Featured image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay
Going to that bar was definitely not one of my better ideas. As soon as we stepped through the door of that tiny hallway bar I regretted not letting the Acrobats kill me back in the office. Three white guys in this place stood out like Herpes warts in a convent. Two of them dressed up like Giant and Slim had everyone reaching towards a piece. Thankfully nobody drew.
We found a booth near the back and the waitress came over. “What are you boys doing here?” It wasn’t asked in a social tone.
“We are part of that mime event going on up the street and came here to get the talking out of our system before putting on the gloves and makeup” responded Giant. “Two drafts of whatever you have on tap and if you have Chardonnay our manager would like a glass of that.”
“Does that miming thing pay well?” she asked.
“If it did they wouldn’t be ordering draft beer without asking what is on tap” I responded without thinking. She laughed hard then. Opening my mouth in situations like these and actually letting my thoughts spill out has been my biggest flaw in this career. It is a character trait I have never been able to get rid of. There are a lot of people on the other side of life waiting for me who died for no other reason than I blurted some bullshit statement like that out and the room did not like it. Thankfully it worked here.
Giant and Slim put on a good show talking mime stuff. Favorite techniques. What may or may not work good tonight. Mime masters they wished to honor with their performance. I zoned out after my first swallow of Chardonnay and didn’t even see Stretch come up to the table. I did notice that the waitress and other patrons in the bar lost interest before I finished my glass.
“Is it time to get ready for the show” asked Slim before Stretch could say anything.
“We need to start prep” responded Stretch without missing a beat. These guys are good. They read each other almost like telepaths. Giant left money on the table, we all hit the head and left the bar. Two blocks away we walked up to a 2000 Avalon. Still in decent shape with New York plates. Old enough to not have any of that tracking equipment on it. Big enough to be comfortable. And it was standard rental car white.
After getting in Stretch lifted his shirt and pulled out a much thinner envelop to hand back to me. “It was only $2500 plus another $500 for the plates and an insurance card in the glove box” he said. I put another $500 on a prepaid debit card so we can pay at the pump when needed. “If we have to pay cash somewhere, you’re doing it.” To slim he said “Get the new burner phone out of the dash along with its charging cable. Do you remember where we are going?”
“Always” responded Slim.
