and this was just proving his point.
“Yeah, apparently he was hammered out of his mind and got tossed out of the bar earlier that night. Mason, do you remember anyone like that?” I asked. He seemed to think for a moment, and then his eyes widened.
“Oh, shit. Yes. I do, some spoilt rich brat, came in already drunk and without an ID. I told him he could stay and sit with his friends, because they all seemed sober and had theirs, but he couldn’t drink. Then I caught him drinking their beer,” he said,
“And I tossed him,” Matt said. “I remember Mason telling me about him, but he was busy behind the bar. So, I went up and asked him to leave. He acted like a fool trying to get up like he was going to fight me, but one of his buddies got him out of there without any problems. I guess he came back.”
“A college kid,” Jordan scoffed, the anger that bubbled in him starting to simmer. “Just some stupid college kid. Jesus. I was ready to beat the hell out of Danny.”
“Speaking of,” I said, making eye contact with him. “You and I owe him an apology. We both made accusations I’d like to take back.”
“All of us do,” Mason said before Jordan could respond. “We all went to the bar together to accuse him, and we all sat around this table and said awful things about him. We all should head down there together to make it right.”
I nodded. “You’re right. No worries one of us could still harbor a grudge if we all do it together. We’re all agreed?”
There was a general mumbling agreement, and we stood.
“I’ll tell the girls we’re headed that way,” Mason said, leaving the room.
“I still think he’s a dick,” Jordan said.
“He is,” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. “But being a dick isn’t the same as burning down our bar.”
When we arrived at the bar, all arriving in two cars, we got out and saw that Danny had increased his “security” as it were. Two ancient bikers stood at the entrance, neither of them looking like they were on the young side of seventy. I was sure they had been intimidating men in their day, but at that moment they looked like they could be defeated by a strong wind. I walked up to one of them who had crossed in front of the door.
“Anderson, aren’t ya?” he asked in a gruff smoker’s growl.
“I am. I need to see Danny,” I said.
“Over my broken bones,” the other one said, his long, red flowing beard moving like shag carpet in an earthquake with each word.
I sighed. “I’m not here for trouble,” I said. “We came to apologize.”
The first one, with a patch over the heart of his leather vest that read “Ace,” squinted his eyes at me. I wondered if that was meant to further intimidate me or if it was because he genuinely couldn’t see me well. I settled on a mixture of both.
“I don’t trust ya. Not with all these boys, too. Mind if I pat you down?”
“Fine,” I said, raising my arms. He gave me a quick pat down, paying special attention to my pockets, before letting me go.
“You’re clean,” he said. “Just you, though. One of you can go in.”
I turned to my already protesting brothers and held up a hand.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll go talk to him. You guys stay here in case I can get him to come out here and you can apologize yourselves.”
I opened the door of the bar, and “Ace” stepped away from it. Going in was like walking into a cave. The room was dark, with only harsh, green bar lamps lighting various areas of the space. The people inside didn’t seem to mind. They must have known the bar well enough they didn’t need to see where they were going anyway. I went up to the bar and sat down on the same stool I had before and noticed Danny look over. It took him a moment to recognize me, and then he looked at the door. Seeing his guards in place, he stomped over to me and put his hands on the bar.
“I thought I told you I didn’t want you back in here again. I ain’t sellin’!” he said.
“I’m not here for that,” I said. “I came to apologize.”
He sputtered for a moment, clearly knocked off guard.
“Apologize?” he asked.
“Yes, apologize. The police found the guy