Tales from Behind the Bar # 1: On the Radio
Hey good evening how ya doin? Welcome to the Midnight Bar and Grill. Iâm Sam the owner. My wife and I built this place from nothing 15 years ago. I think sheâd be proud of it now God rest her soul. Anyway Mr. Bishop told me to expect you from time to time. I see you already got your notepad and pencil ready. He seems to think that I may have a few tales, tall and otherwise to tell. Mind you as a bartender I do hear a lot of stories. Some are mundane, some wild and some totally unbelievable. Normally I wouldnât tell some of them but Mr. Bishop has been a friend of mine for a lot of years. He says youâre ok and thatâs enough for me. Stop by every now and then and Iâll be happy to share some stories with you.
Since this is your first time here I thought that rather than tell you one that was told to me Iâd relate one that I was actively involved in. Thought about my niece Phoebe but actually I came in on the ass end of that. Instead let me tell you about my other niece Denise.
My niece Denise Carter is a pretty woman taller than most at 5â9â in bare feet. She weighs 150 pounds has a pretty face with a light caramel complexion. She wears her hair long, a little below the shoulders. Sheâs every bit a thick 38C-25-37 with legs and an ass that get most men in trouble with their women. Sheâs married to Jeff Carter 6â2â a lean 210 lbs, with a medium dark complexion and short cut hair. A smart and intense man they been married for 10 years. Let me clarify that married 10 separated 11 months. How did they separate? Good question. The tape Iâm about to play for you will actually begin the story. Jeff gave me a copy after the explosion. Itâs from a morning radio show. The late morning show hosted by the Top Jock D J Rock. His real name is Daniel Jerome Rockingham but that wonât work on the radio. He and his morning crew got a pretty good thing goin. Anyway hereâs the first part of the tape:
âHey this is the Top Jock DJ Rock with this mornings question straight from the Tom Jointed Morning Program, which is:â
âWHICH OF YOUR MATES PARTNERS WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO GET WITH?â
I stopped the tape to give you some more background. You see Denise was crazy about Jeff the first time she met him. Ha ha. I remember when she came running to tell me how she had just met her future husband. She talked about him for an hour non-stop. I thought she'd been smokin somethin. She swore she would marry him. Damned if she wasnât right. 18 months later they jumped the broom and they seemed to be a perfect couple until the day that this happened, but let the tape tell it.
â
You got the Top Jock here, whoâs this?â
âHi Rock this is Denise from the NW side!â
âHey Denise! Who is that person that youâd most like to get with?â
âWeeell Iâd have to say without a doubt it would be my husbandâs best friend Marc.â
(Thereâs a chorus of OOOOOâs as the radio crew chimes in)
âWhooo you husbandâs best friend Marc?â
âOH yeah Rock, the man got it goin on!â
âOh so heâs all that huh? Just how fine is he?â
âRock he changes ladies like you and I change clothes but donât none of them ever seem to get mad at him. Iâve even set him up with some of my girlfriends but itâs like he loves em and leaves em. But donât none of them stay mad at him or say anything bad about him. They all say heâs that dam good!â
âChanges ladies like you and I change clothes? And nobodies mad about it? Hooo sounds like Playa Playa got it goin on.â
âWell all I can say is that on nights when Marc and my husband get together I canât hang around them to long.â
âOh whyâs that?â
âBecause if I do I canât break my husband off any that night.â
(The whole radio crew screams with laughter)
âDenise! Girlfriend whatâs up wid dat! You mean you wonât give your husband none?â
âNoooo! Uh uh! I love my husband but I canât risk it. I might scream out Marks name when it gets real good.â
(Again the crew rolls with laughter.)
âAAAHHH no you didnât say that. Tell me you didnât say that.â
âRock Iâm telling you heâs that fine.â
âHey Denise, ainât you takin a huge risk by callin this in? I mean your husband could be listening right now!â
âWhoa No, heâs out of town for a week. If he was anywhere in the listening area you know I wouldnât be callin. You wouldnât hear a peep out of me.â
âSo you wonât accidentally scream out his name I got ya!â
As you can hear the whole crew got big kicks out of her call. I have to admit if I had heard it the first time and not known it was my niece Denise I probably would have been rollin myself. I didnât hear the actual tape till after the fact, after things had exploded.
It was a slow Monday night (no football) when suddenly Denise burst thru the front door and made a beeline for my office. Iâve always told my young relatives that they can come to me with anything; my door is always open to them. Usually when I see them itâs for some extra money. Some rare times theyâll want advice or an alibi. This night however I quickly put away some glasses and went to my office. I could tell from the moment she hit the door that something was very wrong. When I got to my office she was sitting on my sofa with her face buried in her hands. I sat beside her and spoke softly so as not to startle her.
âDee? Child whatâs wrong?â
She slowly raised her head wiping the tear streaks from her face. Her eyes were puffy, sheâd been crying for some time. She never looked at me, just stared straight ahead. When she spoke she struggled to keep from sobbing. Her hands were grappling with some imaginary object as she struggled to get the words out.
âUnc, Uncle Samuel I-I messed up. Bad.â
âWhat? What happened?â
âJe â Je Jeff, he threw (sniff) threw me- o-out!â
I was so stunned I stood up, âWHAT?â
âHe (sniff) found out I -- I was having an -- affair - and he -- he threw me out.â
Now I was so shocked I almost missed the sofa as I sat back down
âYou did what? When? With who?â
âMarc.â
âWHO?â
âMarc.â
âMarc? Jeffâs best friend Marc? That Marc?â
She nodded her head as the tears started flowing again. I just sat there as it sunk in. I remember thinking; (What the hell is going on around here? 8 months ago Phoebe fucks up with Floyd now you and Jeff? Is there some kind of virus going around making my female relatives do STUPID things?)
I took a deep breath, âDee what, - why, - how could you do something like that?â
âUncle Samuel I swear I didnât go looking to get in his bed it just sort of happened. I never wanted to hurt Jeff. I love him. I donât know what Iâll do if I lose him.â
We both were starting to get loud. Since I didnât want my employeeâs to dip into my families business I gave her the spare key to my house and sent her over there. I told her when I got home that she needed to be composed enough to explain IN DETAIL how all this got started. I then sent her out the back door so no one would see her leave.
It was 12:45 when I walked in the front door of my home. Dee was just hanging up the phone after leaving what was probably message number 1,416 on their voice mail. I went to my private liquor stash and made myself a stiff drink, drained that and made another. I knew this was going to be a long night. When I finally entered the living room the look on Deniseâs face was like a drunk with a bad hangover. I sat in my favorite chair and sat my drink on the nightstand.
âAlright Dee run the details. How the hell did you get into this mess?â
I was silent as she gathered herself. It was killing her inside to have to tell me, but she knew that what was said in my house stays in my house. She started slowly but soon it was pouring out.
âI guess it started about 5 and ½ months ago. I called the radio station to answer the question that was on the air.â