The Crossing (7 page)

“Hey ‘Hon’,” she managed between gum chews. “Where is that handsome partner of yours, Joe?
 
He still owes me a couple of dances and I’ve been itching to collect.”

“Itching?
 
Itching where?” I don’t know WHY I asked that.
 
I do know better!

“Oh, Mr. Reno, are you trying to talk dirty?
 
That is funny!
 
I’m not going to tell you where I was itching, guess you’ll have to use your imagination!
 
Can I ‘git’ you a drink, ‘Hon’?”

“Please.
 
A Jack and Coke when you get time,” I managed to say.

Nickie was shaking her head as Flo walked away. “Carson, you’ve got to stop teasing Flo.
 
She is just too honest for your ‘off-beat’ humor.
 
And by the way, where IS that handsome partner of yours?”

“Joe is not a partner, he is an associate and he’s in Memphis – I think.
 
I’m going to call him in a few minutes and I suspect you will get to see him in a few days.
 
Can you hold a room for him?”

“I wish he were here now.” Nickie sounded frustrated.

“What?
 
Why?
 
What’s going on?”

“Carson, I’ve been getting phone calls all day looking for rooms.
 
These weren’t travelers or salesmen needing a place to stay; these calls were from people wanting to rent all my rooms!
 
The first two calls were from a church in Tunica, Mississippi, and the next two were from a Civil Rights Organization in Memphis.
 
I’m not stupid, I knew what was going on, and I told them all NO.”

“Why did you do that?
 
You’ve got rooms, why not rent them?” It was an honest question.

“Because I don’t want to see this place torn up, or maybe burned down - I kinda’ like it here!
 
Can you imagine one of those buses from a colored church parked out front?
 
The kind of customers I get in here just wouldn’t understand, and I don’t need that trouble.
 
I know it was wrong, but it was my decision.
 
I just hope that I can get them rented, so I don’t have to answer questions I don’t want to answer.
 
Understand?”

“I do understand, but wonder where they ended up going?” I asked
myself.

“
I don’t know or care, but I’m glad you’re here,” Nickie said with a smile. “Are you going to be able to do anything?”

“I have no idea, Nickie, but I am going to try.
 
Your crowd seems so tense, I’m afraid if somebody dropped a beer bottle the whole place would break out in a fight!”

“You’re telling me!
 
I’ve been trying to get that damn jukebox to play some happy music and cheer this place up!” Nickie shrugged.

“Good luck,” I said as I got up and walked out the front door to where the payphone was located.

I needed to call Joe and would, of course, need to use the phone outside.
 
Whatever idiot installed the inside payphone next to the jukebox had to have been drunk or crazy – probably both!
 
Nobody used that phone because nobody could HEAR while using that phone.
 
The jukebox only stopped playing when Nickie or Ronnie turned it off, which was never.
 
It probably has a thousand country songs already lined up for play.
 
People just keep putting money in it and wondering why their song isn’t playing next – it would take a week to cycle through and reach their selection.
 
No matter, they still keep dropping quarters and punching buttons.

Joe answered quickly and I briefed him on the situation.
 
I outlined a few things I needed him to check out and asked him to join me in Humboldt as quickly as he could.
 
Joe hung up, saying he would be here tomorrow morning.

Back inside, I noticed Nickie had managed to get some ‘lively’ music playing on the jukebox and a few couples had even decided to dance.
 
There was still a lot of tension in the room, but at least people were trying to deal with it.
 
That was good news.

When I stopped checking out the crowd and turned back to the bar, I was greeted by something that took my breath away.
 
I blinked, wiped my eyes with both hands and then did a refocus at what was standing in front of me.
 
I was staring at two of the largest breasts I had ever seen on a woman (or anything else)!
 
Pinned high on the left one was a nametag that read, ‘MAVIS’, and from somewhere behind all that mass I heard a weak voice say, “Can I ‘git’ you another drink?”

Standing somewhere before me was a waitress (I think) – my clue was the pink uniform.
 
I stood up, allowing me to look over the barrier and check out the voice.
 
Standing behind that barrier, I saw a short woman with dirty blonde hair arranged in a circle on the top of her head – making a shape that resembled a small spare tire!
 
Her head sat squarely on her shoulders, and if she had a neck, it wasn’t visible.
 
She had a pencil sticking through the spare tire bun and an unlit small thin filtered cigarette hanging from the corner of her mouth.
 

“Ah…ah…” I stuttered as I sat back down. “Yes…I think!”

“Look mister,” I heard from somewhere, “stop staring.
 
Haven’t you ever seen tits before?
 
This ain’t no ‘faggot’ bar, so if you’re looking for that kind of action, you’ll need to go to Bemis.”

“A..a.. Jack and Coke” I stuttered.
 
Had I been staring?

“It’s about time,” I heard from somewhere. “Cummin’ right up,” she said turning and walking away.

I watched in disbelief as it left and then watched when it returned with my drink.
 
I hadn’t recovered from the initial shock, and just sat in silence and stared.
 
Finally, from behind me I heard something familiar, “Hi ‘Hon’,” it was Flo again. “Did you ‘git’ to meet my sister, Mavis?
 
She likes to dance too.”

“I’m not sure,” was all I could manage to say, as I continued to stare.

“Sure you did, silly!
 
She’s the waitress that got you that drink, you know, the one with the big tits!
 
I know you noticed; everyone does.”
 
Flo was serious!

“Oh really, I didn’t notice.” I have no idea why I said that!

“Yes you did, Mr. Reno, you can’t fool me.
 
Don’t be ashamed to stare – everybody does!”

“Well…maybe I did notice…something,” I stuttered.

“They have names, you know,” Flo said nodding her head.

“What have names?” I knew better than to ask that!

“Her tits, they have names!”

“I don’t want to know!” I yelled.

“Sure you do,” Flo giggled. “One is named
‘Luscious’
and the other is named
‘Bodacious’
.
 
Can you guess which one is which?”

“NO!
 
And I’m not going to try!
 
Maybe they should both wear nametags!” I yelled. “Where did Nickie go?” I was trying to change the subject.

“Hon’, she’s in the toilet, but I’ll tell her you want to see her,” Flo said as she walked away.

I turned on my stool and watched as Mavis waddled across the room, headed to serve one of the tables.
 
She MUST have a balance problem – top heavy, if I can say that.
 
Mavis could not be over four feet tall, and carrying all that frontal weight had to make standing up straight a real challenge on her small frame.
 
However, she handled it without any noticeable difficulty, and even managed to bend over to take an order without falling across the customer’s table!

I had just started to recover and sip on my drink when Nickie slipped up behind me.

“Well,” Nickie said as she positioned herself on the stool next to me. “Can’t a girl even go to the bathroom without being bothered?
 
What do you want, Mr. Reno?”

“The toilet,” I commented.

“The WHAT?” Nickie frowned.

“Flo said you were in the toilet, and I wanted to ask you – what is that?” I asked as I motioned my head toward Mavis, who was serving a customer at the other end of the bar.

“That, my handsome detective friend is Mavis, Florence’s younger sister.
 
She’s from Oil Trough, Arkansas.
 
I needed another waitress and she’s a good one.
 
Don’t you think?”

“Well,” I said raising my eyebrows, “she is certainly interesting.
 
I can swear to that!”

“Okay,” Nickie started, “talk about her tits and get it over with – everybody else does.”

“What?
 
Why?
 
What do you mean?” I said innocently.

As we talked, mysteriously two large tits attached to a waitress reappeared in front of us. “Hi, Miss Nickie.
 
Does your friend need a fresh drink?” I heard from somewhere.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nickie spoke. “Mavis, let me introduce you to Carson Reno.
 
He is the famous private detective, currently from Memphis and formally from Humboldt.
 
Things are always exciting when Carson is in town, so be prepared.”

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Carson,” I heard from somewhere. “Let me fresh that drink before the excitement gets started,” she giggled from somewhere and waddled off to get me a new drink.

“Is she for real?” I asked.

“Sure is, and a damn good waitress.
 
I don’t have any concerns about Ronnie and the customers like her – that’s what important.”

“Yes it is.
 
And, did you know they had names?”

“What has names?” Nickie frowned.

“Never mind.” I said just as Tommy Trubush entered the back door and walked up to where we were sitting.

“Hey Tommy,” I said as he took a seat on the empty barstool next to me. “Have you got everything outside under control?”

“Carson, you know me.
 
I always have everything under control!” he laughed.

“I know you do, and I admire your work.” I was serious.

“I’ve got to go to work.
 
I’ll leave you two men alone to solve our problems – I’ve got a bar to run!” Nickie blurted as she got up and headed across the dining area.

“Carson,” Tommy said with a somber tone. “I need to talk with you and I don’t want to do it in here.
 
Can you meet me outside in a few minutes?”

“Sure,” I answered. “Let me finish my drink and I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

“Thanks, and don’t make it obvious,” Tommy said as he walked away.

Wow!
 
I had the greatest respect for Tommy and he was definitely a ‘no bullshit’ kind of guy.
 
Whatever he wanted to see me about was important, I was sure about that.

Nickie was waiting on a newly arrived customer, so I finished my drink, motioned to Nickie that I was leaving and then exited using the rear door.
 
Tommy was waiting just outside.

“Carson,” Tommy started. “There is someone out here in the parking lot who wants to talk with you.
 
For reasons you will understand when you see her, she isn’t able to come inside and asked me to speak with you and see if you would meet with her.”

“Her?” I exclaimed.

“Yes.
 
She’s sitting over there in that 1954 Ford,” Tommy motioned with his head to a vehicle parked in the shadows near the street. “I’ve already checked her out, she’s not looking for trouble and you’ll understand after you’ve talked with her.”

As I mentioned, I trusted Tommy, so I walked over to where the light blue Ford was parked.
 
Sitting behind the wheel was a dark haired woman who I didn’t recognize, and couldn’t see very clearly in the shadows.
 
When I reached the driver’s side door, she rolled down the window.