1THE NIGHT she met the Eagle, also known as Roger Kent, she was sitting in on Alan Marybella reporting to High Office on his first Henny Newton meeting.
4. NOODLES ON THE TABLE, RIFLEMEN AT THE DOOR.
One of those riflemen was Roger Kent.
A soldier ordered to hang in the doorway of Mulberry Field, watching the street, while VIPs, and wanna-be VIPS like Alan Marybella sucked rice wine.
Kent rimmed red under the crab-shaped lights in the window.
No crab, a long time since anything but noodle, but they kept the neon characters to light the way.
Kent was tall. His rifle leaned against the wall, he looked like a daydreamer hunched in the entry.
Alan, tipsy, these UDP stiffs down from up north to hear about Henny Newton, as Alan perceived advancement if Henny's project stayed on track, and more importantly, on-message, and again, as Alan was tipsy, he oversold his Henny meeting.
2Henny Penny. Filmmaker. The only man with State permission to come in the skillet and machen schöne bilder! A million Henny stories around: a mad depot of computers downtown; he's working for a terror outfit, and somehow, because of his Iraq movies, they sneaked him by Homeland Security. He had the reputation with the cops of being black magic.
She had heard the tapes of Alan meeting him. There's the chopper coming in, Marybella testing his mic. Walking. More walking. Marybella breathing heavy.
Alan: Welcome to the city!
Henny: This isn't a city.
Alan: No?
Henny: I smell some old world stink. It's the shortage of women. There haven't been this many fey sarges in one place since Thermopylae.
1Alan explained to the UDP suits mid-noodle, He wasn't talking to me, he was talking to his recorder. His mic and ours.
Alan: Mr. Newton, at least let's take the tour.
Henny: Show me where they bulldoze the garbage.
One out of High Office spoke up, This tape doesn't sound like a pro-New Dem vision."
Alan said, He's an artist, he was blabbing, but trust me, he's on-board. We took him to the dump, we showed him process. He picked a building down there! No Mid-town for this one, he said he wants to smell the garbage! What a Cat!
Alan slurped noodles.
She looked over, and Roger Kent was watching her.
The palm of her hand up under her throat, as hello.
He nodded, and looked back out at the street.
High Office cigars handed out. Home beer. Alan, with the Suits on a righteous drunk, promised a second dinner with Henny in attendance.
3Never happened. A year later, here they were, she and Alan, the same noodles in the same little room, Roger in New Mexico, and Henny Newton MIA.
Alan said, There's a move.
Alan rubbed her wrists.
He's downtown sitting on computers, and money. He keeps sending messages up the hill that he's nearly finished the picture, but no one has seen it, no one knows what it is! I talked to his courier last week. They'll let you meet with him.
Will they? How's that?
The couriers remember you from the office, the couriers -- you know the toads -- will you meet with them? I don't know why.
By myself?
It has to be that way.
For your ticket to Philly? I've never met him, Alan.
I can get you sent west.
Something new in Alan Marybella: unreadable.
West. And I mean all the way. You and Roger can guard each other on the beach. I'll have the both of you transferred. Maggie? I can do that. But I need Henny's movie.
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