“Sam,” Eddie uttered, “What are you doing here?”
Sam grinned broadly, his perfectly formed white teeth glimmering
as he stood in the bar’s brightest corner, illuminated by the light from the
ceiling fixture.
“Eddie, baby, it’s only me, your buddy Sam!” he gushed.
Eddie was not pleased to see his friend. In fact, his initial reaction
was pure shock and even a considerable amount of fear. It was all he
could do to bite his fingers and let out a scream, but he was still pretty lit.
Sam took a healthy swig of his scotch and brought his glass down
hard on the bar. He stared fiercely at Eddie Coyle.
“Don’t gimme that look, Eddie,” Sam stated. “You look like
you’ve seen a ghost.”
Eddie’s face cringed. He was frightened. Sam raised his glass to his
lips, staring at Eddie through the ice-chilled glass as he finished his drink.
Frank had summoned Virgil, the young cook, from the kitchen
and the two had drug Merle Early into the back. Had Merle been awake
he would have kicked Frank out of the kitchen; only Merle and the cook
were allowed back there. Frank reappeared in the bar’s partition.
“Frank!” Sam yelled, stretching out his arm in celebration. “You
son of a gun, you! It’s been a real long time since we’ve seen each other!”
Frank narrowed his eyes at Sam. Out of all the guys, he was
probably the least acquainted with Sam.
“Come on, man, come on!” Sam taunted as his hand scrambled
around the almost empty ice bucket. “Lemme buy ya a drink! Oh, how’s
ol’ Merle doing back there?”
“Virgil’s back there throwing cold water on ‘em,” Frank answered
without even thinking. “Hopefully he comes around soon.”
“Ahh good. I want to talk with him,” Sam said.
Eddie collapsed into the stool at the end of the bar, propping his
arms up on the bar top and resting his head in his hands. Sam loosened
his tie and spied the cigar box under the counter next to Merle’s revolver.
His hand rose from below the counter, a cigar perched between his
fingers. Joe coughed from inside the bathroom as the flushing of the
toilet rattled throughout the bar for a few moments. Then, it was as quiet
as eternity.
Sam took his first sip of his second scotch and swallowed it hard,
clenching his teeth as he stared at Eddie.
140