Page 111 of Thug

“What’s that?” Brisco asked.

“A blind man walks into a bar and taps his cane against the floor until he finds his way to a barstool.” She glanced at each of us before continuing. “He orders a drink and asks in an overly loud tone, ‘Anyone want to hear a blonde joke?’ The bar goes silent. Then, the woman next to him says, ‘Before you tell that joke, I need to warn you. The bartender is blonde, the bouncer is blonde, I’m blonde, and the fella behind you is blonde. Lastly, the big muscular gentleman on your other side is blonde, too. You still wanna tell that blonde joke?’ The blind man laughs and says, ‘Forget it, I’d rather not have to tell it five times.’”

Panzer and I both laughed.

Brisco blinked a few times. “I don’t get it.”

“Hey,” Teddi said, appearing to have a revelation. She leaned over the edge fo the bar and looked Brisco right in the eyes. “Did you hear anything about your cats?”

“I can’t take it anymore,” Brisco said. He looked at me. “I think I’m hittin’ the road.”

“You headed out this early?” I asked.

He nodded. “I’m gonna do some soul searching.”

Teddi thumbed the bill of her cap up. “For what?”

“Who I fucked over the worst,” Brisco said. “Women wise.”

“Any of them brunettes?” Teddi asked.

“Couple of ‘em, I’m sure,” Brisco said. “I’ll have to think about it though.”

“They’re the ones you’ve got to watch out for,” Teddi said. “The blondes are too dumb to know you fucked ‘em over.”

“I’m out,” Brisco said.

Teddi dumped the ice from the bucket of beer and tossed it into the sink. “He needs to quit being such a pussy about those cats.” She shook her head. “I mean, really. They’re fucking cats, for Christ’s sake.”

Panzer pushed his empty bottle halfway across the bar. When Teddi reached for it, he clenched it tight in his fist.

“You’re going to get on the back of my bike,” he said. “Gray’s going to get on the back of Price’s bike. Then, we’re all going to go somewhere and do something. What night works best for you?”

“Any night after three am, or any time on Sunday,” she replied without skipping a beat. “Let me know what you figure out.”

“Will do,” Panzer said.

“Be right back,” she said.

She shot through the kitchen door.

“Damn,” I said. “That went well.”

He grinned. “Sure did.”

She burst through the door with our sandwiches. She slid one to each of us. After a quick study of the plates, she promptly switched them. “There,” she said. “I think that’s right.”

She nodded at each of us, smiled, and turned away.

“What was that about?” Panzer asked.

“I think you’re going to have your hands full with that one,” I said.

He picked up his sandwich. “Thinking you might be right.”

It seemed Panzer was finally on his way to recovery. Brisco, on the other hand, wasn’t even close. I needed to find a way to forgive him for what he’d done. Only then would he be able to start living life again.

I was close, but I wasn’t there yet. I needed to devise a way that would satisfy all three of the parties involved.