Fiddlers
at once your ears go up. Well, fellas, I�ve been clean for almost twenty years now, a gainfully employed, respectable citizen of this fair city. I wouldn�t know Alicia if I tripped over her, dead or alive. You�re barking up the wrong tree.�
    �How long you been wearing your head bald?� Parker asked.
    �Why? Some bald-headed guy do her?�
    �How long?�
    �My hair began falling out in stir. Before I got busted, I was living in D-Town, wore it long like a hippie. All of a sudden, I�m a white male inmate with a bald head, the hamhocks hung a racist jacket on me, made my life miserable.�
    �When�s the last time you saw Alicia?�
    �Whoo. We�re talkin fifteen years ago, that�s when we got divorced. We�re talkin Johnny Carson leaving The Tonight Show. We�re talkin the invasion of Kuwait. We�re talkin the first Gulf War. We�re talkin ancient history, man!�
    �Was she doing dope back then?�
    �Who says she was doing dope ever?�
    �That�s what you went down for, isn�t it? A dope violation.�
    �I learned my lesson.�
    �Was she doing dope?�
    �Nothing serious.�
    �Nothing serious like what?�
    �Little griff every now and then.�
    �And you?�
    �Same thing. Marijuana never hurt nobody.�
    �That right?�
    �Marijuana�s the most frequently used illegal drug in the United States.�
    �Tell us all about it, professor.�
    �Over eighty-three million Americans over the age of twelve have tried marijuana at least once.�
    �Including Alicia, huh?�
    �Big deal.�
    �She ever move on to the heavier shit?�
    �Not to my knowledge. Not while we were married, anyway.�
    �How about after you split?� Genero said. �You sure she never went hardcore?�
    �Is that a trick question, Sherlock? I told you I never saw her after the divorce. Why? You think some dealer did her?�
    �We understand she was keeping bad company.�
    �Not on my watch.�
    �On your watch, all you did was blast a little stick every now and then, right?�
    �That�s not all we did.�
    �Just two happy airheads��
    �Don�t put the marriage down,� Dalton warned. �In many ways, it was a good one.�
    �In what ways was it a bad one?�
    �Why�d you get a divorce?�
    Dalton hesitated.
    �So?� Parker said.
    �She was running around on me.�
    �But that wasn�t bad company, right?�
    �It was the company she chose. That didn�t mean I had to go along with it.�
    �Where were you last Friday night at around eight o�clock, Al?�
    �Airtight,� Dalton said.
    �Let�s hear it.�
    �I was driving a van to an Indian casino upstate.�
    �We suppose you have wit��
    �Six of them. All high rollers. Check it out.�
    * * * *
    The waiter possessed the good grace not to card Reggie. Then he spoiled it by saying, �I�m assuming your daughter is twenty-one.�
    �Yes,� Charles said.
    The waiter nodded and padded off.
    �Did that bother you?� she asked.
    �A little.�
    �When he comes back, I�ll kiss you on the mouth.�
    �You don�t have to.�
    �You realize there are guys dying in Iraq who can�t order a drink in this state?�
    �It was that way when I was a kid, too. We used to bitch about it all the time. Being in the Army, not allowed to order a drink.�
    �What war was that?�
    �Vietnam.�
    �You were in that war?�
    �Oh yes.�
    �Wow,� she said. �That seems so long ago.�
    �To me, too.�
    �Are you from here originally? I don�t mean here, this state, I mean the city,� and with a jerk of her head indicated its general direction.
    �Yes.�
    �I was born and raised in Denver,� she said.
    �I�ve always wanted to go out West.�
    �Maybe we can go out there together sometime,� she said.
    �Well� maybe. Yes.�
    �Wouldn�t you like to?�
    �Here we go,� the waiter said, and placed their drinks on the table. �Did you folks want to hear the specials now, or would you like to enjoy your

Similar Books

The Blue Castle

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Saving Dr. Ryan

Karen Templeton

The Christie Curse

Victoria Abbott

PRINCE IN EXILE

AKB eBOOKS Ashok K. Banker

Warrior and Witch

Marie Brennan

Level Five

Carla Cassidy

The Warrior's Beckoning

Patrick Howard

Caged

D. H. Sidebottom