A good-looking blonde girl was sitting on the stool next to his.
"My name's Sheryl," she said. "Wanna party?"
CHAPTER 10
The minute he saw her, he knew she was going to be more fun than any of the others. Something in her eyes. Something in her smile. Something in the way she plumped her cute little bottom down on the bar stool, and crossed her legs, and propped one elbow on the bar, and her chin on her hand, and looked him mischievously in the eye mdash;a fun girl, he could tell that at once.
"Well, well, well, hello, Sheryl," he said.
"Well, well, well, hello to you," she said.
"Barkeep," he said, "see what the lady'll have."
"Barkeep, I love that," Sheryl said.
A fun girl. He knew it.
"So what'll it be?" he asked.
"What areyou drinking?"
"Gin and tonic."
"I'll have the same," she said.
"A gin and tonic for the lady," he said to Larry, and then immediately, "This guy walks into a bar hellip;"
"You already told this one," Larry said.
"This is another one. Guy walks into a bar, says, 'See that cat over there?' Everybody looks at the cat. Big tomcat with an enormous tail. The guys says, 'I'll bet any man in the house my penis is longer than that cat's tail.' Everybody wants to bet him. Hundred-dollar bills come out all over the place. The guy says to the bartender hellip;"
"Gin and tonic," Larry said, "three bucks, a bargain."
"You should learn not to interrupt a story," he said.
"Tell 'im," Sheryl said.
"The guy says to the bartender, 'Okay, measure us.' So the bartender takes out a tape measure, goes over to the cat, measures the cat's tail, and says, 'Fourteen inches.' They guy nods and says, 'Okay, now measure my penis.' The bartender measures the penis. 'Eight inches,' he says. 'You lose.' The guy looks at him. 'Excuse me,' he says, 'but exactlyhow did you measure that cat's tail?' The bartender says, 'I put one end of the tape against his asshole and the other end hellip;' and the guy says, 'Would you mind showing me the same consideration?' "
Sheryl burst out laughing.
Larry said, "I don't get it. You owe me three bucks."
He paid for the drink. Sheryl was still laughing.
A fun girl.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Robert Redford," he said, which wasn't too far from the truth in that his first name really was Robert.
"I believe you," she said, and winked at Larry. "What do people call you? Rob? Bob? Bobby?"
"Bobby," he said, which was absolutely the truth.
"And how doesyour tail measure up against that cat's, Bobby?"
"Want to find out?" he said.
"Oooo, yes," Sheryl said, and rolled her eyes.
"Think that might be fun, huh?" he said.
"I think it'd beloads of fun," she said. "I'll tell you what I get, Bobby. A handjob's hellip;"
"Not yet," he said.
"Well, you see, Bobby, I'm a working girl. So whereas there's nothing I'd enjoy more than sitting here all night with you hellip;"
He put a twenty-dollar bill on the bartop.
"Let's say we're running a tab," he said.
"You mean you and me? Or you and Larry?"
"You and me. The twenty's yours. It buys twenty minutes, a dollar a minute. We'll talk about renewing the option when the meter runs out. How's that sound, Sheryl?"
"No problem," she said, and scooped up the bill.
"Four bucks of that is mine," Larry said, and held out his hand. Sheryl made a face, but she gave him the twenty, and watched him as he walked down to the cash register to make change.
"So where you from, Bobby?" she asked.
"Most recently? Chicago. Before that, Kansas City."
Playing it recklessly. Those were the two cities exactly. But that's what made this so exciting. Playing the game for the ultimate risk.
Larry was back with her change. "Here's your sixteen," he said, handing her three fives and a single.
"You take out a fourteen-inch whanger in here," she said, "Larry'll want twenty percent of it."
"I never yet seen nobody with a fourteen-incher," Larry said.
"You been looking?" she asked, and winked at Bobby and put the bills into her handbag. "What Larry does, he checks out the men's room for fourteen-inchers."
"This soldier is in the men's room taking a shower," Bobby said. "All the other guys in his company hellip;"
"Is this another one?" Larry said.