Глава 3 · Карта сцен

Hector shows up first in Zoyd's life — under a ragged leather hat with a wide brim, front-door smile tightening. Producing his federal ID from an inside pocket, he affords a leisurely view of a service .38 in an armpit rig. Mentions the Taco Bell parking lot in Hermosa, 'much celebrated in the folklore of my people'.

Scott Oof wanders in from the kitchen, leans on the doorjamb playing with his hair, answers '¿Qué? No hablo inglés' and splits out the back. Van Meter runs in frowning — then hears the word 'drugs' and screams 'Thank God! it's been weeks, we thought we'd never score again!' while Zoyd kicks him frantically. Hector, amused, snaps a crisp five-dollar bill 'like a magician' — half a lid of Mexican commercial.

Zoyd after much lost sleep decides to show up; orders the Health Food Enchilada. What the federal computers did not tell Hector: the alleys today are scheduled for junior regional semifinals — kids from all over in the background. Zoyd stabs and restabs his enchiladas with a fork while Hector waits him out; then comes the pitch: 'you ever heard of defunding? ... on the Tube, all these stories about Reaganomics'.

Hector asks the question that hangs: 'Who was saved?' — then the roll call: one OD'd on the line at Tommy's waiting for a burger, one got into words in a parking lot with the wrong gentleman, one took a tumble in a faraway land. 'You, Hector.' — 'Ay se va, go on, break your old compinche's heart' — grinning, a stretched and terrible grin.

A waitress approaches with the check; both men — Hector by reflex, Zoyd startled into it — spring toward her and COLLIDE; the girl, alarmed. 'Check's in the mayo,' Zoyd has time to note, when out past the street door comes a convergence of sirens, purposeful shouting, heavy feet. '¡Madre de Dios!' — an oddly panicked, high-pitched Hector is up and running for the kitchen, leaving a twenty on the table.

Dude in a white lab coat over Pendleton shirt and jeans strolls in between the two doorpeople, heading for Zoyd, beaming insincerely. Hands a card: Dr. Dennis Deeply, M.S.W., Ph.D., National Endowment for Video Education and Rehabilitation — 'we study and treat Tubal abuse and other video-related disorders'. Hector: 'One of the most intractable cases any of us has seen. He's already in the literature. Known in our field as the Brady phenomenon.' And: Hector, some sort of escaped lunatic, was still at large.