and that was to crawl deep into the bag.
A few old heads turned when Lee and I walked in, then returned to their drinks and the welterweight bout on the tube. We walked along the bar to the back room, which housed a piano, and where McGinnes, Malone, and Louie were already seated. The antique farm implements that hung on the wall resembled torture devices circa the Inquisition.
An easel holding an art card stood at the entranceway to the room, announcing the “Piano Interpretations of the Fabulous Buddy Floyd.” Around Mr. Floyd’s name were glitter drawings of a champagne bottle, bow tie, and several musical notes. We entered and sat with the others at a large corner table with a curved leatherette seat molded into the wall.
Presently a woman with an intoxicatingly crooked smile arrived to take our order. She had beautifully textured dark skin and spoke with a Caribbean accent.
Lee ordered an Absolut and tonic with a twist; I had an Old Grand-Dad, Malone took Courvoisier with a side of coke, and McGinnes asked for rail scotch with water. Louie ordered a draught.
“Make mine a double, honey,” McGinnes said to the waitress as she began to walk away.
“They’re all doubles,” she said patiently.
“I know that, sweetheart. Just joking.”
The drinks came and we toasted the day. The liquor was filled to the top of the heavy tumblers. I took a deep pull off the bourbon, one that ironed the dampness from my shirt.
McGinnes and Malone were building something with matches and straws on the table. Louie sat to my right and we listened to Lee tell us about the courses she was taking at AU and her plans for after college. Her arm was through mine, and she was refreshingly unconcerned about Louie’s awareness of our relationship.
The waitress returned and we all ordered another round. McGinnes had not used any of his water to cut the scotch. Lee excused herself to go to the ladies’ room.
“She’s all right, you know?” Louie said, leaning in towards me as if we were conspirators.
“Yeah, I know. She’s cool.”
“Don’t mess her up, man. When you have a young lady like that,” he said, his hand cupped as if he were holding her in his palm, “you don’t mess with it.”
“Shit, Louie, give me more credit than that. Anyway, she already told me what was what.”
“I bet she did,” he said, smiling. “Her shit is more together than yours, man. And she’s ten years younger.”
The waitress brought our round. I took a sip and watched Louie down half his mug in one gulp.
“I’m a product of my generation, Louie. I guess it was all those Thoreau posters my junior-high hippie English teachers used to hang on the wall. ‘March to a different drummer,’ and all that. How many guys my age you read about, they’re making a shitload of money, they decide to quit because they’re not ‘happy.’”
“I don’t know whose product it is,” Louie said, “but you’re right. Now the kids coming up, Lee’s age, they know what they want.”
“Like Ric Brandon?”
“Brandon’s an asshole,” he said, waving his hand. “You know what I mean. For instance, man, you don’t mind my saying so, I been knowing you a long time. And you did a helluva job today. But, Nick, you fuckin’ up.”
“How so?”
“You sweat your ass off moving stock, you come up through the ranks in sales, you put yourself through college to get to that management position you’re in, now you act like it don’t mean nuthin’.” He got right up in my face. “What’s goin’ on with you, man?”
“I don’t know, Louie. I just can’t convince myself anymore that what I do is important.”
“Important? Come on, man, wake up. Where in the world did you get the idea that the work you do in life has to be important?” He took a swig of beer. “Let me tell you something, man. When I was young—you don’t even remember the D.C. I’m talkin’ about—this town was split black and white for real. I couldn’t sit with you like this in a bar and have a beer. In the early sixties I went to work in the old Kann’s department store downtown, and when the riots went down, they had no choice but to make me department manager.”
Lee came back and sat next to me. We all had some of our drinks, and Louie continued.
“Well, you know they went out of business like everybody else down there. But I got hired as a manager