The Blue Whale was always packed on Friday nights. Being the only bar in Collinsport it had to be.
As bars go it was rather dull. Every once in a while Sam Evans would liven things up when he had a little too much to drink. But he only used words, or more appropriately slurs, to fight his battles. Violence just wasn't part of the sleepy town's repertoire.
The arrival of Jason McGuire changed all that. No one knew exactly what he was up to, but it had something to do with the Collins family. Everything in Collinsport had something to do with the Collins family.
The tall Irishman wasn't problematic enough on his own, but of course he had a traveling companion that could make up the difference.
Where Jason McGuire could at least play at civility, the young Willie Loomis wouldn't even try. He was what he was, and nothing was going to change that.
On this particular Friday night Willie had decided to visit The Blue Whale without this smoother half.
Burke Devlin eyed the blonde boy harshly from the second he stepped through the door.
"I thought you were told to clear out of town, Loomis." He chided from the table he and Victoria Winters occupied.
"All in good time, Mr. Devlin." Willie replied snidely, not forgetting to shoot the brunette woman a sleazy glance.
The boy's eyes continued to scan the room for something, only he knew what.
Eventually he settled on a vacant stool in at the middle of the bar.
"I just wanted to clear a few things up before I go." He said to no one in particular.
He then turned to the only person who hadn't walked away when he sat down.
"So tell me, Lisa, are you a girl or a guy?"
The girl just turned to him and smiled.
"Willie, if you can't figure out whether a girl name is given to a girl for a reason, you're dumber than I thought possible." She stated blandly.
A few snickers could be heard scattered through the bar.
Lisa may have been a head shorter than the boy, but she was the only woman in the whole town who wouldn't just lay down and take his abuse.
Willie could see Burke smiling proudly out of the corner of his eye.
Embarrassment was never something he would just let slide. He'd give them something to smirk about.
"Well ya can't blame me." He said slyly, looking the girl up and down. "Giving the way you dress and act."
Lisa snorted.
"It's what's under the clothes that makes the gender, Willie Loomis."
"I guess that leaves me only one option…"
Before anyone could blink he was on his feet and had one of her arms pinned to the bar.
He knocked the black newsboy hat she had been wearing off her head. Long auburn hair spilled out around her shoulders and down the back of her red jacket.
"Ya got the other girl parts to go with that hair, honey?" He whispered in her ear.
Lisa's eyes were wide, but filled with anger rather than fear.
Her foot connected with his chest right as he finished his last syllable. Leaving a clear shoeprint on his dark blue t-shirt.
"Get gone, Loomis." She spat. "Get your stuff and clear out."
Burke grabbed the boy's arm and yanked him off the floor.
"Oh, I'll get more than my stuff." The blonde wheezed.
"Better hurry." Burke noted. "Getting knocked down by a girl wont do much to help your reputation around here."
The tanned stranger shoved the boy out the door and turned to face his new favorite person in Collinsport.
She was picking up her discarded had and staring intently at her hands. Suddenly her trademark glovelettes had become of great interest to her.