“You can level with me, sugar. I don’t see a ring on that big, white
finger of yours. And that large, extended family? Mmm hmm. We all
got problems, darlin’, sometimes it’s good to cover them up. But
sometimes it’s good to share them with a stranger. Sometimes that
stranger even has the same problems. Bad love got you down, sugar?
Or is it bad money?”
Harvey’s eyes grew wide. “Well I never!” he barked, struggling to
keep his voice down. “How audacious of you to doubt my word! That
I would fabricate a yarn just for your benefit! I didn’t even notice
effrontery on the menu, much less order it. Thank you for the drink.
Present me with my bill and I shall be off.”
Vic poured another glass of Jack Daniel’s and placed it in front of
him.
Harvey gazed down at the smooth, strong liquor as it clung
lovingly to the sides of the glass. Except for the muffled sound of pork
rinds being chewed nearby, the bar was silent for a moment.
“Very well,” Harvey finally announced, “I shall imbibe one more
refreshment and then depart. I’m sure there are plenty of other
establishments nearby who will appreciate my patronage and who
won’t poke their proboscises into my private problems.”
Victoria wiped droplets of Harvey’s saliva from her forearm and
smiled. This wouldn’t take long at all.
It was only eleven-thirty when Victoria finally helped Harvey up to
bed. She took off his clothes and pulled the cover over him. The door
closed behind her and she walked slowly downstairs.
It was incredible, really, what he had confessed to her. She was
confident that he was telling the truth—the natural flow of harmonics
in his delivery suggested this, despite the substantial amount of
alcohol he had imbibed. As was her nature, Vic felt an overwhelming
desire to get involved, but past mistakes had taught her that it was
always better to remain a casual observer. The universe had a funny
way of working things out, and trying to fix a bad song by adding
another instrument usually just created more cacophony.
For her, that was pretty much the problem with the world those
days. A long time ago, she figured, different people each had their
own little tune, and that if they didn’t like someone else’s, they just
didn’t listen. Maybe they thought those other people were crazy, but
that was okay. And they left them alone. Or they killed them. But
nowadays, it seemed everyone was fighting to get their own precious
H O L Y S H I T !
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