II
“How ya doing there, Mr. Weiss?” asked Katy from behind the bar
“Fine, Katy, my dear, but my drink isn’t doing so well.” As he finished his reply, Katy put a new Bloody Mary in front of him and withdrew his empty glass. “You’re a magician! I blinked, and poof, there’s a new one. Pretty and talented you are.”
“Nothing but the best for my special fella. How’d you do against Mr. Gardner yesterday?”
“He cheats.”
“How much did you lose?” she asked with a smile.
“Well, my estate is intact, but my dignity took some bruising. I’ve never seen anyone roll so many doubles in my life. I think his dice are loaded.”
“Sounds like sour grapes to me. What makes you think that sweet old man cheats?”
“Because he was a lawyer, and it takes a shark to know a shark. Besides, if you ever saw the way he worked before he retired, you might think twice about calling him a ‘sweet old man’.”
“Oh? Now you have my curiosity.”
“Well, you’ve lived a rather insulated life out in Pasadena, but in the city, there are two things that make the wheels turn—the city government and a society of gentlemen from the old country.”
“What, you mean like the Mob?”
“Oh, please don’t say that out loud, or you’ll bring the evil eye down upon us all… but yes. He defended that organization for the better part of his legal career.”
“Wow. Our Mr. Gardner? The one who brings his grandkids in here? No way!”
“Believe what you will, dear, but it’s all a matter of public record.”
“Do you think he’s still connected?”
“Oh, heavens no. The family he used to represent evolved into something of a legitimate business, and the people who filled their place deteriorated into common thugs.”
“Did you ever have to go up against him, Mr. Weiss?”
“No. Unfortunately, my career was never quite so exciting. I was on retainer to large corporations, moving piles of papers from one side of my desk to the other side, and then into file cabinets. He and I played in very different schoolyards.”
“Huh. You think you know someone...”
“Oh, he’s not a bad man. He’s done a lot of good in his lifetime that no will ever know about. The man has a generous heart. His only real flaw is that he cheats at backgammon.”
Katy smiled and put a fresh piece of celery into his glass to replace the one he had just finished.
“Tell me, my dear, are you going to our little soiree tonight?”
“You know, you’d think coming down here for the cotillion would be like a busman’s holiday, but yes, I’ll be here, and I’m kinda looking forward to it.”
“Do you think you could spare a dance for a tired old fool who’s sweet on you?”
“You’re going to be there?” Katy asked in surprise.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. This is an event I have championed for thirty-five years.”
“I didn’t see you there last year,” she said, and as the words left her mouth, she immediately regretted them, suddenly recalling the events in Mr. Weiss’s life the year before.
“No, Katy dear, I wasn’t there. My wife had taken ill at that time.”
“Of course. I’m… I’m sorry I brought it up, Mr. Weiss.”
“Never be sorry, my dear. We had fifty-two wonderful years together. I miss her terribly sometimes, but I have come to rely on good friends like you to help me get through the rough times. But enough of such talk. You never answered my question.”
“Well, I promised my dad the first dance, but I’m all yours for number two.”
“Wonderful! I’ll be counting the minutes.”
Carl gave her a big smile and winked as he raised a toast to her with his glass. She responded by raising the glass of Coke she had been sipping on and joined him for the drink.
In the restaurant behind Carl, Jimmy had walked in through the main entrance and crossed the empty dining room on his way to the bar.
“Hey, Jimmy, how’d it go this morning?”
“Not bad, sis. We’re actually starting to come out ahead. Hey, Mr. Weiss. How’re you doin’ today?”
“Fine, Jimmy, fine. Your sister promised to dance with me tonight. I got beat out by your dad for the first one, but I think I can live with that.”
“Man, I thought I was getting the second dance.”
“Sorry, Jimmy. That one is saved for my special fella.”
“Hear that kid? I’m her ‘special fella’. I think I might yet stand a chance. Talk of marriage is still premature, but I think she is starting to soften to the idea.”
“Be careful of what you wish for, Mr. Weiss, or you might just get it. She has a lot of bad habits, and you should see what she’s like in the morning.”
Katy reached across the bar and gave Jimmy a playful shove.
“I could forgive her for anything. Hey, Jimmy, you and your dad are still crabbing, right?”
“Yeah. We just went out this morning.”
“Well, I was hoping to put together a crab feast for some friends next week. Is there any chance of buying a bushel next Saturday? I’ll pay you whatever they’re charging people down at the seafood market.”
“Sure, Mr. Weiss. I don’t think that should be a problem, and I can give you a better price that what those thieves are asking.”
“Bless you, son. A man is nothing without friends.”
“Hell, the way you keep working my sister, you’ll probably end up part of the family.”
“That sounds like an endorsement to me, Katy. You ready to run away and get hitched?”
Katy smiled indulgently at Carl. “Sure, but you’ll have to get rid of the boat first.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but you’ll never win that contest. I guess I’ll just have to learn how to live with the consequences.”
“Your loss,” she replied as she struck a pose and batted her eyelashes. “Get you another one, Mr. Weiss?”
“When have you ever known me to have three Bloody Marys? My doctor says I shouldn’t even have the two I come down here for each day.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Weiss. I’ll never tell.”
“Thank you, dear. You’re far too good to me. But, no, thank you. I think I’ll just be shuffling off. I think I might challenge Mr. Gardner to another game.”
Carl Weiss dismounted his bar stool with a gentle groan and headed toward the marina side entrance. He paused at the door and then turned back to Katy. “Farewell, my dear. Until tonight?”
“See ya, Mr. Weiss.” She waved and smiled to him as he turned and headed outside.
“You ever get of tired him, sis?”
“Him? Never! It’s like having a personal cheerleader in my life every day. No, I like having him around. He gets kind of lonely sometimes and needs a cheerleader in his life too. I can’t believe I brought up his wife’s death today though. I feel terrible about it.”
“That was only last year.”
“Yeah. He brushed it off like it was nothing, but I could tell it hurt. God, how could I be so stupid?”
“Don’t sweat it. Like he said, he could forgive you for anything. Oh, hey, I saw something weird today.”
“Yeah? What?”
“When me and Dad were running the string of pots over off the south side of the island, we saw Billy Lynch and a couple of other fellas standing on the bluff.”
“What’s so weird about that?”
“Billy wasn’t wearin’ nothun but some kind of big cape.”
“What, like a king?”
“No, more like a musketeer. Oh, and he had a sword.”
“A sword? I haven’t seen that Billy Lynch down here in a month of Sundays. I had such a crush on him when I was a kid. I don’t think he ever knew I was even alive.”
“Oh puh-leeze. He’s gotta be at least ten years older n’ you. Couldn’t you lust after someone your own age?”
“I couldn’t help it. He looked great in his tennis shorts out on that boat of his. What can I say? I’m a leg girl, I guess.”
“Okay, this conversation is going in a direction I don’t want to follow. Why didn’t you just leave it at ‘he had great personality’? I really couldn’t care less about the guy’s legs, though I saw plenty of them today.”
“Well, then I guess I’d better not mention that he also had a great ass.”
“Okay, sis, I’m covering my ears now. LA, LA, LA, LA, I can’t hear you.” Katy laughed, and gave her brother another shove. She reached into the cooler and brought out a Budweiser long neck, opened it, and put it on the bar in front of him.
Jimmy reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a soft pack of cigarettes. He shook one loose of the rest and pulled it out the rest of the way with his lips like an old smoking pro. After lighting it, he reached down the bar for the nearest ashtray. Katy intercepted him and grabbed the ashtray first. She pulled it off of the bar and held it away from him.
“You know, you’d think being the brother of someone who has cancer, you’d have just a little more respect for the disease.” She stared him down and then placed the ashtray next to his beer. “I’m not kidding either. Those things will kill you, and then who’ll take care of Dad?”
Whenever she suggested a future without her, it always had an immediate sobering effect on Jimmy. He took a final drag and then stubbed it out in the ashtray.
“You won’t ever give up will ya, sis?”
“Not until you do.” She punctuated the statement with a single hand on her hip and an ‘I dare you to step across this line’ glare. “So, Billy wasn’t wearing anything at all?”
“Just a cape.”
“That is weird. Wonder what that’s all about?”
“I dunno. Must be a rich thing.” Jimmy took a long draw on his bottle, forced the beer down, and then prepared his body to let out a grand belch.
“Don’t you dare, not in my bar. You can save that for the King’s Tavern.”
“They let me burp.”
“Well, then you go there to burp, but not here. C’mon, show a little class.”
“I think these snooty people around here are starting to rub off on ya.”
“Maybe they are, but you could stand a little classing up, especially if you’re going to chase after them as customers. As a rule, poor people don’t sail.”
“So I guess I can’t fart either?”
Katy threw the rag she had been using to wipe down the bar at Jimmy and giggled when it landed around his face.
“Classy, sis. Real classy.” He balled it up and tossed it back to her. “What time you headin’ to the dance?”
“You mean the cotillion?”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Are we all going together?”
“I guess.”
“You were planning to cut out early, huh?” Katy turned her attention back to the bar and continued wiping it down.
“What’s the big deal? You know I don’t do those kinds of things. I’ll hang around for a little while, but then I have some other plans.”
“I know I’m being selfish. It’s just that you and Dad have the boat thing, and Dad and I have the doctor thing, but we don’t ever really do a lot of stuff together—you know, the three of us.”
“We live together. Ain’t that enough?”
“You know what I mean, Jimmy.”
Jimmy did know what she meant. It seemed like all of their lives the three of them worked very hard and saw very little of each other. Jimmy was too old to have been in school when his sister was coming up—not that it would have mattered anyway, for they traveled in different social circles. Growing up, Jimmy had a lot of local friends and continued to keep up with most of them, at least those that were still single. They’d buy each other drinks and recount glory days down at the King’s Tavern, or go out to catch an Orioles game in the city. Katy was pretty and easy to get along with as kid, but as the treatment for her cancer became more aggressive, less people were inclined to invest in a friendship with that much baggage. The older she grew, the more dependent she had become on her family.
“I’ll tell you what, Katy… I’ll stay until you and Dad split, and then I might head out for a bit. How’s that?”
“Thanks, Jimmy,” she said with a satisfied smile. “It really means a lot to me.” She started pulling glasses out of the soapy water and began rinsing them in the empty adjoining sink. “You heading back out on the bay today?”
“Nah. I’m going down to the shop. I’ve got a couple small jobs to do, awnings and sail covers.”
“Anymore big jobs lined up?”
“Nah. Mostly small stuff I pick up around here. It’s a word-of-mouth business, and with this crowd, I don’t get a whole lot of exposure.”
“What can you do to fix that?”
“Lots of stuff, I guess. Like, I want to get my sails into some boat shows, or maybe a picture of a yacht carrying a big custom spinnaker sail on the cover of a magazine. But mostly, I think it’s a matter of location. Annapolis has some major marinas, and if I could get a shop in one of them, that would really be the break I need.”
“So you want to be rich?”
“I’ll never get rich making sails, but I’d be happy. That and a decent boat would about do it for me.”
“You’ll get there. I know you will. I’ve got a sense for these sorts of things.” The silence hung between them for a moment before Katy changed the subject. “You going over to check up on Dad?”
“Uh, yeah, before I head out.”
“Could you tell him they’re letting us off an hour early tonight, on account of the cotillion.”
“Sure, but I think he already knows.” Jimmy finished up the last of his beer and then stood up to leave.
“Great. Then I’ll see you back at the house. You know you gotta get dressed up for this, right?”
“Yeah I do, and so does Dad. He took my funeral/wedding suit to the dry cleaner earlier in the week.”
“I guess he hoped you’d change your mind this year.”
“It’s beginning to feel more like a conspiracy.” Jimmy gave his sister a warm smile and then walked over to the marina side entrance.
“And don’t smoke anymore today!” his sister yelled after him.
Jimmy waved his hand in the air without looking back as he exited the bar.
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