Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Lev AC Rosen
- Language: English
- Genre: Historical Mysteries
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
I thought I’d have the place all to myself, this early. Like church on a
Tuesday—no one but you and God—or in my case, the bartender. But
there’s a guy and girl, high school kids or maybe just twenty, sitting at one
of the booths in the back. They’re trying to keep their voices low, but he’s
failing, getting angry. Something about wiener dogs. It’s weird the things
people fight over.
He pounds the table and she whimpers a little. I sigh, feel my body
shifting to get up. I don’t have to do this anymore. Hell, no one even wants
me to. That’s why I was fired. But some habits you can’t break. So I down
what’s left of my martini, motion the bartender to pour another, and stand
up and go to the back of the place, where he’s holding her wrist, tight. Her
arm is stretching like a shoelace as she tries to stand up, but he won’t let go.
On her other wrist, she’s wearing a charm bracelet. Just a few charms: An
eagle, that’s a mascot for one of the local schools, with “1950” under it, so
she graduated two years ago. A book, so she’s a reader. A wiener dog, for
her pet, I’m guessing, and the source of the argument. And an apple.
Teacher’s favorite, or she just really likes apples, maybe. Not enough life
lived for many charms. Not enough to cover the bruise, either.
“I think the lady wants to go,” I tell him. I’ve had enough to drink that I
sound like a two-bit tough guy. Maybe I am a two-bit tough guy.
“Mind your own business, pal,” he says. He talks like he’s seen too many
mobster movies. Or maybe he’s just trying to match me.
“Miss, you want to leave?” I ask her, looking past him.
“Hey, hey, mister, don’t ignore me,” the kid says. I keep my eyes on the
girl.
She nods, but doesn’t say anything, so I reach out and I pull back his
finger from her wrist, hard. He yelps in pain but she gets loose and runs out
of the bar, the little bell on the door jingling as it closes behind her.
“It’s too early for this, fellas,” the bartender says, the words coming out
of him in one long sigh.
“I was just helping the lady,” I say, turning my back on the kid, walking
back to the bar. I know he’s going to come up behind me, so I wait till I feel
him, then spin and catch the fist as it connects with my shoulder. Not that
hard. Just enough I wheeze a little, which makes him smile, like he’s won
something. I don’t like that smile. Reminds me too much of the mirror. So I
grab his wrist and yank his arm back.
“Hey, hey,” the kid says, “fuck you.”
He swings with his other fist, so I catch that one, too, and turn him
around, holding his arms behind him.
“You can’t do this!” the kid says. He looks over at the bartender, who
keeps his eyes on the glasses in front of him. The kid stares as I march him
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