PULP & POPCORN

Page 18
When Vernon moved, it was all at once, an explosion of calculated action that did
not even remotely begin to work. He lashed out to knock Felix’s hand away so he could
lunge forward and try to overpower him. Felix fired once, and he managed to hit the exact
spot on the bed where the traction was controlled, yanking Vernon backwards and lifting
him into an awkward position.
As the nurse came running back in, summoned by the sound of the gunshot, Miller
seemed more confused than furious. “I don’t get it. You were out cold when they brought
you in here. How did you end up in the bed next to me?”
Felix couldn’t resist a smile as he stood up out of his bed. “Pure luck.”
* * *
Standing on Hollywood Boulevard just a few hours later, basking in the warmth of
the California sun, eyes closed, Felix couldn’t have been any happier. His suit and his hat
may have been rumpled, but the suit was hand-tailored, and the watch wasn’t cheap. Felix
didn’t mind. He felt like a million bucks as he jumped down from the Yellow Car as he
reached his stop. His belly was full, he had a slight buzz on, and his morning meeting had
ended with a new client signing on. Hollywood had been converted to Santa Claus Lane for
the holiday season, and even with the holiday a few weeks away, the season was in full swing.
This was as close to winter as Los Angeles ever got.
Felix stopped by a newsstand at the corner of Hollywood and Cahuenga, and before
he could pick anything up, Sammy appeared from the back with the afternoon’s papers in
his hands. “Felix! You hear what Zanuck’s doing?” He gestured at the headlines on Daily
Variety. “He’s letting that Fleming kid make some science-fiction thing. Putting together a
dream cast for it, too. Bogart and Huston, together again.”
Felix picked up the new issue of Astounding Science Fiction. “Ha. Bogie in space.”
“That one’s a pip. Vogt’s got another one of them Null-A stories.”
“Vogt’s a commie.”
“Fine. The new Weird Tales is pretty good, too.”
“Nah. I don’t like all that magic and monsters nonsense.” He held up the ASF cover.
“This is based in science. Fact. Something real. That’s what I like.”