Wednesday, March 6, 2019

A Night Out--Excerpt "Heather Darling and the Case of the Clockwork Cannibal" HR Apostos


In spite of Heather being fashionably challenged when it comes to attending concerts in pubs and Detective Farina’s intense love for my new dress, we make it to The Three Hounds in plenty of time to get good seats. Okay, Detective Jillian arrived early to see her friends. She had already taken custody of a table close to the stage on our behalf.
But, thanks to me, Heather is more appropriately dressed in skinny jeans (hers) and a Rolling Stones t-shirt (mine). I tried to get her to kick her make-up up a notch. Okay...Alice Cooper eyes. When I showed her what I would be using on her face she announced that if she agreed to it her esthetician would never forgive her and could dump her altogether. Apparently, it has taken her forever to find the right one. They put goop on your face and take it off again. How hard can it be to find someone capable of doing that?
Detective Farina on the other hand, pouted. I’m not kidding. He pouted when he saw that I had replaced my new dress with my favorite well-worn jeans and a t-shirt that reads, “If Ignorance Is Bliss Then You Must Be Ecstatic.” I offered him visitation with the dress, and asked him if he needed me to wear it or if he just wanted to take it to bed with him to cuddle. He did not appreciate my sense of humor. Duuude…seriously, it’s a dress.
What’s the name of your friend’s band?” I ask Detective Jillian, while we watch the band go through a final sound check.
There Might Be Bear.” she responds. While she’s talking to me about how long the band has been around, how long she has known the founder, and how they met, I notice that Heather is focused. On the band. She notices that I’m watching her and fidgets a little. Then she becomes an active participant in all of the conversations taking place around our table. None of us, other than Detective Jillian, have been to a performance in some time including Ian. Since he had been to Woodstock, he was the Hall of Famer of the group.
“What is the best concert that you’ve ever seen?” Heather asks Ian.
“I saw The Rolling Stones play Paris in 1967.”
“Not Woodstock?” She asks.
Sometimes, it’s not just the memory of the concert. It can also be about what is happening in your life at that time. In 1967, I was a young man, just out of school. I had an exciting job at Scotland Yard making good money. The ladies loved me. I had been shot a few weeks before and nearly died. I had caught the bad guys and survived to tell the story. Life was good.” He looks at me. “Not as good as it is now. But it was one of the happier periods of my life.”
One of the bartenders steps out onto the stage and says, “Please give a warm welcome to one of our favorite visitors…There Might Be Bear.”

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