Youll excuse me he said to the group he was standing with at the bar The mouth over there is getting the better of me I gotta shut him upfuckin whiner

You think that’s a good idea?

Yawanna keep listening to him

No, but . .

. . No buts I aint moving any furthur down the bar or heading outside

taking his beer in hand he stepped back into the aisle made of bodiessomeone immediately slipped infilled where he stood

       he smiled was nice to have a placeholder

Excuse me man

                 the guy had his back to himstood in the body aisle facing two others he couldnt see them big guy where they were seatedtheir backs to a brick wall

                                              Excuse me he tapped him on the shoulder felt like a brick wall 

he tipped his hips something inside him creaked hafturned to him Talkin to me?

Tapped your shoulder yah

                            Neanderthal Ya aint that stupid areya

What do you want? clear as a bell no slurring

I want you to quit your whining

                                  the man and woman seated with him vacated Gotta get going Cass

Yeah . . later never once taking his eye off him Quit whining.

                                                             his face congealed they knew each other from somewheresomewhere

Whining  Yes

he turned completely aroundthe small of his back to the tall round café table nobody filled the stools behind him

                                                                                                                       Sure you want to say whining?

Ya got another word from it

                                 I also got bellyaching

You got your nerve, buddy.

I understand yare recently divorced I understand dates arent going well I don understand you cryin bout baggage At yer agetheir age Id assume baggage We got baggage by the time were twenty We aint twenty An you aint dating or attracting high school girlsWHO have baggage

Thats wha I came over to say

                                Baggage is exponentialaint linear the older we get  I aint got data though

I could commiserate with youIm not Ill side with ya But please please  please stop the . . whayawanna call it whinincryinbellyachin Ill let you say

Cass set his beer on the table behind himballed his fists

he was nonchalant was hanging onto his heavy glass handled mug  if he had to use it to defend himselfequalise the playing field he was okay with that

What if I were to say you got a big mouth.

Yasayin

          Cuz ifya are Id say wha I said were words out of your mouth  Now ya got an issue with the truth

I aint a mindreader

You got a big mouth.

Do I Aside from this conversation whaelse ya hear me say tonight

                                                                         About anything

he stuck his toe in the wood floor maybe pretending it was dirt

About anything

You like pushing things.

When theres a right an wrong a true an false yacan bet yer ass

                                                                    How do you come down on things an don tell me like a ton of brick

Cass cracked a smile despite himself

                                         I think we know each other.

I think we do too

                  Ya can buy me a beer an we can talk about it talkbout baggage

Yeah . . what you said.

Exponentially or linearly

Yeah . . what you said.

Late 1600hrs,  ReggaeFriday,  22  10. 21

1444,  Sunday – HAPPY HALLOWEEN,  31  10. 21