The Story of Lex

BY  LINDEN  DARLING

Don't do heroine!

The  ground  a  watery  green, the sky misty grey. Shards of thought swirl like a wirlpool and plunge like a wave....I see feet, mine. Look up. A counter. An ugly chinese lady. Pardon? Just food, thanks. Look down, grey vinyl floor. Look behind: chair, table, window - nothing outside. Seated, waiting. SHOUT!......

 

What  a  wierd   dream! Strange but real?

Oh! My head! What was I on last night? Where am I?

Yawn.

Home.

Lex  was  never  an  early   riser. He  couldn't  get up  before one  in  the   afternoon  even  if  he  tried. His  brain  needed   at  least  nine  hours  to  re-orientate  and   regrow  enough  cells  to  pull  itself  and   his  body  out  of  unconsciousness. Especially  after   a  night  like  last  night. What was it? Bottle  of   tequila  and  a  fair  quantity  of  heroine. It   was  worth  it, though.

Thud! Thud!

AGONY! Headache!

"Oh, well. Nothing  a  coffee  couldn't   fix," he  said  aloud.

THUD! THUD!

I  wish  I  hadn't  said  that.

Lex  brought  himself  out  of  his   dirty  little  bed, stood  for  a  moment, shuffled   his feet  across  his  vomit  and  tobacco  stained   carpet, pulled  the  curtains, and  opened  a  window. The   heat  hit  him  like  a  road-train  at  two   hundred  kilometers  an  hour, the  smell  of  mown   grass  intoxicated  his  nose, and  the  suns  rays   of  pain  sizzled  the  backs  of  his  eyes. For  Lex  and  his  puny, drug-wrecked  brain  the  day   had  just  begun, but  for  the  world  and  the   rest  of  it's  inhabitants  it  was  well   under  way.

Having  washed  his  face  and   slicked  back  his  greasy, black  hair  in  his   bathroom, which  could  only  have  been  descirbed   as  looking  like  the  substance  it  was   invented  for, Lex  slipped  into  his  ragged  pair   of  jeans, chucked  on  his  leather  jacket, raced   across  the  living  room/kitchen/bedroom  of  his   flat  to grab  his  keys  and  some  money, and   left.

Lex  was  very  tough  and   streetwise. He  had  grown  up  in  one  of  the   roughest  parts  of  Sydney, he, along  with  most   of  his  friends, had  left  school  at  around   the  age  of  fifteen, he  had  been  in  an   infinite number of fights, in  school  and  on  the   street, and  had  many, many  'friends', which  was  very   handy  in  his  line  of  business. As  a   matter-of-fact, Lex  was  off  to  meet  one  of   his  'friends' this  fine, sunny  day, and  with  him   he  was  taking  around  $600.

His  journey  took  him  down   the  road  and  around  the  corner  to   another, equally  squalid, block  of  flats. Five  stories   up  Lex  was  inside  his  'friend's' apartment   buying  a  half  ounce  of  heroin.

Strolling  the  humid  streets  of   industrial  Sydney  with  drug  laiden  pockets, prowling   on  the  young  to  survive  was  Lex's  ideal   life. He  was  good  at  it, too. One  of  the   best. He  knew  just  what  to  say, whether  to   be  agressive  or  kind. It  was  this  unique   ability  which, on  this  day, transformed  his  feeble   $600  into  a  whopping  $2500.

With  this  sudden  cash  flow   Lex  decided  that  he  would  celebrate  tonight as   he  had  the  night  before, but  first  it  was   time  for  some  lunch.

Lex  found  himself  a  nice   little  chinese  milk-bar  on  the  corner  of   the  main  road  in  this  area  of  Sydney   and  a  narrow, nameless  raod  of  houses. He   opened  the  door  and  strolled  in, looking  at   his  feet. In  any  other  part  of  the  city   the  inhabitants  of  a  local  milk-bar  would   watch  Lex  with  stereotyping  eyes, but  here  he   was, just  a  local.

Lex  moved  toward  the  counter   and  the  ugly  chinese  lady  behind  it.

"Wehdtahkoafouw," said  the  lady."

Lex thought..."What?"

"What....do...you....want?" she  repeated.

"Oh, just  a  hamburger  with  the   lot."

Having  placed  his  order, Lex   moved  back  and  seated  himself  at  one  of   the  plastic  tables  next  to  the  window. Suddenly   his  heart  pulsated. Pumping  his  blood  like  a   piston. He  felt  weightless. The  milk  bar  was   moving  in  on  him. He  realised  that  this   was  just  like  his  dream  he  had  had   that  morining.

Everything  was  normal  again, except   he  still felt  déja-vu-ish. He  didn't  know  whether   to  be  scared  or  not. He  looked  out  the   window, he  remembered  it  being  in  the  dream, and  just  saw  the  filthy  side-walk  and  parked   cars.

"ONE  HAMBURGER!" shouted  the  asian   woman.

Lex  slowly  turned  in  his   chair  to  face  her, realised  what  she  had   said, and  sprung  to  his  feet. Grabbing  the   burger  he  headed  for  the  door, opening  it   to  find  red  and  blue  lights  and  a   man  in  uniform.

"Please, sir. If  you  would  kindly  come   down  to  the  station  for  some  questioning."

 

ENDE

And don't eat hamburgers!

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