He had to think about it for awhile, not having Vivian really mention it to him in the past, he said, “Um, I believe, Gryer, Vivian Gryer.” His voice sounded nervous, gulping up all of his fear, his nerves showed through his eyes, as well as his tone. “Yeah, it’s definitely Gryer,” he added, handing the form to the nurse.
The nurse saw Vivian’s phone number on her computer monitor. She announced, “Okay, we are going to call up her parents and tell them what happened.”
“I don’t think she would want you to do that, besides, she’s an adult,” Damen mentioned. A doctor approached him from behind, waiting for the nurse to finish the legal procedures with him.
“Well, I’m going to call anyway,” the nurse said, seeing that the doctor stepped right in front of Damen.
Damen saw bloodstains on the doctor’s blue jacket, shining out its dreadful color, he knew the blood was new. The silence between them only went on for five seconds, and that’s when the doctor questioned, while scratching his brown beard, “Excuse me, are you that suicide patient’s friend?”
“Yes, is she alright?”
“She’s fine, we’re going to keep her here for a couple of days. But overall, she’s going to make it.”
Damen nodded with relief, sitting back down in the waiting room chair, he felt relieved and happy toward the news. All of them waited for another hour, sitting there in silence, not mumbling one word to each other. But, then Darell looked at Damen with a tired expression on his face, breaking the silence, he asked, “Damen, what did you mean by that word?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Back at the motel you said that Vivian did this because of some word,” Darell answered. “What word were you referring to?”
“Oh, ‘fame,’ fame is the word I was talking about. She wants to be famous so bad that she actually slit her wrist because of it.” Damen looked down at the hospital floor again, and that’s when the doctor approached him once more.
As the doctor walked toward him, Damen could hear screaming through the heat-filled air, yelling of every word, and tones that reached the height of a little girl’s scream. He could smell urine; breathing it in, he wanted to leave this place for good, but then he looked up, and saw the doctor in front of him again, smiling, and showing his perfectly straight teeth, colored with pure whiteness. “Hi, um, what we’re doing now is placing her in a proper hospital room. You can see her when she has it, but until then you have to wait,” the doctor explained.
“Alright, thanks, Doc,” whispered Damen. His voice was tired and weak, allowing him to only talk with a silent tone.
Darell and Jose got up and went to the bathroom, that’s when the doctor approached Damen again and finally took him to her room. While they both walked down the hospital hallway, the doctor explained to Damen that they called her mother already. The doctor explained what the mother said and why she said it. He reached Vivian’s room and told the doctor, “Thank you for everything you’ve done for her.”
He then walked in slowly and saw wires and plugs inserted into her body, like she was a machine, feeding the rest of these machines her life. Damen sat down in a chair and watched her, staring at her face as her image went from pale white to peach. He looked at her wrist and began moving about in his chair; it was like her wrist was frightening him. He knew she did this for fame, giving up on it after Darell got Tom Fryer as an agent, and then attempting to kill herself because she couldn’t get it. Damen realized and hoped that he would never go to the extremes of slitting his own wrist for that word.
She woke up by the sound of a squeaky noise that came from his chair. Her blue eyes were slowly revealed, asking in a tired voice, “Where am I?”
Damen kissed her delicately on the hand, answering, “You’re in a hospital, you had a little accident.”
She looked down at her wrist and saw the patch over it. Her memory of the suicide attempt came back, replaying every moment through her troubled mind. She looked up at Damen and said in a shaky voice, “I’m so sorry, Damen, I’m sorry that you had to see me do this.”
He brushed her hair gently to the side of her face. “Shhh, it’s not your fault, it’s not anyone’s fault.”
“So, I guess they called my mother, did they?” she asked in an anxious tone. “Well, what did she say? Is she coming?” Vivian’s voice became louder, wanting to know badly about her mother.
“I think you should get some rest.” He fluffed her pillow, and tried to avoid her questions.
She screamed, “Hey, is she?”
He took a deep breath, and stared at Vivian’s troubled beauty, the way her eyes shined with tears, and her face gleamed with sadness. “No, no, she’s not coming. She figured if you’re not dead, then she doesn’t have to show up. She said that she’s sick of you always attempting suicide. But, ah, your insurance will cover it, I put down that you’re still presently working for Tom Fryer, so that should do it,” Damen replied, still staring at her wrist. He saw a few stitches sticking out from the bandage. “Vivian, how many times have you done this?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She turned her head to look out the window, avoiding Damen’s presence as well as his question.
“Alright, what do you want to talk about then?”
She stared out the window as Damen waited for her reply to his question. A tear slowly came down from her eye, grinning at the window, she then turned toward Damen and showed him her stitches. That’s when she spoke. “I guess you know by now that I’ve heard the news about Darell’s movie.”
“Yeah, I figured that, but it’s gonna be okay. Don’t worry, it will be your turn soon, I promise you it will. All you have to do is believe that you’ll make it. Do you believe?” During Damen’s words, Jose and Darell approached the room, stopping before the door. They waited and listened, eavesdropping on this moment of seriousness.
Tears started to come from her eyes again, explaining, “Damen, that’s the only thing that keeps me going each day. For all these years I’ve been working and slaving to be what I came here to be. And every time I’m close to it, someone like Darell has to take it away. I don’t understand that concept; it happens all the time. And every time it happens, I end up here, in this hospital. The answer to your question is ... yes, I believe.” Damen wiped the tears away from her precious eyes, smiling at her words. He gave her a silent kiss on her forehead.
Jose and Darell then walked into the room. Seeing them, Damen said, “Hey, look who’s here.”
Darell stepped up to the bed and gave her hug, with Vivian saying, “Congratulations on your movie, I’m sure you’ll do great in it.”
“Thank you.”
A nurse entered the room silently, startling them all when she announced, “Okay guys, you got to go, visiting hours are over.”
“But we just got here,” Darell mentioned before Jose kicked him in the leg. It was Jose’s way of saying he didn’t want to be here.
Jose walked up to Vivian and gave her a quick hug, while saying in a fast manner, “Okay, I hope you get well fast, Vivian.”
Darell walked toward the door, and said, “Goodbye.”
Jose and Darell walked out of the room and noticed that Damen wasn’t following. So they went back to the room, asking simultaneously, “Damen, aren’t you coming??”
The nurse gave Vivian some sleeping pills, at the same time as Damen turning around to acknowledge his friends’ voices. “No, I’m gonna stay with her tonight and tomorrow.”
Vivian started to close her eyes; the pills were already kicking in and showing their full effects. Jose noticed her eyes closing, so he whispered, “Damen, could you come here for a second, please?”
“Yeah, what do you want?” Damen was forced out into the hallway by Jose’s hand, feeling the force made Damen know that they wanted to discuss something severe with him.
Jose questioned in a puzzled fashion, “I thought you told me that you have a big scene to do tomorrow?”
They all sa
w the nurse exiting the room, while Mr. Schultz answered, “Yeah, but I have to stay here.”
Jose questioned with gravity, “Hey, I thought the nurse said visiting hours were over?”
“Yeah, but I asked the doctor, when you guys were at the bathroom, if I could stay the night. He said sure.”
Then Darell tried to convince Damen to leave the hospital, by reminding, “Alright, but you still have that big scene to do tomorrow, and you already said the director is going to give you a close-up on the camera. I heard it through the doorway.”
“I already said I’m gonna stay here.”
“Wait a second, you have a big scene as an extra tomorrow, and you’re gonna miss it?” Darell questioned in confusion. “Are you crazy? God knows that she is. You just met her about two weeks ago,” he added with loudness, figuring that by being firm and strict with Damen, maybe he’d change his mind and convince him to come home with them. But, he was wrong.
“Hey, watch it. The next time you say something like that, you can forget about brushing your teeth,” Damen yelled with anger. “Because, I’m gonna knock them out.”
Jose pulled Darell by his shirt and began to walk down the hallway, with Jose saying, “Okay, fine, we’ll see you tomorrow night.”
Damen walked back into the room where Vivian was sleeping. Taking a blanket out of the hospital room closet, he lay down in the chair by her bed. He stared at her face, and then stared at her wrist, the wrist that was covered in stitches. He thought in his mind the whole time he stared at them, what am I doing here? He closed his eyes and thought about Vivian, but for once he thought about his dream too. He fell asleep as he remembered he left his journal at the motel. He thought in his mind before he was cast away to dreamland:
Please God, don’t let Jose and Darell find my journal, please...
Chapter Twenty-Five
Two days passed by like water drifting through an hourglass, but instead of grains, they were rocks, squeezing through a tube that was skinny and narrow. Damen was in the motel room with Jose and Darell. They were watching Darell pack his newly bought suitcase with brand-new clothes and his brand-new pen. They both saw as Darell ripped and tore apart his old clothes, threw out his old luggage which consisted of an old backpack, and didn’t even bother to save any of his old junk; this was Darell’s way of starting over. Damen said, “So, I guess this is the beginning of the new you.”
“Yep, it is. Do you guys like the new clothes Tom bought me?” Darell asked, holding up in the air a sweatshirt: a sweatshirt that had “Beverly Hills” engraved on it.
“Oh, now we’re calling Mr. Fryer Tom?” Jose laughed a little, adding, “Yeah, it’s cool. So, are you nervous about tomorrow?” Jose grabbed the sweatshirt and began smelling the fresh, new-bought scent, remembering what it was like once to have new clothes.
“Yeah, Tom told me to be at the airport at 8:00 a.m. sharp.” Darell grabbed the sweatshirt from Jose and threw it in his suitcase very quickly, it was like he couldn’t wait to get out of the motel room and begin his acting career; the excitement was too great.
Jose lit a cigarette, blew some smoke out of his lungs, and then coughed it up, saying with surprise to his charcoal-made lungs, “We have to wake up that early?”
Darell gazed at him, rolling his eyes and saying with arrogance, “Yeah. Listen, if you don’t want to come, then just say so.”
Darell closed his suitcase hard, showing that he was upset for some reason at Jose. He had no reason to be, but instead of analyzing the anger, Damen jumped in, and figured they should all be nice to each other; after all, this is Darell’s last day with them. So, Damen spoke, “No, no, we’re all going, including Vivian.”
Jose looked at Damen. Confusion struck his mind, knowing that Damen usually lived for arguments like these, he wondered why he wasn’t telling Darell off, or mentioning anything to him about his attitude. But, same with Jose, he figured he shouldn’t begin an argument with Darell, but he also wanted Darell to know that he was upset for the attitude he gave out. So, Jose said, but with very, very exaggerated disappointment, “Fine, but you guys have to wake my ass up.”
Darell totally ignored Jose’s tone, looked over at Damen, and questioned, “So, how’s Vivian doing, anyway?”
“She’s fine, the stitches are coming off next week,” Damen answered, lying down on the bed, and seeing roaches burst from underneath it and scatter around the room. “You know what?”
“What??”
“I don’t think it would be a good idea to bring Vivian with us tomorrow,” Damen stated, sitting up in the bed with a straight posture. “Besides, it’s too early.”
Jose felt the anger from Darell’s arrogance before, still throbbing in his mind, so he said out of nowhere, just to be ignorant, “So. She could still wake up.”
“No, she can’t. Remember, she’s injured? I want her to have all the rest she possibly can.”
“Okay, it will just be the two of you then,” spoke Darell.
Suddenly, the phone began to ring, causing Damen to run over to it in a heartbeat. He was waiting for a call from Vivian, and he almost figured that this call was her. He picked it up and balanced it on his right shoulder; lighting a cigarette at the same time, he answered, “Hello?”
“Hi, this is Mr. Fryer, is Darell there?” Tom asked. Damen’s memory of all the things Mr. Fryer did to Vivian came back at once, allowing an infuriated face to appear on Mr. Schultz, and causing his teeth to grind together, and bite down slowly upon his tongue.
Damen paused for a moment, not yearning to create any friction between him and Darell. He figured he better not yell at Tom, for Darell’s sake. Damen looked at Darell, and knew he couldn’t start anything between himself and Tom, at least not yet, because he was friends with him. So, instead, he spoke in anger, “Yeah, he’s here.”
Tom Fryer held Darell’s photo in his hand, asking, “Well, can you put him on for me?”
Damen threw the phone to Darell in an angry fashion. “Hello?”
“You’re not in bed? Do you realize what time you have to wake up tomorrow?” Mr. Fryer questioned with aggravation in his voice. “It’s already 11:00 p.m.”
Darell knew he’d done badly, so he said with nervousness, “Yes, I’ll get to bed right away. I’ll see you at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.”
Tom’s eyes widened, saying in a tyrannical way, “No you won’t, the plane leaves at 8:00 a.m. I will see you there at 7:00 a.m...”
“Yes sir, bye.” Darell hung up the phone on him while Mr. Fryer was still talking, and went over to the bed and sat down.
Damen’s anger at Tom’s presence over the phone still radiated, with him interrogating in a ticked-off manner, “What did he want?”
“Oh, he just wanted to tell me some things. I found out I have to be at the airport at 7:00 a.m. on the dot.”
Darell’s voice, and way of talking suddenly changed, sounding like the regular Darell, instead of the arrogant one. It was like Tom Fryer’s tyrant ways, and his leader-like character, made Darell feel like he was smaller, crushing his self-esteem, and breaking that shell of arrogance that was beginning to generate and breed. But, that shell would have plenty of time to grow back, and even if it was crushed once more, it would still keep on trying to sprout; just like a blade of grass, once it’s cut off, it would always grow back.
“What? Great, even earlier,” Jose said in a sarcastic voice, throwing a pillow on the floor, the floor which was going to be his bed tonight.
Darell turned off the lights, saying, “Sorry. We all have to get some sleep, goodnight.”
Jose yawned, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, goodnight.”
“Goodnight, movie star,” said Damen, putting some covers over him to keep his body warm and the roaches from crawling anywhere where they were not wanted.
“Oh, goodnight,” Jose Rodrigo laughed.
“Ha, ha, ha, I was talking to Darell.”
Jose closed his eyes, and reminded, “Hey, remember, Darell, as soon as your movi
e’s over with, you have to get me and Damen into a few gigs of our own.”
“Don’t worry, I will. Hey, but remember, I might be asking you guys to do the same thing for me.” Darell fought with his eyes to close, his excitement allowed him not to be tired.
“Yeah, that’s right, we all are gonna help each other out,” whispered Damen. He added with a laugh, “That sounds so corny.”
After hearing Damen, Jose dreamed that night of words, on top of words, breaking through his subconscious and entering into his consciousness. The same words drifted through his mind, chanting out their separate meanings to Jose’s sealed eyes.
Yeah right, I’m not going to help you guys at all. I’m going to be the star...
The next morning, Jose woke up on his own. A roach was nibbling at his ear, like a rooster cackling, and the roach’s sounds were enough for him to wake. He thought about the dream he had and felt guilty about it. Hitting at his soul, Jose’s mind was overwhelmed with a form of guilt. He went to the bathroom and looked into the mirror, saying, “What a nightmare.”
He glanced toward the doorway at Damen and Darell; splashing some water on his face, he looked at them again. As the water dripped off his face and his thoughts spilled out of his mouth, he questioned, “Do I really think that way? They’re my best friends; it was just a dream. It didn’t have any meaning. Right?”
Damen and Darell woke up to the sound of Jose’s voice, chanting over and over the same words. Damen walked in the bathroom slowly and saw Jose mumbling. He yawned, “Who are you talking to?”
Jose flashed his body toward him. Embarrassed by his own insane-like actions, he answered, “Oh, no one, I was just humming a song.”
“Whatever you say, just hurry up and take a shower.” Damen looked out of the bathroom doorway, and saw Darell turning on the TV. “So, Darell, are you nervous?” He walked into the main room, the room in which Darell was sitting for the last time, and sat on the bed, watching cartoons with him that he hadn’t seen since he was a child.
These cartoons made Damen feel young again. Watching a cat chasing a mouse, and then at the end, the mouse always gets away, made Damen laugh and also brought back memories of his childhood, and how he always used to watch these same ’toons with Darell and Jose.
Sugar Valley (Hollywood's Darkest Secret) Page 26