It was Friday night and Joey had cash in pocket.  He entered his favorite dive bar and found Tony sitting at a table with great view of the TV.  There was already a pitcher of beer on the table – half gone of course, and Tony was digging into a plate of wings.   Joey grabbed the chair next to him and poured a glass of bear.

The talking heads at ESPN were talking away.  Joey looked around the bar to see if any of the other regulars were in yet.  He noticed a strawberry-blonde sitting at the bar by herself.  Tony had stopped eating and was saying something to Joey, but Joey was mesmerized by the girl.   A sharp jab to the shoulder broke the spell, and Joey turned to Tony.

“What?”

“It’s your turn.  Go get another pitcher and tell the guy at the bar to switch the TV.  The game is starting in 5 minutes”.

Joey topped off both their glasses and took the empty pitcher up to the bar.  By time he got back from the bar the announcers were reading through the starting line ups.

 

*    *    *

 

The first quarter clock ran down to zero.  Joey took his attention from the TV and glanced around the room.  The strawberry-blonde was still at the bar and still by herself.

“I think I’m going to go check her out.”

“That one.  She’s got crazy eyes.”

“Yeah, but she’s also way up on the hot scale too.”

“Nah man, she’s above the line, top of the danger zone.”

“You’re just bummed because I saw her first.”

“I saw her as soon as I got here.   Those are really, really crazy eyes.”

“Whatever dude.  Wish me luck.”

Joey pushed back from the table and headed to the bar.

 

Before Joey even got to the bar, she spoke without turning around.

“Took you long enough.”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I’ve been waiting here all night.  I didn’t think you would ever get up the nerve to come over.”

“You wanted me to come over?”

“I put a spell on this empty stool so no one else could sit in it.”

“You put a spell on the bar stool?”

“For fuck’s sake: Shut up; sit down; buy me a drink.”

Joey hesitated, then slid up to the bar.  He waved to the barkeep to get his attention.

“What are you drinking?”

“Gin and Tonic.”

Yelling down to the barkeep, “Gin and Tonic.  Two.”

Turning back, he said “Hi, I’m Joey.”

“Hello Joey.”

After an awkward pause, “And do you have a name?”

“Of course, I have a name Joey.”

And another pause followed by “And are you going to tell me?”

“Which name do you want?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you want the name I give to strange men in bars?  Or the name my mother gave me?”

“Let’s go with the name your mother gave you.”

“OK, I’m Amber.”

“Really?  Your mother gave you a stripper name?”

“Yeah, bless her heart.”

“Alright then, so what name do you usually give to strangers in bars?”

“Amber.”

Her blue eyes twinkled.  There was just a hint of a smile at the corners of her lips.

 

I met a girl she was half out of her mind

That’s okay cause I’m half out of mine

She said I’m tired of love, all the games, and crying

And all I want from you is a real good time

 

After a few drinks and some idle chit-chat, Joey turned to face Amber.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”

“No, you haven’t. I’m just passing through.”

“Oh, so where are you from?”

“Not here.”

“Okay then.” Slight pause. “And where might you be going?”

“Not here.”

“Uh huh, I see.  Top Secret stuff huh?”

“Nope.  Just mostly boring.”

“Boring is under-rated.  So uh, fate just happened to bring us together tonight then?”

“Could be.”  She continued, “My car is broken.  The part won’t be here for 4 days.  I’m stuck in a shitty motel just down the street, because that’s all I can afford.   The place reeks, but I did make the manager come down and put clean sheets on the bed.”

She turned her stool away from the bar and faced the door.

“What?  Are you leaving now?”

“Joey.  You really are slow on the uptake aren’t you.”  She slid down from the stool and started walking towards the door.  She called out over her shoulder, “Decide quickly Joey.  Time is wasting.”

 

Said I know how you feel cause I’ve been there too

She said you’re wasting time we got things to do

 

Joey watched her walking away for a second or two, then shook his head.   He pushed away from the bar and followed her out into the parking lot.

 

I like the way you move me

I like the way you bring it to me

Love the way you know what’s on my mind

 

I like the way you shake it

I like the way you don’t have to fake it

Knew right from the start it would be fine

 

Joey had to hustle to catch up with Amber.  He struggled to think of something witty to say, but nothing was coming.  She said nothing.  So, he gave up and did the same.

After a few minutes she cut across an open lot to the parking lot of the Motel Caswell.  The lot was nearly empty; there were only few beat-up old wrecks parked here and there.  She walked across the lot to a room away from all of the vehicles and pulled a key with a plastic tag out of her jeans pocket.   She struggled to get the key to turn over in the lock, and then she had to lean into the door to get it to open.   Once across the threshold, she dropped her purse on the dresser then turned to him and started to unbutton her blouse.

“Be sure to take off your socks.” Turning away, “I hate it when they don’t take off their socks.”

Joey stepped in and closed the door behind himself.

 

Later

 

I was laying in bed trying to catch my breath

Half ashamed half smiling at the things we did

 

She made it clear from the start it was a one-night stand

But I was thinking of ways to make her change her plan

 

Nobody else ever made me feel this way

Sounds shallow well I’m sorry what should I say

 

Joey scooted up in the bed to a sitting position.

“So, you’re going to be here for a few more days right.  Perhaps we can get together again.”

“I tell you what.  I’ll let you buy me breakfast”.

“When should I pick you up.”

“I meant right now.”

“It’s 3 o’clock in the morning.”

“Yeah, but there’s a waffle house right around the corner, and I haven’t eaten since noon yesterday.”

“Really.  Why not?”

“You forgot that part about not having much cash?”

“Oh, right.”

“So, buy me breakfast, we can talk about what happens after that.  Go jump in the shower, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

 

I like the way you move me

I like the way you know how to do me

Like the way you know what’s on my mind

 

I like the way you shake it

I love the way you don’t have to fake it

 

Knew right from the start it would be

Don’t you think that we too could be

I’ll bet anything that could be fine

 

Amber stepped into the shower, and put her left hand on Joey’s shoulder.   He turned towards her, and she stepped in close and put her arm around his waist.  He put both hands on her head and tilted it up.  He leaned down to kiss her lips.

The pain was excruciating as the stiletto slipped between his ribs and pierced his heart.

Joey sunk slowly to his knees, and Amber first stepped backward in the tub and then out on to the floor.  Blood ran down his chest, then across his hip, and finally fell into the water at the bottom of the tub before going down the drain.  His eyes fluttered a bit, then closed.

Amber walked out of the bathroom and opened a drawer in the nightstand.  She pulled out a large ziplock bag that held a scalpel and a battery-operated Dremel with a cutting wheel.

Joey was in the same position as when Amber left.  The shower was still running and continued to wash the trickle of blood from the wound down the drain.  She turned off the water.

She grabbed Joey by the hair and pulled his body forward in the tub.   He landed face down, so it was hard work getting him rolled over and face up.  She used the scalpel to cut a deep Y into his torso and then pulled back the skin and muscle exposing the ribs.  The Dremel made quick work of cutting through the ribs.  She lifted out the sternum exposing the heart below.  A few flicks of the wrist and the heart was free.

She turned the shower back on and rinsed off the heart and her tools.  The heart went into the ziplock bag.   She carefully climbed back into the shower with her feet placed precariously on both sides of the body.   She quickly washed her hair and body, then turned off the water and climbed out of the tub.

 

*    *    *

 

Once she was dressed, she put the tools and the ziplock bag with heart into her purse.   Then she turned off the lights and left the room.  She walked across the parking lot and down the street away from the bar.  At mid-block, she crossed over to an old Buick and climbed into the driver seat.  A quiet voice came from the back seat.

“That took a long time.”

“Well, a girl has to have a little fun every now and then.”

She pulled the ziplock bag out of her purse, unsealed the bag, and then handed it back over the seat.  A frail, trembling hand reached out and took the bag.

“Where should we go now?” Amber asked.

“It’s starting to get cold.  We should go south.” He replied.

“South it is.”

Amber started the car.   She watched him in the review mirror as he carefully maneuvered the heart in the open ziplock bag to expose the cut edges of the aorta.  He began to nibble at the edges.  His face was sagging and the eyes were sunken.  But after just a few nibbles, she could see his face was starting to fill in.

“You be careful not to get that shit all over the seat back there.  It’s a bitch to scrub that out of the upholstery.”

“As you wish.”

She dropped the transmission into drive and pulled away from the curb.

 

I like the way you move me

I like the way you know how to do me

Like the way you know what’s on my mind

 

I like the way you shake it

I like the way you don’t have to fake it

Knew right from the start it would be fine

 

 

{Like The Way She Moves; Chris Isaak; 1998}