A
Anonymous
Guest
so I guess Ill tell you about "The Hustler"
Back in my days bartending, I was always around alchol. I was either serving it or drinking it, but I was always around it.
On my nights after work in the late 80s I would always find a local bar in which my friends and I would "Start At". From thar bar, Id make my way home which was 20 miles. Lots of times I would start at a bar known as The Wine Cellar. After that to another one in North Little Rock which I forget the name of now, maybe to BJs to ck out the Girls and on to my last stop before bedtime. The last place I stopped at was a little redneck bar called The Wagon Wheel Lounge.
By this time of night I had already drank a few refreshments and was ready to play some pool. I was never THAT good at pool, but I always liked to play. Every Monday night I would meet up with a couple of buddies named Mike Beatty and Joe Don Cook. Back in those days we would all win once in a while, but normally it was Joe. I remember meeting at the Wheel a lot of times to drink beer and shoot the breeze. Most of the time there was always a fight on Friday and Saturday nights.
Years passed and I guess we all went on to bigger and better things. I stopped stopping by after a while, but Mike and Joe were there until the day they bulldozed it. Neither of those two were ever very mean spirited so they never started fights. They just liked to drink beer, play pool, and lie to each other all night.
Yesterday, I was out bidding a job and spotted Joe. At first I wasnr sure if it was him or not, because it had been 15 yrs since we saw each other. He was in the back yard of a house they were building dressed in faded out blue jeans and a tee-shirt with a picture of a rack of pool balls on it. It seemed as though Joe had finally learned a trade. He had a skil-saw in his hand so Im assuming that he was a carpenter.
We had both gained a few pounds and both of our hair was getting a faint tint of gray but for the most part, we hadnt changed. I finally said something like,"That man will take your money if you play pool with him." Joe said, Hell, I thought that was you, but I knew that he had forgotten my name. I made it easy on him and just made small talk for the most part. I wondered which bar he was attending now. I KNEW he was still playing pool and wondered if he was still hustling those youngsters at the local pub.
I said bye to Joe and told him it was good to see him--and it was good, but my heart laughed softly as I thought about all the old times and how once, we had all known each other very well, and now how Joe couldnt conjure up my name. He probably didnt think that I had changed much either; boy if he only knew!
GOODNIGHT ALL,
Lil Brother <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="
"> <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="">
Back in my days bartending, I was always around alchol. I was either serving it or drinking it, but I was always around it.
On my nights after work in the late 80s I would always find a local bar in which my friends and I would "Start At". From thar bar, Id make my way home which was 20 miles. Lots of times I would start at a bar known as The Wine Cellar. After that to another one in North Little Rock which I forget the name of now, maybe to BJs to ck out the Girls and on to my last stop before bedtime. The last place I stopped at was a little redneck bar called The Wagon Wheel Lounge.
By this time of night I had already drank a few refreshments and was ready to play some pool. I was never THAT good at pool, but I always liked to play. Every Monday night I would meet up with a couple of buddies named Mike Beatty and Joe Don Cook. Back in those days we would all win once in a while, but normally it was Joe. I remember meeting at the Wheel a lot of times to drink beer and shoot the breeze. Most of the time there was always a fight on Friday and Saturday nights.
Years passed and I guess we all went on to bigger and better things. I stopped stopping by after a while, but Mike and Joe were there until the day they bulldozed it. Neither of those two were ever very mean spirited so they never started fights. They just liked to drink beer, play pool, and lie to each other all night.
Yesterday, I was out bidding a job and spotted Joe. At first I wasnr sure if it was him or not, because it had been 15 yrs since we saw each other. He was in the back yard of a house they were building dressed in faded out blue jeans and a tee-shirt with a picture of a rack of pool balls on it. It seemed as though Joe had finally learned a trade. He had a skil-saw in his hand so Im assuming that he was a carpenter.
We had both gained a few pounds and both of our hair was getting a faint tint of gray but for the most part, we hadnt changed. I finally said something like,"That man will take your money if you play pool with him." Joe said, Hell, I thought that was you, but I knew that he had forgotten my name. I made it easy on him and just made small talk for the most part. I wondered which bar he was attending now. I KNEW he was still playing pool and wondered if he was still hustling those youngsters at the local pub.
I said bye to Joe and told him it was good to see him--and it was good, but my heart laughed softly as I thought about all the old times and how once, we had all known each other very well, and now how Joe couldnt conjure up my name. He probably didnt think that I had changed much either; boy if he only knew!
GOODNIGHT ALL,
Lil Brother <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="
"> <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="">