Hector climbed on his bike and got it started. He sighed happily when he glanced toward the house. He could see a bit of life coming into the old girl now that he’d been working on her. The farm he’d envisioned when he started to dream was actually within his grasp. He just had to sacrifice a little more time and a lot more money, and his dream of owning his own farm would be realized.
Hector actually enjoyed the ride into town. Maybe it was because it was still light out. Of course, it could have also been the lighthearted feeling flowing through him. He had accomplished something, and it settled him inside in a way he hadn’t felt in more years than he could remember.
He stopped off at the liquor store and picked up the bottles of alcohol Harvey had ordered. He was glad he had saddlebags attached to his bike, or there would have been no way to transport them.
The ride back out to the bar was a little worse as the sun had started to go down and the temperature had dropped. Still, there was enough light left that Hector could enjoy the ride, as short as it was.
When he reached the bar, he once again pulled around back, parking in his usual spot. Dixie car was absent, so he assumed she was still out running errands. He wasn’t about to ask what those errands were. That woman was into some scary shit.
He grabbed the bottles of whiskey he’d picked up and carried them into the bar. “Hey, Joey, how are things?” he asked as he walked behind the counter. He set the bottles on the shelf behind the bar then turned to Joey. “Anything I need to do?”
Joey shook his head. “Things are pretty low key right now.”
That was a good thing, especially in a bar.
“Okay, if you need me, call me.” He grabbed the rubber tub and went out onto the floor to clean up any empty glasses and take orders. Again, this wasn’t part of his job description as a bouncer, but it was something easy to do until the evening crowd arrived and he needed to man the door.
The night seemed to go pretty easy. It wasn’t the weekend, so that was part of it. Hector wasn’t sure what the other part was. The place seemed a little less populated than normal.
“Are there any festivities going on in town?” he asked Joey when he passed by him.
“Not that I’m aware of. Why?”
“It just seems a little less populated in here than normal.” He hadn’t had to chuck a single person out the front door or card anyone who looked younger than twenty-one. “It’s just weird.”
Joey glanced around the nearly empty bar then shrugged. “Maybe there is something going on. I haven’t heard of anything, but what do I know?”
Hector shook his head. He was probably making drama where there was none, but it just felt weird to him. “Since things seem so slow, mind if I head in back and put some of the stock away?”
“Sure, go.” Joey waved a dishrag at him. “I’ll call you if I need you.”
Apparently, it continued to be a slow night because Joey didn’t call him once. Hector was able to get all of the stock put away, which saved him from having to do it the next day. By the time he walked back into the main room, Joey was closing the door behind the last customer.
“Did it get any more exciting?” Hector asked.
“No.” Joey chuckled. “We had like five more people come in after you went into the back.”
Hector raised his eyebrows. “That’s it?”
Joey nodded.
“Damn.” That would barely pay the light bill for the night. If this continued, Hector was pretty sure he’d be looking for another job. “Maybe it was just a slow night.”
“It happens.”
Hector knew that. It just didn’t happen often. They had a set of regulars who came in every night like clockwork. The weekend was usually when they got the party crowd. After a long week, everyone liked to let their hair down a little and have a good time.
Joey grinned. “There’s an upside here I don’t think you’re seeing.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, it’s gonna take us about thirty minutes to get the place cleaned up for the night instead of the usual hour or so. We get to go home early.”
Hector chuckled because that was an upside. An extra thirty minutes of sleep was an extra thirty minutes of bliss. “I’ll get the floor if you want to start on the chairs.”
“Deal.”
Hector went to the back to get the broom and mop. Most people thought his job was simple, and to a point it was, but he didn’t just sit at the door and check IDs or kick rowdy customers out of the bar.
