Bad Karma by Douglas Clegg

Author:Douglas Clegg [Clegg, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“What?”

“I don’t have to be afraid of nothing no more.”

“That’s right. Not grammatical, but still correct.”

“Know what else?”

Trey shook his head.

Mark climbed up the ladder to the concrete. Then he leapt over the edge, cannonballing, making a huge splash when he landed.

When he came up giggling and sputtering, he cried out gleefully, “That’s what!”

Chapter 35.

The woman with the neatly trimmed reddish-brown hair, wearing jeans and a light blue cotton sweater, glanced around the oyster bar. This was the sixth dive she’d entered along the waterfront that evening. It stank of fish, and even urine from the open men’s room door. It was only eight P.M., but already the place was packed, wall to wall with people drinking beer or devouring oysters and shrimp. The place was filthy, although the management had tried to cover this up with sawdust on the floor and dim lighting all around the bar and tables.

It reminded her so much of her past, of the very reason she was there.

In an ordinary saloon, or restaurant, no one would look twice at this woman. Her hair was an obvious over-the-counter dye job.

Her eyes were pretty but small. Her face was pale, as if she hadn’t been in the sun in years. Her lips, thickened with glossy lipstick, were curved nicely. She would be considered moderately attractive in another setting.

But in that particular bar near the harbor, she might be the most ravishingly beautiful woman in all creation.

There were seven men sitting at the bar itself, and when she entered the bar area, four of them turned to look at her. The others slowly turned also when they noticed their compadres doing so. She tried to read them, but it was difficult with the noise from the juke box, and all the talking. She had been to three other such bars already, and was exhausted. It took a lot out of her to get a good reading of someone, particularly in this sort of environment.

One of the men winked at her. He was twenty-two or -three. Five o’clock shadow. Dark, thick hair. Brown eyes. Well-built but short.

His eyes stayed on hers the longest. She counted the seconds until he looked away. Then he glanced back again.

Boldly, she walked over to stand by him.

“Hi,” he said. His breath was spit and beer. He was horny. That was enough.

“You’ll do,” she said.

“Huh?”

“You got a boat?”

He nodded. “Sure. Me and a hundred guys down here. Why?

You into boats?”

She felt chilly, and was afraid for a moment that someone else was watching her. Someone who was threatening in some way. She felt that way whenever one of her own species was nearby. She could feel whoever was watching her just as if they were touching her face.

She didn’t particularly like that feeling. It passed, however, and she returned her attention to the man on the barstool.

“Yeah,” she said. “I really get into boats.”

She turned slightly to the right, but could not tell where the threat was coming from.

When the dark-haired man ordered her a beer, she knew.

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