by J. C. Phelps
“No problem, Ms. Stanton,” he said. I had obviously used this taxi service before. I suppose that’s why my Mustang was still in pretty good shape. Other than back and forth to work I didn’t drive often. I preferred to walk if the weather was good and my destination wasn’t too far or I would call the cab company so I could pay more attention to the scenery.
I wanted to make sure the Crown Victoria was really following me and not just cruising around in the neighborhood. That happens from time to time. I live in a very nice side of town and people sometimes came just to see how the other half lived.
The Crown Victoria pulled out of the lot just as we rounded the corner of the block and headed our direction. I kept my eyes open and saw it several times, sometimes in front of us, sometimes parked in a lot that we were passing. It was almost as if there were black Crown Victoria’s with the same plate all over the place.
When we finally came to rest in front of the Skylight I looked around and saw my admirer pull into a spot down the street. I paid my driver and crept out of the cab. I walked inside a little faster than I normally would have and then caught myself just inside the door. I stopped and took a deep breath, smoothed the front of my shirt and walked down the dimly lit hallway to the main area.
The Skylight had been a warehouse before it was changed to a club. The owners had added a gigantic skylight directly above the dance floor, hence the name. The building was set up almost like it was two different businesses. When you first came in the door you were confronted with the bathrooms on the opposite wall and a mediocre hallway extending about fifty feet to the main bar area. The two extremely large bathrooms took up a quarter of the building’s length and most of the width. As soon as you emerged from behind the old time swinging doors at the end of the hall, you found yourself in a mix of loud people, loud music and strong drinks. They had quite a large round bar situated toward the middle of the building. The bar was surrounded by tables and then at the end of the building was the dance floor and stage that always had a live band. Along one side of the building were high-backed booths that afforded couples more privacy than they should have in a bar. Give people enough to drink and they will do a lot of things they really shouldn’t do. I usually steered clear of the booths but thought tonight might be the night for me to sit there.
I quickly scanned the room. Most everyone was out tonight. There were a few new faces so I made a mental note to remember they were here before I was. I hadn’t told anyone where I was going so the people already here shouldn’t be looking for me.
I found myself shaking as I walked to the booths to find a suitable hiding place. This wasn’t a game, this was real. If it weren’t White and Associates it could be a kidnapper. My parents did have money after all and were well-known for spending tons of it on me, their one and only child.
I was grateful for my training; otherwise I may never have noticed what was happening. At the same time, my training had never really prepared me for the possibility that I might truly need it someday. Of course I fantasized about saving the world James-Bond style but then I was never placed in any real danger. The closest I had ever come to real danger was when I was involved with the drug crowd in college. Some of those people are really rough, but they aren’t professionals either.
I was scanning the booths and found my old tutor and best friend, Colin DeLange. His mother is deaf and I had asked if he would tutor me in sign language when we were younger. At first I just wanted to be around Colin. He was a few years older than me and not at all hard to look at. By the time I got the basics down for signing we had grown to be very good friends.
Over the years we had remained best friends. We might not have seen each other for months but we could always fall right back into the friendship. I walked toward him and he smiled. Colin had joined the Navy a few years ago and was considering making it a career like his dad. He had already been in for eight years and had just re-upped for another four. Sometimes when Chief Slade was drilling me, Colin would come over to benefit from his services. I think our Dad’s had worked out a system that Colin would tutor me for lessons from Chief Slade. Colin’s tutoring would have gone on without the extras that my dad paid for but my dad really liked Colin. I think our parents had conspired together hoping something other than friendship would blossom between us. I guess Colin could be considered my first boyfriend, but there had never been anything sexual between us. We both thought of the possibility, I’m sure. It was just an unwritten rule that we were to remain friends and in no way did either of us want to jeopardize that friendship.
Colin had one of those personalities that you just couldn’t dislike. He smiled easily and was very charismatic. When he was around I was drawn to him like a bee to honey. He was always happy and hardly ever had anything bad to say about anyone or anything. I reached the booth and he stood to give me a welcoming hug.
He immediately sat to where he could see the door. Chief Slade may have gone a bit overboard with the training for watching your back. I knew I had to sit there too. I was sure the person following me would be in soon, if not already here. I skootched in next to him. He looked at me a bit funny so I mouthed at him, “I want to see the door.”
Colin was an expert at reading lips, not only did he have the benefit of growing up in a deaf house hold, he had been given specialized training in the Navy for just such things. I think my father played a roll in Colin’s good luck in the service, but if anyone deserved to be treated well it was Colin.
“What’s going on?” he mouthed back at me with his hands up already signing what he had just said. Having a friend that signs and reads lips to sit with at the Skylight was nice. I didn’t have to leave my voice behind in the bar when I left. The music was permanently loud and a person had to yell to be heard.
“I think I was followed,” I said in my normal voice.
This brought an incredulous look from Colin. “Are you getting paranoid in your old age? Or did Master Chief Slade visit you lately?” He smiled.
“MASTER Chief?” I said. This was a new development. “How long has he been a Master Chief?” I asked.
“A few months.” Colin had stopped signing everything he was saying making me work to read his lips. Once a tutor, always a tutor I guess.
I wasn’t so good at reading lips, but I could usually catch enough words to make out the main topic of conversation.
“Is that the guy?” he said nodding his head in the direction of the door.
I looked away from Colin toward the door and he most definitely wasn’t a familiar face. He was scanning the room. I don’t know if he was looking for me or if he was just checking out the scene. I involuntarily slouched in my seat.
“I don’t know,” I said to Colin.
Colin sensed my nervousness and both of us were quiet as we watched the man pick a seat at the bar. He could see us and we could see him. He was quite a large man with a rough face and a sandy blonde military-style haircut. He reminded me a little of the actor Dolph Lundgren, except he wasn’t as refined looking. We watched him order. “Bud please,” Colin repeated.
Colin and I had spied on people like this before; this was nothing new to me. I think it was Colin’s way of trying to teach me to read lips better, but it was my way of eavesdropping on conversations across the room.
The bartender, who happened to be my one and only ex, Anthony, was working. I didn’t harbor any hard feelings for him anymore, but he steered clear of me all the same. I had caught him with one of the other waitresses in the women’s bathroom one night. I had been infatuated with Anthony and very naïve. I had been taken by total surprise. When I saw them together, her on the sink with him in front of her admiring himself in the mirror, I pulled him off of her and then literally picked her up over my head and threw her out of the bathroom. Anthony had grabbed me to stop me from going out to finish the job but I just flicked him away like a fly. By the time I had gotten away from Anthony and out the bathroom door, the little floozy still hadn’t gott
en her panties up from around her ankles and there was a crowd building. I squared off with her but she was horrified so it took some of my anger away.
About that time Anthony came out of the bathroom. He was furious and grabbed me by the hair and whipped me around. He backhanded me and I was slammed to the floor. Some of the men in the club were on their way to take care of the woman beater, but I beat them too it. I stood up, bawling like an idiot, and grabbed his arm. I had it pinned behind his back before he knew what hit him. Then I forced him to his knees. “Apologize to me,” I had regained my composure and said this in a quiet voice.
“What? Let go of me you bitch!” he yelled back at me.
I wrenched his arm harder and heard it snap. Oh shit! had been my thought at the time, but only for a millisecond. I leaned down toward his ear and spoke into it so he would hear me over his screaming. “I said apologize to me, you prick. I can make it worse or you can make it better by just apologizing to me like a gentleman.”
Anthony couldn’t say, “I’m sorry,” enough. He was still apologizing while they put him in the ambulance. For some reason breaking his arm made me feel better. He probably could have pressed charges against me but decided against it because the witnesses there would have told the cops that I had broken his arm after he hit me. I walked around with a black eye for about a month after that. Then I became a bitter single girl working in a bar and came unglued any time someone touched my butt. I eventually gave up the job for the greater good of the public. Anthony finished college and continued to work part time at the Skylight. As far as I knew, his sex life has never been the same.
Women talk and they all knew about how he hit me that night. Some women gravitate to that kind of thing, but the ones who do are already attached to the man who is beating them. My sex life was non-existent after that because I imagine men talk too. Nobody wanted a girlfriend that might break your arm.
Colin nudged me to get my attention, “I said, they’re talking about you.”
“What are they saying?” I asked him. Before Colin nudged me I had been intent on the two of them at the bar, but now my eyes were locked on Colin’s lips.
“Army Boy wanted to know if Anthony knew you. I can’t tell what Anthony’s saying though. Do you suppose he’s telling him about how you kicked his ass?”
“Probably more like how he’s had me. That’s more Anthony’s style,” I said.
Colin and I both went back to watching them talk with Colin translating Army Boy’s words.
“Really?” “Is she here?” This turned Anthony around to point in our direction. “Thanks.” Then Anthony saw to his other customers.
We could clearly see Army Boy and he could see us. He was a bit stunned to see the two of us staring right at him. He was made and he knew it.
Colin yelled in my ear, “Go to the other side of the booth, I’ll keep an eye out and tell you anything else he says. He doesn’t need to be staring at you.” I could tell he was a little upset at the situation. Sometimes I thought Colin was in love with me but other times he was just my big brother watching out for me.
I got out of the booth and moved to the other side. This bothered me because I couldn’t see Army Boy anymore. I turned in the seat and got up on my knees to look over the back like little kids did when you were in a Perkins or Denny’s booth trying to eat your breakfast. Colin grabbed me by my pants pocket and pulled me back down before I could get my head up over the back of the seat.
“What is going on?” he asked.
“ I don’t know.” I told him about the Crown Victoria and how it had followed me around and how I was pretty sure Army Boy was the person operating the vehicle. Then I told him about the job interview with White and Associates. I told him about Mr. White and the interrogation. I yelled all of this to him over the band because he wouldn’t take his eyes off the bar and Army Boy.
Colin finally looked at me when I finished my story and said, “Are you kidding me? What the hell have you gotten yourself into?”
“I don’t know. I’m just glad that you were here so I could tell you about it. I’m actually having some fun with this, but it would be more fun if I knew exactly what was going on.”
“Well, I guess you could go up to the guy and ask him what he’s doing here asking about you. You’re in a public place and I think he probably wouldn’t try anything here,” Colin said.
“Yeah, I suppose I could.”
I started to get out of my seat and Colin put his hand up and said, “Wait, he’s making a call.”
I sat back down hard. Great, now I was going to have a chance to think about the confrontation with Army Boy. It was always harder to build my courage up than to just jump in with both feet without thinking. If I had just gone right then and there I wouldn’t have even thought about it until it was over. Telling Colin about my day had put it in a new light. All of the excitement was starting to fade and be overshadowed by the fear and worry that I felt.
“Yeah, boss.” Colin was giving me the one-sided conversation being held at the bar. “I have a problem.” A small pause, “The Skylight on 1st and Main.” “Alright.”
“I wonder what that was all about.” Colin said.
“He called his boss and told him he had a problem,” I said a bit peevishly.
“I know that, I meant what does that mean for you. Man, you need a nap or something,” Colin yelled over the music.
A waitress had strutted to our booth now that we weren’t on the same side anymore. You learn quickly at the Skylight to leave the couples in the booths alone until they are on opposite sides of the table. It was Sara McNenny. She had started working here shortly before I quit. I liked her well enough, but we weren’t close.
“Hey guys,” she said. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
Colin ordered his regular, a tap beer, and I butted in and ordered a shot of whiskey and a Coke back. This brought surprised looks from both Colin and Sara. I rarely drank anymore and it usually spelled trouble.
“Be right back.” And then Sara started her bar wench walk up to Anthony to fill our order.
Colin was giving me a look so I said, “What, I’ve had a rough day. I’m over twenty-one, I can legally drink.” He was still looking at me. “Alright,” I said. “I’ll be good.” I gave him the most sincere smile I could muster. “Hey, I could have ordered a bourbon,” I added.
“This is true,” he said. “I’ll make sure you get home safe.” Then he grinned because he knew I would probably be just fine once I had some liquor in my belly.
I began to watch the band. The big white sign with changeable letters next to the stage read, “Incompetence.” What a name for a band. I hadn’t heard of them but they were doing a pretty good job. Not too incompetent.
Colin had kept his eyes on the big guy at the bar. Then Sara returned with our drinks. I took my shot straight from her tray and threw it back and said, “Will you bring me two more?” I handed her a fifty for the lot and sat back to await the arrival of my other invincibility potions.
“You’re going to be sorry,” Colin said.
“I know it, but I have to gather up enough courage to go face off with the guy. Besides, I get a little flirty when I drink so I think I might be able to flirt the guy to death.” I smiled. I hadn’t drunk alcohol in several months and I was already feeling the effects of the first shot.
“Here you go,” Sara said with a concerned look on her face. “There’s a guy at the bar asking about you. Is everything alright?” she asked.
I didn’t pick up either of the two shots sitting in front of me yet. I just sat there looking at them. Sara laid my change on the table and turned to leave.
I yelled over the noise, “Sara!” She turned back to our table. “Everything’s fine. Maybe you could try finding out who he is ‘cause I don’t know. Oh, and keep the change,” I said laying it back on her tray with a genuine smile.
“Thanks. I will,” she said and went about her business of selling booze.
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nbsp; “Colin, just ignore him. I’ll take care of it later. I’m sure you didn’t come here tonight to baby-sit me,” I said.
“Not a bad band,” he replied. “If you drink those other two shots, I’ll dance with you,” he said with a big grin.
I was a pretty good dancer. Mom had made me take dancing lessons along with the etiquette classes. I hated it then but was grateful now. Colin wanted me to be drunk on the dance floor because I was more fun that way. I was pretty reserved until you chipped away at the inhibitions with whiskey.
I slammed down the second whiskey and caught a gag in my throat. I sipped my Coke for a few minutes watching the band, letting my stomach settle.
“Hurry up with that last shot,” Colin hollered at me. “I’m in the mood to dance.”
Peer pressure. I grabbed the whiskey and brought it to my mouth then quickly moved it away. I could smell it and that made my stomach turn. Just slam it and you’ll be over it. You’re the stupid one who ordered it in the first place. I thought to myself. I lifted it back to my mouth being careful to take a deep breath before it got too close and then swallowed it down. I was feeling the effects of the first drink but not the other two yet.
Colin stood up and led me to the dance floor. By the time we had waded through the tables and people I was feeling the second shot and had forgotten all about Army Boy at the bar.
After the first song I was feeling really good and cockier than ever. I told Colin I was going to use the restroom so he mouthed, “Be good,” at me then began to dance with another girl that we knew from the club.
I walked a straight line to the bathrooms not even glancing in the direction of Army Boy because I had totally forgotten about him. I really had to pee. I made my way down the hall to the women’s restroom. They were large enough that there was rarely a line and I found no line as I got there this time either. I washed my hands and entered the hallway to go back to the fun.