That Could Have Ended Better
Walt and I finished our meal, and our dessert, and got ready to leave. We obviously didn’t have a check to settle, but I left a generous tip for Francine, our attentive waitress. She’d been a quick study of the performance-art which is being a member of the wait staff in a nice establishment. I wanted to reward her conscientiousness and hard work.
When she accepted the money from my hand, she had a message to share. “Mister Law, Mister Owen would like a word.”
I thanked her and looked to Walt to see if he would insist on accompanying me to the kitchen. To my surprise, he moved in the opposite direction. “I’m going to wait for you out front. I want a breath of air before we go upstairs.”
He headed toward the front door while I went to the kitchen. Owen met me just inside the swing door. “Law, this kid you brought me is a dim bulb.”
“What kid?”
Owen hid one of his hands behind the other and pointed across the kitchen. I looked where his finger led me until I saw fat Tiny at the scrub sink. I’d forgotten all about him. “What’s his problem?”
“He can’t take orders. Every time I tell him something, he thinks I’m yelling at him, and he rolls up in a ball. I have to keep stopping to explain that I talk loud because it’s loud in here. I’ve got too much to do to have to worry about an overly sensitive dishwasher.”
I shook my head and shrugged at the pointlessness of trying to stuff a square peg into a round hole. I wanted Tiny to work for his passage to Canada, but I wasn’t going to force the matter if his presence was hurting the harmony of the kitchen. I opted to give him a free pass. “Pay him off and get him out of here tonight. I promised him two-hundred-fifty bucks. Have Benny put him on the bus when he goes to make the cash drop at the bank. I don’t want him here if he can’t produce, and if he’s not working, I don’t want him at the apartment either. Alright?”
Owen nodded in appreciation. “Thanks, Law.”
He had something else to say, but I talked over him. “And, I’m sorry for forcing him on you. You’re taking over soon. Your name will be the one on the business license. We’ll have to talk about my underground trolly service in the future. I want to keep helping these kids, but I’m not going to do it at your risk.”
“We’ll figure it out. I know why you wanted to help this one. He’s got a sad story and he’s such a wuss, sending him to war would be like sending a calf to slaughter. I’ll take care of it.”
I was about to tell him of the tree I ordered for the restaurant when a crash and a shout sounded from out front. We both heard the very specific sound of shattering glass and a high-pitch female scream.
Owen was in motion and through the swing door before I managed to turn around. I followed him as quickly as I could as he shouldered his way through the crowded dining room toward the source of the noise. People were on their feet with their heads craned toward the main entrance. Owen bulled his way through until he reached a break. His feet crunched on broken glass. Cold air whipped through the shattered panes of the divided light front window. Two men were locked in a scuffle outside. One was a wiry young black man, the other was Walt.
I ran to intervene. Owen shouted for Benny the bartender to “bring the pony!” ‘The pony’ was the Colt revolver Benny kept behind the bar. Owen and he had come up with the nickname for the gun so they could refer to it without alerting customers to its presence.
The man and Walt looked like they were dancing. Walt had the young man squeezed in a bear hug. The young man fought against my husband’s strong arms. I forced my right hand to form a fist and punched the side of the young man’s face with it. My punch didn’t take the fight out of him, so I moved behind and gave him a few good shots to his back and kidneys.
The youth gasped and went limp. Walt released him to fall in a heap on the sidewalk. By then, Owen and Benny and the Colt were with us. Benny crouched over the young man and made sure he saw the gun. “You move and you’re dead.”
Owen tried to disburse the crowd that had gathered. He sounded like a cross between a movie theater usher and a beat cop with a mouthful of cliches. “Alright, nothing to see here. Show’s over, folks. Move along.”
Walt gripped his chest with his right hand. I helped him sit on the sidewalk with his back against the building. He promised he’d be alright, but I wasn’t convinced. I started to sit down to keep an eye on him until his pain subsided, but he wouldn’t let me. “The restaurant! Please, Law, don’t let the oasis be destroyed.”
He was worried that the incident would tarnish the reputation of Walt’s Special. I gave into his plea. I looked up to see Jeff, one of the younger assistant bartenders, who had come to the front to be of help. I put him to work.
Jeff and I organized the scene. He and I dragged the young man over to the restaurant wall and sat him against it a few feet away from Walt. When he tilted his head back to rest it against the concrete, I realized it was Mouthy Malcom from the YMCA. He tried to spit in my face but didn’t have the range. I slapped him like Lion had the day before and left him to stew.
I took Benny’s colt and turned it over to Jeff, then I made him sit between Walt and Malcom. I gave the young bartender some basic instructions. “If Malcom tries anything, you stop him any way you have to. If that means a punch, fine. If it means you have to shoot him, that’s fine too.” I pointed at Walt. “You keep him awake and keep him talking. Don’t let him stop talking for even a minute, you get me?”
Jeff said he understood. I bent down as far as I could to check on Walt. He tried to convince me that he was alright, but I still didn’t believe him. I told him to talk to Jeff. “Recite poetry, say the alphabet for all I care. Keep talking so he knows you’re alright. I’ll deal with the customers.”
I left Owen to control the crowd and took Benny back into the restaurant. I made certain Julie called the police, which she had. I helped her to close the heavy drapes over the broken window, then stood in front of them like I was the author of a play taking a curtain call. I addressed the crown of nervous patrons.
“Everything is under control. The police are on their way and there is no danger at all. My name is Law Edwards. I am one of the principles of Walt’s Special. Many of you probably know me as the regular dining room host. Here at Walt’s Special, we take great pride in the atmosphere of our dining room. Tonight, that atmosphere was disturbed by outside forces. While those forces were beyond our control, how we respond to them is within our control.
“We would like all of you to be able to finish your meals. If your food has gone cold, the kitchen will remake it. Simply tell your waiter or waitress and they will see to it. Also, the bar is open. You’ve all had a bit of a shock. Our skilled bar staff will be offering their best cocktails to help settle your nerves. Finally, there will be no bills tonight for food or drinks. It is our sincere desire that this unfortunate event will not dissuade you from coming back to Walt’s Special. Please, enjoy your meals, take your time, and leave when you wish.”
I sent Benny to the bar with instructions to be generous with the booze. I told Julie not to let anyone else in and to start telephoning down the list of reservations to reschedule because Walt’s Special would be closed for the rest of the evening. I hurried to the kitchen to direct two of the busboys to clean up the broken glass in the front of the restaurant. Finally, I used the kitchen telephone to call Larry.
I told him what happened and begged him to convene his set-building carpenters to secure the front of Walt’s Special and to do whatever it took to get the window repaired before we opened the next day. Larry promised to be at the restaurant with a crew and materials within the hour. I banged the telephone receiver back on its hook and hurried back to the sidewalk to check on Walt.
He was on his feet and mostly recovered by the time I got back to him. I was in time to hear him explain what happened to a cop who had arrived to sort out the incident. “I was waiting for Law after we ate. The young man came from across the street. He ran right at the front window. He had a brick in his hand. He tried to throw it through the glass, but it got caught on one of the wood slats. A few of the panes broke and the wood split, but the brick didn’t go through. It fell on the sidewalk. He picked it up to try again, but I grabbed him before he could.
“I held him until Law came out. Law hit him and he stopped struggling and fell. After that, I don’t know what happened. I’m recovering from a recent heart attack. I was in a lot of pain from the fight. Law helped me sit down. I just tried to stay quiet until my heart calmed down.”
The cop asked for my input. I told him about my involvement in the fight, then I told about how I knew Malcom. The cop jotted notes down in a little flip cover pad. “He tried to throw a brick through your window because you embarrassed him in front of a girl?”
“Fuck if I know. Ask him. When I left the Y yesterday, the only thing hurt was his pride. I wasn’t even the one who hurt that. Lion was who made him apologize and slapped his face. I don’t know why the little weasel didn’t throw a brick through Lion’s window instead of mine. Besides, this is an awfully long way to come from deep South Philly just for a little revenge.”
The cop looked down to where Malcom still sat against the restaurant. His hands were cuffed in front. I judged the cop to be a little reckless and maybe a little lazy to have put the cuffs on in front instead of behind, but that was his problem, not mine. “We’ll question him at the station. No reason to hold you folks up any longer. It’s obvious he had an ax to grind. Seems like all these kids have an ax to grind now a days. We’ll be in touch tomorrow for official statements or you can drop by when you have some time.”
The cop dragged Malcom to his feet and escorted him to the patrol car which was parked at the curb. He put the young man in the back, climbed in under the wheel, and drove off.
Walt asked about the restaurant. I promised to tell him everything as soon as he assured me that he was alright. Once he did, I gave a brief recount of my speech to the patrons and the arrangements I’d made to have the window repaired.
He praised my idea to call Larry. “That was good thinking. I wouldn’t have thought of him and his set builders as carpenters.”
“I don’t know that I’d ask them to build me a house, but this should be well within their capability. The best way to preserve the integrity of the restaurant is to erase all the signs of the disturbance as quickly as possible.”
He and I were interrupted by a pair of couples who exited the restaurant. One of the women approached me. “Thank you for the speech you gave, sir. Don’t you worry about a thing. We’ll be back, all of us. We love Walt’s Special. Best fine dining in the city. We’ve been coming here since Walt first opened up. In fact, we consider him a close personal friend. You give him our regards when you see him.”
I thanked the woman for her thoughts and promised to convey her heartfelt regards to Walt the next time I saw him. The two couples walked into the night and left us snickering at their backs.
I teased Walt once they were out of earshot. “I met some friends of yours today. They send their regards.”
He laughed. “I don’t know why so many of our patrons insist they know me personally. I wonder if they really believe it, or if they think it will get them better service. I learned not to correct them.”
“You can’t ever correct them. If I would have introduced you, they would have been embarrassed, and we’d never see them again.”
“People can be silly.” His bemused smile became a deep frown as he made another observation. “They can also be cruel and destructive. I sure would like to know what that young man was thinking when he ran at the restaurant with his brick. He had to know he’d be caught. If he just wanted to smash the place up, why not do it at night when we’re closed?”
“He didn’t think he’d get caught. Most people wouldn’t do what you did. He thought he could run up, throw his brick, and run off with no consequences. The fact that you grabbed him must have been the surprise of his life.”
I shifted the subject away from Malcom for just a second. “How do you feel? Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I promise I’m fine. Thank you for everything you did to protect this place. The speech you gave inside must have been something.” He kicked at the sidewalk and asked a question like a little kid who wants to stay up past his bedtime. “Can we stay down here for a while? At least until Larry comes with his crew. It would be hard for me to be upstairs while all this is going on down here.”
“We can stay. Let’s sit at the bar.”
He pressed his luck with another request. “Can we wait in the kitchen?”
“I’d rather we didn’t.”
He gave in without a fight. “Alright, love. I guess that was too far.”
We sat at the bar for a little while. Several patrons came to talk to us while we waited. Most promised to be back without fail. By the time the restaurant had emptied out, it was clear the only damage Malcom had done was to the profits of a single night of business.
Owen told the kitchen and wait staff to take as much food as they wanted. A lot of the Walt’s Special menu was made to order, but some things, like the soup or the braised beef ribs, had to be made ahead. There was no reason to let it go to waste when our employees could give themselves and their families a good meal on us.
Larry arrived inside of an hour just as he promised. He showed up in the silly little Volkswagen Beetle he shared with Stephan. A battered pickup truck parked at the curb behind him. Larry looked very much the farmer in his overalls, long sleeve shirt, and buckskin jacket. The man in the pickup was also a working type. Larry assessed the damage and got right to work. He promised to have it fixed that night. He had glass with him and all the other stuff he needed.
I went back to the bar to loiter with Walt while the men worked. One of the few remaining patrons finished his meal and approached us at the bar. He was a plain-looking man in his middle years. He buttoned his somber black suit jacket and pointed at the noise behind the heavy front drapes. “Getting it fixed already? How in God’s name did you manage?”
“I’ve got a friend who’s a set builder in the theater district. He brought his one of his carpenters to patch us up.”
“Good for you. It’s great to have friends you can count on. By tomorrow, it’ll be like it never happened. I’m going to make my reservation for next week right now. Me and the wife love it here. We think of this place like it’s ours. My name is Walt, too. When we’re planning our week, Sarah always asks what night I want to go to my special restaurant.”
He put his hands in his pants pockets and looked toward the window again. “It’s a crime what’s going on in the world. Me and Sarah come here because it’s always so very nice. You lay as fine a table as any restaurant in the city. The atmosphere is peaceful. Your prices are good, too. I’m not a wealthy man. Our weekly meals here are the one treat I can afford to give us. We always feel classy when we come to Walt’s. This place means a lot to us.”
The man’s plump wife came up while we were chatting. She squinted from her heavily made-up face. “Walter, dear, are you going to introduce me to your friends?”
I stood and offered my hand to the woman. For once, my fingers closed the way they were supposed to, and I managed a decent gentle handshake. I introduced myself and Walt. She was so happy to meet ‘THE WALT’ of Walt’s Special.
Walt turned on the charm. He also did some fishing about the new menu items. “What did you have?”
The man answered for both of them. “We always ask what’s new and have it. In ten years, we’ve never been disappointed. The beef ribs were delicious! Sarah enjoyed the orange soup especially. What was that?”
“Squash.”
The man shook his head and winced. “Not an appetizing name for a vegetable, but a pretty color and a tasty soup. Everything was perfect as it always is. I feel guilty eating for free. May we pay for the meal? No reason for you to lose money over something you couldn’t help.”
Walt gently refused the man’s kindness. “And there’s no reason for you to pay for a less than perfect experience. Keep your money. We’ll be glad to see you next week.”
He shook our hands and thanked us, then gathered his wife and left. He made good on his promise to make a reservation. I saw Julie turn the pages of the book and enter his name. The couple went through the front door into the night.
Walt spoke into the quiet they left behind them. “We really built something here, didn’t we? It’s not just a restaurant. People love this place, don’t they?”
“Yes, to all of that. The reputation we worked so hard for is why we’re packed every night we’re open. They told us they’ve been coming here every week for a decade. If that’s true, they’ve eaten here five hundred times. Even if it’s half true, they’ve eaten here two-hundred-fifty times. Why do they come back every week when they could eat anywhere? They come because we give them a real experience and we don’t rip them off for it. We offer dignity at an affordable price.
“We still check everyone’s coat and hat. A lot of the other restaurants stopped. They demolished the cloak room to squeeze in more seats. Now, their patrons are stuck eating with their coats flung over the back of their chairs. A lot of other places don’t ever change the menu. You do. A lot of other places don’t offer the quiet atmosphere or the deferential old man who guides the well-dressed patrons to their table. We tolerate no disturbance. We insist on our dress code. We cater to our clients, but we do not pander. That’s why that man and his wife will keep coming here. For ninety minutes a week, he and his wife get treated like nobility. Who could ask better than that?”
Walt looked around the almost empty dining room. “We really built something here.”
I stood from my stool and waved to him to follow. “Let’s check on Larry. The noise died down. I want to see how they’re making out.”
We went out front into the cold. Larry had a plasterer’s palette in one hand and a tool with a metal blade in the other. He was using the blade to mix a thick paste on the palette. “Almost done. We replaced the broken wood and the glass. I’ve just got to putty the panes. It’ll dry overnight and I’ll stop in the morning to paint. It won’t be perfect, but it’ll look fine from the upper balcony.”
I inspected the repair for myself. “Looks damn near perfect to me.”
He applied the putty while he explained. “It’s not going to be permanent because it’s cold. The putty won’t dry right, and it’ll crack out in the spring. Same with the paint. Paint hates cold weather. Once the nice weather comes back, I’ll scrape this stuff out and fix it right.”
Walt watched Larry’s expert hands as he sealed the glazing with the ‘temporary’ fix. “We can’t thank you enough, Lar. By the time we open tomorrow, it’ll be like nothing happened.”
He finished his work and scraped the remaining putty into a plain wooden rubbish box in the back of the pickup truck. He cleaned his tools by scraping them against each other, then put them in the truck bed. He dusted his hands off and dismissed the other man and the truck. He drove away before I realized I hadn’t paid anyone.
Larry dismissed my objections. “You don’t owe us a thing. I’m happy to be able to help you for a change.” He dusted his hands off. “It’s good to see you two together again.”
I wrapped my arm around Walt’s back. “We worked out our differences.”
“I’m glad. The two of you inspired me. Way back after Law got me out of jail, I was amazed at the relationship you had. You showed me it’s possible for men to live together as partners. I was sad when I found out you were fighting.”
Walt leaned into me. “Everybody fights sometimes. We love each other enough not to let our differences drive us apart.”
Larry rubbed his huge hands together like his father does. “I…uh, I’m glad you called. I’m not happy for the reason, but I’m glad to see you. Steph and me have been talking a lot today. Law’s visit last night gave us a lot to think about. We’d like to come talk to you and Walt, sometime when you’re not busy. I love Steph and he loves me and we think we might want to be like you.”
I was thrilled that Larry listened to me. I struck while the iron was hot. “When can you come?”
“We’re busy tomorrow, but we could come anytime the following day.”
“Come for dinner. We’ll eat upstairs and talk.”
“Will you let us ask you anything?”
“Anything. No topic is off limits.”
Larry rubbed his hands together again. “Thanks, Law. Thanks, Walt. I’m not happy about what happened because of how it upset you, but I think this is gonna be good for me and Steph. Maybe we needed something to shake us up. I’m sorry about what we did, but maybe it was worth it if we get to have each other like you two have each other.”
Larry thanked me and we thanked him and he left. Walt and I went back in to check on Owen. He was managing the clean-up effort in the kitchen. He insisted he had everything handled and wished us a good night. Walt and I went upstairs.
I put my overcoat in the closet next to Walt’s and turned the lights on in the living room. “Before you ask what Larry was talking about, I’ll tell you. I went over there last night and poured my heart out to them. Stephan thought he had the perfect cure for my troubles. He brought out a reefer, and I smoked it with him and Lar. I’ve never done that before, and it was a heck of an experience. Once we were all high, they tried to get me in bed with them.”
Walt thought I told a bad joke. He chuckled like I was teasing. He was shocked when he understood I was serious. “They wanted to have sex with you?”
I shrugged. “Surprised the heck out of me. They managed to get me upstairs into their bedroom, but that’s as far as I got. I sprawled in a chair while Larry fucked Stephan like a rag.”
Walt flopped in the recliner to stare up at me. He was incredulous. “They had sex in front of you?”
I shrugged again. “Apparently, they’ve been having orgies at their place. They have drinks and marijuana and sex all over the house. You should see their living room. Stephan had a gigantic naked man painted on the walls. Larry modeled for it.”
“I’m stunned.”
“When I woke up and realized what I participated in, I was mortified and pretty fucking mad. I had a long talk with both of them. That’s what I meant when I said they needed to reevaluate their lives. I told them to come talk to us. I guess that’s what they plan to do.”
He frowned at his lap. “They’re out of their minds to have sex parties in their home. They could go to jail.”
“I know. I warned them.”
He looked up with a smirk on his face and a glint in his eye. “What was it like watching them?”
I was surprised he wanted to know. Walt was usually very proper, but he was still a man. I smirked back as I told. “It was something. Stephan can put his ankles behind his head.”
“NO!”
“He can even cross them while they’re back there. It’s crazy. Larry ruts like a wild animal. Stephan calls him ‘Daddy’ and begs to have his ‘boy-hole’ filled. Larry spanks him and spits in his mouth and makes him suck his cock right out of his hole. Stephan loves all of it. The session was one of the nastier ones I’ve ever seen.”
“And they wanted you to participate?”
I nodded again. “I was flattered, but no way I could keep up with them.”
He scowled over my words. “Is that the only reason you didn’t?”
“Of course not. I don’t just fall in bed with everyone I see. I left here hurt and angry. I went to their place to see if they would put me up for the night. They invited me to bed even before Stephan and his reefer. I refused. I even refused to go upstairs with them. After the reefer, I was feeling damn good, and I let them take me upstairs. When I woke up this morning, I was ashamed of myself. Larry is like a son to me. He’s a very attractive man but watching him was wrong. It wouldn’t be much different if I watched Edie’s Ben.”
Walt’s face smoothed as his attitude unbent. “I see your point. Fair enough.”
“I hope you’re not too mad.”
He shook his head. “I’m not thrilled, but I understand what happened. I used to smoke reefers when I was a kid. The college was right there, and they were easy to get. I remember how good it felt and how easy it was to convince someone to do something under the influence. I lost my virginity while I was high. Once I came down, I was ashamed of what I’d done. I appreciate your honesty.”
He settled into the chair and kicked his feet up. “I’m tired now. We had a big day. Turn the television on, would you, love? Oh, and don’t forget to call Edie’s Ben before it gets too late.”
I did as he asked and went to the bedroom to call.
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