“Naw, man, you don’t have to go that far. Just shave your face, get a crew cut, put on a gray suit and red tie. Then go out there and see how much they compare you to me.”

Milo eyed me suspiciously. He sneered a bit but then faltered in his resolve.

“But that’s wrong,” he said.

“You right about that,” I replied.

I pulled to the curb outside of the hidden domicile of the young millionaire Terry Aldrich, a block or two north of the Sunset Strip. The holly hedge surrounding the property was so high that you could see only the upper floor of the mansion, which, I knew from past experience, was a four-story hodgepodge of conflicting architectures and styles.

“Go through the path cut in the hedge and knock on the front door,” I said to Milo. “Whoever answers, tell ’em your name, my name, and then say you’re there for Terry to give you a place to stay. Even if he’s not in town they’ll open up and give you a corner to curl up in.”

Milo was concentrating on me. Maybe he was still thinking about the desert island versus the peninsula.

“Remember,” I said, “your name, my name, and that you’re there for Terry. I’ll talk to Feather and then get back to you in a few days at most.”

The young uncle nodded and climbed out. He pulled his dirty yellow pack from the back seat and went to and through the hedge wall leading to the hippie manor.

I drove off wishing that he was now on that island, with me on my way to safety.

14

14

It was just shy of noon and I had some hours to kill, so I drove out to Hollywood, had a chili cheeseburger with fries, then went out to see a movie for the first time that year. A few days before, they released one called Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Paul Newman and a new guy. It was good because there was action and you could laugh too. I’d forgotten how much I love a big dark movie house with the sound so loud and the world somewhere far off.

The Dragon’s Eye was a club a bit deeper into Hollywood. It was on a street named Gantner with a big parking lot out back that was surrounded by a fourteen-foot-high brick wall that had a dozen or so little inlets along the sides. The entrance had a double-door system and a camera that monitored everyone coming through the first portal. Passing the first door, you went through a gaudy red-and-black hallway and encountered the second gate. This was pulled open by an exceptionally tall man wearing a red tux and tails. If you were to ask me his race, I’d’ve said albino gator because his false smile resembled the many-toothed predator’s grin.

“Easy Rawlins?” Razor-mouth asked.