Pondering this, Frank stepped up to Jimmy’s shiny, clean, flawless bar. There were a few customers in the place. Frank could sense the waiting, the anticipation of the bartender and the waitress, as it was that slow time just before the after-work rush. A time to savor the relaxed pace and the quiet, before you were too busy running to think about anything else.
Frank ordered a Heineken from the tall rangy bartender who looked like a cowboy. To hell with Coors piss water.
Back in Minnesota, it wasn’t that long ago that Coors was like an exotic import. Anyone who went to Colorado for skiing or trout fishing or anything else, would bring cases of the stuff back to Zenith in those skinny eight-ounce cans you were supposed to hold daintily at the rim of the can with your thumb and forefinger so as not to overheat the unpasteurized brew.
And then somewhere along the line drinkers figured out it was only ordinary beer that was just a little lighter tasting than most.
These days the trend was leaning toward thicker, more flavorful, imported brews. At least in Frank’s last days at the Metropole. And the Metro was a dive, so the upscale joints were likely all the way into the import thing by now.
The bartender set the sweating green bottle on the clean, unblemished bar top and Frank put down a ten. Barkeep went to wait on some new arrivals—young guys unbuttoning collars and loosening ties—and Frank grabbed the folded newspaper on top of the bar.
Front-page story was about the twenty-five hour power blackout in New York City, a hellish scenario if there ever was one. Frank read the article and felt glad he wasn’t in New York.
Forty-five minutes and three beers later, Frank got into his car and pulled out the slip of paper with Larry Richard’s directions, slowly realizing that he’d have to retrace his path back to Colfax Avenue in order to interpret the instructions.
This proved more difficult than he’d anticipated, but he eventually got on track, and was turning slowly onto the street of Larry Richards’ office when he spotted something unusual. Halfway down the block, a large man was standing on the roof of a black BMW hammering down with an aluminum baseball bat like he was pounding in railroad spikes.
Guy must have a John Henry complex, Frank thought to himself, because the man was definitely driving some steel.
And glass, too, as Frank watched the windshield on the BMW shatter and collapse into the front seat.
Then he noticed two guys scuffling out front of a modest, relatively new-looking building to the left of the BMW. One of the guys looked to be Larry, although twenty pounds heavier and with longer hair than Frank recalled.
It was indeed Richards, and he was tussling with a large thuggish guy who appeared to be landing the bulk of the punches.
Even in his slightly numb, mildly inebriated state, Frank could tell that something here was definitely amiss. Searching anxiously for someplace to put the station wagon, Frank watched the bigger guy tackle Richards and kneel on top of him, continuing to rain down punches as Richards tried to cover up.
Frank jammed on the brakes alongside the BMW and grabbed the tire iron he kept under the driver’s seat for just such occasions, wishing for the tire chain he used to keep in his old Pontiac.
Bursting out of the Ford wagon onto the street, feeling more alive than he had in some time, Frank could see Richards was in trouble. Gripping the hunk of iron, he sprinted over to the struggling pair and was ready to engage when the big man with the five o’clock shadow stopped his punch throwing long enough to growl in a foghorn voice: “You don’t know what you’re getting into, mister. Get the fuck out of here before I have to fuck you up too.”
(To be continued)
PAPERBACK + EBOOK AVAILABLE
SHOP LOCALLY IN DULUTH AT BOOKSTORE AT FITGER’S AND ZENITH BOOKSTORE IN WEST DULUTH!
(Fitger’s) Bookshop.org: https://bit.ly/3XG682t
Zenith Bookstore; https://bit.ly/3EV1RzL
Barnes and Noble: https://bit.ly/3sBA5SZ
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3DEFkYz
https://books2read.com/u/mlEM1B (shortcut for all ereading devices)
SEE ALL T.K. O’NEILL’S BOOKS HERE: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B09HPBWMJF and https://bluestonesblog.com/
Bluestone's Blog 
Leave a Reply