A Not-So-Simple Life: Part 1

It was nearing midnight, which meant that most of the customers had long since left and now only a handful of people were left. Because of that, Leo gave me the green light to work the bar as long as I kept my cool and tried to act older. It wasn’t too hard when the three people I was serving were hammered out of there minds already. They didn’t expect a sixteen year old to be serving them drinks, nor did they care as long as I kept them coming.

“You’re holding up ok back here TK?” Leo asked, patting me on the back as I cleaned a pitcher of beer. His real name was Reginald Marino, but he had long dirty blonde hair and a bushy chin strap to go with it that vaguely made him look like a lion. He was a stocky man with a beer gut, but all in all, a really nice guy, who was a long time friend to my dad. Because of that, he let me work at his restaurant, secretly, for the last two years.

“Yeah, the couple near the end is fixing to go home,” I pointed.

“Just leaves the dame then? Real looker too,” he wolf whistled at the lonely woman at the other end of the bar. Less then a second later a wet towel drilled him in the back of the head. He whirled around to see his wife glaring angrily at him.

Karen a.k.a. Missy K, was a slim good looking woman in her late thirties. She was definitely out of Leo’s league but they seemed happy together, and she was like another mother to me so I was eternally grateful for all her help. She wore black pants with a white shirt and olive colored apron over it, the uniform that all employees wore.

“I heard that Leo!” she barked.

“I was just kidding honey,” he shrugged playfully as she disappeared back into the kitchen.

“Thanks for letting me work late shift Leo,” I said placing the pitcher back on the rack.

“Hey, don’t give me that. You’ve been working hard for the last two years in this dump and I know how much ya need the money.” With a long sigh he leaned up against the counter and shook his head, “When your aunt and uncle come back I’m gonna give ‘em a piece of my mind. Leaving a kid alone to take care of a house. Despicable.”

“If they come home.”

“Ah, c’mon TK, they’ll be back.”

“They left two years ago Leo, only a note and a credit card as a goodbye. It’s safe to say that they aren’t coming back. I haven’t even gotten a phone call from them or any other kind of communication. For all I know those assholes are dead.”

He let out a long sigh, “I remember the day you showed up in my restaurant with that note in your hand.”

“Yeah,” I laughed quietly, “you broke a table you were so mad.”

“Well whatdya expect? Your Dad and I were good friends, and when he passed I rarely got to see ya. Next thing I know, you’re waltzing into my restaurant on the brink of tears with a note from your aunt and uncle that says you’re on your own.”

“And you hired me on the spot. Even offered to take me in.”

“Ya, but I knew that you wouldn’t take me up on it. Your Mike’s kid after all, hardheaded and independent, with just a bit of attitude when you least expect it. Even got his shaggy black hair too,” he ruffled it just to annoy me, “Not as tall as him though. What are ya like six foot?”

“Five ‘ten.”

“Scrappy too, just like him. Luckily you got your mother’s green eyes though.” It was obvious that this conversation was starting to tread dangerous water. He must’ve realized it as well because he changed the subject, “So the first day of School is tomorrow right?”

“Yep, my junior year.”

“You got enough money to pay for it right?”

“Been saving up all summer.”

“Atta boy,” he nodded in approval, “I still can’t believe there charging five grand to go to a high school.”

“Well, it’s either five grand to go to Wilson High which is only a ten minute walk from my house, or take a forty minute bus ride to a public school for free. Plus, I’m not that far from the restaurant so I can get some afternoon shifts in.”

“Working hard as usual kid.”

“Honey!” Missy K shouted, “I need you back here.”

“Coming,” he called back before patting my shoulder, “Call me if ya need something TK.”

“No problem Leo.”

I grabbed the wet towel on the ground and wrung it out before wiping down the bar table. The only person left was the woman sitting on the other end of the bar, her head slowly rocking back and forth no doubt from all the drinks she ordered. I kept my eye on her as I started cleaning my way towards her end of the bar.

She wore glasses with nice wavy chestnut colored hair, and although I couldn’t see her body, I could see that she had a nice rack. Easily C-cups, and damn did they look good in her maroon colored v-neck shirt. She had to be mid-to-late twenties, judging by her smooth and creamy skin, and I guaranteed that if she smiled she could’ve melted ice.

When I got to her, I casually cleaned around her so I wouldn’t bother her, however, she decided to make her presence known.

“Hey,” she pointed at me, her high pitch tone was surprisingly calm. “You know what I hate?” Oh gosh, a talker. Better brace myself for her life story, “Men. Men are the worst! They’re mean, cruel, deceitful, and cruel!”

“You said cruel twice,” I continued wiping down the bar.

“That’s cause they’re doubly cruel!”

“Doubly cruel huh? Sounds like you had a rough day.”

“Don’t,” she hiccupped, “Even get me started.”

Bullet dodged! Looks like I don’t have to listen to her after all. It was really the only downside to working the bar at night. Usually the people were laughing and telling funny stories while getting wasted, but there was always that one person whose life was worse then everyone else’s, and they always wanted to talk to someone about it. Luckily this woman didn’t want to talk about it-

“Hey!” she shouted again.

“Yeah?”

“What are you doing? Aren’t ya gonna ask me what’s wrong.”

“You told me not to get you started,” I shrugged.

“No,” she whined, pounding her fists into the table like a spoiled brat. “I’m a girl! I want to talk to someone about what happened! Please!”

With a loud sigh, I walked back over to her and leaned onto the table, “Go ahead.”

“Well it all started when I moved down here for my new job like…four months ago.” She swayed and slurred her words as she talked, “I had a nice apartment that I could afford and everything was perfect! Perfect as pie! I want pie. Pumpkin pie, with whip cream-”

“Focus,” I ordered snapping my fingers in front of her.

“Right, right. So, then, I meet this guy, and he was AMAZING. Smart, funny, a good kisser, and just a really great guy. Well, he wasn’t that great in bed, but that’s not the point.” She laughed suddenly as she held up her hands to measure out what I can only assume to be this man’s junk, which if I had to guess came out at about the size of a cell phone, “He had a small dick. Ha! I remember not trying to laugh at it when I first saw it.”

“So he was a great guy. Then what?” my tone was hinting my annoyance pretty well, but she either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“Well…we…were having a great time for the next month. Then, out of no where, he asked me to move in with him.”

“So after a month, you decided to move in with this guy?”

“Yep! Sold the apartment, paid the lease, sold the excess furniture and moved into his apartment. The next two months were like a dream come true! We went out shopping everyday, ate at high class restaurants, and bought a lot of booze. And the best part was that my job didn’t start for another month, and he didn’t have one! We could spend all day together.”

I already could see where this was going.

“But today, when I went to go look at my bank account, I found out that I was out of money. I had like, twenty grand in the bank and it was all gone somehow. I don’t know how it happened either! And, when I told him that, he yelled at me, and kicked me out of the house. So now, I have no apartment, no clothes, no furniture, no place to stay, and no money to buy another beer.”

I grabbed a bottle of beer from below and popped the cap off, setting it in front of her, “This one’s on the house.”

I personally loved saying that. It just seemed so cool to me for some reason, although it was only my third time ever doing something like that. In one smooth motion she picked it up and chugged it in one try, slamming it back onto the table with a loud belch.

“Thanks, you’re not completely useless even if you are a guy.”

“Uh, thank you? I think,” I scratched my head trying to figure out if that was a compliment or an insult. Now that her story was done I finished tidying up the place, setting most of the pitchers back on the rack while disposing the beer bottle that I just gave her.

“What am I gonna do!” she shouted slamming her head onto the table. “Wait! I got it!” I turned around to see her pointing straight at me. “You!”

“Me?” I looked around to make sure that she wasn’t pointing at anyone else.

“You’re not an asshole, so can I stay with you? Please! Just for one night. I start work tomorrow and I need a good night sleep.”

“If you start work tomorrow then why’d you get drunk? You’re probably gonna have a nasty hangover, you know that right? And what kind of logic is that? I’m not an asshole so I’m a candidate to take you in? I don’t even know you.”

“I don’t get hangover for your information,” she slurred before clapping her hands together, “Please! I’ll leave early in the morning so you won’t have to worry about me getting in your way.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Why not? Are you living with someone?”

“N-No I’m living alone actually.”

“Perfect,” she threw her hands up in the air.

“That’s not the point, I don’t even know you.”

She lifted up her purse and set it on the table, fishing through it rapidly until slamming a card in front of me. I picked it up to discover that it was her drivers license, although I was curious as too why she gave this to me in the first place as I scanned over it. Her name was Melissa Benson, age twenty-eight, six foot, with brown eyes.

“See! Now you know me.”

“Ok…Melissa, I guess I know a little more about you now.”

“C’mon just for one night. I’ll even show you my boobs,” she grabbed them for emphasis.

I gave her back her driver’s license and sighed, trying not to look at her as she curiously fondled her own boobs. This was going to be a moment I would regret, whether it was tomorrow, or twenty years from now. I just had this bad feeling about it, but I knew I couldn’t let her wander the streets homeless and alone at night, plus, it looked like it might rain too so that would only make her day ten times worse then it already was.

“Look, just wait by the door. I’m going to tell my boss that I’m leaving and I’ll let you stay at my place for one night. Got it?”

She grinned widely, “It was the boobs that did it huh?”

“No, it wasn’t,” I shook my head, heading towards the door to the kitchen. “Just get ready to go ok.”

“Ok!”

I opened the silver door that led to the kitchen, “I’m taking off if you guys don’t need anything.”

“Ok!” Missy K called back, “Good luck tomorrow.”

“Thanks!”

I shut the door and went to the employee locker room, untying my apron and tossing it inside my locker while grabbing my bag. Throwing it over my shoulder I headed back out to meet Melissa, weaving through tables only to find waiting patiently outside.

I walked out the door and nodded, “This way, I don’t have a car but my house is a short walk from here,” She smiled and grabbed onto my arm, squeezing it in between her breasts as she clung to me like a baby to its blanket. My patience was being tested now, and to calm myself I started mumbling, “It’s the right thing to do,” over and over again, under my breath so that she couldn’t hear me.

Melissa on the other hand seemed perfectly content with the situation, humming happily as we crossed streets and rounded a couple corners.