Raymond    Look –

Bert    Muzzy’s got a ripped asshole and fucked-up insides proves you set foot in Wichita. Little fella’s been shitting in a bag since then. Proof, Ray, proof: ripped ass and fucked-up insides. You know what else he’s got, Ray? Witnesses. He’s got witnesses too. You remember the Bearded Lady, uh? Nothing much got past that big ol’ hairy bitch in Wichita, Ray.

Raymond seethes and slams the phone down.

Raymond    Have you – is that it? The dope’s eaten your brain, you’ve finally –

Bert    He’s got proof, Ray. Muzzy’s got all the proof he needs. You think I’m fucken dumb, Ray? You take me for some dumb fucken schmuck or something?

Raymond    I’ve never heard of this –

Bert    He’s a phone call away. That poor little fuck’s been searching high and low for you, Ray.

Raymond    You’re insane!

Bert    Insane, uh?

Raymond (picking up the phone)     Quite, you’re quite insane, Kowalski. Now I’m going to call the desk, I’m going to call the desk about poor Charles’s drink- and opium-induced hysterical condition.

Bert    Gimme a fucken break, Ray, they’ll probably turn a blind eye to the booze, but if they find my stash –

Raymond looks towards the bathroom.

Raymond    Flush it away, Kowalski.

Bert    Ain’t you ever had no break before?

Raymond    I don’t go poisoning impressionable young men with drugs.

Bert    No, no, you go around fucking dwarfs in the ass.

Raymond     What!

Raymond climbs down to the floor.

Bert    Muzzy Starr, Ray. He’s got witnesses, like me and you he’s got witnesses.

Raymond    For the last time –

Bert    Guy comes to you, guy can’t take a shit, you tell some guy you can cure him, you cure him all right, Ray. You stick your big fat hairy cock in his little asshole and some guy never stops shitting.

Raymond    How – I can’t – you’ve got a diseased mind, Kowalski. You’re diseased! It’s the alcohol and the drugs. There’s help available, you know. There are people that can help you, Kowalski.

Bert    Bearded Lady told me all about it. That big ol’ hairy bitch marked your card, Ray. She tells me and I bump into Muzzy Starr outside Reno one night. Get him stoned he tells me everything. He tells me the gory details, Ray. You know I ain’t one for gossip, but – Jesus – that poor kid. The thing you done to that poor little – fuck, Ray, I mean . . .

Raymond    Have you finished – for the last time – have you finished, Kowalksi?

Bert    You’re not denying it, right? You’re not saying you didn’t fuck his ass with your cock, Ray?

Raymond    What’s the point? What is the point? . . . you’re wearing me down.

Bert    Bearded Lady, Muzzy Starr’s witness, right . . . she . . . she reckons she could o’ got you work, Ray . . . could o’ got you work as a sideshow freak.