A Southern Noir: Deception by Any Other Name

Chapter 14

Saturday evening found me at the International Deli at around seven. Mrs. Patterson texted me by the time I arrived. I sat at a table in the bar area and ordered the ham sandwich and craft beer Shannon told me about. He was right; it was a good sandwich. I drank half of the beer and then set it aside, preferring to order a soda as my drink of choice.

Danny and his friends arrived about the time I finished my sandwich. They sat by a window and ordered a pitcher of beer. The group wasn't loud or obnoxious while they drank and downed their sandwiches. They seemed to be reminiscing about whatever the old days meant to them.

From the looks of the other four men, Danny was the only one who was the bodybuilder. The others were of average height and weight and appeared moderately strong.

It looked like a guy's night out. I observed them for well over an hour, but no women joined them. The ladies could be running late or meeting them at another location, so I ordered another soda. After a few more minutes, I decided to take a couple of photos with my camera.

I tried to be as discreet as possible. Many people were moving about, making it difficult to get a good shot. Frustrated that I couldn't get a better picture, I decided to move to the bar. Walking around the bar, I found an excellent spot to see the table Danny and his friends were sitting at more clearly. The problem was that Danny wasn't there when I'd found my spot. That's when I felt the not-so-gentle tap on my shoulder.

"Hey, you following me?" Danny said.

Spotted twice in two days, my luck was getting worse. I tried to think of my cover story, but my mind blanked. The best way I can describe it was speechless. "Hey, man, look I'm-"

"Spying on me. That's it, right? You were in my house a few days ago."

"I think you've got the wrong guy."

"No, I remember you."

"Okay, look, I'm not after you, okay? I'm a bounty hunter. Do you see that guy over there? He's got a warrant, and I'm running him down."

"Try again, smart guy."

"Listen, we don't have to do this. I'll leave and we can forget all about it."

"Too late for that. Outside. Now."

"You don't want to do this, man."

"I said outside." Danny took me by the arm and led me across the bar and out the door. We reached the sidewalk, where he spotted the alleyway next to the building. He shoved me into the alley and then against the wall.

"Okay, we don't need to-"

"I knew you weren't no cabinet man. I knew she didn't trust me." Danny's face turned red as he looked down at his feet. Without warning, he put his free hand to his eyes. The next thing I heard was a loud sniffle. Tears started streaming down his face as he broke down, crying as hard as I had ever heard anyone cry. "She hates me. My wife hates me. She wants to take away everything I own."

"Okay," I said, not believing what I was seeing. "I don't think that she hates you."

"Yes, she does, man; she hates me. We got married out of high school. A couple of years later, we had our first kid. We had our second kid a few years ago, and she cut me off."

"Cut you off?"

"Sex, man, do I have to spell it out for you? I haven't had sex in nearly seven years." Danny said as the tears streamed down his face. "She blames me for everything."

"Like what?"

"Any and everything that goes wrong. She gets a flat tire, it's my fault for not noticing. She misses a credit card payment, it's my fault for not catching it."