Evelyn finally arrived at Edwin’s at ten forty-five. She bustled in from the back, tossed her purse and bunched up her coat under the bar at the time Nick pulled his heavy leather jacket out from his spot beneath the bar. She tapped him on the arm as a greeting, waved at Leon. He had cranked up his favorite Buddy Guy blues number, so Evelyn had to yell over Buddy's guitar.
“Why do I pay money for triple A’s when the road-side assistance I get just rates one? Lord. I ended up waiting for an hour, and then the tow guy who did show up smelled like a bag of corn chips…oh my god…”
She continued to mutter while tying up her apron. Nick shrugged into his jacket. He rapped on the bar to get Leon’s attention away from the drink he was mixing.
“Look. Walter sounds off. I think he needs an ear.”
Leon said, “Go. Me and Evie…we got this.”
xxx
Nick yanked open the outside glass entry door to Walter’s apartment building. Crystal City had a reputation for being security-minded, and the complex was a pretty good example. With the door completely closed behind him, he found himself in a no-man’s land with a set of glass doors in front of him and a bank of buttons on the marble wall to his left. There were no names to identify whose apartment was whose, only numbers. He knew Walter’s apartment number but none of these corresponded, which meant the bells were coded.
He whispered, “Now I know you’re off.”
He dug in the kangaroo pockets of his leather jacket, found his phone.
“Walter. I’m in your lobby. You didn’t give me the number to your bell, buddy.”
“Damn. Didn’t I? Sorry.”
Soon Nick heard a metallic click indicating the lock was disengaged. Walter, still in his suit, his tie askew, was waiting in the doorway of his tenth floor apartment when Nick stepped off the elevator.
“How many beers have you had already Jarhead?”
“Not all of’em. Got yours.”
Walter held up two bottles. Nick took one, followed Walter inside.
“Just so you know I didn’t get anything back on that .22 yet.”
Walter shrugged.
“So…why do you think you’re an idiot?”
Walter shrugged again. He didn’t say anything until they were in the living room.
“Sonja. Smart. Gorgeous.”
“Okay.”
“Server. At The Watering Hole. Forty-one, goes to GW Law School. Met her on Friday. I think something happened between us. I don’t remember any of it.”
Nick took a seat on the sofa. He remembered Walter’s concern about someone laying his watch on his nightstand. Maybe this Sonja person had spent the night and removed it for him.
“Yeah, you told me about the amnesia on Sunday, remember? You were with…Dana.” Nick didn’t know why he had to say her name, but it felt right. He added, “And…I don’t think this is just about a woman.”
Walter closed his eyes, rubbed the cold bottle across his forehead, winced when it touched his injured eye. He really didn’t like having gaps in his life.
“Sonja called earlier today and we made a date to meet outside the law library at eight. I asked how she got my number. She said we exchanged them. Shit. I don’t remember that. Anyway I met her. We talked for a second, me in the car, her on the curb. I got out, you know to get closer. I…wanted to kiss her.”
“If she’s gorgeous like you say, I can understand the inclination.”
“I held her by the shoulders, asked her to kiss me.”
Nick snorted.
“You asked. I know you Jarhead.”
“All right. I told her to kiss me. Twice. Nick, I wouldn’t force a woman to do anything. She said no both times. But the second time? It was loud. She saw the security car coming, but I didn’t since my back was to the street. She told the fucking security guard I was assaulting her.”
Walter took a long pull on his beer, ran his thumb over the neck of the bottle. Condensation glistened on his skin, triggered a thought that came up from some strange place in his head. Sonja’s smooth skin would look delicious shining like this. And a pool of sweat, shimmering in the hollow of her neck; a cup waiting for him to lean in and...
What the fuck? He shook his head and sighed, rubbed his hand over his scalp.
Nick watched his friend carefully, sipped his beer.
“Like I said, Jarhead, I don’t think this is just about a woman. You looked like a drowning victim on Sunday with everything that happened to you.”
Walter laughed bitterly.
“Ask anybody. I’m a paragon of strength.”
He sprawled in the recliner, the beer bottle dangling from his fingers. He gave Nick an apologetic look.
“I haven’t seen you in what…two…three years?”
“Sumthin’ like that. I took the early out in ’05, came down here and bought Edwin’s Bar. After Elnora died in ‘07, Leon decided to call it quits too, and I offered him a stake.”
“And after all that time…what do I do? Show up on your doorstep sniveling like a little girl.”
Nick leaned forward, his expression earnest.
“Leon said you were fallen, alone on the battlefield. We don’t leave our brother behind. You’d do the same, other foot. Fidelis, brother. Semper.”
Walter squeezed his eyes shut against the impending waterworks. Nick leaned back on the sofa, his hands tucked behind his head and waited while his friend got it out. Walter fished a handkerchief from his inside jacket pocket, wiped his face.
“Ahhh...damn.”
“You’re not a virgin. That bitch Life will ride you hard, walk away from your ass when you collapse, and let you die. Look. I can’t imagine some of the crazy shit you’ve been through on your job, Walter.”
A movie reel of incidents related to Walter’s personal life overlapped by the cases designated ‘X’ scrolled rapidly through his head including his own death caused by the nano-technology in his bloodstream. The reel ended with the recent crap.
“Yeah, it’s been…intense.”
“Stack that on top of your experience in combat and well…shit.”
Nick had his own memories, and the two men fell silent for a few seconds. Nick sniffed, scrubbed the heel of his hand against his eyes.
“So sometimes man, you’ve got to get it out. And if you can’t do it in front of your brother, then you just can’t do it.”
Nick looked at his watch. They were on the right side of midnight.
“Aw, Walter. I’m sorry. Gotta get back to work.”
Walter nodded, walked his friend to the door.
“Sonja called me again after I got the hell out of there. Asked me if I was angry.”
“And you said, ‘shit yeah.’”
Walter nodded.
“She said something about anger and a collateral effect.”
Nick laughed, snapped his fingers.
“I know this one. You get mad, you get a hard-on.”
“Is that based on science?”
Nick shrugged.
“Maybe. I don’t know. Could be an urban legend.”
Nick leaned on the hallway wall just outside Walter’s apartment. He coughed back a laugh.
“Walter, I think your Sonja has a twisted sense of humor, but I don’t think she’s malicious.”
It was Walter’s turn to snort.
“You weren’t there with a security guard prick ordering you to get in your car.”
Nick took a few steps back, turned to walk down the hall. He came back, grabbed his friend in a bear hug, clapping him on the back.
“Get some sleep, brother.”
He turned back again, hooked three fingers below his chin and scratched his beard.
“But, just out of curiosity. Did you?”
“What?”
“Get a hard-on.”
“Fuck you Nick.”
Nick stood in front of the closed door, his cheeks nearly obliterating his eyes. The bird’s nest beard shuddered when he laughed. He walked to the elevator, punched the button.
“I think I got my answer.”