Grand Opening Ch. 03

"Hey, Honey, that camera you got outside; it works?" he asked when Rosy answered her cell phone.

"Yeah, recorder's in the stock room," Rosy said, voice shrill with worry. "Why?"

"Need to get today's tape. Nothing's wrong, everything's fine, don't worry," he tried to assure her.

It was almost comic, watching the silent tableau play out. Wolf, Slick, Librarian, and Redman pulled up to the bar. The four stood around for a few moments, looking around furtively. Then Wolf pulled the whiskey bottle out of his jacket, pulled a greasy looking bandanna out of his back pocket. Librarian seemed to be talking, giving instructions on how to perform the simple task.

The silent witness caught the action as Wolf hurled the bottle with all his might at the window.

Orville smiled as Librarian, Slick, and Redman seemed to be laughing at a frustrated looking Wolf. Wolf was the first to pull a gun from his jacket. The other three followed suit and unloaded their guns on the window.

Even in the silence, Orville could tell that the alarm had begun to sound; the four bikers looked around quickly, then got onto their hogs and rode away.

A few moments later, Orville watched himself as he approached the building.

"Damn, but my ass is huge," Orville complained.

"You're a girl, you know that?" Mike said as he watched the video with Orville. "Only a girl would say that."

"Uh huh," Orville said. "Oh, by the way, how's your girlfriend doing? Oh, that's right, you don't have one. Bitch."

"No I don't. Bitch," Mike laughed. "I can leave the toilet seat up, hair all over the place, wear my drawers three days in a row; ain't got to hear no bitching or whining."

"Three days in a... Is that what that smell is?" Orville said and picked up his cup of coffee.

Chapter 5

Elise wished Elaine was here. It had always been her sister that had cut the grass at her mother's house, now Dick cut it.

Damn, a lot more work than it looks like," she thought as she pushed the lawn mower over a particularly high clump of weeds.

Finally, the front yard was finished. Elise almost talked herself into putting the back yard off until her next day off.

"No, don't you dare," she thought as she wearily pushed the machine through the small gate.

She smiled. Henry and Sam were busy running around the back yard. Ms. Givens, Henry's grandmother was also outside, but did not return Elise's friendly wave and greeting.

X.X.X

"Miss Rosy, I hate to say it, but that boy's the reason some people call the police 'Pigs,'" Cheryl whispered to Rosy.

Rosy looked over to where Jack Vogel was perched. Onstage, Amber was dancing, down to pasties and thong. Jack's attention was riveted to Amber, not on the bar itself.

"Tried to get my phone number, tried to get a date with me, tried to see if I'd give him a free run in the Hurricane Room," Cheryl complained.

"So, what'd you tell him?" Rosy asked and smiled as Dick Davis walked in.

"Told him the truth; my girlfriend's wouldn't like it and would put his puny ass in the hospital," Cheryl said and smiled sweetly at the Sheriff.

"See he's making sure that none of you dancers are breaking any laws," Dick said, twisting his dour expression into a faint smile.

"Made sure I was a good girl too," Cheryl offered.

"Sweetie, one look at you and I can tell, you're a good girl," Dick smiled.

"Anything for you today?" Rosy asked.

"Chef Salad; Mike says your Ranch dressing is home made?" Dick asked and started walking toward Jack.

"Yes sir it is," Rosy said with pride.

"Officer Vogel!" Dick bellowed from right behind Jack.

"Sir, yes sir!" Jack sputtered, leaping to his feet.

"Any trouble?" Dick asked.

"No sir," Jack sputtered.

"How would you know?" Amber asked.

"Patrol," Dick ordered.

Jack beat a hasty retreat out of the bar.

"Thanks, Sheriff," Amber smiled and gathered up her clothing.

"Welcome Sweetie," Dick smiled and strolled back to the bar to take his usual seat.

Rosy was slicing the purple onion while Kirsten watched.

"How you get it straight like that?" Kirsten finally asked.

"Watch," Rosy smiled.

She put the tip of the knife not the cutting board, and then brought the blade down on the onion.

"I eyeball it, looks straight and..." Rosy said and forced the knife down to the cutting board.

"What you want to drink, Sheriff?" Kirsten asked.

"Iced tea, unsweetened," Dick smiled.

Kirsten poured the beverage, put it in front of the man, and then grabbed a couple of menus for some new arrivals. Dick watched as she scurried over to the table.

"Seems like she's coming along," Dick commented.

"Yeah she is," Rosy agreed. "Once she figured out that shitty little attitude wasn't going to fly with me, she buckled down."

"And seeing all of us stand up to those ass hole bikers," Cheryl reminded them.

"Here you are, Sheriff," Rosy smiled, putting a large platter in front of the man.

"Man, that is a work of art," Dick smiled.

He did a quick visual search of the premises, deduced that everything was fine, and then began eating.

"Got a brave one," Kirsten smiled. "Says he wants to try the volcano burger; woman wants the meatloaf, red gravy."

"Okay, you said you want to know how to do it, right." Rosy asked, grabbing the bucket of ground beef.

Dick watched as the blonde woman carefully, almost too carefully, followed Rosie's instructions.

"And..." Rosy said, showing the girl how to flip the burger, and then put the slice of cheese on top of the sizzling patty.

Kirsten put the two plates onto a tray, poured two sodas, and then carried the tray to the table. Dick smiled as he saw the look of pride Kirsten had as she placed each plate in front of her customers. His smile widened as he saw her point to herself, obviously telling the customers that she had been the one to cook their food.

He chuckled as the guy suddenly grabbed his soda and took a huge gulp of the soda. The young lady with him laughed out loud at her companion's distress.

"You do know that it should be illegal, selling that burger to the public," Dick told Rosy.

"So arrest me," she smiled. "I got somebody who'll bail me out."

Kirsten came back, surveyed the tables, did not see anyone needing anything, and so put her tray down.

Onstage, Cheryl did a lively bump and grind to AC/DC's 'Back In Black.' Dick peeled a ten dollar bill off of his clip and handed it to Kirsten.

"Go drop this in her tip jar," he asked.

"Thank you, Sheriff," Cheryl called out, shrugging out of her leopard print halter top.

X.X.X

Elise finished raking the grass clippings and stuffed them into a large black plastic bag.

She was exhausted, but a quick look at her now neatly trimmed yard and she beamed with pride.

She dragged the bag to the curb, put the plastic tie on it, and then wearily dragged her body to her side door.

A flash of white from the street attracted Elise's attention and she looked up to see Jack Vogel driving past in his cruiser. She waved to him.

Elise did not like Jack, had not liked him when they were in school, did not like him now.

But he was a brother in blue.

"Damn, but she is so hot!" Jack said as he returned her friendly wave.

Elise would have been shocked to hear his words. She did not consider herself 'Hot.' She considered herself fairly attractive; she shared her mother's blonde hair and deep brown eyes, as well as soft round face, small nose, and pouting lips.

She stood at five foot six inches, sported size thirty six C breasts, a twenty nine inch waist and thirty two inch hips, which she was always trying to slim down to twenty six inch waist and thirty inch hips. She believed her rear end to be too large.

In her senior year of high school at St. Thomas Aquinas, Elise Simone had been crowned Homecoming Queen and Sweetheart Queen. (Homecoming Queen had been 'fixed' by Brother Dominick; Kaitlin Monroe had been the one voted Homecoming Queen by their peers, but Elise easily won Sweetheart Queen without any assistance from Brother Dominick.)

But in Elise's eyes, Elaine had been the 'hot' one; Elaine had been the real beauty of the family.

Elise didn't see that the cut off shorts she wore displayed her long legs and heart shaped ass perfectly. To her, they were just cut off shorts. She didn't see how the tee shirt, wet with sweat, clung to her torso. To Elise, it was just a sweaty shirt that she needed desperately to get out of.

Once inside, she peeled out of her sodden clothing, dropped them all into the washing machine and poured the detergent in.

Nude, Elise padded to the bathroom, closed the door, and climbed into the tub.

She had to laugh at herself. It was her home; she lived by herself. No one was in the house with her. And she still found it necessary to close the door to the bathroom.

X.X.X

Dick shook his head. The customer had managed to finish the volcano burger (with the aid of three refills of his soda) as well as a slice of pecan pie and vanilla ice cream. The young man's companion was ready to go, had been ready to go, but the man was too busy watching Cheryl as the attractive Asian woman swiveled, gyrated, and swayed to 'Sugar Walls' by Sheena Easton.

Elizabeth Baggett tapped her fingers on the table, out of impatience, not in time to the tune that was playing. Her lunch companion may be one of the bigwigs of Young Insurance, sent down from Delaware, but she was coming very close to leaving him here.

Where do y'all get that weird ass music?" Dick asked Rosy. "Half that stuff I've never heard before."

"They bring their own," Rosy said. "We have a seven point one stereo back there but they're responsible for their own music."

"Most of them just buy it from Paula," Kirsten supplied. "They have to have thirty minutes worth of songs and she can make them a cd of songs that you can dance to. It's a lot easier than trying to figure it out by yourself."

If there's a way to make money off of it, Paula will find it," Rosy laughed.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, some of its pretty cool, but some of it, I'm sitting here wondering what the hell am I listening to?" Dick shrugged.

Finally, with a kiss blown in Bruce Pennington's direction, Cheryl scooped up her clothing and skipped off the stage.

"Man, could she move!" he said. "That girl ever comes with the check?"

"Yes. You paid it. Remember?" Elizabeth snapped, standing.

"Wonder what you get in the Hurricane Room?" Bruce asked her as Elizabeth grabbed her purse.

"I'm sure it depends on what you're willing to pay for," Elizabeth said, striding purposefully to the door.

"Thanks come again," Kirsten called out.

"Meatloaf was great," Elizabeth smiled.

"Thank you," both Rosy and Kirsten said.

"Shut up," Rosy teased Kirsten. "It's MY meatloaf."

"So, um, what you get in the Hurricane Room?" Bruce asked Rosy.

"Your companion's already left the building," Rosy reminded him.

"Uh huh; I'm the regional manager," Bruce said smugly. "She won't leave without me."

"Hundred and fifty, half hour, it's a private dance," Kirsten recited. "You cannot touch the girl; you do, private dance is over. Anything extra can be discussed in advance but the Dead End Bar is not responsible for any of the girls that work here; they are independent contractors."

"That little Oriental chick, one that was just up there, she give them private dances?" Bruce asked, pulling out an American Express card.

"Yes she does," Rosy agreed, taking the card. "Would you like to add a tip on the charge, sir?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, that'd be great," Bruce said.

"Thank you, sir, and please sign here," Rosy said, putting his receipt in front of him.

Kirsten went to alert Cheryl that she was expected in Hurricane Room One. Rosy turned to Dick, a questioning look on her face.

"Hey, what two consenting adults do is none of my business," Dick said, stuffing the last bite of his salad into his mouth. "And anyway, everything I just heard was legal, by the book."

Dick smiled as he watched Elizabeth stride back into the bar, look around, throw her hands up in resignation, then stomp back out.

Thirty minutes later, a slightly disheveled looking Bruce came out. He waddled to the door and exited the bar. Then he came back in, looked around, and then let again.

"How long you think it'll take him to figure out, some people don't just sit around waiting on the regional manager?" Dick asked no one in particular.

An hour later, Orville came in to take his place at the bar. Dick dropped a ten dollar bill into the tip jar and Amber smiled sweetly.

"Hi Handsome," Rosy said, looking up from the grill.

"Hi Gorgeous," Orville responded. "Chef Salad, ranch, please."

"No more volcano burgers?" Dick asked, returning from a trip to the men's room.

"Love it but my ass doesn't," Orville admitted.

"Now, why you call me 'Gorgeous?'" Rosy smiled.

"I want to do it," Kirsten demanded as Rosy got out the purple onion.

"Okay, just make sure no fingers in the salad, okay?" Rosy teased, sliding the cutting board over to Kirsten.

"Because you are gorgeous," Orville said.

"Like this?" Kirsten asked, poising the heavy knife.

"Shut up, I am not," Rosy laughed, then turned to look at the cutting board and Kirsten's hands.

"Exactly like that," Rosy said.

"Now her?" Rosy said, pointing to Amber as the twenty one year old danced to a club mix of 'You Are' by Hungry Lucy. "She's gorgeous."

"Naw; she's cute. Ten years from now, when she's your age? She'll wish she looked like you," Orville said.

"You're insane," Rosy smiled but leaned across the bar for a quick kiss.

With a genuine pride she had rarely felt before, Kirsten finished the salad, drizzled the dressing on top, then placed the heavy platter in front of the police officer.

"Kirsten, that's almost as fine a job as Rosy would do," Orville complimented the young woman.

Kirsten didn't respond; it wasn't cool to let anyone see you cry. She just nodded her head, grabbed a menu and walked out to greet a new arrival.

X.X.X

Amber finished dancing and got off the stage. Moments later, she came out, dressed in faux leather skirt and leather vest.

"Hi Deputy," she said and cocked a questioning look at Rosy.

"Kind of early, ain't it?" Rosy asked.

Amber huffed, and then faced the Deputy.

"Hey, by the way, the other day, I was followed by a bunch of them bikers when I left here," she announced.

"What? What'd you do?" Orville asked.

"Drove to the DeGarde police station; they beat it out of there," Amber shrugged.

"Smart thinking," Orville said.

"Hey Sheriff?" Orville said, pressing his shoulder radio.

"Uh huh?" Dick's voice asked.

"One of the girls? Said she was followed out of here the other day," Orville said.

"Was afraid of that," Dick sighed. "Let me make a few phone calls.

Charles Villeaux of the DeGarde Police Department didn't have anyone he could spare, but Kimble, Flowers, and Elgee were able to loan dick five additional officers. The three from Elgee were motorcycle cops, Dick was happy to hear that.

When he called Orville back, Orville laughed.

"You do know that now both Mike and Jack will be wanting their own, don't you?" Orville said.

"It's not a bad idea," Dick mused aloud.

He pulled the budget up on his computer, looked at it, though about it for a long moment, and then placed a call to the parish courthouse.

Thirty minutes later, Dick had approval to purchase three second hand motorcycles; two coming from Baton Rouge and one coming from Shreveport.

Chapter 6

That was so sweet of you," Rosy smiled as she let some more string out.

Orville looked at where Jack and Penny lay on the blanket.

"I figured your grandparents would like a day out here; it's a beautiful day," Orville shrugged.

"Need to let out some more string," Jack encouraged.

"He's right, you need to let out more string," Orville agreed.

"Shut up; how would you know? I'm much better at flying a kite than you, anyway," Rosy teased.

But she did let out more string, watching her kite climb higher. It was a new kite; Orville had gotten her a box kite, a bright red against the dazzling blue sky.

She felt something knotted in the string and looked down at the spool of string.

A ring glittered, tied to the string.

"What's this?" she asked, confused.

"What's it look like?" Jack called out.

"Looks like an engagement ring, huh?" Orville asked.

"Now, why would... What? Orville, are you..." Rosy sputtered.

"I'm asking if you'll be my wife," Orville said, steadily staring up at his kite, afraid to look at her. "I love you; I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you, don't ever want to take my eyes off of you."

"Church wedding or..?" Rosy asked.

"Church," Orville said. "In front of God and everybody. Marriage is forever, you know?"

"Did she say 'Yes?'?" Penny slurred.

"I think so," Jack said. "Hard to tell; they're all crying and stuff."

"Now they're kissing," Penny announced.

"Oops and there go their kites," Jack laughed.

"Oh no! The ring!" Orville cried out, lunging for the spool of string.

"I got yours!" Rosy laughed.

"Got it!" Orville yelled out after a frantic three minute scramble.

X.X.X

"She said yes," Dick smiled after hanging up the telephone.

"Oh! That's so wonderful!" Elise sighed.

"She said yes?" Mike asked, swaggering into the office.

"Yeah, she said yes," Dick smirked.

Ever since getting the motorcycle, Officer Mike Stevens had adopted a swaggering style of walking.

Jack Vogel had adopted the same strutting manner of walking. Dick briefly wondered if he now walked like Mike and Jack, but knew that Carmen or Elise would have given him shit about it.

As it was, Carmen had given him all kind of grief over acquiring the motorcycle in the first place. She absolutely, one hundred percent forbade him giving any of the grandchildren rides on the powerful machine. That sentiment was forcefully echoed by their father Charlie.

"I see enough of them kids in my ER," Charlie said. "Dad thought it'd be cool to give their kid a ride, lost control and them I got to tell him their kid's dead. No sir! Not just no, but HELL no!"

"And YOU!" Carmen hissed, grabbing a hold of Elise's arm and gripping it tightly. "Don't you even think about getting on that bike, you hear me?"

"No ma'am," Elise smiled reassuringly. "I like my cruiser just fine."

"Officer Jack Vogel," Jack intoned into his radio.

"Rosy said yes," Elise told her former partner.

"Copy that," Jack intoned, never losing his 'tough guy' persona.

"What a shit head," Elise smirked.

Becky cheerfully whooped when Elise radioed her the news.

The four other officers were enthusiastic in their responses, as were the five officers that were on loan from Flowers, Kimble, and Elgee.

"Ooh, I wonder if the girls know." Elise asked.

"What girls?" Dick asked."

You know, the girls," Elise said. "Those dancers they got."

"I'll tell them," Mike offered, grabbing his helmet.

"Hell you will; let Rosy tell them," Dick smiled.

"You can tell Cheryl," Elise smiled.

(Cheryl did not make any secret of her homosexuality. She did not flaunt it, did not thrust it in anyone's face, but did not hide it either.

Her girlfriend, Peggy Morrison, however, was very militant about her homosexuality, was quite vocal about her homosexuality, and was equally vocal about her hatred for the male of the species.

"I understand she was a real beauty when she was in high school," Orville had said once when the six foot tall, three hundred pound Peggy lumbered into the Dead End Bar to watch her girlfriend dance.)

"You're right; Rosy can tell them," Mike smiled, not rising to Elise's bait.

X.X.X

"Where you going?" Henry asked as Elise opened the door of her cruiser.