Part 18: Talking to Louie

Music: Easy Feeling
What're you reading?

Aw, some skin mag one of the guests left behind.

(??? A guest forgot it? ???)

I dunno if they forgot it or tossed it or what... But who cares, right? Free is free!

So whattaya want, anyway?



This is your hiding spot?

So this is where you've been hiding, eh?

Hidin'?!

How's the cleanin' coming? ...You know Rosa's looking for you, right?

What? Cleaning? Is that all? Man, I was all tripped out for nothing!

Here I thought Officer Hyde was gonna bust my ass, and you ask 'bout cleanin'?



Wait a second...



You're lying.

You're lying to me, DeNonno.

Huh?

Rosa told me all about you. Said you're nothing but a slacker.

That old bag? Forget her! What gives her the right to hassle guests about me?

Talkin' crap 'bout people's like her hobby, ya know?

I'm workin', man, straight up! This is an honest gig.

Look, Officer... I mean... Hyde. Listen to me for a sec. I'm clean, and I'm workin'. Workin' HARD.

I'm like three times more serious than I was in the city. God's honest.

Three times? You call this...

C'mon, man, stop preachin'!

This is it for me, ya know?! I ain't smart or talented... This is the best I can do.

Not being a cop anymore's gotta be rough, yeah? We're the same man. It's like ya just gotta take a break and catch your breath before ya snap. That maid Rosa's a loud-mouthed old bag. And Dunning's a penny-pinchin' slave driver.

I'm the only bellhop in this whole stinkin' place. No matter how hard I work, stuff just keeps pilin' up.

Like a total energy vampire, man.

Honestly it's a wonder this place is still running.

What if you get fired?

Ha! Yeah, right. Fire me? That's rich.

Like I'm gonna get fired from this gig!

Ain't nobody want to work AND live here, man. Nobody 'cept me, I guess.

Not so long as those stories are out there...

(??? Stories? ???)

Music: Rainy Night


Read note
Whatchya lookin' at?
Write note
Whatchya writin'?

Stuff gets left behind?

Lot of things get left behind?

Yeah, tons. Some of it's worth pretty good dough, too.

Don't worry, man, I don't touch any of it.

It all gets kicked up to old man Dunning.

Well, it's his joint.

Yeah, he keeps all the lost and found stuff in his office.

Doesn't trust anyone else, I guess.

(Lost and found items are kept in the office, huh? Good to know.)

What stories did you mean?

Stories? What're you talking about?

This place is lousy with 'em, man!

...Lousy with what?

...Ghosts.

Ghosts.

...Yeah. A long time ago there was an...an "incident," ya know?

(??? What was the incident? ???)

Soon as it happened, people were talking 'bout ghosts and hauntings and stuff. Folks said they heard some young kid sobbin' during the night. Then when they followed the voice, they found a little girl in a white dress. And if they tried to talk to her? ...She'd VANISH! Poof! Total trip, man.

Anyway, that's the story. It's enough to keep people from wantin' to work here.

Wow. Louie just told the story that Rosa really tried to keep as a secret.

You seen this ghost?

'Course not, brother! It's just some crazy story.

But I'll tell you something... When I saw that young chick today? She was facing the other way, and it kinda tripped me out for a sec.

It's cool, though. No way that girl's a ghost. She... She's like an angel that got lost or... or somethin'...

The hell you mumbling about, Louie? What girl?

The one right here, man! The mystery girl! Her name's Mila.

(??? Mila? ???)

When was this incident?

When was this incident?

...When?

I heard it was ten years ago.

(??? I wonder what happened? ???)

What's Mila like?

What kind of girl is Mila?

Huh?



(Is Louie blushing? He really think he's in love with this girl?)

She was in the lobby earlier right? Girl with the long hair?

Met her already, eh?

She's a looker, right?

I guess.



Whoa!



Nothing changes?

Why'd you say nothing changes?

I'm talkin' bout YOU, man! You're like some dinosaur stuck in a tar pit. I know your history, Officer Hyde. You only fall for chicks with...ya know...

Issues.

...How's that?

Sure! Detective Kyle Hyde of the fightin' 89th and his whacked-out lady lover... All us street rats knew the story, man. It was famous.

Really?

...Yeah. Guess I shoulda kept my head hole shut, huh?

Probably.

Talk about the incident.

Tell me about the incident.

...Hmm. This stuff still interest you? Even ya ain't a cop anymore?

Guess so.

Crimes and criminals still get my blood going. You don't just walk away. No one does.

Ha! Still the same ol'Officer Hyde!

Ya know, you look real weird without a badge and a gun, man. You always seemed like a "cop for life" kind of cat, ya dig?

Yeah.

So about this incident. What happened?

I heard about it from this gabby guy over at the newspaper stand. Seems a man and his daughter stopped here for a night, yeah? Then, in the middle of the night, the girl disappeared.

(??? She disappeared? ???)

A girl disappeared?

She disappeared?

Yeah. Kid was only ten years old, too. Father looked all over for her, but the sun came up and she was still gone.

Later on, the cops got a mysterious letter...

It told 'em where they could find the girl's body.

(??? Did they find the body? ???)

Did they find the body?

Did they find the girl's body?

No, that's the crazy part. Guy told me they didn't find squat. No kid, no crook, no nothin'. Thing's still unsolved.

...That so?

Yep. And after that, the stories started. The murdered chick's ghost appears at night and...acts scary or whatever.



Now we're getting somewhere.



Dusk went bankrupt?

Place went under, huh?

Yeah. Bottoms up. Place was deserted till Dunning rolled in 'bout five years ago. He picked the place up for nothin' and bam! Hotel Dusk is open for business.

Anyways, that's all I know. Dunning and Rosa don't like to talk about it.

Yeah. We saw what happened when we tried to ask Rosa.

Music: Easy Feeling
Yo, Officer Hyde!

Lemme ask ya somethin'!

What?

So you quit the beat and left the city, yeah? You come all the way out here to avoid cats from your past?

That's part of it. But I was born out here, too. My mom and I only moved to New York after my old man passed. Figured I could use my old contacts to get back on my feet.

Yeah, I dig.

And, well...

Well, what? Don't leave me hangin', man!

I'm looking for someone.

Lookin' for someone? Get outta here! You ain't a cop no more!

Not like that. It's just a guy I used to work with who went missing.

A guy you worked with? What, like a cop?

Yeah, my ex-partner, Bradley. Don't think you ever had the pleasure.

Bradley, huh?

Yeah.

Why's he missing?

He got shot at the docks three years ago and took a dive in the Hudson.

Three years ago?

Something wrong?



I could make the DeNonno pun again, but instead I'm going to say that for some reason I always think of him saying that with Tommy Wiseau's "accent".

But ya know... If the cat's been outta sight for three years... Well, kinda safe to assume he's dead. Ain't it?

No. He's alive.

Hey, I know you guys were tight and all, so you want him to be alive... But you gotta let go. Dead is dead, right?

(Want's got nothing to do with it. He's alive. I know it.)

But lemme tell ya...

Having a compadre wink out or skip town's a total drag, ain't it?



Wait, Louie.



We're the same?

We're the same? What are you talking about?

Um...

Spill it.

...

NOW!

We're the same, man. I had me a buddy died three years back.

That's all.

Hey, I gotta split. You'd better get outta here, too. I told ya, man. this place ain't for guests, ya dig?

I dig.

Louie finishes talking and hurries out the door.

Wow, that's a long talk. We'll investigate this room next time.