I knew he was the one I wanted as soon as he walked into the bar. Clean cut; maybe mid-to-late thirties; business suit; hiding behind sun glasses in the dimly lit bar; hesitant at the door; picking out a table back in the corner, one with a full sweep of the room. I moved a little to my right at the bar, under a light, well within his vision.
I called Chuck, the bartender, over, and we went into the routine he'd always been agreeable to. Chuck and me got along real good. He'd do me maybe once a week back in the bar's storage room and then he'd help me the rest of the week.
"No beer for you, kid. Whatcha' doin' in here, anyway?" Chuck asked me, raising his voice high enough for the mark to hear and knowing full well that I was of legal age. I looked over toward the corner with my peripheral vision to make sure he'd heard. If he hadn't, Chuck and me would have to do it again. But he'd heard. I saw him sit up in his chair, tensed.
"Geez. Am I gonna have to show ID till I'm thirty," I groused back. I pulled out my wallet and laid it on the counter. Flipped out my driver's license and put it under Chuck's nose.
"Those things is a dime a dozen, kid." Chuck puffed out his chin for effect. I brought my other hand up a bit, so's Chuck could move his attention there. I had a greenback clutched in my fist, enough showing for both Chuck and the mark to see.
"Well, OK," Chuck said, noticeably palming the money. "But don't plan on getting' drunk in here or causin' trouble. A beer and then move on, OK?"
The guy at the back table was trying to act like he wasn't looking, but I knew he was. And I knew I was well on my way to hooking him. Size and looks had always been my disadvantage in high school. But I was turning them to my benefit these days. My friends were out workin' the street corners, rain and all, havin' no more than a couple of minutes to size their marks up before gettin' into their cars. Thanks to my size and appearance, I could stay inside, in bars like this, pretending I might just not be legal, which really turned some guys on, and decide who was worth pursuing—and I made about twice the money on half the men that my friends out on the street did.
I hadn't grown much, if at all, since I was fifteen. The doctors had told my folks just to give it time. Now it could take all the time it wanted. My size and young looks were keepin' me alive and ahead of debt. And it told me just exactly the kind of man to go after. Saved a lot of time and energy, and thus far I've picked well enough to avoid a lot of fuss as well. That's because I've picked guys like that one over in the corner. I knew what he wanted—what he really wanted. I could give him the next best thing. And whatever happened afterward, he couldn't squeal about to the cops.
"Hey, guy, you want a drink? The tables are for customers." Chuck was calling past me, over at the guy I'd marked. Chuck and me had this down pat. This type was a runner just as likely as a buyer.
"Umm, yes . . . please. A beer I guess. Whatever you have on tap." Kind of a wavering voice. I knew he was close to bolting. But he hadn't. Sometimes they left at this point. But if we got them this far and we were positioned this way, Chuck and I had worked out the closin' of the trap door.
"Comin' up," Chuck sang out. "And stay put. I'll deliver."
While we were workin' this out, Chuck had sometimes screwed it up by saying either I would bring the drink to the mark or just that it would be brought to him. As long as he didn't have to think about me, Tim, comin' to his table, comin' closer to him—temptation actually approaching—he'd stay put for the drink.
He panicked, as I knew he would, as I started walkin' toward him, both of our drinks in hand. But I did a little maneuvering around the tables, looking natural but putting me between him and the exit. So he stayed put at the table.
"Here ya' go," I said. "Don't mind if I sit, do you?"
Of course he didn't mind/of course he minded.
"Cause' it's just, just that you look sorta' like my dad—just not mean like him. Is it OK if I just sit a while?"
"Yes, yes, of course, sit," he replied. His breath was ragged. I could feel him torn between runnin' and movin' deeper into what he'd come here for—maybe, just maybe, taking a step across the fantasy/reality divide. And it was just talk. Nothing needed to actually happen.
"Hi, I'm Timmy," I said, giving him a smile and extending my hand out after I'd set the two beers down and sank into the chair next to him, where he'd turn away from the bar area to be talkin' to me. "But you could call me Tim, if you wanted to."
"Hi, Timmy," he said and then "My name is Joe . . . Joe Clifton." I knew that was a fake name, of course. But I hadn't missed the preference for "Timmy." That was a good sign.