florida, 1983 where sunshine sell dreams and swallow people whole camera rolling everybody smiling too hard tammy got da pageant smile, magazine glow small-town rockets always told “go hollywood” scarface set lights burned hot on da skin fake blood everywhere, real fear creepin’ in extras laughin’ directors yelling propane powder prop mountains under neon ceilings but somewhere between da makeup and da takes something in her eyes started shifting shape said people were watching said something felt wrong voice got shaky like a cassette tape song one minute camera-ready next minute pale like da future whispered somethin’ through da hotel air vent trail they told her “relax” classic industry line same thing people say before ignoring warning signs miami night glow pink motel halo somebody knows more than they ever told young dreams fade fast under studio gold tammy disappeared and da ocean stayed cold anonymous phone calls static in da wire “she still alive detectives half-listening newspapers hungry america treat mystery like junk-food money everybody got theories packed neatly in stacks smug deals mob ties bad men in Cadillacs one caller swore she was scared and hiding one caller vanished right after providing half-da clues got shelved like old VHS tapes bureaucracy sleepy while da timeline escaped heat-wave haze, fake names, backroad bars sunburnt drifters underneath cheap stars tabloid truth stretch thin like gum everybody talk but nobody come funny thing ’bout fame people love your face till your face on flyers hanging all over da place every actress told “smile through discomfort” every frightened voice called “dramatic” first and maybe paranoia ain’t madness at all when danger really standing behind da wall her mother kept searching years turned slow hope gets heavier da longer it grows anonymous whispers kept reopening scars like somebody dangling truth from a moving car and maybe somewhere down some forgotten coast someone still remembers her laugh the most not da headlines not da theories not da ghost-story internet conspiracies just a young person trying 2 outrun fear in a world where predators hide near cameras and cheers hollywood promise got sharp white teeth sometimes da spotlight swallow underneath and da saddest joke buried deep in da tale everybody noticed once she wasn’t there miami night glow vacancy sign halo question marks drift where da tide rolls slow young dreams fade fast under studio gold tammy disappeared and nobody came home nineteen-eighty-three camera flashes palm trees anonymous voices and somewhere between fear and fame a person became a mystery
