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Bells jingled over my head as I escaped a busy downtown street into the bar. The smell of cigarette smoke filled my nostrils, and dim overhead lighting mixed with a kaleidoscope of neon signs. I walked up to the bar and dropped my purse on the counter. A bartender turned and greeted me.
“Hey, ma’am, what can I do for you?”
“Could I get a brandy? And make it a double.”
“Tough day?”
I gave him a “you have no idea” look as I slid onto a stool.
“You could say that.”
He walked away, and I pulled my phone out of my purse. Thumbing through texts, I came back to the text that ruined my day.
“Did you see that your loser husband got arrested?”
I shook my head and sighed.
Oh, Austin, junior high school, much?
A newscaster’s voice cut through the buzz of bar chatter, drawing eyes to three television screens hanging over the bar.
“Coming up in tonight’s news, police apprehended a man they caught sitting in his car, parked in a neighborhood after dark, and you won’t believe what he was doing. We’ll have eyewitness accounts for you, but first, the weather.”
Great. Just what I needed.
Further down the bar, a man swore at the television. An American flag bandanna pulled his greasy, red hair back from his forehead, and a torn, denim vest hung around his sunburned, tattooed shoulders.
“Goddamn sicko!”
He turned to a table of people sitting behind him and hollered.
“Can you believe that shit? The mother fucker got caught jacking off in his car. Parked in a neighborhood! I bet he’s a fuckin’ peeping tom!”
Hardly. He could never take his eyes off me.
The weather report ended, and Ron’s story started. Old news for me. His stunt got local news coverage all day. The bartender returned.
“Here’s your double, ma’am.”
I lifted the glass to my mouth, hoping to drown out the tenacious guilt about Ron that haunted me all day.
“And now, we go to Sylvia, live on-site where police arrested Ron Stroker. Sylvia, what are neighbors saying?”
I choked on the brandy.
Fuck, they’re in front of my house.
“Well, Carl, first, viewer discretion is advised. This report is both disturbing and of an adult nature.”
“That’s right, folks. Send the kids to bed. Go ahead, Sylvia.”
“So, I spoke with several neighbors who knew Mr. Stroker in passing and are very disturbed to learn he was parked near their homes, pleasuring himself in his car. One woman, Mrs. Adley, told me...”
Oh, God, that bitch couldn’t wait to get on camera.
The loudmouth down the bar started again.
“If I’d have caught him, I’d have beat the shit out of that little pervert.”
Ok, Mr. High and Mighty. That’s enough.
I finished the brandy, set it down, and sauntered over to the resident redneck preacher.
“Hey, handsome. Those are some nice tats you’ve got there.”
He turned towards me with a crooked smile, sucking in his gut and puffing out his chest.
“You like those, little lady?”
My voice dripped honey.
“Oh, I do.”
I reached out, placing my hand on his chest where his denim vest opened, and curled his chest hair with my fingers.
“You know, I’ve had a long, hard day. I could use a man that knows how to handle a woman. I don’t suppose you know of anyone in here that might know how to take care of a woman’s needs, would you?”
He chuckled.
“Why, sugar, you found your guy right here. You don’t look like a regular in this bar, but people around here call me ‘Big Rick’, and they aren’t just talking about my muscles if you catch my drift.”
He gave me a dramatic wink, and I cooed in response, batting my eyelashes and moving in closer to slide my hand down his chest towards his crotch.
“Really? That sounds very enticing.”
“One ride with Big Rick, and you’ll forget all about that hard day you’ve had.”
I continued sliding my hand down, over a large, silver belt buckle until I touched his crotch, making him jump.
“Ooh, you’re a frisky little devil, ain’t ya?”
“Well, when a lady gets her sights on a Big Rick, it’s hard to keep her hands to herself.”
His cock hardened in his jeans as I stroked through the fabric.
“I see that.”
I leaned forward so he could hear me whisper.
“It’s kind of exciting, don’t ya think? I mean, just look at you, letting a strange woman touch your cock in the middle of this bar with these people all around. People who know you.”
He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked around.
“Your cock likes what I’m doing. It likes it a lot. Such a dirty boy. You know what some people might say?”
He snickered through his heavy breathing.
“I bet you’re gonna tell me.”
I clenched his shaft as hard as I could, making him double over and expel a heavy groan.
“They’d say you’re a fucking pervert!”
I held onto his shaft and lowered myself to the floor with him as he fell to his knees, his eyes wincing. He hissed through his gritted teeth.
“Let go, you bitch!”
My voice lowered to a stern scolding.
“So, where do you get off calling the guy in the car a pervert? You don’t know him.”
He grappled to protect his crotch as I released him and stood up. I raised my voice.
“You believe everything you hear on TV?”
I planted my toe into his chest and pushed his writhing body back onto the floor.
“Dammit, you cunt!”
My heel dug into him as I leaned my weight into it.
“That pervert is my husband. That’s my house in the background. He wasn’t there creeping on anyone.”
I stood up straight and took my heel off him.
“He was there...”
My voice broke. Guilt, regret, sadness for Ron. They all pushed their way to the surface. I turned away, and my voice lowered.
“He was there because of me.”
The dethroned lump of self-righteousness on the floor groaned and struggled to get up, clutching his package and cringing. As he reached a hunched over, standing position, he spat at my feet and grumbled at a bartender.
“This is bullshit, man. This bitch assaulted me!”
He stumbled towards the door, continuing to mumble.
“It’s bullshit!”
I walked back towards my purse, motioning to the bartender.
“Another double, please.”
I sat staring at the counter in front of me. The bartender leaned over the bar and lowered his voice as he pushed the drink in front of me.
“Wanna talk, ma’am?”
I took a deep breath and pushed it out.
“He’s a good man.”
“The guy on the news? Your husband?”
“Yeah. Him.”
I picked up the glass and took a large swig.
“What was he doing outside your house?” he asked.
“It’s a long story. But that’s not like him. I brought it out of him. I drove a good man to ruin his whole life.”
He eyed me as he dried off a glass with a towel. I glanced up from my drink.
“You know, ma’am, I know I don’t know you, but what you are talking about... I don’t think you could do it. I mean, you’re a tough cookie.”
He chuckled as he nodded at the door.
“Big Rick’s just a blowhard. He had that coming.”
He set the glass down and picked up another.
“But to do what you’re saying... that would take a manipulative bitch - someone sadistic and cruel - to get inside a good man’s head and bring him to ruin like that. You don’t look like the person to do that.”
I forced a smile.
“Thanks for that.”
I’m going to hell.
