A Tale of Two Carnies

21 - Jason Keeps A Promise

Until now, it never really bothered me, my lack of dating experience. Occasionally, townie girls flirted with me. I'd buy them ice cream in the food tent and chat them up. A few times, girls sent me signals, telling me how cute I looked. It was a thrill teasing and being teased.

Leaning against the dresser in my room, I stared at my image in the mirror. Being honest with myself, I had to admit part of the reason I never messed around with any of those local girls had to do with my feelings for Cozbi.

What changed? Why was I now attracted to Shelly?

Maybe I was tired of waiting for Cozbi to promote me out of the friend zone. I was twenty freaking years old and had never been intimate with a woman. How much longer did I have to wait?

"I can't abandon her. Not now. Not when she needs me most."

Did I just talk to myself in the mirror?

My affection for Cozbi ran deep. We spent our formative teen years together. I needed to get a grip. This evening, I had a date with a sweet girl. I wouldn't ruin things by getting distracted thinking about Cozbi. I resolved to give my complete and undivided attention to Shelly.

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. I opened to find Raya standing there balancing a basket of my cleaned and folded laundry against her hip.

"Come on in. Unload the clothes on the bed. I'll put them away."

She did so and held out her hand. "That'll be twenty."

I loved the young girl's moxie. "We agreed on fifteen."

"I don't recall agreeing to fifteen. You wouldn't take advantage of a thirteen-year-old kid, would you?"

"You wouldn't be trying to gaslight one of your guests, would you?"

She scoffed. "Okay, fifteen. You can't blame me trying for more."

I pulled my wallet and handed her a twenty-dollar bill. "I'm feeling generous today. Take the twenty."

She snatched it from my hand and wore a wide grin. "Gee, thanks"

"From now on it'll be fifteen."

"Too late, you set a precedent now."

"I feel sorry for your future husband."

She raised an eyebrow, picked up her basket, and left.

After stowing my clean clothes, I headed downstairs to take care of my promise to install a new compressor in the bar's cooler. A few patrons sat at the bar engaged in conversation.

Twitchy sat on his usual stool at the far end and nodded a greeting. "You still owe me a beer."

"See me next month when I turn twenty-one."

He pointed a finger my way. "I'm gonna hold you to that."

The bartender, whose name I learned was Anson, eyed me. "What's up?"

I told him about my promise to fix the compressor motor. He disappeared into the back. A minute later he returned. Trevor trailed behind carrying a cardboard box with the new part. He set it on the floor.

I looked behind the unit for the wall socket. "I'm going to need to unplug the cooler for maybe an hour while I work on this."

"No problem, the beer will stay cool that long if we leave the door closed," he said. "Let me give you a hand moving it so you can access the back."

We each grabbed a side and shimmied the cumbersome unit away from the wall a few feet. I pulled the plug.

"Do you need tools?" Trevor asked.

"No, I have my toolbox in the van."

"Thanks for volunteering to do this, Jace. Let me know if you need anything." Trevor disappeared through the door behind the bar.

After retrieving my toolbox, I got to work. The compressor motor was located at the bottom of the unit behind a sheet metal panel. To work I had to lie on the floor. I unscrewed the fasteners and set the panel aside. It didn't appear the job would be too difficult. Four bolts held the compressor motor in place. I needed to remove the bolts, remove the drive belt from the idler pulley and undo the power supply wires. Then I had to disconnect the coolant supply line after closing a valve to prevent the coolant from escaping.

Everything went well except for one of the bolts in the back. I had to twist and contort my wrist but eventually I got it. I set the replacement unit over the bolt holes and started tightening them down when a shadow fell across my work area.

"What are you doing?"

I slid out from between the cooler and the wall. Trevor's son, Bailey, stared me down, hands fisted at his side.

"Hey, Bailey."

He hesitated. "Do I know you?"

"We met last Saturday night. I sat at the table with you and the ladies in your harem."

His brow wrinkled. "Oh, yeah, I remember now. You're the boyfriend of that psycho carnival girl. You haven't answered my question. What are you doing?"

I wondered with Bailey's parents being so nice, how their son turned out to be so obnoxious. "Replacing the compressor motor on your dad's cooler."

"Who said you could do that?"

"Your dad, obviously."

From the end of the bar, Twitchy chimed in slurring his words. "I was sitting here when the deal went down. Jace owes me a beer for being the what-do-you-call-it? Uh, the broker. Yeah, that's the word I'm looking for. Broker."

Bailey and I both ignored him and continued our staring contest.

He looked away when Raya appeared from the back. "Hey, sis, where have you been? I've been cooling my heels in the parking lot for a half-hour waiting for you."

"I had a side job to finish." She glanced my way and smiled.

I winked at her.

Bailey wagged a finger in front of her face. "Don't waste my time. I have things to do. Next time get a ride home with someone else."

Raya rolled her eyes in what I now considered to be her signature expression. "Yeah, whatever." She led the way out the door. Bailey followed in a huff.

"That young man is handsome but worthless," Twitchy muttered so only I could hear.

"Yeah." Bailey left me with the impression he could be a total asshole, but I kept that opinion to myself.

Adjusting his slumped posture on the barstool, he addressed me. "Now, about that beer you owe me."

What does Bailey have against Jason? Or is he just a jerk with everyone?