Wilson's Hard Lesson (8 page)

Ivy was exhausted. With another hour to go until close, her
feet were already aching and the smell of hot wings was making her nauseous.
Luther and his friends still had a monopoly over the pool table and between
keeping them supplied with beer and keeping the rest of her tables happy, Ivy
was run off her feet.

“Hey, waitress?” an overweight college kid called her from
one of her tables. Ivy walked over, her tray tucked under her arm.

“Yes, sir, what can I get you?” The kid shook his head.

“Nothing. I wanted to know when we can get a look in on the
pool table, those guys have been there all night!” Ivy looked over to Luther
and his friends.

“I’m sorry sir, they did get there first and as long as
they’re paying customers, they can play as long as they like.” The kid huffed
loudly.

“That’s ridiculous! I’m a paying customer too and I’d like
to play a game of pool!” The kid raised his voice, only not loud enough for
Luther and his friends to hear. Ivy shook her head.

“Well, sir, if you are really that unhappy about it, I would
suggest that you ask the gentlemen over there if they would mind sharing the
table.” Ivy smiled politely, paused and then walked away with a smile. She knew
that there was no way that the kid would confront Luther and his friends and
she refused to play mommy and do it for him.

“Let’s get out of here!” She heard the kid say loudly as she
walked back to the bar.

“I don’t know what is going on tonight, but it looks like
all the weirdos are out in full force!” Ivy said as she leaned on the bar.
LaTisha rolled her eyes as she shook her head.

“Tell me about it, girl.” She looked over to section three
and then back to Ivy. “I tell you what, why don’t you head out? There’s only an
hour left until close anyway, I’ll cover your section.” Ivy squinted her eyes.

“Are you sure?” LaTisha nodded.

“I’ve got you covered.” She gave Ivy a wink. “You look like
the walking dead, go home and get some rest, okay?” Ivy gave her a hug.

“Thank you! I’ll cover you next time, promise!” LaTisha
pulled out of the hug and shooed her in to the back to clock out.

Ivy readjusted the strap of her purse as she walked out in
to the dark parking lot. The air was crisp against her bare legs and she
hurried as she walked over to her car.

“Well, well, well, look who it is…” The voice came first and
then Ivy saw the college boy who had grabbed her earlier in the night walk out
in front of her car.

“I’m sorry?” She tried to sound sure of herself, unafraid.

“I bet you are, but sorry won’t get me the wings I wanted
earlier will it?” Ivy frowned as she stood still, just feet from the menacing
figure.

“Look, I was just doing my job, okay? Now let me go home,
please.” The boy laughed obnoxiously.

“Let me go home, please!” He mimicked her in a high pitched
nasally voice. “Not until you make it up to me for being such a…”

“Is there a problem here?” Luther’s voice came from behind
Ivy, he was so close that Ivy was startled by his presence.

“Yeah, there is a problem, but it’s none of your business so
how about you go back inside, buddy?” The kid had obviously been drinking more
since he and his friends had been run out of the restaurant. Luther stepped
forward. When the kid realized that the man behind Ivy was the same man who had
scared him off, his eyes widened slightly. Despite his fear, however, he
realized that it was too late to back down and instead he stood stock still.

“How about you get in your little car or on your bicycle, or
whatever it was that got you here, and you go home?” Luther took another step
forward as he addressed the kid.

“How about you mind your own damn business?” Despite trying
to be confident, the kid took a step backwards as he said this to Luther.
Luther gave a pained smile as he took the final step forward and reaching out
he grabbed the kid by the arm. Jerking him around, Luther locked the kid’s arm
out behind him, forcing him to bend over.

“I would…I usually do mind my own business in fact, but I’m
afraid that I don’t tolerate men who treat women the way you do.” Luther put
pressure on the kid’s arm and the kid screamed as he bent down lower. “Now,
what do you say that you get on your bicycle and ride home.” The kid nodded
painfully. Luther released the kids arm.

“I don’t have a bicycle anyway; I drive a Beemer.” The kid
said. Luther chuckled.

“Right, of course you do. Well, daddy’s boy, get in your
Beemer and go home and sleep it off.” Luther turned to walk back over to Ivy,
but when he did he heard Ivy scream and seconds later he felt the impact of a
fist on the side of his face. Luther sighed loudly and rocked his jaw from side
to side as he turned around only to find the kid trying to run away from him. A
few long strides and Luther caught up with him, planting his fist square on the
bridge of the kid’s nose. Ivy watched in horror as the kid’s nose exploded in a
gush of blood.

“Oh my God! Oh my God I think you broke my nose!” The kid
began wailing at the top of his lungs. Luther shrugged.

“Remember when I told you not to come back here?” The kid
nodded as he cupped his hands around his nose.

“I wasn’t kidding.”

With the exception of the cleaning crew, Ivy and Luther,
Busties was empty for the night. Luther held a bag of melting ice against his
jaw at Ivy’s insistence, as he leaned against the bar.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Ivy asked as she
pulled the ice away from his face and took a look at where Luther had been hit.
Luther laughed.

“I’ll be fine. I told you, I don’t need this. I’m used to
being punched in the face!” He winked at Ivy and she chuckled.

“That’s twice tonight you came to my rescue.” Ivy said as
she studied his stubble covered face. Luther shrugged.

“I’m not gonna sit here and watch some drunk kid beat up a
girl.” Ivy’s eyes dropped down to the bar top in disappointment.

“Oh…” Luther frowned.

“Oh, what?” Ivy shook her head.

“Nothing. I just…I thought maybe you…never mind.” She could
feel the redness coloring her cheeks. She had sincerely thought that Luther had
come to her rescue because he liked her. Sure he wasn’t her usual type, but the
thought of a tall, dark and handsome man coming to her rescue was more fantasy
than any girl could resist.

“What?” Luther stared at her with his dark grey eyes.

“I thought maybe you liked me, that’s all.” Ivy couldn’t
bring herself to look up at him as she said this. Luther began to chuckle and
reaching over he patted her hand lightly.

“Darlin’ first of all, you are far too young for me. Second
of all, I’m not the kind of guy that a girl like you dates. In fact, I’m the
kind of guy that your parents warn you against dating.” Ivy opened her mouth to
dispute both of these points, but Luther kept talking. “I am a bad bad man,
darlin’ and not the kind of man you want in your life.” When Ivy was sure that
he had finished, she lifted her hazel eyes to meet his.

“I don’t think you’re such a bad man.” She said, quietly.

“That,” he said definitively, “is because you don’t know who
I am.” Luther set the ice pack on the bar top and slid off his stool. “Now,
before I go breakin’ your heart, I’d better get out of here.” His large hand
grabbed the top of her arm gently as he took a step towards the door. “Don’t
take it personally, kid, you just deserve better.”

As Ivy lay in bed that night she couldn’t stop thinking
about Luther. She imagined that he was lying beside her, that he hadn’t walked
out of Busties and left her there alone. The more she thought about him, the
more she found herself attracted to him. She wondered why he had called himself
a bad man, she couldn’t imagine anyone like him doing something so bad that she
couldn’t forgive it. He had come to her rescue twice already and she couldn’t
believe that someone who would do something like that could be a bad person. As
she fell asleep, twirling a strand of her dark brown hair around her fingers,
Ivy wondered if she would see Luther the next day.

Ivy had been so wrapped up in thinking about Luther that she
had completely forgotten that her parents had been coming to pick up some of
her things. There were still a few days left until move out day, but Ivy knew
what a nightmare it was to find parking then, so she’d asked her parents to
come a few days earlier to pick up the small stuff. It wasn’t until they called
her from the call box outside of her dorm, that Ivy even remembered that they
were coming.

“Ivy, honey, we’re here to get your things!” Her mother’s
voice was shrill on the other end of the phone.

“Oh God!” There was a loud sigh from her mother.

“Ivy, you know I don’t like that kind of language!” Ivy
smirked.

“Sorry mom, I’ll be right down to let you in.”

Ivy was still preoccupied with Luther when her parents had
finished loading up their car and it was only when they suggested lunch that
she snapped out of her fantasy world.

“We can go to the drugstore? I loved their soda fountain
last time we went and their BLT’s are delicious!” Ivy was sick to death of the
food at Jacob’s Drugs, but it was a treat her mom couldn’t resist.

“Sure, mom, that’d be good.”

“Okay, you girls go to the powder room and I’ll go down and
wait in the car.” Ivy’s dad mumbled as he walked out of the door.

“I don’t have to…” Ivy managed to say before her mother
interrupted.

“Oh, I do!”

The drugstore wasn’t too busy for a Saturday afternoon and
while the tables were all full, they had no problem finding seats at the soda
fountain.

“Oh I feel like I’m back in the sixties!” Ivy’s mom
exclaimed. Ivy laughed.

“Mom, you were born in the sixties!” Her mom giggled as she
picked up her menu.

“I know!” As Ivy’s parents perused their menus, Ivy glanced
around the store. Just as she was turning back, she noticed a familiar figure
walk through the front door. Luther walked over to the soda fountain without
noticing her.

“Black coffee please.” Ivy watched him for a few minutes
before deciding to talk to him.

“Hey Luther.” He whipped around and when he saw Ivy he gave
her a smile and a nod.

“Hey, I didn’t see you there.” Ivy smiled.

“Fueling up for the day?” She asked. Luther nodded.

“Something like that.” The server handed him a cup of coffee
and he handed her a few crumpled dollars. “Well, it was good seeing you.” He
gave her a wink and took his coffee off to the far end of the soda fountain.

When she turned back to her parents, Ivy found them both
staring at her incredulously.

“Ivy!” Ivy looked from side to side with a frown.

“What?” She said innocently. Her mom lowered her voice and
jerked her head in Luther’s direction.

“Why are you talking to a man like that?!” Ivy glanced over
at Luther who she could see was watching her with a grin.”

“Mom, he’s a nice guy, I met him at work last night.” He mom
turned to look at her father, hoping to get some back up.

“Stanley, tell her. Someone like that is bad news. He looks
dangerous!” Ivy stared wide eyed at her mom.

“Mom, would you keep it down? He can hear you!” Her mom
glanced nervously around.

“I’m just saying, honey, I don’t think it’s safe for you to
make friends with people like that.” Her mom turned to her dad and he nodded.
“In fact, I think your father and I are going to have to forbid it.”  Ivy felt
as though she were four years old again but she knew better than to argue, she
nodded in defeat.

“Yes, mom.”

Lunch was painful. Luther remained at the soda fountain,
sipping on his coffee, until Ivy and her family had finished their meal. Ivy
had stolen plenty of glances at him as he sat there, and each time that she
did, he seemed to be looking directly at her with a smirk. Each time she would
shake her head with a hushed laugh and look back down at her plate. She was a
child scorned.

Ivy arrived at work that afternoon at the same time as
Noelle which gave her plenty of time to fill Noelle in on the events of the
night before. Noelle had listened wide eyed as Ivy told her about Luther coming
to her rescue.

“You have to get his number!” Ivy shook her head.

“I sort of tried to, but he thinks he’s too old for me…that and
he says he’s a bad man.” Noelle giggled.

“Ohhh that sounds like fun!” Ivy nudged her gently.

“Not like that!” Noelle giggled again.

“So what is it that makes him such a bad man then?” Ivy
shrugged.

“He didn’t say?” Noelle thought for a moment.

“Can you look him up online? Like, do a background check or
something? Oh my God, what if he’s a murderer!” Ivy rolled her eyes and shook
her head.

“He’s not a murderer!” Noelle raised an eyebrow.

“How do you know? Maybe he’s like a biker killer, riding
across country slashing women’s throats as he goes?” Ivy scrunched up her nose
in disgust.

“Urgh, he is not. He’s too nice to be a murderer. But I
don’t know his last name so I can’t look him up anyway.” Noelle sighed as she
clocked in.

“There’s only one thing for it then, you’re going to have to
ask him.” Although this seemed like a logical way to get the information she
wanted, Ivy wasn’t so sure that Luther would cooperate. She wasn’t even sure
that she’d see him again.

A few hours after her shift had begun however, Ivy’s worries
were laid to rest when Luther and a large group of his friends walked through
the door of Busties. She waited, hoping that he would say hello, but was
greeted with a nod and a smile instead as he walked past.

“He’s here…” Ivy whispered to Noelle as she walked past with
a full tray.

“Then, go talk to him!” Noelle walked off to wait on her
tables and left Ivy standing in the middle of the room wondering what to do
next. Part of her wanted to go and talk to Luther, but the other part of her
remembered what had happened last night when she talked to him in front of his
friends. She decided that she would be better off waiting at least until the
end of her shift, that way if he decided to be a jerk she could go home without
having to face him for the rest of the night.

Ivy’s shift was painfully slow and she couldn’t help but eye
Luther’s group at the pool table every time that she walked past. She was
afraid that he would leave before she had a chance to talk to him. By the end
of her shift however, Luther and his friends were still playing pool, so Ivy
settled herself at the bar and ordered a drink.

“You’re sticking around after your shift is over?” LaTisha
asked as she poured her a Coke. Ivy shrugged.

“You know how roommates are, I’ve got a little time to
kill.” Ivy lied. LaTisha nodded.

“Urgh, tell me about it. Girl, I swear you don’t want to
know the noises that come out of my roommate’s bedroom!” Ivy laughed and took a
sip of her soda. LaTisha looked up as someone approached the bar and nodding at
Ivy she began to walk away. Ivy turned her head and saw Luther standing beside
her.

“You can’t stay away from me, huh?” He joked as he pulled
out the stool next to her. “Anyone sitting here?” Ivy shook her head.

“Nope.” Luther sat down. There was an awkward silence.

“So…those were your folks?” He asked, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah,” Ivy stirred her straw in her soda. “Sorry about
them, they’re a little…weird.” Luther chuckled.

“They’re parents, they’re allowed to be weird…but if you ask
me, they’re just trying to protect you.” Ivy frowned at him.

“Protect me from what?” Luther pressed his lips together
momentarily as he thought about his answer.

“From the world I suppose, that’s sort of what parents do.”
Ivy looked up in to his gray eyes.

“What about you? Why do they need to protect me from you?”
Luther broke eye contact.

“I told you last night, darlin’, I’m a bad man.” Ivy shook
her head.

“But what does that mean?” Luther chuckled.

“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that.” He swiveled on his
stool to face Ivy. “You’re just going to have to take my word for it.” Ivy
shook her head again.

“No. If you’re going to blow me off, the least you can do is
tell me why.” Luther seemed shaken by her assertiveness.

“I told you why.” He said.

“Mmm mmm, you gave me a vague excuse. So now I’m asking you
for the truth, for the details.” Luther took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

“Why are you so interested in me, kid?” Ivy licked her plump
pink lips.

“Because I like you.” Luther squinted his eyes.

“But why?” Ivy shrugged.

“Why not?”

Luther sat in silence for what felt like an eternity as Ivy
sipped on her Coke, refusing to let him off the hook. When he finally spoke,
Ivy noticed that he wouldn’t look at her.

“When I was younger I made some stupid choices. I killed a
man over nothing more than a few bucks.” Ivy hadn’t been prepared to hear that.
When she heard the term ‘bad man’ she thought of a bar fight, not a murder.

“Why?” She didn’t look up when she asked.

“He owed me money.” Ivy wasn’t sure what to say next. She
couldn’t imagine killing anyone just for them owing her money. Perhaps Luther
and her parents had been right, perhaps he was a bad man.

“Did he do anything else? I mean, besides owing you money?”
She stared at the bubbles in her soda as they rose to the surface.

“Nope. Like I said, I’m a bad man, honey. Now you know why
your folks don’t want you with a guy like me.” He sounded so sure.

“My parents have no idea what you did or didn’t do, they
don’t even know you…” Luther smiled and shook his head gently.

“Parents always know.” Ivy looked up at him, her hazel eyes
studying his angular jaw. She didn’t want him to be right, but the more he
spoke, the more confused she was becoming.

“Are you sorry?” Ivy took a sip from her drink. Luther
rubbed his hand across his stubble covered chin.

“Some people…they have to maintain an appearance.” He looked
at Ivy to see if she was listening. “I was one of those people. The bikers I
ran with at the time, you just didn’t say no to them.” Ivy listened intently.
“When this guy said no, well, if I let him get away with it, then he wouldn’t
be the last. You don’t get respect by being the guy who lets a debtor get
away.” Ivy took a heavy breath. She had hoped that he would say yes. She had
hoped that he would tell her how the very thought of what he had done haunted
his dreams. Instead, he had explained to her the inner workings of a thuggish
motorcycle gang and it had left her feeling heavy.

“Did you have to kill him?” Ivy asked in a hushed whisper.
Luther jutted out his bottom jaw and shook his head.

“It wasn’t the intention. He was supposed to get a few
broken bones, but things went too far.” Ivy chewed her bottom lip nervously.

“Did you go to prison?” Luther looked down at the barbed
wire tattoo around his wrist, Ivy followed his gaze. “How long for?” Luther
shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter. The point is, that I am the bad man your
parents warned you about. While I think you are exceptionally beautiful, I’m
not about to subject you to a lifestyle like mine. A girl like you is supposed
to meet a boy like…hell, I don’t know…a nice country boy with a pickup truck
and a cowboy hat and a piece of straw hangin’ out of his mouth.” Ivy chuckled
as she finished her soda.

“What if I don’t want a nice country boy?” Luther chuckled.

“That wasn’t the point, honey. The point was, that you want
and need someone who isn’t like me.” Ivy took her straw out of her glass and
began to chew the end.

“But what if I want someone like you?” Luther licked his
bottom lip and shook his head.

“Be careful what you wish for.” Luther slid himself
backwards off his stool ad with a wink he walked back in the direction of the
pool table.