Twenty-Two

 

Twenty- Two

 

     The day after I called E and wished her well, I was sitting in a club South of Market Street

 with my head resting on top of the bar. I was totally beat, and I had both my hands clasped over

 my neck when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up and saw it was E. She asked if I

 minded her being there and I said no and pulled out a stool and told her to have a seat. My friend

 who was performing must have invited my ex because I saw her enter with a girlfriend of hers.

 Suddenly I was very glad E had shown up. It reaffirmed the one thing I’ve learned: Life is

 messy. It’s not something you can put in rows or arrange in nice little piles. Life spills all over

 the place and the best you can do is wipe it up and move on.

     I told E to check out the beautiful woman at the end of the bar and when she asked if she was

 someone I knew I told her she was my ex.

     E looked me straight in the eyes for a long time without saying anything and then said for me

 to buy her a drink. I got her a drink and we just sat in silence. A guy I used to work with showed

 up and sat next to me. He had a White woman about half his age with him. He introduced her to

 E and me and then the White woman excused herself to use the bathroom.

     The guy I used to work with makes a great deal of money and he just bought a brand-new

 BMW motorcycle before I left the job I know him from. I asked him about his bike, and he

 pointed to where it was parked just outside the front window. He used to play bass for a famous

 hard rock band from Detroit. At first I didn’t believe him, but he showed me the photos.

     The White woman returned, and I asked the guy I used to work with what he was doing here,

 and he said he just felt like checking the place out. I told him a friend of mine was playing and

 he said we should move to the main room and get a good seat for the show. E and I followed

 him and his date and I saw that there was plenty of room at the table where my ex was sitting. I

 asked him what he thought about sitting there and he said it was cool. We walked over and I

 said hello to my ex and asked if it was okay for us to join her and her friend. She seemed rather

 nervous about seeing me, but due to the size of the party she couldn’t really say no. We all sat

 down. I let E scoot next to her and then I slid in and the guy I used to work with and his date

 filled up the booth.

     E started talking to my ex right away showing her some jewelry I bought her. My ex seemed

 like she didn’t know really what to say and just smiled and nodded her head. I didn’t say much

 and mostly talked business to the guy I used to work with. My friend that was performing

 showed up and sat down at the table to my relief and carried the conversation until he took the

 stage.

     His performance was good and after the show everybody cleared out right away except for E

 and me. She leaned against me stroking my thigh having a few more drinks and then said there

 was something she wanted to tell me and took her purse and stood up to go. I followed her

 outside and she gave me back all the letters I had written her and then punched me in the mouth.

 I could tell that she split open my lip. I tasted blood as I saw her walk away and get in her car.

     I watched her taillights disappear and then I tore the letters up and tossed them into a garbage

 can on the corner. I looked at myself in the club’s window and saw that my lip wasn’t that bad,

 so, I headed back inside.

 

                                                                       The End