Tempest Brewing Tropical Storms Part 1 (4 page)

Frank was sitting between his mother and Joy. He
tried to lighten the conversation with his typical opening. "What
to see a card trick?"

Joy leaned towards him and kissed him on the
cheek. "Save it for the paying customers," she said.

"Well okay then" Frank said, feigning to be hurt
by her rejection. "How about a reading? Just pick three cards and
I'll tell you your fortune. The cards don't lie." All that Frank
really intended to do was dispense some generic, ego-pumping
observations and a positive forecast to bolster Joy's obvious sad
mood. Joy picked out three cards slowly as she sipped her fireball
and Red Bull.

"Ahh," professionally expressed Frank the
showman, "Seven of hearts shows a tall dark man in your life. He
finds you attractive and can introduce a stable force in your
life." Frank of course was referring to himself, but Joy
immediately thought of the dentist.

"The jack of spades forebodes of deceit.
Following the seven of hearts, however; means that together all is
revealed."

"Oh my, my, my, the queen of diamonds. The queen
is you and the suit tells of fortune and luxury in the future. It
says that all of your dreams will come true. How about that? All
lucky cards. Well, not the jack of spades exactly, but placed
between the seven of hearts and the queen it's all good." Frank
could sure create a magical environment, even if he tried to
further his own interests now and then.

As she prepared herself to go home, Joy thought
about dinner. Without having talked to Brian, she didn't know if
she should cook, order in or what. Just as she was contemplating
dinner her phone buzzed a text message. It was from Brian and it
simply said "Going night fishing with the boys, see you later."

"Night fishing" was a euphemism that meant "I'm
smoking pot and drinking beer with the friends and then we're going
to Bare Assets so don't wait up." Bear Assets was a local titty bar
with steroid-enhanced bouncers and titties weren't all you could
see.

That made the decision for her. She turned back
to the bar and ordered another drink. Now she could take her time
and let the night unfold. She did want to get home at some point
and shower and change and then who knew? Maybe she might just treat
herself to Vito's tonight. The best Italian place on the island,
she thought. She wondered if anyone else wanted to go. Lee was on
drink number three and was going home. Frank had a show to do.
Stormy was working, at least Joy thought she was, she hadn't
actually seen her.

Joy ultimately found Crystal, her friend with
multiple personalities, to go out with. Sometimes Crystal was a
dykish lesbian constantly commenting on the female tourists in
town, at times a dainty, well-mannered southern belle, very
coquettish around men. Now and then she pinned all her hair up
under a hat and wore boys' clothes. That was the most unusual. Joy
hoped Crystal would just be Crystal tonight, her funny friend.

When Joy got home to shower and change, she
noticed that it didn't even appear as if Brian had been home all
day. Nothing seemed out of place or touched since she had left that
morning. That would be unusual for Brian, who used to spending
extended periods of time at sea with other guys and wasn't very
neat at home. It was just one more small thing that added to her
sense that something was off.

Joy didn't consciously dress to impress, but she
apparently did more than usual. Every guy at Vito's turned to watch
her walk into the courtyard dining room. Johnny Chianti, the owner,
hustled through the crowd to greet her and ask how she was doing.
"How YOU doin?" he asked in his best Rocky impersonation. Key West
was a small place and most of the service people knew each other.
Johnny made it a point to know all the pretty restaurant workers,
anyway.

"I'm good Johnny, meeting Crystal, is she here
yet?" Joy smiled at Johnny.

"That crazy bitch from Don's?" Johnny asked.
"No, haven't seen her. And may I say," Johnny continued taking in a
sweeping view of Joy from head to foot, "You look lovely tonight.
Where's your boy?"

"My
man
is out night fishing, I'm single
tonight," she said, almost annoyed.

"Oh, he's out with the guys huh? Well, have a
good time and take my advice, lose the nut job early before she
starts drinking, and... speaking of which, can I get you
something?" Johnny was always the perfect host.

"No, I'll sit and wait for Crystal, thanks."
Said Joy.

"Fugghedaboudit" was Johnny's standard reply.
The restaurant's motto was "Fugghedabout da rest, Vito's is da
best," and it really was the best Italian food on the Island.

It was Tuesday night and a local group of
musicians were setting up to play. They were called "The Love Lane
Gang" as they all lived on Love Lane. They were varied ages and
training but enjoyed playing with each other and used Vito's to
practice every Tuesday night. They all got to drink and eat pizza
for free and have the space to rehearse. They were beginning to
make a name for themselves and had regular paying gigs at other
places in town. There was a standup bass player, a guy with a
mandolin, two ukuleles people, a washboard player, two guitar guys
and a kazoo player. Even better than the music, which was a funky
Caribbean bluegrass acoustic blend, the enjoyment each musician
displayed when playing created an environment of energized
happiness that was contagious to the listening patrons. Diners
danced, sang along, clapped and had as good of a time as the band
themselves.

Joy was sat at one of the plastic chairs, beside
the folding wooden table with a plastic red checkered tablecloth.
Ritchie, the server, greeted her and asked if she wanted something
to drink. She politely told him she would have a glass of Pinot
Grigio while she waited for someone.

She sipped her wine, and the band started to
play, strumming "Sweet Georgia Brown". By the time the band played
a Beatles tune, Joy was on her third drink, slowly starting to
relax and beginning to contemplate the state of her existence. She
realizes that while she was not truly happy with her relationship
with Brian, it's a lot better than being alone. Being in a
less-than-optimal relationship was preferable to being alone, she
tells herself.

She smiled as several customers stood up to
dance to "Lady Madonna." She saw Crystal walking in and was not
surprised to see her immediately walk up to one of the pretty girls
that had come with the band and then start to dance with her, even
before acknowledging Joy or sitting down. As she danced somewhat
seductively, staring at the other girls ample breasts, Joy thought
that at least she knew who her friend was tonight. Maybe John had
been right on and she would make a short night of it rather than be
subjected to Crystal's antics all night with other women. Maybe,
Joy thought, if I dare introduce Crystal to Stormy, then they would
either get along or kill each other.

After the dance and getting the cell phone
number of the big breasted girl, Crystal joined Joy. She
immediately picked up Joy's wine glass and drained it, stating "Got
thirsty dancing with" she pulled out the napkin with the girls
info, "Diedre" she smiled smugly. She looked at Joy and asked "What
was that? It's good."

"Pinot Grigio, are you hungry?" inquired Joy.
She was beginning to question the (intelligence) of going out with
crazy Crystal. But again, it was more comfortable to hang out with
a known crazy than to take the risks of going out alone.

"Always but watching my weight. I'll eat a salad
or something, but let's get a bottle of Pinot Grigio, okay?"
Crystal then stood up and started waving madly for the waiter
Ritchie. "He's hot isn't he?" She asked Joy after Ritchie had taken
their order. "I wonder if his girlfriend is tatted like him?"

Ritchie had 29 tattoos. He and his girl had
recently counted them while naked in bed. Both arms and his full
chest and back were covered, not in monochromatic prison ink, but
beautifully done with artistic form and color. Most of the work was
covered by his work shirt, but his forearms revealed the extensive
art and two large colorful flowers peeked upwards not quite onto
his neck, but high enough for the upper yellow and pink pedals to
be seen.

"Oh my God" thought Joy, "Here we go, and it's
early, yet."

Ritchie came up to the table to take their
order. Joy started by ordering a crabmeat-stuffed Portobello
mushroom with Aurora sauce, a light marinara and alfredo mix. She
asked the tattood hunk for the clams and linguini.

"Penne or spaghetti?" inquired Ritchie.

"Ah, linguini?" asked Joy peevishly already
knowing the answer, then changed her mind. "No, spaghetti okay?"
Ritchy smiled and looked towards Crystal.

"I'll have one of you!" Crystal purred as she
undressed Ritchie with her eyes, imagining the extent of art all
over every inch of his lithe torso.

Ritchie was used to this. "Sorry, not on the
menu," he replied with a grin.

Looking rejected and pouty, Crystal looked down
at the menu and said "Aww. Just a little salad, then."

Without looking up from his pad Ritchie said
"You gotta feed that appetite."

Joy smiled knowing to which exact appetite the
handsome waiter was referring.

"Well, okay," Crystal started looking at the
menu, "Maybe some garlic knots and calamari, first." She looked up
at Joy and added "You'll help right?" and then she looked at
Ritchie, and licking her lips, continued with "Mozzarella sticks
too, please? I'm famished."

Joy found the little white clams particularly
delicious but was surprised when Ritchie told her they were frozen
from Viet Nam. There sure had tasted fresh. Now she didn't have to
feel bad selling that frozen Pangasius fish as the "Catch of the
day." People loved it thinking it was locally caught, but who knows
where it originally came from? No one ever complained about the
fish.

There first stop was to visit Ritchie's girl,
Rachael, at the new tequila bar beneath the Roof Top Cafe. All they
served there were high end drinks and shots. It was right on the
beach at the southern most end of the key. Luckily, they had a
somewhat liberal pricing structure that encouraged locals and
service people to come in. If they do come, they were given half
the price than what was offered to the tourists.

Rachael had a rare combination of physical
beauty and intelligence. Even with the experience of her 23 years
being pretty and smart, she sometimes struggled fitting in. She
often found the drivel from the girls she worked with and hung
around somewhat childish and without substance. She usually found
those her own age to be narrow, stuck-up or so conceited that no
one could stand to be around them for very long. Consequently,
Rachael struggled every day, with every interaction to find a
common zone in which to interact. It was exhausting.

Brian had been partying hard with his collection
of derelict friends. All of them were unemployed or were part-time
fishermen. They were all salt water conchs and had grown up
together. None of them gave a thought towards the future or could
remember the past. The only demands placed upon them were from the
sea, it was how they defined themselves.

Brian would never have thought that Joy would go
back to her job on her night off. So he felt perfectly okay going
to see Stormy. At least it seemed like a good idea after smoking a
blunt, downing a couple of shots and doing a line or two or three.
When he got there, it was mid dinner rush so he sat at the bar and
continued to drink. The bartenders knew that he lived with Joy and
wouldn't charge him anything, or very little if the owner was close
by watching.

After a little while, Brian was able to catch
Stormy's attention. She sidled up to the bar next to him and
without anyone noticing he took her hand and placed it in his lap.
She felt and then grasped the semi erect penis growing under her
touch and he whispered "Take a smoke break."

Stormy smiled and without hesitation whispered
back "Five minutes behind the cooler."

The Schooner Wharf was situated on the coast of
the Key West islet. They were building a new structure next to the
existing restaurant and for the past year a large refrigerated
truck was parked across a narrow path just inland to the tiki
bar-restaurant area. The area was fenced off and at this time only
the bar back ventured over there to grab beer to restock the bar.
Enough crap happened behind the refrigerated truck that the bar
back wouldn't think twice or think to explore two people hanging
out in the darkness out back.

"Only got a few minutes" she said as she impaled
her mouth on his engorged member. Three minutes later she was
spitting and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she
started back towards the restaurant without a word, just a smirky
smile.

As Stormy entered the street in front of the
entrance she met Joy and Crystal getting out of a "Five Sixes"
taxicab. Her smirk broadened into a full-fledged grin, a sneer,
really.

"How you doing?" inquired Joy pleasantly.

"I was just grabbing a smoke, you know, over
there," somewhat nervously gesturing towards the fenced in area.
Brian should be walking out right behind her. That is exactly why
she did it, wasn't it? She wanted Joy to see who she was with and
what she had been doing.