The large man that he had bumped into earlier, stepped in his way, not noticing that Hugo was there. Hugo slowed, losing sight of the couple he wanted to see about. He pushed around another group of college students who happened to be holding drinks with umbrellas in them.
He neared where he thought he had seen Mrs. McGregor. She had left, and so had the man. The table sat empty. Not even glasses or a snack bowl remained. He tried to look closely to see about the possibility of a ring from the glasses, but was bumped from behind. He fell into the booth. He sat there for a second, weariness threatening to overwhelm him. He drank the last of his beer and pushed his way to the bar. He waited patiently as the bartenders mixed drinks and served others who had been waiting. He caught Shirley’s eye and pointed to his empty bottle. She nodded and went to get him another.
When she returned she practically had to shout over the music coming from the back room. “There was someone here looking for you earlier today,” she said.
Hugo stared at her. Who would be looking for him?
“It’ll be three fifty,” she said.
Hugo reached for his wallet. “Who was it?” he asked.
Shirley shrugged. “I didn’t talk to him. One of the waitresses did.”
He handed her four dollars and stared at the mirror in the back bar for a moment, thinking. A man was looking for me, he thought. He wracked his brain trying to imagine who would be looking for him. Why hadn’t they called? I’ve been home. Visions of tough characters straight out of movies rushed through his head. He felt threatened and paranoid. He shook his head and laughed. It was probably a mistake. No one was looking for me, he thought. They probably were looking for someone else. He tried to locate Dr. Bonanza in the mirror, but there were too many glasses and bottles for him to get a good view of anything. He turned, then stopped: three fifty for a bottle of beer? Holly Cow, he thought. No wonder I usually come during happy hour.
He spotted Bonanza. He stood near the back wall, near a phone booth. Hugo felt stupid and turned back to the bar. He squinted up at the list of beers and tried to remember what Bonanza liked. He read through the list, each beer sounding more strange than the last. Finally he settled on one and tried to catch a bartender’s eye. Roger walked past and Hugo put out his hand.
“Could I get a pint of the I.P.A.?” Hugo said. “That’s a lighter beer, right?”
Roger looked at him for a second, “It is lighter in color, if that is what you mean.”
“I’ll take one of those. Please.”
Roger turned, grabbed a glass from the cooler under the taps, and poured the beer, carefully not looking around. When the beer had been poured, he placed the glass in front of Hugo. Hugo paid him and turned once again to find Bonanza. He looked where Bonanza had been, but he had moved.
Hugo scanned the bar. He saw Mandy and the Duck sitting at a table with two other men. The large man with the tattoos seemed to be leaving. That’s one less thing to think about, he thought. Bonanza, however could not be found.
He turned back to the bar, but not before he noticed that a woman looked at him. She stood slightly apart from the group the Hugo assumed that she was with. She didn’t stare directly, and looked back at her companions when she saw his eyes on her. Hugo took a sip of his beer. He turned back to the bar on his stool. Looking into the mirror, he was unsure of what to do. He tried to see the woman in he mirror, but found it to be hopeless. He turned to look at her again and found that she walked toward him. Her dusty blonde hair rested on her shoulders. She wore a black dress with a flower print that was surprisingly modest compared to some of the other attire in the bar right then. She had very little make-up on. Hugo thought of Mandy, then scoffed at himself. He didn’t owe her anything, and who knew what this was all about anyway.
He took a drink of his beer, trying to be nonchalant. Suddenly he felt very tired, and a little bit lonely.
The woman walked up to him. He waited for her to speak. She looked at him, then at his beer, then at the beer still on the bar. She leaned into him so that she could speak without yelling over the music. “You don’t look like you belong here.” She said.
Hugo smiled. “I don’t,” he said. He looked to his right and left: all the other stools were occupied. He stood and indicated his stool. “Would you like to sit down?” he asked.
“How chivalrous,” she said, climbing up. She turned to face him, her right hand on the bar.
“Can I buy you a drink?” he pointed to the beer that he had bought for Bonanza. He glanced over her left shoulder, feeling guilty for giving it away.
She picked up the beer and took a drink, looking at him. “Won’t your friend be upset that I am drinking his beer?”
Hugo glanced around again. He could smell her faintly. He didn’t detect any perfume. “I don’t think he even knows that I bought it for him.” She took another drink and he did the same. They were silent for a moment. Hugo broke eye contact first. He looked at the back bar, then back to the woman. She still looked at him, a slight smile on her lips. He thought that she must be a little older than the rest of the crowd. Maybe she attended Hedlund’s master’s program. He didn’t know what to say next. He rarely talked to strangers. He very rarely talked to nice looking women who approached him.
“My name’s Hugo,” he said finally. He extended a hand. She placed hers in his for only a second. He squeezed it, then she pulled away. She didn’t have any jewelry on her hand, neither rings nor bracelets.
She looked him in the eye, again. Hugo waited; he wanted to turn away. Finally she said, “Maya.” Color rose on her cheeks and he could feel his own becoming rosy.
He felt lost in the wilderness, but persevered. “What brings you to Astor’s?” he asked.
She took another sip of the beer. “Saturday night,” she replied.
The seat behind Maya opened up. Hugo walked over to it and sat down. He glanced over to where Mandy sat. He imagined that she saw Maya talking to him, but she appeared to be involved in her conversation with the Duck. Hugo returned his gaze to Maya.
“What do you do, Hugo?” she asked.
He thought for a moment. What did he do? “I’m a writer,” he said.
She inclined her head, “Really,” she said. “I had picked you out as an alcoholic lay-about.” She sipped her drink again, turning her gaze to the back bar.
Where is this going, he thought. He took another drink of his beer. He caught the eye of one of the bartenders and motioned for another. “Would you like another?” he asked.
“I’ve hardly touched this one,” she said.
He put both arms on the bar and hunched himself over his empty beer bottle. He felt tired again. And a little bit angry about the way this seemed to be playing out. “What do you do?” he asked.
She sipped her drink and looked at the bartenders scurrying around mixing and pouring and taking money. She shrugged. “This and that.”
Shirley placed another beer in front of him. He paid and turned to go, scanning the crowd for Dr. Bonanza once again. Maya put a hand on his arm and leaned into him again, blocking his escape. “I know what you are after,” she said.
He sat back and looked at her, studied her. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“Next will be something more precious than livestock.”
“Excuse me, miss.” Dr. Bonanza pushed his way between them. He looked up at Hugo, grabbing his arm. “Thanks for buying me a beer,” he said to Hugo.
“Bonanza…what?”
Dr. Bonanza grabbed him by the arm and pulled him off the stool. “We gotta’ go,” he said. “We need to talk to Shargugh. I think that he has some information for us. Mrs. McGregor’s here too.”
“Wait,” said Hugo. He looked at Maya, but she had looked away toward where Mandy and the Duck sat. He tried to pull away, but years of holding sheep by the hind foot made Bonanza’s grip unbreakable. “Wait, Bonanza. Wait. Maya has some information, too.” Bonanza dragged Hugo from the bar. Hugo looked back toward where Maya had been, but she had gone.
Dr. Bonanza pulled Hugo outside, still holding his beer. Hugo shook his arm free, and glared at Dr. Bonanza. “What the hell are you doing?” he said.
“Just wait here a minute, he’ll be right back,” said Bonanza.
“Who’ll be right back? Goddamnit, Bonanza. I was talking to Maya.”
“Yes, yes, very pretty girl,” Bonanza said. “I think that she is one to watch out for.” He looked up the block, then down toward the river. Hugo did the same. He didn’t see anyone.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Dr. Bonanza ignored the question and continued to wait. He looked at Hugo’s beer. “Are you going to drink that?” he asked.
Hugo put the beer to his lips, looking down his nose at Bonanza who shrugged and continued to wait. The clouds had broken up, and stars twinkled above them. The temperature had dropped but not unnaturally. Hugo finished the beer and put the empty in a potted plant outside the door of Astor’s. He felt that his head might spin if he were to move too quickly. He looked back at Bonanza, who said: “Here we go.”
He grabbed Hugo’s arm gain and walked across the street toward one of the huge big-leaf maples that lined the block. Shargugh walked out from behind it as they approached.
“What did you find out?” Bonanza asked.
Hugo felt very confused. He knew that the beer was working on his head, but this was more than that. Where the hell did he come from? he thought.
Shargugh looked at the ground, then at the tree. He shuffled his feet and looked up at Dr. Bonanza. “Not much.”
“I thought you said that you have some information for us,” said Bonanza.
Hugo looked from Bonanza to Shargugh and back again. “What info do you have?” he asked; he felt the words slur in his mouth. “What info does he have?”
Bonanza glared at him.
“I can’t get to parts of my land,” pleaded Shargugh. He shook his shaggy beard and looked like he might cry. Hugo stared, his mouth stupidly hanging open. “There is something out there,” Shargugh continued. “It’s not a beast. Not one that has roamed these lands recently at least. Each night, I feel the power of the thing getting stronger, and the power of the land waning. I’m afraid, Doctor.” He looked at Bonanza for help.
Dr. Bonanza softened for a moment. “I don’t know what to do either,” he said.
“What’s this all about,” said Hugo. His words slurred in his mouth again. His head began to swirl. Up the block he could see another figure standing in the shadow of another maple. The lights from a church window lit it from behind and Hugo had no idea who it might be. He blinked and looked again, but the figure had vanished. I’m not thinking right, he thought. That’s better, he thought again. “Listen,” he said out loud.
Both Bonanza and Shargugh looked at him expectantly. Hugo looked back. “Listen,” he said again. “I…have to go home. I’m really tired and I’m not really following this whatever it is.” He looked at Bonanza, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Listen. I’ll just walk home. I’ll be fine. It’s no problem.” He turned to Shargugh, but he couldn’t locate him. “Listen, tell Shargugh that it was nice to see him again. I gotta’ go.”
Hugo stumbled down the block away from Bonanza and the trees. The lights of the city swam before his eyes. He knew the way home: he had taken it many times.
Monday, November 14, 2005
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