Welcome! This week the word prompt for Tuesday Tales is "skinny." We have another excerpt from "Some Kind of Wonderful". Scroll down to return to Tuesday Tales. Thanks for stopping by.
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His cell rang. It was Allison, the real estate agent.
“Hey, Jeff.”
“Hi, Allison. Find some sorry sucker to by The Wonderful?” He laughed.
“In fact, I have.”
He put down the glass. “No kidding?” She had his full attention.
“No kidding.”
“I guess miracles still happen.” He grinned.
“Only one thing. The buyer wants to make it a bar.”
“No.” He drew his brows together.
“Jeff…”
“No. Absolutely not. No way. No.” He pulled the corners of his mouth
down.
“Be reasonable.”
“No. You know why, Allison. Accept it. I’m not giving in.” He clamped his jaw shut.
She sighed. “You’ll get your asking price,” she coaxed.
“I’m sorry. I hate to see you lose a sale, but I can’t give in. It’s too
important. Can’t this guy just use it as a restaurant?”
“The buyer wants a bar. A bar makes more money.”
“Yeah? And creates alcoholics and serves drinks that produce drunk
drivers who kill people.”
“Okay. I’ll keep trying.”
He let out a breath. “Thanks. I appreciate it. I’d rather lower the
price than let the bar continue.”
“Good to know. I’ll get back to you.”
“Thanks.”
He put the phone down and sat back, lacing his fingers behind his head.
If he gave in, Jeff would be breaking his vow to himself –to never let The
Wonderful serve another drop of alcohol and enable someone’s addiction again.
Confident he made his point, he returned to his research, but it was no
use. His concentration had fled. He sat back, finished the coffee and thought
about the bar. How many horrible days had he, a skinny kid, trudged over to The Wonderful right
before a Little League game to fetch his father. He remembered what his old man
always said,
“I’m
sorry, son. I can’t. I’ve got customers. Can’t close the bar if I want to put
food on the table.”
At three in the afternoon, there’d be only old Midas Pfeiffer in the
place. He and Chester were drunk as skunks.
After a while, the other kids in Little League stopped asking Jeff
where his father was. They knew Chester was the drunk who ran The
Wonderful. After the first season or two, they’d even stopped teasing him about
it. But looks of pity on the faces of the parents got to him.
Poor kid. In a small town, that would be so hard. Great job explaining why he feels the way he does.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that poor kid. That would be hard.
ReplyDeletePoor thing! Such a rough life that would be for a child. I want to just wrap them up in my arms and hug them until the hurt goes away. Great scene that gives a lot of insight into what's driving him as an adult.
ReplyDeleteI love his resolve and the fact that he won’t bend on something so personal. I expect his rejection won’t be taken well. Great job!!
ReplyDeleteso sad that he grew up that way. Rough on a kiddo
ReplyDelete