Page 6 of Little Etheldreda Riding Hood

I snicker. “He was something.”

“So what brings you here?” he asks.

“Here? I, uh–” Am I flirting with the worst listener on the planet?

“To the club.”

“He wants to know what a girl like you is doing in a place like this,” the frogman says, nudging my side.

I grin. “Oh, your bathroom. You guys are the only thing open for forty miles. I’m not a pee-in-the-freezing-cold-on-the-side-of-the-road kind of girl.”

Zach bursts out laughing. “Why didn’t you just say so? You didn’t have to have a drink with me.”

I shrug. “I’ve been driving all day. Why not hang out for a bit with an attractive guy?”

He shakes his head. “Oh, so I’m attractive?”

“Well, I don’t imagine you’re breaking any mirrors.”

The frogman next to me chuckles at that.

“She’s got your number, Zach Lamar!” the old Gobelin chuckles.

Zach laughs and looks away. “I guess she does. So what do you do for fun, Red?”

“For fun?” I trace the pattern of the wood grain on the old bar. I honestly have no idea how to answer that. Ever since Uncle Jim and Aunt Mae moved me out of the apartment I shared with Morgan I’ve been sitting on my ass doing “old people things,” as Mae calls it.

I usually spend my nights watching history documentaries or reading books about weird events in history. “You trying to become the professor of weird and unusual historical facts?” Mae’d tease when she would find yet another weird history book addressed to me in the mail. This guy doesn’t need to know all that.

“I don’t know. Honestly, I work a lot. I don’t have much time for myself. I lived with my aunt and uncle for free so I tried to keep an eye on their kids after work.”

“There’s got to be something.”

I shrug. “Compared to all this, I’m pretty boring.”

Zach scratches his beard. “What about games?”

“Games?”

“Yeah, like card games or board games?”

I tilt my head at him skeptically, fully expecting him to invite me to a game of strip poker. “Sure? I guess. Like what are we talking about?”

“I’ve got to think about what I’ve got. Hold on.” He hops off the stool and disappears down the hall. He’s only gone a moment when he returns holding a bright red box. He hops back up and hands it to me.

“Uno?” I laugh.

“What’s wrong with Uno?”

I shake my head. “Nothing. I love card games. I’m just warning you, I play to win.”

“Oooo a challenge. I like it. Fine, winner buys next round.”

Uno sucks up a surprisingly large amount of time. The weird trio of guys sitting next to us breaks up as we finish up the first round. The human man goes home and then the Gobelin joins us when the frogman, who’s been nursing the same beer all evening, leaves to pick up his girlfriend. By round three, I text Darla to let her know I’ve stopped to take a nap at a rest stop and will text her if I get in a reasonable hour. I feel horrible lying, but telling her the truth feels weird.

Zander joins us at ten p.m. when his shift is over and takes great joy in kicking Zach’s ass. By the end of the night, I’ve won more games than I’ve lost, though just barely. Zach is only one game behind me.

“So…” Zach says as the clock creeps towards two a.m. We’re the only ones left at the bar. Around us, a few people are sweeping and wiping down tables.

---