<\/p>\n
Fairline Freddy was parked at his usual table at the Pilot Lounge with a few of his vintage car buddies, watching the ballgame Sunday and drinking early.\u00a0 Sam and myself had just rolled in, said hello how are ya two IPA\u2019s, thanks Jerry, then pulled up at the only open table next to Freddy\u2019s.\u00a0 The game by then was out of reach, hopelessly lost and the mood next door was decidedly unpleasant.\u00a0 Nothing new there, I figured \u2026 and as usual was wrong.<\/p>\n
\u2018So my daughter wanted a blowout wedding,\u2019 Frank was saying, \u2018big Hall, hundreds of people, Big She-Bang.\u00a0 And she\u2019s 35, husband is 40, been married once or twice already, him, I mean, but they want a Cinderella wedding and I\u2019m spozed to foot the bill.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018You shoulda done like I did, Frank,\u2019 Freddy says.\u00a0 \u2018Tell them to elope and you\u2019ll give them a pile of cash.\u2019<\/p>\n
Frank shakes his head.\u00a0 \u2018I tried that, Fred, I offered them 10 grand but my baby wants a fancy wedding.\u00a0 Cake, florist, five bridesmaids, an open bar at the reception.\u00a0 That offer work for you?\u2019<\/p>\n
Frank confesses that it did not.\u00a0 \u2018I don\u2019t get it either, Fred.\u00a0 Kids nowadays want a splash, photographers, something special.\u00a0 They been living together for four years, for godsake.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018But here\u2019s the thing.\u00a0 The Hall I rented for Her Highness, I took a tour the other day, see how it sets up, where the band goes, the bar, all that — yeah, yeah, a band, you believe that? — and the lady who runs the Hall shows me the back side door and there\u2019s this bum sleeping in the doorway when we open it up.\u00a0 You believe that?\u00a0 Guy\u2019s got a sleeping bag and sacks of god only knows what and he\u2019s out cold middle of the damn morning.\u00a0 So I tell the woman this guy had better not be here when we have this wedding, all I can say, and she says, get this, she says he sleeps there every night and he doesn\u2019t have anywhere else to go.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Looks to me like she\u2019s dealt with this bum before and he just keeps coming back so I walk over to the guy, tap him with my boot to wake him up and I tell him if he comes back here he\u2019ll be one sorry sonofabitch, now get moving.\u00a0 That\u2019s how you deal with freaks like this, probably some meth head, cops don\u2019t want nothing to do with him, but hey, I don\u2019t want him screwing up my kid\u2019s special damn day, know what I mean?\u2019<\/p>\n
The table knows exactly what Frank means, nods all around, a couple of good for yous.\u00a0 Sam, before I can drop an arm on his wrist as warning, feels compelled to weigh in, liberal snowflake that he is, the kind of man who thinks holding your tongue is tantamount to being complicit.\u00a0 \u2018Who deputized you, Frank? The guy bothering you or what?\u2019<\/p>\n
Frank says,\u2019 hell yes he was bothering me! And so are you.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Good,\u2019 Sam says, \u2018that\u2019s the idea.\u00a0 Who made you God?\u00a0 Here\u2019s some character, down on his luck, you don\u2019t know one thing about him, parked in a doorway, cold, probably hungry \u2026\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Hungry?\u2019 Frank shouts, \u2018the guy is holed up across from the damn Food Bank.\u00a0 He\u2019s eating 3 squares of free food a day, no job, no worries, life of Riley.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Life of Riley?\u2019\u00a0 Sam is suddenly on full boil.\u00a0 \u2018Life of Riley, really?\u00a0 You ever been homeless, Fred?\u00a0 You ever go without a meal?\u00a0 Ever lost a job?\u00a0 Ever been down on your luck?\u00a0 Have a little compassion, why don\u2019tcha?\u00a0 But naw, go over and kick the guy awake and threaten him, that\u2019s nice, that\u2019s big hearted.\u00a0 Geez.\u2019<\/p>\n
Frank gives Sam a long woeful stare. \u00a0I\u2019m expected fireworks, overturned tables, broken glasses, blood on the floor kind of violence.\u00a0 But instead Frank suddenly deflates. \u00a0\u2018I lost my job once, Sam\u2019 he says in a quiet voice.\u00a0 \u2018Boeing laid me off and I lost my house.\u00a0 My wife left me awhile after that so I lost her too.\u00a0 She took our daughter and I got the boot.\u00a0 I been there.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t live in an alley but I had to hole up in a friend\u2019s basement for a year.\u00a0 I know what bad luck is.\u00a0 I just don\u2019t want my daughter\u2019s wedding screwed up for her.\u00a0 That\u2019s all I\u2019m asking.\u00a0 I\u2019ve screwed up enough things for her.\u00a0 She just wants this damn wedding to be special and I want everything to go okay. \u2018<\/p>\n
Our two tables go church quiet although the ballgame is still going, other tables are groaning and cheering, the place is full.\u00a0 Sam fingers his glass and finally, after a long silence, holds it up to Frank.\u00a0 \u2018Cheers, Frank, you\u2019ll have a great wedding for your daughter.\u00a0 One she\u2019ll appreciate.\u00a0 You\u2019re a good dad.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Too late for that, Sam, too late for that.\u2019\u00a0 But Frank lifts his glass and so do the rest of us.\u00a0 Too late for all of us, I think. \u00a0Later I\u2019ll wonder where the guy in the doorway ended up, but for now, all is well in the world.\u00a0 Or at least the Pilot Lounge\u2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fairline Freddy was parked at his usual table at the Pilot Lounge with a few of his vintage car buddies, watching the ballgame Sunday and drinking early.\u00a0 Sam and myself had just rolled in, said hello how are ya two IPA\u2019s, thanks Jerry, then pulled up at the only open table next to Freddy\u2019s.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[4147,5182,5183],"class_list":["post-16120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rantings-and-ravings","tag-bah-humbug","tag-christmas-future","tag-christmas-spirit-on-the-south-end"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skeeterdaddle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skeeterdaddle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skeeterdaddle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skeeterdaddle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skeeterdaddle.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.skeeterdaddle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16121,"href":"https:\/\/www.skeeterdaddle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16120\/revisions\/16121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skeeterdaddle.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skeeterdaddle.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skeeterdaddle.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}