What You Make It (40 page)
Authors: Michael Marshall Smith
They laughed as they watched the characters play. Nicola had thought the man she'd come with had been a bad man, but he couldn't have been as bad as all that. Bud and Slap the Happy Rats were each holding one of his hands, and they were dancing with him, leading him to the wagon. They looked like they liked him a lot. The man's mouth opened and shut very wide as he danced, and Nicola thought he was probably laughing. She would be, in his position. They all looked like they were having such fun.
Finally, the wagon doors were shut with the man inside, and Bud and Slap bowed up at Grandma's window before getting back into their police car. The trash cans went somersaulting back to next door's yard, and the rolling pin came hand-springing up the path, leaving a trail of little firework stars in its wake. Nicola clapped her hands and Grandma laughed, and put her arm around the little girl.
Now it was time for supper and pie, and tomorrow would be a new and different day. They turned away from the window, and went to start cooking, in a kitchen where the tables and chairs had already tidied everything up as if nothing bad had ever happened, or ever could.
Meanwhile, well outside Wonder World, over on a splintered porch outside a small house the other side of the beltway, Marty the Gateman sat in his chair enjoying his bedtime cigarette. His back ached a little, from standing up all day, but it didn't bother him too badly. It was a small price to pay for seeing all the faces as they went into the parks, and when they came out again. The kids went in bright-eyed and hopeful, the parents tired and watchful. You could see them thinking how much it was all going to cost, and wondering whether it would be worth it. Then when you saw them come out, hours or days later, you could see that they knew that it had been. For a little while the grown-ups realized their cynicism was an emotional short-cut which meant they missed everything worth seeing along the way, and the children had proof of what they already believed: the world was cool. The
gateman's job was important, Marty knew. You said the first hello to the visitors, and you said goodbye. You welcomed them in and helped them acclimatize; and then you sent them on their way, letting them see in your eyes the truth of what they believed – they were leaving a little lighter inside.
Marty's house was small and looked like all the others nearby, and he lived in it alone. As he sat in the warmth of the evening, looking up at the stars, he didn't mind that very much. His wife now lived with someone who was better at earning money, and who came home after a day's work in a far worse mood. Marty missed her, out he'd survive. The house could have been fancier, but he'd painted it last summer and he liked his yard.
He had the last couple of puffs of his cigarette, and then stubbed it out carefully in the ashtray he kept by the chair. He yawned, sipped the last of his ice tea, and decided that was that. It was early yet, but a good time for sleep. It always is, when you're looking forward to the next day.
As he lay in his bed later, gently settling into the warm train which would take him into tomorrow, he dimly wondered what he'd do with the rest of his life. Work for as long as he could, he supposed, and then stop. Sit out on the porch, most likely, live out his days bathed in the memory of faces lit for a moment by magic. Smile at passers-by. Drink ice tea in the twilight.
That sounded okay by him.
The past is a game in which you, blushing, reveal
Where you were first kissed, and by whom –
And like the others I sit and listen,
But unlike them I do not grin; because
All I can see are the bars in the window
Which prevent me from being him.
I would like to thank the people who've published and help shape my stories – Stephen Jones, Nicholas Royle, David Sutton, Ellen Datlow and Peter Crowther; the three authors who most made me want to write – KA, RB and SK; my parents for always being there, and my wife Paula for not being there then but being here now; and finally my editors, Jim Rickards and Jane Johnson, for their support, patience and friendship.
Michael Marshall Smith's debut novel was the groundbreaking
Only Forward
which received widespread critical acclaim. A former comedy writer for the BBC, he currently has two feature films and a miniseries in development. In 1996,
Spares
was bought by Steven Spielberg's production company Dreamworks in a seven-figure deal. It has since been sold in translation around the world. In 1997, the film rights for his third novel,
One of
Us, were bought by Warner Brothers for a similar figure amid intense bidding. Mike lives in North London, where he is currently working on his fourth novel while providing a warm place for his cats to sleep.
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Praise for Michael Marshall Smith:
‘No one writes better than Smith about love: how it's won, how it's lost. No one writes better about being wasted – by drugs, by drink, by time. Nigh-on unique’
i-D
‘A storytelling skill that can only be described as pure genius’
Venue
‘Subtle, beautifully understated stuff which marks him out as a name to watch’
The Times
Only Forward
‘This is exceptional. Douglas Adams meets William Gibson in a first-rate futuristic adventure’
The Bookseller
‘Very funny and decidedly surreal’
Empire
‘A genuinely new twist … with a punchline of Crying Game proportions’
Time Out
Spares
‘Some books stretch the imagination. This one mugs it’
DAVID BADDIEL
‘Amusing and horrific, full of sharp asides and biting commentary … comic, cruel, twisted and surreal’
Empire
‘Satisfyingly weird and weirdly funny and just crying out to be filmed’
Scotland on Sunday
‘Witty, hard-edged and coruscatingly imaginative … compellingly off-kilter’
New Scientist
‘Tense, exciting and at times very, very funny … He's worth every penny’
Time Out
One of Us
‘The crucial thing about Michael Marshall Smith is that he is enormously readable…once you have started reading one of his books, you won't want to stop until you have finished it… While
One of Us
is full of transdimensional beings and walking, talking household appliances, its determined and unwavering focus is on human emotions, chiefly love and loss … He is in a class of his own… A master of ad absurdum gags [and] enough sensationally good throwaway wisecracks to fill a car park full of skips… He has the talent to become the inspiration to a generation of writers’
The Independent
‘The conceits are first class and so is the writing … Weird, wonderful and [full of irony and satire]. the joyous existence of an illicit Los Angeles bar where you can buy cholesterol and fat as a side order … Michael Marshall Smith makes you laugh. What you get is tongue in cheek with passionate sincerity and plenty of action… It races along, bouyed by its own wit. Raymond Chandler meets Terry Pratchett and they get along fine… Buy Marshall Smith’
FRANCÉS FYFIELD,
The Express
‘The obliteration of human memory is a
fin de siècle
concern, and Michael Marshall Smith provides as witty and imaginative a riff on this as one could wish in
One of Us
… As always with the fiercely inventive Smith, the rug of reality is exhilaratingly pulled from under the reader's feet’
New Scientist
‘Humour, a cracking pace and fluid prose … Sizzling…Michael Marshall Smith has a Crichton-like knack of attracting film studios. Warner Brothers have this one. Interesting, readable and soon to be watchable’
The Times
‘As genre-defining as William Gibson and as relentlessly read able as Michael Crichton. Don't miss out’
Maxim
‘Outstanding, highly original near future thriller…Wonderfully inventive. Smith imagines a virtual reality heaven where you can call up the dear departed, there are collapsible cars which you can fold in your pocket, microclimates for hire, troupes of literate and vocal machines (coffee grinders and waste disposal units get on well together) and new professions including that of Emissions Manager “better known in the trade as a fart wrangler: hired by movie stars to walk behind them at parties and – should the unfortunate occur – surreptitiously flap an unfurled napkin to disperse the smell as quickly as possible.” A sustained black joke, fiercely funny, and hugely entertaining’
The Literary Review
‘Smith plunges us into a sci-fi film noir where Raymond Chandler's ghost walks with fugitive coffee machines and where virtual reality means that the future is in memories. Wry, fast – paced and original. Brilliant’
The Scotsman
‘From time to time a mystery novel comes along that by its power and imagination grips the mind and the emotions, and this is obviously one of the 10 best for 1998’
Jerusalem Post
‘A rollicking sci-fi murder mystery’
The Big Issue
‘Sharp as a switchblade,
One of Us
is a surreal mixture of sf, thriller, romance and theological philosophy that stretches the imagination to breaking point… If this book doesn't make you think, you probably haven't got a brain’
The List
‘A gripping thriller. Multi-layered and inspirational – we guarantee you have never read anything like it’
Edinburgh Student
‘Hellishly funny vision … The book is littered with lovely one-liners… Smith has imagination to spare’
The Mirror
Only Forward
Spares
One of Us
What You Make It (short stories)
More Tomorrow
First appeared in
Dark Terrors
, edited by Stephen Jones and David Sutton, published by Victor Gollancz. Copyright © 1995 Michael Marshall Smith.
Everybody Goes
Copyright © 1992 Michael Marshall Smith.
Hell Hath Enlarged Herself
First appeared in
Dark Terrors
2, edited by Stephen Jones and David Sutton, published Victor Gollancz. Copyright © 1996 Michael Marshall Smith.
A Place To Stay
First appeared in
Dark Terrors
4, edited by Stephen Jones and David Sutton, Victor Gollancz. Copyright © 1994 Michael Marshall Smith.
Later
First appeared in
The Mammoth Book of Zombies
, edited by Stephen Jones, published by Robinson. Copyright © 1992 Michael Marshall Smith.
The Man Who Drew Cats
First appeared in
Dark Voices
2, edited by Stephen Jones and David Sutton, published by Pan. Copyright ©1988 Michael Marshall Smith.
The Fracture
First appeared in
Dark Voices 6
, edited by Stephen Jones and David Sutton, published by Pan. Copyright © 1992 Michael Marshall Smith.
Save As…
First appeared in
Interzone.
Copyright © 1996 Michael Marshall Smith.
More Bitter Than Death
First appeared in
Dark Voices
5, edited by Stephen Jones and David Sutton, published by Pan. Copyright © 1991 Michael Marshall Smith.
Diet Hell
Copyright © 1998 Michael Marshall Smith.
The Owner
First appeared in
Narrow Houses
, edited by Peter Crowther, published by Little, Brown. Copyright © 1992 Michael Marshall Smith.
Foreign Bodies
First appeared in
Lethal Kisses
, edited by Ellen Datlow, published by Orion. Copyright © 1994 Michael Marshall Smith.
Sorted
First appeared in
A Game of Two Halves
, edited by Nicholas Royle, published by Victor Gollancz. Copyright © 1995 Michael Marshall Smith.
The Dark Land
First appeared in
Darklands
, edited by Nicholas Royle, published by Egerton Press. Copyright © 1988 Michael Marshall Smith.
When God Lived in Kentish Town
Copyright © 1996 Michael Marshall Smith.
Always
First appeared in
Darklands 2
, edited by Nicholas Royle, published by Egerton press. Copyright © 1991 Michael Marshall Smith.
What You Make It
Copyright © 1998 Michael Marshall Smith.
The Truth Game
Copyright © 1993 Michael Marshall Smith.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 1999
Copyright © Michael Marshall Smith 1999
The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
Set in Minion
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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EPub Edition © 1999 ISBN: 9780007325351