Free The Elephant Tree by R. D. Ronald Page B

often joked that she was as wide as she was tall. The regulars had accepted her as one of their own now, and made sure any tips given went directly to her and not into a jar to split with the rest of the staff. Scott picked up his glass and went to sit with her at the bar.
    ‘Hey Joanne,’ he said, taking a seat on a free stool.
    ‘Hello Scott, and a merry Christmas to you.’
    ‘Yeah, let’s not get too carried away and just leave it at hello,’ he said and grinned. ‘There’s never been anything merry about this place for a long time.’
    Joanne laughed heartily, an infectious sound that had the same effect on the atmosphere as a defibrilator on an arrested heart.
    ‘So what brings you into this fine establishment today then?’
    ‘Just a few quiet drinks.’
    ‘Quiet we can do, and drinks we can do as well, so you’re at the right place,’ she said, beaming.
    ‘Twinkle should be in soon so we can all exchange gifts.’
    ‘Ha, now that I’d pay to see.’
    ‘You were friends with his missus weren’t you?’
    ‘Yes, I still am. Don’t see her much since she moved away but we still keep in touch.’
    ‘You think they’ll ever get back together?’
    ‘I doubt it. The only way she’d ever have him back was if he quit all the drink and, well, the other stuff as well,’ she said, tapping her nose. ‘It’d be the best thing he could do though. Poor old duffer has been as miserable as sin since they left, never mind what he might tell you. He worshipped her and those kids, she just couldn’t take any more though. The little ones were getting to an age where she couldn’t hide it from them anymore, she wouldn’t have them growing up in that kind of life.’
    Scott nodded and finished his pint.
    ‘Another one of them then, love?’
    ‘Yeah and one for yourself as well, Joanne.’
    ‘Well, if it isn’t some Christmas spirit come creeping into the place after all,’ she said, and laughed again as she went to pull Scott’s pint.
    After paying Joanne for his beer and tipping more than enough extra for one of her own, Scott picked up his glass and went to play on the pinball table near the front of the bar. It was the latest attempt by management to attract younger blood into the place, although so far it didn’t seem to have worked. He took a swig from the beer and put it down with his cigarettes on the ledge beside him.
    Four games of pinball and another beer later Scott’s vigil in the depressing bar paid off. Twinkle arrived alone, showing no surprise at all seeing Scott there waiting.
    ‘Alright Scott, how’d the party go last night?’
    ‘Was OK, how come you didn’t stop by?’
    ‘Other people to see. You know how it is,’ Twinkle said, attempting a smile that never quite settled on his face and absently scratching the growth of stubble on his unshaven chin. That’s one thing Scott had always noticed about Twinkle, no matter how bad things were for him or how fucked up his life got, he always made sure to get washed and shaved before going out into town, like it was the last connection he had to his relatively normal and happier past.
    ‘Yeah man, I know how it is,’ Scott said, although he wasn’t sure that he did. ‘Any word from Sharon and the kids?’
    Twinkle looked at him with a practised scowl he’d reserve for anyone asking about his ex.
    ‘Fuck that bitch. She had her chance.’
    ‘OK Twink. So these people you had to see last night, they anything to do with the opportunities you told me about?’ Scott asked, to get their meeting back on track.
    Twinkle motioned towards the back of the bar and led the way to an unoccupied table. Scott took a seat and after ordering two beers from Joanne, Twinkle brought them over and sat down.
    ‘Cheers,’ Twinkle said, and downed about a third of his pint.
    Scott sipped at his own, eager to hear what this was going to be about but waited for Twinkle to come to the point in his own time. Twinkle’s eyes drifted around the room, not