A woman, on the tall side, walked in with a simple question. "Hey, don't suppose y'all still open, are you?"
"Nope, we aren't." Jackie took a quick glimpse outside. He felt the cold and saw that run down Pontiac she had been driving. "But it's not too much of a hassle. Come in."
"Thanks," she said. She ran her hand through her damp hair still hanging onto the door handle. It had been sprinkling outside. Nothing bad, but still an inconvenience. "Thanks a lot."
"So, can I make something for you? Or are you just here for the warmth?"
"Well, I don't have much on me." She dropped her handbag on the table as she sat down on one of the unforgiving stools. "Basically just a few dollars. I decided it was time for a change."
"Hope you like cappuccino. This is on me," Jackie said. He got a warm thanking from the woman. "Well, continue. Wouldn't be much of a change if you had nothing to say about it."
"Sure, why not?" She scratched the back of her neck as she looked for a way to sum it all up in words. "Well, y'all might have guessed - I'm from a bit further south. I was sick of it. I wanted something new. Not the big city life particularly, but just to show that I ain't just a southern waste of space only to get married, have kids and waste some more space. I just fuelled up that hunk of junk out there and said I'd just go until it ran out. Never knew America was so fuel efficient. Never thought I'd get this far and here I am. Not sure what I'll do from here. I guess that was part of the point. I knew what was going to happen. I didn’t like it."
"Understandable," Jackie said as he placed the fresh cappuccino in front of the woman.
"So, I guess that's all I really have. The rest is going to be written out here in Fourside."
"How do you plan on getting your life written out with no money?" He asked the question and forced a quick response to himself out after mentally hearing his wording. "Not that you did the wrong thing. I'm just wondering. What do you plan on doing after you finish that cappuccino?"
"Well, it was a spur of the moment thing. I've always wanted to do something with hair. You know, be a hairdresser."
"You have any experience? Any training?"
"No, but hey, how hard can it be?"
"My sister is a hairdresser. Down in Twoson. But I'm sure you don't want to hear about that."
She took a sip of her cappuccino and took a glance at the wall clock. "Well, I got nothing else to talk about. You got anything else for me to hear?"
"Okay," Jackie sighed as he pulled up a stool and took a seat. "This bar has been in the family for years. From the first guys to immigrate here to me, it's been my bloodline that's kept this place open."
"Well, it does have that family atmosphere." She had been looking around the bar, taking note of the masculine surroundings from the classic Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendar to the various death threats etched into the bar. "Seriously, it has that old, comfortable feel. I like it. Sorry, go on."
"It was my great-great-grandfather who was the first to come here. My grandfather wasn't hesitant to take the bar. And neither was my dad. As time went by, he saw that for the good of his kids, this place simply wasn't going to stay in the family forever. He told me to make something out of my life."
"So you went across town and tried to make it as a hairdresser?" They both got a chuckle out of that.
"Not exactly. I went to an overpriced college near Summers. Decided to pursue business. Honestly, I was just going to go for baseball. My dad told me that I had to make it big. Do something with my life. Who's done more than those major leaguers? But I didn't cut it as a pitcher. So I went into business. First guy to hire me out of college was Monotoli."
"Hrm, Monotoli." She struggled as she tried to at least come up with a mental image.
"Old guy. Big businessman. Went mayor, still serving here. Gray hair, Clint Eastwood squint. Nice Eastwood type voice to go with it."
"Oh, that guy. Man, he's still around? He just looks like he could fall over any minute and just die from old age."
"He won't. Trust me. Monotoli is a real survivor. You put a gun to his head, Monotoli comes out alive. Just like businessman. He'll do whatever it takes. I learned that my first year. Having that reinforced was what hurt me. I had just finished a deal from Summers. Big deal. Wanted to tell Monotoli about it. I went in and saw him talking to his brother."
"Who's his brother? Anyone famous?"
"Just the local mob boss."
She let out a small laugh of embarrassment. "Oh, him. Can't believe I forgot him."
"The number one guy on the top ten list. Ten million dollar reward. The most dangerous senior citizen in the world. Whatever you know him as, he was in that room. Talking to my boss. Talking to his brother. Didn't catch what they were talking about. Monotoli just told his mafia brother that he'd only be a second then took me into the hall. Simple reminder never to barge in on him. Told me not to say anything. Said something along the lines of 'You see that guy in there? Yes, that is my brother. And yes, you will be the first to go if you say anything.' I promised I wouldn't say anything. He just let me go after that."
"Wow, can't say I've ever been through anything like that."
"I had my doubts the guy was even alive. For the next week, it was a bit weird around the office. I didn't speak much with Monotoli. I was out on a trip to Winters and made the mistake. I was on the phone with my sister. She told me about the heat on Monotoli. Media heard about his mafia brother. So I told her it was all true. Told her I saw him myself. Then we talked about ice cream or something like that."
"Yeah, all the mistakes always seem to happen when it's cold."
"If that's true, then it should be no surprise that it was cold back here. Freezing. Literally. Below zero most of the time. As soon as I stepped back into my city, I was bombarded with questions. Must have been tapped. I took more questions in those few minutes than I've ever taken in a day. I was just confused. Didn't manage to respond to half of the questions. The rest got a simple 'no comment.' I worked my way back home, but the media decided it was time to camp out."
"Man, I can't believe I don't know any of this."
"Well, it happened a while ago. Bordering on fifteen years. I was a young gun back then. And all I wanted was a way out. They even stormed this bar, asking my dad what he knew. Once I saw that, I knew this was only going to get worse. I snuck out through a back window, media didn't manage to catch me. Then I ran over to my sister's house. Sorta broke in. Told her to get out of this place. Turned on the TV and a few minutes of dad and me on that TV that was enough to convince her."
She finished her cappuccino, but this story was more filling. "So, did the media ever catch up with you that night?"
"No. Unfortunately. Could have used the protection. Once we left her house, she got in her car. I was ready to get in the back seat ready to hide in case someone who'd know me would come by. A guy told me to stop where I was. I saw him standing cockily across the street. Leaning on a streetlight, fedora, stache and the Monotoli mafia trademark. Pink socks. I told my sister to make a run for it. She drove off while I literally made a run for it. The mafia guy made a run for it. Told me to stop again, more were on the way. I had no choice. I was in deep. I kept running until he pulled out his gun. Took a few shots, managed to hit me in the knee. I was down and wasn't going to get up." Jackie paused, took a spoon and tapped his shin. The metallic bang said enough. "The hoods delivered. Showed up not much longer. Then I got a beating that even got me this," another pause as he adjusted his eye-patch.
"Oh God, I'm really sorry to say that," she said out of shock. "To hear that, I mean. I guess you've told this so much you've forgotten how horrific it really is."
"Well, they just took the 'shoot first, ask questions later' approach," Jackie explained. "I got that beating then they told me not to say anything. They told me that if asked, Monotoli's brother was in Onett. They left me a bloody mess in the middle of the street. I got picked up in the middle of the night. Was out by then. Woke up in a hospital. Wasn't back to normal for a while. Had to amputate everything below the knee. Things only got worse. During that time, my dad died. The cafe was in limbo. I said I'd take over when I was better. And that happened."
"Wow. This must not be very helpful, but it could have been worse."
"It could have. I've gotten used to the bar. Never was able to get back into business. Who'd hire a man fired by Monotoli? Especially one who wasn't able to tell why?"
"Well, I'm sure plenty of other people feel sorry for you. Not everyone's as cold as Monotoli. Like your sister. Where's she now?"
"She's in Twoson. Works with one other girl. They take care of the city easily. But it takes training. Not something where you can watch the manager for a week and get it down. It took a full two-year class. Hope you made room for that."
She grabbed and handful of her wavy hair out of the stress and shock of the announcement. "Wow, I really didn't."
"Eight an hour enough to make room?" Jackie dropped his rag on the bar and looked into her eyes as they went from intense desperation to a joyous high.
"Oh, of course, of course, I'll take it," she screamed with excitement. "Thanks so much, hope you don't mind my plans to leave after a few years."
"Not at all." He took some money out of his wallet and gave it to her. "The hotel isn't too far from here. Get some sleep, show up around 5 tomorrow." She left, thanking him constantly. He waved, said the nightly byes and added, "Amazing what can come out during a drink of cappuccino, ain't it?"