Make no mistake, the interest I’ve paid over the years was disclosed to me long ago. The analogy is not my own. When I told all this to my therapist, he explained to me that I was acting out against myself as an emotional predatory lender and if I didn’t begin to repay some of the principle by forgiving Murton by forgiving myself, I would be burdened with an emotional debt I might very well carry to an early grave. It took ten sessions to get to that point, and in the end I told him I thought he was full of shit and never went back. But when I saw Murton walk back into my life through the front door of my bar and then almost immediately out the back I began to wonder if perhaps my old therapist may have been right and maybe this might be the time to try and balance the books.
The two men gazed at me for a fraction before they started toward the back. I moved along the length of the bar with my hideaway. 25 caliber semi-auto in my left hand, behind my back and out of sight. It was then that I recognized that they were the same two men who had escorted me back to Samuel Pate’s office earlier today. I held up my right hand as a signal for the two men to stop and said, “Sorry fellas, employees only past this point.”
The three of us stood there like we were having a management meeting, or perhaps like I was simply speaking to a couple of regular customers. “That guy that just left out the back. We need to talk to him.” His accent sounded east Texas, something I hadn’t noticed earlier in the day.
The shorter of the two tried to sidestep me and squeeze past into the kitchen, but I matched his maneuver and kept him in his place. “The band’s really cranking it out tonight, aren’t they?” I said. “I guess you didn’t hear me before. Employees only past this point.”
One of the advantages of owning a bar if you are a police officer is at any given time, the odds are in your favor that at least some small percentage of your patrons are going to be off-duty cops. In addition to my crew, there were about ten other cops in the bar as well. The commotion caused by Murton tossing his glass against the far wall as a diversion had subsided, but I noticed Rosencrantz and Donatti watching me, and when they saw me look their way and then back at the two men trying to get by me, they separated and walked up behind the men from different directions. I slipped my gun into my back pocket and crossed my arms in front of my chest. It was now three on two. Rosencrantz stepped up close behind the two men and said, “How’s it going, Jonesy? Think we could get another pitcher over at our table?”
I looked at him and said, “Right away, Rosie. These guys were just leaving, but they’re having a little trouble distinguishing the front from the back. Help them out, will you?”
The two men turned and looked at Rosencrantz and Donatti, and then back at me. I let them get the last word, which you learn is often the wise thing to do if you work in a bar. “Tell Wheeler to get in touch next time you see him,” the tall one said. “Like I said, we need to talk with him.”
Rosencrantz and Donatti muscled the two men out the front door and came back inside a few minutes later. Donatti walked behind the bar and ran his knuckles under the tap for a few minutes. Rosencrantz stood there and just smiled at me. “What happened?” I said.
“Not much,” Rosencrantz said. “My guy didn’t want to fight. The other one tried to throw a sucker punch at Ed. He missed. But then his ball sack decided it wanted to launch itself at Ed’s knee, and when that didn’t work he tried throwing his jaw as hard as he could into Ed’s fist. Twice. Sort of an unconventional style if you ask me. I think those guys might have been dropped on their heads as infants.”
“Where are they?”
Donatti grabbed a dish towel and wiped his hands dry. “We helped them to their car and sent them on their way. It was either that or take them downtown. The paperwork’s a drag.”
“Yeah, we’d be up all night,” Rosencrantz said.
“Do me a favor, will you?” I said.
“I think we just did,” Rosencrantz said.
“Uh huh. Run a sheet for me tomorrow morning on a guy named Murton Wheeler. Let me know what you get.”
“No problem, Jonesy,” Donatti said.
Rosencrantz grabbed a handful of peanuts from a dish on top of the bar and tossed them in his mouth. “Hey, I was serious a minute ago. Can we get another pitcher of beer?”
I had a waitress take another pitcher over to their table and tear up the ticket she had going. When I finally got back behind the bar I remembered what Murton had said about my tip being under his drink coaster. I walked over to where he had been seated and saw the coaster. Underneath was a thick brass key, the words ‘ do not duplicate ’ stamped on both sides. I had no idea what lock the key would open or what contents may be hidden behind its tumblers, but less than a week later I would find myself questioning the thought process of repaying an emotional loan I never should have applied for to begin with.
An hour later I was home. It was late and I thought about going to bed, then thought, fuck it, and grabbed a beer before going outside where I propped my ass in a chair and my feet on the upper rail of my deck. The night was clear and calm and when I looked up at the stars it made me think of my mom, gone now an entire year.
I was half way done with my beer when the doorbell rang. I checked the time again, saw that it was just after midnight. I pulled my. 25 auto hideaway from my pocket for the second time this evening and went to the door. When I saw who was there I felt my knees get a little weak.
“I’m not wearing a watch,” Sandy said, “But I’m pretty sure it’s tomorrow.”
I tried to smile in a cool sort of way, but even as I did I was fairly certain I ended up looking like a school boy with an ‘aw shucks’ kind of look on my face before I managed to get a grip on myself and invite Sandy inside. When I flipped on a couple of lights I heard Sandy take in a breath.
“My god, Jonesy. This is beautiful.”
I designed the house myself, going through three different builders in the process before I found the one I knew could get it just right. Double doors lead from the foyer into the great room with a massive fireplace made entirely of fieldstone I had collected from the building site. The floors and walls were all wood, a mixture of natural pine, cherry, oak, and maple, all blended together that gave the interior a colorful, yet natural look. A leather sofa sits directly in front of the fireplace, and a waist-high bar with six stools separates the great room from the kitchen which is the only carpeted room in the entire house. Opposite the kitchen is an area off of the great room I use as my office.
“Thanks. It was a lot of work at first. Took over two years to build from the time I bought the site. Sometimes it seems like a little more work than I’d like, but then every year when summer rolls around and you can sit out back on the deck at night it all seems pretty much worth it. In fact, that’s what I was doing just now, sitting on the deck, finishing my beer. Want one?”
“Sure.”
I got her a beer and a fresh one for myself, then leaned against the counter. I let her wander around the great room for a minute taking it all in. When she circled her way back around next to me I handed her a beer, but she took them both and set them on the counter. Then she tilted her head to the side and just looked at me. I started to think about it, but then just as quick I stopped thinking and pulled her close. I pressed my body into hers and felt her press back. Just as I started to move my lips toward hers, Sandy pulled back and said, “Jonesy, is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me.”
I felt the heat rise in my face, even as I laughed with her. “Yes to both,” I said. I took the gun from my pocket and set it on the counter and when I did, Sandy started to laugh even harder.