Page 11 (1/2)

ELEVEN

We drove around withoutback Kool-Aid We went into a dozen clubs that advertised live h the search and started sending Lou inside while I waited in the Chevy We broke for dinner, didn&039;t rush through our ot back on the road just as aimless as before

Finally, I steered us into a convenience store, and Lou ripped a phone book out of a booth We sat in the car and flipped through the listings

"Dewey&039;s Deck and Landing" Lou showed me the ad "Says live music"

"Call theht off 200"

"The phone&039;s closer"

"It&039;s been a long day, man I&039;ll buy you a beer"

Good point

Dewey&039;s was tucked in behind a Pizza Hut and near a sravel parking lot overflowed We parked on the grass and had to pony up five bucks each to get in The cover was for the band, but we found out quick it wasn&039;t Spanklicious

For one thing, I actually liked the music I&039;d never heard Spanklicious, but I didn&039;t think they&039;d be covering an Ella Fitzgerald tune The gal on stage wore a long black dress, velvet gloves up to her elbows Her voice was beautifully dark and raw The four guys behind her knehat they were doing: horn, bass, guitar, upright piano

"This ain&039;t the," I said "Let&039;s have a drink"

The e kids decked out in vintage dresses, pinstriped suits, and wide ties flooded the sunken dance floor in front of the stage The bar crowd looked wrong Mixed The dressed-up kids were there for the uys were out of place, and there were a lot of them in white baseball caps, Greek letters on their sweatshirts They were there just to get drunk, and they were good at it

Lou muscled his way to the crowded bar He squeezed between two of the frat kids, jostling theive him some lip, saw his size, and decided to pay closer attention to their drinks

Lou handed a plastic cup back toward me, and I took it I tilted the contents back between my lips It went down cheap and wet, cold and perfect It had been a long day A long, hard, bad couple of days I e kids were giving Lou a wide berth The giant leaned back with both elbows spread along the rough wooden bar like he owned the joint, taking upthe crowd There&039;d be trouble soon I knew Lou&039;s type He wouldn&039;t start anything, but he&039;d throw his weight around until a drunk-enough kid took a poke at hihts out to feel better, like he was in control of so, like his life hadn&039;t just taken a nosedive That was the type

"I&039; to ask around," I told him and moved away into the mass of kids

"About what?" he called after, but I just nodded pretending I&039;d heard hi

I finished my beer as I reached the far end of the bar It took et the bartender&039;s attention, but he spotted nize heavy on the horns

"You know a band called Spanklicious?"

"That&039;s S over the racket

"I mean another band"

"No You want another?"

"Yeah"

He didn&039;t ask what I was drinking, which was fine since I didn&039;t know He brought it back too foaain

"Other places around here have a band tonight?"

"Hell if I know," he said

I drank, ordered a third, drank it, and ordered another

I was thinking about the restroo a quick break I circled the dance floor, plying le urinal was mercifully free, so I unzipped and let out soer came out, fished a lipstick out of her purse and put the purse on the narrow shelf under the mirror "Don&039;t mind me, hon"

I usually only let sixty-year-old waitresses at truck stops and really fat table-dancers call er was pretty, and I liked her voice, so I said, "No problelanced at me sideways Her lips curled into a little smile before she applied her dark lipstick Her nose was a little too pointy, gave her a hawkish look "The line for the little girls&039; rooh Tommy&039;s horn solo" She shook her head like it was the saddest thing in the world "Ninehorn solo"

She left as so at the front of the restrooone by the tihtenedanyone, and pulled it loose again I looked at er&039;s purse was still on the shelf I grabbed it and left the restroo his territory near the bar He was chatting up a busty coed in sorority letters, the frat guys still glowering over their shoulders at hi now

I had another beer, reer on the steps that led up to the stage She was on her way back up, and I asked her to wait a minute

"I can&039;t talk now," she said curtly "We&039;re on"

"You left this in the can" I held out the purse

Her eyes softened She took a step down "Thanks I appreciate it" She grabbed the purse, but I hung on to the other end

"Do you know a band called Spanklicious?"

"Yeah They colass bottles into a buzz-saw What do you want to hear the"

"They usually play at Caf¨¦ Blitzkrieg It&039;s a bottle club on 4th, or was It burned down- shit- ot shit bands I don&039;t think anyplace else in toould have theo of the purse "Sorry to trouble you"

She looked at e, and the band jerked to life with "Hit that Jive Jack"

When I got back to Lou, he was having some hard words with one of the frat kids Another came up behind him and broke a beer bottle at the base of his skull Lou teetered, and the frat guys saw their chance About eight dove on hiued into "Sing, Sing, Sing"

Lou kicked out with a big boot and caught one in the storabbed a fistful of one&039;s shirt and tossed hi solid blows into Lou&039;sa dump truck I er frat guys threooden chair Lou ducked, and the chair sailed over the railing and down into the dance floor It obliterated a couple who&039;d been swing dancing pretty well up till then All hell broke loose Screairl heavy with rhinestones scooped up the chair and hurled it back It landed on a crowded table, spraying beer in every direction The guys at the table ju kids

The bouncers arrived, two fat guys who didn&039;t knohere to start They looked at Lou They looked at the brawl on the dance floor I guess they weren&039;t ah to tackle Lou, so they headed for the dancers The band had abandoned the set list and dove into a quirky cover of "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around the Old Oak Tree"

Lou looked happy He had a very picturesque dribble of blood in one corner of his mouth, and he planted a fist in the face of anyone who dared coe I picked a random kid and popped him in the mouth so I could feel involved

His buddy aimed a fist at my nose I turned and took it on the cheek Then I leaned in with an uppercut that rattled his teeth and birds circle his head He went down

"That&039;s enough, Lou," I shouted over the din "Let&039;s go Cops!" I didn&039;t really see any, but that would get hiht behind you, man"