The 'Cousins'

Part Ninety-One : Another Sting, Another Tail!

Dedication: There is a joy for any author gaining reads for their works, while supportive comments and votes intensify that joy. None more so when they come from a reader several decades younger than oneself. Such a reader is Emily who is fifteen going on sixteen and lives in New York State who has read twenty-one chapters of The 'Cousins' in a little over a week, gladdening this old dinosaur's heart. Emily, this chapter is for you. (@blueranger11)

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Another Sting, Another Tail!

A/N: We left Jess being shepherded through Wendy's by Tom Silvers under instructions from Felix through Kyler not to let Jess out of his sight for a moment following the boy's decision to do the shoot on Sunday for Felix. Jess intended to earn the money, pay his debt and go home, leaving Bamptonville for good. He has had second thoughts since and notwithstanding the debt ,wants to go home immediately and put Bamptonville behind him for good, but he can't because Silvers is watching his every move. Now read on:

  Raucous laughter mixed with excited chatter from the bar overrode the jukebox turned up to full volume from which Mark Chesnutt delivered ‘Hard Drinking Man’ over and over again; it was easily the most popular musical choice of the evening. The Bat-wing doors at the entrance were never still as evermore people crowded into the bar to join the party.

"I'm comin’ I’m comin; I’ve only got one pair of hands.” 

  Merv rushed around to fill orders with no time even to wipe the sweat drops from his brow, dispersing them with fierce shakes of his head as he opened yet another bottle, or poured another shot of booze with ice into a glass. The whole staff; waitress Dulcie, the cook and the kitchen hand were lined up behind the bar helping Merv with serving. Nobody was ordering food tonight; people only wanted drinks and they stood four deep at the bar clamouring for service in between joking, chanting and laughing. Harry’s Place was in party mood to celebrate Mitt Fawley’s decision to run for mayor. He was there amongst them, soaking up their alcohol-fuelled adulation, and he had a lot to do with the carnival mood of the evening, as all the drinks were on him.

  The crowd and the growing festive atmosphere spilled over from the bar into the foyer, but stopped where Jess sat alone in the gloom of the farthest corner table of the empty restaurant section where Tom Silvers had parked him after they walked in from Wendy’s. 

  Tom was determined to get his fill of the free liquor and had left Jess on his own to thrust himself into the the throng of celebrants in the bar to join in their laudatory chants of  ‘Here’s to our new mayor’ and to drink the free beer rewards that followed each toast.  Tom Silvers was well known at school for his unpredictable mood swings and erratic, even violent behaviour: especially when he was in drink. He was on the periphery of Felix and his remuda because of his unreliability, but had been hired by Kyler to watch over Jess tonight. Felix wanted to be certain that nothing or nobody changed the boy’s mind to do the studio shoot on Sunday and had ordered Kyler, Leon and Billie-Jo to keep a close watch on Jess until Sunday.  Kyler engaged Silvers to stand in as minder over Jess while  they were otherwise engaged in running the changed arrangements for Felix's vice operation tonight

  Jess sat alone at the table, brooding on his situation and fiddling with the bottle of Coke Tom had brought over for him; he kept one eye on the door for a chance to slip away unnoticed by his chaperone cum captor. Jess remained firm in his decision to abandon Bamptonville and go home tonight and was still determined to do so, if only he could get away from Silvers. He looked at his watch and grimaced,  ‘too late to go home tonight unless I walk or steal a bicycle.’  The idea of making his own way home appealed to him in preference to staying here any longer. ‘If only I can get away without Silvers spotting me. He’s sure to stop me if he does.’