From the Tales of Saint Anthony, the Johnny Holiday Mysteries
These short stories follow the lives of people who populate the fictional city of Saint Anthony (Minneapolis, Minnesota), and make their appearance in the first Johnny Holiday novel, The...
Tom Kaplan was glad to be at the Round Up and glad to be working, he was glad to have a place to be and keep-dry on a stormy night.
On this night he was particularly glad because his older brother had come in with his pals from the ROTC; they had come all the way from the University of St. Thomas, across the river in Pig's Eye. They had money in their pockets and they were making him feel like a star just for bringing them beers.
It was a good night; Tom was busy and the room was crowded. All he could think about was finishing his shift in time to join his brother for a pint, but he was having the best night of his life seeing him with his college friends in their uniforms, watching them sing songs and tell stories, hearing their hopes for the future.
He was determined to follow in his brother's footsteps, but in the meantime he was busy pouring drinks and clearing tables, until the giant came into the room.
Tom thought there was something funny going on by the way he stood at the bar, right where a little man who couldn't have been more than three and half feet tall had been sitting just minutes earlier.
He didn't know who the gargantuan was, but his employer and he could tell that the huge man made his Mr. Holmes nervous.
Tom couldn't hear what they were talking about, but they seemed to be quarreling for a minute or two, then the big man ordered a round of Aquavit for the house.
His boss snapped his fingers and nodded; then he got busy pouring, he even had to go into the basement for extra bottles on account of the fact that the Round-up was packed with refugees from the deluge.
Tom served all the drinks and poured one for himself, joining his brother company while the giant, whose name Tom had heard, was Karl Thorrson, raised his glass and silently toasted everyone.
Everyone in the room toasted back, but as soon as that moment of good cheer was over, the big man and his boss appeared to resume their quarrel.
Tom was watching them...everyone was watching as the giant's hand shot out like lightning; he barely flicked his fingers at Mr. Holmes but there was enough power behind the gesture to send his boss flying backward into the wall...everybody saw it, but only his brother and his friends in uniform reacted.
They came to their feet and got between the giant and Holmes, then they began to push the gargantuan out the door...it took all of them to do it.
Tom got the feeling that if the giant had only allowed them to move him, he had the sense that the big man could have knocked them all down with a wave of his arm.
His brother and friends were heroic nonetheless and Tom was determined not to be the only guy standing around doing nothing; so he tabulated the man's bill, grabbed the bowler that had fallen off his giant head from off the floor and went outside to make sure that the man paid his bill...or at least to make a show that he wasn't afraid press the point.
I've got to try, Tom said to himself. Trying was the right thing to do.
When he pushed his way out the door he saw that the big man had slipped and fallen in the rain, but he was already coming to his feet. He had a hard time believing that anyone or anything could have knocked him over, but apparently his brother's friends had succeeded.
Outside the bar the heavy rain felt good to Tom, especially after feeling the hot rush of adrenalin surging through his body while the fight had been happening inside the bar.
He approached the gargantuan, returned his hat and presented the check.
The giant threw his head back and laughed in the face of Tom's audacity.
Tom saw the girl he was sweet on standing in the rain across the street, her name was Greta and he smiled at her even though he knew she could not see him through the rain and confusion.
He looked up into the meaty face of Karl Thorrson, he stared into the lifeless piece of black-glass that was set in his eye socket, he saw the jagged lightning bolt inlaid there with diamonds, then he saw the rainbows jumping off them...as he was consumed by a bright-white-light.
Tom Kaplan fell-dead on the sidewalk, and the rain began to pool around him.
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