Taste of Tenderloin Read online

  "...That's right, a total 5150 going fucking ballistic on lower Market...I'm at the corner of O'Farrell...Yeah, armed," I finished in an exhausted voice, letting the phone slip out of my trembling left hand. I slumped down on my butt, back against the phone stand, and waited, the Glock resting in my lap. Something crashed nearby behind me, covering me with a thick coating of dust.

  I didn't turn, just squeezed my eyes shut against the pain in my gut and took several long, deep breaths. I concentrated on the white circle, blotting out everything around me.

  Quiet now, real quiet.

  Shitstorm gone.

  Iceworm still.

  Afterword

  Seven or eight years ago, I'd completed maybe two of these Tenderloin tales. Steve Savile, an underrated Brit writer and one time publisher of the press, Imaginary Worlds, had read both stories. He suggested that I write more Tenderloin stories and call the collection: A Taste of Tenderloin. Shortly after that Gord Rollo, the editor for Unnatural Selection, a fine anthology that sank almost unread by very many readers also thought it was a pretty good idea. Over the past five years I have concentrated mostly on novellas or novels, but occasionally finishing a short story. Each year or so I'd write another Tenderloin story. Last year I realized I had stories about quite a few different 'Loin residents, and enough tales for a good collection. Jason Sizemore of Apex Books agreed. So you have in hand the results of an eight-year process.

  Thank you Steve for the idea, and Gord for the encouragement.

  A paragraph about each story might be informative and of reader interest:

  "Lost Patrol" is the most recently written tale but the events stretch back farthest in time to the early 60s. In my experience, when folks first come under hostile fire in the military they immediately become superstitious, reaching out for almost any good luck charm or soon developing beliefs in incredulous things. That's the case with the Lost Patrol, a legend from Vietnam. I think I still believe that platoon is still wandering around the jungle over there.

  "Magic Words" was written for the publication Dark Wisdom, a slick magazine with colored illustrations for each tale. It also was written as a kind of counterpoint to my story "Magic Numbers," which appeared in Borderlands 5, a Stoker anthology winner. Both tales begin and end in alleys. Maybe I'll write another story some day and call it "Magic Colors," or some such, which of course will have to also end in an alley. Hmm....

  "Tombstones in His Eyes" is full of well-researched drug lore that eventually has a place in several of my novels. Heroin is a big time problem in our country, no more so than in San Francisco, which authorities estimate has at least 12,500 addicts. A favorite charity of mine is the non-profit Walden House which does good work in San Francisco and throughout the California prison system in the area of drug rehab. The title of the story comes from street advice: How do I find a connection? Look for the guy with tombstones in his eyes.

  "Bushido" incorporates some of my interest and admiration for the old Samurai culture of Japan. The epigram comes from a favorite film of mine, The Last Samurai. The Tenderloin is packed with shy, withdrawn people like the Ugly Man in the story. Perhaps many of them requiring mental health outreach services. What has been done recently is to gate many of the 'Loin's alleys so the homeless can't erect their cardboard tents. I wonder if that does much for their mental problems?

  "Balance" is one of my favorite stories, and a 2006 Stoker finalist. Back in the 60s when disabled vets were beginning to return home from Vietnam, requiring medical services, I was aware of the deplorable condition of many VA hospitals, especially those in non-urban areas. As we have found out about even the highly visible Walter Reed Hospital, until recently conditions haven't changed much. I also couldn't resist the dramatic irony of an ex-Force Recon Marine running his own special operation in the 'Loin. His particular delusion actual came from a real case of a serial murderer who believed in something like the Law of Catastrophic Geo-Homeostatis (my title). He moves back and forth from Vacaville Correctional Medical Facility to San Quentin, depending on his current mental evaluation by the State.

  "The Apotheosis of Nathan McKee" first appeared in Gord Rollo's anthology, Unnatural Selection. Gord wanted me to do an invisible man and monster story. I said sure but gave it my own spin---no real monster. Recently I finished a novel, Not Fade Away which is based on this short story---actually an extension.

  "Bruised Soul," is another of my favorites. A boxer returning from a State Hospital to the 'Loin. He had no where else to go. As some folks know I did a little boxing in my youth. The ex-boxer in this story may be more typical than folks imagine. I think there are many people in the Tenderloin like this character whose feet seem to be stuck in hardening cement. They just can't get out. The sad thing is that many of them know it. For those who would like to know more about the non-spectacular side of boxing, Fat City is a very realistic book . Or wait for my Not Fade Away. I think I do a pretty good job of explaining the attraction to the sport.

  "5150" is probably a pretty realistic slice of an old cop's life in the City. Or anyone else who has just faded away in their job, hanging on until they can retire. I think the relationship between the cop and his girlfriend is both sad and touching. In this aspect of the story I suspect that what these two deal with isn't much different that what we all deal with in dysfunctional relationships.

  AUTHOR BIO

  Gene O'Neill lives in the Napa Valley with his wife, Kay, a primary grade teacher at St. Helena Elementary School. They have been married for 44 years; their grown children, Gavin and Kay Dee, live in Oakland and San Diego.

  Gene has two degrees, neither having anything to do with writing (or much of anything else). At one time or another he has been a Marine, carried mail, worked on seismic crews exploring for oil, been a Right-of-Way Agent (appraised, acquired, condemned, and managed real property to build the interstate highway system around Sacramento), been a contract specialist for AAFES (contracting to bring private services like barbers, cleaners, and beauty parlors onto military bases), and vice president of a manufacturing plant. Gene describes his employment background as "rich, varied, and colorful." His brother-in-law, the president of the above plant, describes Gene as more of a "disgruntled ne'er-do-well."

  Since surviving the Clarion Writers' Workshop in 1979, Gene has seen over 100 of his stories published, perhaps most notably: two in the Twilight Zone Magazine, six in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, two in Pulpsmith, four in Science Fiction Age, three in Cemetery Dance, and several in various anthologies. Many of his past stories have garnered Nebula and Stoker recommendations, including "Balance," a Stoker finalist in 2007.

  Gene writes full time now, recently putting the finishing touches on a novel, Not Fade Away. His novels Lost Tribe, Shadow of the Dark Angel and Deathflash are forthcoming in 2009/2010 from Bad Moon Books.

  ARTIST BIO

  In 1962 in the bucolic region of Southern Indiana, a peculiar child was born and given the name of Steven Charles Gilberts. Being the only Indiana bred person in a family of Wisconsin origin, this led to the unfortunate child being labeled "hoosier" by his extended family; a group collectively known as "badgers," "cheese heads," and perhaps most frightening of all, Norwegians.

  Steven and his lovely wife Becky now live in a spooky Queen Ann cottage within a small Dunwich-esk village of southern Indiana, near the now abandoned ammo plant of his youth. While hiding from the townsfolk, Steven concocts odd illustrations for the small press industry.

  Introduction Bio

  Gavin O'Neill has covered lots of weird action for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and published dark fiction and poetry in respected literary journals. He holds an MFA from the University of Oregon where he taught fiction writing. He is the unfortunate son of horror writer Gene O'Neill.

  END

  Table of Contents

  Taste of Tenderloin

  Introduction

  Midpoint

  p; Gene O'Neill, Taste of Tenderloin