Be Young, Be Dope, Be Proud

 

The Fourth was coming and seriously Sal was thinking of closing up the bar.

"Now why would you do a thing like that?" Aaron's smile was smart and really, he'd never expected to hear him say as much.

"Don't you want us to close early?" Sal winced. He knew it was his call. He'd seen how rowdy the bar could get in the past. And some years, he just felt stuck with all that smoke in the air. 

"Oh, I dunno. I thought you'd want the business." Aaron shrugged as he went to get the glassware in its place above the bar. He was an organized fellow. Sometimes, he might wash something twice.

"Um, I think we can wait. We aren't in that dire need." Sal shrugged as he checked an old ledger from the year before. Of course, it might be best to let Aaron file it on the computer, but he was in no hurry. Besides, he had a cookout to tend to for the Fourth. "Besides, got to see my daughter," He smiled.

"Oh, yeah. the cookout," Aaron said he was excited about it. "Jody can't hardly wait to see all her brothers."

"And her mother will be there too," Sal nodded.

"Oh really?" Aaron looked at him blankly as he held a bar towel in his hand. "You been talking to her?"

Sal shook his head, no. In fact, he hadn't been talking to Aaron's mother either. Oh, she'd stayed most of the winter at his place in the guestroom. He never did say much about it to anyone. It wasn't like it was anything exciting. She was behind in her rent and sometimes, she did like for him to stay up late and listen to her talk over a bottle of red wine, which he did not partake of. Yes, she had her troubles. He knew Aaron wasn't on any medications at all. She was the one bipolar. As of yet, she'd never let Aaron meet his dad. But it didn't seem to be a real problem. And now she'd met a Hell's Angel and was off to see Yellowstone. 

Yes, Aaron was remotely quiet around his mother, like a beaten-down dog. But he seemed to be in good spirits now with Jody around. 

"Jay gets a call from her at least once a week," Sal told Aaron that Fan was in Council Bluffs. "But she says she'll come the Fourth. I think she's ready to be a grandma now."

"Yeah, that could happen any day, couldn't it?" Aaron said he could run the bar if need be.

"Well, that's nice of you," Sal smiled back as he shut the register closed.

"You know, you're like a dad I never had," Aaron told him.

"Well, you're like a son, I never had," Sal grinned back.

"You're sure you don't want to stay open on the Fourth?" Aaron asked again. Sal got both a Mexican soda from the fridge behind the bar. he handed Aaron one.

"I'm sure," Sal smiled and they clicked the bottle of sodas as if they might already be celebrating.