The first distinct sound was the crack of a rack of pool balls. The crack was loud enough that Chuck expected to hear multiple thumps of balls dropping into pockets.
What he heard was HEY!
Chuck looked toward the HEY!
It was the bartender.
Young. Athletic looking, but not tough in the way they measured it in Delray.
Didn’t matter.
Chuck opened his mouth to say “I know” before the bartender even explained the HEY!
But the bartender was quicker. He spit the words out so fast gum flew out of his mouth.
“You can’t bring her in here.”
Chuck scanned the room. Some familiar faces. Friends, mostly, and strangers. Chuck didn’t do acquaintances. Friends or strangers.
One good conversation about hockey or pollution or the pros and cons of third shift and you were a friend.
Chuck looked back to the bartender.
He looked to Avalon. She looked scared, which of course was part of the program.
“I’m not supposed to bring her in here, but I’m gonna.”
The bartender stepped forward, well buffered by the old blonde wood bar and a couple who should have been cut off forty minutes before.
“Dude, she’s like fourteen.No.Out.”
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Jimmy Doom's Roulette Weal to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.