Mosquito Bellamy-Excerpt from The Cat on Salter’s Point

Doctor James swaggers out of the nursing station and goes to Mosquito Bellamy’s room. Mosquito, perched on a stack of pillows on the bed, is reading a comic book when Doctor James darkens his doorway. He’s a peculiar looking fella, with a shiny bald head and wired frame glasses accenting his brown beady eyes. The features on his long narrow face resemble an insect’s and his arms and legs are both long and skinny. He takes his beady eyes off his comic book and zeros in on Doctor James.

“Who you be?” he asked.

“My name is Doctor James,” he said. “Can I come in? I hear you are a little upset about your admission here.”

“Sure doc,” Mosquito said. Doctor James struts into the room and sits near the foot of the bed. “I hear you were arrested yesterday,” he said.

“Docccccc! Let me tell you,” Mosquito said pushing his eyeglasses up on his long thin nose with one index finger. “That raunchy hoe sold me some bad stuff,” he said.

“Bad stuff?” asked Doctor James. “What bad stuff?”

“I’m talking about weed man,” he said scooting off the pillows. “I paid good money for that weed and the shit was bad!”

“What do you mean?” asked Doctor James raising an eye brow.

“I smoked the shit and it tasted like sardines man,” Mosquito said snapping his overall straps. “And then I heard some Japanese voices telling me to unload the shit and get that raunchy hoe!”

“Japanese voices?” asked Doctor James trying to keep a straight face. “Do you speak or understand Japanese?”

“No Doc,” Mosquito said taking off his glasses. He rubs his eyes with one index finger and then falls back on his pillows.

“Then how do you know the voices were speaking Japanese?” asked Doctor James.

“Well, they weren’t speaking English doc, I can tell you that,” he said putting on his glasses. “They sounded like Japanese to me,” he said.

Doctor James drops his head trying to stifle a laugh. “Tell me, Mr. Bellamy, how did you get arrested?”

Mosquito scoots off the bed and plays with his overall straps. “I went to the po-po station to report that hoe for selling me some bad shit,” he said.

“You went where?” Doctor James asked, looking amazed.

“I went to the po-po station,” Mosquito repeats twisting his lips.

Doctor James eyes widen. “Tell me why you did that,” he said.

“I needed the cops to help me get my money back,” he said. “That raunchy hoe ripped me off man!”

Doctor James smiles. “Then what happened,” he asked.

“The po-po asked me if I had weed on me,” Mosquito said, scratching his head. “I told him yeah. So I pulled the shit out of my pocket and showed it to him,” he said.

“Then what happen?” Doctor James asked, shaking his head.

“The damn po-po arrested me,” Mosquito said frowning up. “And maaaaaan that shit really pissed me off!”

Doctor James laughs out loud. He couldn’t help himself. “Man, that weed must have been some pretty bad stuff for you to go to the police and snitch on yourself,” he said.

“Doc, all I needed was my money back so I can buy some good shit,” Mosquito said whining. He flops on the bed and scratches his head again. “Doc can you do something about these damn Japanese voices?” he asked.

“The voices will disappear after the weed wears off,” Doctor James said. “In the meantime, I’m sending you to drug rehab,” he said.

Mosquito scoots off the bed again. “Ugh doc, I don’t need drug rehab,” he protests. “What I need is some good shit to get rid of these voices!”

“I think you need to give up on the good shit,” said Doctor James laughing. “It gets you into too much trouble so drug rehab it is,” he said.

Mosquito pokes out his bottom lip. “How long do I have to stay there?” he asks.

“A few days,” Doctor James said getting up to leave.

“Shit!” Mosquito said. He flops on the bed and grabs his comic book. “See ya doc,” he said. Doctor James waves and leaves the room.