Alright! Thanks for the reviews. Ragni, since I could not thank you through a return message, here it is. And rest of you all as well.
Now I have a question. Do you want BJ to find out about Hawkeye's interference before it works or not? In other words, you want a mini fallout between the two or not? If I don't get an answer, I will flip a coin and decide. I am undecided as yet and just so you know, things are going to take a bad turn real soon anyway. Now do you want additional drama or not?
Happy reading!
Chapter 61
After losing thirty bucks and drawing hands which, according to Trapper, resembled feet, I finally gave up the game. The kind of concentration and focus required was not something I could conjure up just now and before going broke, I gallantly asked to be dealt out. They tried to cajole me into keeping playing, probably hoping that I would end up returning all the money I won from them in the past. They forgot, I was tired, not stupid. After sitting there, watching them play for a little while, I started getting bored. Just then I felt somebody tap on my shoulder.
"Captain Pierce?" That was Igor. Before I could express my surprise, he nipped it in the bud.
"Cap'n Pierce! Are you playing?" He motioned towards the poker table speaking in a stage whisper.
"No. Why? Do I owe you money?" I showed him my empty hands and was moving my hands towards my almost empty pockets.
"No. No sir. I was wondering if you could be the bartender for a little while. Uhhh, I..." And nodded towards a pretty Korean girl. Comprehension dawned on me as I smiled before acceding to his request.
"Sure, Igor. Go ahead. Have fun. And don't do anything I would do." I grinned at him before leaving the poker table to play bartender.
"Thank you, Cap'n Pierce." He smiled and I could see the glint in his eye that made me chuckle.
"Hey. I won't be able to hold the fort too long, ya know."
"Don't worry. Klinger will take it from you at 11pm." I tried to find Klinger but could not spot him in the crowd but knowing Klinger, it was a sure bet he would show up like clock work.
I had a faint idea about how tough bartending could be. It became evident when the demands far exceeded the supply, everybody asking where Igor had gone and what the hell was I doing behind the counter. It seemed evident that despite the initial joy people showed me on my return to humanity, they regretted the grand entrance I had made by jumbling up orders and plain forgetting a few in the course of events.
"Hawkeye! Can I have a Grape Nehi, please?" That was Radar. Making sure I wouldn't hand him something more dangerous, I ducked behind the counter and dug up a Grape Nehi for him, waving him to keep sitting while I attended to a couple other disgruntled customers.
What is the opposite of disgruntled?
Gruntled?
Handing them their drinks, I got my first breath of relief in ...ten minutes.
Ten minutes? It sure felt like an hour, albeit exciting.
"Where is Margaret?"
"I don't know, Hawkeye. She is...You know what she did? She threw down the type writer and almost ripped my teddy bear apart. She is pretty mad at Donald Colonel Penobscott and... Gee, Hawkeye, why do women do things like that?" Radar whined incredulously. Knowing Margaret, I was glad to find Radar in one piece but did not let him know of his good fortune.
I still had no idea what she saw in that man. If their constant fights and problems were any indication, Margaret was probably just feeling good about being in love, even if the whole thing left her more miserable than her whole...charade with Frank. At least she had some control over things with Frank.
"Radar, if I had known the answer to that question, you think I would have been a bartender right now?" I tried to use some levity to cheer him up.
Women were an enigma and Margaret was enigma-squared. No wonder the kid was out of his depth. Most men and almost all women were that way around her.
Radar noisily sipped at his drink while I served a few more. The crowd was thinning now though it was still breathing room only. I was ducking behind the counter trying to find yet another bottle of bourban when I heard a loud Oh Boy from Radar. Before I could straighten up, I heard an order for a double scotch on the rocks, hold the water.
"Margaret!" I was surprised to see her here but then, where else would she have gone? Or come to.
"So you are playing the bartender tonight. Ironic, isn't it?" She commented moodily before repeating her order.
Waxing philosophical. Not a good sign, I decided and watered her drink before she made a fool of herself.
"You know me. I am a people-person." I smiled as I placed her drink in front of her.
She snorted but did not say anything.
"So...having fun?" I saw her settle on the stool in front and tried to make conversation.
That was probably a bad thing to say.
Probably?
Margaret shot me a look that could have killed me instantly. Thanking Divine Providence for taking care of that probability, I tried to smile.
"Of course I am having fun, Pierce. Having a drink, served by you instead of my fiance, watered down to the point where its alcohol content is below that of a diluted beer, of course I am having fun." She took a long pull at her scotch while I stared at her silently.
"Sorry Margaret. I was just..."
"Trying to help?"
"No. I was not trying to help. We are running low on scotch and I have to hand at least something to Klinger." I decided not to speak the truth. Not right now, anyway.
"Hit me!" She banged her glass in front of me before speaking loudly, drawing attention towards herself.
Back in the day, I would have enjoyed seeing her inebriated and making a complete fool of herself but things had changed a little over last few months. Now, she was not the uptight pain-in-the-ass gung-ho holier-than-thou GI Jane. Maybe it was a slight exaggeration but I now considered her a friend.
"Listen Margaret. Why not take it easy, huh?" I tried to reason with her.
"Pierce. I need some gin. Hit me!"
I poured her some gin, adding water to it, wondering when her threshold would reach.
"To men! And their infinite lies!" She raised her glass before drinking the whole drink in one go.
I felt sorry for her and felt slight anger for that dolt, Penobscott. I remembered a family of Penobscotts who lived somewhere nearby, one of their kids went to school with Billy. Uptight, pompous and a pain in the butt was what I remembered from various descriptions Billy gave of him. And his family.
"What happened?" I asked her solemnly before she asked me to hit her again.
She looked at me balefully, slightly tapping her glass on the counter.
"Why didn't he come?" I asked her directly this time.
"How do I know? He just tells me he could not make it. Like I hadn't noticed." She was becoming emotionally charged which was a big sign of inebriation when she was concerned.
"Margaret, look at the weather. Who knows how bad it is in Tokyo? Maybe he really couldn't make it." I tried to reason with her before she plunged into self pity. I had no reason to defend him but sometimes, you just had to lie.
She nodded as if she heard the possibility of that argument for the first time. It helped that she was already half drunk if the glaze in her eyes and slight slur in her speech was any indication.
I kept talking to her for another few minutes till I spotted Klinger.
"Klinger!" I spoke loud but he probably did not hear me. He was leaning against the juke box, a sad expression on his face. I wondered once again what exactly were we giving Thanks for tonight. Somebody drew his attention towards me and I waved him over.
"Cap'n Pierce!"
"Hey Klinger. Listen, kid! Could you do me a favor? I did not know it was going to be this tiring or I would have turned Igor down. Can you take over early? Please?" It wasn't all a lie but I wanted to get Margaret away from here. If nothing else, at least she wouldn't have a hangover tomorrow. Besides, I did not want a repeat of what Trapper and I were forced to do to get her battle-ready not so long ago. That bout of self pity and inebriation was brought on by a man as well, however questionable that status would be for an ordinary mind.
"Sure thing, Cap'n." He agreed with an expressionless face and I wondered about all the despondency brought on by the Holiday season. It was not this bad last year, I was sure.
Paying for Margaret's drinks, I took her arm and lead her out of the club and towards mess despite her resistance. Maybe Potter did have a point. Even if I hated the notion, sometimes it really came right down to me to end some of the despair enveloping people around me.
Maybe he did have a point, after all!