Read Online Boulevard by Bill Guttentag - Free Book Online

beside Laurel Canyon Boulevard. There was no sidewalk, and the road, which twisted through the Hollywood Hills, was so steep her thighs throbbed. She was nearly out of breath. The boy’s name was Paul. He barely knew her, but thanks to him, she was wearing red high-tops, too big, but it was the best they could come up with at the 24-hour Thrifty’s. He also bought her a pink sweatshirt with Hollywood written in swirling multi-colored glitter. It was about as far from cool as you could get. She didn’t care, it was cheap and a million times warmer than the stupid tube top Dennis had forced her to wear. Best of all, her stomach was full from a strawberry-banana smoothie.
    While they were in the smoothie place, Casey looked right at him and said, “Why are you being so nice to me?”
    â€œLook, you’re driving down the street and see a dog wandering around without a collar—”
    â€œThanks.”
    â€œOkay, a cute Labrador Retriever puppy,” he said with a smile. “You stop. Try and find the owner, give him some food and water. Anyone would do it.”
    â€œAnyone like you.”
    â€œYou’d do it, too.”
    And as she pushed through the high weeds lining the canyon road, she thought Paul had done more for her in the last hour than all of the other people in her life who claimed they loved her but really didn’t give a shit at all, had ever done. The path widened a bit, and Casey walked beside him.
    â€œHow’d you end up here?” she said.
    â€œSame as everyone. Stupid shit.”
    Casey looked at Paul, wanting him to tell her. He turned away and kept moving up the hill. “It’s boring,” he said.
    â€œBut you wanna be here, right?”
    â€œSure. Where else am I gonna go?”
    They turned off Laurel Canyon and went up a smaller road, deep into the canyon. It was even steeper, with huge trees alongside it. The trees had a nice smell, eucalyptus, and the noise of the main road faded away. They passed houses jammed into the hillside. A lot of them had picture windows and the lights still on. In one house, with a smoking chimney, five or six women in their twenties sat around a table crowded with wine glasses and bottles, laughing. Next door, in a house that looked like it was made of glass, she saw two girls a little older than her, playing pool and listening to the old Rolling Stones song Ruby Tuesday which slipped through the glass walls. At the corner, they passed an elementary school surrounded by the hills of the canyon. Casey read the school’s name, and thought, they sure got that right— Wonderland .
    Just past the school was a weed-covered piece of hill surrounded by a chain-link fence. There was a sign with some construction company’s name, but there wasn’t any building going on that she could see. Paul went to the corner of the fence and, by taking off a couple of rusty rings, opened a space wide enough for them to slip through.
    â€œIt’s not a suite at the Chateau Marmont …” he said with a smile.
    â€œBut it’s perfect,” Casey said.
    It was. There was no Dennis, no anybody, ruling over her life, forcing her to do what they wanted—not what she wanted. Paul led her to the top of the hill, and when she looked back, she was in awe. Below her were millions and millions of glistening lights that went on forever. Towards the ocean, there were actually searchlights crisscrossing the sky, like for the premiere of a movie that you see in the movies. In the far distance, an endless line of tiny planes slipped lower in the sky and turned their landing lights on as they descended into the airport. For the first time, Casey thought LA was beautiful.
    â€œLos Angeles—you know the name means?” Paul asked.
    â€œSomething about angels?”
    â€œYeah. It means City of Angels—but if you ask me it’s more like the gates of hell.” Casey nodded. She just met him, but