From Dusk Till Dawn Fic: All Women Are Bad
All women are bad, all women are bad,
That's what he said, all women are bad,
Groovy wiggly tails, horns on their head,
All women are bad, all women are bad.
Save me the label of that perfume on the table,
So I can remember what made a wreck of me
The Cramps
SANTANICO
I'm not gonna drain you completely. You're gonna turn for me, you’ll be my slave. You'll live for me. You'll eat bugs because I order it. Because I don't think you're worthy
of human blood, you'll feed on the blood of stray dogs. You'll be my foot stool. And at my command, you'll lick the dog shit from my boot heel. Since you'll be my dog, your new name will be "Spot." Welcome to slavery.
SETH
No, thanks. I've already had a wife.
From Dusk Till Dawn
The day before their wedding Marissa gave Seth his first tattoo. She was a perfectionist, true crafts woman it took 9 hours and a liter of vodka then she held up a mirror so he could see the heart on his chest. A black lace valentine with veins and arteries and her name, Marissa, emblazoned across it.
“Beautiful,” he said. “Just like you.” She kissed him fiercely, running her hands over his chest strumming the black and red lines she had into his skin.
“You’re all mine now baby, signed sealed and delivered,” she purred like a kitty cat. He kissed her back, taking in mouthfuls of her tongue tentacles of her purple hair her bloodstained fingers with their long red nails but then he picked her up and lifted her off him, started to pull on his vest and jacket.
“Christ, it’s nearly one. I’ve gotta check on Richie,” he said.
“Fuck Seth, you’ve got to be kidding,” Marissa pouted. “Your goddamn brother is 31 years old. He doesn’t need you to put him to bed.”
“You’ve got to let me do this,” he pleaded kissing her again. “It’s the last time.” At this she smiled broadly.
“That’s right baby after tomorrow no more Richie. Esther’s got all the incriminating evidence last night after the rehearsal dinner and probably six times today. All we have to do is make the call and good-bye Richie.”
She’d said she wanted to get married to him, not to him and his brother. Seth hadn’t known what do. Leaving Richie to his own devices was not an option. When Richie was left to his own devices people died, buildings burned down, pets exploded, women were raped. It had been going on like that since Richie was 6 and Seth was 9.
“You’ve wasted most of your life babysitting that psychopathic pervert,” Marissa had told him. “How about I take care of Richie, for good.”
Her plan was ugly and obvious. Among her acquaintances was a nasty little 14 year old girl named Esther who for a couple of bags of heroin she would be only too happy to let Richie have his way with her. For a couple more bags and a full back tattoo of a sexy Virgin Mary she was not averse to pressing charges.
“Easy as pie,” she’d assured Seth. “We just let Richie be himself. Esther won’t even need to seduce him. We just put her in the same room as him and he’ll be all over her. Statutory rape is no big deal, but rest assured, when the cops grab your brother he’s gonna be so fucking crazy they’ll put him away for good.”
“Christ Marissa, this is exactly what I’ve spent the last 25 years trying to prevent,” Seth had groaned.
“Makes you wanna kick yourself, don’t it baby?”
Seth didn’t like the idea of setting Richie up but he had to do it if he wanted to keep Marissa and he had never wanted anything as much as he wanted her.
He let himself into his brother’s hotel room. Richie was already in bed, in his pajamas reading comic books. He looked up when Seth came in.
“Oh hi,” he said disappointed. “I was hoping it was Esther.”
“Sorry bro, just me.” Seth sat down beside him. “Move over. There that’s good. What are you reading?”
“X-men. I really hate what they’re doing with Psychlocke. She all like this Elektra ninja bitch now which is so stupid. I mean I guess it’s sort of cool, but it’s not Psychlocke.”
“She’s the telepath, right? Captain Britain’s sister?”
“Yeah. Except she’s Japanese now.”
“That is weird. Does she still have purple hair like Marissa?”
Richie grimaced. “She still has purple hair.”
“Hey, don’t be like that. Marissa’s amazing. Here look at this.” He unbuttoned his vest to show the tattoo. “She did this, she’s so incredible.”
“Wow.” Richie was impressed. “Did it hurt a lot?”
“No, it was good. Because it was her.” He took his brother’s hand, guided his fingers over the design.
“It’s nice I guess,” Richie said grudgingly. “It just reminds me of when we used to write our names on our underwear for camp.”
“Please Richie, don’t be like that.”
“I’m sorry Seth, I know she’s really pretty and sexy and all that but she’s rotten. She’s a shiny red apple that’s all brown inside.”
“Richie…”
“She’s a nasty scheming she-devil bitch I know it, she’s trying to turn you against me,” he was getting more excited, louder and more shrill. “Marissa is a dirty little junkie she’s going to suck you dry…”
“Like you haven’t,” Seth yelled at him. “I have a chance to do something with my life besides keeping you out of trouble. I finally have a chance to be happy. Why can’t you just shut your fucking mouth and be happy for me?” Richie looked like he was about to cry.
“I’m sorry Seth.”
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry here,” he took his brother in his arms, held him close. Richie snuggled up against him. “I love her but I love you first. Whatever happens don’t forget that, okay?”
“Okay.”
The wedding was in a foundry on the Clyborn corridor next to the Chicago River. All the industrial buildings opened out onto park like grounds adorned with twisted metal sculptures and strangely made manufacturing transport vehicles. People were working there that nigh, despite the wedding. Seth danced with Marissa outside. He was wearing black, her wedding dress was slinky red and she wore sequined devil horns in her purple Bettie Page hair. Showers of sparks from the wielding torches flew around them.
All through the wedding Seth had been keeping an eye on Richie. At first he told himself he was watching in case Richie suspected treachery but it quickly became pretty obvious that Richie had nothing on his mind but Esther who he made out with veraciously throughout the ceremony (he was the best man, she one of the bride’s attendants) and afterwards. The simple truth was Seth was having second thoughts about Marissa’s plan. He meant to tell her but he was hypnotized as she spun and spun in the sparks.
Then the police cars pulled up, officers pouring out of them into the building where the reception was being held. Seth started after them but Marissa snaked her arms around him holding him back.
“This is it baby,” she whispered in his ear.
“Are you insane?” He was angry, struggling against her. “You weren’t supposed to make the call we were back at the hotel. Those are crooks and junkies in there, your friends. This is going to turn into a motherfucking bloodbath.”
There were already shouts, sounds of a struggle coming from the building.
“I had to do it Sethie, you were going to pussy out on me. I could tell. Thought I’d better push up the timetable. There, see it’s okay.” The police had re-emerged leading a violently struggling handcuffed Richie.
“Seth! Seth!” Richie was hollering, borderline hysterical i.e. on the verge of total combustion. “Get these assholes off me Seth!” They were trying to get him into the car.
“Richie, don’t freak out.” He broke free from Marissa, ran to his brother. “You’ve got to be cool, can the do that Richie. I’ll come get you, I promise…”
“Seeeeeeeeth.” Richie disappeared into the squad care the sirens blared on red and blue lights dancing over Marissa.
“I’ll come get you, I promise.” She mimicked. “Not every bride can say this but you’d better be a liar cuz from here on out it’s just gonna be you and me.”
“He’s my brother Marissa, I can’t do this.”
“Baby it’s done. Hey, I know what’ll take your mind off it. You ever done smack?”
“Never, I couldn’t have drugs anywhere’s near Richie. Too dangerous. Fire and gasoline.”
“Well now that Richie’s gone why don’t you and I go to the bridal suite,” she stroked his forearm. “I’ll get a little penetrating action going and you can bleed on the sheets.”
After that it was all a daze of guns, high heels and needles. Holding up banks in Breakfast at Tiffany’s Halloween masks, lying at Marissa’s feet like her pet dog while she lined up jobs or divided spoils, shooting up endless fixes, Marissa tattooing a tribal snake a ribbon of black around and around his arm onto his neck.
He had no idea what had happened to Richie. He didn’t think of Richie. He didn’t think of anything but Marissa, being at her beck and call. One day blurred into the next till 18 months had passed. That was when he found the letters.
“Get me a valium baby,” she’d ordered. “They’re in my leopard skin hatbox.” He went into her red and purple walk-in closet like bluebeard’s wife and opened her tiger skin hatbox. There were all the letters from Richie and about Richie, from the court, from the doctors.
He sat down on the floor reading them till she came in. When she saw what he was doing she flew at him screaming, “Can’t you tell a leopard from a tiger you asshole. Tigers have stripes you stupid motherfucker, leopards have spots.” She ripped four red furrows in his face with her claws. He pushed her off and ran out with a handful of the letters.
He drove straight to Manteno to the State Psychiatric Hospital. He was still bleeding as the nurse lead him to Richie’s room. “We’ve had a lot of trouble with your bother,” she warned him. “His schizophrenic symptoms only respond to very high doses of medication. Right now we’re working with a combination of Thorzin, Haldol and Prolixin in addition to Lithium. Unfortunately there’s no way to tell if it’s working because he’s basically non-responsive.”
She let him into the room, stark white institutional walls, wire mesh on the windows, no furniture but the steel framed bed Richie was strapped to. His arms were bruised, skin the color of wax, his eyes were open but he wasn’t looking at anything.
“What have you fuckers been doing to him?” Seth demanded. “Why is he tied down like that? Get me the doctor, now.” The nurse fled, Seth went to Richie’s side. “Richie, baby brother, can you hear me? Are you there Richie?”
“Seth?” His voice was very weak, very far away. “Is that you Seth?”
“It’s me. Jesus Christ Richie, I put you here, I did this to you. I’m so sorry.” Richie raised his head, managing to fix his eyes on his brother.
“You look like shit,” he said. “You’ve gotten really skinny.”
“Yeah, I guess I have. All those drugs, what the fuck have I been doing?” He tried to embrace his brother but the restraints were in the way. “They’ve got you so I can’t even hold you. He started kissing Richie on the cheeks on the eyelids on the forehead. On the mouth chastely at first then deeply. Richie tried to turn his face away.
“Don’t Seth,” he protested. “Homosexual incest is weird.”
“Shhh, it’s okay.” He kissed him again, this time Richie kissed him back both of them trying desperately to feel the other, fucked up as they were on their different drugs to be together again. They kissed till a pair of sincerely confused security guards tore Seth from his brother. “I’ll be back Richie, this time I mean it,” he called as they escorted him out of the facility.
He didn’t go back home, back to Marissa’s condo in the remodeled church in Ukraine village. He checked into the seediest hotel he could find, the kind of place where they hardly notice if someone’s screaming for three days straight or dashing themselves against the walls. He spent the next two weeks kicking cold turkey. Then he went back to Marissa’s to get his gun.
She was waiting for him with it, aiming it coolly at his head when he walked through the door.
“Where’ve you been baby?” She asked.
“Don’t fuck with me Marissa,” he cautioned. “Just let me have my gun and I’ll be out of your life forever.”
“Doesn’t work that way Sethie. You don’t get to decide that Richie’s the one you love after all and you’re going to leave me. You don’t get to decide anything because I own you. You’re mine, every inch of you. I’m written on your heart, I’m wrapped around your arm, I’m clawed into your face, I’m flowing in your veins. You belong to me and I’m going to break you of this Richie thing if I have to fucking kill you.” She smiled a candy apple red lipped devil smile and when he started towards her she emptied the gun into him.
A pale man in a black suit black presented himself at the front desk of Manteno State Psychiatric Hospital and said he was there to check out Richard Gecko. The nurse on duty explained that Mr. Gecko was not a voluntary patient, was in fact there as a condition of the court and could not be check out. At this point, the man drew a gun and explained that whatever the niceties he would be leaving with Richard Gecko. The hand that held the weapon was dripping blood but none the less convincingly steady.
The nurse on duty escorted him to Richie’s room.
“Seth, you came back!” He was delighted as he could be in his doped up condition.
“Damn straight lil’ bro, I’m getting you out of here.” He took a straight razor out of his pocket and sliced through Richie’s restraints.
“What about Marissa?”
“Marissa and I aren’t together anymore. You were right about her. Rotten inside, nasty she-devil bitch, evil, junkie. Everything you said dead on. Can you walk?”
“Kind of.”
“Here, lean against me.”
“You’re all bloody Seth.”
“Marissa shot me. Six times,” he clutched Richie to him briefly, tightly before they started carrying each other out. “I will never leave you again Richie. From here on out it’s just gonna be you and me.”