Chapter 2: Broken Heart
The next afternoon, Hank, Dale, and Boomhauer met in the alley as they always did. They waited for Bill to show up as he normally did. To kill time, Hank and the gang engulfed several beers, cautious not to get drunk. Minutes passed by, and there was still no sign of Bill.
"Bill should have been here by now," Hank said. "He always shows up between 3:00 and 3:30 in the afternoon. Now it's 3:40, and there's no sign of Bill at all."
"Hey, man, maybe he's inside his dang ol' house, man," Boomhauer said.
"That's true," Hank said. "Let's go see if he's OK." Hank, Dale, and Boomhauer walked next door to Bill's house. Like Hank's house, it was a one-level home surrounded by a rather small patch of land. Dale knocked on Bill's door. They waited for Bill to answer it, but nobody seemed to hear the door being knocked. Dale knocked much louder. Angry when nobody was coming, Dale slammed his fist repetitively on the door. He panted when he stopped, but he grew even madder when Bill still did not show up.
"Damn it, Bill! Answer the door!" Dale shouted.
"Hey, man, take it easy. Try the dang ol' doorbell, man," Boomhauer said, pointing to Bill's doorbell. Hank went to the doorbell and rang it a few times. Soon, they heard Bill's heavy footsteps rushing to the door.
"Hey, Hank, Dale, and Boomhauer. What brings you here?" Bill asked when he got to the door. He had a purple towel wrapped around his waist, and he did not have a shirt on. "Sorry I didn't answer faster. I was taking a shower," he said.
"Bill, how'd you like to join Boomhauer at a single's bar?" Hank offered.
"Nah, that's okay," Bill turned him down. "I won't find anybody."
"Come on, give it a shot," Dale said.
"Well," thought Bill, "I suppose I could give it a chance."
"Great," Hank said.
"We can go in a minute, Boomhauer. I've got to finish my shower first," Bill said as he shut his front door.
"Yes!" Dale exclaimed. Hank, Dale, and Boomhauer gave each other high-fives. "Well, I'll see you guys later," Dale said.
"Take care, man," Boomhauer said, heading back to his own house.
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow, Dale and Boomhauer," Hank said, leaving Bill's house.
About 15 minutes later, Bill came out of his house looking a little bit more dressed up than usual. This time, he was wearing a red plaid shirt instead of his white undershirt. He walked over to Boomhauer's house and knocked at the door. Boomhauer answered the door. "Yo," Boomhauer said.
"Hi there, Boomhauer," Bill said. "Are you ready to go to the single's bar?" he asked.
"Yeah, man, let me get my dang ol' car keys, and then we'll be dang ol' ready, man," Boomhauer said, going back inside his house. A few seconds later, he returned with his keys. "Let's go, man," Boomhauer said, getting in his car. Bill sat in the front seat with him, and Boomhauer drove off to the single's bar.
The single's bar was a somewhat small building with a lovely brick exterior. It was squashed between the other buildings in downtown Arlen. "Well, here we are, man," Boomhauer said, getting out of the car. Bill followed him into the bar. The bar was dark and there was a long counter with dozens of single men and women. "I'll dang ol' catch you later, man," Boomhauer said, sitting at one end of the bar.
Bill took a seat in an unoccupied area of the bar. "I'll have a beer, please," Bill said to the bartender. The bartender gave Bill a beer, and then Bill gulped it down.
"My goodness, I've never seen someone gulf down that much beer before," Bill heard a woman say from behind him. Bill was startled, but he turned around and saw the woman that spoke to him. She was thin and had long brown hair. She looked very pretty. "I love a man who drinks beer quickly," she said.
"Hey," Bill greeted. "I'm Bill. What's your name?"
"Jennifer," the woman said.
"Hey, Jennifer, you want to hang out at my place for a while?" Bill blurted. He gave an innocent, but hopeful grin.
Jennifer looked a little bit startled. "Are you trying to ask me on a date?" she wondered, disgust filling her voice.
Bill's smile faded, and his body seemed to sag downward. "Maybe," he answered quietly.
Jennifer laughed hysterically, but then stopped abruptly. "I'm sorry, but I don't have time right now," she said, looking at her watch. I need to be getting back to my job sometime soon. My lunch break's almost over." Jennifer then ran off to her car outside as if she were quickly trying to get away from Bill. Bill sighed in despair.
"Excuses, excuses," he groaned.
"Hey, Bill," Boomhauer said. He walked up to Bill with a nice girl with thick, auburn hair. "Look at dis dang ol' purdy chick I met. Dang ol' name's Angela, man. Angela, meet my dang ol' friend, Bill," Boomhauer said.
"Hey, Angela," Bill said.
"Hello, Bill," she said, sounding disgusted with him.
"Hey, Angela, let's head on over to my dang ol' place," Boomhauer said.
"I'd love to," Angela said, walking out the door with Boomhauer.
"I'll dang ol' catch you later, Bill," Boomhauer said. "Lemme know if you need a dang ol' ride back home, man. I'll pick you up whenever you dang ol' need to, man." Boomhauer and Angela left the bar.
Bill sighed and put his head down on the counter. He remained that way for a while, until he heard the door jingle and heard a familiar voice. "Hey, Bill. Everything going okay?"
Bill turned around. There was Hank and Peggy. "Oh, hi there, Hank," Bill said. "Things are going great," he said. The expression on his face didn't support that statement, though.
"Are you sure, Bill? You look a little sad." Hank said.
"Well, Hank, I tried to pick up some ladies here, but none of them were interested in me," Bill said.
"I'm sorry about that, Bill," Peggy said. "Maybe someone will meet you some other time."
"Yeah, well, maybe," Bill said. "Say, I'm about to go home now. I didn't bring my car because I came to the bar with Boomhauer. Could you guys drop me off at my house? Boomhauer left already."
"Oh, well sure, Bill," Hank said.
"Thanks," Bill said, getting up. For some reason, he couldn't keep his eyes off Peggy. He tried not to look at her, but for some reason, he had a hard time not looking at her. There was something about Peggy that he really seemed to like. He thought about what it could be as Hank drove Bill back to his house.