Write Your Own Song

Chapter 27

The bartender placed two cold bottles in front of him and his brand new friend, Jimmy. Picking it up, Bobby tilted it, clanging it against the other guy's bottle in a half-assed toast. "To dumb broads who cause trouble."

"Amen," Jimmy said, taking a swig of his bottle.

"How do you do it, man?"

Jimmy raised his eyebrow as far as his swollen eye would allow. Bobby mentally patted himself on the back. Before they decided to end the fight, he'd gotten in some pretty good hits. "Do what?"

"Put up with her shit?" Bobby shook his head, Jolene's raptor-like screeches still echoing in his ears. "Broad like that, I would've thrown a goddamn party if I came home and found her bags packed and her ass off the couch. More trouble than they're worth."

Jimmy shrugged. "Easier to hold on to her than worry about all the crap you gotta go though to get rid of her."

"You obviously haven't been stuck in a car with her for six hours."

Jimmy snorted a laugh. "You think she's bad, you should meet her mother."

"That's why I prefer the broads who don't want a relationship. Get laid and then send them on their merry way. No mother-in-laws, no rugrats, no fucking anniversaries to forget and then get bitched out over. I'm tellin' you, man, ditch her and see what you're missing."

Shaking his head, Jimmy studied his beer bottle and sighed. "You don't understand. You need to find the right one and then you'll see."

Revulsion swept over Bobby. Next Jimmy was going to start talking about feelings and finding yourself and all kinds of crap that gave Bobby hives. "What is this, fucking Phil Donahue?"

Grinning, Jimmy tipped his bottle at him before taking a swig. "Just tellin' you the truth."

Bobby figured this dumbass needed to know the truth and laid it out on the bar bluntly and without warning. "She fucked my kid brother."

Jimmy shrugged. "Nobody said marriage was perfect."

XxXxXxXxXx

Bobby looked in the rearview mirror as he pulled away from the motel. Jimmy was hauling Jolene's massive suitcase into his pickup truck as she stood there, arms crossed, looking miserable. She'd tried to convince her husband to drop his life and head on out to California with her, where she was certain to be discovered and become the next big thing. He refused and Hollywood had barely escaped a fate worse than death.

"Take one last look, little bro. Ain't too often you get to see your mistakes in the rearview mirror as you leave them on the curb and you drive off. You got lucky."

Jack snorted a laugh.

Bobby smacked him across the back of the head. "And that's not what I fucking meant. Start using your big head for a change and quit dicking around."

Rubbing the back of his head, Jack rolled his eyes. "Bobby, I don't need a speech. She was cute and it was fun. You do remember fun, don't you?"

"I remember we got bad guys who want to shoot you full of holes right behind us and not a whole lotta time to figure out how in the hell we're gonna get out of this mess. Your little detour into Jo-fucking-lene could have really cost us, and I just don't mean time."

XxXxXxXxXx

"What? Is she okay? Is the car okay?" Jack was on the phone and Bobby wasn't liking his side of the conversation. One eye on road, Bobby reached over and grabbed the phone from his brother.

"You better tell me what the hell is going on and you better tell me fast," he practically yelled, not even bothering to find out which idiot back home was on the other end.