Appropriate Time

5 The droppings of soaring wits

One head turned in his direction, and a pair of angry eyes followed Thruce as he joined his friends.

The man then quickly took up his tab from the bar and walked toward a pretty blond with sad eyes sitting in one of the cubicles.

"Can we still pay our mortgage next month?" she asked jokingly but with a serious undertone.

"Oh, no... that's right, we were celebrating our recent windfall. I don't think it's right to be here, so soon after mom's..." She choked, tears filled her eyes, and she hastily took a sip of her cocktail.

He interrupted immediately.

"I saw the bastard!"

"What? Who did you see?" She turned her head to look at the crowds to her left.

"It's him, I'm sure of it. He is here of all places. "

"Who?!" She sounded alarmed.

"That man. That Baron, what's his name... Thruce something. He's standing right there!" He pointed his finger in the direction of the three friends laughing and sipping their beer.

"What?! Let's go; I don't want to be in the same space as that murderer." She stood up to make her way to the exit.

But her husband grabbed her arm and blocked her way.

"No way we are going to leave now. I want to look at the ruffian, see what he does so soon after Carmen's death. The nerve to celebrate in a nightclub after what he did... I kill him!"

He pushed her back in her seat and took the chair opposite hers.

"Did you bring your gun in your purse with you?" He whispered.

Startled, she took up the purse to her left and put it in front of her on the table, guarding it with her hands.

"You know I always have it on me." She looked at Thruce and company.

"What are you planning? You can't shoot him here, in the middle of a night club."

"Oh, I would if I could," he sounded bitter.

"Your mother suffered because of him. The desperation she must have felt just before she took her own life. He is a waste of space. He has to go for good. I'm going to shoot him outside. "

"Billy-Bob, you are not! Don't you dare to do such a thing". She slabbed him on the wrist. Her cheeks were glowing with anger.

"If the police find out, you are sent to jail. What about the kids and me? I cannot lose you, as well. Not with mom gone and all", she started sobbing.

He looked around, self-consciously, to see if anybody noticed them.

"C'mon dear," he pleaded. "This man is not worth any consideration. He is a devil; he deceived your mother. He is responsible for her death and your pain. What else should we do to him?"

"Yeah, I know, of course, you're right. But not now, not here. We have to prepare ourselves. Make a plan. Let's go home; the kids need us. "

"Okay," Billy-Bob decided then and there. "We let him go this time. But next time, he's mine!"

He went through his red hair with one hand and sighed. "Let's go!"

They both took their coats and left. Billy-Bob made the cross sign with both his index fingers when passing Thruce and his posse. Nobody noticed anything.


"... Did you know that a sniper takes their coffee one shot at a time?"

Pam snorted with laughter. "Good pun, Thruce. I like it when you get ahead of yourself. "

"It's time for some cocktails; we can't be drinking beer the whole time. Who wants a cocktail? Thruce looked around.

A full cheer of all seven by-standers followed.

Thruce did the math, "Ten cocktails it is. I'm buying it!"

He waved his bills around. "Who's volunteering to get them? Two will do."

Two men immediately parted from the group and walked to the bar.

It was one o'clock, and the atmosphere was giddy and cheerful. Thruce was the center of attention, and loved every minute of it.

"Yes, I'll be fifty-five this year," he bragged to the man standing next to him.

"But you know what they say, the simplest way to keep track of your age is if you don't change it every year."

"Hahaha-haha-haha. "Everybody laughed out loud.

Then suddenly it happened.

From the lobby, a man came bolting back into the area where Thruce just took a sip of his Adios Motherfucker, a blue cocktail with Blue Curacao and lemon-lime soda; the dried peel of bitter orange suited him fine.

The redhead, a forty-something man, dressed in a black short-sleeved jacket revealing enormous tattoos on both arms, leaped at Thruce and hit his drink to the ground. The liquid splashed around, the sound of broken glass startled the group.

Thruce was flabbergasted. "What the fuck, man..."

But before he could add anything, the man jumped at him, knocking him out with a single punch.

"This is for Carmen, you louse." He yelled in a rage. His face all worked up and angry.

A blond woman came running after him, shouting, "No, Billy-Bob. You promised!"

The crowd stood there frozen. Nobody knew what to do.

But within seconds, two security guards were there to overpower the man, and they took him away. The man looked at Thruce and spat in his face before walking calmly to the exit, between the two hired muscles.

The blond followed quickly.

"Somebody, look out for the Baron," a man shouted, and the crowd started to regroup again. They helped Thruce up, lying on the ground with a painful jaw, still dizzy from the punch.

"What on earth was that all about?" Pam took Thruce by the arm and accompanied him to a seat.

"I haven't got the faintest idea," Thruce lied.

"Are you okay?" Bill handed him another cocktail. "Here, drink up, you are entitled to. "

That was awkward. But they all three decided to forget the incident as soon as possible. The calm returned, and they continue to party till the wee hours of the night.

The next morning Thruce had a severe hangover. He vaguely remembered drinking and having a good time. But other than that, it was a dark hole.

His head was pounding, left and right. He was still somewhat dizzy and nauseous, and he had a severe case of a bad taste in his mouth.

The only remedy was to pour himself another drink. So, he did. He splashed a gin in a glass and mixed it with tonic. He was too lazy to slice a lemon.

The smell of the liquid brought him back to life a little. The juniper berries — the predominant ingredient in gin — helped abate some symptoms related to the aftereffects, and within the next fifteen minutes, he was his old self again.

He fed Sphinx, his fifteen-year-old turtle, some lettuce, and watched the reptile of the order of Testudines walkabout in his living room. He adjusted the lightning set to accommodate his friend.

The animal just came out of his hibernation period and was as cheerful as turtles can get. He slowly crawled from his crate towards the lamppost and back. Thruce could sit and watch him do that for hours. It soothed him to look at the old pet. A gift from an aunt on his forties birthday. They had been together ever since.

Turtles could grow old into their forties, so Thruce and Sphynx could enjoy each other's company for years to come.

"Here now, turtle, Sphynxy dear. Come to pappa!" He gave the turtle another leaf of lettuce and changed his water reservoir.

In the meantime, an idea popped up in his head.

There was an incident at the club... yeah, somebody knocked his ass to the ground.

He suddenly relived the man shouting, "This is for Carmen, you louse!" And it all clicked in his mind.

That must have been her son-in-law. Thruce remembered her talking about his violent temper. He shrugged. There was no need to get all worked out over it. Things couldn't be changed. It was a fact. Carmen killed herself because of him. He felt guilty as it was. He didn't need some stupid son-in-law to remind him of that.

But, he better be on his guard. He checked the security of his house and went about his business.

Saturday, cleaning-the-house-day. Not his favorite chore, but it had to be done.

His cleaning lady was on holiday over Xmas. She was a woman still into the old faith, and he respected that. So, she had a paid vacation. Anna, the help, and Charlie, aka Charles as he called him, the chauffeur come handyman were in his household for a long time since he moved to Los Angeles. He treated them well, and the pay was reasonable.

He worked his study, the living room, the bedrooms, and the kitchen quickly. Not doing a whole lot but tidying things and cleaning here and there.

The garden was his next stop; it was freezing outside, so he better pack in real good. With the wind blower, those leaves would be gone in no time.

For an hour, he cleaned out his garden. A few leaves at the time. The noise of the blower coincided with his brain waves; he liked the sound of it. Very relaxing.

Just as he was finished with his leaves blower in his back yard, he heard a noise coming from the other side of the house.

A car, speeding with great velocity, passing by, and a minute later the sound of breaking glass.

Thruce, startled, ran around his house to see a blue Volvo leaving the scene.

When he looked to his window, he noticed it was broken, a big hole in the middle. He saw a brick with a paper attached to it lying near his comfy chair, looking through the window.

Sphynx just one-meter to the left of it, apparently unhurt. His wise head popping up and down

Bastards, he thought, and went in to assess the damage.