Page 3 of Hallow’s Eve
“Weren’t you the one?” Ford started to ask a question I got all too often.
“Yes, I’m the one. I kicked old man Henry in the groin. I thought he was going to attack me.” Henry had been shining shoes on Broadway here in Nashville for nearly forty years. It happened when I was new. How was I to know the old man approaching me so quickly this early in the morning wasn’t trying anything? Come to find out, Henry was only trying to give me something I dropped when I passed him. I don’t even remember what but hauling off and kicking that sweet old man in his nutsack, I’d never live it down.
Ford laughed for a good while as we passed the other honky-tonks. They were all bigger than Bootsies with their multiple floors and rooftop bars. But at night, they were all the same. Dark inside and silent. You could hear a pin drop if Ford quit laughing. His chuckles echoed on the noiseless street. A chill ran over me, and I rubbed my arms to settle it. I glanced up to see the Batman building hovering over Broadway, lit up as always. That gave me some comfort. Usually, Donette and I would be rehashing the evening. Ford was full of questions since we didn’t know each other well.
“You’re from Alabama?”
“Arkansas,” I answered and paused for a good while before I realized I should ask him where he was from. “You?”
“Volunteer, born and raised. You’re here to play music. Hit it big, right?”
“Something like that.” I didn’t know Ford well enough to tell him I wasn’t all I thought I’d be here in Nashville. That I could sing like an angel in the choir back home, actually in the choir of the Flipping First Baptist Church but froze on stage under the bright neon lights. “I make way more money serving nights than I would playing a morning gig.” I shrugged. It was a truer fact than any. And a morning gig would be all I could hope for if I could manage it. As it was, I’d given up even finding a band to play with until I got over my crippling nerves.
“Don’t let the musicians fool you. They get base pay along with those tips.”
“I know, but it ain’t much.” Some got as little as twenty-five dollars a day.
“Grady has to know you want to sing since he has you get up at closing time…”
Ford was on his way to finding out my secret. That I was too chicken shit to sing in front of a real crowd. Yeah, Grady knew all too well I couldn’t sing in front of a big audience. We’d found that out my first week at Bootsies. That was why he let me sing at night when everyone had gone home. I needed to change the subject but blurted out, “I don’t want to take advantage of Grady.”
Ford caught onto that. “I thought Grady had a thing for you. Are you two…?”
“No way.”
Ford fell silent. “You heard about tomorrow night?”
“The costume party?”
“Yeah, that but there’s more. Some big surprise.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t know. Celie mentioned Grady had something big planned.”
“Well.” That in itself was surprising. Grady was nothing but consistent, and he’s never had a surprise before.
“I’m thinking maybe it’s an after party. Just for the employees, ya know?”
“That’d be nice since we won’t really get to party tomorrow night on Halloween.” Last year’s Halloween was a letdown. I for one had been so eager to dress up but nothing exciting happened. Halloween had just been busier than a normal night which just meant I worked harder in clothes not meant for working.
“And since you and Grady aren’t a thing, maybe you’ll party with me?” Ford didn’t miss a beat.
Ford was cute as a button but not at all my type. I thought to earlier when I told Donette I didn’t know my type. It sure wasn’t Ford. I’d go out with Grady before I would a pretty boy like Ford. Party with him? Had that even been a question? I didn’t know, so I didn’t answer. We’d just made it to the entrance to the parking garage anyway. While I tried to remember what level I parked on, I heard a motorcycle roar in the distance. “About those bikers?” I started as my thoughts shifted back to Ford not even attempting to help me out of that stressful situation earlier. I didn’t quite know how to approach the topic, but I was seriously put off.
“The Royal Bastards MC? Got our boss Grady to thank for them hanging around. He’s been buddying up to them. Before we know it, he’ll be one of them.”
“Really? Grady, a biker?”
“We’ll be a biker bar before you know it. I’ll quit if it comes to that.”
I sputtered a laugh. Grady didn’t own Bootsies, so I doubted that would ever happen. “You really don’t like these guys?” In my experience bikers were generally harmless no matter how tough they put on. And I knew for a fact most people assumed all bikers were bad people.
“I got a sister who runs with them. She keeps a black eye. Nuff said. Seriously though, a girl like you, pretty girl like you.” Ford paused and cleared his throat. “Could get abducted out here alone on the streets at night.”
“That’s why Donette and I walk together.” Just as I said it, Ford hit the ground. Someone had hit him in the back of the head. A man in a ski mask emerged from the dark holding a black sack like he was trick-or-treating. Lordalmighty. It dawned on me that I was the treat. He planned to put a hood over my head and abduct me. Just like with old man Henry, I lifted my knee and kicked hard. Hitting him square in the balls with the pointed toe of my cowboy boot, I watched the man fall forward. Taking off like a deer, I darted through the garage, up the levels to my Gran’s vintage orange 84’ El Camino, climbed inside and locked the door before I tried to start her up. As usual it took a couple attempts. When she purred to life, like a bat out of hell, I sped through the parking garage to the exit. Luckily, the bar was up, and I didn’t have to pay to leave. I was on the highway before I thought of poor Ford. I called Grady. He didn’t answer.
As I drove, I texted him real quick. “I need you now.” I called again and got an answer. I relayed what had happened and where to find Ford.
