Dan slipped into the bar at Third and Main. His attempt at being discreet was not very successful. A sudden silence descended upon the room as every eye in the bar turned to stare at him. It took a few seconds before people recognized who he was. The volume of the conversations taking place at the various tables slowly returned to normal levels. Without exception, the topic of conversation changed to include the rather unusual presence of a man in the place.
Ignoring the few eyes that continued to stare at him, Dan walked over to the bar and sat down on one of the many free stools. He was the only one who was seated at the counter. He turned to look at the women gathered together at the bar. None of them would meet his gaze.
He turned back to stare at Betty for a moment. Her red eyes gave ready testimony to the fact that she had been crying. In a very soft voice, he asked, "What happened?"
"I don't know," Betty answered collapsing onto a bar stool that was behind the bar. She started crying. One hand snaked out to grab a tissue from a box of tissues that she had placed on the counter.
"Sue said that you and Pat had a fight," Dan said when she calmed down a little.
Betty shook her head and said, "I woke up one morning and she was standing there in the bedroom staring at me. The next thing I knew, she was yelling at me. I still don't know what I did to provoke her anger."
"What happened next?" Dan asked with a frown. There was something wrong with the whole situation, but he didn't know what it was.
"She left. I haven't seen her since then," Betty answered collapsing in on herself. Her world had fallen apart and she didn't understand why. She couldn't think of anything she could have done wrong.
Dan frowned trying to make sense of Pat's actions. He felt sorry for Betty. His tall friend didn't look like a Viking warrior woman at the moment. He asked, "Have you heard from her at all?"
"This morning I got a letter in the mail giving me her half of the bar," Sally said. Saying it aloud was too much for her and she started crying again. There was only one way to interpret the letter — Pat was dissolving their relationship permanently.
Dan wanted to hug her, but there was the counter between them. When she calmed down a little, he said, "Sue is outside waiting for you. She'll give you a ride home. Go with her and I'll watch the bar."
"What about your pizzeria?" Betty asked.
"This is my night off," Dan answered. It wasn't his normal night off, but she didn't need to know that. He had asked his sister to take care of the pizzeria for the evening.
"Oh," Betty said. She looked around the bar and said, "I don't know if I should."
Dan got up and went around the bar counter. Going over to Betty, he took her arm. Gently, he guided her out from behind the bar and over to the front door. In a soft soothing voice, he said, "Sue is waiting for you."
"I don't know what I'm going to do without her. Pat and I have been together for almost twenty years," Betty said looking at Dan. She couldn't understand why Pat had left her.
"You'll do what needs to be done," Dan said softly. He didn't know what to say to her that would help her find a little peace. There were no promises that he could make. He couldn't tell her that all would turn out for the better.
After seeing Betty to the car, Dan returned to the bar. He looked around at all of the bottles. Frowning, he asked, "How hard can it be?"
He took a seat on the stool that Betty had just left and watched the roomful of women going about their version of the mating dance. He smiled when a new couple rose from their table and headed out the door holding hands. It was obvious to him that it was just the beginning of a relationship. He wished them luck.
Everything went well for about ten minutes. It all fell apart when a woman approached the bar counter and said, "I'll have a Vodka Martini."
It was at that moment when Dan realized there was a fatal flaw in his plan. He had never mixed a drink in his life. He looked in the cooler for a second to see if he could spot something with Vodka Martini on the label. Not finding one, he said, "We're out of that. You can have beer or wine."
"What kind of wine do you have?"
Dan reached down and picked up two bottles of wine. Holding them up, he answered, "We have these two. You can have green bottle or bluish green bottle."
The woman laughed at his response and said, "You have no idea what you're doing."
"That's right," Dan said with a nod of his head. He wasn't going to deny it.
"So what are you doing here?"
Dan answered, "I'm giving a friend a chance to cry on a soft shoulder."
"Oh," the woman said, "I'll take a beer in a bottle."
Dan looked down in the cooler and asked, "Brown or green bottle?"
"Hello Granny Parker," Dan said entering the hospital room.
"Hello, Dan."
"How's it going?" he asked. She looked a lot better today than on the days past.
Granny Parker answered, "They're letting me out of here today."
"I bet you'll be glad to be home," Dan said with a smile.
She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm going to stay with my son until I recover."
"I'm sure you'll enjoy that. It is nice to have family around to watch over you," Dan said.
"I guess."
Dan noticed the slightly off tone to her voice and said, "You don't seem too pleased by the prospect."
"I don't want to be a burden to them," Granny Parker said feeling like a useless old woman.
Dan laughed and said, "You? A burden? Tell me another joke."
A look of irritation flashed over her face at his reaction and then she laughed. She said, "You wouldn't be saying that if I were to move in with you."
"You're welcome in my home any time," Dan said taking her hand in both of his.
Granny Parker looked up at Dan and realized he was serious. She asked, "What would your girlfriends say?"
"They'd welcome you to our home and treat you like an honored guest. They all like you, you know," Dan said.
She believed that they would welcome her with open arms. She said, "You're a good man, Dan Parker. You do the Parker name proud."
"Thank you, Granny Parker," Dan said. He covered his mouth trying to stifle a yawn. He wished that he had stopped to pick up a cup of coffee on the way to the hospital.
"You look tired," Granny Parker said looking at the bags under his eyes. He had looked worse, but not in a long time.
Dan shrugged his shoulders and said, "I didn't make it home until three this morning."
"Was there a problem at the pizzeria?"
"No, I was helping a friend," Dan said.
"You should have stayed in bed for an extra hour rather than come by here," Granny Parker said. It always amazed her to what lengths he would go to help out a friend. It was rather humbling to watch. It was even more humbling to experience firsthand how freely he gave his help.
"I wanted to see you," Dan said. The comment about seeing her reminded him that he usually saw Ernie here at this time of the morning. That was particularly true when the young man was supposed to help open the store with him. He looked around and asked, "Where's Ernie?"
"He was here earlier, but had to leave to take care of some family matter. It was something about taking his sister-in-law to the doctor," Granny Parker answered.
Dan nodded his head and said, "I understand that his sister-in-law is pregnant."
"He told me that, but the baby isn't due for another seven months," Granny Parker said.
"Really? It takes that long to have a baby delivered once you put in an order for one? You'd think that with the internet and just in time warehousing that they'd be able to fed-ex one to you overnight," Dan said winking at her.
She laughed and said, "I'm going to tell your girlfriends that one."
"They already know that I'm a hopeless cause," Dan said smiling at her.
Granny Parker leaned to one side and looked past Dan. In a voice that carried across the room, she said, "Come in, Kim."
Kim looked at her grandmother and then over at Dan. She turned and ran away. Shaking his head, Dan asked, "What's the matter with her?"
"She thinks you're stealing her grandmother from her," Granny Parker answered with a sad shake of her head.
"Really?" Dan asked looking at the door through which Kim had fled.
"She's a very insecure young lady," Granny Parker said. She hadn't realized how insecure Kim was until she had ended up in the hospital. Kim had accused her of liking Dan more than her.
Dan didn't feel comfortable discussing Kim. Out of politeness, he said, "I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's not your fault," Granny Parker said thinking that she would have to work on Kim while recovering from her heart attack. It was going to be a tough task building up the young woman to where she could function in life. She glanced over at the clock and asked, "Shouldn't you be getting to work?"
"Yes," Dan said after a glance at the clock. He leaned down and said, "Promise me you'll let us know how you're doing."
"I will, I promise. When I have a good day, I'll try to swing by the pizzeria for one of those cinnamon twists," Granny Parker said with a smile.
"Good. I'll keep you to your promise," Dan said.
"Now get to your pizzeria. You've got a business to run. Worrying about an old lady won't pay the bills," Granny Parker said.
"Yes, ma'am," Dan said with a wink.
"You're a good boy," Granny Parker said as he was leaving the room. He knew that was her way of saying that she loved him.
After stopping off to see Sally, Dan was walking towards the main entrance when Kim stepped out of a hallway in front of him. She glared at him with her face twisted in rage and shouted, "I hate you."
"I know," Dan said shrugging his shoulders. By all rights he should have hated her, but he didn't. He tried to decide how he felt about her. The only word that came to mind was indifferent.
"Stay away from my grandmother, you bastard," Kim shouted with her fists clenched by her sides.
A nurse came out and said, "Keep it down, young lady."
Dan said, "I'll leave you alone now. Good bye, Kim."
Kim glared at his back while he walked away. She was not satisfied with the outcome of the confrontation. She looked back towards her Grandmother's room and sighed. She knew that Dan was trying to steal her away. There wasn't anything she could do to prevent it. Granny Parker would give her that look the moment she tried to explain how miserable Dan had made her through school. It just wasn't fair.
Dan returned from the pizzeria at ten thirty at night. He was tired from watching the bar the night before, stopping by the hospital before getting to the store, and then working all day. Alison had made a nice omelet for him that was ready five minutes after he arrived. As he was sitting down at the table, Sally said, "Ladies, we have competition. I heard that Dan seduced every woman at a bar last night."
"You don't say," Ann said with a wink at Alison. Betty had called earlier that evening and filled them in on everything that had happened the previous evening.
Dan waved a hand and said, "There wasn't one woman there interested in me. They were too busy looking at each other to even notice me."
"That's not what I heard," Sally said fluttering her eyelashes at him.
Alison piped up and asked, "What did you hear?"
"Please, tell us what you heard," Ann said resting her chin on the palm of her hand.
Dan looked from one woman to the next realizing that this little drama was being staged for their amusement. He wondered what he had done this time that they found so amusing.
Sally said, "I guess he was busy demonstrating what a wonderful caring person he was all evening. It just melted hearts. I'd say it was that line about giving her a chance to find a soft shoulder to cry on that did it. There wasn't one woman in there that wasn't touched by his words."
"Betty was upset," Dan said.
Ann said, "Next time that Sue paints you, you'll be on a horse and wearing armor."
"Surrounded by barely clad women waiting for you to notice them," Sally said as Ann posed beside her.
"Don't forget the bated breaths. There will be lots of them waiting with bated breaths," Alison said getting a laugh from Ann and Sally.
Too tired for teasing, Dan said, "Betty was really upset and needed a friend."
Sally eased off and said, "She got two friends helping her last night, you and Sue. It was a very nice thing you did."
"Well, I just tried to help the best I could," Dan said.
Sally shook her head and said, "I heard a story about how you ran that bar that made me laugh so hard that I thought I'd wet my panties."
"What did you hear?"
"What kind of wine do you have? Uh, we have this one and this one," Sally said acting like she was holding up bottles of wine one at a time.
Alison and Ann burst out in laughter. Even when Dan was over his head, he'd muddle on without any pretense of being in control. Ann asked, "What kind of wines were they?"
Dan shrugged his shoulders and said, "A green bottle and a bluish green bottle."
The three women broke out into even harder laughs. They weren't going to tell Dan that hearing stories of how Dan had run the bar last night had cheered up Betty as much as the evening spent crying on Sue's shoulder. There were dozens of little episodes through the evening that had been funny.
Alison reached over to Dan and stroked his cheek. In a voice expressing her feelings towards him, she said, "You're perfect."
"What did I do?" Dan asked.
"Nothing except for being you," Ann said with a smile.
After putting a pizza in the oven, Ernie turned to Dan and said, "I guess I'm not going to be able to visit Granny Parker now that she's left the hospital."
"I'm sure that she'd appreciate a telephone call from you every now and then," Dan said watching how Ernie handled himself around the oven. He figured that Ernie had developed enough to be able to run the oven without any supervision.
Ernie was silent for a moment and then asked, "Do you think she'll be back?"
"I don't know," Dan said. It was hard to say how well she would recover. He didn't know enough about the subject to even hazard a guess.
"I hope she returns," Ernie said while checking on the pizzas in the oven.
"I do too," Dan said.
"Can I ask you something?" Ernie asked looking over at Dan with a look of embarrassment on his face.
"Sure," Dan said.
"Can you explain one of the facts of life to me?"
Dan asked, "Which one?"
"The universe doesn't care," Ernie answered.
Nodding his head, Dan said, "I know, it seems kind of an odd thing to say. Do you remember a couple of years ago there was a big flood that killed tens of thousands of people over in China?"
"Not really," Ernie said. He had never watched the news. In his concerns about his own life, he didn't care enough about what happened to others to watch the news. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth.
"I think it was the Yellow River that overflowed and drowned a bunch of people," Dan said. He only remembered the incident because it had happened around the time he had finished reading the facts of life article. He had listened to the news more concerned about the lives lost than about the circumstances that took their lives.
"Okay," Ernie said wondering why Dan was bringing up some event in China.
"Well, the universe didn't even care enough to notice. The stars still burned, the earth turned, and things went on as if nothing had happened. The universe didn't care one little bit," Dan said. Seeing the expression on Ernie's face, he added, "I wouldn't have known the flood had happened if it hadn't been on the news. I'm sure that there are a couple billion people who still haven't heard of the event."
Ernie said, "That's harsh."
"Yes it is," Dan said in full agreement with that assessment.
"I'm sure that people cared," Ernie said.
"Of course people cared, but then a lot of the people who knew and cared about some of the victims died along with the victims. I'm sure that there were a lot of unmarked graves because no one knew the identities of the victims and no one has missed them enough to even try to identify their body," Dan said.
"That's sad," Ernie said. If his mother and brothers were to die, he wondered who would care enough to identify his body in the event of a similar disaster. There wouldn't be a single person at his funeral. It was a rather sobering thought.
"The fact of the matter is that the whole human race can disappear and the universe wouldn't care. I'd like you to find a single rock that would give a damn," Dan said.
Ernie pulled a couple of pizzas out of the ovens and set them on the serving trays. Cory was over there to deliver them even as the pizzas slid off the paddle. Once that was done, Ernie said, "It just seems to me that it is a variation of Life isn't fair."
"Not at all," Dan said.
"Why not?" Ernie said.
"There are some people who believe that they are the center of the universe. They think that the world and the stars revolve around them. They think that the entire world should dance to their least little whim and desire. It doesn't and anyone who includes that in their plans is going to discover a very serious flaw in their planning," Dan answered.
Ernie nodded his head as he thought about it. After a minute, he said, "I still think that Life isn't fair and the universe doesn't care should be combined."
"One is saying that the playing field of life isn't level. The other is saying that no one is the center of the universe. I think that if some one was the center of the universe then that would be the grossest example of life not being fair that I could imagine," Dan said.
"Together, those two facts paint a rather bleak picture of our existence," Ernie said.
Nodding his head, Dan said, "That's true. Now, while the universe may not care, our friends and family do care. That's why it is important to make friends and to nurture families. We all need someone to care about us for those times when the unfairness of life raises its ugly head."
Ernie slid two more pizzas out of the oven. Cory was over there to deliver them even as they hit the pizza trays. Ernie made the cuts on the pizzas and turned them over to Cory. His mind was still on the discussion. If he had thought about it, he would have been amazed to discover that cooking had become so second nature that he could do other things while doing it.
After taking care of the pizzas, Ernie said, "Is that why you take so much time to help your friends?"
Dan looked at Ernie and asked, "Is your life better now that you've taken a little time to get to know Granny Parker, Sandy, Cory, and your family?"
"Yes," Ernie answered. If pressed, he wouldn't be able to say why he was happier, but he recognized that life was better.
Dan asked, "Is there anything else in your life that has made such a difference in how happy you are?"
"No," Ernie answered. He had discovered that he enjoyed cheering for his little brother at baseball games. Caring about others had its downside. He remembered the horrible feeling that came over him when Granny Parker had her heart attack.
Nodding his head, Dan said, "That's why my friends and family are the most important things to me. Everything else that makes me happy takes a huge backseat to them. If I were to lose this business, I'd find something else to do to make a living. If I were to lose my friends, I'd be alone in this world. That thought scares the daylights out of me. In a choice between this business and my friends, I'll choose my friends every time."
It was a little after five when Dan returned home from work. It was his night off and he was ready to relax. As Alison worked in the kitchen preparing dinner, he sat down in his chair. After a long sigh, he said to no one in particular, "It has been a long week."
Sally entered the room and frowned as she looked at Dan. In a soft voice, she said, "I saw Pat today."
Lazlo Zalezac