- •Joe Pitt 2 - No Dominion
- •I look him up and down.
- •I turn to Terry.
- •I fiddle with my Zippo, snap it open and closed.
- •I look at Phil. He glances at the bar, cataloging the bottles on the top shelf.
- •I hand the waitress some cash.
- •I smile.
- •I put two of the specials in front of Phil.
- •I stand up and dig the last of my cash out of my pocket. After the drinks here and Niagara and the twenty for the doorman, there's about forty left. I drop it in front of him.
- •I try to touch her hand, but she moves it. She stares at the band, holding the smoldering cigarette unsmoked.
- •I set my half full coffee cup on the floor at my feet.
- •I hang on the line while she doesn't say anything. I hear a clicking sound, like maybe she's flicking her thumbnail against her front teeth. The sound stops.
- •I watch his eyes, trying to see if he's playing me. They're unreadable; black stones sunk deep in dark wells.
- •I start for the stairs.
- •I wipe the blood out of my eyes with the back of my hand.
- •I look at Timberlands.
- •I walk through followed by Digga, Timberlands, and the rhinos. The door swings shut behind us and we start down a stairwell.
- •I shake my head.
- •I stand up and move the chair back to the table.
- •I take the blankets and spread them on the couch.
- •I put it on the table.
- •I look behind us to the east, where the sun will soon be rising.
- •I look up at the old, well maintained buildings illuminated by ornamental street lamps and security lights.
- •I put it on, take my Zippo from the pocket and use it to light one of Percy's Pall Malls.
- •I climb.
- •I shut up and let them do it their way.
- •I scratch my balls.
- •I dress. I look at the ruined collar. I remember the day Evie gave me the jacket. It was my birthday. The day she thinks is my birthday, anyway. I look at the old lady and put the jacket back on.
- •Vandewater moves to the edge of the plastic, standing over the boys who kneel on either side of the Hispanic kid.
- •Vandewater looks at me.
- •Vandewater steps out of their way.
- •I shake my head.
- •Vandewater turns back to me.
- •I look at her.
- •I bring up the machine pistol.
- •I look.
- •I don't say anything. I don't really have to. Because he's right, that's some shit hitting the fan pretty damn hard.
- •I take it, set it down.
- •I think about it. And it scares me.
- •I point at his nose.
- •I light a cigarette of my own.
- •I finish my beer.
- •I take a drag, having witnessed what being sincere got Tom.
- •I grind some sleep from my eyes.
- •I point at his syringe.
- •I look at him.
- •I pull her face back to mine.
I stand up and dig the last of my cash out of my pocket. After the drinks here and Niagara and the twenty for the doorman, there's about forty left. I drop it in front of him.
--Score.
He scoops the money up.
--Sure thing, don't gotta tell me twice.
--Score, and then get me my meet. I want it set up tonight.
--I don't know, man, could be tough on short notice. Like I said, not like he's a pal of mine or anything.
He's looking sadly at the bills in his hand, rubbing them back and forth against one another.
--Forget it, Phil, that's all there is. Get me the meet. I'll talk to you later tonight.
He gives up, tucking the cash into his jeans.
--Sure thing, Joe. You got it. Just tell me where to meet you and I'll be there.
--I'll find you.
--Uh, sure, sure OK. Um, where ya gonna find me?
--You'll be at Blackie's, right?
--Sure.
--I'll find you there.
I make my way out of the place, leaving behind the low fog-bank of cigarette smoke, the fake wood paneling and the aroma of puke that drifts from the can every time someone opens the door. Leaving behind Philip, hip deep in his element.
The Count.
There's one born every minute. Or every couple years anyway. Seems there's always someone coming down the pike calling themselves The Count, or Vlad or Vampirella or some shit. Some asshole geeked on the whole vampire scene and wanting to play the role to the hilt. Whatever, I'll meet this guy and talk to him. Won't be the first time I've grilled a dude in a red satin-lined cape. Sad to say, it won't be the last.
It's close to one. Blackie's won't open 'til the regular bars close at four. I wander past Doc's. A sheet of plywood has replaced the window I sent The Spaz through last night. I think about going in to talk to the bartenders, see if they saw anything I didn't, but it's pretty packed. I'll save it for later. I walk to the corner of 10th and A. Take a left and I can stop by my place and grab some more cash, dig into that emergency fund. I stand on the corner for a minute. But I'm just putting shit off. I know where I need to go now, and my money's no good there anyway. I walk one more block down A, take a right on 9th, and cross over to Avenue C.
When I come through the front door of Hodown, Evie glances up at me from behind the bar and gives me a look. She's weeded back there. I slip past the pedal steel, fiddle and harmonica trio jamming on the tiny stage, collecting empties from the tables. I take the bottles behind the bar, dump them in a plastic garbage can with a couple hundred others just like them, and start washing glasses. Evie nods at me as she shakes a martini. Fifteen minutes later the glassware situation is looking better, so I go back around to the fun side of the bar and take a seat.
Evie's still serving the crowd. It's not a bad bunch. This late at night in the middle of the week it's mostly waiters and waitresses getting off their shifts at the ten thousand cafŽs and bistros that opened down here in the last decade. Or it's regulars coming in to work on their liver disease and listen to the music. She pops open a Lone Star, slides it down the bar to me. A half hour later things settle down and she comes over.
She wipes her hands on the bar rag tucked into her studded belt, picks up my smokes from the bar and sticks one in her mouth.
--Got a light?
She hardly ever smokes.
--What happened today?
She picks up my Zippo and lights the Lucky herself.
--No big deal.
--Good. What'd the doctor say?
She looks at the band.
--You hear these guys before? Corpus Christi?
--Yeah. I heard them before. What's the doc say?
She takes a drag, coughs on the smoke.
--Said. Cough! Said. Cough! S'cuse me.
She takes a sip of my beer and stops coughing.
--Doctor said my viral load was up. Said the HIV is showing again.