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
AKB eBOOKS Ashok K. Banker