by Tracy Krauss
juice from a bottle. “One day I’ll take you to The Brew for lunch, though. They make the best Pastrami sandwiches around and their coffee is pretty good, too. It’s just around the corner.”
“The Brew? Sounds like a hangout for witches.” Lester grinned and took a hefty bite of his roast beef sandwich.
Jed laughed. “Tamara and Carmen couldn’t be witches. They’re too easy on the eyes.”
“The owners, I take it?” Lester took another bite.
“Yep. Tamara actually lives in our building, so I feel obligated to go to ‘er café once in awhile. ” Jed stopped, finished chewing and then swallowed, all the while staring at Lester with his head cocked to one side. “I could probably fix you up if you want. She’s a bit of a feminist or activist or some such thing, so she might be a ‘andful. But you look like you could take it.”
Lester frowned. “Then why don’t you date her?”
Jed just laughed. “I’m not the settlin’ down kind. No woman’s gonna stick ‘er claws into me. Not if I can ‘elp it.”
“Is that so? What makes you think I’d be interested?”
Jed rubbed his chin. “Are you?”
“Not at the moment.” Lester kept his gaze straight ahead, out toward the wide-open air beyond the building’s skeletal structure.
“You sure about that?”
Lester turned to Jed and gave him a withering look. “Absolutely. Now, change of topic. What does a guy do for fun around this city?”
“Depends on your idea of fun,” Jed replied with a shrug. “What did you used to do for fun?”
“Work mostly. No time for fun.”
Jed guffawed and shook his head. “Not buyin’ it.”
“Well, I used to do some rodeo riding. Broncos, mostly.”
Jed’s eyebrows rose and he nodded slowly as if impressed. “So, you’re the real deal, then. A real Alberta cowboy.”
“I guess you could say that.” Lester smiled and looked down at his jeans. He felt suddenly embarrassed and slapped his hands on his knees before standing up. “I guess we better get back to work. Lunch break must be over by now.”
Jed stood also. “I think I might know just the place for a cowboy like yourself to ‘ave some fun.”
Lester glanced at Jed and, by the look in his eyes, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. “I’m afraid to ask but go ahead and tell me, since you’re going to anyway.”
Jed leaned back and gestured with both hands at an invisible sign in front of him. “It’s called The Urban Cowboy.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“No joke.”
“Sounds almost too cliché to be true.”
“Ah, you laugh now, but it ‘as one of those mechanical bulls. A leftover from the eighties or something. Vintage. Might be the only operational one in the city for all I know.” Jed straightened and tucked his thumbs in his belt loops. “What do you think of that? Wanna try it out?”
Lester shook his head. “Those things are dangerous.”
“Chicken? I thought you said you was a rodeo cowboy.”
“I said I used to be. Big difference. I could break my neck. Besides, I’ve got Patsi to think about.”
Jed started making clucking noises and tucked his hands up under his armpits like flapping wings.
Lester frowned. “Although, it might be fun to take a look…”
Jed slapped Lester on the back. “That’s the spirit, cowboy.”
“I’m not promising I’ll ride the thing,” Lester said. “So don’t hold your breath. I just want to see what kind of machine it is.”
“Awesome. Friday at eight.”
◇ ◇ ◇
Lester let the truck idle as he waited for Patsi to join him in the parking lot. He’d been thinking about his conversation with Jed the other day - the one where Jed kept bating him about dating. The truth was, he was lonely at times. But long hours on the farm and the weight of his responsibilities had kept him from pursuing anything past ‘casual’. Now that Patsi was almost grown up, he just might consider a relationship – with the right woman, of course. It would have to be on his terms and not some random female that Jed picked out for him.
He spotted Patsi coming out of the main building on campus where he’d dropped her off earlier that day. She opened the passenger door with a jerk and then slammed it shut behind her.
“Hey. Everything okay?” Lester asked, surveying her sullen expression.
“Of course.”
By the look of her folded arms and scowling face, he’d wager everything was not okay. “You sure about that?”
“I said so, didn’t I?” Patsi snapped.
He held up his hands in a sign of surrender. “Okay.” When she was ready to tell him, she would. He put the pickup in gear and started driving.
“You’re not going to pick me up every day are you?” Patsi asked.
“Is that what this is about? Me picking you up?” Lester looked over at her, trying to gauge her reaction.
“I feel like a total hillbilly. One of the Clampets.”
“Sorry I can’t afford a fancy new sports car,” Lester shot back, gripping the wheel more tightly.
“I know. Sorry.” She turned her head to look out the window.
“I just thought it’d be nice on your first day.”
Patsi let out a long, drawn out sigh. “I just feel so… humiliated. Like I don’t fit in.”
Lester glanced her way again. “Change is always hard. You’ll adjust.”
Patsi shook her head. “It’s not just the change. It’s just, well…” She glanced over at him and then lowered her eyes.
“Spit it out,” Lester commanded, not unkindly.
Patsi shrugged. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“I’m tough. You know that.”
“Well, sometimes it’s embarrassing. The way you’re so cowboy-ish. So country-fied.”
Lester let out a short laugh. “This is Calgary. The place is full of cowboys.”
“I know.” The corners of Patsi’s mouth turned up slightly. “But you’re the real deal, you know? And sometimes I feel it. Like I don’t fit in. I mean, I try to dress normal. How everyone else dresses. To act normal so I just blend in. But then something happens and there I am. Right back where I started. The country bumpkin.”
“Something happen?” Lester asked.
Patsi shrugged. “Nothing major. Just one of my Profs. She called on me in class by my full name. It was embarrassing.”
Lester frowned. “What’s wrong with that? It’s your name.”
Patsi rolled her eyes. “Who names their kids Lester Ray and Patsi Mae? Seriously. We’re like a pair out of a country song.”
“It’s not so bad. Our parents liked them.”
Patsi gazed out the window at the passing traffic. “I wonder what drugs they were on.”
“No disrespect,” Lester said firmly and shot her a warning glance.
“Sorry.” Patsi sighed again. “Then I thought I overheard somebody saying my name after class. Mocking me. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.”
“Ah.” Lester nodded his head. “So that’s why you were so upset when you got in the truck.”
Patsi nodded.
“I thought you were calling yourself Pat these days?”
“I am. Except a certain someone,” she looked pointedly at Lester, “keeps introducing me as Patsi.”
Lester grinned. “Hey, you can’t blame what happened today on me. I was nowhere in sight.”
“True. It was Professor Chan.” Patsi scowled. “She did it twice, even after I corrected her the first time.”
“Tough luck, sister.”
“Now you’re making fun of me.”
“If that’s the worst of your troubles, I’d say you got it easy.”
“Can you just try and remember to call me Pat from now on? Please?” Patsi asked.
He hesitated for a few moments as he concentrated on the road ahead. “Don’t know if I can remem
ber to do that. You’ve always been Patsi. I’m not sure I can change it now.”
“Please?” she repeated, drawing out the word for effect.
“Next thing you know you’ll be calling me ‘Les’.” He smiled over at her.
“Could I?” Patsi asked hopefully.
“Not a chance.”
“Thanks - Les.” Patsi sat back against her seat, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.
◇ ◇ ◇
Jed and Lester sat down at one of the high tables, drinks in hand, and waited for their sandwich order. At Jed’s suggestion, they were taking their lunch break at The Brew.
“There’s Tamara,” Jed said. He waved at a strikingly beautiful First Nations woman who had just entered from the back room. She had long flowing hair and large feather earrings. She waved back. Jed leaned a little closer to Lester. “She’s the one I was tellin’ you about. She lives in our building.”
Another woman brought their sandwiches. She was also pretty, with dark chocolate skin and large eyes. She wore a flamboyant, printed top, leggings, and a brightly coloured scarf, which was tied around her tightly curled black hair. Large hoops dangled from her earlobes. “There you go.”
“Thanks Carmen,” Jed said. “Busy today, eh?”
“You got that right. Both Tamara and I had to come in to help. We’re so short staffed right now. Enjoy.” She dismissed herself with a wave.
“She’s the other owner,” Jed informed just above a whisper.
“You’re either very snoopy or very friendly. Either way you seem to know a lot about other people’s business.” Lester bit into his double-decker sandwich made on thick slices of homemade bread and chewed, savouring the first bite. “Mm, this is good.”
“Told ya,” Jed responded.
They were half way through their sandwiches when Tamara Spence joined them. “Sorry I didn’t say ‘hello’ before now. We’re