I watched fascinated as Cal polished off a very rare 32 ounce T-bone like it was his last meal. He always ate like he was storing up for winter. I kind of missed the times when we were kids challenging each other to eating duels. I would always come up short. Mom put a swift end to them before I could turn the tables. While Cal would walk away victorious, I would walk away...fatter.
My own steak lay tortured on my plate. I wasn't that hungry. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty over the way I treated Jordan earlier.
"Dude, if you didn't want that side of beef we could have just ordered a pizza, stayed at your place and got drunk."
"No Calvin, watching you eat is making me lose my appetite. When was the last time you ate?"
He pointed at his plate with his fork. "Like this? It seems like years. Mom put Dad on one of her diets again. Wood, I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to start eating lunch with Dad."
I laughed to myself. Mom had a cupboard full of fad cookbooks all because her ill fated attempts to get our father to eat healthier. Little did she know, Dad would just make a stop down to the greasy spoon in town and order a burger and fries for lunch at least four times a week.
Cal put down his knife and folk. He pushed his plate away and put his elbows on the table. "Why do I have the feeling my eating habits are not what's eating at you Woodrow?
Cal could always read me. Funny, I never could read him in return. I hated that about him. I picked up a dinner roll and began to rip it into pieces dropping them on my plate.
"I just have something on my mind that's all."
"This is about Jordan, isn't it?
"No, It's just you still haven't told me when your return flight is."
"She came to see you earlier... right?"
I could swear he was psychic on top of everything. "Yes... it's about Jordan. She needed a favor from me and instead of saying no; I just let her think I was on a date tonight."
Cal couldn't hide the smirk on his face as he pulled his plate closer and began to saw into his steak again. "I think it's only fair to warn you bro, I don't put out on the first date. No matter how much you just spent on dinner."
I threw a piece of mangled dinner roll at him "Smartass"
"So, do I get to tag along on this 'favor'?"
I had thought about dropping him off someplace while I went to pick up the files from Jordan. But I knew I'd never hear the end of it if I did.
I raised my hand to flag down our waitress to get the check, "Finish up. I'll take you this little place I know and buy you a beer."
"Hey, like in 'where everybody knows your name'?"
"Not quite." But I was sure by the time we left everyone would know his name....and I would be back to 'Woody who?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I reluctantly brought Cal to Max's place. We walked into the crowded pub and looked for a seat at the bar. The tourists were packing the city for the summer holiday season...apparently they were packing in here too.
"So this is where you drown your sorrows and spend your paycheck..."
"No, those are the bars you hang out in Calvin." I noticed a pair of empty seats at the end of the bar and pointed them out.
"Pogue Mahone. Who would name their bar 'Kiss My Ass'?"
"I won't ask where you picked up that piece of knowledge."
"Those few weeks I spent in Orlando during my landscape architect phase." A lopsided grin fell across Cal's face. "There was this girl from Ireland that worked at EPCOT...who had a smart little mouth along with uncanny ability to wrap her legs around... "
"I really don't want to hear about your exploits right now..."
"Oh come on, you never complained before........Hello... who is THAT?"
Cal motioned to Jordan who was standing farther down the bar franticly looking for something underneath it. She looked up, noticing us sitting there. A smile lit up her face. For a second I vainly let myself think it was because of my presence. But then I realized I was right..... She was smiling because I was sitting there. She had reeled me in...Yet again.
"Torment."
Cal stopped gawking for a split second and said "I'm impressed Wood. She doesn't look like Quincy....medical examiner pay must really suck if she's moonlighting in a bar. "
"Her father owns the place..." We both jumped at the sound of Max's voice in front of us. "Evening Woody, What can I get you gents?"
"Hi Max...Looks busy in here tonight."
"Tourists. You got to love them. But it is a little crazy." Max looked over at Jordan who was back to searching under the bar. I could tell she was beginning to swear like a sailor.
"A couple of drafts Max "
"Coming up." As he was filling the mugs he asked "Who's your friend?"
"Max, this is my brother Cal."
Max's eyes lit up and he offered Cal his hand. "Glad to meet you Cal. Welcome to Boston."
"Dad, where is that bar book?" Jordan stomped up to her father pushing a stray lock of hair out of her face. I felt that inevitable stab of sibling jealously when Jordan looked Cal up and down with an eyebrow arched.
"Is this your date Woody? He doesn't look like your type."
Heads turned when Cal burst out laughing. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and laid a slobbery kiss on my temple. I wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole.
"No Jordan, this is Calvin."
Both her eyebrows shot up with surprise. "So he is for real...I thought you made him up when you went on your forced vacation."
"I wish I had." I mumbled into my beer.
Max scratched his head and looked around "I put that book somewhere....."
"Some yuppie over at table six ordered a 'Velvet Hammer'...."
I stuck my nose in my beer because I could feel what was going to happen next.....
Cal put up his hand like his was a school boy tentatively answering a question in class. "Crème de Cacao, Vodka, Cream over ice..."
Both Max and Jordan looked at Cal with surprised looks. Max spoke up "Are you a bartender Cal?"
"Nope, I got stuck in Vegas a year or two ago and needed some quick cash. I read the bartender's manual so I could fake it and get a job in a bar. Once I took care of my marker I left town."
Jordan let out a slightly unladylike snort. "Woody, you couldn't have wired him the cash?"
"I was done bailing his ass out of trouble by that point."
With a laugh she said, "I think I'm going to like your brother Woody."
"Great."
"Well, as much as I would like to sit and chat, I have to get a Velvet Hammer out to table six sometime tonight. Now, where the hell is that shaker?" Jordan began to look around the bar again.
Max had an amused look watching Jordan's frustration. "Calvin how would you like a job for the night."
"You'll pay in beer?"
"And you can keep your tips."
Cal slapped me on the back and said "Dude, a job!"
He jumped around to the opposite side of the bar and rubbed his hands together. He scoped out his new surroundings like surgeon getting ready for surgery. Jordan stood back with her arms folded. "While you're at it I need two Stingers and a Vodka Collins.
I could tell I was in for a long night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three hours later I found myself sitting at a table toward the back of the room watching my brother hold court at the bar. Jordan was laughing at something witty he had just said. She had been doing a lot of that this evening. By the way he was holding his hands next to each other, palms flat, parallel to the floor, shooting them off in to the air like the planes that they were representing, he was talking about his days in the Marine Corps.
Nobody was more shocked then I was when Cal won an appointment to the Naval Academy. He had the grades and the athletic letters to go to college just about anywhere he wanted. But he had this dream of becoming a fighter pilot, just like John Wayne in 'The Flying Leathernecks'. I had given him one semester before he would get himself kicked out. Authority was never something Cal would take seriously. But to my amazement he not only stayed in the Academy but graduated with honors. Uncle Sam handed him a blank check to whatever career path he chose. Meanwhile, I was still in Kewanee writing speeding tickets on Highway 42. By the time I had worked my way into a plain clothes job, Cal was launching off the end of an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Atlantic.
The day after Calvin pinned on his lieutenant bars he handed his commanding officer his resignation. Mom was devastated. Dad was livid. I just questioned what it took him so damn long. Cal had confided in me that his decision had something to do with either being found in the back seat of his colonel's car with the man's wife or being caught in the supply locker with his daughter. It all depended on how drunk he was. I knew the real reason he quit was because he had accomplished the goal he had set for himself and he was moving on to the next thing life had to offer. Calvin was blessed with nomad feet.
A laugh burst of laughter brought me back to the present. I watched as Jordan grabbed a couple of beers out from under the bar. Still giving Cal her full attention she walked around the front of the bar.
Cal must have had finished his story by the sounds of the chatter coming from the bar. Jordan just shook her head and to my amazement walked over to my table.
"You look like you could use another one." she said as she set down next me putting her feet up on the chair next to her.
"I see Cal has been keeping everybody entertained..."
"Your brother is something else Woody." I couldn't tell if she meant that as a good thing or a bad thing.
Just then Max dropped beer at the end of the bar. Jordan stood up to go grab the mop. Max motioned for her to stay seated. Cal passed Max the bar mop from the back of the bar. I could hear Cal's baritone voice from where I sat...
"Some Guinness was spilt on the barroom floor
When the pub was shut for the night
Out of his hole crept a wee brown mouse
And stood in the pale moonlight
He lapped up the frothy brew from the floor
Then back on his haunches he sat
And all the night you could hear him roar
'Bring on the goddamn cat!'"
"He can sing too?" she said with a laugh.
"We're lucky. That was one of his cleaner ones" I grabbed the beer from the table and lifted it to my mouth. If she had called for an encore, Cal would have had to find his own place to sleep tonight.
When the hell did he say his return flight was?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``
Thanks Beven for the bar song!