Sassafras, Part 12


Rick


I wanted to talk to Matt, the bartender that had been working the night Jenny died, so I had dinner at Tanner's, but Matt wasn't on duty yet when I got there. While I was eating a dart tournament started. They were getting pretty loud. After I finished eating I noticed Matt come on duty. I went up and sat at the bar and ordered another beer. Matt was busy getting ready for his shift, stocking the bar and taking out the trash. When he finished I was just getting ready to start asking him about Jenny when I saw Joan walk in. Her hair was down, but when she took off her coat I saw she was wearing the same gray dress. She looked around the bar, then walked over and sat a few bar stools away from me.

I watched Matt start to put the moves on her. He was a real jerk, but he could be smooth when the mood hit him. I could see him start to lay on the charm, but as soon as she said who she was he tamed it down. That surprised me. I would have thought a grieving sister would have been easy pickings. She was good looking enough to make me think about laying on the charm, but I just sat back and watched. She had long brown hair that she kept tucking behind her ear, but it kept slipping back out and falling across her cheek. Half the time all I could see from the side was a curtain of hair framing her nose and lips, and then she would pull her hair back and I could see her face again. It felt almost like she was teasing me, and I got so caught up in anticipation waiting for the next unveiling I had a hard time concentrating on what they were saying.

I listened to them talk, but they didn't pay any attention to me, which I didn't mind a bit. She looked like she could be the life of the party, but right then she was just a sad, lonely lady. I watched her drink a few beers, smoke a few cigarettes. She was asking questions about her sister, but nothing big. Just trying to find out why her sister died in a senseless accident, not investigating a murder. Whatever happened to her sister I hoped she was smart enough to stay out of it.

When a group from the dart tournament came over to the bar I casually got up and 'accidentally' bumped into her. She spilled a little beer on her dress so I picked up a napkin and started wiping at it.

“You know, in some Middle Eastern countries you’d have to marry me now,” she said.

“What?” I looked down at my hand pawing all over her chest. “Holy shit,” I said and dropped the napkin in her lap. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, holy shit,” She said and picked up the napkin, but there wasn’t anything left to wipe so she balled it up and threw it on the bar. “Shit. This is my favorite dress.”

“Well, can I buy you another beer to make up for it?” She looked at me and shrugged.

“You know, you look familiar. Weren’t you in the police station talking to Detective Sneider this morning?”

She hesitated for a second. “Yeah, he was telling me about my sister.”

“Your sister? You mean that waitress at Don’s?” She just nodded. “She was real nice. I liked her.”

“Oh, everybody liked Jenny.” She sounded bitter, or maybe she was just depressed. "Jenny was my big sister. I always wanted to be just like her. It's hard to believe she's gone."

"I know. I've just lived here a couple of months, but she was always real nice to me when I was at Don's. She made me feel like I belonged here."

"You should have seen her in high school. She was a cheerleader, and everybody loved her."

"I bet you were a cheerleader, too."

"No, I was a real nerd. I always had my nose stuck in a book."

"No way. You are a lot better looking than your sister."

She laughed and blushed. It looked so cute. I hadn't been expecting that. Her sister had been pretty, but she was something more. She had dark green eyes, and when she looked at me it felt like she could see right through me. There were more people from the dart tournament crowding around the bar. I asked her if she would like to go sit in a booth where we could have a little elbowroom, and she said yes.

"I was a nerd, too," I said when we sat down. "I remember when Santa Claus brought me a Commodore 64 for Christmas. I thought I was the luckiest kid in the world."

"Oh, I never got interested in computers. They are just too complicated. A book is all I ever wanted. I was the librarian's best friend."

"Computers are cool. You just need to get used to them. They're not that hard to use."

"That’s what you think. Computers give me the creeps. I think they’re the work of the Devil.”

"Blasphemy! Computers are cool. You can do anything on a computer. You can read books and write letters, listen to music, pay bills, go shopping, chat with your friends, and meet new friends. You can even have cyber sex."

"How can you have sex with a computer?" she laughed. When she laughed she lifted her chin a little and I could see the graceful curve of her neck, and the neon bar lights sparkled off her earrings.

"Not with the computer. It's sort of like phone sex. Two people get together in a chat room and write suggestive things back and forth. Not that I've ever had cyber sex."

"If they're in a room together, why don't they just talk to each other?"

"No, it's not a real room. They just call it a chat room. You would be at your house typing on your computer and I would be at my house typing on my computer."

"Well, what kind of things would you write?"

"Oh, I would write something like 'I want to run my fingers through your hair, pull you close and kiss you like you've never been kissed before.' Then you would write back, maybe ' Spank me, Daddy, I've been bad.' "

"Spank me, Daddy, I've been bad?" She laughed again and I realized I really did want to run my fingers through her hair. I looked at her lips, and wondered what she would do if I leaned over and kissed them. Probably slap me.

Liz, the waitress, stopped by our table. “Can I get you two anything? Thursday night’s special is a pitcher of beer for $4, and we have hot wings on sale, ten for $4.”

“What do you think, Joan? Want to split a pitcher of beer with me?”

She hesitated for a minute. “Sure, why not? I’ll pass on the hot wings though. Those things are revolting.”