"I like you and I want to buy you a beer."
"Thank you, but I'm talking to someone, okay?"
"I can buy her a beer, too."
"Look, I don't want you to buy me a beer. Neither does my friend. Take no for an answer, okay?"
"I like you," Gary repeated lamely.
The girl looked at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. Gary cringed with embarrassment.
"Ch ... Chris said you want me to buy you a beer," he stuttered.
"Who?"
"Chris. My friend," Gary said, pointing toward the table where Mammon and Booth were still laughingthe girl saw them and figured out what was going on.
"Go tell your friends they were wrong and leave me alone."
"You ... you don't like me?" Gary asked, hurt and confused.
"Are you an idiot?" the woman asked incredulously.
"Didn't I just tell you ..."
Gary's hand shot out and grabbed the girl's tee shirt.
"I ain't no idiot," he yelled.
The girl staggered backward, startled by Gary's sudden rage.
"Don't call me no names," he shouted in her face.
"Let me go," she screamed as she tried to pull out of Gary's grip. Gary yanked her toward him.
Arnie Block, the bartender closest to the commotion, turned when he heard the girl scream. At the end of the bar farthest from the front door, another attractive blonde in a Whitaker State tee shirt and jeans was sitting across from Dave Thorne, the other bartender. The girl was wearing a silver medallion around her neck. It had a cross embossed on it. The girl fingered the medallion while she sipped a beer. Thorne was working on a drink order when -A,mie shouted to him.
"Dave, call Steve. Tell him Gary's causing trouble and to get over here."
Dave looked down the bar, then grabbed the phone on the shelf behind him. He made the call. When he hung up, he noticed that the blonde with the medallion J was watching two men who were walking toward the back door that led into the rear parking area. One of the men was big and flabby. The other looked like a rofessional wrestler. The girl looked very frightened, p but Thorne had no more time to think about her because Gary was shaking the other girl by both shoulders.
"Say you're sorry," Gary screamed. "Say I ain't no idiot or I'll.. . I'll kill you."
Arnie Block reached across the bar and grabbed Gary around the neck. Gary shrugged him off.
"Let her go, Gary," Arnie yelled. This time, Gary realized who was talking to him and his grip relaxed.
"She said I was an idiot," Gary pleaded with the bartender. Block found a clear space and leaped the bar.
J "She shouldn't have said that, but you can't shake her. Can't you see she's scared?"
Gary looked at the girl. She was breathing hard, and she was near tears and very frightened. Gary released the girl and she staggered into the bar, upsetting her drink.
"I called for Steve. He's really pissed," Block said, as Dave Thorne pushed through the crowd. "You'll be lucky if you don't get arrested."
Gary's eyes widened as he remembered what would happen to him if he was arrested again. He would go to jail and it would be on the front page of the paper.
Mama would read it and it would kill her.
"Dave," Block said, turning away from Gary, "take care of this lady. Make sure she's all right."
When Block turned back, Gary was streaking for the door. Arnie shook his head as Gary raced into the night.
He made no attempt to stop him.
Dave Thorne took the blonde and her friend to an empty booth. Arnie brought over a glass of brandy just as Steve Mancini walked in. He was wearing a suit, but his shirt was open at the collar and his tie was pulled down.
"What happened?" Mancini asked the bartender.
"Gary got a little out of hand with that girl."
"The blonde?" Mancini asked, looking in the direction Arnie was pointing.
"Yeah."
"W at did Gary do?"
Arnie told him.
"Jesus. Where is he?"
"I don't know. He took off as soon as I said you were coming over."
"That dumb fuck," Mancini said, absentmindedly running his fingers through his hair. "All right, all right.
Damage control," he muttered to himself.
"I'm gonna talk to her," he told Block.
Mancini walked over to the booth. The blonde looked up. Her makeup was smeared and she looked frightened.
"I'm Steve Mancini, one of the owners. Can I sit down?"
The girl nodded and Mancini slid into the booth across from the women.
"Are you all right, Miss ... ?"
"Nix. Karen Nix. I'm just shaken up." She shook her head. "He just went crazy. I thought he was going to hit me."
"But he didn't."
"That's only because the bartender stopped him," Nix said, anger flaring in her eyes. "Do you know what he said? He threatened to kill me. I'm calling the cops as soon as I find out who that creep is."
"I wish you wouldn't," Steve said.
"Are you kidding? He's a lunatic. He might hurt someone else."
"I don't think so. Gary says the first thing that comes into his head when he's angry. He doesn't mean what he says."
"You know him?"
"I'm getting married tomorrow and Gary is going to be my best man. He's my fiance's brother. Normally, he's a sweet kid, but he's retarded and ..
Nix's hand flew to her mouth.
"Oh, my God. That's why he got so angry."
Mancini looked uzzled.
p "I feel terrible," Nix said. "He wanted to buy me a drink. I thought he was hitting on me. I told him not to bother me a few times, but he persisted. Then, I called him an idiot. That's when he went crazy."
"That explains it," Mancini said. "Gary is very sensitive about his intelligence."
"I feel awful."
"Don't. You had no way of knowing and Gary should have known better, but he's like a little kid ..
"You don't have to say anything more. I'm not going to call the police. If I'd known I.. .
Nix paused. She looked toward the table where Mammon and Booth had been sitting.
"Is something wrong?" Mancini asked.
"Gary told me that a friend told him I wanted him to buy me a beer. He pointed to a table on the landing.
There were two men sitting there. They were laughingmaybe they put Gary up to this as a joke. You know, taking advantage of him."
"Are they still here?" Mancini asked.
"They're gone, but I'd know one of them anywhere.
He was gigantic, like a body builder. just huge. And he had tattoos on his arms."
Mancini scowled. "Did Gary mention any namesp, Nix thought for a moment. Then, she brightened.
"Chris! I'm certain that's what he called him."
A flicker of fear shaped Mancini's features for a moment. Then it was gone. Nix reached across the table and touched his forearm.
"Mr. Mancini, you don't have to worry. It looks like Gary was the butt of a practical joke. I shouldn't have called him an idiot, anyway. And I don't want to spoil your wedding day."
"Thanks a lot, Karen." Mancini looked at his watch.
"Look, if it's all right, I'll leave now. I have some work at my office I'm wrapping up."
"You go ahead."
"You're terrific. I'm leaving word with the bartenders.
Anytime you're in, the drinks are on me."
"Oh, that's not necessary."
Mancini held up his hand. "Not a word. You've been very understanding. Not everyone in your position would be."
At the other end of the Stallion, Dave Thorne was making up a drink order for a waitress. The blonde with the medallion was no longer on her stool. Thorne assumed she had left while he was up front, but he turned around to give the waitress her order and saw the blonde walking out of the front door behind Steve Mancini.