For Good by Karelia Stetz-Waters

Author:Karelia Stetz-Waters
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2016-07-05T04:00:00+00:00

5

Like many places purported by some to be sinful dens of lechery, Portland’s only lesbian bar, the Mirage, was not as fraught with tantalizing mystery as Kristen had expected. At four o’clock, it looked like any other neighborhood dive bar. The walls were dark. The lights were low. The seats were empty. The walls were covered with large mirrors etched with BUDWEISER and pictures of horses charging through snowy forests because that…had absolutely nothing to do with being a lesbian in Portland.

The bartender emerged from the back just as Kristen was about to turn around and leave. Dressed in a leopard-print bodysuit, she fulfilled Kristen’s half-realized expectations more than the mirrors and the inflatable Corona bottles hanging from the ceiling.

“We’re open,” the bartender said. “What can I get you?”

Kristen scanned the rows of flavored vodka. “You don’t have Sadfire whiskey, do you?” she asked.

“Of course!” the bartender said, as though Kristen had just guessed a secret password. “We love Sadfire. They sponsor all our Pride Week events. Neat? On the rocks?”

“Neat.”

The bartender poured a shot and slid it across the counter. “Have you met the owners, Marydale and Aldean?”

Kristen choked on the familiar names, coughing as the whiskey hit the back of her throat.

“The Consummation Rye is no joke,” the bartender said sympathetically. She filled a glass of water for Kristen. “Marydale is amazing. She does all this work with paroled felons, real social consciousness. My best dishwasher came through her program. Only stayed with us six months, but that’s okay. She got a job bartending at some fancy whiskey bar downtown. That’s the point of working with felons, right? Reintegration? Anyway, make yourself at home. Special today is popcorn shrimp and fries. Let me know if you want some food.”

The only other customer was a woman with short, dark hair who sat at the other end of the bar, glaring at her laptop. Kristen stared at the mirror behind the bar, wishing she had brought her laptop or a book. She had left her phone in the car. It felt like the moment to take up video poker, just so she’d have something to do. She had imagined herself dancing with some faceless woman on a crowded dance floor—although why she thought that would happen at four o’clock in the afternoon she could no longer fathom. In her fantasy, Marydale appeared, watching jealously. I thought you were straight, Marydale said. How could you have thought that? Kristen asked, leaving the woman and falling into Marydale’s kiss. But in her fantasy, the Mirage was also crowded, suffused with red light and redolent with the smell of rich perfume, not stale beer. She nursed her whiskey for a long time.

Five o’clock brought a few more customers, including a trio of male construction workers who seemed to be regulars despite the fact that it was a lesbian bar. The bartender disappeared for a long time and reappeared wearing fake eyelashes.

“Can I get you another?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Kristen said. “I should probably be going.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.