PARADISE (h.s.)

Chapter 16

Dirty Blonde

The aridity of this land was greater from any other place. Like the itching the sun gave you while you were driving. The water of the asphalt seemed so pretty but you could never feel its coolness no matter how hard you imagined it with your rabid heart. Someone was trying really hard to torture him with all that heat. He was suffering but he liked it. He was smiling at the face of his torture. He could have been driving with his car closed but he left it open so the sun could fix his tan.

His shades shined at the one lonely glimmering neon sign. He had passed an empty drive-in and a ranch. He didn't like the steakhouse, it was too hot for steaks. He also didn't wanna eat at a place where they had hanged signs of head from cow, chicken and the best a horse's, it might have been the artistic touch for the decoration but he surely didn't wanna eat horse beef or steak. Then at the ranch he wasn't in the mood for laying down with  boys and girls who are tripping. The one glimmering sign with the woman who had stars for nipples surely made a nice bell ring to his ears, the sound was divine.

He smirked, looked in the mirror and turned so furiously the wheel. The soil turned into dust and flew high in the air but not even a little piece didn't reach his car. He knew very well how to handle with dirt roads, he had seen many. Only his wheels seemed a bit messed but not fucked up. He was like old Scrooge McDuck with his number one dime! He was like Gastone, always lucky the little bastard. He strutted out of his car, left it open without caring and walked in to the place. He thought that his entrance would be so grand but almost no one cared for him.

The bar strip club was like that ranch he saw on his way, but with much less lights and a couple more around the small stage for the dancers, it was right at the centre of the place. Life and joy didn't differ much from the other deserted places he saw, most of the people looked like they were half dead with a glass of beer in one hand. The nuts were cracked open between their teeth slowly, they chewed even slower not because they wanted to enjoy the taste but because they didn't wanna end up sweaty. Harry laughed behind his teeth and wore again his yellow shades. The world had his real colour once again. Only Texas could be so yellow. If it was in a child's drawing it would be placed under that bright, yellow sun at the left corner of the paper with a great smile.

He sat at one of those high stools with his back looking at the bar's counter. An old chap, with half of his teeth in his mouth, turned to give him some of his baccy. He got a sweet mug, he smiled and took some to put it in his mouth. Classic, bitter, Texan baccy. Harry kept it in his mouth, at his left cheek and chewed slowly, he really enjoyed it. The shadow of this place was nice and cool, the others couldn't feel it as well as Harry did up on his sunburnt skin.

"Tell me old man, do we have gold here?"

"Old man? You lost your father my lad?" he raised his eyebrow and looked at him with his lovely mug frowned

"I didn't lose my father, you just match the old man very well."

"I do? Well, if I do, call me as you wish my sonny boy."

"Now that we are good, tell me my old man."

"Tell you what? Wanna hear the story when a rattlesnake bit me at the desert or the story for the scorpion that grabbed my balls?"

"I really wanna hear both."

"You only need to ask and I'll tell you my lad."

"I didn't come all the way here to hear stories of the west my old man."