Read Online Destroy by Jason Myers - Free Book Online Page A

or at a bar he’s trying to get on a bill with us that’s already been booked. Fuck him.”
    â€œYeah, well,” I say, “I agree with some of the stuff you just said, but the guy cuts me major deals on coke. I mean, he slashes the price big-time.”
    â€œI know he does,” Daniel says.
    The Joshua guy walks to his record player and starts flipping through his records and asks if there are any requests.
    â€œYou got any Ritchie Valens?” I ask.
    â€œI actually do.”
    â€œWhat album?”
    â€œ Come On, Let’s Go .”
    â€œThat’s the best one,” I say. “Put it on.”
    â€œDone.”
    A huge mirror gets passed around, and Kat hands it to me and I take a line and pass it to Marco, and Marco does one and passes it to Sebastian.
    And I’m really digging the feel of this room. Like, a lot. A whole lot. It has this striking aura of familiarity about it—the Buddy Holly and Al Green and Will Oldham posters on the wall—furniture pushed into corners and covered with cigarette burns—dirty clothes and spilled ashtrays and porn magazines and empty bottles of everything smeared all over the floor—dirty dishes on the computer desk—a collection of Melvins and Neil Young album covers pinned to the back of the door.
    The mirror and my Jim Beam keep going and going and at one point, this older dude, maybe late forties, missing some teeth from obviously grinding them out, who looks like he’s been up for a few days doing speed, pulls me aside and says, “Hey, man. I read your book. I really dug it. I mean, there were some things that I would’ve done differently, but I still dug it.”
    â€œThanks, dude.”
    â€œMy name’s Only Owen.”
    â€œYou write?”
    â€œA little bit,” he says. “I’ve been working on this collection of haikus and a journal about ramen noodle recipes.” Pause. I watch him grind his teeth together super hard. Then, “I do have a great story idea for a screenplay I wanna get cracking on.”
    â€œWhat’s the story?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYour story.”
    â€œWhat story?”
    â€œThe one you just told me you were gonna start working on for your screenplay.”
    â€œOh right. The screenplay.”
    â€œWhat’s the idea?”
    The guy slides his purple-tinted tongue over his white-caked lips and goes, “It’s about this guy who really likes this girl and becomes obsessed with her and starts, like, really losing his mind over her. He, like, wigs out and tries to kill that band the Darkness because she’s really into them a lot, and then he tries to burn down her house and shit.” Pause. “That’s it. What do you think?”
    â€œIt’s pretty all right.”
    â€œThank you.”
    â€œYou’re welcome.”
    â€œAnyway,” he says. “You know that guy Jared, the dude who plays bass for King Cobra and the Beershits? That’s what he told me. I used to live with him a few years back in the Loin.”
    â€œI know him. I haven’t seen him in a while. How’s he doing?”
    â€œHe’s just livin’ his life, ya know. The last time I saw him was outside Hotel Utah last week. He was walking back and forth between a light pole and a fire hydrant, and then he stopped and just leaned against the pole. His body was still maneuvering all right, it was just waiting for his mind to turn back on.”
    â€œSounds like the right dude.”
    â€œI know, man. Totally. Sounds about right cos it is about right.”
    â€œAbsolutely,” I say.
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    I’m in the bathroom taking a leak when Kat walks in and locks the door behind her.
    â€œWhy don’t you ever call me back?” she wants to know.
    â€œJesus Christ, Kat. I’m pissing.”
    â€œJust answer the question, James.”
    â€œDo you even call?” I ask. “I don’t