One Wild Night

"Dealers choice," he said, spreading his hands to indicate he would leave it up to her.

She cocked her head to one side, sizing him up before reaching under the bar for several bottles and a mixer. While he looked on, she whipped up a concoction that looked nothing like anything he had ever drunk in a bar before today, topping it with a colorful tiny umbrella.

"Seriously? An umbrella? Not very manly..." groused Karl with a smile.

"Try it before you criticize."

He took a sip.

"Wow...That's not bad at all...What do you call it?"

"Nora's Delight."

"Whose Nora?"

"I'm Nora. Nora Devlin," she said, sticking a hand out over the bar.

"Well, Nora Devlin, this is a heck of a drink. You should market these and make a bundle."

Her tiny hand slipped into his, the skin so soft and warm he hated to let her pull away.

"I might consider it someday. I could use some financial backing. You wouldn't happen to be a millionaire, would you?"

"Afraid not. Just a low-level I.T. flunky."

"Too bad. I was starting to like you."

Karl felt his heart flutter in his chest, but he had known too many female bartenders in his day, a little flirting never hurt the tip jar.

"Didn't mean to disillusion you. Maybe I could hustle darts to make extra money? I'll let you know when I hit a million."

"Where did you learn to throw darts like that anyway? Or was it just blind luck?"

"Three in a row? Take a lot of luck to make that happen, but, no, it wasn't all luck. My mom and dad took over my grandfather's bar when he retired, and I practically grew up sweeping the floors there as a kid. The Old Man, he loved to throw darts. When they came out with the fancy electronic dartboards, he bought several for our establishment, and after hours he would teach me the game. I had gotten pretty good by the time I left for college, used to hustle drinks at the campus bars sometimes. I don't throw as often as I used to, but I guess I still have some game."

"I can see that. Do you still throw darts at your dad's place?"

"Sometimes, when I go to visit. Been too busy this year to travel."

More customers were coming up to the bar, and Nora had to excuse herself to fill their orders. Karl returned to his table but kept finding himself staring over at Nora every chance he got.

"She is so out of your league," he thought to himself, and not just because of her age. Even in his youth, he would have been intimidated by a woman like Nora Devlin.

The night wore on, and Murray kept his promise to show the younger set how it was done by throwing up in the parking lot. Karl ended up calling him an Uber when it became evident that he was in no condition to drive. Toby and Bob left together after clapping him on the back and wishing Karl a happy birthday.

"Thanks for the drinks. You guys drive careful on the way home!" he said, waving at them from the sidewalk.

"Fuck Frank Cooley and Jackson West can suck my dick!" yelled Toby out the car window as the pair pulled away.

"He is going to be hating life in the morning," said Karl to himself as the tail lights of Bob's car faded into the distance.

The interior of the bar had calmed down considerably. It was just a few minutes until closing, and the waitress from the dart-throwing contest was chasing the last of the customers out the door. Karl stopped to take his last sip of beer, tossing a tip on the table and sitting his glass down on top of it.

"I think short of Bullseye Pete over here, that's the last of them," said the waitress to Nora.

"Thanks, Gloria. You can start sweeping up while I take care of the register."

"I have to take off myself. My sister is flying in on a late flight, and I have to pick her up from the airport."

"Shit! Couldn't you have mentioned that earlier before I let the others leave? I don't want to put this place to bed by myself!"

Karl couldn't help but overhear their conversation, and he veered in their direction.

"You know, I wouldn't mind helping you out. As I said, I spent a fair bit of time cleaning bars in my youth," he offered.

"See! There you go. The good Samaritan here has you covered," said Gloria, slinging her purse over her shoulder.

"It's not his job, Gloria," snapped Nora angrily.

"Cut me some slack, would you? Like I've never covered for you ever..."

Nora bit back whatever she had been about to say, as if it mattered, since Gloria had already spun on her heel and was out the door so fast she would never have heard her anyway.

"Huh...Well, Karl Groves, I guess it's just you and me. I will show you where we keep the mops and brooms."

Karl threw himself into the cleanup detail, strongly reminded of nights spent doing the same thing for his parents while his mom sang to old country songs on the jukebox, and his father counted out the register receipts. For the first time in a while, he forgot about his pending divorce and crappy job, just losing himself in the moment.

"Not bad. If the I.T. thing doesn't work out, you could have a career in the custodial arts," remarked Nora after observing his handiwork.

"Thanks, but I think I will stick to pushing buttons on a keyboard. My back is getting too old for this kind of work."

"Yeah, I heard your friends say it was your birthday. How old are you today?"

"Technically, my birthday is tomorrow, and I thought it was impolite to ask someone their age?"

"That's a lady. I don't think you get off that easy."

"A lot older than you. I will say that much. Old enough that I should use the restroom before I leave or risk not making it home," said Karl heading for the john.

"Don't forget to clean up in there before you come out!" shouted Nora at his back.

"Yes, Mother!" called Karl with a laugh.

He did his business and washed his hands carefully, looking at his tired face in the mirror. A few crows feet around his eyes, a few more laugh lines than in his youth, actually it wasn't a bad face at all. Karl smiled, his green eyes a little bloodshot from lack of sleep.

"I got a few miles on me, but it could be worse..." he mumbled, drying his hands.

Still, it was hard to face starting over, and not seeing his boys regularly made it even harder.

"Don't dwell on things! It's too late at night for that," he finished, tossing the balled-up towel into the wastebasket.

He took the time to wipe down the porcelain with a bottle of cleaning spray he found under the sink before leaving.

"You should see the bathroom, the Pope himself would be proud to take a dump in there!" declared Karl upon his return.

It took him only a second or two to see that things had changed radically in the short time since he had left to use the facilities. Nora was now up against the bar, being held there by a tall, blond-haired man with tattoo's running up both his arms and an angry scowl on his otherwise handsome face. A second man, shorter but more muscular than the first stood nearby, he had a buzz-cut and looked like he had come straight from a military boot camp with predatory eyes that showed little emotion.

They were both dressed in denim jackets and jeans looking like extras in a film about gang warfare.

"I thought you said you were alone," said the taller one, tossing a menacing look in Karl's direction.

"I didn't know anyone was in the restroom. Gloria said she chased all the customers out," said Nora in a surprisingly calm tone.

"Uh...If this is a private conversation? I can come back," said Karl, looking from one unhappy face to the other.

"You just stay right where you are, Pal. Watch him, Earl."

The tall man's short, muscle-bound partner walked over to stand next to Karl, sneering at him in a way that made Karl very uncomfortable.

"Now! Just tell me what you did with it, and Earl and I can be on our way. No autopsy, no foul."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Billy? Did with what?"

"You know what you took! Now hand it over, and things won't need to get ugly!"

Billy squeezed Nora's shoulder painfully, and she cried out, "Dammit! Billy! You're hurting me!"

"Hey! There's no need for that..." Karl started to say, taking a step toward Billy and Nora.

A half-step was about all he managed before Earl grabbed him by his shirt front and without apparent effort swung him clean over a nearby table, sending Karl crashing down onto its hardwood surface. The momentum of the toss made him roll off and land roughly on his ass on the other side.

"Jesus! Billy! Leave him alone!" yelled Nora.

Karl sat stunned on the floor, shaking his head and trying to figure out just what in the hell was going on. He had come out of the bathroom right into a scene out of a crime movie, and his brain was struggling to catch up.

"I'm not going to keep asking you, Nora! Give it back!"

"Give what back?"

"Quit playing games, you ignorant slut!" shouted Billy, slapping Nora across the face.

If this move was a more forceful attempt at intimidation, it failed miserably. When Nora's head came back around, she had mayhem in her eyes and manifested that anger by whipping up her knee right into Billy's crotch.

"MOTHER FUCKER!" screamed Billy even as he crashed to the ground, nursing his battered testicles.

Earl started toward Nora and made it about three steps before a chair came crashing down on his head, sending him to the ground right next to his convulsing comrade.

Karl stood with his jaw hanging open, the chair he had swung at Earl's noggin still clutched in a white-knuckle grip.

"I thought it would break. You know, like in the movies," stammered Karl.

"Holy shit..." mumbled Nora looking down at the fallen men and then back at Karl.

The pair locked eyes for a heartbeat, then Nora said simply, "Run!"

When Karl didn't move, Nora bolted toward him, pushing the chair out of his hands and grabbing him by the arm, dragging him toward the bar's back door. They crashed through it together into an alley that ran behind the structure. Nora turned to her right, running flat out toward the parking lot with a bewildered Karl trying his best to keep up. They reached the asphalt together, but Nora came to an abrupt halt, cursing to beat the devil.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! I forgot I didn't drive tonight!" she yelled, looking at the mostly empty parking lot save for a large, four-wheel-drive truck.

"What?" cried Karl, coming to a stop next to her and trying to catch his breath.

"My car is in the shop. My sister dropped me off," she explained hastily, "We need to get the hell out of here!"

Karl was still trying to pull himself together from this very unexpected series of events, but he latched on to the urgency in Nora's voice.

"My car is parked across the street. I couldn't find a spot earlier."

Nora nodded, and fell in behind Karl as he took the lead this time, jay-walking across the quiet street to his car and trying with shaking hands to get his key out to open the door. He managed to drop it twice on the ground while Nora stomped her foot and looked back at the bar.

"Could you hurry the fuck up, please!"

"I'm trying! Jesus..." groused Karl as he finally got the key in his hand and repeatedly punched at the button to unlock the doors.

He did get the key in the ignition on the first try, and when the engine roared to life, threw the car into reverse while stomping the gas so hard that gravel flew from beneath the tires. They rocketed backward, and he had to slam on the brakes to keep from crashing right through the storefront of a shop behind them.

"Calm down," snapped Nora, "You're going to get us killed!"

"Sorry...I never drove getaway before," said Karl, nearly falling into hysterical laughter at the sheer absurdity of those words coming out of his mouth.

The car lurched into forward motion just as the front door to the bar opened with Billy and Earl staggering out together.

"Go!" cried Nora.

Karl accelerated out of the parking lot and turned onto the main street, blowing right through the red light that glared at him like the accusatory eye of some angry Cyclops. He kept the pedal down for a good ten blocks as they put some distance between themselves and the bar then started turning onto side streets to discourage pursuit.

"You can slow down now. I don't think they're following," advised Nora five-minutes later.

Karl's heart was pounding in his chest, and it took an supreme act of willpower to ease his foot off the gas. The car coasted to a stop at the next red light, and he drew a shuddering breath before turning toward his passenger.

"Just what the fuck was that?" he yelled.

"Gee...You don't have to scream. I'm literally two feet away," said Nora in a normal voice that sounded entirely out of touch with their predicament.

Karl kept staring at her wild-eyed, but slowly her serenity seemed to catch on, and he felt his breathing starting to slow.

"Sorry, I've just...never been in a bar fight."

"Really? I thought you handled it pretty professionally for a beginner."

He couldn't quite figure out if she was serious or not, but when she smiled, he realized she was jerking his chain.

"Funny..." he grumbled unhappily, "Would you care to explain what was going on back there?"

Nora faced forward, shaking her head, "Honestly? I have no freaking idea."

"It sounded like you knew that guy."

"Oh, I do, or rather, I did. His name is Billy Boothe. He and I used to date a while back. We broke up."

"I can't imagine why. He seemed like a real winner to me."

"He can be charming when he wants to be, but as you can see, there is an asshole lurking not far beneath the surface. We were only together for about six months before I figured that out."

"Why does he think you took something of his? What? Did you steal his record albums or something when you broke up?"

"I didn't take shit from him. I honestly don't know what he is talking about."

The light cycled to green, and Karl pulled through the intersection, unsure what to do next.

"Look, after everything that's happened, I feel bad asking you for a favor, but if you could give me a lift home?"

"Yeah...I suppose I could do that."

Nora rattled off her address, and Karl went to punch it into the console of his car's GPS, but the system wasn't connecting.

"That's weird..." he mumbled, shifting in the seat to pull his cellphone from his back pocket.

The shattered screen and cracked case told him precisely what was wrong.

"I forgot I landed on my ass. That fucker Earl owes me a phone," said Karl angrily.

"Would you like to go back and tell him?"

She had a point. He kept driving and trying to recall the streets in this part of town. He wasn't used to driving without a GPS and wondered how he had ever gotten anywhere before the invention of that wonderful device.

"Do you need to call your wife and tell her you're going to be late?" asked Nora.

"I beg you pardon?"

"Your wife?" she repeated, nodding at the ring on his finger.

Karl glanced down at his hand, feeling a little embarrassed.

"My wife and I are in the middle of divorce proceedings, so I hardly think she cares where I am now."

"But you still wear a ring?"

He was slow to reply, rubbing at his jaw, absently, "Yeah...Force of habit, I guess. You spend a long time defining who you are by certain aspects of your life, and when those are suddenly gone, it can be difficult to adjust. You kind of hate to lose them because you're not sure who you are without them. Me, I've been Karl Groves, married I.T guy and father for so long it's hard to think of myself any other way."

"You have kids?"

"Two. Both boys."

"Must be hard on them. I remember when my parents got divorced. I was thirteen at the time. It was a rough stretch right after for my mom and me."

"Did you still spend time with your dad?"

"That cheating, worthless son of a bitch! Not if I could help it..."

Karl winced at the venom in her voice, "Sorry..."

"Why did you and your wife split up? If you don't mind me asking?"

"I don't know...Well...That's not true. There was cheating, by her, not me, but it was more than that. It was..."

He stopped and took a long breath. Karl had never tried to put what happened into words before, and it surprised him how hard it was to explain the twists and turns that had carried him and his wife from a once loving relationship to a failed marriage.

"Boredom? Changing perspectives as we got older?... Shit, I'm not sure I can explain it. I just know one day, Jill stopped loving me and, apparently, really started loving her scuba instructor, or at least his dick."

"Scuba instructor? Ouch! That's harsh," said Nora, trying not to laugh and failing.

"Hey! This isn't funny. It's my life," said Karl, working on sounding offended but lapsing into laughter along with her.

"I guess he was just more exciting than me. It can be pretty stale being married to a guy that pushes buttons on a keyboard for a living."

"If she could have seen you tonight, she might change her tune! The way you took out Earl with that chair! Wham!"

Nora smacked her palm with her fist and smiled.

"It just happened. I wasn't even thinking about it. One minute I was on the floor holding my bruised ass cheek, and the next, I'm drilling some guy in the head."

"I'm glad you did, or things might have gotten ugly. Kind of makes you my hero."

Karl took his eyes off the road for a second to look at Nora. The way her face glowed in the dashboard lights made her look even prettier than back at the bar, and the way she was looking back at him made his stomach suddenly queasy.

"I think your street is coming up next," he said, forcing his eyes back to the road.

"Looks like," agreed Nora.

The street was quiet at almost three a.m., with most houses dark and silent. A string of ubiquitous looking town homes were lined up one after the other on their right, and Nora pointed to one at the end.

"That's mine. Wait a minute..."

As they drew closer, they both saw the black, four-wheel-drive truck parked at the curb.

"Oh shit..." mumbled Karl, cruising past and not stopping. Nora looked out the window and saw that her front door was open, kicked in most likely, and Billy was standing in the doorway."

They broke into my fucking place! Those assholes!"

Karl wasn't waiting around to see what happened if they noticed he and Nora. He sped up and took a right at the next corner.

Nora sat stewing in her seat, a constant string of curse words dropping from her lips.

"Not to interrupt your attempt to use 'fuck' as every word in a sentence, but don't you think we should call the cops?"

"I left my phone back at the bar, along with my purse! Shit! I bet that's how they found out where I live..."

"Logical, but that leaves us without a phone. I guess we could just drive to the police station and tell them in person."

"Uh...That might be a bad idea," said Nora quietly.

"Bad idea? Your boyfriend just assaulted you and broke into your apartment! I think involving the police is a great idea at this point."

"Ex-boyfriend and the police are already involved."

"What are you talking about?"

"I probably should have mentioned. Earl is Billy's brother, and he is also a cop."

Karl slammed on the brakes bringing them to a shuddering halt in the middle of the road.

"Are you telling me that I got assaulted by a cop who is now breaking into your place?"

"When you say it like that it sounds bad."

"This is bad!" cried Karl thinking he had never been in a situation like this ever.

"I'm sorry I didn't mention it before. In the rush of things, it slipped my mind, okay? The bottom line is I'm not sure we can trust the police."

"Well, that's just great! So what do we do now? Are you sure you have no idea what they are looking for?"

"Don't look at me like that! I promise you I'm not lying. I have no idea what this is all about...but I know someone who might."