Sugar Valley (Hollywood's Darkest Secret)

by Stephen Andrew Salamon

  She put her pen down on the checkbook, saying, “Okay guys, how much?”

  “Three hundred and fifty-two dollars. We need two hundred to stay another week and a hundred and fifty-two to pay what we owe,” Jose answered. His voice sounded snotty, but sincere at the same time. It was like he didn’t want her help, but didn’t want to turn it down either.

  “Okay, I’ll give you guys five hundred dollars. This way you’ll have more time to get a job and get paid.” She then wrote out the check and handed it to the manager who was just standing silent, listening to their troubled conversation.

  “Thank you. Do you wish to have your old room back?” The motel manager waved the key to their old room in one hand and held the check in the other, having a greedy smile that reflected his greenish-yellow broken teeth that resembled corn.

  Jose swiped the key from the man’s grip, saying, “Yeah, thanks for nothing. I bet the roaches missed our ass.”

  “Thank you,” mumbled Darell, shaking Vivian’s hand in slow motion.

  Jose ran up the stairs with the plastic bag full of their things. Vivian just stood there, baffled at his ungratefulness. The heat from the day still wafted through this motel, dancing in the hallways and still keeping the aroma of cooked urine. But Vivian still waited, she wanted Jose to say, “thank you” for her kindness.

  Damen shouted, with loudness, so his voice would echo through the staircase and reach Jose’s ears, “Jose, come back down here and say ‘thank you’ to Vivian, she just saved us from sleeping in the streets.”

  Jose stopped in his tracks when he heard the loud echo from him. He walked down the sticky, roach-filled stairs slowly, and said, “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” she spoke in an unwelcome way.

  Damen walked Vivian outside and waited for a cab with her. They saw a cab approaching. With Vivian’s hand raised high in the hot air, Damen mentioned, “You see, that’s not like Jose to not say ‘thank you’ right away.”

  “Well, if it isn’t, then I don’t understand why. I mean, he’s not in any movies or TV shows. That’s where this business, Hollywood, usually changes people,” she explained, seeing the cab stopping right at her feet.

  “I don’t know. I don’t care anymore, Vivian.” Damen opened the cab door for her, and waited for her voice to start up again.

  “Whatever he’s hiding or whatever he’s doing, I know for a fact that in the future he’s gonna have it rough.” She then sat in the cab motionless and waited for Damen to close the door.

  Damen was speechless, thinking of what Vivian meant by those words; he suddenly closed the door for her and questioned, “Why do you say that?”

  “Remember, what comes around, goes around,” she replied before kissing him goodbye. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t forget to remind Darell about his ten o’clock appointment he has with Mr. Fryer,” she added with a low voice.

  “Ten o’clock appointment? When?” The cab started moving slowly, but Damen walked on the side of it, waiting for Vivian to say something through her opened window.

  “In three days. He’ll know what you’re talking about. Also, don’t forget about the extra work tomorrow. See ya, sweetie.” The cab then moved faster, Damen not being able to keep up with the pace, he started to run with it, and conversed with her as long as possible.

  “I won’t forget. I’ll meet you at the set tomorrow.”

  “Bye, sweetie,” Vivian said again. She drove off into the Hollywood lights as Damen stopped and fell to the ground, panting his smoke-filled lungs, and trying to catch his breath through the smog-filled breeze that blew around him.

  He went to his motel room and saw Jose sound asleep. Darell was watching TV when he reminded him about the appointment in three days. Darell and he watched television and talked for about an hour. The conversation began to end by Darell saying, “Damen, I’m scared.”

  “What are you scared about?” Damen’s eyes started to get heavier, but he wanted to stay awake for this moment, this precious night that reminded him of the old days in Sugar Valley; the old days that really weren’t that old.

  “I’m scared about, about, you know, fame, and becoming a movie star. I know it will happen to me, very soon,” Darell replied, seeing Damen’s eyes starting to get wider.

  “You are so conceited, Darell; you never used to act like this before.”

  “That’s not what I mean. I know we all will make it, it’s a gut feeling,” Darell explained in a medium tone. The television’s lights began to flicker, making their darkened room create patters on the walls; the roaches ran through the patterns with happiness: their masters were back.

  “Oh no, not another one of Darell’s gut feelings.” Damen then gave into his eyes and allowed them to fall down like they wanted to, still grinning from Darell’s words and how the “gut feeling” came up once again.

  Darell whispered, “Yes, I feel it will happen to us. I’m just so scared of that... Just that word ‘fame’. Before, I wasn’t afraid because we weren’t here, in Hollywood. But now we are, man. I guess the closer I come to fulfilling my dream, the farther I want my dream to become reality. Remember when we used to always talk about it in the Valley? Remember when we used to always read and act those stupid scripts? It seems so long ago, when in actuality, it was just last week. Damen?” he asked before he turned his head and saw Damen dead asleep.

  Darell lit a cigarette and blew the smoke at Damen’s face, seeing the cloud of nicotine spinning around his head. “The only time I could talk to you guys is when you’re sleeping. I just want you to know, that whatever happens to us or whatever I become, I will always, even though it may sound highly corny and I’m not being gay on you guys, I love you guys. You’re my friends; you’re kind of like my brothers. If I’m ever stuck up or snotty in the future, I want you to remember that. Damen, you’re more like a brother to me than Jose is. I mean, I know I act stupid sometimes, but that’s just me,” he said, looking at Damen’s sealed eyes and trying to believe they were open. “You know what’s so funny about this whole trip?” he asked to Damen’s sleeping face. “I didn’t ever want to become an actor, I don’t think I really do now. The funny part about it is, I was the first one to get an agent. Isn’t that ironic? Well, goodnight, Damen.” Darell closed his eyes and lay on the floor, hearing the pitter patter of little roach feet crawling around the room, staying up late past their bedtime.

  Damen opened and revealed his eyes, looking at Darell. He gave a grin, a moment of strict silence, and then whispered, “Goodnight, brother.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The big day finally arrived for Darell; the day of the 10:00 a.m. appointment with Mr. Fryer. He woke up at 9:00 a.m. and saw Damen and Jose were missing, not being anywhere in sight. So, he went over to the television, turned it on and lit up a cigarette. Darell looked all around this motel room. Closing his eyes suddenly, he opened them once to the sight of Sugar Valley. Manifesting his mind to be in the Valley’s body, Darell imagined that he was fishing with Maria. Feeling his flashback returning, he listened to his own words that he said on that day. He saw birds flying about, soaring through the Valley like they always did, and then turned to Maria. She asked, “Darell, why aren’t you practicing the script with them?” He turned and saw Damen and Jose, holding a script and acting it out in a grand fashion.

  He then turned to her, saw her face, feeling this flashback and how it felt so surreal, and suddenly a roach fell upon his forehead, making his flashback end and bringing him back into reality. A roach from the motel room crawled on his face, its sharp antennae against his skin, so he brushed it off with one swipe of his hand. Sugar Valley was no longer in his mind’s eye, his smile was no longer present, and he noticed his cigarette was all gone. “Well, today’s the day,” he mumbled. He went over to bathroom and slowly opened it up. Lighting another cigarette, he walked into the bathroom, but fell down to the floor by the sound of “surprise!” coming from Jose and Damen.

  “What’s this for?�
�� Darell asked. He was handed a box with red velvet wrapping surrounding it, and was confused about its purpose.

  Damen replied with excitement, “It’s just a little something me and Jose picked up for you.”

  “Why?” Darell began to unwrap the red velvet from the box. Feeling its happy texture of silk, he was intrigued by the wrapping, and couldn’t wait to see what it was covering up.

  “Because, it’s not every day a person gets an interview with one of the top talent agents in California. It’s just our way of saying congratulations,” Damen spoke.

  Darell opened the box, in a quick motion, seeing a golden pen lying on a black-cushioned surface, he said, “Wow, you guys didn’t have to do this.”

  Jose patted Darell on the back, saying, “Yes, we did. This way you’ll have something to sign autographs with.”

  “How did you guys afford this?” Darell then tried writing on a piece of paper with his new pen, having his eyes widen to the fact that it was working, and black ink could be seen through his circular motions.

  “Well, Jose and I are working for agencies of our own.” Damen turned off the television, seeing that it was loud and the conversation’s clarification was being censured by it. After Damen turned off the switch, he added, “We’re working for agencies now.”

  “What agencies?”

  “Crox Casting Agency, and Jose’s working for Willow Casting Agency.” Damen sat down on the bed and took Darell’s pen from him, saying, “So, do you like your gift?”

  Darell ignored the question, and asked, “How long have you guys been working?”

  A grin formed on Jose’s face, speaking, “I just started yesterday.”

  “Yeah, and I’ve been working at Crox for about four days.”

  Darell saw that Damen put the pen down on the bed, so he went over and took it, playing with it in his fingers and still showing confusion in his eyes. Darell placed the pen on the television and questioned in a puzzled manner, “Why didn’t you guys ask me if I wanted to join?”

  Damen got up from the bed, moved over to the television and picked up the pen once more. He replied, “Because, you were so worked up about this interview today that we didn’t want to make you even more stressed out.”

  Confusion still lay in the depths of Darell’s eyes and mind, still showing it to them, and having them realize that they’d better add more clarity into their reasons for not telling him about their jobs. They saw Darell was beginning to pick up the wrappings from the ground, having a few roaches trying to make homes out of it, Darell made sure to shake the wrappings, and watched the insects fall to their deaths. “Why would it make me stressed out?” They both noticed an attitude in Darell’s question. They knew he was pissed.

  “Because, it’s not an easy job being an extra; you have to work long, long hours, and be treated like dogs. Besides, if this interview doesn’t go well, then you could join too,” replied Damen, beginning to scribble on a piece of paper with Darell’s present.

  Darell’s confusion vanished at their alibi, so he formed a small smile and spoke, “Oh, okay, if you put it that way. Then, I guess I should say, thanks.”

  Damen then progressed to guide Darell into the bathroom, pushing him and saying, “You’re welcome. Now you should get going, you don’t want to be late for your big day.”

  Suddenly, Darell stopped in the bathroom doorway, turned around to face Damen and Jose, with his smile receding to a straight, suspicious grin. Confusion set in his mind again, Damen and Jose witnessing it. Darell questioned, like a prosecutor, “Wait a second, if you only started working at, at Crox Agency four days ago, how did you afford this present? Don’t tell me they paid you already.”

  Jose put his hand on Darell’s shoulder, replying, “Calm down, killer. Damen paid for the pen. He had some spare money put aside for an emergency. I’m going to give him part of the money once I get paid. Don’t worry, we didn’t steal it, and we didn’t take any of the money that Vivian loaned to us either.”

  Darell started to chuckle, feeling like an ass for being so detailed on his questioning, he said, “Good, that’s all I wanted to know.”

  Darell entered the bathroom, turned on the lights, when the confusion came back to him again, causing him to ask, “Aren’t you guys going to come with me to the agency?”

  “I’m not, I have to go into work today. Today the director is doing a ‘running’ scene. So, I guess I’ll be seen in the crowd as a glorified extra,” Jose answered with a grin.

  “What about you, Damen? Are you gonna come with me?”

  Damen’s tired mind was sick of all the questions Darell threw in his face. He proceeded to rub his eyes, and yawned, “Yeah, but we’re going to go pick up Vivian before we go. Her interview’s today too.”

  “That’s right, she’s my opponent.”

  Suddenly the confusion that Darell had, escaped into the air, and went into Damen’s thoughts, wondering what he meant by that. Damen saw that the bathroom door was closing, so he stuck his foot in the way of it, causing the door to hit it, and questioned, “What do you mean?”

  Darell opened the door all the way, speaking, “Well, remember when I told you I couldn’t discuss anything that Mr. Fryer talked to me about?”

  “Yeah, I remember something like that.”

  Darell grinned, and explained, “Well, Mr. Fryer told me, that me and six other actors are up against each other for the chance to have him as our agent. He even told me all of their names. That’s why when I saw Peter Welch at the Hollywood sign last week, I said ‘I think I’m up against him’. I said that because I knew I was. I couldn’t tell you the real reason why I said that, so I just said it’s a gut feeling. Remember that?”

  “Yeah, I remember, but why did Mr. Fryer tell you not to tell anyone?” asked Damen as he sat down on the bed. Darell was puzzling him even more, and in a way, he was intimidated by Darell’s next words, hoping that his mind wouldn’t suffer a stroke that he would cause.

  “I don’t know. Don’t worry, Damen. Vivian probably didn’t know about this herself. Why are you making such a big deal about it?” questioned Darell with a smile.

  “It’s not that. It’s just, I want to know why Vivian didn’t tell me about it.”

  Darell came out of the bathroom and sat next to Damen on the bed, saying, “Like I said before, maybe she didn’t know about it.” Darell knew he screwed up, knowing he shouldn’t have said anything at all.

  Jose saw the hurt in Damen Schultz’s eyes, so he sat down on the other side of him, and said, “Yeah, man, maybe she didn’t know.”

  Mr. Schultz got up from the bed, and turned to face his friends in anger. “No, she knew; I mean, she works in that agency, she had to have known. I don’t know, I’m not going to make a big deal about it. If she knew, she knew. If she didn’t know, she didn’t know. I just don’t like when somebody doesn’t tell me about important things.”

  “Oh, like you didn’t tell me about the extra work?” Darell asked with a small grin.

  They all started to laugh, chuckling at Darell’s words, his comment. Damen grinned and spoke, “Oh, so now you’re gonna to push that in my face?”

  “No, but if I’m late for this interview today because you were talking to me for so long, then I’m going to push that in your face. Now come on, cheer up.”

  Damen walked over to the bathroom, agreeing, “Okay, fine.” He then held open the bathroom door, adding, “The only way I’m going to be happy is if you get your ass in this bathroom right now and get ready.”

  Jose pushed Darell into the bathroom, with Darell laughing and shouting, “Sir, yes sir.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Mr. Fryer sat in his office and looked at a photo that had the future star embroidered on it, the photo that meant fame, fortune and especially a lot of dollar signs to his thoughts. He got up from his brown leather seat and walked to the window, looking out at the Hollywood streets, then back at the photo. He said to himself, “I made the right decision.”r />
  Helen called Mr. Fryer on his speakerphone, saying “Good morning, sir. There are three actors here, the other four haven’t shown up yet.”

  Not being able to identify the voice as being Vivian, Tom walked over to the phone rapidly. “Who is this? Where’s Vivian?” Tom dropped the photo on the floor.

  “This is Helen, your other secretary. This is Vivian’s day off,” she replied, looking at the time that read 9:40 a.m. “Don’t you remember? She’s coming in for the 10:00 a.m. interview.”

  Tom Fryer picked up the photo from the red-carpeted floor, and explained, “Oh, yes of course. Well, when all the actors get here, tell me... Listen to me, Helen, this is the way today’s situation is going to be handled. I want it to be nice and simple. So, as soon as all the actors get here, tell them that the first name I call is going to be the person that I’ve chosen. After that, send all the rest of them home, I don’t want to hear anyone’s bitching.” He still stared at the photo, with a grin on his image, adding, “Am I making myself clear?”

  “Yes, sir, I’ll do that.”

  She started working on the computer, typing away, when the main doors opened, and in came Darell, Vivian, and Damen, showing up with nervous faces. They walked up to her desk, when Helen laughed out, “Hey, girl, sorry for not waking you up this morning, I kind of was in a rush.” She then hung up the phone on Mr. Fryer, and gave Vivian a tight hug.

  “That’s okay, Damen and Darell picked me up this morning. They were late, of course,” Vivian mentioned, pinching Damen lightly on the cheek, but still had a smile.

  “Hey, at least we got you here,” muttered Damen. They all then turned around, seeing two other actors showing up for the interview, walking through the doors of the agency.

  Darell pulled Damen aside and whispered lightly into his ear, “So, is everything cool between you and Vivian?”

  “Yeah, I mean, I guess everything’s cool. I was just paranoid.”