Chapter 36: Desire Neon
"Desire Neon" sat on an unremarkable West Village block. Joey parked by the curb, and once they stepped out, the first thing they saw was a weathered red-brick building.
The most eye-catching feature was the giant neon sign hanging from the second floor—"Desire Neon." The lettering was done in pink neon tubing that looked like it was from the eighties. Where movie posters once hung, only faded scraps remained.
Bruce led Joey straight inside, past the ticket booth and lobby, and pushed open a metal door marked STAFF ONLY. Beyond it was a corridor lined with offices; the second door on the right was Ruby's shared office space.
Bruce knocked—no answer. "Where is he? He said he'd wait for me," he muttered.
Just then the next door opened. Both Bruce and Joey turned: Ruby.
"Get in here," Ruby said.
"Ruby, did you change offices?" Bruce asked once inside.
After closing the door behind Joey, Ruby replied, "Yep. Now that I'm manager of the Video Department, I get my own space!"
Joey smiled. "Congrats, Ruby. What does the Video Department do?"
Ruby said, "We handle the production, duplication, and sales of videotapes, of course!"
Joey asked, "What kinds of tapes?"
Ruby answered, "Joey, what do you think? We run an adult theater—our tapes are mainly adult films and other restricted content."
Bruce cut in, "I've always wondered—are your duplication operations legal? Don't copyright holders come after you?"
Ruby settled behind his desk and offered cigars from a box to Joey and Bruce; both declined. He lit one himself, looking very much the manager. After a puff he said, "We focus on public domain films or older titles where the copyrights have expired or lapsed. Some older independent films have unclear rights or nobody renews them—those are our bread and butter."
Remembering something, he pulled open a drawer and produced a bag. "Right, here are the tapes you asked for—everything you've written."
Joey asked, "You duplicate recent films too?"
Ruby said, "Don't worry. I have authorization from the production company to duplicate everything they release."
Bruce took the bag. "What do I owe you?"
Ruby waved him off. "Nothing, Bruce. Consider it a parting gift."
Bruce didn't argue. "Thanks, Ruby."
Ruby asked, "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Bruce slapped his forehead. "Oh right." He pulled the script for Crazy Clerk Part Two from his backpack and handed it over.
Ruby skimmed through it, muttering comments about the plot changes and new characters.
Closing the script, he said, "Alright, Bruce. I'll take this to the production manager tomorrow. They'll wire the remaining twenty grand; after my commission and taxes, I'll send you the rest. As for your percentage from tape sales, once they do their quarterly accounting, I'll handle it. Just wait for the checks—minus commission and taxes, of course."
Bruce nodded. "Sounds good, Ruby. You're a great agent and a great friend."
Ruby sighed. "So that's it—Bruce White's last adult script is finished... Feels like the end of an era."
They hugged. "Don't be sad, Ruby. We may not be working together anymore, but we're still friends. Stop by Central Perk sometime—coffee's on me."
Ruby smiled. "Alright, Bruce. Good luck going mainstream. When your scripts become big movies, let me know—I'll buy a ticket."
As they turned to leave, Joey asked, "Ruby, where's your duplication room? Mind if I check it out? Maybe grab some classics? I'll pay!"
Ruby grinned. "How about I give you the full tour? Follow me."
They left the office, walked to the end of the corridor, turned right, and stopped at another door. Ruby opened it, and warm air from running electronics wafted out.
A much larger room greeted them, divided by concrete support pillars. No assembly line—just several commercial VHS duplication decks. One player served as the master source, feeding the signal to four machines that copied it onto blank tapes.
In one corner, shrink-wrapped blank VHS cassettes were stacked into a small mountain.
On a long table sat piles of printed covers and cases. A guy in a stained work shirt was attaching labels to blank cassettes.
Beside him, another worker was boxing the finished products.
Ruby pointed at the labeled stack. "Pick whatever you want—just pay the cost of a blank tape, call it five bucks each."
Looking at the mountain of tapes and packed boxes, Joey whistled. "Man, at one a day, I'd need years to watch all these."
Ruby laughed. "Trust me, watching one every day, you'd burn out way before then."
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