Of All The Gin Joints In All The World

Posted on Fri May 5th, 2023 @ 12:39pm by René Rouen & Hale Stratton

2,958 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Bangor or Bust
Location: Blue Ox Saloon
Timeline: 25 August 2010 - 2100

Travis was working the bar at the Blue Ox Saloon in Millinocket. He was leaning back and reading the CNN captions scrolling at the bottom of the big screen TV that had the baseball game on. Few patrons were inside as the big crowds had been in the early hours of the afternoon when the Festival had been going strong. Most everyone had gone home about two hours ago. The only ones left in the bar were Jake (one of the regulars), Fred and Bob (college grad students) who were shooting a game of pool, and Sherry (the waitress working the floor).

Travis glanced about and shook his head. Things would probably pick up once the bands packed it in for the night. He wasn't holding his breath. The Mayor's announcement that afternoon had sent people into two camps, hunker down or beat feet out of dodge. His boss was going to be none too happy. Festival week was the prime money maker for Millinocket and if the tourists were going to leave. It was going to be a lean year for most of the town businesses.

The past 24 hours had been intense for Nicole Green. From finding out about her shelter in place to her transfer being put on hold to helping the local police. She needed a break from it all. So, naturally, she found herself entering the Blue Ox Saloon for a drink or two.

Once she entered, the Petty Officer found an empty seat at the corner of the bar and waited for her turn to order her drink.

Travis quit leaning against the bar and strolled down to the woman who had taken a seat at the bar. She had the look of some one who was both tired and frustrated, but she had carried herself with an unerring sense of purpose. "What’s your poison sweetheart," he said in his best Humphrey Bogart imitation.

"Something that can make me forget the world events of the past 48 hours" Nicole chuckled. She was stressed. Not to mention she couldn't actually decide on a drink. "Could you surprise me?"

Travis nodded and took a step over to the drink shaker. He measured out two shots of top shelf vodka and poured that into the shaker and added a bit of coffee liqueur and gave it a vigorous shake for 30 seconds. He poured a bit of club soda into a large glass tumbler then the mixture from the shaker. He returned to Nicole and gently set the drink down in front of her. "There you go. One Mind Eraser."

She chuckled to herself at the bartender's response. Picking up the drink, she took a sip. For some this type of drink would be very strong and while it was for her, in the past she had drinks very similar to this. Nicole could also differentiate the flavors that entered her mouth. Coffee, vodka, and club soda was definitely an interesting mixture. She wasn't complaining. She looked at Travis. "Thank you."

Travis shrugged, "All part of the service." He studied Nicole for a moment. "Don't think I recognize you. You here for the Trail's End Festival?"

She set the drink down. "Mostly. My dad lives in Bath and I decided to visit him since I'm supposed to be in the process of transferring to my next duty assignment" she sighed. "I had enough time to be here and make the trip to Great Lakes. Which has now changed because of everything going on" she picked up the drink and took another sip.

Travis gestured at the drink. "Thank you for your service. First drink is on me then and it's also your lucky night. Wednesdays are ladies night. Half price drinks from now until closing."

"Thanks" she chuckled. "That deal is probably going to be the death of me."

Travis chuckled with Nicole. "No worries there. I assure you. I have never mixed a drink that has ever killed someone. Though I have seen people stumble out of here that probably felt like death warmed over in the morning."

"That's good to know" she smiled. She picked up the mix drink and took another sip before setting it down again. Nicole looked around before looking at the bartender again. "Its been quite a while since I've been in Millinocket. I barely remember much because I was so young. What do you folks do around here for fun when there aren't festivals or world pandemics?" she quipped.

Travis looked about the nearly deserted bar. "Well some folks go to the bars. High school football season starts in a few weeks other than that, probably just play chess or screw. Millinocket is a tourist town. The locals work mostly in that industry." He looked Nicole in the eye. "Must be something a beautiful woman like yourself likes to do. What do you do for fun on base?"

She made a light smile. "Whenever I wasn't underway or deployment I worked on my project. I have a knack for wrenching. Which is why I chose the rate I did. When I'm not doing that I am usually going for runs or drives. Occasionally I'll spend some time at the range."

Travis found his interest piqued. He gave her a brotherly smile. "Ah, so you're Navy. Marine myself '01 to '09. Came home about a year ago. Been working here at the Blue Ox while working on my degree online."

"So you're planning on taking advantage of tuition assistance?" she asked somewhat rhetorically. "That's a good way to go. Thinking of getting a commission?"

Travis shook his head. "Nah, Two battles in Fallujah back in 2004 and six straight months of getting ambushed in Ramadi in 2006. I've had my fill of combat. Now, I am just happy serving drinks and tossing the occasional drunk out on Friday night. That is plenty of excitement for me." He nodded at the drink. "You want that freshened up hon?"

"Yeah sure. Why not?" she slid her glass over to the bartender. "That's fair" Nicole said in response to Travis' answer.

A low rumble grew louder as Travis went to work on Nicole's second drink.

Travis took the glass and put it in the sink he retrieved the shaker as he poured club soda into a fresh glass. He then added the generous remains of the shaker to present back to Nicole. "That'll be three dollars."

Motorcycle engines turned off as Travis slid the full to the rim tumbler back to Nicole.

Nicole slid her wallet out of her pocket and took out three one dollar bills out in cash before sliding her wallet back into her jean pockets. She looked towards the source of where sound had been coming from as she slid the money across the counter. "Big motorcycle crowd here in Millinocket?"

Travis turned to the door as he shook his head. "Not really. The occasional mid life crisis fellow who likes to dress up in leather." He caught sight of the two men dismounting and his demeanor instantly cooled. He sighed as the two men entered. "Garrett, Moose. Haven't seen either of you in a while. Welcome to the Blue Ox Saloon."

The smaller man looked around the bar before locking eyes on Travis. "Well, well, well. Sergeant Hawkins. Nice to see you are coming up in the world."

Moose, who had been born Anthony Michael Donetti, stood 6'5" tall and weighed in at 300 pounds, none of it fat. He wasn't much for deep thought, leaving that to his buddy Garrett, though he did have his hard lines and when triggered, he had a surprisingly fast reaction time. He wasn't good-looking by any stretch of the imagination and he lacked the easy banter that could smooth his way with women. He worked out, he rode his bike, and earned coin when he could as a bouncer which was what he'd been hoping to do when he stepped into the Blue Ox. The sight of Travis killed that idea and he found himself sighing as he shifted his attention to Garrett, gauging his reaction. "Travis," he said, keeping his expression neutral. "Any chance for a beer? Whatever's on tap."

Nicole carefully read the situation. Neither party looked exactly 'chipper' the see each other. However Garrett seemed like the more talkative one versus Moose who appeared to be the more quite one who also seemed to be more restrained than Garrett. Based on everyone's demeanor it seemed as if they had history. She remained silent and decided to let the situation unfold. For now.

Jack Garrett slowly stepped up to the bar and sat down next to Nicole, he gave her a cursory once over before turning to Travis. "Yeah Sarge. How's about a couple of beers. It's the least you could do for an old battle buddy."

Travis turned and grabbed two glasses and filled them both expertly from the tap before setting them down in front of the two former marines. "One beer, then you get on your way. Nobody here wants any trouble. Agreed?"

A frown creased his forehead as Moose thought about how downright unwelcoming their old pal sounded considering how they'd accepted the discharge and not said a word about Travis' involvement. "Trouble," Moose repeated quietly, his deep bass voice rumbling through his broad chest. "Downright unfriendly considering."

Travis looked at Moose. "Look. I put the incident, the two of you and the Corps behind me. I don't need either one of you here to remind me of any of it."

Jack picked up his beer and tossed it in Travis' face. "I got six months in the brig and the Big Chicken Dinner. You barely got a slap on the wrist. You owe me.

"Suddenly, I'm feeling like dirty laundry," Moose said more to the room than anyone in particular. He didn't touch his beer, just waited. Ready. Some things were hard for him to understand but reading a room? Feeling the way the air itself seemed to supercharge? In that, he was an expert. "Like I'm supposed to leave because it reminds him of the wrong he done."

Travis took the bar towel off his shoulder and wiped the beer from his face. He eyed both of them, anger clearly evident on his face, he wanted nothing more than to toss both of them out on their butts.

She didn't know Travis all that well but she could tell that he wasn't pleased that Jack and Moose were there. It was evident that they had history. Travis clearly didn't want them there even if the trouble they were causing was mostly verbal. So far. Her gaze fell towards Jack and Moose who weren't happy with Travis either, but they were being much more 'loud' about it. She didn't quite realize, but her gaze fell into a slight dirty look towards the two guys.

Jack caught Nicole's expression. "What’s your problem sweetheart?!"

Nicole raised an eyebrow. "Who said I had any problem?"

Jack eyed Nicole up and down and smiled. "You know what Hawkins. You let me take your girlfriend here on a ride and maybe I forget how you turned Moose and I into the Staff Duty Officer."

"She is not my girlfriend and it's now time for you both to leave or I will call the cops." Travis picked up the cordless handset and started calling 911.

Jack wasn't particularly impressed with Travis picking up the phone. He seemed quite fixated on Nicole. "How about it gorgeous. You want a ride on a powerful machine." He cocked a head back towards the motorcycles outside. "Promise you'll have a good time."

She laughed. "Absolutely not. Besides what I drive could probably walk your bike any day" Nicole winced internally knowing that she could have just made a big mistake.

"You heard the lady." Travis keyed in the 911 but only held his thumb over the talk button. "Leave or you can spend some more time behind bars. Your choice."

Jack glanced at Travis. "Come on Moose. The service here sucks." He stood up and started for the exit.

"Right behind you," Moose said, shaking his head slightly as he rose to his feet. "Just wanted a beer," he muttered.

Travis breathed a sigh. He set the phone back on its charging station as Jack turned at the threshold of the door. "I'll be seeing you Travis. We got unfinished business." He glanced at Nicole. "You, well you can dream about me." He grabbed himself. "At least until I can give you the real thing." He turned and left without another word.

Moose, looking somewhat embarrassed by Garrett's actions, said, his deep voice rumbling across the space between them. "Sorry about that, ma'am." He didn't wait for a reaction, just paused a moment to be sure that no one would be following them, and then headed out after Garrett.

Nicole was silent for a few moments until the duo left. She turned to Travis. "Are you good? After all that?"

Travis stared at the door until the sound of the retreating motorcycles faded. He finally turned to Nicole and nodded hesitantly. "Sorry about that. Those were two guys I knew from my last year in the Corps." He pursed his lips. "Long story short. They snuck a couple of girls into the barracks after hours and instead of kicking the girls out, I let them do it. Battalion duty officer was doing his checks when they were sneaking them out. I was relieved as squad leader by my commander in the morning. Moose admitted his wrong doing and got administrative separation, but Garrett decided to fight the non judicial punishment and opted for a special court martial. He lost and got six months in the brig and and a BCD (Bad Conduct Disharge). He blamed me...because I testified against him at the court martial. I wasn't charged because I was already getting out and the Corps didn't want the bad press of court martial in my case."

"That sounds rough" Nicole stated. "Besides paying my bar tab, from a comrade in the service, is there anything that I can do?" she chuckled lightly at the bar tab comment.

Travis smiled and shook his head. "Well, your first drink was on me, second one you already paid for. Thinking I should probably buy you a third one as an apology for Garrett's behavior."

She smiled. "There really isn't any need. His own actions are his alone. You shouldn't have to apologize for him" Nicole slid out her wallet and pulled out a 10 and slid it across the counter. "Three dollars is for my next drink. The seven is my tip for the shit you've had to deal with tonight."

Travis gestured to the drink glass with a flirty smile. "You want another Mind Eraser? I make a pretty good Long Island or are you...a Sex on the Beach type?"

Nicole smirked. "I think I'm a Sex on the Beach type."

Travis nodded with a smirk of his own. "I'll remember that for future reference." He grabbed a clean drink shaker and set about making Nicole's drink. He gave a nod to the two college guys as they finished their drinks, pool game and headed out the door. He returned to Nicole and placed her drink in front of her. "One Sex on the Beach for the pretty lady."

Nicole smiled at the bartender's comment. Not saying anything in response, Nicole accepted the drink and took a sip of it before setting down the drink. After a few moments she spoke up. "i did ask what people here in Millinocket do for fun, but what do you do for fun when you aren't bar tending and flirting with pretty sailors" she teased.

Travis shrugged. "Not a whole lot of excitement when it isn't tourists season. I will go to the park for pick up games of basketball or touch football on the weekends. I do like to play chess with the older men at the VFW post. A lot of snow falls from about mid October through late March to early April. I try and ski, snow board or ride my snowmobile." He paused to look out the door at the town. "It's a quiet and peaceful place." He turned back to Nicole. "I didn't appreciate that growing up here, but now, after multiple combat tours in Iraq, I do appreciate the slower pace."

The only other patron squared up his tab with Sherry, the waitress, and left as Travis spoke with Nicole. Sherry rang out the tab and turned to Travis. "Hey T. I'm going to clock out early and head home if that's okay?"

Travis glanced at Nicole before looking back at Sherry. "Go for it. I am pretty sure I got it covered until closing time. Just cover down for one minute so I can hit the head." He turned back to Nicole. "Be right back." He ducked out for the men's room while Sherry came around the bar to grab her things from under the counter.

Sherry looked at Nicole. "Travis is a good guy. He rarely flirts with any of the women customers and he treats all the waitresses here like they're his baby sister. That being said, if you're not comfortable with him flirting, just say so. He will just go back to being a friendly and courteous bartender." She slung her purse strap over her shoulder as Travis returned. "Be good T. See you tomorrow afternoon."

Nicole smiled. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind" though Travis' flirting didn't bother her. In fact it was sort of the opposite. She took another sip of her drink.

TBC in A Game of Chess

 

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