Cicero's Dead Read Free Page A

smoke. 20 seconds
crawled by. “I almost feel guilty having told you that. Almost. Anyway, I like
Richie. He’s a good kid. I was flattered when he hit on me, except I don’t
swing that way, but he was cool. When I asked him why, he couldn’t answer. Made
me think that what he really wanted was a father who gave a damn. I felt bad
for him. Then a few weeks later, Cicero gets splattered into road pizza. Small
wonder the boy’s a mess.”
    “That’s good character analysis.”
    “Thanks.”
    “So how’s the career going?”
    Ron sighed. “Terrible. You see, these days it
gets down to Nick Nolte and Johnny Depp.   Do they want the moody sensitive yet swashbuckling type, or do they want
the masculine, hard-bitten Nolte type? I’m more Nolte than Depp and it’s just
not happening for me right now.”
    “You’re in the wrong era. Go back 50 years.
Who did you have then? Glenn Ford, Spencer Tracy. Kirk Douglas. Hell, John
Wayne, Robert Mitchum. Even William Holden before he got fat. And of course
Bogie. Those guys were men. They weren’t pretty boys. They didn’t need to be.”
    “You’re a genius. I think I’ll kill myself.”
    “Don’t be in any rush. Not until you help me
find Richard.”
    “He can be very elusive. My guess, he’s in
trouble.”
    “I get the impression Jade agrees with you.”
    “She doesn’t know the half of it.”
    “Is that right?”
    “Yeah, and I’ll tell you why and then I’ve got
to get ready for work.”
    “I’m all ears.”
    “I met Richie and Jade about a year ago, in a
club on Melrose. Later that night, we drove out to Malibu and partied on
somebody’s private beach. I had some bud with me, Jade was drinking wine and he
was wired on meth. He’d just discovered it and was completely amped. I mean,
dude, he couldn’t shut up. I learned a lot about the Lamont family that night.
Probably too much. After she got hammered, Jade started talking too. This was
almost a year before their parents died. I saw her off and on for about 11
months, or rather, she saw me when she felt like it.   The last time was about a month after
Dominique walked out on Cicero, which was maybe three weeks before he met up
with an unforgiving bumper. Or at least that’s the way the story goes.”
    “And you don’t believe it?”
    “I don’t know what to believe. Jade did give
me the impression that the separation was only temporary. Just a little
vacation to sort things out. Anyway, Cicero had no time for his wife. He had
his business enterprises and, according to Richie, his Vietnamese massage girls
in Westminster. He didn’t care if mamma had a fling or two. Boy, Jade hated
those call girls. She could be very high-handed considering her own laissez-faire morals.”
    He paused for breath and absently poked at the
weed in its container. I waited patiently for him to continue as I considered
this new info.
    “In case you haven’t figured it out, Jade has
expensive taste. And she can afford it. That’s what I learned that night in
Malibu, and I’m not sure either of them remembers telling me. I learned
something else, though. Something peculiar. It was about four in the morning. I
don’t know if you know what happens when you’re up on crystal meth and it
starts wearing off, but you get quiet and depressed. Your body’s all fucked up
and you wanna kill yourself. Anyway, we’re all huddled together ‘cause it’s
cold. Jade has her arm around me and I’m kissing her neck, when Richie gives me
a funny look, comes around on the other side of her and puts his head on her
chest. Next thing I know, the damned guy is licking her butterflies. I’m
weirded out but hell, you know, it’s Hollyweird. Jade and I barely know each
other and her brother is licking her butterflies. I mean, shit, man.”
    “Yeah, that’s kind’a freaky.”
    He looked at his cell phone. “Sorry, gotta hit
the shower and split for work.”
    “No worries.”
    “Wish I was rich, but I don’t wish I