Bryan Smith: Soultaker

The bartender’s eyes crinkled a little as he smiled. “Yeah, you do. You’re Jake McAllister. I’m Stu Walker.” He shook Jake’s hand across the bar. “You were about five years ahead of me in school, but I used to hang with your little brother.” Stu’s smile faltered a bit. “Shame what happened. Mike was a cool dude. We used to party a lot. I still miss the guy.”

Jake felt a brief flash of the old grief at the mention of his dead brother’s name. A familiar blackness loomed somewhere within him. He swallowed some more Grolsch and willed thoughts of the fucked-up past away.

“Yeah. Honestly, I don’t think about it much anymore. What happened, I mean.”

Stu cleaned some pint glasses with a cloth. “Yeah. It was a long time ago.”

Later, as Jake finished his second Grolsch, he did a quick booze-intake inventory. In less than a half hour, he’d consumed three beers and a large shot of tequila. It was tempting to go ahead and get hammered, but he knew it wasn’t wise. He had some serious matters to attend to, including some face-to-face encounters with people he’d hoped to never see again. People he hated. His mother, for one. And his beer-bellied, quick-with-a-backhand evil bastard of a stepfather, for another.

Stu set a fresh Grolsch on the bar in front of Jake. “So…what brings you back, man?”

Jake picked up the bottle, but didn’t immediately drink from it. He rolled the cool glass between his hands and stared into the open mouth of the bottle. “You know my mother had another kid by that asshole Hal, right?”

Stu grunted. “Yep. Trey. He reminds me of you.”

“Yeah? That poor bastard.”

Jake took a big swallow of beer. He’d allow himself one more beer while he talked with Stu; then he’d get out of this place. He had enough discipline left to do that, he hoped. Because he was pretty sure he’d be here for the night if he stayed for even one more drink beyond that.

A blonde girl with nice legs displayed pleasingly in a short skirt and ass-lifting platform heels leaned over the bar next to Jake and ordered a Long Island iced tea. While Stu mixed the drink, the girl glanced Jake’s way. She looked maybe twenty years old, with straight white teeth, pretty blue eyes, and marvelous cheekbones. When she smiled at him, Jake forgot about everything else for a moment.

“Hello.”

“Hey. Haven’t seen you here before.” Her voice was sweet and lilting, but she sounded a little tipsy. “You’re kinda cute for an old guy.”

Jake chuckled. He was thirty-nine and not quite ready to shuffle off to the old folks home. But it was all about perspective. From this chick’s point of view, he was old. And maybe she was right. He didn’t like to think about that looming milestone birthday, but it was right around the corner and coming up fast.

He tipped his glass at her. “Thanks. I guess.” He drank some more Grolsch. “I’m new here. Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

Jake shrugged. “I grew up in Rockville, but I’ve been gone a long time.”

Her brow furrowed some. “You back to stay or just visiting?”

“Definitely just visiting. But I’ll be around a while, taking care of some family business.”

The girl’s smile returned. “Wonderful. I’m Bridget Flanagan. I’m a student at RCC.”

Jake tipped his glass at her. “Jake McAllister.”

She accepted the finished drink from Stu and sipped tentatively from a thin straw. “Lovely. Well, Jake McAllister, hang out at the Grill enough and we’ll see each other again. But now I must be off.”

“Good-bye.”

“Ciao.”

Jake watched her return to a table occupied by several other college-age girls. She moved like she knew he would be watching her, swaying her hips a little more than she normally would.

Stu laughed. “Work that ass.”

Jake watched her smooth her skirt and fold herself into a small chair. “I’m way too old to be flirting with a girl that young.”

Stu indicated the nearly empty Grolsch bottle in Jake’s hand with a nod. “You ’bout ready for another?”

Jake tilted the bottle and studied its remaining contents. It still held another good swallow or two. He sighed, remembering his pledge of only minutes ago. “No. This is it for to night, I think.”

“So, why are you back, Jake?”

Jake sipped some Grolsch. “My mother called me yesterday, begging me to come back to Rockville. Her ‘baby,’ this is Trey we’re talking about, this is the term she uses for a kid almost out of high school…anyway, her ‘baby’ has apparently suffered some sort of massive psychological trauma, something he won’t tell her about no matter how much she pries. My opinion, just living with her is plenty trauma.”

Stu’s expression was grim. “I hate to say it, but I agree. Her and her old man aren’t gonna win any popularity contests, put it that way. Trey, though, is a good kid, from what I know of him. Smart, like you. So you’re here to put the boy straight, huh?”

Jake laughed. “I guess. My mother, God knows why, has this idea I’m some kind of paragon of maturity and success. She thinks Trey looks up to me. Which is funny, I haven’t accomplished shit, other than escaping this place. But go figure, she reckons my mere presence will be enough to steer Trey back to the straight and narrow path. Pure bullshit. If I’m the kid’s role model, he’s already in trouble. Luckily, I’ve got an alternate plan.”

Stu poured a Bud draft for a factory worker and passed it across the bar. “What, hire a hitman to whack his parents?”

Jake smirked. “Now, that ain’t a bad idea. But no, what I have in mind is nonlethal but hopefully just as final. Trey graduates from Rockville High in a little over a month. I’m gonna hang around until then, play the role model to pacify Mom, then, when Trey has his diploma in hand, I’m gonna put him in my car and get him the hell out of Rockville.”

Stu’s eyes widened. “Really? You sure he’ll go along with that?”

“Don’t know. Gonna give it a shot, though.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Stu’s whiskered mouth. “That’s a pretty bold plan. Maybe even a little crazy.” The smile broadened. “Shit, it might even work.”

Jake sucked down the last of the Grolsch and pushed the empty bottle across the bar. “I won’t force him to come with me. I’m just gonna roll the dice and see what happens.”

“Where will you be staying while you’re in town?”

Jake sat back on his stool and rubbed fatigue from his eyes. “Man, I’m bushed. I figured I’d look for some kinda weekly rental type place.”

Stu snapped his fingers so abruptly Jake almost slid off his stool. “Nah, fuck that, man. You can stay with me.”

Jake blinked. “But-”

“I’m serious. And you don’t have to worry about imposing. I rent a house in Washington Heights. Plenty of room.” Stu grinned. “And the price is right.”

Jake frowned. “Ah…my, um, funds aren’t…”

“You asshole, I ain’t chargin’ you.”

Jake thought about it a moment longer, then nodded. It wasn’t like he had a lot of options. “I appreciate it, man.”

Stu nodded. “Not a problem, bro. Hang out a bit longer. I’ll fetch my extra house key from the Jeep when I get a chance.”

Stu poured some more drafts and set another Grolsch in front of Jake. Jake was drinking it before he realized he’d broken his pledge. He decided not to worry about it. He’d been looking for an excuse to postpone the meeting with his mother anyway. It could wait one more day. A little more time to mentally prepare himself couldn’t hurt. Rationalization firmly in place, he cast his gaze about the Grill and saw Bridget Flanagan giggling with her friends. Something about the way she cocked her head when listening to one of her friends reminded him of someone else. He frowned, unable to place the dim memory, then it came to him.