CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Der Schluss - 9 pm . . .
From the outside, Der Schluss looked abandoned, but the place was packed with people. Despite the sparse interior decorations, all the booths and tables were full as if it were an operational booze garden. A few beer signs shined from the walls, some of them vintage. Behind the bar, liquor bottles and glassware hugged the shelves.
When patrons entered, they saw the bar filling to capacity with standing room only. They were all there for the duration of the evening. Most of them ordered drinks and meals which came in takeout containers. The barstools were occupied with customers sitting and chatting back and forth or just having bottles of beer. Even though this was the unofficial opening night, the atmosphere was friendly in the manner of a typical local hangout.
The doors were kept locked, and the chosen ones were permitted inside as they arrived.
Spade was proud to be one of the special ones who not only had access to a booth, but also had some free drinks and a beautiful date, Tina Yarnell. He had not told his co-workers at the construction site that he was going there per Tina’s instructions for fear of her finding out and dropping him as her date. He planned on telling everyone tomorrow at work, certain it would boost his popularity with the crew, most of whom couldn’t stand him. He was aware they thought he was nothing but a dope-head jerk. When they find out I know of a great place to party and have a hot babe to party with, they’ll look at me differently. I’ll be respected. He popped a couple pills which made him feel even better and dreamed about the photos he would take of him and Tina together.
Marla, true to being in character as Tina, had her face covered in lots of makeup. Her short blonde hair was slicked back except for full bangs which fell across her blue eyes, sometimes obscuring them. Every hair was kept in place with heavy professional spray. She was quite a sight.
For the night’s special Play, Marla chose a skin-tight low-cut, sleeveless denim top and the shortest, tightest denim skirt she could wear and still be somewhat of a lady. Stilettos with silver-tipped points were her shoe of choice. Silver and turquoise jewelry, lots of it, completed her outfit. She had an unlit hand-rolled cigarette in her hand and waved it around for conversational emphasis and drama.
“You look fantastic,” Spade slurred, drinking in what was his idea of a real looker.
“Thank you,” Tina said. “You look pretty nice yourself.” It was all she could do to get the lie out with some measure of sincerity.
Spade had to agree with her opinion of his look. He was proud of his outfit. He even ironed his clothes for this special night. Wearing blue jeans, western boots, a tee shirt, and topped off with a cowboy hat, he thought he was the picture of cool. The odor of cheap, knock-off men’s cologne swirling about him added to the overall effect.
When not ogling his date, Spade was looking about, waiting for the drug connection to approach their booth. No one stopped to talk to them.
Tina found plenty of topics to keep their conversation going as they waited. From drinking and popping pills, Spade was feeling no pain.
"What’s the name of this place?" he asked. He was beginning to forget where he was.
“Der Schluss,” Tina said.
“What is a Der Schluss?” Spade asked, looking about.
“Just sit back and enjoy. Believe me, you’ll never forget it.”
All about them, the other patrons seemed to be wrapped up in their own private little parties. There was plenty of drinking and laughing and generally having a good time. Once in awhile someone would get up from their table and talk briefly with someone at the bar or a booth. It was a real friendly crowd. A waiter brought Spade another drink.
“Are you sure he’s coming? You know, the drug guy.” Spade said. He was almost out of pills and intended to get a super-sized refill. Especially since he could run a tab and, if he couldn’t pay it, work it off. What a fantastic deal. It was the kind he had never heard of before and almost too good to be true. He was impressed with being invited on the ground floor of the latest drug dealing policy.
“Don’t you worry, he’ll be here,” Tina said with a wink. “I’ll let you know when I spot him.” She gave him a big honey-dripped smile.
“Yeah, but maybe he won’t get in,” Spade said.
“Don’t worry, sweetie. They’ll let our man in.” She winked again. “He’s one of the reasons most of these folks are here.”
Feeling reassured, he finished his drink and ordered another one. He planned on nursing the next booze along. Already feeling woozy, he was afraid he’d imbibe too much and not be able to score with Tina. For that good time, he wanted to be wide awake and aware of everything. He dreamed of getting a couple pictures of the two of them together so he could show them around at work. For fun, he would post them on the computer, and for drug money, he envisioned selling them.
Country music was playing in the background, interspersed with a smattering of light rock and roll. Occasionally, some of the patrons cheered in recognition of the rockabilly tunes hand-picked for the occasion. It looked like a typical bar, except Glen Spade and Rick Cline were the only ones smoking.
Spade, his cigarette hanging from stained fingers, hadn’t noticed that curiosity.
The bartender had observed the two lighting up and pointed it out to one of the bouncers who approached Spade.
“I’m sorry, sir, but you’ll have to put that cigarette out,” the muscled young man said nicely, but firmly.
“What are you talking about? This is a bar. Everyone smokes in a bar,” Spade said, annoyed. He laughed, shooing the bouncer away with his cigarette and making a face as if the guy was an idiot.
“Not tonight, they don’t,” the bouncer said, taking the cigarette from Spade’s mouth. Snuffing it out between his finger and thumb, he gave him one of those ‘I dare you to stop me’ looks.
“We don’t have our fire extinguishers functional yet. Thank you for not smoking,” the bouncer announced. He smiled broadly, standing firm. “You and everyone else can light up here tomorrow night to your heart’s content.”
“Sure,” Spade said, not wanting to take on the bigger man. He muttered something under his breath after he thought the bouncer was out of hearing range of his comments.
The bouncer looked back over his shoulder at Spade and glared.
Spade broke from the stare-down and looked away.
Over at his table, Rick Cline cringed when he got his order to put the cigarette out but did what he was told.
“Oh, look,” Tina said, as more patrons were escorted through the door. “Here comes our man.”
She smiled at her date and pointed to where a tall, muscled, dark-haired man was standing in front of the door.
The object of her attention looked about the room and motioned for a smaller man with long blonde hair, wearing sunglasses, to follow him. Behind the smaller man, another much-larger bodyguard followed closely. All of them behaved like people who are used to being in control.
The two escorts scanned the room while each kept one hand near their waist.
The trio was largely ignored by everyone but Tina who waved their way.
“Tony,” Tina said sweetly when the blonde male approached her booth. She stood and gave him a long hug.
The bodyguards were unsmiling, unmoving, and still looking about.
“Tina, my girl,” Tony said, after releasing her. “You look good enough to eat.”
“Thank you.” Then as if an afterthought, she introduced Spade.
“Tony, this is my friend, Glen Spade. You know why he’s here and what he wants,” she said, patting Spade’s arm tenderly.
“Hey,” Tony said, nodding his head but not extending his hand to Spade.
Spade put his outstretched hand down and said hello. He was beginning to get bad vibes that he might be in over his head.
Tony and Tina sat down on the same side of the booth, Tony on the outside. The bodyguards stood, one at the end of each bench seat.
No one else in the place seemed to be noticing them.
“Tina tells me you want to make a buy,” Tony said, warily eyeing Spade. He reached his hand out and tapped it gently on the table in front of him in rhythm with the music playing overhead. A large diamond ring glistened from his pinky finger, which made a rap, rap, rap sound as Tony kept time with the beat.
“Yep,” Spade said. He was beginning to squirm under Tony’s hooded gaze and unnerving behavior. Beads of perspiration formed on his forehead. He picked up a napkin and swiped at his face. He crumpled it and attempted to dab at his face again. He regretted doing that in front of them.
“Tina tells me you want to take advantage of our new way of doing business. On the buy-now, pay-as-you-can plan. Just like buying furniture and appliances, only the product’s better. Maybe do some work for us if you can’t make the payments.” His eyes drilled through the weaker Spade’s eyes. “This is the thing of the future for our business. Everyone will be doing it soon. Not now, but soon. We’re the first. We’re always the first.” He was not smiling. “And we aim to stay that way.”
“Yep,” Spade said. He berated himself for drinking too much and for not feeling strong enough to say more.
Tony and his friends were intimidating him into silence.
“I don’t know you, so I’m only making this offer because Tina likes you,” Tony said. He grinned at Tina and moved closer to her. “And I like Tina.” He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek.
She blew a kiss at Spade who smiled weakly in return. He didn’t like Tony muscling in on his date.
“Thanks,” he said, looking fuzzily around the room for reassurance that others weren’t listening to their conversation. He saw no attention focused on them.
Tables and booths were full of patrons busy laughing, ordering drinks, and listening to the music. Everyone appeared to be having a good time. There was good-natured bantering and some were talking in low tones. No one appeared to have taken any notice to Spade, Tina and their tough-looking companions.
“Here’s what I’m going to do,” Tony said. “My men here will walk with you to your vehicle. No offense, but you look like you could use a little help right now. They’ll get your phone number from you, give you some stuff and tell you what you owe us. I’ll contact you tomorrow with the payment details. How does that sound? Are you in?”
“Sounds great. Come on, Tina,” he said, as he rose swaying from his side of the booth. He was eager to get his stuff and get Tina, too.
The bodyguard at his end of bench took a step back to let Spade stand.
“Tina’s staying with me for awhile,” Tony said huskily. “She and I got business to discuss.” He smiled at her, then shot Spade a look daring him to challenge the arrangement.
“Sure,” Spade said, although he was deeply disappointed. Thoughts of the drugs cheered him some. “Call me later, okay?” he said to his date.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, and we’ll get together then,” Tina said. “I’ll get your number from Tony.” She gave him her best ‘come hither’ look. “I’ll be looking forward to it. It’ll be extra special because of the wait. You’ll see.”
“Good,” Spade said, walking away from the booth with a bodyguard on either side of him. He groaned and looked wistfully back at Tony snuggling up to his date.
Tina winked at him and showed some leg. “You take care.”
Tony, looking bored, brought his left hand up and studied his fingernails. He put that hand down on Tina’s arm as if he owned her.
Once he was outside, Spade’s face was numb. He shrugged it off, flush with pleasure that he was going to see Tina tomorrow for some extra special party time, and he was thrilled to be getting some good stuff tonight. What could be better? He marveled how he didn’t have to give them any money yet. I can’t believe how good this setup is. He walked toward his van. It’s the wave of the future, they said. And I’m in on the ground floor.
“Which car is yours, my man?” Sammy, one of the bodyguards, asked.
“That van over there,” Spade said, waving his fingers wildly about. He was wishing he had a nicer vehicle to impress these guys and Tina, but the van was all he could afford. It looked pretty sad to him tonight.
George, the other bodyguard, shook his head and made a face at the piece of crap Spade was driving. He whispered something to Sammy and they laughed.
The three men stood next to the rusting, faded blue vehicle. Sammy opened the driver’s side door, and Spade got in per the bouncer's instruction. He waited for them to speak, hoping they didn’t ask him anything, since he was having trouble remembering things.
George leaned against the inside of the open door. He gave Spade a pen and paper to write his phone number on. His hands shook, but he got a blurry set of numbers down. He tucked the pen inside his pocket.
“I want my pen,” George said.
It was returned.
“You sure this is your number?” George said.
“Read it back,” Spade answered.
George read the scrawled number out loud.
“I think that’s it. Yeah, that’s probably it. Maybe. Yeah. I think so.”
Sammy reached inside his jacket and pulled a plastic bag out of his coat. George did the same. They handed the items to Spade, with Sammy assuring him he would be contacted soon about payment.
Spade leaned over and tucked them into a compartment under the passenger’s seat. A big silly grin crossed his face. “This night’s looking great. I can’t wait to use the stuff you gave me.”
The amount looked adequate enough to hold him for awhile. He was sorry that Tina hadn’t joined him but didn’t feel as if he was in a position to complain about it.
Sammy closed the driver’s door by pushing it with his elbow and leaned in close.
“Look, man,” Sammy said. “You work with us, and you’ll be driving a Ferrari. Understand? Sell some of what you buy. Pay what you can. Work off the rest of your debt, and you’ll be on easy street. No more crap van for you, and there’ll be lots of Tina’s following you home. Got it? You should see the gorgeous babes who chase us around. Not just because we’re handsome. They love the money and the stuff we throw their way.”
Spade nodded his head and smiled at the thought of being a successful dealer with money and women. He could see himself in a hot car, peddling drugs with a hot blonde. She may even be hotter than Tina. Dreams of the fast life ahead of him clouded the minuscule bit of sense that he possessed.
“Did you have fun at the bar tonight?” George said.
“What’s the name of this place again?” Spade asked, slobber running down his chin.
“The Town Hall.”
“The Two All?” Spade asked through a foggy mind.
“That’s it,” George said. “Now get out of here. You’ll hear from us later.”
Sammy opened the passenger side door, reached in and started the engine.
Spade pulled the shift into gear. The van gave up a cough, bucked, and the rusted vehicle pulled away, lurching down the darkened street.
Sammy and George laughed out loud when the wreck was out of sight. Staying true to the Script, George made a phone call to the police. After finishing his prepared statement, he readied the phone for destruction.
Inside Der Schluss, Rick Cline was in a booth at the other side of the bar. He was deliberately positioned with his back to Marla, in costume as Tina. With the get-up she was wearing, it was unlikely he would recognize her, but she didn’t want to take a chance.
Cisco came decked out with an Asian girl on each arm. The dark-haired girls looked to be about sixteen years old and were dressed in revealing outfits. They sat one on each side of Cisco.
Cline was deliberately seated alone on his side of the table.
Cisco wanted to keep him hungry for some female company, to keep his attention.
The taller girl was named Angel, and the other one they called Mita. Both kept their eyes down and spoke only when Cisc
o asked them a question or said they could speak.
“What do you think of these two?” Cisco asked of Cline. He looked proudly at his girls.
“They’re hot,” Cline said, licking his lips. He could barely sit still, he was so excited. He wanted a cigarette, but mindful of the ‘no smoking’ warning, put it out of his thoughts.
“The man said you two were hot,” Cisco said nastily to the girls. “What do you say to him?” He glared at them.
“Thank you, sir,” each of them said softly. Eyes still downward.
Cisco grabbed Mita’s arm tightly until she gasped, his fingers white from the pressure he was applying. “He couldn’t hear you,” he said. He roughly let go of her arm.
Mita rubbed her reddened arm and said, “Thank you, sir,” more loudly.
“Do you girls want something to drink?” Cline asked. “A beer or a mixed drink?”
“Yes, sir,” each of them said, eyes still downcast.
“They only drink cheap beer,” Cisco said. “They’re not worth spending any more money on than that.” He reached his arm around Angel and rubbed against her suggestively.
She smiled sweetly in response.
“Good girl. You’re learning,” Cisco said. He patted her arm.
“I have expectations of my girls,” Cisco said to Cline. He gave the two a knowing look. “They must say ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ keep their eyes down unless they are spoken to. And under no circumstances are they to talk unless first spoken to by a man. Especially no stupid female chatting between them. You gotta keep them in their place so they don’t go getting uppity or expectin’ something. Cuz after they’re used, we toss ‘em off to someone else.”
“That’s a problem with some women,” Cline said. “They yak, yak, yak. You can’t shut them up. It’s better to train them right from the start, so they know how a woman should behave.” He was really getting into it. “I wish females here in the US were trained better. They think they can run things.”
The bartender brought each of the girls a bottle of beer, and they kept their eyes down and said their ‘thank you’s’ in voices just loud enough to be heard. He seemed not to notice their discomfort.
Justice and Revenge Page 10