Naked Lunch Page #2

Say, Bill...

could you rub

some of this powder on my lips?

Could you, Bill?

Please?

Hey!

Bill.

Hey, where were you this morning?

We missed you at the Automat.

I, uh, got in a bit of a jam.

I misplaced the gear,

in a manner of speaking.

Yeah.

We heard about it.

We saw you go off with the heat, in fact.

They won't give it back to Cohen.

It's evidence, they say.

Yeah. It's an embarrassment, yes.

Is that why you tried to lift mine?

That's unkind, Edward.

"Lift" is unkind.

I'm doing a job for a friend.

The centipedes, Edward.

The centipedes are getting downright arrogant.

They're starting to attack his children.

Take it from me, Bill.

You're not the first one

to develop a bug powder problem.

See this man.

He'll help ya.

"Dr. A. Benway...

General Practitioner."

Bug powder?

- You mean, uh, pyrethrum?

- Yes.

Hmm. I get a lot of you folks

in the extermination trade.

You better help this friend of yours

get off the yellow stuff.

- It'll kill him.

- How do I get him to kick?

- Kick?

- H-How do I get him off it?

Oh.

Mix it with this.

Gradually increase the percentage

of black without telling your friend...

and he'll lose his taste

for the bug powder soon enough.

What is it?

What does it do?

Oh, it's all natural.

It's made from, uh...

aquatic Brazilian centipede

or some such outlandish thing.

It shuts down the brain's

response to the bug powder. That's all.

The powder becomes

irrelevant to the addict...

and the addict then

ceases to be addicted.

Side effects?

Nothing that will surprise the addict.

But, uh, before I -

before I do your cure...

I've gotta score some bug powder.

Score?

You're not trying to... pull a fast one

on the old doctor, are you?

I came here for help.

Of course you did.

Phew!

My God.

It smells like a... tainted cheese.

You'll see how elegantly this works.

The black will disappear completely.

And there'll be no smell,

no discoloration.

It's like an agent -

an agent who's come to believe

his own cover story...

but who's in there, hiding...

in a larval state...

just waiting

for the proper moment to hatch out.

Extra, extra! Read all about it!

Thirty-nine cents,just for today! Special.

Thirty-nine cents.

Fresh cabbage.

Centipedes.

"Followers of obsolete,

unthinkable trades...

"doodling in Etruscan...

"addicts of drugs not yet synthesized...

"black marketeers of World War III...

"excisors of telepathic sensitivity...

"osteopaths of the spirit...

"investigators...

"of infractions denounced...

"by bland, paranoid chess players...

"servers of

fragmentary warrants taken down...

"in hebephrenic shorthand...

"charging unspeakable

mutilations of the spirit...

officials of unconstituted

police states, broke -"

Hi, Bill.

Say, why don't you and I join them?

Hank and I were just bored.

It wasn't serious.

I didn't take it seriously.

Where is Hank?

He got embarrassed and left.

Not before he came, I hope.

Hank's on junk.

He doesn't come.

Not before you came, I hope.

I'm on bug powder.

I don't need to come.

"Officials of unconstituted police states...

"brokers of

exquisite dreams and nostalgias...

"tested on the sensitized

cells of junk sickness...

"and bartered for

raw materials of the will...

"drinkers of the Heavy Fluid...

sealed in translucent

amber of dreams."

I guess it's about time

for our William Tell routine.

Oh, God.

Oh, God.

Joan.

Joan.

Oh,Joan.

Are you a f*ggot?

Not by nature, no.

I'm not.

I wouldn't say... f*ggot.

No.

However, circumstances have forced me

to consider the possibility that -

I'd like you to meet a friend of mine.

He specializes in sexual ambivalence.

Sexual ambulance, did you say?

My God.

He's called Mugwump.

No point in feigning surprise.

You knew we would be

getting in touch with you.

Why else would you come

to a waterfront dive like this?

Why else?

I suggest a Clark Nova portable.

It has mythic resonance.

Clark Nova. A typewriter?

You suggest it for what?

For your report

from Interzone, of course.

Handwriting is not

considered professional.

Interzone.

My report.

And don't leave out

any of the tasty details -

the small red hole in the forehead...

or...

the look of astonishment on her face.

Listen to me.

You'rejust gonna have to leave town...

and Interzone is the only place...

that'll have a shady character

like you at such short notice.

Take this.

Take what?

What is that?

Your ticket to Interzone.

Tourist class, I'm afraid...

but what can you expect these days?

We'll contact you there.

Hmm. It's commie trash.

And it's been fired very recently.

You use it in a holdup?

I want that typewriter in the window.

I want the portable.

This plus...

$8.00.

You got any ammo to go with it?

These'll cover the state tax.

- Bill.

- Martin.

Listen, Bill, I told the police it

was a drunken accident, that I saw it.

So at least that's on the record.

They're after you though.

They're saying that,

you escaped from custody...

and murdered your wife,

and-and they want you.

I'd better lie low till my ship sails.

- You booked passage somewhere already?

- Sure. Look.

Got my ticket.

Put this away,

for God's sake, Bill.

- I'll send you a report.

- You'll send me a report?

Well, I'll send you

a copy of the report.

Are you gonna be all right?

I hear Interzone's really nice

this time of year.

He woke up in bed...

to find himself wedged...

between a Dutch transvestite...

and six Arab men.

Clark Nova.

Very nice for writing reports.

I use a Krups Dominator myself.

Company policy.

You're American, correct?

You know Dr. Benway?

I am interested in selling...

a large stash of the black meat.

Verstehen Sie?

The sun-dried, powdered black meat...

of the giant

aquatic Brazilian centipede.

And...

for some reason...

I am certain that you are working

for Herr Dr. Benway.

I'm - I-I-I'm sorry.

I apparently mistook you

for somebody else.

But as it happens, Mr. Lee,

I am, among other things...

a provider of rare services to the arts...

and in my experience as a provider

of rare services to the arts...

I have found that writers

are a-a particularly needy group.

Is there nothing

I can provide for you...

Mr. Lee?

A very professional...

operation...

as you can see, Mr. Lee.

You like a taste?

I'd be happy to join you in a taste,

if you're planning to have one.

You can understand

that if you were...

a purchasing agent

for a foreign power...

how it would be

to my advantage...

to impress you with the cleanliness...

and the sincerity...

of our operation.

- You, uh, mentioned a Dr. -

- Benway.

- Benway.

- Benway. Correct.

Yes.

Does he qualify as a foreign power?

Oh, but yes!

He's very foreign.

May I?

Yes.

Lee, wake up.

This is no time to doze off...

like a freckled-face boy

on a fishing raft.

What's up?

Now, now, Bill.

No need for that.

You didn't think

we'd abandon you, did ya?

No, no. The thought

never occurred to me.

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