Page 73 of Double Shot
Hal looked up and squinted at me, his head jerking back slightly before recognition dawned and he stood up.
“Sadie girl?” he asked, and I smiled.
“Hi, you remember me?”
Hal lurched on his feet and hugged me, Conan stood straighter and looked like he was ready to step in, but drew up at a stern look from me. I wrinkled my nose slightly at the pungent body odor coming off of Hal and tried not to let it show on my face that it bothered me when he pulled back to look at me.
“You look fine, girl. Damn fine,” he said, and I smiled. “What you go and do? Get yourself a sugar daddy?” he asked, eyeing Conan.
“Two,” I said giggling, and he laughed at me, his face pinching into worried lines.
“You good, though?” he asked, and I nodded as he said, “’Cause we all thought you was dead somewhere.”
“Almost,” I told him. “If it wasn’t for Conan, I would be.”
He looked past me, up at Conan and nodded.
“The Red Queen, the one in my head, she said you was dead.” He started tearing up and I put a hand on his arm.
“Oh, no, no, Hal. We’ve talked about this,” I murmured.
“I know. I know what you said. She doesn’t always tell the truth.”
“That’s right,” I soothed.
“Sadie, sometimes she can be real mean,” he told me and I nodded.
“No, I know, Hal… she can’t help it though.”
“I know, I know, you said that too. Sometimes people are mean because people are mean to them.” I nodded kindly.
“Have you eaten today?” I asked, and he shook his head. “Will you be here? Can I get you something to eat?” He nodded, and I led him back to his seat.
“Right, alright. You play, I’ll go get you some food.”
“It’s so good to see your face girl, the Red Queen,” he shook his finger at the sky, “she almost had me fooled this time.”
I smiled and nodded. “You play,” I told him, and he nodded.
“Come on,” I murmured to Conan. “I need to find him something to eat.”
Mutely, my lover followed me across the way to a little café. I ordered two sandwiches, waited for them to pack them up with their side of an apple and a bag of chips each and I brought them outside.
“Are you alright, Poppet?” Conan asked me.
“Oh, yeah. Absolutely,” I answered, stopping for the crosswalk light. “I know I can’t save him, or anybody else and I know in the grand scheme of things that this won’t make much of a difference,” I said, hefting the bag with its two Styrofoam clamshells. “But it will make today, and maybe even tomorrow a little easier,” I said.
We went back and got to the table just as Hal took the young man’s king. The small crowd of hipster and nerdy types all mumbled and muttered and there was a small smattering of applause. I smiled when Conan swiftly took the young man’s seat and began to set up the pieces. I sat beside Hal.
“If you would like to eat, I’ll set the board up for another game,” Conan said and Hal nodded.
“Eh, thank you—”
“Conan,” Roan supplied.
“Like the Cimmerian.” Hal nodded, and I giggled at Conan’s silent but accursed look. Hal either didn’t notice or didn’t care, saying, “Chess isn’t a game for barbarians, you know. It’s a game of kings – did you know Sadie here is a queen?”
I smiled and opened up one of the containers of food and handed Hal a half of the sandwich inside. He began to chew furiously, taking half of the sandwich half in one bite.
