ch.7
its my party cont.
we stepped into a dingy bar that was long and narrow with the bar on the left, and tables and booths on the right. i went about midways and found an empty booth we could all crowd into. it was fairly busy with a mostly local crowd i assumed, as i scanned the faces, as if after all these years i might look and recognize a familiar face. ann sat next to lee and smiled a wide cute smile as if she approved of the choice. the jukebox was crying lonely hearts and pickup trucks as the country music blasted its way through the bar assuring that nary a crevice or crack would suffer no less vibration or reverberation than the other. lee tried to say something but i had to lean across the table to hear what it was. as i leaned over he yells,
" the music is to damn loud ,"
" hope it is just this song" i yelled as i continued " you know what you get when you play a country song backwards dont you?'
they both nodded as if they didnt know,then i continued," you get your wife back your dog back and you get your kids back." they both laughed hard and lee on the outside of the booth stood and asked what it was we wanted to drink, of course my standard answer of coke as it serves me well. ann wanted a margarita. when we were here before they managed to come up with one. but that was a couple of years ago and this really didnt look like a margarita crowd. a mix of redneck and some city folk who at times seem to blend in , few bikers and their women were also in attendance , but due to the lack of flip flops in their i saw very little margarita drinkers , but then again it was winter. i told lee to go ahead and try anyhow. lee delivered the order to the bartender who looked at lee like he was nuts but soon banging and bitching was heard.and soon lee returned with a can of coke and two large fishbowl glasses of frothy margaritas with large salt crystals clinging to the side. i could smell the rum as he passed it over the table to the giddy ann who was patiently sitting there taking everything in . we talked and soon lee was headed back to the bar to grab another.
ann heard a slow song and asked lee to dance. he jumped up to dance with her . he enjoyed slow dancing with her , feeling her body pressed close to him. the sond ended then they played the song' betty davis eyes' and memories of this bar flooded back to my mind as i thought it was ironic, how you associate some tunes with times and places in your life . this was one of them as someone long ago always played this tune when i was drinking in this bar and it just stuck with me. i looked under the booth in my 'deja vu' moment to see if my dog tuck was still waiting on me . he wasn't, but at times i wish he was. i cant recall any woman i would say was in my life at that time that made the song special but instead it was like it is now i was single and alone when i lived here and probably didn't deserve anyone as i was a drunk at best. . lee and ann returned to the table and snapped me out of my nostalgic trip to nowheresville thankfully.
lee's blue eyes were shining as he stared at ann so adoringly. these two were inseparable now that they were an item. they were younger than i by about 10 years but we still had a lot in common with each other and our range of topics were always changing. tonight was not an intellectual night though. it wasn't time to discuss the fine points of solar technology or talk about how to limit the number of handguns available or greenhouse gasses. it was about just enjoying being alive and they were,
ann was my ideal woman if i had one as i have came to know her over the years . she has grew on me, too much at times. lee knows if something happened to him that ann would be alright in the comfort of my company and this pleased him as he had full confidence in me as a friend to never cross the line while he was alive and i wouldn't . it is tough i admit at times to watch ann in my life and not want for her to be more . but my friendship with lee does not permit me to do so.
ann's lithe thin body was well muscled for her age
her blonde yet easily admitted dyed hair hung to her shoulders and framed her young looking face. ann was heading up to the big fifty year mark in her life and yet she only looked thirty five. she reminded me of a woman i met in college years ago named sherry. sherry and i had a great time and was probably the reason i didn't do well in college the second time around . she and i would party and jut sit around and b-s the day away when we had the chance. i was still married but had decided to divorce . although the divorce was part of me changing my lifestyle it was also part hope that me and sherry could be together more. she was not only sophistication but a lot of fun and sexy mixed in. it seemed as if she knew me. we had never made love but it wasn't for me not wanting it to happen as she teased me frequently. but i never crossed the line although i had wanted to. sherry had better things in store for her as she was a brain who worked for a major national corporation doing defense work at an arsenal nearby collecting a paycheck and returning back to college. she didn't have much time for a wonder struck farm boy like me,and she moved on as people do in your life but she will always have a place in my heart. the one ghat got away. at times i think she should have run as fast as she could. if i coulda, woulda, shoulda, and maybe, come to mind when i think of her. ann was just like her only younger. both were sexy. again this is part of my connection with ann and lee in my life. at times i want no one except just one person to share my life with. adam doesn't know what he had in eve or the apple would never have tempted him. i want my eve . i deserve that one person i want to grow old with. unfortunately i realize ann isn't her. and never will be. sherry is gone and i am siting in marietta on front street in a bar when i don't drink. reality sucks. memory lane sucks when you could care lees to make the trip down it.
i suggested we move on as i was thinking to much here as the music blared away so loud you couldn't talkanyhow. we left the bar and headed down the street to the next happening. the air was brisk and stinging as a cold front had settled in over the area . the stars shined bright in the clear air at least from what i could see over the glow of streetlights. traffic was busy and we stopped by a park and sat on a bench and talked few about the bartender at jim and jimmy's as he was a strange one . in fact i failed to leave my usual business card there on purpose as i really enjoyed the bar but would rather leave it there. so i can visit again , say in another ten years. it had changed little over the years. and much to my surprise as i was told, i guess jimmy was still alive at 94. he as a big man like i was but i would hate to see what he looks like now.his wracked body would foretell my fate in my later years. i can wait.
we laughed compared notes and smoked a fatty between us, as we walked through the park and gazed down on the rivers both of them the ohio and the muskingum . we were at the confluence of both and could see both well from the park. having recharged our happy batteries we headed on down the road to the next bar. things were a lot different at the next bar as it used o be a disco house when i lived on front street. i can remember this disc jockey woman who allowed me to play records and dj during the slow times of the day. i treid some acid with her during my one and only visit with tripping.
we had taken a hit and was sitting on the end of a railroad track suspended over the muskingum river. to the left is the ohio river where the muskingum dumped into. we sat there dangling our legs high in the air looking down at the water rolling by. the river is wide there and this railroad bridge had a big turning bridge that would turn in the middle of the river to let boats pass by.it was turned crosswise as trains no longer used the route. the mechanisms for turning the bridge rusty and unusable but the structure remained. we sat where the rails ended and the air began thirty feet in the air. we were laughing and smoking a doobie. rhea was a nice lady but i was just not into her . but we had fun though and she would treat me to her stash and this was part of it. it was great and we were buzzing, while we were talking this huge 5 foot catfish with a head like a basketball blew through the surface from down below , right up towards us as we were sitting on the end of the bridge thirty feet in the air as if to steal the joint from our lips and take a toke when he rolled slightly to the left as momentum was dragging him down he flopped on over on his side exposing his whole 5 foot length just briefly on the water till gravity pulled him under and laft a wave of ripples . the spray off his body left rainbows of light that danced on our imagination and sent streams of color forever embedded in my mind. what a trip. it was crazy . the catfish acted almost on cue . as if someone was messing with our heads.
this was the disco palace , which is now just a bar and restaurant . we sat at a table and discussed coming projects i needed to have help from lee with.the music was lower so we could at least talk. ann slipped to the bar and had the wait staff bring us a cupcake and sang happy birthday to us. we laughed and then someone asked how old i was and i returned " now you have to go and spoil all the fun don't you?'" everyone laughed.
we returned home and we all slept in in the morning and i managed breakfast for them the next day. we had a good visit and discussed the up coming sequoia trip with them finally leaving on may 1st.. ann had a smile on her face while lee was telling me how they are able to climb trees with ease now with their new equipment . the van was ready , the essentials were packed . all seem to be ready to finally get out and hit the road. soon it was time for them to depart. the van was returned to my garage and we said our goodbyes as i hugged ann, and shook lee's hand , then they departed in the old f-150.
loneliness was never a friend of mine but at times like this, it seemed to accompany me, watching them drive away. i will scare it away soon and will be alright again,
15.
No comments:
Post a Comment