She came into the bar, red hair flaming, kicked her shoes off up into the air so that one of them almost knocked over somebody’s beer. She threw her leg up into a surprisingly high kick until her foot landed on the edge of the bar. Then she eased herself into a standing split and proclaimed in a loud voice, “Gee’n Tee and a buck for the juke box, honey.”
I will see you, you will see me when you look at her…
She was always up for a drink and a gag. She liked hanging out with all these old fucks. After a couple of drinks, she began singing at the top of her lungs, really belting them out. She sang so loud that no one could talk or banter as usual. It changed the whole atmosphere of the place. When she got like this, some people finished their drinks and split for another bar down the street.
She may be hers, she may be yours, but she looks like me…
At one point after about three bluesy country songs, all sung in triple forte, one mostly drunk old codge asked surreptitiously if he could roll the dice for the juke box. The bartender lost, and since she was in on the gag, gave four red quarters to the singer for her selection.
If you see her, you will see me, I will see you too…
She was thinking she’d play some of her recorded songs and sing along, but she was surprised. “Hey, they took off all my records,” she lamented. No one said a word until finally the bartender spoke just to fill the silence, “We’ll have to get the juke box guy to put them back on…”
If you love her, I will love her, she will love me too…
Back in the day, she had been a pistol on stage fronting a country blues band that played all over five counties. They had been asked to be the opening act of some big name country star, but the band couldn’t make it work. They all had marriages, houses, and day jobs. After that it was having kids and the end of an opportunity that could have been a leap into stardom.
I will see you in my eyes, you will see me too…
‘There’s the quick and the dead,” she had always heard her father say. She obviously wasn’t quick enough. She couldn’t see herself going on the road with two kids and her man. Her man. She didn’t want to leave her man. So it was decided. She was to be a mother and a wife.
I will see her, she will see me when she looks at you…
She never lost her desire to sing. She forced it on whoever would listen or tolerate it. They never did get those records put back on the jukebox. No one wanted to hear that bitch sing.
(First published 8/20/13)
