Kill the Lights Chapter 17.1

Milo, a freelance paparazzi since last year, had worked for the gossip magazine publishers for a total of 5 years and 8 months; 3 years at the weekly magazine ‘Who Knows’, 2 years in ‘The inside’ and a year and 8 months in ‘Hollywood Premium’. He was very good at this.

More days were spent in hiding in front of the celebrities’ houses than going back home. And he watched more celebrity car license plates than his own daughter’s face. It was he, who first released the pop star, Amy Masterson’s, affair and pregnancy and he, who almost ended up in jail for sneaking around Milovan’s property.

He knew very well where he needed to hide such that the celebrities will let their guards down; which angle would look unethical and provocative, how many days he needed to wait before a celebrity would cause a scandal, and what kind of rumors he needed to make for it all to work.

And Haley Lusk gave him so much news that he basically paid off Milo’s livelihood. He provided new articles every day, as if his d.i.c.k would fall off if he didn’t cause any trouble. Throwing up in front of a church because of drunkenness, sleeping on a bench, getting high on drugs, urinating in public, a hit-and-run, coming out of the court, and more– Milo had taken several pictures of him. Sometimes he got so sick of writing these articles that he even ignored some.

To Milo, Haley’s house was familiar like his own bathroom. He knew what was where, how to stage something for the camera, the warmest place to hide at night, and which restaurants tasted good nearby.

When everyone else said that they had nothing more to write about Haley, Milo would regularly visit his house, once every few days, and take pictures of him. Thanks to that, he was the first person to publish about Haley’s suicide attempt.

Milo stared at Haley’s house in the rain. After word got out that Haley and Noah had disembarked from the yacht that evening, the area surrounding Haley’s house began to turn into a street market. Everybody felt uncomfortable reporting about Noah Raycarlton, so they decided to take the easy way out by reporting about Haley. It seemed like all the paparazzi in the United States were gathered there and Milo, who had done this for several years, knew half of the faces but didn’t know the other half.

Half past 11. Haley, after getting out of the yacht, hasn’t come back to his house yet. Noah returned to his house even before the word got out about their return from the yacht, but Haley, who was an easy prey to the paparazzi, had gone missing. If he went to a hotel or a friend’s house, the word would probably have spread by now, but it wasn’t like that either.

Maybe I should start going around the clubs. While Milo was thinking that, suddenly he smelled something tasty next to him.

Underneath a raining streetlight, a man held his umbrella on his shoulder and was eating something in an uncomfortable position.

‘Seven Star Burger’

“……”

Milo swallowed his saliva. ‘Seven Star Burger’, he noticed the hamburger shop’s paper bag; one of the biggest reasons why Milo didn’t care about staking out in front of Haley’s house.

Sandwiched between the soft burger buns was a thick, juicy patty with a crispy outside, tasty cheese, not too much or too little fresh vegetables, and Seven Star Burger’s special chili sauce. It seemed simple but was close to a perfect combination. There was no mistaking that it was a taste worthy of all the seven stars.

The man, whose face was deeply hidden by a cap, took a big bite of the thick burger and chewed on it. And another bite–

Milo somehow felt pitiful, staring at him and salivating. Seven Star Burgers always closed at 7 pm, so even if he ran right now, it will be too late. While he was swallowing his saliva and watching pitifully, the man noticed his stare and glanced at Milo.

‘Oh, no. I’m staring at someone who’s eating’. Milo blamed himself for his discourteous behavior and moved his eyes away, at the same moment when someone called him, “Hey”.

“I’ve one more hamburger left, ya want it?”

The man asked showing the paper bag he was holding in the other hand. Milo replied, “Really?” and he slightly shook the umbrella he was holding.

“Instead, here, hold this for a sec. My neck is so uncomfortable that I can’t even taste the flavor.”

It really looked like the big umbrella was about to fall on his head. Milo said, “That’s good for me,” and held his umbrella. The man sighed like he felt lighter and handed the warm paper bag to him. Milo hugged the bag with an ecstatic face, and the man started to eat his hamburger again.

“I’m Milo. I’m a freelancer. Where are you from?”

“I’m…,” he started and then chewed on the burger and swallowed before he said–

“I’m Donny Evelyn. I’m from a small newspaper ‘Hot Issue Plus….’ Ah, f.u.c.k, our editor is a b.i.t.c.h who would even lick Raynoah’s a.s.s.”

The man, Donny, sucked the sauce on his fingers and said so. Milo looked at him sucking his fingers and wiping them on his shirt underneath his raincoat with dislike and asked, “Hot Issue Plus? Where is that?”

“You don’t know? –No, you obviously don’t. It’s a s.h.i.tty place that’s going to close down soon. It probably can’t even afford to be used as a hobo’s blanket because it smells.”

“You don’t have to go that far….”

He was guy with a rough mouth. His face, slightly showing from underneath his cap and the gla.s.ses looked normal, but he wore an upset expression while eating the hamburger and continued with his dissatisfaction and complaints. Milo felt like he’d seen his slightly visible chin somewhere…. A guy using Kansas accent with an upset expression, he couldn’t remember where he’d seen him at all.

“I’m really sick of it, ya know? Clara, that b.i.t.c.h doesn’t know the limit. She’s a b.i.t.c.h that only has big b.o.o.bs.”

Donny crinkled the hamburger wrapper with his oily fingers and threw it on the ground. He then spit on the ground. Ugh, Milo slightly moved away from him, and the man looked at Milo.

“Why are you backing away? I’m getting wet.”

“I did finish eating”. He took away the umbrella from Milo’s hand. Milo opened his umbrella again and said, “Hold mine, too.”

“Wait. But when is this troublemaker coming back? I’ve already been waiting here for 4 hours.”

He asked, checking the time with his phone, and Milo shrugged his shoulders saying, “I haven’t seen my daughter in a week.” Rather than Haley, who might not come in tonight, he was more worried about his hamburger getting cold and soggy. But instead of holding his umbrella, Donny felt through his pocket and said.

“Perhaps, he’s already inside?”

“How can he possibly get in? Do you realize what these people are guarding here?’

Milo knew Haley’s house’s back door or small opening better than Haley himself. The Haley that Milo knew was probably going around the clubs or looking for a place to stay among the men he knew.

“Oh, don’t ya think somethin' moved in there?”

“I can’t see anything. What are you talking about?”

Milo got slightly annoyed, and just like how Donny had been doing, he put the umbrella between his neck and shoulder and took out the hamburger first. Donny mumbled nonsense like, “I’m tellin' ya, somethin' moved,” and approached the house’s front gate.

“What kind of useless act is this?”

Even if, but there was no way that Haley was in there. Just because he knocked and rang the bell, doesn’t mean Haley would appear and say, “Welcome.”

Guess he really was dying, waiting in front of the door. Milo didn’t care whether Donny was doing something stupid or not. He just took a bite of the warm hamburger. Seven Star Burger’s delicious, juicy patty and the sweet and hot sauce soft spread in his mouth.

As Milo ate the hamburger, Donny actually walked up to the front gate and pressed the bell. The other paparazzi, leaning on the gate wall and dozing off, looked at him like what was this guy doing.

Beep. Clank.

Except for the rain, among the people who were quiet, there was a strange sound, and Milo looked up while taking another bite from the hamburger.

He saw Donny opening Haley’s house’s gate and walking inside like it was nothing. He walked inside, very naturally and confidently, as if he were the owner of the house and then pushed the gate close behind him.

“Uh……”

Milo opened his mouth and made a stupid sound. What was that? What just happened? Why did he go inside? No, -how did he get inside?

Other paparazzi in front of the gate all had faces like Milo’s and stared at the door. Donny, who went inside, took off his hat and shook his pressed hair, and his bright blond hair dropped to his neck.

He glanced behind him. He smiled at Milo like he was thankful, and Milo just blinked with a stupid expression. And after a while, he spit out the hamburger piece that was in his mouth.

“Ha, Haley?”

Haley Lusk. The scapegoat, that Milo followed around for seven years in order to take pictures and get an interview, whom he saw more than his wife, was shaking his umbrella inside the gate and moving into the house.

Milo stared at the hamburger bag in his two hands and then again at Haley, who on the other hand was opening the house door, taking off his raincoat and walking in. He stared at the hamburger again.

“Uh-….,”

As if he had just witnessed a nerd next to him transformed into a superhero and disappeared, Milo was standing there with a dumbstruck expression for a long time.