Voices

Chapter 14

Quelton was not much of a drinker but he decided against his better side of reasoning to have a drink at a bar that evening. It had been a long ass day and he needed the distraction for a few hours.

As he entered the bar he noticed that not too many people were there and he was quite alright with that. He didn't like crowds, especially in this setting where people would get drunk and act a fool. He sat at the counter as the bartender walked over to him.

"What will it be mate?" the man asked.

"Gin and tonic" Quelton replied. "With lots of ice," he added.

Within a few seconds, his drink was served and the bartender disappeared.

After two sips of his drink, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about his kiss with Tamra. The woman felt so good in his arms that he wanted to take her clothes off right there. She was so soft, so right in every way and his mind instantly replayed the scene with her husband and all he discovered from her file. He wasn't a bad boy but he knew he exercised a vast amount of self-control from not kicking the shit out of him when he saw him yelling at Tamra in the hallway.

Why is it that life had to be the way it was sometimes? He asked himself. He gulped down the last of his drink but he needed another. He looked to the far end of the counter for the bartender but didn't see him. His eyes shifted to a booth and noticed that the bartender was serving drinks to a guy and a female.

The guy was wearing a suit that looked expensive while the female was wearing more of a casual dress. It was black and low cut which exposed her breasts. Her hair was straight and long to her shoulders and she was wearing too much makeup. She clung close to her male companion and giggled uncontrollably at something that he whispered in her ear.

He couldn't help but think to himself that the woman was a prostitute and the guy was probably married although he wasn't wearing a band on his ring finger. The bartender shifted and Quelton looked away before they noticed that he was staring. He tried to get the bartender's attention quickly as soon as he came back to the bar.

"Another?" He asked Quelton.

"Yeah, less ice this time", he responded.

Just then, he heard a voice beside him. " Hey Tommy, my regular!", the guy shouted at the bartender who had his back turned to the counter.

Quelton glanced in the direction of the voice and he immediately recognized the person. It was no other than Tamra's husband.

He immediately felt anger wash over him. His wife had just buried her father and here he was at a bar when he should be at home with her.

Quelton looked at him again, a little longer this time. As if he felt eyes on him he turned to glance in Quelton's direction. He looked at him for no longer than a second until he looked away as Tommy came up with the drink.

"It's good to see you, I thought you forgot about this place," Tommy said jokingly as he fist-bumped Tamra's husband.

" No fucking way" Karl responded.

"I heard your wife's old man passed, my condolences" Tommy continued.

"Yeah it's unfortunate but he was an old man, it was gonna happen sooner or later", Karl responded.

"Ouch! That's way harsh man, I thought you guys were cool".

"Yeah, I'm not saying that we weren't but he lived a full life and he had a great one as far as I know but his medical bills were off the charts".

They continued talking as Quelton took his last bit of drink. He then threw some money on the table.

"Thanks man" he interrupted them and left.

***********

Quelton sat in his truck staring at the entrance to the bar for what seemed like an hour. He contemplated driving away and he also contemplated confronting Tamra's husband. He played out several scenarios in his mind but each one resulted in a heated confrontation sooner or later. Just then he saw Karl walking out of the bar. He staggered for a few seconds but then caught himself but not before cursing to himself. It was now or never Quelton thought as he quickly highlighted from his truck. He walked briskly over to Karl as he attempted to pull the door to the car. In one swift motion, Quelton grabbed Karl's jacket and pulled him close to him then threw him to the ground. Karl was in shock. He had no idea who the hell this person was or why he was assaulting him but he knew he would defend himself with everything he got. He tried to get to his feet but the constant blows to his abdomen prevented him from doing that.

"You're not so tough now aren't you tough guy?" the person growled at him.

Who the hell was this guy and why was he so angry? Karl thought to himself as he continued to receive the blows. He suddenly tasted blood and realized that his lip must have been busted as he used his hands to cover his face. 

He suddenly felt the blows stop and then heard footsteps. He barely looked up to see the person walking away. In a minute, the person drove away. Karl held his abdomen t to try to help with the pain he was feeling.  "Son of a bitch!" she shouted after spitting some blood. He used the back of his hand to wipe his bloody mouth as he slowly got up and walked to his car.

The next day Tamra woke up at her usual time. She didn't know if Karl had come home, he wasn't in the bed when she woke up in the middle of the night nor was he in bed when she woke up. She decided not to think about it too much as she checked on Zyon. He was sleeping peacefully as usual. She head downstairs to make a cup of coffee. As she reached the foot of the stairs she noticed that the television was on. To her surprise, she saw Karl sprawled out on the couch. He was fast asleep but she noticed that he was wearing the same clothes he wore at the funeral and he was dirty. She then looked at his face and realized that hit was bruised and bloody. She covered her mouth in shock but she was also amused by the fact that someone handed him a taste of his own medicine. She used her palm to stifle her laughter as she tried to quickly tiptoe towards the kitchen before her laughter could escape and wake him up. As she was walking away she heard him groan.

"Tamra" he groaned in pain.

"Bitch!" Tamra's inner voice screamed before she could answer. "Yes", she responded.

He opened his eyes and tried to sit up while he held his abdomen. From the looks of things, it seemed as if he was badly beaten and bruised.

"What happened?" Tamra asked without any empathy.

" Some asshole jumped me last night, I didn't see who it was" he responded.

"Well you should hope that nothing is broken" she continued. " I would hate for you to be at home all day long".

She rolled her eyes at him then left the living room.