Off the hook (4 of 10 short stories, about a painters life)

As I come down from my studio I can hear screaming coming from the bar. I reach for the handle of the back door and it comes flying open.

“Screw you. You f•cking…..!”

A man comes barging out, rage in his eyes and nearly knocks me down. I think he’s going to scream at me too but he just puts his head down and storms past. I go into the bar and have a seat. Frank’s cleaning glasses. Just then, the front door opens and a woman walks out slamming the door hard behind her.

“What the hell was all that?”
“Oh, same old shit.”

Frank, pours me a drink, he never seems phased by the goings on of his clientele. He once joked that he was a chaplain during the war, I always kind of believed him.

“So, how’s the painting going?”
“I got a line in the water but the fish ain’t biting.”
“Maybe you just need to move to a different spot.”
“You’re probably right but I like the view on this one.”
“You always say that.”
“Yeah just before I wipe the whole thing down and start again.”

The man comes back in and has a seat at a booth on the far side of the bar. Frank brings him his drink. The front door opens and the woman is back. She’s waving her hand in the air, with a fist full of cash.

“Is this what you want you bastard, now we’re even.”

She throws the cash in his face. He mumbles something to her, I can’t make it out but she starts screaming. She picks up an empty glass from a nearby table and throws it at him. He ducks and it smashes on the wall behind him. Glass comes crashing down on his head. She then lunges for him and starts beating the hell out of him. Frank pulls her off and takes her out back to the courtyard. I don’t know what he’s saying to her but they are gone for a long time. A couple guys come in and sit at the counter. I figure Frank’s busy so I get up and go behind the bar and take their order.

“I’ll have a pina colada”
“No coconut, but I got rum and pineapple”

“I’ll have a dirty martini”
“No vermouth and no olives, but I got gin and sprite.”

They don’t look too happy but they take their drinks and pay. I put the money next to the register and take my seat. Frank comes back in, he looks exhausted and he pours himself a drink, a straight bourbon but not his usual he takes some from the top shelf. A few minutes later the woman comes back in. She walks up to the man, takes a seat beside him and starts kissing him. He seems shocked but doesn’t dare interrupt her. They order a couple more drinks and Frank says they’re on the house. A few minutes later she walks to the back and flips through the jukebox. She drops a few quarters in and the music starts playing. She walks back up front and takes her man’s hand and pulls him from the booth. They slow dance near the front window and the light from the flickering street lamp shines down around them.

“I think I know what my painting needs.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“A little Tammy Wynette.”

…..And the music played on deep into the night….