There had been one other stop between train hops where they had taken a swim in a river, cleaned and cooled off. This part of the country was much hotter than they were used to. It was a dry heat that seemed to bake them to their bones. That had been the same day they’d loaded up on food, smokes and soda pop too. They’d both been nursing headaches without their daily coffee dose. And that night when they’d jumped the next train, they had sucked each other off at the same time, Nick shoving his fingers into Jack’s ass the same way he’d done to him. It seemed like being on a vacation—something neither of them had ever experienced before.
After washing off a little in the sinks of the train station restrooms, they wandered the streets a bit, heading in the direction of the taller buildings in the distance. They stumbled on to a local market, and went inside to buy a new pack of smokes, and some cold soda to fight their thirst. Jack held one of the pop bottles against his face and rolled the icy glass up to his forehead and back down again.
“Stay here, Jack. I’m gonna go back inside and see if this guy sells any maps. I can’t figure out where Hollywood’s supposed to be. I thought there’d be big signs or somethin’.”
Jack stood in the shade, marvelling at not only the intense heat, but how wide open everything was compared to New York.
How do people get around out here?
It seemed as if you’d have to hop a whole train again just to get to anywhere. There were no crowds like New York. No grey haze hanging over tall buildings all lined up like a child’s toy blocks. A cluster of buildings stood in the distance, but they didn’t compare to New York’s sprawling magnificence. The nuances of Manhattan’s horizon, the lights, the frantic energy—he didn’t see any of that in this dry desert of a city. He couldn’t imagine how Hollywood could be that much better. And wasn’t it supposed to be a coastal city? Jack hadn’t seen any long expanses of water with ships in the harbour, or boats ferrying passengers up and down the river—or anything as incredible as the Statue of Liberty. The one river they had seen was barely deep enough for them to wade in. There certainly wouldn’t be anything floating on it.
Nick came out of the market holding a paper that he stared at intently.
He stood close to Jack in the shade to show him what he was looking at. Jack looked around nervously. They’d been alone the last week with no one to watch them. No chance of getting caught, since they were already hiding anyway. Now they were back out in the open where anyone could see them. Jack elbowed Nick a little.
“What, Jacky boy? I’m tryin’ to show you somethin’ here.”
“I know,” Jack said softly, “I was just thinkin’ maybe we shouldn’t stand so close outside here.”
Nick chuckled and stepped a little to his left so that they were just a fraction away from actually touching.
“Well, listen to you. You’re thinkin’ and I like that. We’re watchin’ out for each other now.”
Jack smiled. “Yeah. I guess we are. So is that a map?”
“Yup. The old man in there said that if we wanted to get to Hollywood, we should go up that street there a couple of blocks towards their Chinatown.”
“Like back home?”
“Yeah, I guess. Anyway, he said there’s a trolley we can take to Hollywood—he called them Yellow Cars. It’s just a dime each to ride, and it’ll take us right there. We might have to wait though. There’s some kinda bad drought goin’ on here, and they shut the power off once in a while.”
Jack’s heart was thumping now. They were almost there. This yellow car would take them right to the centre of their dreams, even if they had to wait a little bit longer. But another thought crept in.
“So…how are we doin’ on money?”
Nick folded the map up and stuffed it in his pocket. They both had rid themselves of their jackets a couple of days before—keeping those and the blanket in the duffle—and they had rolled up their shirt sleeves as high as they could. Still, the sweat rolled off them, and Jack couldn’t tell if Nick was fidgeting because of the high temperature, or if he was nervous about their finances.
“Not too bad. We still have a little over ninety dollars.” He paused, then smiled. Jack couldn’t tell if it was genuine, or there to reassure him. “I think we did pretty damn good for ourselves. We made it all the way here, and still have most of the money we left with. I’d say we’re pretty smart, not a couple of palookas—right, Jacky boy?”
“Yeah, Nick. We are.”
Jack smiled too. But he wasn’t feeling it. The adventure aspect of their journey was wearing off, and the stone-cold reality of survival kicked in. How much longer would they have before their money ran out and they were worse off than they’d been in New York?
Nick walked ahead of Jack a little. He needed time to think about what their next move should be. He had to admit though that being alone with Jack in the last week had been unbelievable. There had been endless hours of slowly touching and tasting each other, learning one another’s bodies, bringing each other to the edge of release, then pulling back to make it last longer. The pleasure Nick had experienced had gone beyond his wildest fantasies, and he’d learnt many new things with Jack. He’d found out how thrilling it was to not only penetrate one another with their fingers, but to do it with their tongues. Nick hadn’t even known that people tried such things with each other. And maybe they didn’t, but he could’ve cared less. It was what he and Jack did, and that was all that mattered.
As Nick had become more secure in their love-making, he had desired more control over Jack. He wanted him to understand that Nick held the key to his fulfilment and no other. Just as he had seen the excitement in Jack’s eyes when Nick had thrown him against the wall and restrained him in New York, Jack would become more thrilled when Nick grabbed his hair forcefully, or held him down. And that excited Nick too. The next pleasure he sought with Jack was to finally breach him with his cock. He had become fixated on it in the past couple of days, but had been waiting until they were in a better situation. Nick knew he would need something to grease Jack up so that he didn’t hurt him. When they used spit on their fingers, it was okay, but it was much better when they had some spunk on them. It felt smoother and more enjoyable. Nick’s shaft was big enough that he thought it would be uncomfortable for Jack if he didn’t come up with a better idea.
But first, they needed a practical plan for their next move. Nick assumed that renting a motel by the week would be a good start, but other than guessing that the rates would be similar to New York, he had no real idea how much that would cost. And now that he was faced with the reality that they were at their destination with no employment in sight, the fear of failure nipped at his heels. One thing that could help would be if they made sure that wherever they stayed was as close as possible to all of the studios. That way they could stick with how they’d operated in New York and save money on trolleys and such.
They reached the top of the small hill, and found the stop the man had described. Surveying the landscape before them, he could see that the area they were in was slightly hilly and covered in various trees, more so to their right. Beyond the hills was where Hollywood was supposed to be, but downtown Los Angeles was a few miles in front of them. It encompassed a vast open space dotted with clusters of neighbourhoods, buildings and very little vegetation. He assumed the larger group of buildings was the downtown area.
Where they stood was more of a slum. They were on the edge of Chinatown, and the grocer had warned them that it was filled with gambling dens and grifters. The sooner one of those trolleys came around, the better off they would be. The Prince Albert can had been tossed a while back in the interest of keeping their cash safer. Nick had given Jack ten dollars to hide in his sock in case something happened to Nick, and Nick kept the rest in his own sock.
The sun blazed down on them. A small thin tree offered a bit of dappled shade, but not enough to really cool them off in any way. They broke into their soda pops, and drank them down greedily. Then they both l
it up a smoke, and Nick remembered that he’d sort of promised Jack a big pancake breakfast when they got to Hollywood—to celebrate. He felt itchy though, as if something scratched at the back of his mind. Like every cent from that moment on was going to count more than ever before.
It’s just one meal. I want to treat my guy right.
A few minutes later, a big yellow trolley was grinding and screeching towards them. Nick checked the number on the car, and confirmed that it was the one they wanted. It came to a halt, and they stepped on, dropping their dimes through a slot in a metal receptacle. Nick made sure they were on the right vehicle by asking the operator. He knew it was the correct one, but it was unsettling to be in a completely strange place. It was similar to when he’d first arrived in New York, but at least that time, he’d had his uncle as a guide—as well as the promise of immediate employment.
Jack had an excited grin on his face. They took their seats, and looked out of the windows in silence, absorbing the sights and smells of their new home. After several stops and a hodge-podge of different people getting on and off the trolley, Jack grabbed Nick’s arm and pointed.
“Look, Nick—look!”
Nick gazed towards the spot that Jack indicated. A long ridge of hills rose up from the valley of Hollywood. There was a break in the small peaks about two-thirds to the left of the panorama. In the middle of the main section, a large white sign stood, seeming to ripple along the curves of the topography, proudly proclaiming ‘Hollywoodland’. Nick thought he would cry. They were here. They were really in the land of their dreams.
Chapter Seven
Jack couldn’t stop taking in every sight. The one thing that stood out to him besides the openness and bright sunny skies was the palm trees. He’d seen pictures of them, and of course they had been featured in several of the movies he loved so well, but this was the first time he was seeing them for real. They were lush and beautiful. All of the buildings were clean and white—no soot covered them, giving them an unnatural grey cast like the structures in New York. Even the darker buildings appeared fresh and clean, stately, but most were no more than four or five storeys high. Much of the architecture was opulent and exotic-looking. There were even structures that looked like small castles. He saw several big homes—larger then he’d ever seen—perched on hills, with brick-red tiles on the roof and looming archways. They passed grand theatres, luxurious restaurants and ritzy department stores. Even the multitude of electrical wires on tall poles running down the length of the boulevards didn’t take away from its beauty. It really was a paradise on earth. Nick had been so right to bring them here.
He could see how there were a lot of areas that still needed to be built up. Even the roads weren’t complete—many were still just wide dirt paths. There was so much room for expansion, they’d be able to make thousands of dollars in no time, even if the studio thing didn’t work out.
But being at the studios was the whole point of coming to California. We can’t give up on that.
“Where are we stopping, Nick?”
Nick stared closely at the crinkled map that he had spread out across his thighs. There was a tension that Jack sensed in him that he’d never experienced with Nick before. It almost seemed as if he might be panicking or something.
“Nick?”
He looked up, wide-eyed, but didn’t respond to Jack’s question. He whipped his head around, almost frantically as if he were searching for something, then pointed.
“There. We’re stopping there.”
Nick yanked the cord, and the trolley came to a halt another block up. Jack was confused as to why they were stopping at this particular spot, but from the way Nick was behaving, he decided not to ask any more questions for a while, and to just follow along. They jumped off the car, Nick hauling their duffle, and walked back down the block towards where Nick had pointed.
It was called the Five and Dime café, and Jack was relieved that they were going to get something to eat in a real restaurant. At least he hoped so. He was a little afraid that it might be like it was back at Huyler’s, where all they would get was a coffee to keep them going for most of the day. Jack wasn’t sure if he could take that in all of the heat plus walking around looking for a place to stay.
They pushed the door open, and as soon as they were inside, Jack felt weird and out of place. There were several working stiffs like themselves, but they were wearing clean, new dungarees, and fresh, unstained shirts. A couple of flappers were there in all of their finery, and two of the gentlemen who were seated reminded Jack of the way the big tycoons would dress when he’d seen their pictures in the papers.
He looked down at what he was wearing. He was covered in the grime of their travels, and there were streaks of dirt along his arms from where the sweat had mixed with the dust. He ran his fingers through his hair in a vain attempt to look more presentable, and could feel just how greasy it really was. He glanced at Nick, and saw he was trying something similar with no more luck than Jack.
They nonchalantly took their places at a table close to the front door, and each took the paper menu that was propped between the sugar container and the salt and pepper shakers. The waitress came over to them, eyeing them a bit suspiciously.
“You boys have a rough time of it today?”
“Yeah. Somethin’ like that,” Nick answered.
“Well, you got shirts and shoes, so I guess I can’t say nothing. What’ll you have?”
Jack remained hopeful that it would be more than coffee. After all, Nick was holding a menu.
“I’ll have the pancake breakfast, bacon, with my eggs sunny side up. And coffee. What about you, Jack?”
Nick only called him ‘Jack’ when they were in front of other people. He used to call him ‘kid’ too, but that was before.
“Can I get the same?”
The waitress raised her eyebrows, her pencil poised.
“Yeah, ki… Jack. Whatever you want.”
“I’ll have the same.”
This was just what Nick had promised. They were celebrating their new arrival. He breathed a sigh of relief. Nick was back in charge and taking care of him. It looked like everything was going to work out just fine in their new home.
* * * *
Their breakfast had been filling, and Nick believed it had been the right thing to do—despite the fact that they were down another dollar. It was the first actual meal they’d had since leaving New York. Everything along the way had been whatever they could grab in between hops—usually just jerky, a piece of fruit, some rolls or a pop. It had barely kept them going. Now to the next part of their plan—find out where the movie studios all were, and get a motel nearby. They could rest today, clean up, then go and start on their destiny tomorrow.
Nick was paying their bill at the front counter when he overheard a few of the guys in the overalls talking about sets. After finishing up at the register, he ambled over to them and cleared his throat.
“Hiya, gentlemen. I don’t mean to interrupt, but I heard ya talkin’ about sets and such. My friend and I”—Nick indicated toward Jack seated at the table—“just got here from New York, and we’re pretty handy as well. We used to work on Broadway buildin’ sets.” Nick figured a small white lie wouldn’t hurt. He wasn’t sure if these guys would know what off-Broadway meant. “We was hopin’ to find out where all the studios are, so we can get situated.”
“That so?” said one of the burlier looking men. He looked to be about fortyish, and he had the look of a bulldog about him—all wrinkly face, and a stout physique. “Which studio were you thinkin’ about?”
“Don’t matter. We’ll just pick one as soon as we get to that area.”
There was a low chuckle amongst the group of men.
“Well, see here…what you call yourself?”
“Nick.”
“Nick. This ain’t New York where everyone’s all shoved up together and everything’s in one place. This here’s California, and we’ve got nothing but land as fa
r as the eye can see. The studios need space to make their motion pictures. They’re not going to cuddle up together like they do on Broadway. So you need to decide where you gonna go. Beverly Hills? Culver City? Lankershim? East Hollywood? West Hollywood? Take your pick!”
At this all the men laughed heartily.
Nick refused to lower his head, even though he felt as green as a newborn babe. He hadn’t even heard of half of those places, let alone know where they were. He didn’t need any more ribbing from these guys—and he was sure they didn’t want to help them anyway. He was used to having to fight for what he wanted, and he was from New York. These soft-looking brutes didn’t know what it was like in a real city. He and Jack did, and they weren’t going to be intimidated by this crowd.
“I’m much obliged for your help, gentlemen.”
Nick nodded his head to them, and as he walked away to their mumbled jests, indicated to Jack to follow him out the door.
They strode down the sidewalk in silence. Nick felt foolish in front of Jack. He had always been the smart and confident guy that Jack had relied on. Now he just looked like a small-time nothing, with no answers to anything.
“So…Nick. Should we get another map or somethin’?”
Nick stopped in his tracks, anger beginning to boil to the surface.
It’s not Jack’s fault I fucked this up. I shouldna assumed so much. Shoulda done more research.
Nick took a deep breath before he spoke.
Hollywood Bound Page 6