Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom | Page 8

the turnstiles, breathing the warm, moist air. Lil plumped her head
against my shoulder and gave me a butterfly kiss under my jaw.
"Her name was McGill," I sang, gently.
"But she called herself Lil," she sang, warm breath on my collarbones.
"And everyone knew her as Nancy," I sang.
I'd been startled to know that she knew the Beatles. They'd been old news in my youth,
after all. But her parents had given her a thorough -- if eclectic -- education.
"Want to do a walk-through?" she asked. It was one of her favorite duties, exploring
every inch of the rides in her care with the lights on, after the horde of tourists had gone.
We both liked to see the underpinnings of the magic. Maybe that was why I kept picking
at the relationship.

"I'm a little pooped. Let's sit a while longer, if you don't mind."
She heaved a dramatic sigh. "Oh, all right. Old man." She reached up and gently tweaked
my nipple, and I gave a satisfying little jump. I think the age difference bothered her, too,
though she teased me for letting it get to me.
"I think I'll be able to manage a totter through the Haunted Mansion, if you just give me a
moment to rest my bursitis." I felt her smile against my shirt. She loved the Mansion;
loved to turn on the ballroom ghosts and dance their waltz with them on the dusty floor,
loved to try and stare down the marble busts in the library that followed your gaze as you
passed.
I liked it too, but I really liked just sitting there with her, watching the water and the trees.
I was just getting ready to go when I heard a soft ping inside my cochlea. "Damn," I said.
"I've got a call."
"Tell them you're busy," she said.
"I will," I said, and answered the call subvocally. "Julius here."
"Hi, Julius. It's Dan. You got a minute?"
I knew a thousand Dans, but I recognized the voice immediately, though it'd been ten
years since we last got drunk at the Gazoo together. I muted the subvocal and said, "Lil,
I've got to take this. Do you mind?"
"Oh, no, not at all," she sarcased at me. She sat up and pulled out her crack pipe and lit
up.
"Dan," I subvocalized, "long time no speak."
"Yeah, buddy, it sure has been," he said, and his voice cracked on a sob.
I turned and gave Lil such a look, she dropped her pipe. "How can I help?" she said,
softly but swiftly. I waved her off and switched the phone to full-vocal mode. My voice
sounded unnaturally loud in the cricket-punctuated calm.
"Where you at, Dan?" I asked.
"Down here, in Orlando. I'm stuck out on Pleasure Island."
"All right," I said. "Meet me at, uh, the Adventurer's Club, upstairs on the couch by the
door. I'll be there in --" I shot a look at Lil, who knew the castmember-only roads better
than I. She flashed ten fingers at me. "Ten minutes."
"Okay," he said. "Sorry." He had his voice back under control. I switched off.
"What's up?" Lil asked.
"I'm not sure. An old friend is in town. He sounds like he's got a problem."
Lil pointed a finger at me and made a trigger-squeezing gesture. "There," she said. "I've
just dumped the best route to Pleasure Island to your public directory. Keep me in the
loop, okay?"
I set off for the utilidoor entrance near the Hall of Presidents and booted down the stairs
to the hum of the underground tunnel-system. I took the slidewalk to cast parking and
zipped my little cart out to Pleasure Island.
#
I found Dan sitting on the L-shaped couch underneath rows of faked-up trophy shots with
humorous captions. Downstairs, castmembers were working the animatronic masks and
idols, chattering with the guests.
Dan was apparent fifty plus, a little paunchy and stubbled. He had raccoon-mask bags
under his eyes and he slumped listlessly. As I approached, I pinged his Whuffie and was
startled to see that it had dropped to nearly zero.

"Jesus," I said, as I sat down next to him. "You look like hell, Dan."
He nodded. "Appearances can be deceptive," he said. "But in this case, they're bang-on."
"You want to talk about it?" I asked.
"Somewhere else, huh? I hear they ring in the New Year every night at midnight; I think
that'd be a little too much for me right now."
I led him out to my cart and cruised back to the place I shared with Lil, out in Kissimmee.
He smoked eight cigarettes on the twenty minute ride, hammering one after another into
his mouth, filling my runabout with stinging clouds. I kept glancing