Page 19 of Seamus's Basement
“That sounds interesting, actually.” DJ sat up straight.
“You roll first,” Seamus said excitedly as he set up the cards. He took them out of the box and separated them by color, stacking each one upside down so only the category written on the back was visible. “Ready.”
DJ tossed his die onto the coffee table. “Green,” he said. “That’s history.”
Seamus picked up the card from the top of the green pile and read it. “What’s the best pickup line you’ve ever heard or used?”
“That’s in the history category?” DJ asked skeptically.
“I think it means your history?”
“Oh, I guess that makes sense.” He furrowed his brow in thought. “I don’t know if I’ve ever used a pickup line on someone, but I’ve heard some here and there. I’m not sure if it’s the best one, but it’s the most memorable. I was working at Strong Brew and I had just taken this woman’s order when a man marched up, handed me cash, and said he was paying for her drink and to make him the same one. She looked completely confused and asked if she knew him; he said no, but he wanted to tell her a story and would she mind sitting with him. The whole thing was so odd that I think she agreed without really thinking about it. After I gave them their drinks, I found tasks to do close enough so I could hear them because I’d never seen either of them before and I didn’t know what he was up to.”
“What did he want to tell her?” Seamus asked.
“He told her the story of his life starting at birth with a bunch of details about different things over the years including ages that were clearly older than he was. He talked about his wife, their marriage, their kids, all this sweet stuff, and then he ended the story talking about his death bed and how his last words were that he was so glad he had bought his future wife a drink in a random coffee shop in the middle of nowhere.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“Did his attempt to pick her up work?”
“She gave him her number, so maybe? They weren’t from Hope. Both of them were stopping in town to take a break while they were driving to Phoenix or Vegas or California.” He shrugged. “So I guess we’ll never know.”
“I wonder if he uses that line a lot,” Seamus said.
“I can’t imagine many women would give a stranger the time to listen to all that. She was either bored after driving alone for hours or she was really into him.” DJ took a drink of water. “Ilike to believe that she was into him, and I witnessed a weird but successful meet cute.”
“I’ll go with that.” Seamus picked up the die. “My turn.” He rolled it. “Orange.”
“Beliefs,” DJ said as he picked up the card. “Oooh, I like this one.” He lifted his legs onto the chair and crossed them. “Do you believe in fate or free will?”
“Hmm. I’d have to say free will because I left my family and my home and everyone I knew to move across the country and build a life that’s completely different from the one I would have been fated for had I stayed in Claddagh.” He nodded at his own words as he spoke. “If that’s not free will, I don’t know what is.”
Head tilted to the side, DJ squinted at him. “That’s an interesting viewpoint of your situation.”
Seamus blinked. “What do you mean viewpoint? It’s what I did.”
“Did you?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you’re here.” DJ smiled at him. “You’re here in a small town, running a bar, and playing a Claddagh get-to-know-you game with a person from the community who you married due to an arrangement set up by your parents.” He bit his lower lip. “Your family’s in the restaurant business, right? They own restaurants and bars in Claddagh and the surrounding towns?”
“Ye...yes,” Seamus said hesitantly, mind swimming.
“So if you’d stayed in Claddagh, which is also a small town, you’d probably be doing the same type of work?”
“Probably,” he confirmed.
“I won’t keep pointing out the overlaps.” DJ reached down and picked up the die. “I’m sure you get it.”
The overlaps were that if he had stayed in Claddagh, he’d be living in a small town, running a bar, and probably in a marriage set up by his parents with a woman from the community. “I’d bemarried to a woman if I’d stayed,” he said, latching onto the one difference.
“That’s a good point. Marrying a man instead of a woman wasn’t expected. It was completely your choice. That’s free will.”
Even though DJ was agreeing with him, his comment made Seamus question himself further. Before he could spiral, DJ tossed the die onto the table.
