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The Jungle
“I don’t want to go,” Don complained. He didn’t want to go to a strip bar. It wasn’t his thing. He felt awkward, embarrassed. He couldn’t care less what they did; it wasn’t like they did it for anything other than money.
“You’ll like it,” Luke admonished. “You’ll see. They do whatever you want.”
“Yeah, for money. If you were broke, they wouldn’t look at you.”
“So?”
“So, that makes it boring as hell. It’s typical, routine, boring. I don’t want someone to do something for me for my money.”
“Look, you need to get out more. Meet people.”
“Strippers?”
“Of course.”
“Um . . . Okay. What do they do? Go places with you? Take care of you?”
“If you got the money.”
“Exactly. I’m not paying for shit.”
“You will.” The same superior tone. Don was sick of his friend’s persistence. It was a never-ending talk with a thick-headed barbarian.
“Look, I’ll go with you for thirty minutes. I’m out of there afterward.”
“No, you won’t.”
Don sat back hard in the bucket seat. Why did I let him talk me into this? He knew the night would be a disaster.
They arrived in the crowded parking lot and went to the front door. Don was unsettled by the strange-looking bouncer. He hated bouncers as much as noisy bars. When he turned twenty-one, he went to a bar. Oddly enough, Luke had volunteered to take him then, as well.
That fateful night was the worst of his life. After two drunks picked a fight with him, he backed down. Even then, bouncers surrounded him. They beat him so badly he spent the next two days in the hospital. Any recourse? Nope. He was “drinking,” according to the people there. He had one beer and they pounded him. He had beer on his breath when the ambulance arrived. He didn’t receive any compensation for his agony from that. Two broken ribs, broken nose, busted mouth, all was “his fault.” Luke sure as shit didn’t bail him out of that one.
Don had avoided bars and clubs after that. They all contained the same people with different faces. Good old boys and girls looking for fun at the highlight of their lives. It was depressing.
Strip clubs held as much appeal as a dead skunk to him. The same drunks, the same women. Only they went to the highest bidder instead of who bought the best drinks. Equally dull and typical.
Don had woken up a week earlier to find his fiancée was gone. She’d left. Luke was the only person with any information on where she went or who she was with. He considered the fact that he probably helped her. He wouldn’t doubt it.
Luke was an oddity. He could be a good friend or a terrible asshole. Tonight, he chose to utilize his worst side. Don dreaded Luke getting drunk; he’d end up driving home. He would just leave Luke in the car. If he wanted to act like a son of a bitch, he’d get treated the same way.
Luke began harping about the strip bar as soon as Melinda left. That’s precisely what it was: harping. It wasn’t the suggestion of a friend concerned for another, it was a constant stream of pleading and threatening. An endless session of “you’re chicken” and “are you gay?” Don finally succumbed to the juvenile pushiness. If it would make him shut up, it was worth it.
They passed the mountainous bouncers and went through the double doors. As Don suspected, it was typical. Women strutted with men waving money in the air. The more money waved, the greater the attention from the women. The air was thick with cheap perfume and Don felt his stomach churn. Stale cigarette smoke and the stench of stale beer hung about the room.
The women were bland. Luke stood up and yelled at them, pulling half his paycheck from his wallet. Don grew infuriated as he said, “You’re going in half with me, aren’t you?”
“When hell freezes over.” Don sarcastically grinned. He was already sick. He couldn’t believe he said he would stay.
Men were bent over tables; some had passed out. Another wave of acrid odor came as Don noticed a man at a nearby table had thrown up. It is the club from hell, Don mused.
Three women came over to Luke. Two were rail thin and one was completely round. They all had stretch marks and two were flabby as they gyrated at Luke. Don grew embarrassed to sit at the same table as Luke gawked and grinned like an idiot.
He sighed. It was going to be a long time. The period would stretch out simply because he hated being there. A large-screen television played a rerun of a ball game. Don knew the outcome, but watched the players. It was better than acknowledging Luke’s ridiculous behavior.
“You want a dance?” He looked at the woman. She was glassy-eyed and sweaty.
“No thanks.”
Don felt repulsed by the place. It was nasty and creepy. He wondered, Are they on their way to becoming serial killers? Were they used-car salesmen with a god complex? Were they as desperate as they seemed to come to a place like The Jungle? How many marriages and relationships had perished due to this place? How many people were hurt by its existence?
Strip clubs were even creepier than bars. Not only did the feeling of desperation and despondency hang in the air, there was another factor. A feeling of self-loathing and degradation. A weird and dark feeling of mock fun, where you should just pretend you enjoyed yourself for the sake of politeness.
Don looked back around and Luke was gone. He caught a glimpse of him going back with the three women, into another room. He stood and followed, not knowing what was happening.
As he expected, a bouncer stopped him. He prepared for another fight, as with the other bouncers he’d encountered.
“Private dancing,” he barked.
“How long does it take?”
“Ah, twenty minutes, maybe longer.”
“My friend just went back. Could I tell him goodbye?”
“Make it quick.”
Don knew the bouncer watched Luke go behind the door. If he hadn’t, there would be no getting back there.
He opened the door and was almost pushed back. The next room was filled with further stench, things he didn’t want to know. He didn’t care what happened or why the room smelled like a decomposing corpse. He just wanted to let Luke know he was out of there.
“Luke?” Don called out.
“Back here,” the reply came muffled.
Don walked back and all three women stood around him. He was being tied to the chair he sat in.
“Wanna join?” He looked like he was back in the asshole attitude. Don felt much better about leaving him there.
“I’m leaving. I have to do a lot tonight.”
“Um . . . I bet. Cleaning out closets and dusting, huh?”
He deserved to be left.
Don noticed the rear dancer. Her face looked changed. It was strange, like the bouncers out front. Shadows went across their skin, although the lights didn’t move. He dismissed it as imagination and the eerie atmosphere of the club. He deserved to be left.
“And I’ll be richer tomorrow.” Don knew that would get him. Luke complained about always being broke, yet constantly pumped money into bars and clubs.
Don left Luke there. He went home and did exactly that. He cleaned out his closet, threw Melinda’s things in a box, and set it on the front porch. He was free of her and her demands. To make the night much better, he was free of Luke and his pathetic desires.
II
Don looked through the headlines the next morning. There was nothing of particular importance as he looked at the clock. It was almost eleven and he hadn’t heard a word from Luke. Thank God. He knew what had happened.
Luke would be at home with a hangover, bitching about how broke he was. It was always the same.
The day continued onward, no word from Luke. Melinda hadn’t called in a week. She hadn’t said she would be after her things, no communication at all. Somehow, she saw Luke at a gas station and said she would pick her stuff up eventually. She had a new interest.
Around five that evening, his telephone rang. He was stunned that Melinda had finally acknowledged him. The Princess of Abandonment called home, like a prodigal son.
“Hello, Don.” Her voice was ice cold.
Don knew it wasn’t a call of affection. He returned her tone with equal frigidity. “Yeah, what do you want?”
There was a pause and she barely spoke. “Where’s Luke?”
“How the hell should I know?” Don felt his temper rise. Luke had known more about it than he acted.
“He was supposed to come here last night.”
“Really? I see we share the same friend, at least backstabbing friend on my part.”
“That’s none of your business. Where is he?”
“My dear,” Don began. He was smug. He could hurt her just as much as she did him.
“He took me to The Jungle last night. Committed, isn’t he? Committed to himself, but that’s beside the point. I left him as he was getting a private dance from three strippers at once. We both know what that means, don’t we?”
“Bullshit,” she defended. “You’re just jealous. He’s better at everything in comparison to you. You’re boring and as dull as your life. He’s passionate about me.”
“He’s shitting you, sweetheart. Luke is out to satisfy no one other than himself. If you believe anything other than that, after knowing what kind of a friend he is to me, you are fooling yourself. Everyone knows how Luke is. We’ve known one another since childhood. Imagine that, a friend since childhood gets his closest friend’s woman in the sack. Isn’t that a best friend? Imagine the cold-hearted manipulation with that. You think if he screws me over like he does, you will be safe? Sorry.”
She didn’t speak. Don knew he hurt her with his words, but he didn’t feel as bad as he believed he would. She devastated him. His future was black when she left. He was convinced they would be married and have a family as soon as she was ready.
Silence went over the line. Don knew there was nothing more to say. He couldn’t believe that five years would result in silence and emptiness.
“I’ve packed your things,” he flatly spoke. He had no reason to further the conversation. “They are outside the door. I’ll find Luke for you . . .”
“Don’t hurt him.”
“Mind your own business.” Don used her own words against her.
“I mean it, please.”
Before the previous week, he would’ve forgotten any wrongdoing with her pleas. He would dismiss his own anger and forget all hurt to make her happy. But no more. He was sick of accepting apologies.
“Have a nice life. I’m sure Luke will make an unforgettable whatever he is to you.”
He hung up before she could answer. That was odd. Luke always went to his women. He would cancel a date for a cheap session at a strip club?
Don got in his car and drove by Luke’s apartment. His automobile wasn’t anywhere in the lot. He drove past the nearest bar. No truck there.
He finally went back to The Jungle. Luke’s car was still in the lot. It hadn’t moved since the previous night.
Don stepped out of his car and went inside. The bar was quiet, the people there prepared for another night.
“Have you seen the man who was in here with me?”
The man behind the bar shook his head. He wasn’t there? His car was in the lot.
“Do you remember me?”
“Sure, pal.” The barkeep smiled. His smile was a disturbing show of jagged-looking teeth. “Your friend went back for a lap dance. That’s the last I seen of him. He went back and waited on women.”
“What?” Don knew something was wrong. “He went back with three women. He wasn’t alone.”
“Sure, pal. Whatever you say.”
“Wait a minute, he was not alone.”
“Okay, I’ll agree. Just don’t get pissed at me.”
“Can I go back and take a look?”
“The dancing rooms? No one’s back there.”
“That’s fine.”
He almost sprinted back to the open door. The stench of the previous night had softened, although it lingered. He went to the nook where Luke had been. The chair was there, but not the man.
Don neared the seat and noticed red streaks along the sides. He reached down to touch them.
“We need to clean the paint off of those.”
He jumped. “Paint?”
“Yeah, we repainted the dressing rooms.”
Don didn’t speak with the man any further. From what was seen of the dressing rooms, all the walls were purple. The red on the chair was not suited for any room. Nor did it look like paint. It was smeared, as though someone had taken a rag and rubbed it on the seat. It didn’t look like haphazard drops of thick paint.
Don went back home and couldn’t understand what happened to his friend. His phone rang again.
“Mr. Mead?”
“Yes?”
“This is Central Hospital. Do you know a Luke Hartsock?”
“Yes, I was with him last night.”
“Could you come here? I think he needs to see you.”
Don felt a wave of sympathy come over him. After the previous night, he didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to see the fair-weather friend who’d been sleeping with his love. He wanted to abandon him, selfish bastard.
He went. He was better than that. He would see what he had to say, and that’s it.
He was escorted through the wards in an uneasy manner. The staff looked at him strangely when he mentioned Luke’s name. He was at the rear of the hospital, away from the public.
Don went through the doors with the doctor.
“Mr. Mead, please prepare for the worst. It’s a very strange situation and we aren’t sure how to take it.”
He went into the room and couldn’t speak. Luke was there, on the bed. He knew it was Luke. He had the dimple in the chin and his wild hair.
He was old.
His skin was so pale it was almost transparent. Dark blue and purple veins ran up and down his visible body.
“Don,” a whisper came from his parched lips.
He was a shell of the previous night. Don couldn’t confront him over Melinda or the previous night. What the hell had happened to him?
“What the hell happened?” Don rushed to his bedside. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Women.” Another dry chuckle came from his now raspy voice. He looked frail and thin, his body swallowed by the white bed.
“Stop it, man.” Don leaned over him and looked into his eyes. “What happened?”
A cough and a wheezy sigh. The old man was preparing to talk.
“The women did it. I don’t know how. I sat beneath them one minute and something happened. I just remember a bright light around me. They became light. I know it sounds crazy. I sure as hell don’t expect you to believe me. They disappeared and I passed out. I woke up here, in this shape.”
“Do you feel your own age?”
“Sort of. I’m hurting. I feel old.”
“What should I do?”
“Don’t go to the strip club. Ever. I don’t know what they are.”
“Surely, you don’t want to keep quiet about it. It’s their fault.”
“Yes, and no one will believe us. What? What the hell can I say? Vampires? Look at me, I’m old. They think I’m senile already. You expect me to encourage their pathetic pity further? No, thanks. I’ll just be old.”
He pushed the button to sit further up.
“Now, you. You are young and free. Don’t do that shit, man. Don’t go there. You don’t want to know what they’re like or about. Believe me. I know. You just go home and live your life the way you want. I won’t trouble you.”
“Melinda called for you.” Don blankly reminded Luke of the recent betrayal. “She wants to know where you are.”
“Send her here.” He sounded weak. “I’m so sorry to do you that way. I was going to do the same thing to her before last night. I know it sounds cruel, but I got to come clean. I can’t stand taking this with me. What if I die? I’m a codger, death looms. I can’t take this bullshit to the grave with me. You go out and look for someone. She was seeing other people, you know that now. I’m not the first, not by a long shot.”
Don couldn’t believe his ears. Luke was defeated. His attitude changed, his manner changed. He was now concerned for what he did, not only that he would get what he wanted.
Melinda married Luke a few months afterward. Don didn’t care. He wished them well and rarely spoke to them. He received an invitation, but didn’t attend the wedding. Some friendships were beyond repair, even if it was merely time that had brought you apart. He held no hostility; any resentment he felt was quickly recovered from.
They never spoke of The Jungle when they did see one another. Don began to notice the papers after that night. Within a year, ten men had fallen to the same mysterious illness which aged them. While they claimed they were investigating to get to the bottom of it, no progress was ever made. He noticed that there were many disappearances within the area of The Jungle.
After another year, the establishment closed. It reopened as Club Paradise after a few months. He went back, just to see things again.
As he figured, the same bouncer stood at the front door. He didn’t recognize Don or make any trouble as he entered. Don went to the bar and the same barkeep made drinks.
He winked. “Been a while.”
“I know,” Don said.
They recalled him.
Don looked around the bar. He downed a shot of whiskey and noticed the same women. Nothing had changed except for the name.
He left as soon as he drank. They knew he wouldn’t make trouble; he hadn’t in a year. They had nothing to fear from him.
Perhaps they were vampires, as Luke had hinted. But the change in Luke had been remarkable. If anything, they only took the bad part of him. The selfish and apathetic side of him that Don hated.
Don knew he wouldn’t make trouble for them. There was no need. For they had done Luke a tremendous favor when they removed his selfish and arrogant apathy. He became responsible, mature. His attitude was considerate of others. While a few did die from the aging process, Don wondered if they had any good side to bring out. Perhaps they were so far gone into their self-centered worlds that there was no positive quality to bring out.
He wouldn’t make trouble.
They could eat the negativity and he would let them be.
They seemed to be doing favors for many . . .
