"Harlan Ellison - Spider Kiss" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ellison Harlan)

that, all arguments about Vallee and Sinatra and Valentino be damned. It was
sick, and four years before, he had been steering for a poker game. Just
that long ago he had been a hungry kid with too much moxie, too much hair,
and no place to go. Four years. Shelly Morgenstern corrected himself. That
wasn’t so, no place to go. The kid would have made it somehow; he had
Spider Kiss by Harlan Ellison 15 been too hungry, too anxious, too much
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on the grab to ever settle for a fink’s life in Louisville. If it hadn’t been
Colonel Jack Freeport and Shelly Morgenstern, he would have done it another
way. Yet it was phenomenal the way he had clawed his way up; even Jack
Freeport.a tooth and nail career money-maker.had been amazed at the drive and
verve with which the kid had pushed himself in so short a time. Amazed, a
little frightened, but altogether impressed. Four years. Shelly Morgenstern
stared at the advancing face of Stag Preston as it came offstage. One of the
.gopher. flunkies waited with outstretched arm, presenting the ceremonial
towel. The towel into which Stag Preston would wipe all that semi-holy Stag
Preston sweat ... which could easily be sold for twenty dollars to any of the
screeching, drunk-withadoration infants now jamming into the alley. The god
sweated, yeah, it was true. But all the better. Don’t put him completely out
of reach. Put him just a handhold away, with the characteristic humbleness of
all the new teen-aged idols. A god, yet a man. Stag Preston stopped directly
in front of Shelly Morgenstern, his face buried in the towel. When he pulled
it away the dark, penetrating eyes stared directly into the shorter man’s
face. It was a good face, Stag Preston’s face, though under the eyes and in
the cruel set of mouth, the Stygian darknesses under the cheeks, there was
the hint of something too mature, too desperate. Now, as Stag shoved the
towel under his shirt, wiping his moist armpit, the change would take place.
Watch the Spider Kiss by Harlan Ellison 16 remarkable, magical
transformation, folks, Shelly thought. Watch as Sheldon Morgenstern, whose
father was a cantor and whose mother had wanted her son to become a CPA,
subtly undergoes a sea-change from publicity man for the great Stag Preston
to pimp for the great, horny Stag Preston. Watch closely, folks, the
degradation is faster than the eye. .Shelly.... Here it comes. .See one,
Stag?. The smile. The Motion Picture/Look/Life/Teen Magazinefamous smile
guaranteed to contain 100% unadulterated sex appeal combined with bullshit.
The smile, and, .A cutie, Shel. A little redhead down front with a ponytail.
She’s got a sign says Stag Preston We Love You. Can’t miss her. She’ll be out
in the alley. G’wan and round her up for me, how’s about, Shel.. There was
no question in it; it was an order, despite the lisping, gentle Kentucky
voice. Sure, Stag. .Sure, Stag.. Stag Preston made his way to the dressing
room, and Sheldon Morgenstern made his way to the stage door. He paused to
dump the old cigarette, light a fresh one, and open the huge metal door.
There they were. Growling, clamoring, straining for a sight of God on Earth.
He watched them with the pitying scrutiny of a compassionate butcher, and
found the little redhead. Stag had a good eye, there was no taking that away
from him. She was too large in the chest for a kid her age, and the hair was
a bit too brassy, but that was invariably the way Stag liked them. Spider