Chapter Three

CK walked downstairs and asked Tommy if he wanted to head to the bar. He felt guilty about his distant attitude in the car. Tommy wasn’t much of a drinker, but he enjoyed the bar’s atmosphere and often went when CK was in town.

        “Sure, why not, lemme just get my jacket,” he said and went to grab an old leather duster off one of the coat hooks.

        “See ya later, Mom!” CK shouted, not waiting for a response and stepping out the door with Tommy. They went to his car and hopped in. Tommy started the car, this time on the first try, and they started driving to the nearby bar. CK was a lot more responsive on the ride there.

        “So how is college?” asked Tommy, with emphasis on the is. Tommy knew his cousin and his uncle well enough to know CK wouldn’t have given a completely honest answer to his father.

“I’m thinking about dropping out,” CK said in a nonchalant tone. The car swerved slightly, whether in response to CK’s statement or a pothole was unknown to CK. Tommy didn’t speak for a brief period of time, when finally he responded with the simple statement, “Well, in the end, it’s up to you. I’m not gonna say anything that won’t be said by your dad.” In the car a silence settled in, not an awkward one, but neither Tommy nor CK had the slightest idea how to follow up that news, shocking news to Tommy.

CK had been thinking about dropping out for quite some time. He had been disillusioned by college, and truly felt that all of it didn’t really matter in the end. CK couldn’t understand why the world worked like it did. For instance, how his father had been shoved out of the farming life and into one of relaxation and intellectual pursuits, but still remained unhappy, maybe more unhappy than he would have been if he had remained a farmer. The thought of suicide had crossed CK’s mind, but only in hypotheticals, for he was not brave enough, nor could he stand the idea of how his parents would react.

Tommy kept driving for a few more minutes, then pulled up to a shoddy structure, first intended for an impoverished family that couldn’t afford anything better, then turned into a still during prohibition times, and finally, keeping to the prohibition theme, turned into a bar. It was rather ship shod but was Tommy’s favorite (not that there were many bars in the town, there were a whopping two other bars, one in the middle of town and another on the outskirts). The bar was named Mickey’s after the original owner of the still.

Tommy and CK exited the car and walked into the bar. The inside was much more presentable than the outside since it had been refurbished. The owner loved the idea of something being more than what it looked like on the outside. The inside had a beautiful oak bar with maroon vinyl stools, the same color that adorned the four booths. The floor was polished hardwood, and the bar had a green velvet pool table residing in the corner, where two unenthusiastic players stood, one setting up the balls while the other chalked his pool cue. Tommy said hello to the man at the bar, Kenny, while CK took a spot at one of the booths. Tommy ordered two beers, and took a seat across from CK while Kenny dusted off two glasses, poured the golden liquid inside, and brought them to their table.

While Kenny was at the table, CK also ordered a gin and tonic, something Kenny scoffed at, at least to himself, for he was an avid brown liquor drinker and despised clear liquors, for some reason thinking them un-American. Tommy sipped his beer, smacked his lips and let out a long sigh, which broke the silence that had settled on the two cousins. CK was relieve at the interruption, and proceeded with a question, not sipping his beer like Tommy for he preferred to drink the hard liquor before the beer, a quirk he had inherited from his father, regardless of the fact that the beer might grow warm before he got to drinking it.

“So how have you been, Tommy?” CK asked, receiving the tumbler of gin and tonic from Kenny, who, after giving the drink to CK, a man in his bar he had not seen before or at least did not remember seeing before, brusquely walked back to the bar, ignoring the muffled thanks coming from CK’s lips around the rim of his glass, and continued to wipe down his beautiful bar, something that all bartenders seem to have a compulsion to do every five minutes, no matter how clean the wood gets. CK dismissed the incident without much thought and focused his attention on Tommy, ignoring the blaring television set sitting on the oakwood bar. CK took a large sip from his glass, half the glass still full, and settled himself into the booth, removing the keys from his back pocket and setting them down on the varnished table.

“Oh, I’ve been great. Pops been hinting that he wants to retire and pass the shop onto me, which I think I’m ready for, but don’t mind waiting a couple more months, just so I can spend more time with Mindy.” Tommy’s father owned a barbershop, which also sold common household items. That part of the shop, however, was supervised by Tommy’s mother and his girlfriend Mindy. Tommy had worked in his father’s shop almost his entire life, and began cutting hair at eleven when he hit his growth spurt and finally grew tall enough to cut the hair of Hank, the biggest man in town and the biggest man in the county and surrounding counties. Mindy had not been working there as long, beginning after about a month of being with Tommy, when Tommy brought her to the shop. His mother, a kind but very talkative woman, took to Mindy as mother to daughter.

Tommy and Mindy had been going strong for about two years since meeting at the town’s annual barbecue. Mindy was short and chubby, but only slightly, and that was Tommy’s type. And Tommy couldn’t have found anyone better. She was very pretty, with a heart-shaped face and wide hips. CK had met her a couple times, and genuinely liked her, finding her friendly, warm, and funny. Tommy loved the humor of his girlfriend, and would often laugh long and hard after she said something particularly witty. Tommy’s laugh was beautiful, a deep rich chuckle, which accompanied Mindy’s laugh, which was also pretty, but occasionally included snorting, which Tommy found endearing and hilarious. When the three of them, Tommy, Mindy and CK spent a weekend together, there were seldom times CK did not have a smile on his face, faint or not. That was a long time ago.

“That reminds me, how’s Mindy?” asked CK, not reminded at all, but searching for an opening to pose the question. He drained his glass, set it on a napkin and pushed it away from him> He proceeded to pull his beer to him and began sipping on it, enjoyment flooding him as he tasted the drink, a sharp contrast from the bitter gin. He began to nurse his beer, and held it gently with both hands, as if it were a hot cup of cocoa. Once CK mentioned Mindy, Tommy’s face lit up.

“Oh, she’s wonderful! I’m thinking about popping the question soon!” he said with a smile and excitement coloring his voice. CK was genuinely surprised. Tommy was a very slow mover when it came to relationships, but he guessed that two years was a pretty long time. He was happy for Tommy, but also experienced a feeling of loss, one he refused to acknowledge.

“That’s amazing Tommy, good for you,” CK said truthfully. Tommy smiled and explained that it had been long enough, that Mindy was the best thing that had ever happened to him. CK smiled and nodded at the appropriate times, not in a rude way, but doing it because he knew Tommy hadn’t really talked about it that much, and wanted to give him the opportunity to get everything out. Tommy had friends in town, but Tommy never really opened up with any of them. Some therapists would say that he had trust issues, but in reality he was just a guarded person. His mother was very gossipy, and he learned from her firsthand that you can’t just spread your soul for anyone to see. However, Tommy and CK had known each other since childhood, and were inseparable in junior high through twelfth grade. Tommy truly trusted CK and loved him like a brother, which is much more than that of a cousin. CK loved Tommy too, but felt strangely disconnected with him because of college. Tommy didn’t know, but whenever he ragged on CK about being a “college man” it made CK feel separated from the person he had been. Tommy was still talking when CK finished his drink, and Tommy’s was long gone, so when Tommy finally halted, and took a deep breath, seemed like he was going to say some more, but closed his mouth and just smiled, CK suggested that they order a couple more drinks. Tommy said yes, but he said that’ll be it for him after the second. CK planned to get drunk that night, and knew that Tommy would leave before the night was over, and CK could drink as he pleased. They ordered the drinks, and when Kenny served them to the table, CK thanked him and Kenny acknowledged him with a gruff welcome, for he knew Tommy and trusted his judgement of people, and he could see Tommy was having a good time with this stranger in his bar. (CK had been to mickey’s before, but only once, around two years ago, and a bartender sees a lot of faces and cannot be expected to remember all of them) Tommy asked CK if their was anyone in his life, and after the quick no from CK, they began to trade childhood stories, which grew more enthusiastic in the telling of them as they finished their drinks. Some time later, Kenny yelled to Tommy in a rough voice, holding the bar’s rarely used telephone.