Run for the Border

Apparently, stuff like this happens "all the time" in Tompkins County.

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The blond bartender, the five foot girl with the Wonder Woman t-shirt on, tapped the shoulder of her larger counterpart, a man all the regulars know as Doo Bear. She stood on a crate of spent beer bottles, the glass clinking as she leaned into his ear. Her lips moved and then she pointed to the clock at the top of the bar, above the dusty Galiano bottles unopened in years. Doo Bear nodded and squeezed his way out of the bar and to the whizzing CD player. He smashed the power button and killed the music. Doo Bear then arched his back, taking in air, for an important announcement.
"Last call!" His scream died down and then there was a brief vacuum. The patrons of Snow's mostly headed for the door, slamming down drinks onto tables and stools. A few of the college students in the bar went for those last drinks, which were mostly bottled beers.
"The drafts are broken," said Doo Bear when asked for a pint. "And the liquor's gone. You know, busy night." He wanted to get out and so did the blond bartender, who was wiping down empty counter space.
It was 12:50 am.
At the booth in the farthest corner, Jamie finished the last of the smoke he had snuck during the rush.
Amber plays with her hair and blows an idle strand off her face and over her ears. "1 am, already?"
Kaia rolled the paper wrapper of a straw into a neat little coil and tossed it towards Jamie. It unfurled before hitting him and getting caught in the pocket of his shirt. "Well, I can guess that it wasn't the night I promised." He flicked the wrapper of off him and then jabbed the cigarette stub under the table.
"Yeah," Kaia interjected. "Tell us too meet somewhere on the other side of the city promising the coolest little hidden bar and we get the corner booth under a flickering light."
At that moment, the ceiling light did flicker on and off. "Well, its better, on the weekends. I suggested a Friday, not a Wednesday night."
From across the room Doo Bear shot their table a nasty look. Rich, who had remained quite for most of the night, saw the bartender's glare. "Hey, I think it is closing time." He motioned with his head back towards the bar.
Jamie saw the big man and silently agreed. "Well, fine. I guess we can go." He took one last swig of the gin and tonic he had ordered an hour earlier. It was mostly ice, with just the tint of tangy liquids.
The girls scooted out of the booth with Rich staying close to Kaia.
They left the bar.
It was 12:58 am.

In the parking lot, Amber also lit up a cigarette and then passed a lighter to Jamie. "Fuck. I'm still not drunk. I wanted a good time, Jamie."
Kaia, wiping her glasses with the hem of her shirt, licked her teeth before smiling a sly grin. "Not all of us plan to call in sick tomorrow, Amber. Isn't that like the fourth time this month or something?"
Amber rolled her eyes and took another drag. "Hell, it works. The guys in payroll believe me and that is all the matters. I am getting over mono, if they ever wonder."
"Right, a those amarettos are a great cure, huh?" Kaia flicked her glasses back on. The golden rims reflected Rich's face back at him and he realized he had gotten lost in the little back and forth between the girls. Kaia was still wearing the same skirt she had worn to the office, albeit changing the office jacket for a simple white top. Rich took a deep breath and wished the beers would hit him right now. It was the end of the night. Excited at Jamie's invitation to go out with the girls, he spent the night trying to loosen up and find the right moment to speak up. But now it was the end of the night. He played with some of the lint in his pant's pocket.
Jamie threw his cigarette to the ground. "Hey, well last call isn't till 2am over in Delyle. We can get in the cars and hit up a bar there!"
Amber rose an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, seriously," Kaia retorted. "Delyle is in the next county. You want to drive an extra thrity minutes just for another drink?"
"Of course! There is a bar over the county line, right on 226." Jamie headed to his car with Amber following. She had her own car, but claimed that she wanted to stick together if going that far.
"That far," Kaia muttered and looked over at Rich. Her eyes met dead on with his. "You going?"
Rich wished for the beers to kick in right then and there! To loosen him up. To give him that bravado you see in the movies. He musters, "Um, are you?"
Kaia glanced back at Jamie's car, a shiny little coupe, and saw the rear lights ignite. "I guess, I rode with her here anyway."
"Ok, well then I'm there." Rich feigned a smile and then ran his hand through the back of his hair. Kaia had already begun walking to the car, with Rich following searching for some reflection in the frames of her glasses.

It was 1:06 am.

Rich and Kaia sat in the back of the car, their feet planted amongst the detritus on the floor in the back. Outside the city, the landscape gave up to cornfields and vinyl-siding houses plunked far-off the road and behind neat gravel driveways. Signs for the upcoming sheriff's election lined the shoulders of the road, their contrasting colors leaping out once hit by the headlights. They passed the fish hatchery on the eponymous Fish Road. "Almost there," said Jamie, as the car whizzed by the fiberglass mock-up of a carp.

It was 1:22am.

Another five minutes and they have crossed the county line. Rich had driven this road thounsands of times. In college going to and back home for breaks. During childhood trips to his grandparents and during high school to field trips to the fish hatchery three miles behind them. For some reason, he expected this crossing to be better. That fanfare would greet them as they entered. He knew the county line was marked by a lawn-green sign and a lone carpet store. Once they did cross the line, when the sign saying "Welcome to Catotopo County! Delyle 15" he felt nothing.

He frowned and noticed Kaia looking at him. She smiled and then faked a gagging noise while rolling her eyes and pointing at the driver's seat. Laughing, Rich felt comfortable.

"Hey. What's happening back there?" Jamie asked, his eyes still looking forward for the promised bar.

"Nothing," Kaia answered. "So where is this bar? Wasn't it right past the line?"

"Yeah," Amber chimed in. "Where is it."

Jamie bit the bottom of his lip. He accelerated, taking the car from the comfortable cruising to a controlled dash. "There," he screamed, pointing across the dashboard and slightly swerving the car's headlights to hit a dim sign on the right.

The sign read, "American Legion Post 387 Catotopo-Delyle"

It was 1:30 am.

In the gravel parking lot Rich crushed a bit of rock and rolled them under the heel of his shoe.

"A Legion hall? You were in the army or something, Jamie?" Kaia kept close to the car, leaning against the truck like Rich.

Jamie had already taken a few steps towards the entrance. A rusty anti-aircraft cannon stood next to the door. Someone had hung a sign saying "Open" on the handle of the gear on the side.

"No, but my grandpa did. In Korea." Jamie fished out his wallet and then produced a picture of him, probably back in college, with a much older man at his side. The man wore an olive green jacket, emblazoned with colorful patches on the side. He also wore a hat. It said Legion on it, but you could not make out a post number. Jamie wore a suit. Rich even thought it was the same on he had on right then. "That is enought to get me in. You know, the grandson of a Legionnaire." He mozied towards the dilipidated weapon. Amber followed, staying very close to Jamie.

At the entrace by the gun, men poured out of the hall, all in different clothes, but all wearing faded caps with gold trims and logos that still shone gold.

Jamie only noticed Amber behind him. He turned back to see Rich and Kaia still leaning against the trunk. "Hey," he said through cupped hands around his lips. "You guys coming?"

For a moment it was quiet, the kind of vaccum that Doo Bear had created back in the bar. Kaia shook her head and the tips of her hair grazed the side of Rich's cheek. "No. You can go get that one last drink. I'll wait."

Jamie rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever." He looked at Rich. "And I imagine you will want to stay too?"

Rich nodded. "Yeah. I'll be with her."

Jamie shrugged his shoulders and grabbed Amber by the hand. They turned their backs. "Fine, fuck it. We'll be back by closing time."

They passed the gun and swung open the door.

It was 1:37 am.

"What do you think will happen?" Rich stopped playing with the gravel and looked at Kaia.

"To him?" Kaia motioned over to the hall. "Probably get his ass kicked and one of us will have to drive back."

"Yeah, probably."

Kaia balled her fingers into a loose fist and tapped Rich on the shoulder. "Glad you stayed and that your not an idiot like them." She looked at him directly, grinning and leaning towards him.

He saw her eyes and forced a laugh out of him. Rich began to play with the gravel beneath his feet again. "Oh, sure. No problem." He motioned to the hall and the rusty gun. "He is an idiot."

A man appeared from behind the car and ambled past them. He wore olive slacks and a blue on red plaid shirt. He had no cap on, which revealed a faint halo of hair right above his ears and the rest of his bald head. He wore dozens of lapel pins on the pocket of his shirt. While he had put some distance between himself and the car, he had noticed Kaia and Rich and the two individuals who had just walked into the hall, one wearing a cheap suit from six year ago and the other a ruffled skirt with a rhinestone decals.

The vet glared at them. Rich remembered the same kind of glare his own grandfather used to give kids that would read the magazines at his newstand, but never buy them. The old man was saying nothing to them, but still communicating. The silence only made the stare down all that more awkward. It wasn't innocent. It wasn't a man just losing time in his own thoughts, because Rich knew that ruffled glare, the kind of look accompained by controlled breathing.

Remembering his grandfather's own look he crept closer to Kaia. He wanted to keep being there for her, even though he had no real reason why. They were just co-workers. But as the angry vet just kept glaring at them he wanted to be close, ready to embrace her and keep her away from grizzled codgers and oafs like Jamie.

Kaia straigthened up and got herself off the car. She returned the old man's look. The silence only got quieter.

Rich, expecting something to happen, crept closer to Kaia and felt his thigh press against hers. He hoped she noticed, but realized that she had probably continued to stand her ground.

The old man then gave up. Rich saw him shaking his head as his footfalls got quieter in the distance. When the old man had gone through the door Kaia did not pull away from him.

It was 1:51 am.

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I have just now realized that pretty much most of my stories have the "stronger person-weaker person" motif to them. Any one who has gotten to know me, also knows that I am prone to hero worship and that I pick up favorite authors/heroes/awesome people pretty easily. I could say more to this. I am happy that I have a motif that just developed, instead of me trying to shoehorn it into my writing.

Originally, I wanted all of them to go into the bar and then that the situation would get a little hairy with between the whipper-snappers and the Legion hall guys. I was going to have Kaia actually go to Rich for some solace/protection when the whole fight happened, but then I realized that: A) That is pretty hackneyed and B)It would not fit Kaia's image as the strong character. Of course, I realize these characters are pretty much one-dimensional. However, in her one dimension, Kaia is the strong one.

Apologies near the end with all the paragraph breaks. Blogger does this annoying thing sometimes where it decides to do whatever the hell it wants. One of the drawbacks, I guess. Another drawback is that the Google folks could just shut down this service anyday and I would lose all these little musings! However, rest assured they will be backed up a plenty!

Finally, to dismay the "rigtheous" fury of any neo-con that might stumble across this piece and see that I mentioned war veterans without the "necessary" gratitude statements. This piece was not meant to offend anyone, particularly those in the miliary. I would imagine that guy's in the American Legion would not take kindly to some bratty kids busting in on their hall so that they can get one more drink. I don't think any organization would enjoy that, be it the American Legion or the the local church bingo team. I used the Legion Hall because I wanted to highlight Jamie's crassness and also because the Legion hall in the town where I am from (i.e. environmental influences) is situated at a similar place, smack in the middle of nowhere at the county lines. Hence, this is not a piece about veterans or war. It is a piece about some 20-somethings out for fun and realizing they have little in common but the office they work at. Or at least, that is what it is in my head!

Peace!