Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Beached Elephant
DIMITRI MUGIANIS
MartyMatzwasahuge,fatdude.Helivedin319foralittlewhile—andhewasan
incrediblepoet.Normally,Martywasoneofthebrokestmotherfuckersyouwould
ever meet. But at one point, his wife inherited some money from her family, so
now Marty had money. This turned him into Santa Claus for junkies!
When he got money, he would travel to Thailand. He lived with the Hill Tribe
people, smoking opium all day long. He would always tell us stories about this.
ThenhewouldcomebacktoNewYorkfromThailandfortheprofootballseason!
But he always brought an opium habit back with him, too. This meant that I was
the one who had to start copping heroin for him.
Because I was copping for him, we became friends. Marty was an amazing
guy, a great writer, and a big baby. It was great for me, a guy in his twenties, be-
cause these older guys were taking me in and saying, “Yeah, we're all together on
this.”
At the time, I was struggling to get a job. I'd been selling weed, but finally I
got a job as a bike messenger. Back before cell phones, bike messengers carried
beepers around that would instruct us when to phone the office.
One day I was riding my bike on the job and I got a beep on my pager. I went
over to some payphone and called the office, and the dispatcher told me in this
thick Brooklyn accent, “Your uncle Marty is very sick. He wants you to come
home.” So I raced back to the Chelsea and rushed up there to his room. Herbert
Hunckeansweredthedoor,allnervousandirritated. Marty'swifeBarbarawasin-
side the room.
Hunckewaspacingaroundtheroom,disgusted,swinginghisarms.Hepointed
his finger inside Marty's room. “Go on in there! He's in there like a beached ele-
phant!”
Now Marty weighed over three hundred pounds. He was lying—completely
naked—on his chaise longue and moaning like a whale. “OoooooaaaaAH!”
Marty's arms were like a web. I've never seen tracks like that—he had shot every
place in his arms, and because he was so fat, he had to snort his heroin.
He gave me three hundred dollars. “Get me straight, kid. Keep a hundred for
yourself.” Iranoutandpurchased three bundles ofheroin. When Ibroughtit back
to him, Marty snorted up two hundred dollars of the heroin, right then and there.
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