Happy Hour

Happy Hour

It was four o’clock in the afternoon at Tessie Cal’s bar, and time for Happy Hour to begin, but everyone seemed to be happy already.  Most of the guys that were usually there seemed to be missing, but some new folks had ventured in today.  The jukebox was going full blast, and Jimmy and Alice, a young set of newlyweds, were having a great time dancing.  Usually Alice was only in on the weekend, but she was on vacation this week.  During Happy Hour all drinks were half price, so everyone drank more than usual.

At the end of the bar were Andy, Barney, and Jack, who all got off work in time for Happy Hour.  The co-workers and drinking buddies would usually stay until six of seven o’clock but today they had two drinks and left.  Two guys that Tessie had never seen before were playing pool and appeared to be arguing about something.  The barmaid Ann, who usually worked the weekends, had been out drinking all day and was now fast asleep at the bar.  A man named Joe was talking to himself, but other than that everyone seemed to be having a good time.

The phone rang, and it was for Barney.  Tessie told the man on the phone that he had just left.  While she was on the phone, one man came in the front door and another in the back.  They had on ski masks – it was a hold up!  The man that had come in the back grabbed hold of Tessie and told everyone not to move.  The other man went behind the bar and cleaned out the cash register; he also seemed to know just where some extra cash and rolls of change were at.  They went along the bar and got everyone’s cash, and any jewelry that they had.  As Alice gave the man her diamond ring that Jimmy had just bought her, she began to cry.  Jimmy had been drinking all day and didn’t seem to know what was going on.  Ann slept through the robbery.  She didn’t even wake up when the robbers took three rings off of her fingers.  DUI Dee had already pawned her jewelry, and all she had in her purse were loosing lotto tickets.

The two men took off out the back door with about eight hundred dollars in cash, and about two thousand dollars worth of jewelry.  This was the first time that Tessie’s bar was ever robbed, and she was just glad that no one was hurt.  Tessie called the police and went behind the bar to pour a drink for everyone to calm down their nerves.

When the police arrived, no one was able to describe the robbers because of the masks they wore.  Alice told the police that she noticed a tattoo of an eagle on one of the men’s left arm.  The cop said, “It’s not much to go on, but it’s better than no clue at all.”  The cops went behind the bar by the register to check for fingerprints, but Tessie told them that the men were wearing gloves.

One beer Tom the jokester stopped in Tessie’s bar ordered a small glass of beer and said

“Here is the joke of the day”:
DRUNK
A man walks into the front door of a bar. He is obviously drunk and staggers up to the bar, seats himself on a stool and, with a belch, asks the bartender for a drink. The bartender politely informs the man that it appears he has already had plenty to drink and that he could not be served additional liquor. The bartender offers to call a cab for him.

The drunk is briefly surprised, then softly scoffs, grumbles, climbs down from the bar stool, and staggers out the front door. A few minutes later, the same drunk stumbles in the side door of the bar. He wobbles up to the bar and hollers for a drink. The bartender comes over and - still politely if not more firmly - refuses service to the man and again offers to call a cab. The drunk looks at the bartender for a moment angrily, curses, and shows himself out the side door, all the while grumbling and shaking his head.

A few minutes later, the same drunk bursts in through the back door of the bar. He plops himself up on a bar stool, gathers his wits and belligerently orders a drink. The bartender comes over and emphatically reminds the man that he is drunk and will be served no drinks. He then tells him that he can either call a cab or the police immediately.

The surprised drunk looks at the bartender and in hopeless anguish cries, "Man! How many bars do you work at?"

In the front door came Andy, Barney, and Jack.  They sat at the front end of the bar and ordered a drink. “Good joke Tom.” “What’s going on here?” asked Andy.  Tessie told them about the robbery and said, “Lucky you guys left or you would have been robbed, too.”  Andy said, “We went down the street to have dinner early because we’re going downtown tonight to celebrate Jack’s new business.  He starts Monday at this new jewelry store.”   Tessie laughed and said, “The guys who just robbed us could open up a jewelry store with all they took from here.”

“Where is our guard dog Bouncer?” asked a few of the customers.  “He went for his daily stroll around the block,” said Tessie. “The butcher next store usually gives him a bone, and the store on the corner gives him a few treats, and the guy at the paper stand usually rubs his belly.”  Just then Bouncer strolled in the front door of the bar, and jumped up on the stage to take his afternoon nap.  The customers were laughing and said, “We better turn the juke box down a little so we don’t disturb our guard dog.”

It was now seven o’clock and Tessie was glad to be getting off from work, it sure had been a long day.  Timmy, the new bartender, had arrived on time and Tessie was glad to see him.  He had only been working for Tessie for about two weeks, but he seemed to get along well with all of the customers, and he always did his job very well.  Tessie told Tim about the robbery, and warned him to be careful in case they had the nerve to come back.

Barney. Andy, and Jack left the bar to go downtown, and they gave Tessie a ride to the gas station to pick up her car that was being repaired.  While waiting for the mechanic to finish up with her car, she noticed a tattoo of an eagle on his left arm.  Without saying anything, Tessie went to the phone and called the police.  When the police arrived, Tessie was waiting for the mechanic to explain where he was during Happy Hour.  The police told Tessie that there are hundreds of men with tattoos of an eagle on their arm, but they would question him anyway. The mechanic was able to prove that he had been in the garage working since three o’clock that afternoon, and he had never left.  When the police left, the mechanic told Tessie that her car was ready, and he charged her double for the repair.

Tessie noticed that every man she seen, she was looking at their left arm for a tattoo.  “This is crazy.” she thought, “The police are probably right.  Hundreds of men have tattoos.”  At the bar, there were only a few guys watching the baseball game on TV.  When a commercial came on, the man on the television had a tattoo of an eagle on his arm. Tessie started to laugh and left the bar.

 Her boyfriend, Danny, had been missing for a few days.  Every so often he would disappear and return with a story to tell.  This time Tessie was not in the mood for his lies which always followed his disappearing act, which always followed payday. Even though he was a great guy and treated Tessie like a queen 80 percent of the time, the other 20 percent of pills, pot and lies was starting to piss her off.  His story this time was that the night before at the concert that he and his buddies went to he got lost and had to take a cab home.  Then he realized that his wallet was missing, and he had no money to pay the cab.  The driver took him to the police station where he was arrested, and none of it was his fault.

  This made her think of an old poem she had written:

Turmoil of Emotions

A destiny unknown

throughout the universe

lighted by an image

unknown misfortune remains.

The tolerance demanding

the world around us

with no freedom from situations

an unknown solution

With no trust or confidence

of a twisted, bewildered fear.

The turmoil of emotions

actually experienced.

She gave Danny a dubious look, shook her head and went across the street to the restaurant alone to get a bite to eat.  While in the restaurant, she noticed a gypsy woman sitting across from her.  The woman had on a scarf, and she had a ring on each finger.  She looked over at Tessie and said, “I see a lot of good thing in the future for you.”  Tessie really did not believe in fortunetellers, but she was curious as to what the gypsy would tell her.  The gypsy said, “Put five dollars in your hand and make two wishes.”  Tessie laughed and replied, “I wish I had five dollars.”  The gypsy said, “Put two dollars in your hand and make a wish.”  Tessie went into her purse and took out $1.45, and told the woman that that was all she had left to spend after she paid for her dinner.  The gypsy responded, “Put the $1.45 on the table and listen to what I say.  I see someone in your life that you trust very much.  It is a young man, and he is not like you think he is.  I see very much trouble in the future if you do not make changes right away.  Also, you will live a very long life.  I could tell you more, but you need more money.”  The woman picked up the $1.45 and walked out the door.  Tessie was laughing to herself, thinking about the gypsy woman and the $1.45 since she really had about fifty dollars in her pocket.  She figured it was well worth the $1.45, but not $5.00.  Tessie finished up her coffee, got a doggie bag for Bouncer, and then went back to the bar.  She told the bartender Tim about the gypsy, and a few of the customers were laughing at her story.

Just then, a police officer came into the bar, and two plain clothed men followed behind him.  They went directly behind the bar to Tim, and as they were reading him his rites they put him in handcuffs.  Tessie was really surprised to see this, and wondered what Tim had done.  The cop turned to Tessie and said, “Your man with the eagle on his arm is Tim’s brother.  We just picked him up about an hour ago.  He just held up a grocery store about a mile from here.  We found a lot of money on him, and the jewelry that was taken from your customers was in the trunk of his car.  We got a signed confession from Tim’s brother, Michael.  He was stoned when we picked him up, and he confessed to everything.  Michael got out of jail a few months ago, and your bartender just got out about two weeks ago.”

Tessie was shocked because Timmy was the last one she would think of; he seemed to be such a nice guy.  As they took Tim away, Tessie thought of the gypsy woman she had met.  Now she knew who the man was that she had been warned about.  Tessie had to go down to the police station to fill out some papers in order to get back the money and jewelry.  She knew that it would make her customers happy to get back what had been taken from them.  In the window of the bar Tessie hung a sign that read, “HELP WANTED APPLY WITHIN.”

Shortly after this Tessie wrote the following poems:

        

Fallen Star

Nobody knows the reason why

some days you can’t explain,

at the edge of the stormy sky

the clouds are filled with rain.

As the star falls down and dies

the sky is filled with pain,

as the rain comes down it cries

will it ever be the same.

Why should it be

all things must change

as life goes on

we rearrange our emotions.

Old Memory

From a promise that I made

through the years and all along

To a promise that I broke

now I know that I was wrong

Words are spoken ,without thought

then fear comes rushing in.

Destroying what took years to build

a gamble I can’t win

You stood beside me watching

yet you never said a word

As I still think of the promise

that I wonder if you hear

A black bird sings and joy it brings,

A lion growls with intense violent rage.

The forest is filled with mighty kings,

but also elegant flowers, that do not hesitate to thrive.

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