Shun’s cell phone rang. He spoke Japanese but looked annoyed.
"What’s the matter?" asked Robert.
"Ah, my Dad picked up Gill and Frick. They’ve all been drinking since three. They all sound wasted. My Dad can barely speak so I’m having his limo driver bring them all here. I hate it when he does this." Shun cursed to himself. The old man was getting older. His motto used to be never to get drunker than your customers, but now the old boss had his driver calling. Not good.
Shun leaned over to Robert and whispered. "I think they’re all fucked up on Barnacle Bill. I heard some guy saying give me more B-Bill. Give me more B-Bill. It sounded like Frick."
"Wow, sounds like it’s already been a long day for these guys," said Robert, whistling to himself as Mariko rubbed his leg.
Mariko smiled at Robert. "Robbie, is this your first time here?
"Yes, can you tell?"
Mariko nonchalantly leaned back showing her erect nipples from the cool room. "Would you like a private dance?"
"Private dance. What’s that?"
"We can go into the back room and I’ll dance for you?"
Shun looked over. "Go! I’ll cover the charge. She’s a great dancer and the dance is only three minutes, so enjoy."
Robert was feeling a little overwhelmed and the girl was pretty. What would hurt about one private dance?
"Sure, let’s go!" said Robert, excited.
Mariko filled out another slip and handed it over to Mr. Missing Tooth. She held Robert’s hand and walked toward the back of the club. They entered a darker room with men sitting in chairs and naked women dancing in front of these guys. There were semi-private screens pulled around a few couples. Some women sat naked, making sensuous movements on top of semi-clothed men.
Robert realized he’d discovered heaven.
Five dances and about fifteen minutes later, Mariko had earned fifty per cent of 35,000 yen. Or about $125 dollars, and she liked Robbie to boot.
"I've learned not to put things in my mouth that are bad for me."
-- Monica Lewinsky
(on CNN's Larry King Live discussing her miraculous Jenny Craig weight-loss)
The great question - which I have not been able to answer – is: "What does a woman want?"
--Sigmund Freud
"Robert, your one dance has cost me. What happened back there?"
"Ah, shit! I didn’t know they’d be so short, and, ah, well…" Robert looked at Mariko who smiled. "I’ll pay for the extra—"
"No Robert, I’m just teasing. How does a man stop a pretty girl like that." Shun winked at Mariko.
Robert sat on the sofa. "Well, I can see how you Japanese guys stay out late," said Robert.
"Robert, we need to leave soon. My Dad’s limo will be out front in five minutes and I’m worried about my Dad. He sounded fucked up."
"No problem, ready when you are."
"Good, I’ll get the check." Shun waved his hand and a man walked over and picked up the tab. After a moment he returned with a small flashlight. The light focused on the bill and he spoke. "Five dances for your guest, is that right?"
Robert looked over, "Yeah, four after the first."
"Fine, and Mr. Shun, should we just add this to your regular tab?"
"Yeah, just deduct from this month."
"Yes Sir, look forward to having your and your guest again. Thanks gentlemen." The man bowed and walked to the entrance, standing politely at attention.
Shun got up and led Robert toward the door. While walking, Mariko gave Robert a business card with her cell phone number listed on the back. The card listed the days she worked at the Electric Cherry. Mariko and Shun’s two girls followed the men toward the elevator and pushed the down button. While waiting for the elevator to come they smiled and bowed. "Thanks Robbie, thanks Shun."
Shun looked back. "Thanks my pretty, ja naa."
Once the elevator door closed, Robert spoke. "Wow, pretty girls."
"Yeah, fun stuff. I hope my father is OK. He wanted to talk."
The elevator door opened, the street in front busy with a traffic jam and people crossing the small street.
"What kind of business?" asked Robert.
"Oh, he’s worried about having your software shit track all his Pachinko parlor games. It’s a cash business and the gambling law here is strange, so he doesn’t want the parlors connected. He says he won’t let it happen and he doesn’t want Gill to push for it. He kind of wants Gill to mention it to the Emperor. Hey, follow me, my Dad should be coming over there."
A black Mercedes drove up slowly.
"Is that the car?" asked Robert.
"No, that’s one of the team."
"Team?"
"Yeah, my Dad always has a few security guards."
The Mercedes drove up and a dark tinted electric window rolled down. Four large men sat in the car dressed in dark suits. The men in back were smoking and a smoke trail lazily floated out the window.
The driver spoke, "Otoosan wa, chotto yoporai. Sumasen Yama-san."
"Daijoubu, shoganai," replied Shun.
The car moved ahead and a white limo pulled up. "The guard said my Dad’s fucked up, " said Shun.
The elderly limo driver walked out and opened the door to the spacious limo, bowing and apologizing "sumimasen, sumimasen.."
Shun got in first and sat to the left, next to his father. Robert followed and sat right next to Gill. Next to Gill sat Frick, who had his head pressed up against the window with his tongue sporadically licking it. In between his ear and head he had a yellow number 2 pencil. Gill sat in the middle blankly staring at a movie, smoking a cigar. Robert had never seen Gill smoke before. One of Gill’s glass lenses had a red lipstick smudge that ran down to his white dress shirt.
"Frick, why you licking the window?" asked Robert.
"Maa tongue is hot, it’s sweating. The window’s cold, nice cold…" stammered Frick.
Robert looked at Shun and shrugged.
Frick’s shirt was drenched in sweat. Robert stared at Gill who ignored Robert. Gill took a drag of his Cuban cigar, and stared at a Japanese game show on the Web Tele. Although the car was dim, Mickey wore sunglasses. He was smoking a cigar too. An ash fell on his monogrammed shirt, next to his monogrammed name. Shun pulled off his father’s glasses to see his eyes, but they were closed. Shun said something and then Mickey’s eyes rolled open and closed shut again.
"Dad, what’s going on?" Shun shook his father.
"Just having a Hamaki with Gill. Mr. Gilbert is a great frucken guy---" Mickey took a puff of his cigar and another ash fell on this blue shirt. His eyes opened, rolled and shut again, then his mouth mumbled, "Nice blossoms, real nice cherry blossoms…."
"Dad, those aren’t cherry blossoms, it’s not even spring!"
"Shut up son…"
Mickey sat back in his black leather seat, thinking of the Japanese cherry blossoms. He loved the pink flowers that came out for two weeks every year, the pink buds shooting out into fluffy pink white blossoms on cherry trees all over Japan. It was why he called his club the Electric Cherry; he wanted the blossoms all year long. Life had been tough for Mickey. He was sixty-eight and President of the Tokyo Yamaguchi crime family. It was a job he’d inherited from his Uncle, but there was no one to pass on the work. Shun did not want the work and Mickey was too proud to leave.
"Dad, what did you guys do?"
"Club heaven is heaven, lot of blossoms in heaven…" Mickey sucked in another drag with his eyes closed. Another ash was waiting to fall from the cigar.
Frick stopped licking the window and spoke. "Rub Heaven, let’s go back to Rub Heaven…"
"Shut up Frick, it’s you who fucked up the party at Club Heaven." Gill blankly stared out the window at a big red sign flashing the words "Coca-Cola—be different".
"Gill are you OK?" asked Robert
"Not really. I want a Coke."
"What happened?" asked Robert.
Gill slobbered his words. "Frick ordered a B-Bill Double Martini fer everyone but didn’t tell us vat was in. I rank half of my rink. Mickey accidentally rank the rest."
Mickey’s head fell forward with the cigar still glued to his mouth. "Great drinks, those cherry blossoms, nice round blossoms…" Shun pushed his father back upright.
"Dad, why did you drink Gill’s drink?"
"Love double martinis, ones with the cherries in em, some with blossoms, real nice blossoms son, gotta go back and get me a blossom!"
Shun looked over to Robert. "Let’s take them to the park, there is a drink machine there. We can buy some hot coffee for my Dad and cola your guys."
"Sounds good but these boys need more than a cola, let’s take them home."
"You’re right, but I know a friend who can give us some Barnacle Bill detox. It’ll deletes the effects of the drug."
"Let’s do it."
Shun ordered the driver to go to a park in Hiroo Gardens. The limo made a few turns and pulled over into a parking barren lot. The security team parked first. The men knew to stay close, but not too close. Shun and his Dad expected privacy and the team knew it.
"I want a Coke! I want to go get a Coke!" Gill stared at the brightly-lit stand, fixated.
"It is safe around here?" asked Robert looking at the food stand.
"Yeah, never had trouble around here. I can have my guys get the Cokes."
"I gotta pee!" Frick tried to open the locked windows but to no avail.
Shun spoke to the driver, the doors unlocked. Frick ran out towards the woods. Gill walked toward the soda stand.
"Feels like I got kids," said Robert.
"Yeah, and the biggest kid is my old man, right Dad?"
Mickey head was laid back. He started to snore with the cigar in his mouth. Shun carefully plied it out and put it into the ashtray. The guard came back to Shun and through the window passed two small gum packages.
"What’s that?" asked Robert.
"Detox gum. Here, take a package. Give a piece to Frick and Gill, and they’ll be fine. I think I’ll let my Dad rest a bit, he’ll probably choke on the gum if I give it to him now." Mickey’s snoring got louder and louder. The car smelled of gin. Robert opened his door. "I’ll be back in a second, need to give the kids some gum."
As Robert walked to the bright food stand he heard a power line hum in the distance. It pulsated almost vibrating his skin. The lights on the food stand temporarily brightened and then dimmed. Frick and Gill were sitting on a stool drinking colas. There were two women tending the bar, dressed in skimpy hostess type uniforms.
Robert walked up and sat down. "Hey guys, bought you a present."
Frick turned his head. "Hey Robert, me boy, these are the chicks from Club Heaven, eh Gill."
Gill smiled, "Yeah, how’d you get the girls?"
A dark haired girl in green eyes spoke. "We want to be whoever you want. What does your friend want?"
Must be the Barnacle Bill, thought Robert to himself. A girl next to Frick coaxed him around the bar. "Why don’t you go in my room for a private drink?"
"Ah, no honey, we’d love to but we need to go." said Robert.
"I’m going, let’s go," said Frick walking into an entrance with the girl. The lights pulsated and the hum of the power lines started again simultaneously. The coincidence startled Robert. The stand was quite small and the bar was hard to see, as the entrance was completely black. Gill’s girl was coaxing Gill too. Before Robert could get around the bar, Gill and the girl entered.
Another pulse of lights and hum of a power line.
Robert could smell ozone. Robert’s skin prickled with goosebumps. Something was wrong, and he knew it. Had he taken anything by accident? Any hallucinating drugs? When Mariko walked out of the food stand Robert was sure things were totally fucked.
"You like me don’t you?" said Mariko.
"What’s going on? Where did my friends go?" Robert walked over to Mariko. The woman looked like Mariko but wore a blank stare.
"Your friends are safe. And you’re safe too." There was another hum and around Robert a hazy glass appeared to encircle the food stand. It started to move up. Robert, Mariko and the whole area around Robert started to move up. He could see below, it was like standing on see-though Plexiglas. Below, the parking lot came into view. Robert could see Shun looking up.
Mariko stood on the other side of the bar. "Would you like to join your friends?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"We could just drop you back down to the ground."
"Where are my friends?" Robert walked around the bar and entered the room. Gill and Frick sat on a small couch.
"We’re going to Club Heaven. The girls are taking us back," said Frick.
Robert sat on the cramped couch next to Frick. "Frick we’re in trouble."
"What’s matter? Forgot your wallet?" Frick sipped a martini.
The room shook. Robert could feel massive acceleration. "We’re going somewhere but I don’t think it’s Club Heaven Frick."
Robert tried to find the door he’d entered. There was no door. They were in a boxed room. Robert sat thinking: I’m in a fucking UFO? Maybe I
did
take some drugs? No, I feel sober. Robert pinched himself. The motion stopped and the box banged into something. A door opened to a white room.