing the smooth steel doors of the elevator on each floor, and passing them by: he took pride in his physical fitness. More than 30 stories was nothing, coked up or not; in fact, he considered it a challenge, to complete this trek while under the influence of something or other. Steve was softer, lazier; he was prone to weight gain and the easy option. He’d go to fat within a few years, like both their fathers. But Hudson wouldn’t let that happen to him.

  He passed a young woman on the stairs, about two-thirds of the way up. She was very good-looking, showing a lot of thigh and a hint of tit. She eyed him nervously as they approached one another, leaning against the wall to allow him by. Hudson snapped on his sharpest killer smile and lifted a hand: “’S’okay. Don’t be nervous, baby. I’m going to a party.” She stood there, looking down at the ground, as he continued upward, and then his cell phone rang. He pulled it out, tiny and beetle-black, flipping open the receiver.

  “Wassup? Yeah, it’s me. I’m on my way… I’m on the stairs, fucko. I’m right outside your… Yeah, I got it… I got it. I told you I got it, you dick… Ha ha ha ha! Yeah, you do that, man. You keep them on the boil for me… Yeah, see ya in a second.”

  Hudson kept climbing until he reached a massive, dark wood double-door, pressing the buzzer. The door swung open and he stepped through into an absolutely gorgeous apartment. Man, Steve sure knew how to decorate; or, at least, Christine did. Groovy, mellow dance music slinked from strategically located speakers as he walked into the room, surveying the scene.

  The boys were all in town—young, lean, confident, in sharp suits and studiously unremarkable haircuts. They went to the kind of barbers who charge 500 bucks to make you look as if you haven’t just been to the barbers. The drink was flowing down and the talk getting louder by the sentence. Men stood around or lounged on pale-colored couches, knocking back beers and picking at plates of nuts and discussing business and sports and how close they were to fucking that hot little blonde in marketing. Nobody smoked, oddly. Hudson passed a table over which two of his friends leaned, fingers pressed to their noses and an almost absurd air of concentration about them. He dipped a finger into the bowl beside them and sucked on it—zing—that’s good stuff. No cheap shit for Steve on his special night. Across the room two others were actually wrestling; real infantile crap. One of them jostled a vase Hudson had bought Steve for his birthday. He made a mental note to self: throw these assholes out within the hour.

  At the far side of the room, on a lower level, a group huddled together, looking at something. Hudson smiled—everything was set to perfection—and caught his reflection in a long mirror. His black, clipped hair, dark eyes, hard-earned physique under a suit that couldn’t have fit better if it was his own skin. He smiled and nodded to himself. He felt satisfied. Then Steve sprang toward him, seemingly from nowhere. He had always been quieter, smaller, a paler presence; people didn’t tend to notice him too often next to Hudson.

  Steve yelled, arms outstretched, “Heeeyy!! Hud, you faggot! You’re back!”

  They clasped hands and Hudson said, “Steve. The pleasure, as always, is yours.”

  “Did you bring it? You brought it, right? Tell me you brought it…”

  Hudson patted his inside pocket. “Relax, man. I got it right here. Shit. I got it, bro.”

  Steve reached forward and Hudson slapped his hand away, saying, “Ah-ah-ah. All in good time, my man. All in good time. A little alcohol and light entertainment first.”

  Outside, three figures in tuxedos moved through the black, shining night. Each had a small rucksack on his back. One of them was huge, six foot five, powerful across the chest. One was slim, light-footed, a little shorter than average. The one in the center was lean and reasonably tall. His dark-red dickey-bow, in contrast to the others’ black ties, was vivid against the whiteness of his shirt. It looked like blood on virgin snow.

  Hudson strode through the room, grabbing a drink off a table as he walked to the lower level, Steve in tow. The group parted to make way for him—it felt natural, respectful, this movement aside—and revealed two women sitting and embracing on a thick rug as the crowd egged them on. One had her face buried in the crook of the other’s neck. They stroked each other’s upper arms and hips, languidly, detached somehow. The women stopped then and looked up, eyes flitting from face to face. They were young—one very young—and pretty, dressed in cheap fabrics and gaudy colors. Tight pants, crop tops, large hoop earrings swinging against loosened strands of hair. They looked around uneasily. They looked at Hudson.

  He examined them for a moment, nodded and said, “Mm-hm. Not bad. Not bad at all. They’ll do,” then turned back to the group and lifted his drink to eye level.

  “Okay, men. Raise a glass and call a toast for our good friend Steve Ainsworth, who has decided to finally make an honest woman out of Christine. How she puts up with the prick I dunno, but I guess all those blow-jobs she’s been fortunate enough to give me have helped her through it some ways.”

  Hudson smiled. The crowd laughed, none more than Steve, who shook his head like an indulgent parent. Hud was the funniest son of a bitch he’d ever known.

  “Anyway, anyway, Steve, you’re our main guy and I’m proud to be your best man. I’m sure you and Christine will be very happy together, and whatever you need, you know you only gotta ask.”

  Steve nodded his appreciation.

  “So fellas, raise your glass for a great fucking guy and a great lady: to Steve and Christine.”

  A chorus of “Steve and Christine.”

  Hudson said, “Stevie boy, this is your last night of freedom, so enjoy it well. We got booze, we got coke, we got every fucking thing you could ask for. And, of course…” He pointed behind him at the two women. “…we got, uh…” He turned, stared at them, shrugged. “Well. Whatever their names are. They’re here to please you, Steve, so what’s it gonna be?”

  Steve wiped his hand across his mouth, wiped a smile onto his face as two friends slid a chair under his behind. He settled in, his glassy eyes brightening, staring at the two girls.

  “I wanna watch, Hud. I wanna watch ’em.”

  Hudson nodded. He took a swig from his drink and said, “You heard the man, ladies. Do what you’re good for.”

  Now this is the moment: here is where the pitch is reached. Someone dimmed the lights, someone else struck up a spot over that corner of the room; Hudson had all the angles covered. He felt a thrill, an electric jolt, spiral up and down his spine as the girls got into it. The crowd moved in around them, pressing, urging, as the two women pulled each other’s clothes off. Their hair mussed up around those pretty faces, asses in the air, panties strewn like rubble around their ankles. The older one fell over, legs splayed and surprise in her expression, and a cheer rose. Hudson slipped a pill into his mouth and let the moment take him over.

  He saw everything; he saw them do everything, every fucking thing they were ordered. It became like a film reel then, black- and-white but ultra-defined. No, not a film reel—a photographic slide-show. Image after image after image, metered out, steady, vivid, under his control. The women pressing their tongues into each other’s mouths. Plastic toys clutched, or discarded on the shag carpet. Obscure, hardly definable body parts: someone’s shoulder or thigh, a scrap of pubic hair, the Sahara ripple of skin over rib cage. The tatty fabrics of their whore outfits. Male hands entering the picture, to guide them, force them together, or clenched in a fist of exultation. The boys whooped and hollered, patting Steve on the back as he sat there, pleased and horny. T
hey encouraged the women to do more, go further, be wilder. Manic expressions on the watching crowd: sex- and booze- and drugcrazed. Grinding teeth, sweat stains on their shirts; nods of validation and camaraderie. The spotlight pure and unflinching, the murky bass on the music echoing throughout the apartment—that subterranean, relentless beat…

  Eventually Hudson stepped in and pulled the girls apart. They cowered, scuttling backward, covering their nakedness with their hands. They looked disheveled and beaten-down; their make-up had streaked on their faces.

  Hudson said, “Alrighty. Well, I think we all enjoyed that a whole lot. I know you did, anyway, Stevie boy.”

  Everyone laughed, including Steve. A guy in a black polo shirt and square glasses said, “He was moaning like a bitch!”

  More laughter. Hudson raised a hand. “Alright, alright. That’s enough of that. We’re here to party with Steve, fellas, not to degrade him; ’cause after all…” He looked down at the two women. “…that’s what you’re here for.”

  The three men in tuxedos were approaching the apartment building. Ten yards from the main door they pulled black balaclavas over their heads and leather gloves onto their hands. The figure in the red bow tie held his finger poised over the buzzer. He spoke in a deep, quiet, slightly distorted voice without turning back.

  “Are you ready for this? Both of you?”

  The big one flicked away the end of a cigarette. The small one breathed out loudly through pursed lips. They both nodded and hummed affirmation.

  “Okay, then. Onward we go.”

  He pressed the buzzer; no voice answered but the door opened. They entered the building.

  Hudson reached into his jacket and pulled out a dead mouse, half-wrapped in tissue. It sat in his hand, limp and disgusting, though he didn’t appear bothered by it. The group started jostling, leaning on one another’s shoulders, monkey noises, a charge of excitement.