Chapter 14 Merrick
MERRICK
Diesel and I both work the bar that night. I serve up drinks and chat with the regulars, but my mind is not on the tasks at hand.
I keep looking at the stage where Howl at the Dune thrashes around, pounding out a punishing, nonstop metal mashup.
How do other stages do poles temporarily? I swear I’ve seen those talent shows on TV bring in dancers on a pole, but obviously, it’s not a permanent installation.
Diesel nudges my arm. “Are you hot for the lead singer, or did your brain finally fry?”
I move swiftly to bury my elbow in his gut.
He laughs and swings around, knocking my legs out from under me.
I won’t go down alone, so I slam my head into his belly on the way.
He stumbles backward, and I’ve got him, dragging him to the ground where I get a solid punch to his jaw.
A loud whistle from above gets both of our attention.
Vicki leans over the bar. “You two have the manners of a billy goat. Get off the damn floor and pull these beers.”
Fuck. Fine.
Diesel and I drag our asses to our feet. We check her scrawled note and each grab a pint glass.
“So, what the fuck is going on?” Diesel asks.
I shrug. “Thinking about how to install a stripper pole.”
“In the bar?” He shuts off the flow of the ale. “I thought we were going for the social media crowd.”
We both turn to the bar at the same time, setting the glasses on Vicki’s tray.
I lean on the counter. “I’m not feeling the newbs. They don’t like the music. They don’t mix well with the MC.”
Diesel surveys the room. It’s segregated, a corner of young couples and girlfriend groups staring out at the mayhem like terrified hens surrounded by wolves.
Most of the Wild Hair is here, except for the ones doing protection duty, and of course, Stoney and Carol, who are waiting for the baby to arrive.
Jake keeps taking shots over to the table of girls, but when they see the ragtag bunch that sent them, they squeeze closer together, their heads touching as they madly tap on their phones.
“They buy pricier shit,” Diesel says.
“Sometimes,” I tell him. “I think, half the time, they end up drunk on shots sent by old men.”
“There are a lot of empty shot glasses in here.” Diesel fishes them out of the suds in the sink and loads them into the dishwasher for sterilizing.
I step aside as Jake fills the ice trough. “If we’re going to focus on beer and shots, we might as well have some entertainment.”
“This is about Marietta, isn’t it?” Diesel asks. “Symphony said you took her to class this morning.”
“What about it?” I’m about to throw another punch when Jake taps my shoulder. I whirl around. “What?”
“The girls are asking if you’ll play Taylor Swift between the band sets.”
Diesel glances at me, and we both bust out laughing.
“When hell freezes over,” Diesel says. “Tell them to put in their cute little earbuds if they want girlie music.”
“I figured.” Jake dumps more shot glasses into the sink. “I’ll tell them.”
“They seem about your age,” I tell him. “You making any headway?”
Jake shakes his head vigorously. “Those are trust-fund babies. Sorority girls. Not my league.” He jerks his thumb at Chain and Hoss. “They’re having a blast sending them shots, though.”
“You think we’re doing the right thing by trying to get girls like that here?” Diesel asks.
Jake shrugs. “They’re pretty to look at.”
Betz walks up as he says it. “I’ve always been pretty to look at, you cute thing.” She smacks her beer glass on the counter. “Another Guinness.”
I slide her empty into the sink and pull a fresh one. “Coming right up.”
When I turn back around, Marietta is entering the bar with Celia and Too Fast Freddy. I’m startled enough that I miss the counter and end up sloshing beer on my hand.
“You sure are sloppy around that mouse,” Betz says. “Good thing you have to keep your hands off her, or you’d probably poke the wrong hole.” She laughs at her own joke as she picks up the frothy glass and heads for the table with Low Joe and Two-Shit.
I wipe up the spill, trying to avoid looking up at Marietta. I already caught sight of her tight jeans and hot pink tube top.
But she and Celia sit on stools right in front of me. Too Fast Freddy heads to the tables to greet the other Wild Hair.
“Hey, lover boy,” Celia says. “How about making us a couple of those buttery nipples you did the other night for Marietta?”
So, that story has gotten out.
I pull a pair of shot glasses and search for the butterscotch. Diesel passes it to me without a word, then moves down the bar toward Jake.
When I plunk the two shots in front of the women, I finally meet Marietta’s gaze. “Hey.”
“Where’s my ‘hey’?” Celia says, then laughs out loud, her red mouth wide open. “Only the virgin mouse gets a ‘hey.’”
Marietta mouths, “Sorry,” then drinks her shot.
Too Fast Freddy comes up behind Celia and grabs her boobs in their glittery gold halter top. “No bra, my lady.”
“I know it,” Celia says. “I’m hoping to straddle you in the hookup spot.”
“Don’t have to ask me twice.” He pulls her off the stool.
Marietta watches them leave. “Are people doing it?” she asks me.
“Doing what?” I shove the liquor bottles back in their spots.
“Hooking up in the old outhouse?”
I glance in that direction. “Not as much as we thought. Maybe one a night on busy nights.” I slide a bunch of abandoned beer bottles closer so I can dump the dregs.
“Huh. I thought more people would be into it.”
“Might be the wrong crowd.” I pick up a pair of bottles.
“I’d do it.”
I almost drop the empties. Would she? Visions of sinking into her surrounded by all those mirrors flash through me.
I keep my voice careful and measured. “I’m sure Iron Jack will be glad to know who you choose to do that with.”
“What if I don’t tell him?”
I toss the bottles into the recycling. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, what if I, let’s say, find someone totally different outside the club. And I go for it.”
My chest tightens. “I guess you can do what you want. Just don’t drag anybody into a fight. Make sure they’re not part of another club. That could start a war.”
She runs a finger along the top of the empty shot glass. “Like Romeo and Juliet, huh? I’m just talking. I’ll never get a chance. I’m escorted everywhere. If I stepped foot into Hookup Heaven, somebody would break the door down.”
That’s probably true.
“I guess you’ll figure it out.”
She turns to look at the stage. “Is that where you’ll put it?”
I know what she means. “I figure. Been working out the logistics.”
“Would you let me dance when the bar is open?”
Now, that’s a question. It was one thing to be the only person watching her. But a whole room?
“Maybe you better not do that until you’ve picked your man.”
Her eyes shift toward me. “You saying you can’t guarantee you could keep the customers off me?”
That was a consideration. “I guess we’d have to get more bouncers.”
“Lots of logistics. You can get temporary poles, you know. Terra says she has one at her house. She puts it away when people come over.”
“I’ll have to look into it.”
She pushes the shot toward me. “Do you think I can handle another one?”
“Sure. Or I can make you something easy on the booze that you can sip awhile.”
She nods. “Let’s do that.”
I fix her a Paloma, light on the tequila and heavy on the grapefruit soda and lime juice. I plop a cherry on top and slide it to her.
“Nice touch,” she says, plucking at the stem. “Everybody loves to remind me of my status.”
“Shit. I didn’t mean it as a message. Just a garnish.”
“That’s okay.” She pulls the cherry out by the stem and dangles it in front of her lips. “I like cherries.” She slides it into her mouth and uses her teeth to pop it off the stem.
I should not be mesmerized by this, but with Marietta, I am. She picks up the drink and takes a swig. “Oooh, I like it!”
“Good.” I put the bottles back in their places. When I turn around, Marietta’s watching me.
“I like it in your bar, Merrick,” she says. “It’s my favorite place to be.”
I don’t know why her words get to me, but I feel my throat feel thick. “I’m glad.”
“Are there times you could use some help? I could do that. I don’t have nearly enough to do at the club.”
“But you have school and all that.”
“Yeah, but now, I don’t work. I like being busy.”
I glance down at Diesel and Jake.
“Vicki doesn’t work on Wednesdays, and Diesel has class. We could use someone cute to take orders.”
She tilts her head. “You think I’m cute?”
I think I’d like to examine every cute inch of her. But I don’t answer, just accept some empty bottles from a passing customer and drop them in the bin.
Celia and Too Fast Freddy emerge from Hookup Heaven. Celia’s face is flushed. “That was fun,” she says to Marietta. “Let’s go tell everybody they should do it.” She links her arm through Marietta’s, pulling her off the stool.
Marietta steps down and picks up her drink. “See you Wednesday,” she says.
I watch her walk away. They shove tables together and sit with the other Wild Hair.
Diesel makes his way back. “I have never seen that look on your face before, brother.”
“Yeah. Something’s brewing.”
“If you get it wrong, how fast will they cut off your dick?” he asks.
“Faster than you get off to your own five fingers,” I tell him.
He wraps his elbow around my neck. “Don’t fuck around with the club,” he says. “I hate funerals.”
“So do I,” I say to him. “Especially mine.”
But fuck me, I’m headed straight toward it if I can’t resist that cherry mouse.