The torch was impromptu. The torch was unsanctioned. He informed the Boys. He informed them post-torch. He stressed his pure motive.

WE need a cab base. WE need dirt. Let's help Drac. Let's accrue dirt. Let's deploy it.

Carlos clapped. Sam G. clapped. Moe blew kiss bouquets.

Pete braced the Rapid dispatcher. Pete greased him. Pete bought his account book. Pete bought his soul. Pete hired him. Pete resigned his accounts. Pete got nine legislators. Pete got Nellis brass and fat cats galore.

Moe fixed the torch. Moe fixed it with LVPD. Arson cops took bribe cash. Arson cops framed a wino.

Moe fixed the Rapid end. Moe fixed it post-torch. Goons fucked up the owner. Goons relocated him to Dogdick, Delaware.

Pete renamed the biz. Dig it--Tiger Kab refortifies. Tiger Kab resurrects.

He sold the old Packards. He bought twenty Fords. He hired dopeaddled "artist" Von Dutch.

Von Dutch ate peyote. Von Dutch painted cabs. Von Dutch laid wiiiild upholstery. He painted tiger stripes. He scrolled kustom script. He fashioned mock-tiger-tuft seats.

Pete bought four limos--high-end wheels--Lincoon Coontinentals. They had hi-fis and recliner seats. They were mobile fuck pads.

He consulted Milt Chargin. He steam-cleaned the hut. He dumped some fruits. He hired some straight guys. He kicked two drag queens out.

He took Milt's advice--keep Nat Wershow--Nat's smart and butch. Keep Champ Beauchamp. Keep Harvey Brams. Keep Donkey Dom--Dom's a fruit magnet--Dom draws fruit biz.

He called his Teamster contact. He signed the crew on. They got pensions. They got health plans. They paid Teamster dues.

Jimmy H. got points. Jimmy was thrilled. The fruits genuflected and swished. They got the clap. They got the syph. The Teamsters now paid for their cures.

Pete hired two jigs--Sonny Liston boys. They were good drivers. They were semi-punch-drunk. They were good Browntown brawn.

Biz was strong. The cash base was strong. No Monarch clients strayed.

Pete ran the hut. Pete worked three shifts. Work drove him. Work drained him. Work killed his bad thoughts.

He lived at the hut. He brought the cat in. The cat chased wall rats. He built a straight john. He kept the fruit john. The straights refused to shit with the fruits.

The straights hated the fruits. The fruits reciprocated. Pete addressed the issue. Pete stressed coexistence. Pete enforced the Law: No bickering. No fistfights. No factional wars. No sex jive. No queerstraight flirtation.

Both factions kowtowed. Both factions obeyed.

He cut a deal with Johnny R. He got roost rights at the Dunes. He cut a deal with Sam G. He got roost rights at the Sands.

He told the crew: I WANT DIRT.

Quiz hookers. Quiz card dealers. Glom dirt. Glom dirt on celebrity tricks and gamble-o-holics. Accrue dirt. Report dirt to Milt C.

Milt was good. Milt mediated crew complaints. Milt deflected tsuris.

Milt made airport runs. Milt drove famous fruits. Milt drove state legislators. Milt drove them to fuck pads. Milt drove them to dope dens. Milt reported his dirt.

Milt dispersed tip cash. Milt greased bellhops/barkeeps/B-girls. Milt said I WANT DIRT Dirt meant leverage. Dirt meant status. Leverage meant juice. Juice for the Boys and Drac Hughes.

Tiger Kab: Dirt Central. The racket hub supreme.

The fruits pulled crimes. The straights pulled crimes. They achieved detente and pulled crimes together. Pete hired drivers off rap sheets. Pete hired drivers off reps. Pete hired bent guys x-clusive.

Pete consolidated. Pete worked two main gigs. Pete worked the pill and slot-machine endeavors.

He dumped the smut gig. He dumped the mule flux. He dumped the T.J. cops. He dumped the smut kids, He leaned on Eldon Peavy. He made him quit making smut.

He hired Farlan Moss. He sent him to TJ. Moss greased the spic cops. Moss shanghaied the kids. Moss sent them home pronto mas.

Pete stole Peavy's records. Pete logged smut transactions. Pete logged DIRT.

Peavy left town. Pete lost his cab protection. Pete called Sam G. Sam Tigerized and bought points. Sam bought in for 20%.

Sam bought protection--new and improved--Sheriff's and LVPD. Coop deals meant insurance. Insurance meant safety. Safety meant anesthesia.

He shut Betty out. It worked intermittent. He notched minutes and hours and sleep. He did make-work. He did real work. He stretched the time. He cultivated distraction.

He'd get frazzled. He'd get fucked up. Betty jumped him then. It scared him. It relieved him. It said THIS IS REAL.

Betty stuck with him. Dallas faded away.

The Warren thing hits. Lee O. takes the rap. Jack Ruby goes down guilty as charged. Jack stays mute. Jack gets death. Ratfuck Bobby resigns as AG.

Barb dropped the p.m. news. Wayne dropped his Dallas questions. Carlos dropped all the hit talk. Betty took a slug. Arden-Jane dodged one for now.

Jimmy took another slug--pension-fund fraud--two five-year terms concurrent. Jimmy's fucked. Jimmy knows it. Jimmy seeks solace.

His good lawyers helped. His good Teamsters helped. Likewise Ward's fund-book plan.

Tiger was solace plus. Tiger subsumed Betty--intermittent.

Tiger roared. Tiger roamed. Tiger roved West LV. That trailer was still there. That whore decomped within.

Wayne wanted work. Wayne pressed Pete. Pete always said no. Tiger Kab hired spooks. Tiger Kab drove spooks. Wayne was spook-afflicted.

Wayne worked for Wayne pere. Pere tied his apron strings. Pere had big pull. Pere foresaw that Gulf of Tonkin thing.

Wayne was wowed--dig my dad--he's a chingon.

Wayne Senior pressed Wayne--let's start a snitch-Klan--the Neutered Knights of Natchez or some such fucking shit.

Wayne played along. Pete said: Don't do it--Klans just ain't you.

Wayne Senior bragged to acess. Ward Littell listened. Ward knew Wayne. Ward had pull with him. Ward could cut those strings.

Wayne Senior greased the hit fund. Wayne Senior told Ward. Wayne Senior sent Wayne to Dallas.

Wayne was naive. Wayne didn't know.

Stay naive--you'll live longer. Tiger rules. Ditch the hate and I'll find you a spot. It's elite. It's effete. It helps you shut dead women out.

51.

(Las Vegas, 9/10/64)

Canned food and booze. Sauerkraut and Cointreau--all Air Force stock.

Wayne tossed crates. A swamper stacked them. They worked. They broiled. They hogged the DI dock.

Creamed corn and Smirnoff. Stuffed olives and Pernod. Cheez-Its and Old Crow.

Wayne worked fast. The swamper worked slow. The swamper yakyakked.

"You know we lost some guys, including our steward. I heard your dad got them work with Howard Hughes. Some lawyer set it up."

Wayne tossed the last crate. The swamper caught it. The swamper peeled his roll and paid up.

He shuffled. He scratched. He played coy. He dragged out the transaction.

Wayne said, "What is it?"

"Well, it's sort of personal."

"I'm listening."

"Well . . . you think that Durfee guy's stupid enough to come back here?"

"I don't think he's stupid at all."

Wayne drove to Nellis.

He'd scheduled two loops. A late shot for Twinkles and Jim Beam--all Flamingo stock.

Wayne yawned. Traffic was slow. The job was soporific. The job was a soggy cream puff.

He figured it out. It took him weeks. Wayne Senior wants you bored. Wayne Senior has plans.

Said plans implied: Go to Alabama. Stress your reputation. Drop how you avenged Lynette. Start a snitch-Klan. Recruit snitches. Work for the Feds.

He told Pete about it. Pete said, "It's cowardly shit."

He hit Owens. He hit the Nellis gates. He drove straight in. Nellis was beige--beige buildings/beige barracks/beige lawns.

Big barracks. Named for Strip hotels. No goof or satire implied.

His QM contact lived off base. His QM parked on. Wayne had dupe car keys. Wayne left his coin in the car.

He passed the "Sands." He passed the "Dunes." He passed the Officers' Club. He parked. He got out. He saw the QM's Ford.

Two rows up: A '62 Vette.

Red with white side coves. Whitewalls and chrome pipes. Janice's cherried-out car.

Janice left the ranch. Janice left at noon. Janice said she was off to play golf. Boulder/thirty-six holes/Twin Palms Country Club.

Blithe Janice. Golf--shit.

Wayne unlocked the Ford. Wayne rolled down the windows. Wayne scrunched low and tucked himself in.

Cars came. Cars went. He chewed gum. He popped sweat. He stared at the Vette.

Time chugged. Time rescinded. Some instinct said stick.

The sun arced. The sun hit the Ford. Wayne broiled. His gum starched and dried out.

There's Janice.

She leaves the O Club. She gets in her Vette. She kicks the key and idles it.

There's Clark Kinman.

He leaves the O Club. He gets in a Dodge. He kicks the key and idles it.

Janice pulls out. Kinman pulls out behind.

Wayne pulled out. Wayne hung back. Cut the leash/cut them some slack.

Wayne hung back. Wayne read his watch dial. Wayne ticked one full minute off.

Now-- He hauled. He closed in. He caught up. Three-car caravan--eastbound--Lake Mead Boulevard.

Janice drove point. Kinman tapped his horn. Kinman goosed her pipes. They played. They flirted out their windows. They goofed.