Dirty Haiku Series – The Seven Continents

NORTH AMERICA

I met a cowgirl
At a Dallas hotel bar
She rode me all night

Matt & Mariko - The Story So Far

ON BREAK

Matt & Mariko are taking a few days off. Chapter 7 will be posted soon. Until then, catch up on Chapters 1-6.
http://bit.ly/bP2JR8

Dirty Haiku Series – The Seven Continents

EUROPE


Ah, those French women
My manhood stands as erect
As Eiffel's Tower

Matt & Mariko - A Serialized Novel - 4.25

CHAPTER 6B

Parked in front of Villa Diana again, Matt held the shiny metal box in the palm of his hand. It didn't bear any indication of what was inside – if anything. There were four metal buttons on the back. He tried pushing them a few times to see if a combination would open it, but they didn't even beep and the box stayed closed.

      He looked out the windshield for a few moments while beachgoers were heading home after their time on the sand or the bike path. Matt patted his pocket to make sure the tear gas pen was still there, got out of the car and walked up to CJ's place.

     CJ's door was open about six inches and Matt walked in. But he didn't see the guys in suits. Instead, two blond teen-agers in shorts and basketball shoes were sitting next to CJ, who looked worried. Two skateboards were propped up against the wall and another one was placed on the floor.  Each skateboard was elaborately decorated. One was painted with a surfing skeleton riding a towering wave. Another showed a beautiful naked woman riding a huge motorcyle. The third displayed a dagger, dripping with blood.

     "What's up?" Matt asked CJ, trying to get a read on the situation. Not even CJ would be stupid enough to screw around dealing coke or pills to some skateboard kids while those guys with the shoulder holsters and piles of cash were around.

     "Not much," CJ said. His tone revealed nothing.

     Then Matt sensed movement in the kitchen. A redheaded teen surfer closed the refrigerator door and turned to walk toward him. He was holding a rolled up slice of ham in his fingers and taking a bite.

      "Du-uude," Red said to Matt. "You got it?"

      "Got what?"

      "The little box, dude. You know, the little box."

Matt & Mariko - A Serialized Novel - 4.24

CHAPTER 6A

Rounding a corner on a quiet street in Beverly Hills on the way back to Yamura's house, Matt heard a siren and pulled over. A police car passed him, lights flashing.

     Matt pulled into the Yamura driveway just as two cops in their dark blue uniforms jumped out of the black and white and ran over to the a gray box on a pole at the curb. Matt watched as they stuck a card into the box, and the massive front doors of the house swung open automatically. The officers sprinted inside, guns raised.

     Aileen sat up straight, suddenly paying intense attention.

     "What's going on here?" she demanded.

     "I don't know," Matt said. They could hear yelling inside the house: the cops shouting orders to someone.

     "Where are we?" Aileen asked Matt.

     "My girlfriend lives here. It's my girlfriend's house."

     Aileen didn't respond.

     "Well, then you better go in and see what kind of problem your 'girlfriend' is having," Aileen said, as if she didn't believe Matt's answer.

     Matt looked at her, got out of the car and walked into the house.

     The butler stood on the black and white tiles of the entry hall with Mariko next to him, her arms crossed and her hands on her shoulders, protecting her heart. She was looking up the spiral staircase as a voice shouted: "This is your last warning. Drop the weapon."

Dirty Haiku Series - The Seven Continents

ANTARCTICA

After thirteen weeks
At this climate research lab
Penguins look sexy

Matt & Mariko - A Serialized Novel - 4.23

CHAPTER 5B

     They drove down Lincoln to Rose and parked in front of a faded green apartment building called Villa Diana. Aileen led the way up a flight of stairs at the back of the courtyard. The Mexicans and Filipinos who lived in the apartments left their doors open, and when Matt glanced inside one he saw a group of men inside huddled around a coffee table playing dominos. In the courtyard, a small boy rode a tricycle around the swimming pool. Aileen knocked on CJ's door. After a delay a little too long for an apartment that size, CJ, about 50 years old with a thin mustache and a black beret, opened the door six inches or so and peered out at them from behind his round wire-frame glasses.

    "Hey-hey ba-abe, whadya say? Not a good time. Come back in about an hour."

    But the door opened wider and a man in a suit was standing behind CJ, holding a gun to his neck, although Matt and Aileen couldn't see that.

    "This the one?" the gunman said, turning to another man in the apartment to ask about Aileen.

    "That's the one. Get her in here."

    "Come on in," the gunman said, then noticed Matt. "You too."

     In a moment, the five of them were standing in CJ's sparsely furnished living room, crowded between an old gray couch and a TV set, which was tuned to a nature show. A lizard was stalking its prey, a large white insect poised gracefully on a green plant. Snap, and the bug was in the reptile's mouth.

Matt & Mariko - A Serialized Novel - 4.22

CHAPTER 5A

 Matt walked out of Ashton's place and saw a woman in a black dress sitting on the hood of his car, painting her toenails red. It was Aileen.

     "What are you doing here?" he asked her.

     "I left my make-up case in your car. I need it."

     He opened his door and got in. She walked to the driver's side, hoping he would hand it to her.

     "Sorry," he said. "I left it at my girlfriend's."

     "Why'd you do that?"

     "Cause this is L.A. and you don't leave stuff sitting in your car unless you want somebody to break your window just to see if it's worth stealing."

     "Well, I need it," Aileen said as she walked around to the passenger side on her heels, her toes in the air so the nail polish could dry, while a stream of SUVs, Porsches and BMWs whooshed by them on Pacific Coast Highway.

     He reached over to open the door for her from the inside, popping up the handle. She got in.

     "What's in it?" he asked as he turned the key in the ignition.

Dirty Haiku Series - The Seven Continents

ASIA

My bullet train
Enters Yumiko's tunnel
Snow on Mount Fuji

Dirty Haiku Series - The Seven Continents

AFRICA

Deep in the jungle
My spear penetrates her bush
The proud lion roars

 

Haiku Weight Loss Tips No. 10

THE LIGHT LIFE

You all know the drill

Eat less and exercise more

You'll live life lightly

Matt & Mariko - The Story So Far

TAKING A BREAK


Matt & Mariko are taking a few days off. Chapter 5 will be posted soon. Until then, catch up on Chapters 1-4 - http://bit.ly/bP2JR8

Matt & Mariko - A Serialized Novel - 4.18

CHAPTER 4

After Mariko had said goodbye to her father, Matt used his cell to dial the number in Malibu. A woman answered and he told her he'd been asked to call. She asked his name and he told her.

     "Yes, Mr. Ware," she said. "Please come to 42300 Pacific Coast Highway. Can you be here by 2?" He said he could. Then he tried to form a sentence asking if he should bring anything. It was a way to ease into a conversation that could help him find out more about who wanted to meet him and why.

     But the woman hung up quickly and a dial tone was sounding in his ear before he had even finished his question.

     Matt steered the Mustang south on Sunset to the coast. The ocean glowed turquoise, lighter toward the horizon, almost white in the sun. As Pacific Coast Highway rose toward Malibu, the sweeping lawn at Pepperdine climbed up an embankment to Matt's right, a lush bright green carpet under the bright blue sky.

     The driveway leading to 42300 was lined with a dozen towering eucalyptus trees, swaying in the beachside breeze. Matt parked his Mustang on the highway, not wanting to leave a stain from an oil leak in front of the house. As he walked to the front door of the white facade it was opened by a blonde in a bikini.

     "Ron," she called behind her. "Matt's here."

Matt & Mariko - A Serialized Novel - 4.17

CHAPTER 3

     Matt was floating under water, face up, a stream of red trailing from his mouth.

     It was the long red ribbon Mariko liked to tie to her ankle when she swam so she could see it making pretty patterns in the blue pool behind her.

     In her white T-shirt with a black geometric design printed on it and a black bikini bottom, she dived into the water and pulled him to the steps. He was still playing dead.

     "Strange," she said. "That they would fire you like that. It doesn't make sense."

     "It makes perfect sense," he said. "I was supposed to be an electrician. It was supposed to be a made-for-cable picture with a real budget that could get me into the union. But it was a cheap porn flick and I was working with coke freaks and low-lifes."

Matt & Mariko - A Serialized Novel - 4.16

CHAPTER 2B

Aileen stood on the ridge, her black dress shining in the sun. She looked behind her and started running down the hill. A man in a flannel shirt, wool cap, jeans and work boots appeared on the spot she'd fled. He looked down the hill with a grin.

     The man ran after her, catching up by the bank of a small mountain stream. He grabbed her arm from behind. She whirled to face him and writhed in a futile effort to escape his grip.

     He tossed her onto the ground and ripped off her dress. She winced, but as he unbuckled his belt, her face lit up with anticipation. She smiled.

     He lay down on top of her and kissed her neck as she moaned in pleasure. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth.

     But suddenly she opened her eyes again, raised her eyebrows and sneered at him.

    "What was THAT?" she burst out.

    "Well, I tole ya beforehan' it wathn't gonna work," René said, his Southern accent distinguished by a lisp. "I wathn't gonna be able to go for a lon' time today. You coulda pretended."

     "Cut!" Rico yelled. "What the hell happened?"

     Aileen was furious.

    "Pretend?" she shouted at René. "This isn't pretend. This is REAL!"

    "Well I tole ya," René protested, pulling his pants back up.

    "OK," Rico said, sniffing. "Time is money, people. Let's do it again. From the top."

Matt & Mariko - A Serialized Novel - 4.15

CHAPTER 2a

The black Mustang zoomed down the two-lane road that cut through the high desert toward the mountains. The radio blasted a mid-tempo pop tune Matt hadn't heard before. He'd been driving for about 45 minutes and the sun was up, brightening the sky by the minute. Matt put his sunglasses on and he sensed Aileen stirring in the back seat.

     She climbed over to the front, the towel sliding off, and cuddled her naked body against him.

     "Ummmmm," she said. "Thanks for waking me up. You feel nice."

     "Good morning," he said blankly.

     "I'm hungry," she announced.

     "We'll stop at the first place on the road."

     The desert was soaring by them, a moonscape. But up ahead a small building sat off the highway. It was Benedetto's. Matt had passed it the day before and knew they served Italian coffee and pastries, so he pulled up to the drive-through.

Haiku Weight Loss Tips No. 9

BUSY

I skipped lunch today
Did you? I suggest that you
Skip lunch tomorrow

Matt & Mariko - A Serialized Novel - 4.14

CHAPTER 1

     The two ice cubes clickety-clacked across the gray sidewalk and then came to rest, barely visible under the soft glow of the street light. If they'd been dice, Matt would've wanted to see the numbers.

     He had a sticker showing a pair of dice on the rear windshield of his '65 Mustang, which he had just parked in front of the Riverside Arms apartments. He'd emptied the ice cubes from the Big Gulp he bought on the way over. If the ice cubes had been dice and he'd rolled snake eyes, maybe he would've gone back to his girlfriend Mariko's house and forgotten about this job.

     He was supposed to be the electrician on this shoot. Nobody had said anything about driving the actress to work in the morning.

     But Rico told him to pick up Aileen on the way in, so that's what he was doing. He pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on, then realized the sun hadn't come up yet and took them off again. A strong wind had blown from the east the night before, leaving big palm leaves here and there along the street.

Haiku Tax Tips No. 11

LAST MINUTE

Today, tomorrow
Then: Penalties, interest
Mail the money NOW

Watch This Space

I'll be posting Chapter 1 of Matt & Mariko, a serialized novel, on this blog soon. It's a love story. It's a high-tech thriller with a dash of insider trading. And an implacable gang of skate-punk hit-men. Who's pulling the strings? The sleazy Hollywood producer? The computer mogul? Or Mariko's father, a Japanese businessman in the middle of the corporate takeover? It's L.A. noir in the bright sunlight of Malibu, Beverly Hills, the High Desert and the Valley.

Haiku Weight Loss Tips No. 8

MANGO

Enjoy a mango
Have one for breakfast then fast
The rest of the day

Haiku Tax Tips No. 10

POST OFFICE


Check in envelope
No penalties or interest
Don't forget the stamp!

Vacation Haiku

THE ROAD

Adventure awaits
I will be computer-less
Check back in 10 days

Haiku Tax Tips No. 9

NIGHTMARE

The clock is ticking
Have you filled out all your forms?
Begin to anguish