I had not been to New Orleans in twenty years but two days there and it felt like home again. I was back at one of my favorite old haunts, a small local bar on a side street not far from the French Quarter.
The tourist passed by the small alley like street on their way to and from the Quarter. Little did they know that they were passing up the true New Orleans for the commercial part, the real Jazz jam sessions for the put on. The real color and people for the styled and acted.
It was a Friday afternoon. I order a beer at the bar and then looked for a place to sit. There was a small table with two chairs in the back corner that were empty. I headed that way.
As I crossed the room, a hand on my arm stopped me. "You don't want to sit back there all alone," the large black man who had stopped me said with a big white toothy grin. "Come sit with us and have some fun. Sitting alone is for old folks who have to many memories and to little time."
I chuckled and said, "Old, I'm getting fast and memories I have aplenty. Now time, that is a subject of debate, what is to much and what is to little?"
"A philosopher of the old school," the man said as he indicated a chair across from him. "I'm Maurice, this is my main lady Marcie, and that's my brother by the same mother John."
I nodded to each one as he made the introductions. "I'm Randy but my friends call me Tex." I said, as I moved around and sat down between Marcie and John.
"Then you're from Texas?" John asked.
"No, I'm from Louisiana originally but I do live over there now."
"Then why do they call you Tex?" Marcie asked.
I grinned at her as I replied, "Being called Louise started to many fights." Everyone laughed. "Actually, it started with an online handle and kind of spread."
"Yeah, nicknames do kind of get out of hand, don't they." John said with a grin as he looked at his brother.
"Don't even go there," Maurice said with a laugh. "It's taken me twenty years to outlive that."
"So what brings you to New Orleans?" Marcie asked to change the subject.
"I lived here for a while back in the mid sixties. I had to go to Pensacola for business, saw the sign on the way back and decided to take a vacation for a few days. Thought I would visit a few old friends and a few old haunts."
"I take it that this is one of your old haunts," Maurice said.
I nodded. "I used to play a horn over at one of Al Hurts places back then and this was our days off watering hole."
"You're a musician then?" John asked.
"Not any more, to many broken knuckles and busted lips. I was a little too crazy when I was younger and never gave any thought to the consequences."
"Weren't we all," Maurice said softly. "Young and crazy, that is."
Marcie and John looked at him sharply. To change the subject, I said, "It seems all my friends from back then have moved on or moved up and didn't leave a forwarding address."
"This town is like that. Tourists come, tourists go, and the rest that live here just wander off. Those that ain't blown away by hurricanes," John said still watching his brother.
"Yeah, it looks like that thing tore this town up pretty bad. The repairs and rebuilding looks good though. This area and the Quarter seemed to have faired pretty good."
Maurice grinned and said, "This place will never die. The old voodoo protects it."
I lifted my beer and toasted, "To New Orleans, may she live forever." The other three clinked bottles with me.
We drained our beers and Maurice stood up. "Time for another round," he said as he made a circling gesture with his finger over the table at the bartender.
"So, how long has it been since you lived here in Louisiana?" John asked.
"When did they vote gambling in over here?" I asked.
"Ninety two, I think." Maurice replied thoughtfully. "Or was it ninety three."
"Anyway, they voted it in and I sold my club a few months later. I moved to Texas before the first of the year when it went into affect. I heard the bar closed by Valentine's Day. I haven't been back much, since."
"Yeah, gambling brought in a few jobs but it sure has screwed up more lives than it fixed," John said nodding.
"If it had stayed on the boats like it was supposed to, things might have been good but as usually, they let it get out of hand," Maurice said.
"It sure killed the bar business. I'm surprised this place is still here."
John laughed. "This place will be here when hell freezes over."
"That's only because the devil drinks here on Sunday," Maurice said with a big grin.
"Up in the northern half of the state, where I'm from, they close all the bars on Sunday."
"They have no sense of history up there. Down here we drink on Sunday and party to the good old times," John said as he slid back to make room for the waitress to slid a beer tray onto the table.
I held out a twenty. "My round, since I'm the guest," I said with a grin at Maurice.
He grinned back. "You ain't too bad for a white boy," he said with an exaggerated accent.
I looked at my arms quickly and laid one over by Marcie's dark mahogany arm. "I'm white? When the hell did that happen?" I asked in mock horror. "I knew all them damned showers couldn't be good for me."
Everyone laughed. After a moment, Marcie leaned over and sniffed at my shoulder. "He does smell pretty good." She leaned over toward Maurice and wrinkled her nose. "I wish I could say the same for you."
"Hey now, I worked my ass off all day. What do you expect, roses? A tugboat ain't no gardening job."
Marcie grinned and leaned over to kiss him on his shoulder. "I'll scrub you back for you later, among other things," she whispered in a low sultry voice.
"Now, that's more like it. When are we leaving?" Maurice said with a grin.
"He ain't pussy whipped at all," John said with a laugh.
You're just jealous you can't find you no main squeeze," Maurice shot back.
"Aren't we all," I said with a grin and a sly glance at Marcie.
"Hey now, you better quit bird dogging on my girl, ya hear." Maurice said with a grin at me and a wink at Marcie.
"I've never been around dark skinned ladies much and very few light skinned ones that are anywhere near as beautiful as your lady."
"Listen to him lay it on," John said with a laugh.
"He does have a way with words, now don't he," Marcie whispered with a grin and a wink at me.
Maurice grinned at Marcie and said, "He is right though, you are one beautiful and lusty lady."
"He didn't say anything about lusty," Marcie whispered.
"That's cause he don't know you like I do. If he did, he'd have put it first, at the top of the list."
"No, I wouldn't. I'd be dead. If she didn't kill me, you would," I said with a laugh.
"I've never killed nobody in my life," Marcie said and then added, "There's been a few who thought they had died by the time I turned them loose." She was smiling at Maurice as she said that last.
"Don't be tell no lies now," Maurice said as he grinned back at Marcie.
Talking to me, John said, "You just be careful around the sisters down here. They'll pinch that little white dick of yours off and use it for a toothpick." He laughed at his own joke and took a long pull on his beer.
Looking at his brother, Maurice said, "You're one to be talking about toothpicks."
"Hey, now," John said, "Lets not go and get personal here."
Marcie laughed and whispered, "It must run in the family."
Maurice looked at her and lifted one eyebrow. "Ten inches of rock hard dick ain't no toothpick."
"When did you cut two inches off that thing?" John asked with a grin.
"Cut two inches off, I'm wondering where he borrowed the two inches he added," Marcie added with a laugh.