Beautiful

-Just a little trifle; I hope you enjoy it.

This is another story in my cycle of stories centering on a group of friends and the bar they frequent over the years. The stories, put together, are a mosaic of their lives and experiences from the late Seventies to the 2000s.

The stories are not sequential and don't necessarily use the same narrator; for example, this takes place earlier than "I Want to Dance With You Forever" and "Aphrodite," (both in "Romance") and is told from another character's point of view.

Not that it's important, but these are adult versions of the characters in "The Rope."

Like I said, this was just a little "fun-to-write" piece. -

"Beautiful: A Huck's Place Story"

By

Richard Wark

August, 1977

Dina poured the liquid into the glass and watched as it foamed to the top. Chuck, the bartender, scratched his two-day growth of gray beard and watched with amusement from his perch, the stool in the center of the wide point of the U-shaped bar, his back against the cheap wood paneling. We were just to his right, across the bar, the jukebox behind us pounding out Bachman-Turner Overdrive. She took a sip of the beer, turned, looked at me with her big brown eyes, and said, "Why is everybody staring at me?"

I looked around the bar. It was a Sunday night and the place wasn't crowded. I think she was just self-conscious. So was I, a little, but it didn't seem like anybody was paying attention to us. Denny Manners was dozing across the way from us, shot and beer in front of him, bathed in the red of the neon light that buzzed in the window behind him, the one that uncertainly flashed "huck's Place," the C that led it off having been broken years before and never repaired.

Billy and Janie were playing the hockey puck bowling game next to the wide wooden doors at the bottom end of the "U." Dan and Lit were watching the television above Chuck's head - there was no sound, but the WGN Ten O'Clock news with Marty McNeely - was flickering on the screen. Dan kept stealing glances at Janie. This was one of the times when he and Lynn were on the outs so he was relegated to gazing at Janie from afar.

I looked back at Dina, staring into her barely-touched beer, wondering why I had brought her here. I think she was self-conscious because this was probably her first time in a bar. We were only eighteen, anyway, just out of high school.

"I don't know that anyone is staring at you. Maybe it's because most people here drink right out of the can or bottle. You're kind of making it like a science experiment."

She shifted her body, crossed her thick bare legs, and purposefully took another sip. Her nose crinkled a little and she put the glass back in its place. I took a drink out of mine and pretended not to notice her as she glanced at me sideways.

She bunched her long brown hair up with her hand and lifted it up over her neck. "It's hot. And just June. Are you going to the beach with me and Annie tomorrow?"

I shrugged. "I doubt it. I'll have to work," I lied. "You can't call in sick when your dad's the boss."

She let her hair back down. "Too bad." There seemed to be genuine sorrow in her eyes. I felt a twinge, too. I liked Dina. A lot. But...

The jukebox clicked and Elton John broke through singing the praises of Island Girls. Of course, this was before we knew for sure he wasn't interested in either island or mainland girls. I finished my beer and signaled to Chuck for another. Dina's was still practically full in front of her. She absently began to tug the label off the bottle.

"Did you like the show?" We had just come back from a concert downtown; Olivia Newton-John and David Gates of the newly-defunct Bread.

Actually, I wasn't a big fan of either - I liked Bread all right, I guess - but I knew secondhand that Bren wanted to go, so I got the tickets without asking her. Then I found out through Janie that Bren had some sort of family picnic that day so I didn't even ask her. Finally Mike, the manager at my dad's bookstore, suggested I give Dina a call. Whether she liked them or not, I knew she'd go with me.

Dina left the label alone for a minute, set the bottle down, and took another drink from the glass. "I did. I didn't think I would, but it was nice. Thanks."

She turned to me and smiled. She had such a pretty face - those deep brown eyes and a smile that really lit up the area around her. I had an impulse to reach across and take her hands in mine. Not here, though. No way.

Dina was ... zaftig. She was ... Rubenesque.

I could just picture everyone after I left: "Chris was in with this big girl. You should have seen her." Who, exactly, would have said it, I don't know. But as far as I was concerned someone would have.

I guess I was self-conscious, too. I was just out of high school, like I said, and hadn't really had a girlfriend. Even my prom date, Mary, was a last minute choice, only because there were two weeks left and neither of us had a date yet.

There was a tap on my shoulder. "Hey." It was Janie. Billy was sitting at the bar with Dan and Lit.

"Hey, Janie," I replied quietly. She looked questioningly at Dina, then back at me. "This is Dina," I continued. "From the Quetico trip."

Janie stepped across me and planted herself by Dina's side. "Every year he goes on these trips, comes back with two weeks' growth of beard, and tells us how rough it is out in the wilderness. Is that true?"

Dina smiled and shrugged. "I don't know. Mostly you go through a lot of socks."

Janie took a slug from her beer and laughed loud enough for the bar to hear her. She was getting into what we called "Janie mode." "So that's it, Mr. John Denver? It's all about your socks?"

I took a drink myself. "I guess." I was glad she didn't bring up the fact that my ten days growth of beard wasn't much, either.

"So did you guys REALLY get back to nature? Skinny-dipping? Running around naked in the woods?"

Dina shook her head shyly and went back to her removal of the label. "No." She took a breath. "It was a little chilly this year."

With another gulp Janie finished her drink and slammed it on the bar. "So, what are you guys drinking? Old Style?"

I pushed my drink to the end of the bar. "Sure."

Janie called for Chuck to bring three more, but Dina stopped her. "I still have this one," she said, half-apologetically. "I'm not a big drinker."

"Then just have Coke. We're not all alcoholics here."

I looked around the bar. "I'm not sure about that."

Janie punched my arm. "You know, Chris, fuck you. Ok?"

"All right, all right."

Chuck brought the drinks over, two beers and a coke. Dina put the beer aside and started working on that.

"You guys just met on the trip, then?" Janie was wedged between us.

Dina answered. "No, my friend Annie knows Mike at the bookstore. They sell these trips at my school and she knew Chris went on them so we asked him about it. He told us what to bring, get lots of socks, stuff like that." Dina was suddenly more animated, as if the coke had done to her what the beer usually did to Janie.

"What school?"

"I'm at -I mean I was - at Mother Catherine's."

Janie reached into her pocket and took out a pack of Newports. "Mother Catherine's? I went to Blessed Hearts. Just freshman year" She lit the cigarette. "You know - the slut school."

Dina laughed. "They call it that themselves?"

Janie took a puff. "Of course. We know who we are."

"Well, there are more at Catherine's that just won't admit it."

"We know." Janie touched Dina's shoulder. "Hey, let's put some songs in. Chuck has it set up so we don't have to pay. Then the four of us can bowl teams. OK?"

Dina looked across at me. I shrugged. "Sounds good to me. We can't stay long. I have to work tomorrow, remember"

Janie gave me a curious look as Dina hefted herself off the stool. I shook my head. Everyone knows I don't work Mondays. Then they turned to the machine. I heard Dina cry out "Eagles!" as I pushed out of the stool and into the washroom.

What had I been thinking? There were other places we could have gone to after the concert. Cherry's Ice Cream had late hours in the summer, even on Sundays, and there was a brand-spanking new Denny's not too far down the road.

On the way back from downtown, I had asked her if she wanted to have a drink at Huck's. Maybe I had expected her to dismiss the idea, but she had smiled, laughed, and said, "Your inner sanctum? Sure!" So we had made our way past the south side of the city into the unincorporated spot where three suburbs almost met.

"They never card you here?" she had asked as we crossed the gravel parking lot toward the doors.

"Not unless you're being a jerk. This place is an honored tradition. It's where our parents drank when they were teenagers, too."

But now here we were, with Janie taking her under her wing already, like she was - I don't know, my girlfriend.

The three of them - the girls and Billy - were waiting for me at the bowling machine. The Eagles were singing their new song about what was going to happen one of these nights. For a second my heart warmed when I saw Dina there, standing with them, chatting amiably. She took my arm as we watched Billy make his move. He got a 900 point strike, which was no surprise. Billy was a master at Flash. Dina was next.

I heard Lit's voice behind me. He must have come in while I was in the bathroom. "Hey, Chris, who's the girl?"

I gave a half-hearted shrug. "Just some girl I know from the trip."

"Cool." He went back to his beer. He'd been pretty quiet since my sister had gone off to school. Although they never had dated, I knew he had absolutely loved her.

The game went pretty well for a while. Janie was drunk enough to miss some easy shots and Dina was better than I thought. It felt good having her next to me. Finally Billy pulled off the victory in his last shot. As I went to the bar to buy one more round, Janie sidled up next to me. "Nice job. That is one terrific girl."

"I guess. I mean, there's nothing between us."

"That's what you think."

She moved toward the jukebox and I turned to look at Dina. She was looking at me with a sweet, broad smile. If it weren't for the weight, I thought, she would be a really gorgeous woman. As I made my way back to her and Billy, Janie pushed past us and embraced Billy.

"Let's dance," she said to him.

A slow Gordon Lightfoot song, long hidden in some obscure corner of the jukebox, was playing.

"At times I just don't know how you could be anything but beautiful."

"Come on, Chris," Janie called behind her as she and Billy swayed to the music. Dina stepped into me and I put my arms around her. I pulled her close to me and began to do something that might resemble dancing.

We moved to the music for a while, Dina with her head on my chest. I felt her breasts against my chest. It was a warm, comfortable feeling. Our hips pressed together as we danced, and I felt myself springing to attention as we moved together in time.

The voice continued from the jukebox: "Laughing eyes and smiling face..."

She looked up at me and I began to lower my head. Was this going to happen? Was I actually going to kiss her? But it didn't matter. She was sweet, smiling, loving...

The doors next to us opened wide and in came Mike Kodacki with Laurie and Brenda, laughing between themselves, no doubt, at something stupid Mike had said just before they came in. I stepped back hurriedly from Dina, turned to the bar, and finished my drink. "Hey, Dina," I said, "I'm sorry. We really have to go."

We listened to my "Ladies of the Canyon" tape on the way home, chatting about Joni Mitchell and James Taylor and David Gates. We were making an effort not to talk about anything else. It was about midnight when I pulled up to the front of her house. I held her hand as we went up the stairs of her porch. We stood awkwardly at her door. We could hear "Big Yellow Taxi" though the open windows of my Buick.

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "Sure you can't make it to the beach tomorrow."

Even then, looking at her lovely, open face, I almost gave in, but shook my head. "Sorry. Work calls."

"Ok." There was a flash of sadness in her eyes that struck me in the pit of my stomach. "I'll see you later?"

I nodded. "Sure. Thanks. I had a great time tonight."

She paused again and opened her door. I felt her eyes on me I moved back to the car. As I opened the door I turned back to her. She was already inside.

# # # # #

By the time I got back to Huck's the parking lot was full. As I pushed through the doors, "Whole Lotta Love" was playing loudly, the building reverberating with the bass. Brenda was sitting with Mike, Lit, and Laurie. I found an open seat next to them and ordered a beer.

"Hey, Chris," she said, "I hear you were in with someone -"

I cut her off. "Just someone I knew from the trip. No big deal."

Chuck brought my beer and I thought, just for the hell of it, of asking for a glass. Before I could say anything, there was a tap on my shoulder. It was Janie.

"Hey, what gives?"

Somehow I couldn't meet her eyes. "I just took her home. That's it. I mean, it's not like -"

She shoved me on the shoulder and I looked up at her face. She looked at me harder than I'd ever seen her.

"You're a fucking idiot, you know that?" Without another word, she walked away from me.

# # # # #

I saw Dina again about ten years later. I was sitting at the counter at Denny's trying to drown a hangover and a bad breakup in coffee. I heard a voice that rose above the usual clatter of dishes and conversation and turned to face her.

She was at a booth by the window. Across from her was a man in a business suit. Next to her was a toddler in a child seat. The waitress was taking their order and as she walked away Dina spotted me. I pushed of the stool and crossed the diner to her.

Her face broke into a smile as I approached. "Chris!"

"Hey, Dina."

She turned for a moment, helped settle the child a little in the seat, then faced me again. "How have you been?"

"Good. I can't complain." Of course, here I was, lying to her again.

The man across from her held out his hand quickly, and, it seemed, somehow protectively. "I'm Bob Macnamee. You are...?"

Dina and I both said "Chris" at the same time. "Bob's my husband," she said. "And this is Kenny. Our youngest."

"Youngest?"

Dina nodded. "Our daughter Sally is five. She's with my mom today."

We chatted briefly for a few minutes -she actually asked about Janie, although she had only met her that one time - and then I went back to my lunch.

As I numbly sipped my coffee, I realized she looked the same as ever. The same deep brown eyes, the same smile that seemed to take delight in everything. She was exactly the same as she had been ten years earlier.

She was still beautiful.