Voter Registration

Jed Gets Lucky

Having no other choice, Jed shuffled to his truck. Maybe he could get out of work early Monday to drop the card off. If he mailed it now, it would never get there in time.

Putting it out of his head, he pointed his pickup toward his favorite haunt, the Bottle and Keg.

The Bottle and Keg was a real hole in the wall. The uneven wood planked floor was the same one that was put in when the building was built in the early 1900s, and it had been soaked with over a century of beer, grain alcohol, and everything else that could be imagined.

It had the obligatory jukebox and 4 pool tables. A foosball table sat neglected across from the bar.

Jed walked confidently through the front door. Anyone in the bottle and keg who didn't know him would be in a lot of trouble if they made problems. He'd been coming here for 10 years, and he'd made a lot of friends

Walking up to the bar, Jed recognized Nick's familiar receding hairline behind the bar. Nick was charismatic guy, and Jed had always wondered why Nick was wasting his time in this dive.

"Hey, it's my favorite Jedi", Nick said, smiling.

Jed used to hate being called such a nerdy name, but he had grown used to it over time.

Feigning a lightsaber slash at Nick, Jed said, "Shut the fuck up and give me my usual, baldy." But the Busch light was sitting in front of him before he finished. Jed settled in for his weekly ritual of forgetting everything wrong about his life.

Several beers temporarily washed away a lifetime of regret, and Jed was feeling pretty good when Nick sat a mixed drink in front of him.

"What the fuck is this shit?", asked Jed.

"Girl down there bought it for you, buddy-o", replied Nick.

Jed looked to where Nick had pointed, and to his surprise, saw none other than Liberal Lucy.

Trying to hide the confusion and shock from his face, Jed tipped his beer in her direction.

"Someone's gettin lucky tonight", Nick said for only the two of them to hear.

"That bitch fucked me over at the voter registration today. Fuck her."

"That's the idea", said nick raising his eyebrow.

Realizing that Nick was wiser and much less drunk than he was, Jed grabbed the beer and his drink and made his way to Lucy's table.

"Is this seat taken?"

"It is now.", replied Lucy, turning toward Jed and crossing her legs.

"Appreciate the drink. Not really my style though", Jed stated, looking at those eyes that had made him temporarily forget about the Vans.

"Well, what kinda cowboy doesn't like whiskey and coke?", she asked pretending to look shocked.

"The kind that is known to get a little too rowdy when he drinks it."

Lucy picked up the unwanted drink, took a sip, and dipped her finger in it, stirring. "Tastes pretty harmless to me", she said, sitting it back down in front of Jed.

"Yeah one or two... but anymore than that, and I'll be picking fights with men way bigger than me", Jed said while draining his beer.

"So why'd you buy me a drink after being such a cold fish at the library?"

"I dunno. Maybe I felt bad. I mean I had to follow the rules", she said looking into his eyes.

Jed felt something brush his knee, and looked down to see a Van pass by as Lucy recrossed her legs.

"Oops, did I kick you? I'm sorry", Lucy said innocently.

Wishing it had been more than just a momentary brush, Jed said, "don't worry about it little lady", and then because he couldn't help himself, "I like those shoes".

"Oh these? I've had them forever. I'm sure they're kinda gross", Lucy said as she held her feet out between his legs and pointed her toes

"No, not... not at all", Jed stammered reaching for the drink that Lucy had bought him.

"They look perfectly clean to me. Here, let me see 'em", Jed said patting his thigh.

Lucy hesitated then placed both her heels onto Jed's thigh. "You sure you don't mind? It really does feel good to put my feet up."

Suddenly feeling very hot, Jed took a drink of the Beam and Coke, and tried to figure out how he could keep her feet on him as long as possible.

The beam and coke was good, but tasted a little different than he remembered. ACDC's "Who Made Who" was threatening to tear the jukebox apart, and he was feeling pretty good. Damn good in fact.

The music sounded better than normal. Did Nick get a new jukebox? But as he turned his head to look, he got way more dizzy than he should've. "I should have ate something", he thought.

Taking another drink, Jed turned his attention back to Lucy. He wondered what she was doing here, but slowly came to the realization that there are only 5 or 6 bars in town. The town's population was what? About 10,000?

"Anyway," he thought, "back to these feet and those eyes..."

"Whassa pattern on these shoes?", he asked. Why was he so fucked up already?

"Just your basic checkerboard pattern", she replied, "you feel ok?" A smile spread across her face.

Jed leaned closer to examine the pattern, but he couldn't hold himself up. He did a sitting nose dive into her shoes. As he lost consciousness, he couldn't think of a better place to be.