Cruising Page #2

So why me?

Well, frankly, all of the victims

appear to be the same physical type.

Which is to say,

they all look like you.

Late 20s, 140, 150 pounds.

Dark hair, dark eyes.

I see.

I wanna send you out there

to see if you can attract this guy.

Out where?

Lukas and Vincent were not

in the mainstream of gay life.

They were into heavy leather. S & M.

It's a world unto itself.

I don't know how much you know

about that sort of thing.

If you take this assignment...

...you'll come out with more experience

than any of my detectives.

Do I carry a gun?

No gun, no shield.

You get paid once a month.

You get a call telling you where to pick up

the money. You report only to me.

And nobody can know anything

about what you're doing.

Up the creek without a paddle, huh?

What do you say?

Yeah, I love it.

What's this new thing you're doing?

I can't talk about it, Nance, I told you.

Why not?

Because I just can't...

...so please don't ask me, okay?

Don't ask me.

How long are you gonna be gone?

Oh, I don't know.

Is it dangerous?

I don't know.

I think it is, yeah.

Why do it, then?

Skip patrol, gold shield right away.

Can we talk about something else, yeah?

Your father called today.

Yeah?

Gold shield?

I didn't realize you were so ambitious.

There's a lot about me

you don't know.

Such as?

Hi.

- Hi.

- When'd you move in?

Yesterday. Yesterday afternoon.

I must have been asleep

with the air conditioner on.

I've been sleeping days

and working nights.

Like Fidel Castro,

only he's running a whole country.

Right.

I'm Ted Bailey.

I'm John Forbes.

- Hi.

- Hi.

Doing a little house cleaning?

Oh, these, yeah.

Somebody left them in my closet.

Yeah, that was Bobby.

He had exotic tastes.

Don't put them in the trash bin.

Mrs. McGuire likes it

if we stack our magazines.

She sells them.

- You're putting me on.

- No.

She hasn't figured out how to sell ordinary

garbage, so that she lets us throw out.

And don't hang any pictures.

I know, she told me.

Hey, you got time for a cup of coffee?

Really primo, right down the street.

Dinnertime I only eat seafood.

I gotta watch myself

or I balloon up like Shelley Winters.

It's worse when I'm working

on something.

I hope my typing didn't bother you.

What are you working on?

I'm trying to finish a play.

Oh, yeah? What kind of play?

Boy meets boy, boy loses boy,

boy ends up with analyst.

It's a light romantic comedy.

It's old-fashioned and sophisticated.

The kind nobody's interested in anymore.

- Hey, come here.

- Well, I hope that doesn't bother you.

Hell, no. Listen, it'd be hard to be

ignored if I was Paddy Chayefsky...

...but I'm just trying to make a buck. Hey.

Things are tough right now,

but I feel it's my destiny to be recognized.

My roommate works steadily,

so we get by.

What's your roommate do?

He's a dancer. Gregory Milanese.

He's out of town right now

working on a musical.

He's trying out in Westport or someplace.

So I'm at loose ends, so to speak.

How about yourself?

Oh, I just quit school. Art school.

Looking for a job, commercial artist.

- Good luck.

- Yeah.

So where you been living?

Well, I was living

in the Bronx with my folks.

The first Braille waitress.

Hey, did you read about the killings?

- Homo killer on the prowl?

- Yeah, I was reading about that.

Talk of every gay bar in town.

- Scared to death of cruising myself.

- They're gonna get that guy.

- The cops are gonna get him.

- The cops?

Listen, if they get their hands on him, they'll

make him a member of the Vice Squad.

Let me tell you. We had another killing

like this one about five or six months ago.

I don't even think it made the papers.

But we heard about it around here.

The victim was a teacher at Columbia.

They found him in his apartment

in about 10 pieces.

Detectives came around asking questions

for a couple of days, nothing came of it.

I guess you can't be too careful, huh?

Excuse me.

Could I ask you about these?

What about them?

What are they for?

A light-blue hanky in your left back pocket

means you want a blow job...

...right pocket means you give one.

The green one, left side says

you're a hustler, right side you're a buyer.

The yellow one, left side means

you give golden shower...

...right side you receive. The red one is...

- Right, thank you.

See anything you want?

I'm gonna go home

and think about it.

I'm sure you'll make the right choice.

You into water sports?

No, I just... I like to watch.

- Later.

- Yeah.

If you like to watch, take that hanky

out of your pocket, a**hole.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

- How you doing?

- Good.

Bartenders are starting

to give me some information.

You know, like who the regulars are.

Who's been there before,

who ain't, that stuff.

Good. What else?

Oh, yeah, there's this name

keeps popping up all the time.

Tommy Mancusi.

He owns the Cock Pit,

four, five other places.

Tommy the Joker they call him.

- Are you serious?

- Yeah.

Are you trying to tell me you don't know

who Tommy the Joker is?

I don't know who he is.

Well, I do. I can't move on him.

Why not?

I ask the questions.

You dropped your chalk.

- See you later.

- Watch yourself.

You bet.

I think he's cruising.

- Great night.

- Yeah, it is.

- Wanna get a beer?

- Oh, I don't know. It's kind of late.

I'd invite you up to my apartment,

but I don't have air conditioning yet.

Oh, that's too bad.

- How about the park?

- Fine.

Who's here?

I'm here

You're here

Where are you, man?

Come on.

Where are you?

Don't play games with me, man.

Where are you?

I'm waiting for you

- Everything's ready.

- Good.

Nance...

Why don't you lie down

for a little while?

Don't let me lose you.

Okay?

- Don't let me lose you.

- I love you.

You're not gonna lose me.

I love you so much.

Gregory called me last night.

Remember roommate Gregory?

Seems the star of the show has hepatitis

and the tour is canceled till he recovers.

Show closes in Bucks County tonight,

he'll be home tomorrow.

- That should make you happy.

- Overjoyed.

Listen, I never told you

about Gregory and me.

You know what he said

when he called me up?

He said I should forget about my writing

and find a job until his show reopens.

He says it's my turn to work now.

He intends to flop on the beach

and turn nut brown.

His very words. Damn.

I was counting on having

the rest of the summer.

I could've finished by Labor Day.

- So tell him.

- I did.

At which point, dear Gregory said...

...that the world could wait

for any play I might turn out...

...but the summer sun

waits for no man.

Who knows?

He might be right about this play.

He was right, God knows,

about the others I've written.

Nobody else cared much

about them either.

So I guess I'll work my bricks off.

We need the money.

Gregory's tired.

It's fair enough, I suppose.

You really feel like that?

No.

I'm seething.

I'm not exactly mad enough to kill,

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