Brightside by Mark Tullius (story books to read txt) 📕

NIGHT 58, LIGHTNING flashed on the other side of the mountain, a loud boom less than a second behind it. The freezing rain fell in sheets.

I was out walking and got caught in the storm. I took off for the Square, ended up at Riley’s, the tiny, dark tavern at the edge of town. Cheap vinyl booths lined the walls. The door to the storage room was propped open with a brick. A woman with a brown braided ponytail was dragging a keg. The way she moved said she’d been doing this her whole life. She was covered in tattoos, her strangely hypnotic eyes pulling me to the bar.

She wiped her hands on the back of her low-cut jeans. She was definitely new to Brightside. Still, there was something familiar.

She smiled and leaned over the counter, her voice rougher than expected. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Maybe, I don’t know.”

“Well, that’s no good. What are you having?”

“Beer.”

She said that wouldn’t do, not in my condition. She offered to make me something special. I shrugged. I hadn’t had a drop of anything since Day 39, the day they dragged Rachel from my room.

The bartender said her name was Lexi. She asked mine and I told her. Then she wanted to know my last name and said, “I’ve heard of you.” I had a hard time believing that with her acting so nice. She told me to stop being ridiculous and have a seat.

I pulled out a stool, sat down, and reached for my wallet.

“Put that away,” she said. “First one’s on the house.”

“I’m probably going to only have one, so I should just...”

She told me to stop being silly, but I did way more than that, my thoughts drifting to Steven’s funeral.

“You’re a dark one, aren’t you?”

I shifted back on the stool, considered leaving.

“Just give me a smile and I promise to make it better.”

Lexi was too pretty not to smile at. She walked to the back wall, the rows of bottles three stacks high. She asked where I was from.

“Outside Columbus.” Saying that made me feel like a tourist, like this was simply a business trip. Tomorrow, I’d be home sitting with my dog curled up at my feet.

Lily...filled with bullets on my carpet.

“Hey, stop that. There’s no bad thoughts when you get a free drink.”

“Sorry.” I tried to play the part, returning the favor, asked where they nabbed her.

“L.A.” She poured the Jack, gave it two quick stirs. A drink in each hand, both full to the top. We clinked glasses, somehow managed not to spill.

The whiskey was so strong I couldn’t taste the mixer. I said, “Just what I need.”

Lexi put her glass to her lips, finished it in one long swallow. She closed her eyes, rolled her head around her shoulders, the liquid medicine kicking in. “Thought you’d like it.”

“L.A., huh? How was that?”

“Just like anywhere else.”

I knocked back my drink, tried not to think about all the places I could’ve been.

“Another?”

“Sure.”

“Thata boy.”

“You haven’t been here long, have you? I haven’t seen—”

“Five days.”

“You should go to the diner. They have a decent turkey sandwich.”

“I’ll check it out.”

“The banana split isn’t bad either.”

This inane conversation was heaven, especially with the next drink, a bit sweeter, but also tart. I asked about her tattoos. She told me the guy who did them was a magician. I thought she meant he was an incredible artist, but she said no, he pulled rabbits out of a fucking hat. The tattoo thing was just a side gig.

Lexi tossed the washrag into the sink and walked with a swagger that hadn’t been there before. I tried not to stare at her ass.

She flashed a grin, held up her hands. “Easy, Tiger.”

“Sorry. But...do I know you?”

Lexi’s eyes rolled. Was this really my line?

“No, I mean it. You look familiar. You sure you were never in Columbus?”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

Something about her smile kept me going. I said, “We’ve met before. I know it.”

Lexi washed out her glass. “You probably know my girlfriend. People get us confused. She’s been here almost a year.” Lexi kept talking, but the clinking glasses and people walking in made it hard to hear. The buzz didn’t help either. It was strange, tingly. I didn’t feel that drunk, just loose and confident.

Lexi said, “She’ll be here soon.”

I nodded, having no idea what she was talking about. I held up my drink, tried to guess what it was.

Lexi headed to the other end of the bar to serve the new customers. “It’s good, right?” she called back.

I took another sip and said, “Yeah.” I couldn’t place the contents, but it was delicious and I wanted another one. Lexi was making one of the girl’s a drink. Lexi kept glancing over at me, but not in a friendly way. It was like she was pissed. But I hadn’t done anything.

I set the glass on the bar, promised myself to hold off on another one. There was a little bit of liquid at the bottom of my drink. I finished it and set the glass down harder than I meant to. Faces of the people I’d hurt flashing before me.

Rachel, Steven, Michelle...

The door opened and rain smacked off the sidewalk. One of the women from accounting stepped inside and shook the rain from her coat, her bulldog cheeks flapping.

The woman saw me, pretended not to, and took a seat in a booth.

I could feel my heart beating, felt it even in my thumbs. I needed to get home, but Lexi was no longer behind the bar.

My knee was bouncing, made my foot slip off the bottom rung of the stool.

Lexi walked out of the storage room looking like it was normal to disappear for ten minutes. At least it felt like that long. She greeted another customer, went to the tap, never once looked my direction.

I considered heading over to order another drink when the front door opened. Two guys from the deli entered, nodding hello when they slid in the booth.

My thumbs were beating a rhythm on the glass, who knows for how long. The door opened again, the rain blowing in. I didn’t check to see who it was. I kept my eyes on Lexi so I could motion for another round. I was feeling good, alive.

Lexi poured a glass of wine without once looking up. The front door opened and closed, but Lexi was busy, wiping down the damn tap.

A girl said, “Sorry I’m late.”

I knew that voice. I turned toward the front door. Krystal.

She took the last stool at the bar, just out of my reach. She smiled at Lexi, and Lexi set two drinks in front of her.

Krystal said, “Two? You trying to get me drunk?”

Looking like she really wanted to hear the answer, Lexi said, “Do I need to?”

Krystal reached over and put her hand on top of Lexi’s. “What are they?”

“They’re good.” Lexi pointed at me. “Ask your friend. He’ll tell you.”

Krystal turned, her glare carved right through me. “What are you doing here?”

I pointed at the roof. “Just trying to stay dry.”

She bit the side of her lip. She looked at Lexi over at the other end of the bar then back at me. “What’d you tell her?”

“What do you mean? We barely talked.”

Krystal leaned forward close enough to see the concealer packed into her pockmarks. Krystal’s tongue pushed out her cheek, her huntress eyes never leaving me. “So?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

It suddenly felt like everyone was staring. I started to get up, but saw another drink in front of me. Lexi was walking away. She’d finally given me another.

I picked up the drink and finished half of it, tried to get my thoughts together. The front door opened, the rain louder than before. I must have looked startled because Krystal leaned over and said, “That bother you?”

I took another drink, looked over at Lexi bending over. “No.”

“You going to tell her what a slut she is?”

“What? No.”

“She is though, just so you know.”

I took another drink, wondered why my mind was racing, why I couldn’t understand what we were talking about.

“These drinks are good, huh?” Krystal said.

My skin felt hot, like I was sitting inside an oven.

“I thought you didn’t drink.”

“I drink.”

“Right, two. That’s the limit.” She pushed out her bottom lip, mocking me. “Rachel said you love your rules. Only two drinks.” She wagged her finger. “And no caffeine.”

I wrapped both hands around my glass, looked at the ice. “I didn’t realize you two were friends.

“We’re not. It’s a small town.”

Lexi walked up and put an arm around Krystal’s shoulder. “So? Do you like them?”

Krystal kissed her cheek. “Absolutely perfect.”

Lexi squeezed Krystal tight then stepped back. “What about you, Joe? Want another?”

I kept quiet while my mind yelled at me, shouted what the hell was going on. My thoughts were jumping everywhere. The jukebox, my first kiss, the day Steven caught a frog. I thought of the rollercoaster rides with my first girlfriend, the morning I woke up in the cell after the Boots took me from my home, the ringing in my ear...

Lexi and Krystal started laughing. Crazed, cackling laughter.

Lexi turned toward me and smiled. “They’re good, right?”

I nodded, bit my tongue, which was moving around my mouth like a wild snake.

Lexi pointed at Krystal’s glass. “Another?”

“No way, I need to sleep at some point.”

“No you don’t. I’ll keep you company.” Lexi kissed Krystal.

Then both of them stared at me, waiting for me to realize they were behind this scheme. I looked at my empty glass then at the bar. Next to the wine bottles and the wobbling tower of glasses, two cans of Red Bull.

I looked down at the drink, not sure how long I’d been back thumbing a drum beat on it. I thought a stream of “oh fucks.”