My Name Is Venus Black(18)

When Tony waves him toward the bedroom and bathroom, Tinker pretends to inspect them. The bed is a full size with no headboard. He hopes the bedding is included, but he doesn’t want to ask in case it isn’t. The bathroom needs new grout and smells a little funny, but it’s probably bug spray or something, which Tinker chooses to take as a positive.

Back in the front room, he reaches for his wallet. “This is perfect,” he says. “I’ll take it.” Maybe if Tinker pulls out cash, the guy won’t bother to ask for references.

“Just you?” Tony asks, waving away the cash.

Tinker’s heart sinks. What if no kids are allowed? “It’s just me and my boy, sir,” he says, with what he hopes is obvious sadness. “He’s got some issues with his thinking, so he’s kind of immature. But he’s a sweet kid. I only got him recently, after his mom got a heroin habit and ran off. I don’t do any of that shit. So you don’t need to worry.”

Tony is looking out the front window down at Tinker’s car. “Is that your boy?”

“Yeah, that’s Leo,” says Tinker, trying to sound proud of his son.

“How old is Leo?”



Hearing the kid’s name come out of Tony’s mouth, he realizes his mistake. Shit. Goddamn. Holy Mother of Fuckups. Why didn’t Tinker come up with a fake name for Leo? He’s about to say he thinks Leo is around six or seven, when he catches his stupid self. Dads know how old their kids are! He takes a guess. “Leo’s six years old,” says Tinker. “But you’ll notice he seems a lot younger.”

“So where do you work, Phil?”

More with the questions. This Tony is scrutinizing him in a way that makes Tinker nervous. “Well, I’m just relocating from Redding,” says Tinker. “But I got plenty of money until I find something.”

Tinker notices that Tony is probably what the ladies think is good-looking. The girls all go for that pretty shit. Tinker knows his gut is kind of pudgy, so he sucks in his stomach while he’s thinking about it. “It’s a deal, then?”

When Tony doesn’t answer right away, Tinker regrets he never bothered to get a tat, because needles scare him. What an idiot! Having a great tattoo could’ve really helped him out here. “I’m planning to be one of your next customers,” Tinker offers, spur of the moment.

“Yeah?” says Tony. “I look forward to that.”

“So I got the apartment, right?” Once again, Tinker extends his small stack of cash. “First and last, fifty-dollar deposit. It’s all there.”

Tony takes the cash this time and Tinker sighs with relief.

“When would you two move in?” he asks.

“Right away, sir. Or whenever you want.” Tinker realizes he should probably have more stuff, like a truck or something. All he has is a huge duffel. He should have tried harder to look more…He fumbles for the word. It starts with an L.

“Okay, Phil,” says Tony. “Move in whenever you want.”

Tinker notices how weird it feels to be called Phil. He took the name from a best friend in high school. And brown is the color of his shoes.



“Dad!” a girl’s voice calls up the stairs. “Marco’s on the phone.”

“You’ll have to fill out an application later,” Tony tells him hurriedly. “Rent’s due by the fifth of each month. Sorry, I gotta go get this.”

Tinker smiles, hardly able to contain his relief. “No problem at all,” he says in his best no-big-deal voice. He doubts his brother, Ray, could have swung this deal so quickly.

Left alone in the apartment, Tinker realizes his bladder is about to burst. It thrills him to think he has his own bathroom to use. He’s almost done whizzing when the word he was looking for earlier finally comes to him. He should have tried harder to look legitimate. He shakes himself, flushes, and lets out a small hoot.





Leo watches the girl get up and leave. He sees the things that look like stars and the small ball. He wants the sparkling things and the red ball. He gets out of the car and quickly snatches them up.

Back in the car, he counts ten metal stars. The red ball is one. The man comes back to the car and tells Leo to come. “Where did you get those?” asks the man. Leo ignores him. He follows the man up some stairs and into another place that is not his house. His mother isn’t here. Venus isn’t here. He wants to cry for his mom, but the man yelled, No!

He sits on the floor by the window in a patch of sun. He folds his legs like he saw the girl do. He tosses the metal things. They glitter in the light. After a while, he picks up the red ball. He bounces it and catches it. He does this over and over.

Now the man’s voice is poking him again. “Did you steal those, Leo?” Leo blocks out the sound. Eventually the man quits talking and goes away. When Leo feels hungry, he looks at his yellow watch. The short line is on the eight. He has dinner on the six.

The man isn’t here. Leo stands up and walks over to the TV. The show is not Gilligan. Leo wants to touch the metal sticks on top of the TV. But he hears his dad yell, No, Leo. Don’t touch the TV!



He goes into the room with the bed. He sees a closet with a door, like at home. But it’s the wrong closet. He wants his purple blanket, but he knows it isn’t here. He curls up on the floor in the closet. He checks his watch again. Where is Venus? Where is his mother? He wants dinner.