drew a man’s silhouette on one of the tabletops and leaned it against the wall. It became a competition of who threw his knife in a vital spot. The “dickless motherfucker” game was on. As drunk as they were, most of them threw with decent accuracy. A heart shot got encouraging words, but the cock shot got cheers and whoops.
Needles sat with the single men enjoying the show the men with woman troubles were putting on. He saw the shit these men were going through and counted himself lucky to be without a permanent woman in his life. Show got tired and drifted off to find his bed. Needles hung in there with Tiny and helped him clean up the mess that had been made when the table was upended by a raging jealous Big Dog.
Most of the men were passed out on whatever piece of furniture they sat down on during the competition. Big Dog was laid out on the floor and Georgie was sitting in a chair with his head and shoulders on the table in front of him. Mick was in the lounge on one of the couches, and several others were scattered on the rest of the furniture and in the backrooms where they’d wandered to find a bed.
Knight went out back to the shanties and kicked off his boots before lying down and sleeping. He hadn’t had as much to drink as the rest of them, so the room wasn’t spinning for him as he drifted to sleep.
*****
Jolly found a hotel room on the outskirts of Louisville. She didn’t really want to spend the money, but if this was going to be her last night on earth, she was going to sleep in a real bed with clean sheets. She’d indulged in a chicken sandwich and her favorite caramel frappe for dinner, and sat in the hotel room watching television for the first time in months. The local news anchors must have changed since she left the area, because she didn’t recognize the two people smiling as they reported on yet another murder in the basin area. It was forecast to rain all night and there was going to be more rain tomorrow with possible thunderstorms. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for her, if the rain was falling, there’d be fewer people out and about and it’d be easier for her to visit her mother. Afterwards, she was going to the strip club to ask Porter to call off his dogs.
She took a long hot bath and scrubbed her skin with the hotel soap. The memory of the handsome biker telling her how bad she looked stayed with her. She washed her hair and used conditioner to tame the frizzed mess, but she couldn’t do anything about the cut.
Sleep was eluding her, but sometime during the late show, she drifted off. The sun was up when she opened her eyes and she was startled to see it was past nine a.m.
The little coffee pot was a godsend for her jangled nerves. The hot coffee laced with three of the four sugar packets and both creamers helped her focus. She used the hotel telephone to call her mother’s number since the local call was free of charge and she didn’t own a cell phone. She got a recording that said the number had been changed or disconnected. That’s odd .
She left the hotel just before checkout at eleven o’clock. Her mother should be up by now, and the club opened at three, so she could potentially spend a couple of hours with her mom and then go directly to face her fate.
She pulled into the driveway, and immediately knew something wasn’t right. There was a bicycle by the front steps and rock music blared from the open windows of the house. She was stunned, her mother had moved? Why would she move, it’d only been six or seven months since she’d last spoken to her, and she didn’t say a thing about moving to her then. The teenage girl that came to the door told her she didn’t know anything about the lady that lived there before. She was just the babysitter. Jolly thanked her and got back in her car.
Well that was a letdown . She started the car and drove around town for an hour wondering what to do. Maybe she should wait until after she visited the strip club to
Needles sat with the single men enjoying the show the men with woman troubles were putting on. He saw the shit these men were going through and counted himself lucky to be without a permanent woman in his life. Show got tired and drifted off to find his bed. Needles hung in there with Tiny and helped him clean up the mess that had been made when the table was upended by a raging jealous Big Dog.
Most of the men were passed out on whatever piece of furniture they sat down on during the competition. Big Dog was laid out on the floor and Georgie was sitting in a chair with his head and shoulders on the table in front of him. Mick was in the lounge on one of the couches, and several others were scattered on the rest of the furniture and in the backrooms where they’d wandered to find a bed.
Knight went out back to the shanties and kicked off his boots before lying down and sleeping. He hadn’t had as much to drink as the rest of them, so the room wasn’t spinning for him as he drifted to sleep.
*****
Jolly found a hotel room on the outskirts of Louisville. She didn’t really want to spend the money, but if this was going to be her last night on earth, she was going to sleep in a real bed with clean sheets. She’d indulged in a chicken sandwich and her favorite caramel frappe for dinner, and sat in the hotel room watching television for the first time in months. The local news anchors must have changed since she left the area, because she didn’t recognize the two people smiling as they reported on yet another murder in the basin area. It was forecast to rain all night and there was going to be more rain tomorrow with possible thunderstorms. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for her, if the rain was falling, there’d be fewer people out and about and it’d be easier for her to visit her mother. Afterwards, she was going to the strip club to ask Porter to call off his dogs.
She took a long hot bath and scrubbed her skin with the hotel soap. The memory of the handsome biker telling her how bad she looked stayed with her. She washed her hair and used conditioner to tame the frizzed mess, but she couldn’t do anything about the cut.
Sleep was eluding her, but sometime during the late show, she drifted off. The sun was up when she opened her eyes and she was startled to see it was past nine a.m.
The little coffee pot was a godsend for her jangled nerves. The hot coffee laced with three of the four sugar packets and both creamers helped her focus. She used the hotel telephone to call her mother’s number since the local call was free of charge and she didn’t own a cell phone. She got a recording that said the number had been changed or disconnected. That’s odd .
She left the hotel just before checkout at eleven o’clock. Her mother should be up by now, and the club opened at three, so she could potentially spend a couple of hours with her mom and then go directly to face her fate.
She pulled into the driveway, and immediately knew something wasn’t right. There was a bicycle by the front steps and rock music blared from the open windows of the house. She was stunned, her mother had moved? Why would she move, it’d only been six or seven months since she’d last spoken to her, and she didn’t say a thing about moving to her then. The teenage girl that came to the door told her she didn’t know anything about the lady that lived there before. She was just the babysitter. Jolly thanked her and got back in her car.
Well that was a letdown . She started the car and drove around town for an hour wondering what to do. Maybe she should wait until after she visited the strip club to
Similar Books
