Beauties and the Beast (7 page)

“What's the gig?” Billy's almost hysterical cry broke the silence.

“Patience,” said Diana. She moved away from the computer and stood close to the singer. She was equal in height and stared directly into his eyes. “I can't reveal the plot of the play yet, but I can give you an insight into your character.”

Angela slid from the desk, skirt riding higher. For a split second Billy thought he saw the suspenders. White, surprisingly. Not black or red. She sat in a chair and concentrated on the screen, her nimble fingers flicked over the keyboard.

Thornton swirled round. “The boy gets to know his character first!” It was a declaration of war. “What about me!” He confronted as he stood alongside Billy.

Diana slowly turned her gaze on Thornton. “Tut tut, Mr Thornton,” she said, “such impatience from a man of your age and experience.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Thornton could have bitten off his own tongue. He used the oldest cliché in the TV script book.

“Simply that a man of your supreme experience, a man almost 66 years old ...”

“I'm only just turned 50,” Thornton insisted vehemently.

The computer terminal buzzed and blinked. Diana didn't even turn and look. “My computer tells me you're 66 at the end of this year.”

“You bugger.” Mickey came in from the cold of his mesmerised absorption of the words and action around him. “You're older than I am.”

“Nonsense,” snorted Thornton. “The computer records have been forged. It's bad-mouthed gossip aimed at ruining my image.”

Mickey stood and came to Thornton. He peered exaggeratedly at Thornton's face. “The available evidence proves otherwise, even with the Botox” he said. “I cast my vote for 66.”

“Add on another 6 and you've about got it,” said Billy.

“What?”

“666.”

“What's 666?”

“The Devil's number.” he looked disgustedly at Billy. “Don't you know anything?”

“I know enough,” said Mickey, bluffing. He turned to Diana. “Come on Miss, when will you tell us?”

“Very soon,” said Diana, “very soon.” She turned her attention to Billy. “Now ...”

This was too much for Thornton. He exploded. “This is intolerable. I can do without listening to the drivel about the boy wonder here.” He drew himself to his full, impressive height. “Would someone kindly direct me to the men's room?”

Diana, amusement toying at the corners of her mouth pointed into the wings. “Down the corridor, to the right,” she said.

Billy laughed. “Bladder trouble as well eh? Swollen prostate is it?”

Thornton pointed a quivering finger at Billy. “You will pay,” he thundered. “I won't accept insults from the moronic likes of you.”

“So who will you accept them from?” retorted Billy

Thornton stood silently for a second, face twitching as fury mounted, but he recognised a losing battle when he was in one. The boy had no respect. A tactical withdrawal was in order. He turned on his heel, military style and marched into the wings.

Chapter Eight

Thornton blinked at the darkness as he tried to recall the instructions. Down the corridor, to the right was it? He felt a mounting pressure on his bladder. The blackness diffused into gloom and he saw a door and light, bright light, filtered underneath. What was behind
that
door, he wondered. Was that where the illusive Joshua Lucy was hidden? Then he saw the corridor.

It was not long like the entrance to the theatre. It ended at a T junction and light filtered through. He walked slowly towards the light. He stood at the junction and looked left. The light shone from the end round another corner. It was a strangely gentle light, a glow, peaceful. He looked right and saw Darkness still. He looked left again. They said “to the right” though.

He shrugged and turned into the darkness. As he moved slowly down the tunnel he found he was able to see. Light was seeping in from somewhere. Then there was another glow, soft, warm, hot? It was not strong, but enough for Thornton to read the sign. See the male caricature, black on white on the sign on the door. The bladder pressure was mounting. With a sigh he pushed open the door. He was almost blinded by the harsh fluorescent light that bounced of white walls. As his pupils shrunk to compensate for inrush of brightness Thornton saw he was in a room that compared favourably with the computers than the stage.

It
was
a men's room, it did not, however match the character of the rest of the building. It would be more at home in a shopping mall, or a movie complex. Bright, white tiles; hand basins, mirrors and lights; cubicles in a line and urinals, gleaming and fresh with the tang of lemon disinfectant. It was an aberration in this strange place of mould and decay. He looked into the mirror. The lighting did little for his complexion. It appeared mottled, distorted and yet. He peered closer at his eyes. The redness had gone. There was a brightness; an alertness.

The pressure continued to mount inside. He moved quickly to a urinal. The relief came quickly. He sighed, almost in pleasure and closed his eyes. Then a feeling that someone was near overwhelmed him. He opened his eyes sharply. Someone was at his side. Bad memories began to form in pictures behind his eyes.

He looked sideways and down. There was a man standing next to him. He looked both nervous and embarrassed. Thornton cast a look towards the ceiling. My God the pick-up artists were everywhere.

The man was small, much smaller than Thornton, and much younger. He was medium build. Fair haired with a fair complexion. Almost cherub-like, with his small puckered lips, thought Thornton. Maybe he should allow himself to be picked up. It might be interesting.

“See anything you want?” It was an old opening gambit that had worked for many, many years.

The cherub shook his head. “You have my meaning wrong,” he said, in an odd-sounding dialect.

“I am taking a risk being here, but you are the only one to venture past the stage. I am to warn you. Do not accept a role. Do not trust them.”

***

On the stage Billy had watched Thornton's departure with amusement. “He's an old bag of wind,” he said.

“I'd watch him if I were you,” said Mickey. “I didn't like the look on his face. Rumour has it that he can be very dangerous.”

“Such men as he are never at heart's ease whiles they behold a greater than themselves, and therefore are they very dangerous.” The quotation came from Diana.

“What's that, man?”

“Shakespeare,” said Mickey, keen to show his knowledge.

“Yeah, I know. Julius Caesar,” said Billy. “I'm not dumb. I went to school you know.”

“You could have fooled me,” murmured Mickey.

Billy glared, and in the small silence Diana stepped in. “Now Billy.” She was businesslike. “Your character, he's not a nice person ...”

Mickey chuckled. “Type-casting,” he said.

Diana ignored the intrusion. “We need to establish how well you could convince an audience that you are bad - evil in fact. The technique we use will help you relate to personal experience, subconscious memories, and to draw them out to interweave with the fabric of the role.”

Billy sat, thoughtfully. “You mean, remember the bad times, man? Think about them when I'm playing the part?”

Diana beamed. “Exactly; now what can you recall that might help?”

Billy's eyes flickered guiltily. “I have been in the nick,” he said.

Mickey opened his eyes wide in mock astonishment. “You're kidding,” he said. “Whoever would have thought it?” Billy looked uncomfortably at him, silently asking him to stop, but Mickey was not going to help. “Who'd you kill?”

“Nobody,” burst out Billy.

Diana cut through the antagonism. “Please, Mr Finnegan, give the boy a go.” There was a touch of sarcasm in the tone. Mickey grinned and leaned back in his chair. He gave his ukulele an unmusical twang.

Diana addressed Billy. “You were saying?”

“I went to jail, but nobody knows about it. It was all hushed up when I made it big.”

There was a sudden whirr from the printer that sat by the computers. A sheet of paper slowly emerged. Angela picked it up, read it briefly, smiled and handed it to a waiting Diana who also cast an eye over the contents.

“Yes, here it is, nine years ago, just after you became addicted to heroin. Six months for robbing a pharmacy.”

“But how did you... nobody knows about that. Genghis paid. The record was destroyed.”

“We know everything,” said Angela, and Billy felt a chill wind run over him.

“Research,” said Diana. “We have good researchers.” She smiled knowingly, but instantly got back to the matter in hand. “But your character is evil, a purveyor of fear, not just a naughty boy.” She flicked the printout. “I mean, a teenager jailed for stealing a fix? That calls more for sympathy than fear don't you think?”

“Didn't you kill somebody though Billy?” Angela spoke, sweetly, and Mickey sat up, interested.

Diana ran her finger down the printout. “Yes, here it is. You
are
a murderer.”

“No I am not, man” said Billy hotly. “I never hurt anybody in my life. I couldn't kill a toad in the road.”

Angela stood and joined Diana. They stood side by two, two faces of... of what thought Mickey. Angela pointed to the paper. Diana nodded. “Our records show that you injected a young girl with pure heroin and that she died as a result.”

“That's right.” Angela's voice was edge with menace. “You killed her just as though you'd slit her throat. In my book that's murder, Billy.”

“I didn't seem to bother you much either. You just got your minders to dispose of the body.”

Billy leapt to his feet and stood, legs apart, arms by his side, fist clenched. There were sweat marks showing through his shirt. “What is this?” his voice came through dry throat and lips. “Are you the law or something?” He didn't wait for as reply and made for the exit. “I'm outa here, man.”

“We are not the law.” Diana's voice was heavy with authority and Billy stopped.

“What are you on about then; all these questions?”

“We're holding an audition, that's all.”

Billy reluctantly turned to face her. “Some audition.”

“It's the new technique,” purred Angela. “So did it bother you?”

“What?”

‘The girl dying?”

“Yeah, hell man, it was an accident. She begged for it. She had that look in her eye, you know. Shit, I didn't know she was chasing her first fix. I never started anybody on the stuff ...” He stopped, breathing heavily. “I wanted to do something for her family, but Genghis wouldn't let me. ‘Never admit guilt'”, he said.”

He looked, pleading, at the women, but they gave him nothing in return; just blank looks from empty faces. “You don't think it made me bloody happy do you?” There was almost a note of anguish in the voice. Or was he playacting?

Angela and Diana exchanged a sharp glance. The Diana threw another odd question. “How do you feel about depravity?” She asked.

Billy was puzzled “What do you mean?”

Angela moved forward and stood in front of him, she was steaming, stomach tight, legs slightly apart. He could almost smell the sex that oozed from her as she continued. “I mean the drugs, the sex, the girls, the... orgies?”

A look of understanding crossed Billy's face and he smiled “Oh, you mean screwing. I don't think anything, man. I just do it.”

Angela laid a hand on his shoulder. He flinched. She looked at him a little sorrowfully. “The girls were all willing were they Billy, all sweaty-thighed and eager?”Billy laughed. It was a high pitched, cracked sound. “I'm a superstar. I get followed around.”

Angela pouted sexily. “Were there any sweet virginal schoolgirls?”

Billy stepped back. “You sure you're not the law?”

Diana shook her head. “Anything said here will never leave this room. I can promise you that. You can speak freely. In fact you must.”

Billy felt suddenly reassured. “Well,” he said, eagerly now. “There were a few schoolgirls. None of them virgins though. Groupies start young.” He chuckled. “Most of them are pretty dumb too.”

Diana consulted the sheet in her hand. “What about little Mandy?”

Billy frowned. “Mandy? I don't keep a diary, man. How would I know who's who? They all look the same in the dark.”

Diana looked him. “Do they indeed?” The voice was cool, steel edged. “I thought you might have remembered Mandy. It was only a matter of,” she consulted the sheet again, “only a matter of three years.”

Billy thought for a second then shook his head. “No the name doesn't mean a thing.”

Angela advanced on him and took his arm. She led him gently to the computer monitor. “You surely remember Mandy,” she said conversationally. She pushed Billy forward and he stared into the monitor. It was filled with graphics. A computer game? Was that Mario? He leaned forward. No it was him, bouncing along the green fields, floating just above the ground through the trees. There was a little house. He stopped at the door. Angela pressed a key and the screen went blank.

Then he was in the house!

The place was filled with girls and music. Billy recognised the euphoria. Good smack and good booze. He looked round. There was his band - and the girls. They were class, real class, every one of them. Who was that sweet thing standing in the corner?

The boys welcomed him. Everyone was talking, but he heard nothing. He accepted a drink. What the hell, he was pissed already. A girl draped herself on his arm. She was video blonde, a pixilated image but gorgeous. She was buxom, tall, had skin like cream and not a wrinkle anywhere, young, and juicy in fact. But he could not take his eyes off the other one.

“My cousin Mandy. She's a pain. Visiting. I had to bring her with me. She's not used to the scene. A bit scared. She'll be okay though. She can keep her mouth shut.” She kissed Billy and her hand wandered to his crotch. He pushed her away. “Mandy. Let's talk to Mandy”.

He weaved his way to the corner to the girl who was leaning on the wall. She had cornflower blue eyes, wide with wonder. Her hair was bleached white by the sun and her skin brown and flawless. Her breasts were rounded and not too big and her legs flowed from white buttock-revealing denim shorts. The edges were frayed. She was sipping a coke and almost choked on the drink when she saw Billy standing in front of her.

“Billy Winter.” Her voice was soft, filled with wonder. “They said you'd be here. I didn't believe them. I've got all your albums. I think you're fantastic.”

“That's nice.” With intense concentration he didn't slur. He looked at her drink, took it, sniffed it, and then poured some of his own into it, before handing it back.”

“Straight coke's bad for your teeth.”

The girl laughed.

He held out his glass. “Cheers.” He drank.

Mandy looked at her glass. Smiled and lifted it to her lips. She took a long sip and grimaced.

“Spoils the coke? What is it?”

Billy looked at his glass. “Bourbon,” he said. “And you're right. You need vodka. You can't even taste it. Come with me.” He took her hand and she followed willingly her little heart beating with excitement. Her idol, Billy Winter, the man she'd been in love with forever, well, the past six months anyway, was there.
Holding her hand
.

Billy took her to a table that was covered in bottles and glasses. He found a clean glass, poured a slug of vodka in it and filled it with coke. “Try this.”

Mandy sipped. “That's nice, just like coke, but thicker.”

“You not used to drinking are you?”

Mandy giggled. “My folk would kill me if they knew.”

“Your cousin said you can keep your mouth shut.”

“I don't blab if that's what you mean.”

“That's good,” said Billy. “Because everybody likes to party, but if word gets out too far, a lot of people could get into a lot of trouble.”

“Katy warned me,” said Mandy, swilling at her drink. “I wasn't going to come at first, but when she said you might be here, well I had to.”

“I'm glad you did,” said Billy. “You're best looking chick in the room.”

Mandy's eyes opened wider. “Really? Katy said you liked her. She said she's actually done it with you.”

“She's done it with the whole band.”

Mandy looked shocked. “She never told me that,” she said. Billy closed in, put his arms round her shoulder, and pulled her closer. “She doesn't tell everybody everything. That's what we let her come to the parties when we're in town. How'd you like to be on the list?”

Mandy took an awkward sip of her drink. Billy was very close. “I don't live here,” she said.

“No, I mean in your home town.”

“You mean you have parties there as well?”