Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: Part 2, Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

When Duke and Gonzo get back to their room, the light on the phone is blinking, and Duke calls the front desk to retrieve the message. “Ah yes,” the clerk says. Duke does indeed have two messages; one from the National District Attorneys’ Association welcoming him to Las Vegas, and one from Lucy, who wants Duke to call her at the Americana, room 1600. “Holy shit!” exclaims Duke and hangs up the phone.

Gonzo is in the bathroom “doing the Big Spit, again,” and Duke goes on the balcony for some fresh air. Gonzo appears, wiping vomit from his face. “This goddamn mescaline,” he says. “Why the fuck can’t they make it a little less pure?” Duke turns to him. “Lucy called,” he says. “What?” Gonzo asks as the phone rings.

Duke answers the phone. “Hello, Mister Duke. I’m sorry we were cut off a moment ago…” says the clerk. “What?” yells Duke. “We’re watching the goddamn news! What the fuck are you interrupting me for?” The clerk is silent. “What do you want?” Duke asks again. “There’s a war on, man! People are being killed!” The clerk is confused. “Killed?” he asks. “In Vietnam!” Duke screams. “On the goddamn television!” The clerk suddenly understands. Yes, he says, the war is “terrible,” but Lucy “sounded very disturbed” when she called. Duke is silent. “I thought you should know this,” the clerk says.

“Look,” Duke says, “you want to be gentle with that woman if she ever calls again.” The clerk agrees. After all, he understands “the nature of [Duke’s] work” and is “happy to cooperate with the police.” Duke tells the clerk to send ice and hangs up the phone. He turns to Gonzo, who laughs. “[Lucy] is looking for you,” Gonzo says. To get rid of her, Gonzo told her that he and Duke were headed out to the desert “for a showdown,” and she should go to the Americana and wait to see which one of them returns. “I guess she figures you won,” Gonzo says. “That phone message wasn’t for me, was it?”

Duke immediately begins to put his shoes on and get his bags together. “Jesus, you’re not leaving?” Gonzo asks. “You’re goddamn right, I’m leaving,” Duke answers. His mind suddenly flashes to an image of a courtroom where Lucy has just taken the stand. “Yessir,” she says to the court, “those two men over there in the dock are the ones who gave me the LSD and took me to the hotel…” This can’t happen, Duke thinks. “No jury would doubt her testimony, especially when it came stuttering out through a fog of tears and obscene acid flashbacks.”