Entangled: A Novel Part 4

Tears blurred her vision as Abbey drove aimlessly through the streets of Erie. Her head and her heart ached from going over and over in her mind seeing Ann and Jackson together again. She couldn't believe how foolish she was to give Ann another chance after what happened at Christmas. Now she really felt like a fool for trusting Ann to end that relations.h.i.+p. Tired of driving, she pulled into the parking lot of her old stomping grounds, The Zone. The Zone was a gay bar where she and Ann frequented because it was the only safe place in Erie for lesbians to go.

Abbey shut the car off and let her head drop against the steering wheel. Anger, frustration, and grief tussled for their places in her heart. How could she have been so naive to think Ann would keep her promise? After all, whatever Ann wanted, Ann usually got, no matter who got hurt in the process.

Abbey pulled herself together, grabbed her purse, and walked inside. The place was already filling up, and there was only one seat left at the bar. Abbey slid onto the leather stool and signaled to Sharon, the bartender.

"Hey, when did you get back into town?" Sharon placed a white c.o.c.ktail napkin in front of Abbey.

"This afternoon. Can I get a Rolling Rock?" Abbey tossed a five-dollar bill on the bar.

"Sure thing." Sharon pulled a mug from the cooler and filled it with beer. "Ann working this evening?"

Abbey looked down. "Uh-huh." Then the tears started to well up again.

"Ab, you okay?" Sharon reached over and touched Abbey's arm.

Abbey nodded and took a swig of beer. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Sharon gave Abbey a look like she didn't believe her.

"Really, I'm okay. It's just been a long day." Abbey took another sip of beer.

"Okay." Sharon went on to attend to other customers.

Abbey looked around the bar. Although it was crowded, she never felt so alone. How could Ann do this to her? To them? What could she possibly see in Jackson? Didn't what they had together mean anything? Each time she thought of Ann and Jackson together, she shuddered. She signaled Sharon again for another beer.

"How ya doin'?" Sharon set down another frosted mug of Rolling Rock in front of Abbey.

Abbey looked up. Tears still trembled on her eyelashes.

"Abbey, what's going on with you?"

Abbey's body tightened. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "It's Ann. She's having an affair."

"Oh, my. Are you sure?"

Abbey nodded. She paused for a moment because she didn't know how far she wanted to go with this, especially since Ann and Sharon had been friends from way back. Although it felt good to talk to someone about what was happening, she didn't feel right about airing their dirty laundry.

"I'm so sorry this is happening. As long as I've known Ann...this really surprises me. I know she's crazy about you. She always told me you were the best thing that ever happened to her."

"That may have been true before, but not now."

"Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe she's just busy with work and stuff. I know when you're away, she buries herself in work. It can be months when I don't see hide nor hair of her. Didn't you tell me the last time you two were in here that she was trying to get tenure?"

"Yes, she's obsessed with it." Abbey took a gulp of beer.

"Well, there you go. She's so caught up in all that. I'm sure once that's finished, things will get better. Maybe you two need to go away together, just the two of you. See if you can reconnect and get that old feeling back."

"Nice try, but I caught her in the act."

"Oh, I see." There was long pause. By the look on Sharon's face, she was trying to come up with the right words to say. "Gee, kid, I'm really sorry."

Abbey looked down into her half-empty mug and smiled. "Thanks."

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Sharon asked.

Abbey drained her beer mug and set it on the bar. "Just keep them coming."

Chapter Eight.

Hayden pulled the Civic into the parking lot of The Zone. "I don't know about this, Calli. This looks busy." She was reluctant to go into a place, especially a bar, where she had never been before.

"Yeah, it looks great," Calli said. "I bet there are a lot of cute guys here." She applied another coat of pink lip gloss to her pouty lips.

Hayden was exhausted. "We aren't going to stay out late, are we?"

"You know, you need to let loose a little. We're finally free. No curfew, no parents watching over us. I don't know about you, but I'm going to have a good time."

As they entered the bar, Three Times a Lady by the Commodores played on the jukebox. Several couples were dancing on the dance floor. Hayden blinked her eyes to adjust to the dim light. An uneasy feeling came over her as she looked at the dance floor again and noticed there was something different about the couples. They appeared to be only women.

Hayden made her way through the crowded bar. Calli strutted ahead of her, clearly with no idea that this place wasn't what they thought it was.

Hayden caught up to her just as she reached the mahogany bar. "Calli, I don't think we belong here." Hayden had to shout to be heard above that jukebox that was now playing a medley of Donna Summer songs.

Calli turned around. "Why, because they serve alcohol here? Relax, you know a drink might just loosen you up a little. You don't always have to be in control. You've got to learn to let your hair down once in a while."

The music had changed to We Are Family by Sister Sledge. Hayden looked again at the couples dancing. The people on the dance floor erupted in song and were clapping their hands over their heads like this was their theme song or something. "Look over there." Hayden nodded toward the dance floor. "Do those couples look different to you?"

Calli squinted toward them. "No. I mean, it's mostly women, but they're playing a fast song. Most guys don't like to dance to fast songs."

"Something isn't right. I think we better go."

"I'm not leaving until I get a drink. Obviously, you could use one, too. I'll buy." Calli dug in her purse and pulled out a ten-dollar bill.

Sharon, the bartender, approached Calli. "What can I get you?"

"Two beers, please. Whatever you have on tap will be fine."

"I need to see ID."

Calli confidently pulled out the Sheila c.u.mmings ID from her wallet and handed it over.

Sharon took out a tiny flashlight and looked over the ID and back up at Calli.

"I can't quite make out the date of birth on here. Can you tell me when your birthday is?"

Calli froze.

A deep flush rose from Calli's neck into her cheeks. "What?" she shouted.

Oh, my G.o.d. Hayden tried to stifle her laughter as she watched the expression on Calli's face. Calli obviously didn't bother to memorize the most important thing on the ID: the vital statistics.

"When is your birthday?" Sharon hollered over the music.

Calli looked over at Hayden as if she knew the answer to the question. Hayden shrugged. Calli was busted. Hayden turned away so Calli couldn't see her laughing. That would be a big bruise to Calli's ego.

As Hayden turned, she looked toward the end of the bar. Her heart skipped a beat when she thought she saw a familiar face. My G.o.d, who on earth would she know in a dive bar in western Pennsylvania? When she looked closer, one of the women sitting at the bar drinking a beer looked a lot like Miss Spencer.

Hayden shook her head in disbelief. Obviously, her subconscious was playing tricks on her. Yes, she thought about Miss Spencer often, but she needed to stop that because now she was hallucinating. Hayden turned back toward Calli, who was still trying to buffalo the bartender.

"Miss, I need to know when your date of birth is or I can't serve you."

"April 23, 1986," Calli said.

The bartender looked down at the ID and grinned. "Nice try, kid, but you're off by a few years. I can't serve you, and I'm going to have to keep this." The bartender slipped the fake ID into the front pocket of her flannel s.h.i.+rt.

"Hey, you can't do that," Calli protested.

"I can if it's fake. The birth date you gave me and the birth date on the ID don't match up. I don't know anyone who doesn't know when their birthday is, do you?"

Calli shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but I can't serve you."

Hayden couldn't watch Calli do this any longer. She grabbed her by the arm to lead her outside and caught another glimpse of the familiar face. Only this time it wasn't her imagination. It truly was Miss Spencer.

Hayden's heart raced, as well as her mind. What would Miss Spencer be doing in a place like this? Hayden pulled Calli by the arm. "Come on, let's go."

"This sucks," Calli said as they worked their way through the crowd. When they got closer to the exit, they got closer to Miss Spencer.

"Calli, look," Hayden said.

"Oh, my G.o.d! Is that who I think it is? Is that Miss Spencer?"

"It sure looks like her." Hayden walked behind Calli as they made their way toward the exit.

"What's she doing in a dump like this?"

What's she doing indeed, Hayden thought, remembering the couples on the dance floor were only women.

As they approached the exit, Hayden turned to get one more look at Miss Spencer. If that was her, and Hayden still had her doubts, there was something very different about her. Yes, it always seemed foreign to see one of your teachers outside of the cla.s.sroom, and it was still another thing seeing her sitting in a dive bar, probably gay bar, drinking beer like she was trying to drown something deep inside of her. But it was also the way she sat at the bar, hunched over, tearing at the little white napkin in front of her that made her look so incredibly vulnerable and sad.

Once they got outside, Hayden exhaled deeply. She was relieved to be out of that place.

"This place isn't a regular bar," Hayden said as she and Calli walked to their car.

"What do you mean?"

"I think it's a gay bar."

"Oh, it is not. You're crazy."

"Did you see any guys in there?"

"Yes, of course, there were guys there. The place was polluted with them. Some of them were very nice looking."

Hayden raised one eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Sure, there were some cute ones, but a lot of them were a little overweight and a lot shorter than me, not my type at all. You know I can't go out with anyone who's shorter than me," Calli said as they reached the Civic.

"Those weren't men, you idiot, they were women. Are you that blind?"

"You're crazy. So what are you saying? That this place is a gay bar and those lumberjack-looking guys aren't guys at all, and since we saw Miss Spencer in there, that means she's gay?"

Hayden shrugged. "Why else would she be in there?"

"You're nuts. Miss Spencer isn't gay. She's too pretty to be gay."

Chapter Nine.

Abbey stayed at The Zone until closing time. She sat at the bar until Sharon finished up her nightly duties of stocking the coolers and clearing out the cash drawer, then walked out to the parking lot with her. "So do you think you and Ann can patch things up?" Sharon asked.

"I don't know. Everything looks so hopeless. When I look at Ann, it's like I don't even know her anymore."

Sharon reached out and touched Abbey's arm. "I know what you're going through is hard. Try to work it out, Ab. I've known Ann for a lot of years, and this doesn't sound like her at all. Something big must have happened for her to act this way."

"Yes, apparently, she's changed teams and fallen out of love with me."

"What?" Sharon stopped dead in her tracks.

"You heard me."

"You're kidding. Ann with a man?"