Behind the Lens (Behind the Lives) (19 page)

He
stormed over to her. “I’m no fucker’s boyfriend and I ain’t fuckin’ gay!”

“Then
why are you goin’ with that gay guy?”

He
glanced over at Jade, who was now standing at the door. “He’s payin’—” Dante
stopped himself, realising what he’d said.

“Ah,
you’re an escort,” the woman said, not looking surprised.

“NO!”

“Well,
if he’s paying you, then you are, and, honey, you should’ve told me, cos I
would definitely pay for
you
.” The chicks surrounding her started
laughing.

“I’m
not a fuckin’ whore!” Dante bellowed.

Except
for the band, everyone went silent, their attention now focused on Dante. He pointed
a finger at the blonde bitch. “If ya really knew me, you’d know what I sell,
and it ain’t my body, and by the way: Scrape that muck offa your face and get
some decent brow tats, cos you’re the one who looks like a fuckin’ whore!”

She
glared at him. “Just cos you’re gorgeous doesn’t give you the right to be so
insulting.”

“Just
cos you’re ugly doesn’t give ya the right to tell me what to do, bitch.” He
spun around and pushed through people, just wanting to get out of there. He
shoved Jade aside and jumped down the pub steps, almost falling over, then he
headed for his car.

Jade
ran after him, shouting, “You’re too drunk to drive.”

Stopping
in front of the car, he fumbled with his keys, trying to get the door open. The
alarm went off as he opened it. He swore and switched it off, then dropped the
keys. He went to pick them up, almost banging his head into Jade as the guy
swiped them up. Jade shut the car door and clicked on the alarm, then stuffed
the keys into his pocket.

“Give
’em back!”

“Don’t
be stupid, you can’t drive like this.”

“Then
you drive.”

“I
can’t, I’ve had a few drinks.”

“You’re
bloody useless.” Dante pulled out his phone, stopping just before hitting
Beth’s number, the person he always called for a lift when he was drunk. But
she was with someone else now. He threw the phone across the road, yelling out
in frustration when a car drove over it. He slumped down on the ground, putting
his hands to his head. Now he had no phone, no girlfriend and no fucking money
in the bank, and soon he wouldn’t have a job, house or car. He felt like going
behind Ash’s back and asking for his job back, because all he could do was sell
drugs, and if he didn’t have that, what the fuck else could he do? Yeah,
fuck
was right, because his cock was the only other tool of the trade he knew how to
use.

Dante
looked up as a shadow fell over him.

“Are
you still coming with me?” Jade asked, hunching over.

“I
don’t wanna. Those women all looked at me like I wuz a whore.”

“I
wouldn’t pay attention to them, and that blonde one was horrible. I saw how she
was throwing herself at you. It was a shameful display.”

“You’re
throwing yourself at me too, and I might’ve fucked her if I wuz drunker and
hadn’t just broken up with my girlfriend.”

Jade
bobbed down, his butt not going anywhere near the concrete, like he was afraid
to get his pants dirty. “Why did you break up?”

“What
do you care?”

“Because
I want to make you feel better. Talking helps.”

“You
don’t care ’bout me, all you care ’bout is your dick. And I’ve changed my mind:
I’m not doin’ you.”

“Can
you afford to turn down two grand? Because the way you were annoying that
bartender for free drinks tells me that you can’t.”

“I
don’t wanna do you.”

“I’ve
done a lot of things that I didn’t want to do, but it was always for something
that I wanted or needed. Is there anything you want or need that the two grand
can buy?”

“It
can pay some of my car loan off.”

“There
you go, that means my offer is worth your time.”

“I’m
not so sure ’bout that.”

“Why
not?”

“Since
you showed up, I’ve been humiliated and lost my phone.”

“You
can’t blame me for the phone, but if it makes you feel better, I’ll buy you a
new one, and I’ll even top it up for you.”

“Why?
I ain’t worth shit.”

“You
underestimate yourself.”

“No,
I’m useless. I lose money all the time, I can’t seem to keep a woman, and everyone
treats me like I’m only good for a fuck or a snort of coke. Only my family
think anything of me, and even they’re pissed off with me right now.”

“You’re
just having a bad day.”

“More
like a bad fuckin’ life.”

“It
can’t be that bad, and I have a feeling good things will start happening for
you soon.”

“Doubt
it. Nuthin’ good happens to me, and why should it? No one likes me.”

“I
do, and I know a lot of other people who do too.”

Dante
frowned. “Who?”

“Your
fans.”

“Eh?
What’re you on about?”

“You’re
famous.”

“No
I’m not,” Dante said, wondering whether Jade was talking about his infamous
sex-text.

“It’s
hard to believe someone like you has poor self-esteem.”

“Like
me?”

“You’re
the sexiest person I’ve ever met. You have females falling over themselves to get
at you, yet you act like you’re worthless. I don’t understand that. With your
looks you should be totally playing it up.”

“My
looks mean shit; it’s my personality that’s the killer. No one wants to stick
round cos of it.”

“Then
you must go with the wrong people. If you went with me I’d treat you like a
prince.”

“I’m
not a ponce!”

“I
didn’t say you were, but if you were my boyfriend I wouldn’t be stupid enough
to let you go.”

“You’d
get sick of me pretty quick.”

“I
don’t think so; otherwise I wouldn’t still be chasing you after you threatened
me.”

Dante
sighed, not knowing what to say to that.

“So,
are you coming home with me?” Jade asked. “Because I wouldn’t waste your time
like that horrible woman inside did.”

“What’s
the use? Two grand won’t even put a dent in my debt. I might as well just
disappear with my car before it gets taken offa me.”

“How
much do you owe on it?”

“Ten
grand.”

“I’ll
pay it off for you.”

Dante’s
eyes went wide. “Why would ja do that?”

“Because
I can. Ten grand is nothing to me, and I’d love to help you out.”

“I
really don’t get you. I threaten and insult you, yet you offer me ten grand?
I’m more likely to take the money and smash you up than go through with
things.”

“No
you won’t.”

“How
do ya know that?”

Jade
stood up. “Because you’re an honourable man.”

“I
hurt people, sell drugs, there’s nuthin’ honourable ’bout that.”

“You
can’t see it, but I can, and I want to prove it to you, so please get off the
ground and come with me,” Jade said, holding out a hand. “I promise you won’t
regret it.”

Dante
took a hold of Jade’s hand and got up.

***

“You’re a liar, you do live
in Ponsonby,” Dante said, following Jade up to the front door of a two-storey house.
The place overlooked the Waitemata Harbour, the lights from the bridge
illuminating the dark waters below. Dante wondered what Jade did for a living
to get all of this, because the dude had to be a multi-millionaire to afford
this pad.

“No,
this is Herne Bay,” Jade said, unlocking the door.

“Same
diff, it’s practically Ponsonby. And what’s with you gay guys living here? It’s
like you’re purposely being a stereotype.”

“You’re
being prejudiced. Gay people, like everyone else, live all over the place, and
I only bought this place because it’s close to work and my friends.”

“Whatever,
just get your hand offa my cock,” Dante said, still pissed off that Jade had
been all over him in the taxi. He knew he had to perform in bed, but fuck if he
was letting the poof dry hump him in the back seat of a cab. He almost asked
the taxi driver to let him out, but in the end squeezed Jade’s cock hard enough
to get the little prick to stop.

Jade
gave Dante’s cock a squeeze, probably returning what Dante had done to him
earlier, although the grip wasn’t hard enough to hurt. “You could at least be
nice to me,” Jade grumbled, “considering I’m going to pay off your car.”

“If
you wanted nice I wouldn’t be here, and I told ja to let go of my bloody cock.”

Retracting
his hand, Jade stepped inside the house. Dante followed him, getting told to
take his boots off. “Pris,” he muttered, kicking them off. Jade tsked him then
placed the boots into a shoe rack, making Dante roll his eyes, the guy even
prissier than the females he knew. He walked past the princess, eyeing up the
house. “Too much white,” he said as the lights went on. “This place needs
colour.”

“I
like things looking clean.”

Dante
glanced over his shoulder. “No you don’t, I’m a dirty bastard.”

Jade
laughed. “Only your mouth. Now, would you like a drink? That is, something a
little more cultivated than what you were throwing back earlier.”

Dante
nodded, feeling like he definitely needed liquid courage, because he felt like
bolting like Usain. He had no probs having guys watching while he rooted a
woman, didn’t even care if one sucked him off, just as long as he had a chick
to look at, but now, he was here with no chick, no boner, and a ponce who could
pass off as one if he wore a wig and makeup.

He
followed Jade into a large lounge filled with seemingly expensive antiques.
Again, the walls and most of the furniture were white, the only stand out
colour coming from the large blue painting of a naked dude. Dante turned to
Jade, assessing the guy’s looks more closely. “Have ya ever cross-dressed?” He
hoped that Jade would say yes, because if he could pretend that the dude was a
lady he could maybe get through this without being scarred for life. “You could
pad a bra, pop on some makeup and a wig—”

“No,”
Jade said. “I tried it for an ex once and it felt weird.”

“Try
it again; it’ll make it easier for me to do you.”

“I
still have a cock and balls.”

“Strap
them up.”

Jade
scowled at him. “Look, I’m paying you a lot of money, so you’ll do what
I
want.”

“Guess
so,” Dante grumbled.

Jade
opened a cabinet and removed a bottle of alcohol, half filling two crystal
glasses.

Dante
took one and swallowed it down before his taste-buds realised they’d just been
punked. “This tastes like sugary shit,” he said, sticking out his tongue and
wiping at it.

“It
does not,” Jade said, looking offended. “That bottle cost me two grand.”

“You
paid two grand for one bottle?” Dante said in disbelief, but then again, the
guy was going to pay more for a fuck, so he shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Of
course, because I only buy the best.”

Then
why do you wanna buy me?
Dante
thought. He put the glass on the bar and surveyed the wine cabinet, his eyes
instantly latching onto a bottle of whisky. “Hello, Jacky.” He opened it and
took a swig, then another and another before taking a breather. “Now this is
good shit,” he said between bursts, ignoring Jade’s shocked look.

“You’ll
get alcohol poisoning drinking that much,” Jade said.

Dante
removed the bottle from his mouth. “Nah, I’ve got an iron gut, it’s the Dali in
me.”

“What’s
a Dali?”

“Croatians
from the Dalmatian Coast.”

“I
thought you were Māori.”

“I’m
half Croatian, almost half Māori and the rest Romanian, but wuz born in
good ole
Aotearoa.
”

“That’s
the Māori name for New Zealand, isn’t it?”

“Yup,
Yankee Doodle, it is.”

“Don’t
call me that.”

“What?”

“Yankee
Doodle, it’s insulting.”

“No,
it’s not, you’re a Yank.”

“I’m
not a Yank, I’m Korean.”

“So,
why do ya sound like one?”

“Because
I’ve lived most of my life in Texas, which means I’m definitely not a Yank,
because if you knew even an iota of American history you would know that Texans
aren’t Yankees.”

“Why
the fuck would I know ’bout US history? I ain’t American, you doofus, and Kiwis
call
all
Americans yanks.”

“Well,
they shouldn’t.”

“Too
bad, how sad, kitchie-kitchie paddy wad,” Dante sniggered.