Gary and Kevin Booth were both graduates of Eisenhower High. Gary remembered Booth as one of the few students not in the special education classes who would - ... al Doom paid attention to .Akw occause Gary was one of the few students at Eisenhower that Booth could bully.
"Hey, Kevin," Gary yelled over the music as Booth walked by. Booth stopped at the sound of his name. "It's me, Gary Harmon."
Booth had no time to waste on a retard, but all the tables were taken and he had no idea how long it would be before Mammon showed up.
"How's it going?" Booth said, sitting down without asking.
"It's going great! Do you know Steve Mancini?"
"Sure. He's my lawyer."
"He is?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Steve is my friend. He's gonna marry my sister tomorrow."
"Congratulations, man," Booth said as he scanned the crowd again, then looked back toward the door just as Mammon walked in. Kevin stood up and waved.
Mammon saw him and headed up t stairs.
"Hey, my man," Mammon said, clapping Booth on the shoulder as he sat down at the table. Gary looked at Mammon with awe.
"Who's your friend?" Mammon asked Booth.
"Oh, this is Gary Harmon, a guy I knew in high school. Gary, this is Chris Mammon."
"It's nice meeting your friends, Kevin," Mammon said sarcastically, "but we have business to discuss."
"Do you know Steve Mancini?" Gary asked with a big smile.
"What?" Mammon asked, as if he could not believe that Gary had the temerity to a ress im.
"Steve is my friend," Gary said proudly. "He's marrying my sister tomorrow. I'm gonna be the best man."
"Why the fuck should I care?" Mammon snapped.
"It's okay, Chris," Booth said nervously, afraid Mammon would erupt into violence. Then, he whispered, "Gary's a retard. He don't mean anything."
Mammon thought about that for a moment. He had to get rid of Harmon and he had an idea. The body builder spotted what he was looking for at the bar.
"Your friend's getting married tomorrow?" Mammon asked, feigning interest.
"Yeah. At the church. I'm gonna wear a tuxedo."
"Hey, that's great. But what are you doing here? Why aren't you at Steve's bachelor party?"
"What's that?" Gary asked, his brow furrowing.
"You ain't never heard of a bachelor party?" Mammon asked, nudging Booth with his elbow.
"No," Gary answered, embarrassed that, once again, other people knew things that he did not.
"Where you been, Gary? That's the party your buddies throw for you the night before you get married.
There's plenty of drinking and you tell stories and there's always a special gift for the groom-to-be," Mammon concluded with a lewd wink.
"What kind of gift?"
Mammon leaned toward Gary and, in a confidential whisper, he said, "Pussy."
Gary flushed. "Steve wouldn't go for a party like that."
"Why not?" Mammon asked with exaggerated concern. "He ain't queer, is he?"
"Oh no. He's a regular guy. He got me season tickets to the Stallion games."
"Then, what's he got against pussy?"
"Steve's a lawyer," Gary answered proudly.
Mammon and Booth cracked up. Gary laughed, too, because the others were laughing, but he did not know what was so funny. Steve was a good lawyer.
"You're not telling me that lawyers don't get laid?"
Mammon went on when he stopped laughing. "I bet he'll get laid on his honeymoon."
Gary blushed. He did not like to think about anyone having sex with his sister.
"It's sure too bad there ain't no bachelor party," Mammon said, shaking his huge head.
_- ... UIL sata, as if he'd just had a sudden thought. "Just because Steve is a stick-in-the-mud doesn't mean you can't have your own bachelor party.
Gary looked confused. Mammon slid his chair next to Gary's and put his arm around Gary's shoulder.
"Don't be too obvious," Mammon whispered in Gary's car, "but look over my shoulder at the blonde at the end of the bar near the door."
Gary turned slowly. A slender woman with straight, shoulder-length hair, wearing tight jeans and a Whitaker State T-shirt with a rearing stallion on it, was talking to a short brunette. Her emerald eyes sparkled when she laughed.
"Now, Gary, I'm a little jealous. That woman has been giving you the eye since I sat down."
Gary looked at her again. "Nab," Gary said nervously, "it wouldn't be me."
"Who else, buddy? You're one good-lookin' stud."
"She wasn't looking at me," Gary repeated stubbornly, hoping Mammon was wrong and terrified that he was right.
"Kevin, did you notice that blonde giving Gary the "Yeah, Gary," Booth said enthusiastically, "she's hot for you."
"You a fan of the Stallions football team, Gary?"
"Yeah!"
"Well, my man, if I was a stud like you, and a woman like that was giving me the eye, I'd strike hard and fast like a Stallion linebacker."
"What ... what do you mean?"
"Get on down there. Check it out. Odds are you'll be inside that tight squeeze before I can finish my beer."
Gary felt sick with excitement. He knew he could never have a girl like that, but Mammon seemed so certain.
"You got someplace to take her?" Mammon asked.
"I got my own house."
"I bet that place rocks from morning to night, right?"
Gary did not answer. Mammon's arm tightened around his shoulder and Mammon's breath felt hot against his ear.
"You do know how to pick up girls, don't you?"
"Sure," Gary answered, because he was too embarrassed to tell the truth.
"Then you know you have to go down there and ask her if she wants a beer. Now she'll say no at first. These bitches always play hard to get. You insist, though.
Women like guys who won't take no for an answer. Be forceful."
"I don't know. She really don't look that interested in me.
"Are you kidding? Shit, man, she's creamin' over you.
"That's true," Booth chimed in, anxious to get rid of Gary so he could find out what Mammon wanted with him. "She definitely wants It."
"And she wants it from you," Mammon said, lifting Gary to his feet. "Now, you aren't a fag, are you?"
"Oh no. It's just.. .
"It's just nothing, my man. And you know what? I'm jealous as shit, because you're gonna be sleeping with your ears between those silky thighs tonight. Go on."
Mammon gave Gary a push toward the stairs. Gary walked down them slowly, twice looking over his shoulder at Booth and Mammon, who waved him on. He was sick with worry, but he could not disgrace himself by turning back. What would the guys think if he could not score with a girl who was giving him the eye? And if he did score with a girl that pretty, it would really be something. Maybe he would even ask her to come with him to the wedding.
There was an empty space next to the blonde at the bar. Up close, she was even better-looking. Gary stood there for a moment, but the girl did not seem to notice him Finally, Gary worked up the courage to talk to her, but'the words caught in his throat when he tried to speak. Gary swallowed.
Then, in a quivering whisper, he asked the girl if she wanted a beer, but the noise in the bar was so loud that she did not hear him.
Gary felt nauseous. It had taken all his courage to make this attempt and he was too frightened to try again. He looked back at Booth and Mammon. They were doubled up with laughter. Mammon waved at him to go on. He turned back to the girl and tapped her on the shoulder, pulling his hand back as soon as he touched her. The girl stopped in mid-sentence and turned toward him.
"Can ... can I get you a beer?" Gary managed.
The girl flashed a smile that barely disguised her annoyance. "No thanks," she answered quickly in a tone that made it clear that she was used to being hit on and didn't like it. When she turned back to her friend, Gary looked at the table for help. His friends were laughing again. Why would they laugh like that? He wanted to run away, but he remembered what Chris said about being persistent. He tapped the girl's shoulder again, a little harder. The girl turned around. She looked angry'what do you want?" she asked.