panties later in the evening. The vulgar groping of the lower classes.”
Jack looked behind him into the mirror and smiled.
“I guess we were all young once,” Jack said, shaking his head. A new customer stepped into the room and took a stool by the bar. Jack moved down the bar and took his order, reaching under the bar into a cooler for a beer.
Hank raised his own beer to his mouth and stared into the mirror. He saw the young man’s hand slide up the girl’s skirt. She playfully rapped his hand and smiled. Not here, he could read on her lips. The door of the bar opened again and in stepped Mary. She looked around, spotted Hank, and crossed over to the bar and took a stool beside him.
“I hope you haven’t been waiting long?” she asked, giving Hank a kiss on the cheek. “Boring Jack with your stories?”
“Do you know who John Andrew Kenney was?” Hank asked before Mary had a chance to catch her breath. “In 1944 he was chosen by the Harmon foundation as one of the United State’s most prominent Negroes.”
Mary laughed. “You are the most remarkable man I have ever met. I suppose he died in 1950.”
Hank smiled. “You got it, sister. Tell me now, why did they give an award to the most prominent Negro? Why would you give an award to any prominent member of any ethnic background? Doesn’t it reek of an inferiority complex? Were any awards given to the most prominent Eng-lishman of 1940? The upper classes never award themselves. They don’t have to. They’re in charge.”
Mary shook with laughter as she gestured to Jack to bring her the usual.
“Do you know what this big lug told me this morning? That the world ended in 1950, that we’re-what did you call it? — the flotsam of time’s demise. Isn’t that the craziest idea you ever heard?” Jack shook his head and looked at Mary’s dress, smiling with approval.
“That’s a lovely dress,” he said.
Mary blushed and turned to Hank.
“How come you didn’t notice?” she asked.
Hank leaned over and whispered in Mary’s ear. “I was concentrating on what was underneath it.”
A Young Couple
“Why did you ask me out for a drink, Joe?” the girl asked as she sipped at her Coke. This place is so dark.
“I like you, Helen,” Joe said, his teeth flashing in a neon smile. Why do you think I asked you out, honey? “Everyday I come into your office, I see you sitting behind that desk, typing away. You look so efficient. Professional. I’ve always admired that in a woman.” This shouldn’t be too difficult. I’ll probably be able to get back to my place in time to catch the ninth inning.
Helen blushed. He’s so sure of himself. “I’m taking courses. I’d like to better myself. I think that’s important. Please take your hand off my knee, Joe.”
“What courses are you taking?” Joe asked. A couple more drinks and I’ll have her panties off.
“Bookkeeping,” Helen said, gripping Joe’s wrist, attempting to push his hand away. Why does he have to be like this?
“Just let me feel what you’ve got up there.” Joe chuckled good-naturedly. “What we need is a little music.” Joe got up from the table and stepped over to the jukebox. He dropped a few coins in the slot and returned to his chair, putting his arm around Helen’s shoulder.
“Please,” Helen cried in a low voice. “I thought you would be a gentleman.”
Elvis Presley’s “In the Ghetto” began to play.
“It’s dark in here,” he assured her, his fingers grazing the shoulder strap of Helen’s dress.
“Later,” Helen whispered in desperation. “That man over there is watching us.”
Joe looked up and took his hand off Helen.
“Where?”
“By the bar,” Helen replied.
“His back is to us,” Joe said with a smirk.
“In the mirror,” Helen whimpered. “He’s watching us in the mirror.”
“The pervert,” Joe said with a laugh. “I should go up and give him a piece of my mind.”
“Don’t make a scene,” Helen pleaded.
“You’re sure? I could box his ears for you.” The guy is a giant.
“He’s awfully big.”
“The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” Joe laughed, taking a second look at the fellow at the bar. She goes for the tough guy look. Joe jerked his neck and straightened out his shoulders in a bravado posture.
Helen squeezed Joe’s arm. “Please don’t. I appreciate the gesture but I don’t want anyone to get hurt on my account.” He’d kill you.
Joe turned and looked at Helen. There was a pleading look in her eyes.
This is too easy.
“You’re all right.” He smiled and took Helen’s chin between two fingers and playfully squeezed it. “A lot of girls would love to see their man defend them but you’re not interested in showmanship. You really don’t like to see people get hurt. And I would have hurt him. Don’t you think for a moment I wouldn’t have cut that fellow down an inch or two.
I’ve got quite a temper. And I can take care of myself.” Helen smiled. “Yes, I believe you can. But he is awfully big.” Look at the size of his head.
Joe’s smile left his face momentarily. She had repeated that particular observation. Shit! I think she wants me to take him on.
“You think I couldn’t take him, don’t you? Sure he’s big. I’ve been in a few donnybrooks in my time. I played professional hockey for a while. I didn’t tell you that, did I?”
Helen shook her head.
“Semi-professional,” Joe added. “But I figure I’ve got a little left in the tank if they’d give me a chance. Sales is just a temporary thing, to hold me over until the big money starts to roll in. I’m waiting for the phone call. I heard they’re putting a new team in Vegas. I’ll have to quit smoking, though.”
Helen smiled. He’s lying through his teeth. That’s kind of sweet.
“I could tell the first time you stepped into our office to see Mr. Brennan that you had a certain swagger. That’s why he bought all that ink from you. We could run the presses for months on the ink Mr. Brennan bought. But he trusts a man with confidence. He told me that.”
“Ya.” Joe shook his head with a smile and leaned back in his chair, basking in the adulation of the woman beside him. “That was a pretty good sale. Did he really say that about me?” Helen nodded. Oh God, I have to pee.
Joe smiled. “Old man Brennan really ate up my story. I’ve always had the gift. Things have been going real well for me. I’m not sure I’d want to play again even if they called me. Do I need the aggravation? And if I get a few more commissions like the one off Brennan, I don’t know if I could take the pay cut.”
“Your story?” Helen finished her drink. Do I put my hand up and ask permission to leave?
Joe gestured to the bartender for another round.
“That’s what sales is all about,” Joe explained. “You don’t sell products-you sell a story. You’ve got to let people think that they’re buying a bit of you. It’s all about selling yourself and a story is the best way to sell yourself. Okay, you don’t always tell the complete story. You exaggerate, maybe even lie, but as long as you’re entertaining, the customer is happy.”
Jack stepped up to the table. Joe looked up.
“Another beer for myself and a glass of white wine for the lady.”
“I shouldn’t,” Helen protested.
“Ah, you only live once,” Joe said with a wink at Helen. Then he turned back to the bartender. “And tell cupid up at the bar to keep his eyes to himself.”
When Jack returned to the bar, Helen turned to Joe.
“You promised you wouldn’t make a scene,” she pleaded.
“Ah, that wasn’t a scene.” Joe moved closer to Helen. He put his arm around her. “You’ve got to make sure that people understand the boundaries. You weren’t fooling when you said that thing about later, were you?”
