"Another round!" The burly man slammed his cup down on the counter. His words were slurred, clearly he was drunk. Yet, the barkeep poured him another glass.
"Big Oar, calm down." A young man whose stature was small compared to the burly man he called Big Oar spoke. His greasy hands tried to reach for the glass but Big Oar slapped his hand away.
"Earl, let him drink. You know how he gets once he's had three cups." On the other side of Big Oar another man spoke. His eyes looked down at the cup in his hand as he eyed his drink. Swirling it around for a bit he lifted it to his nose and took a whiff. A smile appeared on his face as he gulped it all down and slammed his drink on the counter after it was empty.
"More! Bring another!" Big Oar shouted.
Behind the wooden counter, a man grabbed Big Oar's cup and refilled it. He paid the big man little attention, as he knew Big Oar was a valued customer. Sure, he caused trouble every once in a while, but he always paid. That's what mattered.
So even though Earl kept trying to stop his companion from drinking more, the man wanted Big Oar to continue. The more he drank, the more he'd have to pay. And today, business was doing good.
It wasn't a full house, but there were enough people present to make the place look lively.
"No, you aren't the one who has to try and carry him back home to his wife. Martha's a monster at home. She's worse than him!" Earl said as he continued to try to snatch the drink away from Big Oar. He knew it was a losing battle so he wished the barkeep stopped refilling his cup.
Big Oar was big, the biggest man in Evergreen. He had the strength of ten men, and he was a fearsome warrior. Everyone knew it, so Earl was cautious.
There was no way he'd be able to take Big Oar in a fight, even if the man was passed out unconscious. The oaf would still find a way to bash his head in.
But, he'd get his tail chewed out by Big Oar's wife Martha. That was another story one that he refused to tell anyone. When he said she was worse than Big Oar, he meant it. The woman was scary!
"Everyone knows Martha is as sweet as pie. And what do you mean, I helped you carry him back last night!"
"Carl, you pissed yourself and fell asleep in an alley. We didn't even make it twenty steps before you passed out." Earl said as he shook his head.
Carl's face lit up at this remark. He wondered why his pants smelled like urine. He assumed one of the stray dogs pissed on him, after all, all dogs are evil. Now the truth came out.
"What are you lads talking about this evening?" A woman asked as she emerged from the door behind the counter. She was beautiful, so much so that all three men gazed at her. Their eyes were fixated on one thing.
"Looking elegant as always Roxanne!" Big Oar commented.
Roxanne smiled, showing her white teeth. She could see that their gazes were fixed on her chest, but she didn't mind. It was one of the many ways she kept them coming back. Even when her husband was around, he had her stand behind the counter at times and make small talk with the customers.
At first, she did not understand why, but in time she learned the truth.
"Oi, Roxanne! You're here late." Carl said.
Earl noticed that more people were coming to the counter now. This was bound to happen, he knew that. Whenever she was around people always wanted a front-row view. Roxanne had a nice figure, a pretty face, and was pleasant to chat with. Everyone in Evergreen was after her.
It didn't matter to them that she was old, past her prime, and widowed. No. That added to her charm, and every male in town wanted to have her.
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Alas, Roxanne entertained them, but never to the extent that they wished for. She wasn't like that, but it was always worth giving it a shot.
"Hey, what's a lad got to do to get a night with you?" A man asked.
His face was flushed red, he had too much to drink today. His words were bold, much bolder than many of them would dare to say.
"I'm afraid you don't have what I'm looking for. But, I can offer you another drink." Roxanne said as she grabbed a bottle of alcohol from the shelf behind her.
"Whose the kid that hasn't grown hair yet?" Big Oar asked.
The people around started to laugh. The man that spoke to Roxanne looked young, fourteen or fifteen at most. The way he spoke, he must have been new in town.
Being drunk the kid stared down or up in this matter at Big Oar. "Kid? You big oaf, you want to see whose a real man?" He stood up from his seat and dropped his pants, giving everyone a clear view of what was underneath.
Big Oar laughed so hard it felt as if the tavern was shaking.
"Put that pea away and go suck on your momma's tits!" Big Oar told him.
Once more the crowd of people started to laugh at the kid. They were enjoying this, and even Roxanne cracked a smile.
Quickly seeing their reactions, the kid pulled his pants up and his face seemed to turn a shade darker. "Well, let's see it, you big oaf! Scared of this kid and his pea? Is that it? Big body and small stick?" The kid was brave, and all those around couldn't help but laugh. No one could make sense if it was due to what he said, or that he was picking a fight with Big Oar.
Either way, they found the situation hilarious.
"Big Oar, you going to take that?" Carl asked as he wanted to edge this on.
"No!" Big Oar quickly responded as he stood up, standing to his full seven feet. He towered over the kid, and with his burly body Big Oar had to have had the blood of giants running through his veins.
"Carl!" Earl was the one who had sense as he was not as drunk as his two companions. Big Oar would do anything at the moment and Carl was just edging him on. Earl didn't like that.
Carl shrugged his shoulders and grinned.
The kid was fearless, he took a step forward. Anyone with a clear head would have taken a step back. He must be new in town, that had to have been the reason he was so brave. That or the alcohol was doing a real number on the kid.
"Gentlemen, there's no need to continue this. Surely you've had enough fun." Roxanne spoke up trying to calm the two down before Big Oar really did lower his pants. She was not in the mood to see another dick today, one was enough.
Big Oar looked over at her and shook his head. "Roxanne, you can judge. Tell us, who has the bigger dick!" With that Big Oar lowered his pants giving those behind him a view of his hairy ass.
Roxanne shook her head. She wanted no part in this.
"See this kid, this is what a real man looks like!" Big Oar pointed down and looked proud.
The kid was shocked by what he saw. Big Oar was big in more than one place so it enraged him.
"Kid stop you're making a fool of yourself. Big Oar put that thing away." Earl said.
Big Oar pulled his pants up with a smirk on his face. He felt proud that he won. His mind was not even thinking about what he just did. Nor did he care at that moment.
"Earl let the kid be. He knows what he's doing." Carl commented.
"Yeah, Earl!" The kid let Earls's name roll off his tongue as if Earl should be embarrassed by his mocking tone. "Let me be." The kid looked up at Big Oar once more.
"Fine, you win there but I'm not done. How about we drink until one of us passes out? A real man can hold his ale."
Big Oar thought about this for a second. "Loser pays."
The kid hesitated for a second but then nodded. Big Oar has been drinking for a while now so he was bound to pass out with a few more cups.
He witnessed him taking shot after shot with barely any time in between. This was going to be easy.
"Fill us up!" Big Oar ordered as he sat down at the counter. The kid took the seat next to him.
"Gimmie ten bronze tale on Big Oar!" Someone in the crowd shouted. Big Oar did not know who it was that started it, but the betting began.
"One silver tale on Big Oar!" Carl shouted as he slammed a silver coin down on the table.
Everyone was betting on Big Oar, and no one even put the kid in their mind. He was bound to lose, it was already determined the moment he decided to challenge Big Oar.
Besides being an amazing fighter Big Oar was a monster drinker. He might get drunk after only a few drinks, but he wouldn't pass out for a long time!
Earl shook his head. He felt sorry for the kid, but this was his own fault. He tried to stop it, he really did.
Now there was nothing he could do.
"Gimmie ten bronze on the kid." Earl said as he was the only one to bet on the kid. He knew he was going to lose, but he figured it would be an acceptable loss.
Not like there was anything in Evergreen that he had to spend a lot of money on. Food was cheap, and he had three pairs of clothing. The most expensive thing here was the booze but it was well worth it.
"I bet one silver tale on myself!" The kid said with his chest out.
"Is that even allowed?" Big Oar asked.
"Why not? No one else is betting on the kid but Eric. Let him." Carl said.
No one had anything to say about the matter. The more money the kid was betting the more they'd receive once they won.
No one was dumb enough to mess this up. This was going to be easy money.
Roxanne stopped the barkeep from pouring them their glass. She decided to do it herself instead.