when I get out
44
POSTCARDS from the EDGE
of here, then. That’ll be cool. All right, and how’s everything? Great. I’ll talk to you soon then. Bye-bye:’
That’s perfect, that was perfect She looked at me. I know she’s impressed. Well, maybe I’ll go in and watch some basketball. I feel a little calmer now, I feel like I made a little headway here. Certainly she knows a little more about who I am, and that I’m not just some asshole in a drug unit. I’ve got a job. A deal, I’ve got a deal. I’ve got a job, a deal, and a future.
Is that her laughing? She’s always laughing, always having a good time. Well, soon she’ll be having a good time with me …
DAY TWENTY-ONE
Alex did the most amazing thing today. Carol and I were coming out of her room and he was on the pay phone talking real loud and weird, like a white version of Carl. He was saying something about Fox and first drafts, and as I passed him I could hear a busy signal through the receiver. I barely made it around the corner before I burst out laughing. He must have been trying to impress us. Carol thinks he has a crush on me. He probably does. He’s exactly the type I would attract.
Carol and I have started exercising every afternoon. She tells me how perfect her husband is, how adorable he is and how happy they are. Finally I said, “But Carol, there must be something wrong with him.” She sort of shrugged and said, “He works sixteen hours a day. I only see him late at night, and on Sundays he stays home with me and reads scripts.”
Oh.
… This is an absurd film. Hooked on a Line, what a title. Jesus, that dancer being snorted up into someone’s nose under the opening credits, and these people in half-shadow talking about their cocaine problems-I could write better shit than this. Maybe I will when I get out of here. I’ll write a really good drug movie. I’ll help a lot of people. I’ll become known for helping people.
45
CAR R I EF I S HER
Christ! Who cares about this girl with her family and their floral sofa? That sofa is enough to drive you crazy, watching people sitting on that floral sofa talking about cocaine. I never had these problems with cocaine. I never ran into people with guns. Well, that one time in Vegas there were some guns in the room, but nobody was chasing me with them.
I’ve never met anybody like the people in this movie. These are all older people, except for that really young girl. How am I supposed to relate to any of this? I mean, there’s nobody my age. Maybe these are real people, but they’re horrible real people. At least get interesting real people if you’re gonna use real people.
Take me, for example. I have a better story than this. Not that I have an addiction problem like them, but some of my drug experiences are interesting enough to tell in front of groups. Sometimes I think maybe I should lead kind of a splinter group of Cocaine Anonymous. Make my own cocaine meetings, with really hip people at them. Where the hip people just naturally come, like Suzanne and maybe Carol and her husband.
Suzanne keeps talking to Carol. I should be sitting next to her. We could talk about how much we hate this film, and how much better ours is going to be. I wonder how much money there is in this …
DAY TWENTY-TWO
Sam and Julie got into a big fight tonight and Sam stormed off the unit. Julie said something typically condescending to Sam, whose face got all red and puffed up, like he was blowing up an invisible balloon. The gist of what he said was, “How dare you talk to me like that? Don’t you know who I am?” And Julie said, “Who are you? You’re in a drug clinic. Who could you be?”
Sam charged back to his room and smashed some pictures against the wall. He got his wallet and a sack of Chee-tos and left the hospital. Julie called Sam’s wife Amy and told her to expect him. I wonder if he’ll get loaded.
46
POSTCARDS from the EDGE
Carol, Ted, and I watched The Incredible Mr. Limpet
44
POSTCARDS from the EDGE
of here, then. That’ll be cool. All right, and how’s everything? Great. I’ll talk to you soon then. Bye-bye:’
That’s perfect, that was perfect She looked at me. I know she’s impressed. Well, maybe I’ll go in and watch some basketball. I feel a little calmer now, I feel like I made a little headway here. Certainly she knows a little more about who I am, and that I’m not just some asshole in a drug unit. I’ve got a job. A deal, I’ve got a deal. I’ve got a job, a deal, and a future.
Is that her laughing? She’s always laughing, always having a good time. Well, soon she’ll be having a good time with me …
DAY TWENTY-ONE
Alex did the most amazing thing today. Carol and I were coming out of her room and he was on the pay phone talking real loud and weird, like a white version of Carl. He was saying something about Fox and first drafts, and as I passed him I could hear a busy signal through the receiver. I barely made it around the corner before I burst out laughing. He must have been trying to impress us. Carol thinks he has a crush on me. He probably does. He’s exactly the type I would attract.
Carol and I have started exercising every afternoon. She tells me how perfect her husband is, how adorable he is and how happy they are. Finally I said, “But Carol, there must be something wrong with him.” She sort of shrugged and said, “He works sixteen hours a day. I only see him late at night, and on Sundays he stays home with me and reads scripts.”
Oh.
… This is an absurd film. Hooked on a Line, what a title. Jesus, that dancer being snorted up into someone’s nose under the opening credits, and these people in half-shadow talking about their cocaine problems-I could write better shit than this. Maybe I will when I get out of here. I’ll write a really good drug movie. I’ll help a lot of people. I’ll become known for helping people.
45
CAR R I EF I S HER
Christ! Who cares about this girl with her family and their floral sofa? That sofa is enough to drive you crazy, watching people sitting on that floral sofa talking about cocaine. I never had these problems with cocaine. I never ran into people with guns. Well, that one time in Vegas there were some guns in the room, but nobody was chasing me with them.
I’ve never met anybody like the people in this movie. These are all older people, except for that really young girl. How am I supposed to relate to any of this? I mean, there’s nobody my age. Maybe these are real people, but they’re horrible real people. At least get interesting real people if you’re gonna use real people.
Take me, for example. I have a better story than this. Not that I have an addiction problem like them, but some of my drug experiences are interesting enough to tell in front of groups. Sometimes I think maybe I should lead kind of a splinter group of Cocaine Anonymous. Make my own cocaine meetings, with really hip people at them. Where the hip people just naturally come, like Suzanne and maybe Carol and her husband.
Suzanne keeps talking to Carol. I should be sitting next to her. We could talk about how much we hate this film, and how much better ours is going to be. I wonder how much money there is in this …
DAY TWENTY-TWO
Sam and Julie got into a big fight tonight and Sam stormed off the unit. Julie said something typically condescending to Sam, whose face got all red and puffed up, like he was blowing up an invisible balloon. The gist of what he said was, “How dare you talk to me like that? Don’t you know who I am?” And Julie said, “Who are you? You’re in a drug clinic. Who could you be?”
Sam charged back to his room and smashed some pictures against the wall. He got his wallet and a sack of Chee-tos and left the hospital. Julie called Sam’s wife Amy and told her to expect him. I wonder if he’ll get loaded.
46
POSTCARDS from the EDGE
Carol, Ted, and I watched The Incredible Mr. Limpet
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