The last thing Mary did before leaving the meat room was tell Bill to make sure he changed his pants. Mary was superstitious about spilled blood, and so far, every time Bill had not listened to her he had cut himself. He wasn’t about to listen to her this time either, but something in his gut told him he should. However, like inpatient youth, he disregarded his gut and went back upstairs without having changed.
First thing, Mary saw that blood.
“Boy,” she said, “I have to take you down there and make you change myself?”
“It’s just a little blood,” Bill said.
“You want to be able to take me to The Upper Room?” she asked.
Bill thought about it for a moment wondering why she was making such a big deal. But he knew for sure that he wanted to take her to The Upper Room, so he did an about-face and went back downstairs.
When everything was all set upstairs and Mary was well on the way to having everything in order for the lunch, Bill went back to the meat room. First thing he did was go to the drawer where he kept the bourbon. He took the bottle from under the towels, where it was always kept, unscrewed the cap, took himself a long drink. He was tired, but not overly so. He’d been able to get a solid three hours sleep at Lorraine’s house.
He remembered. As he remembered he took another drink from the bottle. He could see that during the lunch break he would have to go out to the liquor store to replenish their supply. He hoped Henry Lee would be able to chip in for the new bottle. Regardless, they would get a bottle.
What he remembered was how Lorraine cooed when he started in on her feet again. But he’d known he wasn’t long for the world and he’d fallen quickly off to sleep. Being considerate, Lorraine tiptoed out of the room, careful not to disturb him. When he woke to her alarm and they said goodbye, she didn’t bring up anything about him owing her.
He had drugs in his locker. He was going to give Marie some downers and he had some uppers in case he needed them. For him and Mary he had a special stash that consisted of Quaaludes and Black Beauties. He planned to bring some nice red wine for them so they could lounge on the sofa and sail into whatever they were going into.
While he was thinking, even before he put away the bourbon, Mary came into the meat room. She saw him kind of staring out into space.
“Lost in thoughts?” she asked.
“Kind of.”
“Should I ask what you’re thinking?”
“About you and me. About tonight.”
“Yeah? Well don’t get too lost in it. My boy giving me a hard time about it.”
Bill shrugged his shoulders. “It is what it is,” he said.
Mary stepped close to him and kissed him. “I hate you,” she whispered in his ear. Then she bit him on his earlobe.
That’s how Henry Lee found them when he walked into the meat room. “Damn,” he said. Then, seeing that the bourbon was still out, he reached for it and took a long drink. “Gonna be a good day,” he said cheerfully. “ Want me to leave you two alone?”
“Nah,” said Bill. “She was just telling me she hates me.”
“Yeah. I can see that,” Henry Lee said.
