by Tamara Woods
"Oh, is that why y'all aren't married?" asked Sally Anne. "You're you know..." she leaned forward, "Together?"
"We're not dating, but if we were, you wouldn't have to whisper about it," Clare said. "It's not the 1950s, good grief."
Isa gently pulled her arm out of Clare's. "What did you need, Sally Anne?"
She cleared her throat and smiled importantly. Even in the waning light, her smile did not look sincere. "Are y'all headed to The Rec tonight?"
"Why do you ask?" Clare asked.
"Well, aren't you just the suspicious one?" She tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder. How does someone with three kids have hair that looked like a Pantene commercial? Isa idly wondered if she'd exchanged her soul for hair that was always salon-ready.
Clare just looked at Sally Anne, until the other woman sighed and showed a bit of uncharacteristic insecurity.
"If Todd is down there, could you just tell him that we're waiting for him? He usually goes down there with that, Chad." She spat out Chad's name like she'd taken a bite of a rotten apple.
"Don't you have a cell phone?" Clare asked.
"Todd doesn't believe in cell phones. He said that they're part and parcel to the government being able to look right at you while you're on the toilet, doing number 2."
She blinked a few times and it looked to Isa like there was absolutely nothing behind those eyes.
Isa felt a shiver down her spine. Todd was Sally Anne's older brother. After he'd come back from serving in the Middle East, he'd had a hard time adjusting to town living and had started to spend a lot of time drinking. Sally Anne may have been a jerk, but she couldn't be faulted for the love of her brother.
Isa could see that Clare was fixing to say something devastating to the girl. She jumped in.
"You know, if we see him, we'll definitely tell him that you're waiting for him. You take care, now."
She pulled Clare away from the woman and made her walk a little faster. "What are you doing?"
"I don't know what's up with her, Clare, but I don't want none of that. She kind of creeped me out."
"What do you mean?"
She shook her head, "I don't know. She was just...odd."
Clare shrugged. "She didn't seem any different to me. Just as vacant as usual."
Isa kept her thoughts to herself, but she realized some things were different in her hometown. More than just the new adult playground.
They finally made it to The Rec and the parking lot was almost full. Isa remembered the abandoned building as being pretty awful looking when she was a kid. It had been the kind of place that kids with overactive imaginations would decide was filled with ghosts and other spooky beings. No more of that.
All of the broken windows had been replaced and the graffiti was now gone. The old factory bones were still there, but now it was just...better. They walked inside and to the left, there were stairs that led down to the bowling alley.
"Oh we're not going there," Clare said with confidence.
Isa looked at her with suspicion but decided to let this play out. It was true that she really did need to have some downtime. And what could possibly go wrong in a place where kids were encouraged to play during the day?
The smell hit Isa first, a sticky sweet mix of burnt popcorn and sweat with a perfume overlay. Good ole Wesley must have tried spraying air freshener to tackle the smell. It failed. He should open some windows and air this place out, Isa thought. Otherwise, The Rec looked like a cheerful spot. At the double glass door, there was a big black carpet to wipe dirty feet off, which laid on top of white tiles with blue and black pattern. The creamy yellow walls were dominated by murals of people playing basketballs, pins being knocked down, and a pool stick aiming at a setup rack of balls. Presumably, everything that was offered in the building.
Clare took the lead and led them down the stairs, past the bowling alley to a room down the hall. The door opened and the atmosphere was totally different. An imposing guy who was more muscle than man checked IDs at the door. 21 and over, ftw! Of course, it would be pretty hard to underage drink in this town.
While she waited in line, Isa scoped the place out. People were milling around, some who looked like they'd been there for a while. A couple of pool tables were on the left side under low hanging lights. I bet more than one person has hit those with a stick, Isa thought. They were empty at the moment. The electric blue walls had another mural, this one with a guy wearing a cowboy hat bending over, while a group of guys stood there waiting for their turn. A jukebox was in the middle of the room, filling the room with some old school country. On the right was a line of some of those quarter gambling machines with a few people probably feeding them their paychecks. In between were tables and chairs that had a lot of people already sitting, even though it was pretty early in the night. And in front was the bar was a stage. A deejay was setting up shop, but there was a screen behind her and an open book in front of a microphone.
"Karaoke?!" Isa exclaimed.
Cowabunga dude!" Clare punched the air as Isa groaned.
Karaoke ranked right up there with walking into a poison ivy patch and eating oysters in her book. Ew, no thanks.
"You tricked me," she said under her breath.
"You know it," Clare was totally unrepentant. "It's time for me to shine in all of my karaoke superstar glory."
Isa rolled her eyes as she gave her money to the door guy.
"Where to first?" Clare asked.
"If they have a little kitchen, let's get some snacks."
Though bar food wasn't exactly a health haven, it was tasty and Isa had skipped lunch to keep working on her marketing plan for the bookstore. The bartender's hair was a brassy blond that definitely came out of a box. She wore a shirt that was so low cut, her chest was in danger of knocking over the drinks she made. Gotta do what you gotta do for those tips, Isa thought.
"Hey Todd, you doing all right tonight?" Clare said to a guy sitting on one of the barstools. He kind of grunted at her.
Clare tried again. "Your sister is looking for you, my dude."
He grunted and shrugged. When he looked up, Isa saw a glimmer of the kid he used to be. But his face was now all hard lines and edges. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair was slicked down to his face with sweat. His eyes were incredibly dilated.
"Are you OK?" Isa asked him.
"Whatever." He grunted and turned back to his beer. Isa stared at him for a minute and then mentally shrugged. They'd done their part.
"Hey Clarebel! Who’s your friend?" the bartender asked.
"Hey, Lisa!" Clare said. She threw her arm over her friend’s shoulder. “You remember Isa, don’t you? She graduated with me a couple years before you did. She just moved back to town.”
“What you weren’t bored enough in your town? Needed a little less excitement?” Lisa said with a laugh.
“I’m a librarian, I guess I needed more quiet.” Isa chuckled.
Lisa gave her a second look. “Didn’t you used to date Travis?” All of the warmth had left her voice.
"That was a long, long time ago. I haven't even seen him since I went to college," Isa said.
"You'll probably see him tonight. He always manages to show up here with his crew. It's a real fun time." Her tone let them know it was anything but fun.
Isa sighed. The struggles of living in Whisper Valley were definitely resurfacing. Everyone remembered everything you'd ever done like it was yesterday. Especially high school stuff. It was like everybody who stayed home froze in time in some respects. Or maybe just the memory of her did, because they didn't know her? Hopefully, as they got to know her better, they'd have some new memories to build from.
Lord, let the new memories not be so cringe.
"What did you want?" Lisa asked again.
The two made their orders of a couple of beers and some snacks and took a sit. They sat near the stage or "where the real action is," as Clare referred to it. Isa looked around and didn't notice any people that
she recognized; she mentioned that to her friend.
"A lot of people from around the county come to hangout here. It's kind of perfect. People bring their kids because there's a lot of spots perfect for playing. And other folks come because it's the perfect walking distance for boozin," she said with a satisfied smack of her lips. She took another strong drink of her beer, taking down half of the bottle.
"Slow down there! I can't be dragging you down Main Street later trying to get you home."
"Exactly, so if you drink more, we'll both float." Clare let out an unladylike burp.
Isa shook her head. "That's not how any of this works."
"Dead meme," Clare countered and took another drink, though smaller this time.
Isa shrugged. She didn't keep up with memes. She just kind of rolled with what she remembered. For using the Internet as much as she did, Internet culture wasn't her strong suit.
"I'd prefer a nice Cosmopolitan, but I feel like this isn't the spot for all of that," Isa admitted.
"You snob. You think because this spot is in the basement of a rec center that Lisa can't make a decent Cosmo?"
"Well..."
"Welp, you might be right. I wouldn't know. I always stick to a beer just in case."
"See!" Isa laughed, taking a cautious drink of the microbrew. It had a dark, rich flavor. "This is really good!"
"Oh yeah! That's from that place that's down the road from Auntie's house. The Coalminers Daughter."
"I haven't been there yet."
"Don't ask your aunt about it. She's got a lot of feelings."
Isa gave her friend a quizzical look, but Clare ignored it and didn't say anything else on it.
More people were coming into the bar, couples, a few groups, and even the straggler or two who were just looking for somewhere to be on a Thursday night.
"Have you ever picked someone up from here?" Isa asked, curiously. She knew her friend had been single most of the time she was gone, but she didn't really know too much about her single life.
Clare shrugged. "Some nights are better than others. But I'm really here for the karaoke. I'm not that concerned with being in a relationship, to be honest."
"It's not like you've ever been in one," Isa said.
"Why does it matter?" Clare snapped.
Isa held her hands up in surrender and took a drink from her beer. This subject had all kinds of landmines around it.
"My bad." she replied. She quickly changed the subject. "When does the karaoke start?"
Clare checked the time on her phone. "In about 20 minutes. Jackie should be coming to the stage soon." Right on time a redhead with another sizable chest headed to the stage. Her cowboy boots clacked on the wooden stage. She had on a flannel top, but had it tied in the front under her boobs with her pigtails bouncing beside her face.
Pigtails?
She fussed around with the mic and presumably the books of songs. Clare scooted up to the stage and grabbed a pencil, a few pieces of paper for the songs, and one of the books. She exchanged some words and a smile with the redhead and was back.
"I can't wait. What song are you going to do?"
"The song of silence."
"Do you mean, The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel as covered by Disturbed, or maybe Enjoy the Silence by INXS?" Clare asked, flipping through the book.
"No...more like not singing a single word as covered by me."
"You're no fun."
"I try."
Before too long, The Rec was really jumping. The tables were packed with people ranging from closer to 21 to even around her aunt's age. Isa heard the crack of the pool balls as people were playing against each other, even though the voices were louder than before. That phenomenon of people losing their hearing and gaining volume while drinking was in full effect. Isa was still sipping on her first beer and Clare was at the bar grabbing beer number four, according to the empty bottles on the table.
When did Clare start drinking so much? It would've been hard to imagine her drinking so much when they were younger.
"Hey baby, what's up?" A guy walked over to the table, he looked like the average dude bro from her college years, with his hat on backward and confident smirk. He looked vaguely familiar like everyone else in town, she thought.
She smiled half-heartedly at him.
"Can I sit here?" he asked and didn't wait for permission, spun a chair around and sat right beside of Isa, even though there were four other seats.
"Sure have a seat," she said half-heartedly. She looked for Clare in the crowd and saw that she'd been stopped by some guy.
Great.
He gave her a once over and it felt like his eyes were leaving a slime trail. He took a drink from his draft.
"Do I know you or whatever?"
She shrugged, "I honestly don't know."
"You look familiar. We don't have a lot of...you know, in Whisper Valley."
She looked down at her outfit, jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and her hair was up in a scarf. Pretty basic.
"What? Girls who wear scarves?"
He laughed and smacked the table, making her jump.
"No, black chicks."
Great, here we go. She wanted to say something really rude, but decided to take the high road. When they went low and all that.
"I used to live here, but I've been away for some time," she said. Maybe if she sent some psychic energy to the back of Clare's head. Just really zing her with some thoughts, she'd move. Probably not, but she could dream, right?
"I'm Chad, I didn't get your name."
She was shocked and tried to recover. This was the jock everybody had envied when she was in school?
"Wow, Chad, you look...different. I'm Isa. We did go to school together."
Gone was the golden boy she remembered and in his place was a beer guzzling, red-faced sloppy looking guy. His stomach strained the waist of his jeans and he was wearing an old football T-shirt. Maybe to remind people of who he'd been?
He snapped his fingers. "That's right. You that THOT Travis used to fool around with."
"Excuse me?" Isa blinked rapidly. Did he really just call her That Hoe Over There?
Not bothering to acknowledge her annoyance, he carried on his end of the conversation. "What are you singing tonight?"
"Nothing. I hate singing." Her tone was short. She took a sip of her beer, looking around her, making it clear she wanted to be anywhere but talking to him. He must not have been that great at picking up on hints.
"C'mon, you really look like you can sing."
She rolled her eyes. "Seriously guy?"
"What did I say?"
She shook her head. There wasn't any point in getting into a big debate about stereotypes. "Nothing. I don't sing. I don't like to."
Isa spotted Todd right before he lurched into Chad's beer-holding hand.
"Careful!" Chad growled, cradling his bottle closer.
"Sorry," Todd said. He leaned down to talk to Chad for privacy sake. But Chad was so close, Isa could hear everything.
"Hey man, what you got tonight?"
"Nothing, especially not for you. Get offa me," Chad said, not bothering to look the other man in the eye.
"What? You said-"
"That was then, this is now. Loser. Get lost."
Todd looked like he wanted to say more, but he noticed Isa watching them. He mumbled something and shoved away from Chad.
Chad kept talking like nothing had happened. "Why you here if you don't like to sing?"
"My friend Clare is going to be singing though."
His sneer gave her the creeps. "I know Clare. I know her real good."
Like he'd summoned her with his words, Clare plopped down beside him, and pushed a bottle of beer and a shot toward her friend.
"Hey Chad, what are you up to tonight?" Clare asked. Her delivery felt deliberately easy, breezy and Isa felt suspicious. Was he a guy she'd hooked up with in the past? Gross.
"Hey baby, what's up?" he asked in respons
e, still staring at Isa with a look that she really didn't like. His eyes looked like two tiny pieces of coal, like a blond rat.
"Chillin, like a villain," Clare said with a laugh. She looked at Isa waiting for her customary groan, but saw the steel set of her best friend's jaw.
"But yo Chad, where's the rest of your boys? Aren't they going to be lonely without their fearless leader?"
He turned to Clare finally, taking his focus off of Isa, "Guess I better find them. What would those guys do without me? Later babes."
Isa took a drink of beer instead of answering. He gave Isa another look and walked away toward a table on the other side of the room.
"He called me a THOT," Isa said immediately after he left. She might be many things to many different people, but promiscuous wasn't one of them.
Clare took a drink of her beer. "Ignore him, he just likes to get a rise out of people."
"He's a creep," Isa said.
"He's cool, once you get to know him."
Isa raised her eyebrows at her bestie and Clare wouldn't quite meet her eyes.
"Let's take these shots," Clare said. "They're lemon drops. You put sugar on the lemon, take the shot, and then suck on the lemon."
"I don't really like shots."
"I don't think I should drink two. Do you?" Clare gave her a pointed look.
"Aren't you too old to be peer pressuring me?" Isa grudgingly accepted the sugar shaker. She shook some on her lemon.
They said, “Cheers,” tapping their shot glasses together, then licked the sugar, took the shot, and bit into the lemon. It wasn't that bad; the lemon was definitely Isa's favorite part.
"All right, do you have your song?"
After the first round of karaoke was over, including Clare's stunning version of Vanilla Ice's- Ice Ice Baby, the drinking had been cranked up a notch. Isa sipped a glass of seltzer water, so it looked like she was drinking alcohol, but she could keep her head. Pop country was bumping in the background while the karaoke deejay took a break.
"Come to the bar with me and take a shot!" Clare said, her voice a little slurred.
Isa walked up with her, squeezing between the people and the tables, so she could keep an eye on her friend. Even if they were in Whistle Valley, adding alcohol seemed to make things complicated. And unpredictable.