look mysterious. Are you really the same woman who's agreed to marry me? The same woman who woke me up this morning lying on top of me?''
'I'm the same woman. James, really, the other-I thought that was just a glitch on your part. You really meant it?'
'Nan, I just wanted to get you in bed and make you come.'
She hit him in the stomach. 'Yeah, Sally, I really meant it.'
The Bonhomie Club on Houtton Street was in an old brick building set in the middle of what they called a
'border' neighborhood. It was accepted wisdom to take a cab to and from the club or else take a huge risk of losing your entire car, not just the hubcaps.
James had never really thought about the possible dangers in this area until he handed Sally out of the cab. He looked around at the streetlights, many of them shot out.
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There was litter on the sidewalks, none in front of the club because Ms. Lilly didn't like trash-real trash, white trash, any kind of trash.
'Like I told you, boy,' she'd said when she hired him some four years before, “I like the look of you. No earrings, no tattoos, no bad teeth, and no paunch.
'You'll have to watch the gals, now, they're a horny bunch and one look at you and they're gonna have visions of sugar cocks dancing in their heads.' And she howled at her own humor while James, an experienced agent, a man who'd heard just about every possible combination of crude words, just stood there, embarrassed to his toes. She tweaked his earlobe between two fingers with inch-long bright-pink fingernails and laughed some more. 'You're gonna do just fine, boy, just fine.'
And he had. At first the customers, a loyal bunch, the large majority of them black, had looked at him like he was something escaped from the zoo, but Lilly had introduced him, made three off-color jokes about his sax playing, his sex playing, and his red sox playing.
She was one of his best friends. She'd even given him a raise in January.
'You'll like Ms. Lilly,' Quinlan said to Sally as he shoved open the heavy oak door of the club. 'I'm her token white.' Marvin the Bouncer was just inside, a heavy scowl on his ugly face until he saw it was Quinlan.
'Hullo Quinlan,' he said. 'Who's the chicky?'
'The chicky is Sally. You can call her Sally, Marvin.'
'Hello, Marvin.'
But Marvin wasn't up for names. He just nodded. 'Ms. Lilly is back in her office playing poker with the mayor and some of his lame-assed cronies. No, James, there ain't no drugs. You know Ms. Lilly, she'd shoot anybody before she'd let 'em take a snort.
'She'll be out before it's time for you to play. As for you, Chicky, you just stay in my eyesight once James is up there wailing his heart out on the stage, all right?
'She's a cute little chicky, Quinlan. I'll take care of her.'
'I appreciate it, Marvin. She is cute, and a lot of bad people are chasing her. If you could keep an eye on her, I can wail on my sax without worry.'
'Ms. Lilly is going to try to feed her, Quinlan. She doesn't look like she's had a good meal in a month.
You hungry, Chicky?'
'Not yet, but thank you, Marvin.'
'A chicky with real good manners. It warms a man's heart, Quinlan.'
'Amazing,' Sally said and nothing more. But she was smiling. She gave Marvin a small wave.
'He'll watch over you, not to worry.'
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'Actually I hadn't even thought about it. I can't believe you just spit out the truth to him.'
'Ah, Marvin didn't believe me. He thought I was worried some guy would try to pick you up, that's all.'
Sally looked around the dark, smoky interior of the Bonhomie Club. 'It's got lots of character, James.'
'It gains more by the year. I think it's because of the aging wood. That bar is over a hundred years old.
It's Lilly's pride. She won it in a poker game from a guy up in Boston. She always calls him Mr. Cheers.'
'Lots of character.'
He grinned down at her. 'Tonight's just for fun, all right? You look gorgeous, you know that? I like that sexy little top.'
'You're into jet beads, are you?' But she was pleased. He'd insisted on buying it for her at Macy's. She actually smiled. She felt good, light and easy. Tonight, she thought, tonight was for fun. It had been so long. Fun. She'd simply forgotten.
Nightmares could wait for tomorrow. Maybe when James took her home he'd want to kiss her some more, maybe even make love to her. She could still feel the warmth of his fingers on her.
'You want a drink?'
'I'd love a white wine. It's been so long.'
He raised an eyebrow. 'I don't know if Fuzz the Bartender has ever heard of such a thing. You sit down and let the atmosphere soak into your bones. I'll go see what Fuzz has got back there.'
