Page 43 of Wicked Pickle

“The girls all right?”

“Yeah, I locked them in the office.”

“Didn’t bank on the tall one being an exhibitionist.” There’s a gleam in his eye about her.

“Didn’t bank on ever seeing them again.”

“You like that blonde, though, right?”

I wonder why he thinks that. I never give a damn thing away, not even to him, not about women. Or much else.

“She’s all right.”

He grins like he knows something. I’ve punched that look off his face more than a few times growing up. He always had a way of figuring me out.

Merrick and I are closer in age and a good deal older than our sisters. We clocked a few numbskulls who thought they could mess around with Sunny and Greta back in the day. Fun times.

One keg floats, so I cap it and move on to another one. I’ll trade it out when we’ve gotten past this.

“What are we going to do with them?” Merrick asks. “Leave them locked up?”

I watch the crowd behind us in the mirror. “Until this dies down.”

“And if it doesn’t? If they see them again, it will rile them right back up.”

He’s right. “I guess I’ll get them off the property.”

“Probably the right call.”

Vicki eventually comes over to take a tray or two. She flings mugs at men with her favorite insults. “This’ll help raise your IQ out of the negative,” and, “One more of these and you might get as smart as a box of hammers.”

When they crowd her, she yells, “You all better take a step back, or this night will be my villain origin story.”

We pull and pull until it seems everyone’s gotten a freebie. A few try to grab a second, but Scottie, the dishwasher, has his beady eyes on them and roars at them in that unnerving way he has.

That’s why he works the back. But today, it’s useful.

Jose dishes out baskets of freshly fried chips, loaded with salt. That’ll keep ‘em thirsty and drink another beyond thefree one. Cheap solution to a pricy problem. We have a sharp-thinking crew.

Merrick and I stand watch behind the bar. Jake is already running around the tables collecting empties. That didn’t take long. Maybe a free beer goes down faster.

Celia, Too Fast Freddie’s woman, slides onto a stool. “I see those sorority girls came back for another taste of the Leaky Skull.”

I use a scoop to break up the ice in the trough. “Yeah. What about ‘em?”

“Just think it’s interesting is all. One gets stuck in the bathroom two weeks back, you head in and close the door. Now she’s back.” Celia winks. “You must have got her good.”

I ignore this, bashing ice way past the point of needing to. So, the regulars noticed. Not much gets past them.

Yeah, I better get those girls out of here.

Merrick stands by the taps. “You want to change out that float or me?”

Right. I already forgot. “I’ll do it.”

“And maybe get them out of there before they bust out and cause any more trouble.”

“Any other items on my to-do list?”

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