Nightmare Alley Page #3

It's the geek.

He's got the heebie-jeebies again.

Yeah.

Hoatley didn't give him his bottle today.

- Why?

- Says he's been laying down on the job.

Ah, that's silly.

Guy's been ready for the straitjacket for a week.

It's not right to cut a man off so quick,

right in midair.

Come on. Steady.

Boy, have I got 'em.

Here.

You need that

worse than I do.

How is it?

Awful.

But I wish I had a barrel of it.

You're a good kid, Stan.

You're going to go places.

Nothing can keep you out of the big time.

You've got everything.

Just like I used to have.

Me and Zeena.

You should have seen us pack 'em in.

They'd wait through six acts

just to see us.

Top billing everywhere we went.

I was born

brought up in Boston

A city we all know well

Brought up by heartless parents

The truth to you I'll tell

Brought up by heartless parents

Poor guy.

"Poor guy". If it weren't for Zeena,

they'd be saying that about me.

Poor Pete.

Pete the geek.

Ah, you're crazy.

No. I remember that fella

when he first showed up here.

Hoatley knew him in the old days.

So did I.

Course, we pretended we didn't.

- Who was he?

- Hmm? He used to be plenty big-time.

- Mental act?

- What difference does it make?

It's all smoked meat now.

Just a bottle-a-day rum-dum,

and he thinks this job is heaven...

long as he has his bottle a day

and a dry place to sleep it off in.

There's only one thing

this stuff'll make you forget.

- What's that?

- How to forget.

- Have a drink.

- No, thanks.

I, uh...

wonder where Zeena is.

Waiting for me at the hotel,

I suppose.

She's always waiting for me.

Boy, you should have

seen us work once.

I heard you were pretty good

by yourself.

Chord from the orchestra,

amber spot, and I'm on.

Make my spiel. Good for one laugh.

Plenty of mystery.

Just a minute there.

Go right into my reading.

Here's my crystal.

Throughout the ages man has sought

to look behind the veil...

that hides him from tomorrow...

and through the ages certain men

have looked into the polished crystal...

and seen.

Is it some quality

of the crystal itself...

or does the gazer merely use it

to turn his gaze inward?

Who knows?

But visions come.

Slowly shifting their form,

visions come.

Wait!

The shifting shapes begin to clear.

I see fields of grass

and rolling hills...

and a boy.

A boy is running barefoot

through the hills.

A dog is with him.

A dog is with him.

Yes.

His name was Gyp.

Go on.

See how easy it is to hook 'em?

Stock reading. Fits everybody.

What's youth?

Happy one minute, heartbroken the next.

Every boy has a dog.

Now, now, now.

Steady.

I'm just an old drunk.

Just an old lush.

Zeena will be mad.

Good old Zeena.

- Well, gotta go now. Zeena will be waiting.

- Okay, give me the bottle.

- Why?

- She'll only take it away from you.

Oh, I'll finish it first.

- Zeena will be worried.

- Oh, Zeena's always worried about little Pete.

Hangs over me

like I was an ice-cream soda.

Ah, let her worry.

- What are you gonna do now?

- Take a little snooze.

Drink a little drink.

Dream and drink.

Drink and dream.

- Charlie.

- Hi, Molly.

- Where's Stan?

- Stan? He's out there.

Stan! Stan.

Where's Zeena?

I think she's over picking up her dough.

What's up?

It's Pete.

We can't wake him.

- What's wrong with him?

- I don't know. Everybody's scared stiff.

Well, come on!

- Take it easy.

- Let him alone. I'll take care of him.

Come on, Pete.

Pete!

Come on, Pete.

Pete, answer me.!

Pete, do you hear me?

Pete.

Come on, Pete.

Do you hear me? Pete.!

- Call a doctor!

- I'm afraid it's too late, kid. Smell that.

Pete didn't drink this.

This is the wood alcohol I use

for burning my envelopes.

Where do you keep it?

In my prop trunk.

Oh, Pete. Pete, what happened?

Pete! Oh, Pete!

- It's all right.

- Oh, Pete!

Pete!

He's gone.

He was a good guy

and a swell trouper.

Only last night I made up my mind

to put him in a cure.

Only last night!

- What have I here?

- A gold earring.

- Can you tell me what this is?

- It's a key case.

- What color?

- It is red.

Ah, here we are.!

Now, Madame Zeena,

will you name this?

- It's a scarf.

- Right again!

Here.! Quick now. What is this?

- Can't take your eyes off him?

- I want to be sure he's getting it right.

- Getting what right?

- The code.

How do you suppose Zeena's working

without anybody in the cubbyhole?

Please concentrate

and see if you know what this is.

A gold watch.

How does she do it?

She and Stan are using a two-person code.

- What's that?

- Each word stands for a number.

Each number stands for some object.

But there's more to it than that.

It's the way you accent the syllables

and the vowels. Listen.

Quick now.

Will you name this?

He's telling Zeena it's a lady's hat.

A lady's hat. A beautiful hat.

How did you know that?

Zeena and I have been helping Stan

memorize the code.

Zeena says he's already got it

as good as she has.

- Here. Quick now. What is this?

- A silver dollar.

As soon as Stan has more practice,

they're going to quit the carnival.

He and Zeena?

Zeena's already written to

three or four booking agents.

This yours, miss?

Am-scray.

The ulls-bay.

Police.

That concludes our performance

for the time being.

You all must be pretty dry

and could use a cold drink.

I want to call your attention

to that stand across the midway...

where you can get all the ice-cold soda pop

you can drink.

- Stay right where you are. You too.

- That's all for now.

Come back tomorrow and you'll see

a lot of things you didn't see tonight.

Hello, chief. My name is Hoatley.

I own this attraction.

- You're the man I'm looking for.

- You're welcome to inspect the place.

We've no girl shows,

no games of skill or chance.

That's right, chief.

- Quiet, both of you.

- You're the boss.

- What do you got in that geek place?

- Crocodile tamer. Wanna see?

That ain't what I heard.

You got an illegal performance going on

with cruelty to human beings and live chickens.

That's an exaggeration, chief.

Stay as my guest and view the entire...

Shut up, you. I've got orders from the mayor

to close you down and arrest who I see fit.

Send somebody for that geek.

I'm taking him and you and that girl there.

What for?

Indecent exposure.

That's what I'm arresting her for.

She didn't do anything wrong.

We've decent women in this town,

daughters and growing girls.

- Come on!

- Just a moment, Sheriff.

- Molly. The chair.

- Get out of that contraption.

Now you can see the reason for the costume

this young lady is forced to wear.

The electricity would ignite

any ordinary fabric.

Only by wearing the thinnest covering

can she avoid bursting into flames.

That's right, chief. Thousands of volts

of current cover her body like a sheet.

You can't pull the wool over my eyes

with a lot of sparks.

I've done business with you carnival

crooks before. Get that geek in here.

You can talk to the judge.

- Go get that geek. Put a shirt on him first.

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