Red’s Hot Honky-Tonk Bar

by Pamela Morsi

  Daniel was still talking to his sister in a language Red didn’t understand. But she’d lived in San Antonio long enough that some of it sounded familiar. She immediately picked up on the word abuela—grandmother—and she wanted to reassure them.

  “I don’t know what the regulations are at the hospital where your abuela is,” she said. “Sometimes they don’t let people under twelve visit the patients. But I can sure check on that and we can try to go see her.”

  Olivia gave her a puzzled look before muttering thanks.

  “That’s what you were talking about, right?” Red asked. “I’m sure I heard Daniel say abuela.”

  “Oh yeah,” Olivia said. “But he wasn’t talking about our other grandmother, he was talking about you.”

  “Oh.”

  “He doesn’t remember you, but I told him who you are,” Olivia said. “That you’re our mom’s mother and that we never see you because you’re very busy and you work nights and sleep all day. But you’re still our grandmother.”

  “Oh, right,” Red agreed.

  “At first he didn’t believe me because he said that you don’t look like a grandmother,” Olivia told her.

  Red smiled, pleased.

  “Daniel says grandmothers are supposed to look sweet and like you want to hug them,” Olivia went on. “But you look like a stranger, the kind that Mom would tell us to run away from.”

  Red’s jaw dropped at the young girl’s frankness.

  “I told him, you’re our grandmother whether you look like it or not.”

  Red nodded. “So now he’s calling me abuela, too.”

  Olivia raised an almost disdainful eyebrow. “Not exactly,” she said. “Abuela is our abuela. Daniel is calling you Abuela Mala.”

  “Abuela Mala?”

  Olivia nodded again. “Yeah, Bad Grandma.”

  4

  How does a woman introduce her boy-toy to her grandchildren?

  It wasn’t the only question on Red’s mind, but it was not as critical as most of the others, so she chose to deal with it first.

  She could be casual. Hey, these are my grandkids! Completely ignoring the fact that she’d never before mentioned their existence.

  She could tug at his heartstrings. Poor kids, their mom is in combat and they have nobody to depend on but me.

  Or she could just say nothing and let him draw his own conclusions.

  As far as Daniel and Olivia were concerned, she was pretty sure that she shouldn’t suggest that they call him Gramps.

  Olivia was pacing, her arms folded across her chest. Every few minutes, she would stop to give Red a disgusted glance that was reminiscent of her mother.

  Daniel sat on the far end of the bench, his knees drawn up and bent forward from the waist as if trying to make himself as small as possible. His gaze was most often focused upon his sister, but occasionally he looked in Red’s direction with enough trepidation to suggest that any moment he expected her to cackle insanely before jumping on her broomstick to fly away.

  What was she going to do with these kids?

  The questions stirred a panic inside her. She calmed it with the reasonable answer that she couldn’t do anything. She’d hold them, keep them safe, until Mike got here and then they were his problem.

  “I need to go to the library!” Olivia’s announcement was voiced as a command.

  “Yeah, I know, you said that already,” Red replied. “I’ll get you there as soon as I can. Just hold your horses. Even in Texas, late library books are not a hanging offense.”

  Olivia gave her a disgusted look accompanied by an audible sniff before resuming her pacing.

  The waiting time was interminable. Finally, Cam’s well-used slate-gray minivan pulled in to the lot beside the guard gate. It was a welcome sight. He stepped out of the driver’s-side door, handsome as always. His long, muscular legs were clad in faded blue denim and his ancient T-shirt, which advertised the Bent Bucket’s National Drop-in Tour, clung attractively to his chest. Except for the length of plaited ponytail that hung down his back, his blond hair was mostly covered by a straw hat, so weathered and misshapen its cowboy origins were almost indiscernible.

  “Hey, babe!” he called out to her. When he got closer, he apologized. “I got here as fast as I could. It’s not as hot today as it has been, but I bet taking in a few rays on this bench wasn’t what you had in mind this morning.”

  Red shrugged. “I think I’m now qualified for a job watching paint dry.”

  He grinned at her and then glanced around. If he noticed the kids, he didn’t make any comment.

  “Okay, what am I loading up?” he asked.

  She hesitated. It was only an instant, but it was long enough to feel that moment of regret that her next words might well bring an end to a very sweet and satisfying relationship.

  “These kids,” she told him.

  Cam’s eyebrows lifted in surprise and he glanced toward the children for the first time. When he looked back at Red, his expression was skeptical.

  “I don’t know which is less likely with you,” he said. “Are we kidnapping or babysitting?”

  “These are my grandchildren,” Red answered evenly.

  She watched his face for signs of shock, horror, disgust. Whatever he felt, she couldn’t detect it.

  “Well, all right!” Cam said, walking past her. “My name’s Cam. I’m a friend of your grandmother’s. I’ve brought an amazing American-made multitransport vehicle to chauffeur you to exciting new destinations within the city. Cool, huh?”

  With oversize body language and over-the-top verbiage he caught the children off guard. They forgot that they were scared and bored and annoyed. Olivia’s expression softened almost to amused and Daniel rose from his curled-up position on the bench to study the new arrival curiously. Cam greeted them individually with a high five.

  “What kind of name is Cam?” Olivia asked.

  He shrugged. “It’s my name,” he answered. “A little weird, I guess. But not so bad as it could be. It’s short for Campbell. Not camera, if you were wondering about that. Or camouflage. Or chameleon. It would be tough if my name was short for camel or something like that.”

  The two kids shared a quick, this-guy-is-kind-of-fun glance.

  “I’m Olivia and that’s Daniel. He’s not speaking English today.”

  Cam nodded. “Sometimes I don’t want to speak it, either,” he said to the boy. “So, are you talking at all today?”

  “Solamente español,” he answered.

  “Okay,” Cam answered, and then continued painstakingly. “Mi español no esta buena, pero hablo con mis manos.”

  “You can talk with your hands?” Olivia asked. “Like sign language?”

  “Not exactly sign language,” Cam said. He held up both hands facing each other and flapped the fingers against the thumbs like mouths. “Hey, what are we gonna do? Daniel doesn’t want to speak English and we don’t speak much Spanish…. We can talk to each other in front of him and he can overhear us…. That could work. But what if he wants to say something? He could whisper it to us and we could say it aloud for him…. Yeah, that could work…. Well, let’s get Daniel’s opinion on that…. Could that work for you? What do you think?”

  Both children were laughing.

  Daniel stepped up close to Cam and whispered to one of the hands. “I think this guy is crazy.”

  “Very astute, Daniel,” Cam told him. “You’re pretty smart, huh? Why don’t we get into the van and get your dear granny out of the sunshine before she turns into one giant freckle?”

  The kids giggled again as they hurried to the van. Cam got them inside and admonished them to buckle-up before turning his attention back to Red.

  “Well done,” she said to him.

  Cam shrugged, feigning modesty. “What can I say, kids like me.”

  “Because they sense you’re one of them.”

  He clutched his heart with a groan of pain. “I’m wounded!”

  Red shook her hea
d, refusing to be amused.

  “Just drive my car home,” she said, exchanging keys with him.

  “I get to drive the CRX? Your baby? Oh wait, I guess I’ve uncovered the secret that it’s not your only baby,” Cam said.

  “Oh, kiss my a—”

  A quick glance toward the kids stopped Red in midsyllable.

  “Your armadillo?” Cam finished for her. His mention of her tattoo would not be something that the children could pick up on. “Thank you, maybe some other time.”

  His smile was sardonic and although his tone was still light, Red knew him well enough to recognize foreboding. But she’d already accepted the inevitable. No hot young guy would want to be hooked up with a granny.

  “See you at the bar,” she answered and headed for the driver’s side of the minivan. Deliberately she didn’t look back. She’d learned long ago that was the best way to move forward.

  Red seated herself behind the steering wheel and fitted the key into the ignition. Before turning the engine over, she glanced at her two passengers. Daniel was buckled in, but had pulled his knees to his chest and was hiding his face behind them. Olivia was glaring at Red, but surprisingly, she detected the vulnerability behind the mask.

  “Look, kids,” Red said to them. “This is not going to be perfect, but I think if we all do our best to get along, we’ll make it through this.”

  Neither child seemed buoyed by her pep talk. Red sighed and started up the engine. She didn’t say another word during the entire trip, but the ride couldn’t have been accurately described as quiet. Daniel began whispering to his sister in Spanish. She answered him similarly. Red had no idea what the discussion was about, but she could recognize the tone. Daniel’s whispers were urgent. Olivia’s replies were initially dismissive, followed by placating and eventually angry. By the time Red pulled in to her parking space behind the bar, the two weren’t talking to each other at all.

  “What’s this place?” Olivia asked.

  “This is where I live.”

  “You live in a bar?” The little girl’s voice was incredulous. “Does Mom know this?”

  “Of course she does,” Red replied. “I live in the upstairs apartment. It’s small, but we’ll try to think of it as cozy, okay?”

  Cozy was not what it seemed a few minutes later when the three of them were standing inside. It looked like what it was. An efficiency apartment with a couch, TV and kitchenette. Its tiny bedroom looked like a cave with the blackout curtains. And a double bed really didn’t provide sleeping arrangements for three.

  “You kids can have the bedroom,” she told them. “I’ll sleep out here on the couch.”

  “What about our stuff?” Olivia asked. “Where are we going to put our stuff?”

  “What stuff?”

  Olivia looked at her in disbelief. “Do you think this is all we have?” she asked, indicating her backpack. “All our clothes and toys and books, it’s all at Abuela’s house.”

  “It’ll be fine over there,” Red said. “Nothing is going to happen to it.”

  “We’re going to need it,” Olivia explained. “School starts in two weeks. We’re going to need all of it.”

  Red didn’t answer that. But she wasn’t worried. By then she would most certainly have handed them over to their father. They wouldn’t be here for long. But even a night or two was problematic.

  She looked around the rooms she’d called home for nine years and the evidence was as glaring as the truth it represented. She had created a place for herself that ensured that she live her life alone. Even with only two small children, the rooms had become claustrophobically close. Red needed some breathing space.

  “Didn’t you say you needed to go to the library?” she asked Olivia.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Then get your stuff and let’s go. I’ll meet you in the van.”

  In three steps Red was out of the apartment, but she couldn’t quite escape her current predicament. Halfway down the stairs, Cam lounged across her path. His hat was tipped back and his eyes were focused on her. She slowed her steps.

  Clearly it was break-up time. She didn’t want to do it.

  It’s like ripping off a bandage, she reminded herself. The quicker it’s done, the sooner it’s over with. Still, she hesitated.

  “I don’t really have time for this right now,” she told him.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Time for what?”

  “Time to…to talk things over,” she dissembled.

  He nodded. “You mean things like why you told me you don’t have any children?”

  “I don’t have any ‘children,’” Red hedged. “My daughter is a grown-up woman, obviously.”

  “Obviously.”

  Cam continued to look at her directly. His gaze was unavoidable. “Okay, so I lied.”

  “Right,” he said. “You lied. Why’d you do that?”

  “Because…because I didn’t think it was any of your business,” she said.

  Olivia and Daniel slammed the door of the apartment and hurried down the stairs behind her.

  “I’ve got to take Olivia to the library,” she said, grateful for the reprieve.

  “Okay,” Cam answered. “I’ll come with you.”

  That wasn’t what Red had in mind, but there wasn’t any graceful way to stop it, so she let it go. At least they wouldn’t be able to have their talk while the kids were in the car.

  In that she was thwarted as well. When they got to the van, Cam had a better idea.

  “Why don’t we walk,” he said. “Hey, kids, you want to walk? It’s a great day for a walk.”

  Both Olivia and Daniel seemed enthusiastic. Red was not.

  “It’s too far, through a rough part of town, and it’s a hundred degrees out here,” she complained.

  “It’s eight, maybe ten blocks. That’s nothing to kids,” he assured her. “And the area’s not rough, just empty. In daylight, it’s mostly parking lots.” He damped his index finger on his tongue and held it up in the air. “I’d say it’s only ninety-three, maybe ninety-four. Perfect San Antonio weather.”

  Red wanted to argue, but the kids were already rushing out to the sidewalk.

  “Don’t get so far ahead that I can’t see you,” Red called out. “And wait at the corner.”

  If Olivia thought those were baby rules, at least she didn’t say so.

  Red and Cam followed at a good pace as they made their way southward on Avenue B past the autobody shop, a plumbing warehouse and a couple of vacant lots. She was surprised when he took her hand.

  “What?” he asked at her startled expression. “Do you think this will embarrass the kids? Or will it embarrass you?”

  She didn’t answer that, she just changed the subject.

  “I know we need to talk about…about all this and where our relationship goes from here and all that,” Red said. “But can we just skip it? Now you know how old I am. That I have a grown daughter with kids of her own. You can either opt out or don’t, but I’d just as soon not talk about it.”

  Cam made a slightly affirmative sound and kept moving ahead, thoughtfully.

  “Did you think that I didn’t know how old you are?” he asked.

  “Well, of course I knew that you knew that I’m older than you,” she answered. “But having grandkids? I’m pretty sure that guys like you don’t date women with grandkids.”

  “Is that why you didn’t mention it?”

  “That’s a reason. There are several others, just as good,” she answered.

  “One of those being that it’s none of my business,” Cam said, quoting her earlier comment.

  Red didn’t answer that, but merely shrugged.

  Up ahead, Olivia and Daniel had stopped at the corner, dutifully waiting for them.

  “So, where’s their mother?” Cam asked.

  “Afghanistan,” Red answered. “When she’s deployed they usually stay with their other grandmother, but she had a stroke last night.”

  “Wow, tough bre
ak.”

  “Yeah.”

  He turned to give her a slight grin. “I meant for them, not for you.”

  “I meant them, too!” Red insisted.

  “What about their dad?”

  “He and my daughter are divorced,” she answered. “But he’ll be here in San Antonio in a day or two and take them off my hands.”

  They caught up to the kids and turned the corner to cross the narrow river bridge. Daniel leaned against the railing, content to watch the flow of the water. Both sides of the river were marked with bright orange flags and areas taped off. The boy seemed inordinately interested in the marking. Olivia urged him on down the street, her eagerness to get to the library apparent.

  “So your daughter’s name is…?”

  “Bridge. Bridge Lujan.”

  “Bridge is short for Bridget?”

  “No,” Red answered. “Just Bridge. It was…it was just something I thought up when she was born. She was like my bridge from my old life to my new one.”

  Cam eyed her curiously as if expecting her to say more.

  She was hesitant to say too much. “You know how teenagers are,” she explained, forcing a chuckle that wasn’t completely sincere. “I was very dramatic and my world was full of meaning.”

  Red continued quickly, unwilling to give him a chance to delve any further in those things she didn’t want to remember.

  “Bridge is an operating-room specialist,” she said. “She supervises other soldiers and they make sure that the surgical areas are safe and sterile. Most of the time she works here, at BAMC, the army hospital. But this is her second deployment to the Middle East.”

  “Are you worried about her?”

  “Well, certainly. I am human, you know,” Red told him. “But Bridge can really take care of herself. She always has.”

  At St. Mary’s Street they turned south again, past the U-PiK-It grocery that was crammed into a vintage 1920s gasoline station. There were more buildings on the streets to see now. Small hotels, a television station, the photography building of the Southwest School of Art. Daniel was curious about all of them and dawdled. Olivia kept up a steady pace all the way to Navarro Street.