Dirty Faces - Book 2

Chapter 28: Truth Serum

Chapter 28: Truth Serum

Kody awoke from a particularly hard sleep and found himself alone in the cab of the truck. He straightened himself in the seat, popped his neck, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before surveying his surroundings. It was dark outside and he could faintly hear bad piano music, but it was the neon sign on the brick building across the street that simply said, "Bar" that told him where he was.

He sighed and shook his head. They would be home in less than a day's drive, mere hours if Ralph would only get it together. They could have made much faster progress this week if not for him dragging about and driving annoyingly slow. Kody had brought three books along for the ride and had finished the last of them days ago; now he was bored beyond words.

He had found that Ralph could be quite tolerable when he wanted to be, and Kody was perfectly fine with the long hours of silence out on the road. It was, in fact, the instances in which Ralph attempted conversation that were so terribly awkward. An outsider might think he was putting forth no effort, but anyone who knew Ralph knew that any effort on his part ought to be construed as trying too hard. Kody understood that this was all for Mama's sake and he could appreciate that, but he and Ralph had never been buddies and there wasn't anything that could change that.

He dug through his pocket until he found one of the working pocket watches then held it up to the window. The glow of the moon and the neon sign illuminated the face enough for him to see that it was a quarter past ten. He was quite aware that it would be in his best interest to stay in the truck and leave Ralph to his whiskey, but perhaps it was the promise of sleeping in his own bed, or of a home-cooked meal, or of talking about nothing of any real importance with Leslie that clouded his judgment.

Kody climbed out of the truck and stood in the vacant lot where it was parked for a moment, just looking down the strip. In the daylight, he supposed, this town probably resembled Coopersville, the grand city "across the mountain" back home, with one exception: Coopersville was the seat of a dry county. With some trepidation, he crossed the street, the sound of the bad piano music and the murmur of the patrons inside the bar growing louder as he approached. It had been a long time since Ralph had given him any trouble but the memory of drunk Ralph's violent tendencies stayed fresh in his mind.

When he pushed open the door, he didn't hear any little jingling bells like he was used to at diners and truck stops. Stepping into the smoky establishment, he took note of the pair of men with pool cues at the pool table and the group of men at a table nearby playing poker. Caressing the necks of the card players, leaning against the pool table, and flouncing about the room were several women with obvious agendas. In the back corner a man was banging on the piano, and even to Kody's untrained ear, possessing no musical inclination whatsoever, the sound produced was little more than offensive racket. The man was dressed in a black suit and tie, as though he were a musician by profession, but even from the door Kody could tell that he was more inebriated than the majority of the patrons.

Kody browsed the room from where he stood until he spied Ralph sitting alone at the bar. He made his way to him and climbed up on the stool beside him. Ralph, who had been staring nito his tumbler of whiskey, face flushed and eyes bloodshot, looked over and grinned. "Well, g'morning, Sleeping Beauty. Nice of ya to join me."

Kody replied with an obligatory fake smile.

"Barkeep!" Ralph barked, smacking his hand on the counter top.

The barkeep, looking less than amused, made himself present almost immediately. "Yes?"

"A beer for my young friend," Ralph replied.