his dime-store grifter girlfriend for a hostess. They’re fifty years
old, for Christ’s sake. Leslie has two kids in Wyoming. Greg used to own a car wash. Here, in my town, right down on Valmont.
Known Amy since she was in braces. They knew what this would do to me. I thought I was doing a good thing giving regularpeople some responsibility, a living wage. But these leeches …’
Mick held his hands out over the table like ram’s horns, his face reddening.
‘I saw them now, I’d choke the fucking life out of both of them myself. I’m serious, Gene. My father would be proud.
Proud
. It’d be worth this place going down the tubes if I could wrap my hands around their fucking throats, just for a minute.
That’s all it would take. One minute.’
Something in his neck fluttered and he wished Jamie would bring him another double. His device purred against his tired dick,
setting off Pavlovian dread. It was after nine and he had a new text. From Amy.
Are you insane? Do you want to have a
stroke? Get your ass home now.
‘Right,’ Mick said to his phone. When he looked up, the newspaper man was exiting his booth, two tables behind Sapphire. Mick
had forgotten the guy was still here, and now all he caught was a head of slick blond hair above a plain black suit. Had he
been listening in? Was he some kind of bill collector, maybe an agent from the IRS? It seemed uncanny the guy had sat in the
Straw for almost three hours without Mick ever getting a good look at him. He caught one final glimpse of the shoulders pushing
through the doors, and without knowing why, Mick was up out of his booth, giving chase. His forehead felt like molten iron
as he burst through the front doors.
But when he scanned the sidewalks, the patio seating area, and the parking lot beyond, there was no sign of the stranger.
The dozen or so cars in the Straw’s corner of the lot were empty. The man had vanished into the night.
Someone grabbed his arm and Mick jumped, cocking a fist.
Sapphire reared back. ‘Easy, easy. Jesus, Mick.’ Mick deflated. ‘Sorry, I thought you were … you see that guy sitting behind
us? Blond hair, the suit?’
‘No, I did not.’ Sapphire looked at his watch. My God, the man wanted to go home.
Mick’s eyes darted around the lot. ‘It’s like he’s been waiting for me. I know him from somewhere. He wants something …’
‘Mick, listen to me.’ Sapphire wagged a finger. ‘You’ve got to stop this. This anger. You’re wrong for it, and you need time
to get back on your feet. You’re a parent, a man in the community. This stuff happens. Even the best businessmen don’t always
see it coming. You want to do your father proud? Go home. Talk to your family.’
‘About what? How do you do that?’
‘Focus on what comes next. You need an idea. I can help you form a new plan around something. But you need to start looking
at this as a blank slate.’
Only now did Mick grasp that tonight was
the
talk, the moment the surgeon comes out of the theater and informs you he has done everything in his power. The Straw was
no longer on life support. It had been pronounced.
The reality staggered him. ‘I could pull some money out of the house …’
Sapphire tsked behind his long graying teeth. ‘You go to the bank with a personal guarantee, they attach you to the note,
and everything the note’s attached to is now attached to the rest of your life. Your residence, all of your personal assets
as well as Amy’s, would no longer be exempt. Keep your home out of it. At all costs, Mick. Pay your mortgage first, keep a
roof overhead. Everything else is secondary.’
‘Goddamn it. This wouldn’t have happened to them. Dad might have missed the signs, but Mom would’ve sniffed it out. I killed
it, Gene. I killed my parents’ restaurant.’
‘Sometimes a thing has to die before it can be reborn.’
‘What the fuck does that mean?’
‘We’re living in a different world.
old, for Christ’s sake. Leslie has two kids in Wyoming. Greg used to own a car wash. Here, in my town, right down on Valmont.
Known Amy since she was in braces. They knew what this would do to me. I thought I was doing a good thing giving regularpeople some responsibility, a living wage. But these leeches …’
Mick held his hands out over the table like ram’s horns, his face reddening.
‘I saw them now, I’d choke the fucking life out of both of them myself. I’m serious, Gene. My father would be proud.
Proud
. It’d be worth this place going down the tubes if I could wrap my hands around their fucking throats, just for a minute.
That’s all it would take. One minute.’
Something in his neck fluttered and he wished Jamie would bring him another double. His device purred against his tired dick,
setting off Pavlovian dread. It was after nine and he had a new text. From Amy.
Are you insane? Do you want to have a
stroke? Get your ass home now.
‘Right,’ Mick said to his phone. When he looked up, the newspaper man was exiting his booth, two tables behind Sapphire. Mick
had forgotten the guy was still here, and now all he caught was a head of slick blond hair above a plain black suit. Had he
been listening in? Was he some kind of bill collector, maybe an agent from the IRS? It seemed uncanny the guy had sat in the
Straw for almost three hours without Mick ever getting a good look at him. He caught one final glimpse of the shoulders pushing
through the doors, and without knowing why, Mick was up out of his booth, giving chase. His forehead felt like molten iron
as he burst through the front doors.
But when he scanned the sidewalks, the patio seating area, and the parking lot beyond, there was no sign of the stranger.
The dozen or so cars in the Straw’s corner of the lot were empty. The man had vanished into the night.
Someone grabbed his arm and Mick jumped, cocking a fist.
Sapphire reared back. ‘Easy, easy. Jesus, Mick.’ Mick deflated. ‘Sorry, I thought you were … you see that guy sitting behind
us? Blond hair, the suit?’
‘No, I did not.’ Sapphire looked at his watch. My God, the man wanted to go home.
Mick’s eyes darted around the lot. ‘It’s like he’s been waiting for me. I know him from somewhere. He wants something …’
‘Mick, listen to me.’ Sapphire wagged a finger. ‘You’ve got to stop this. This anger. You’re wrong for it, and you need time
to get back on your feet. You’re a parent, a man in the community. This stuff happens. Even the best businessmen don’t always
see it coming. You want to do your father proud? Go home. Talk to your family.’
‘About what? How do you do that?’
‘Focus on what comes next. You need an idea. I can help you form a new plan around something. But you need to start looking
at this as a blank slate.’
Only now did Mick grasp that tonight was
the
talk, the moment the surgeon comes out of the theater and informs you he has done everything in his power. The Straw was
no longer on life support. It had been pronounced.
The reality staggered him. ‘I could pull some money out of the house …’
Sapphire tsked behind his long graying teeth. ‘You go to the bank with a personal guarantee, they attach you to the note,
and everything the note’s attached to is now attached to the rest of your life. Your residence, all of your personal assets
as well as Amy’s, would no longer be exempt. Keep your home out of it. At all costs, Mick. Pay your mortgage first, keep a
roof overhead. Everything else is secondary.’
‘Goddamn it. This wouldn’t have happened to them. Dad might have missed the signs, but Mom would’ve sniffed it out. I killed
it, Gene. I killed my parents’ restaurant.’
‘Sometimes a thing has to die before it can be reborn.’
‘What the fuck does that mean?’
‘We’re living in a different world.
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