The late July summer had finally arrived, and though it could still be foggy in the morning, typically the skies were cloudless, and the temperature verged on hot. Everyone was spilling out of houses, cars, and offices, riding mopeds, bicycles, skateboards, and lugging bright baskets filled with lazy indicators: broad hats, low chairs, funny beach toys, simple games, sandals, and of course the universal white-lidded cooler, filled with frosty drinks.

It felt exactly like the right time to get just what you wanted, and I was caught up in the same fever. I dove deep into my closet, pulling out and vigorously shaking dresses, skirts, and all manner of accessories, dust flying everywhere. I was on my way to meet Felix, and even though we were just meeting as “friends”, and it wasn’t the first time we’d met outside of work, I was a bit nervous about saying the wrong thing. I tried to stop worrying, and enjoy myself. After all, if he was being a jerk, I’d just go home and put his face up on a dartboard.

We decided to meet at a bar that was nowhere near any of the Tarts’ stomping grounds, as we wanted the peace and quiet of not being interrupted. He chose Sycamore, and I saw him in the bar through the window as I approached the front door. He was chatting easily with the bartender, who was shaking his hand. They were sharing a joke, and both laughing together. I wondered if Felix saw his effect on people sometimes, he was so good at putting them at ease. He radiated a kind of magnetic confidence; it was one of the first things I had noticed about him. I felt relaxed, yet excited around him. I drew a deep breath, and strode through the door.

“Hey, Pale!” Felix waved me over to his spot at the bar, drawing up a bar stool for me. As I went to take off my light summer jacket, he helped me out of it, hanging it on a hook under the bar. The bartender and I shared a surprised glance, and teasing, he leaned over to Felix and said, “Don’t worry. She’s impressed.” He grinned at Felix knowingly.

“Oh! No, we aren’t on a date. Just friends,” he said, taking my purse and storing it with the coat.

“Sure, buddy, whatever you say. What’ll it be?”

After we consulted for a moment on what we were in the mood for, Felix ordered beers for both of us. I reminded myself silently that he grew up with three sisters, and this sort of behavior came naturally. It didn’t mean anything.

We slid easily into conversation, backtracking to my birthday dinner, and knocking back a few more beers as we talked about movies, talk radio, local events, rants about living in the Bay Area, and of course, a little about family. By then, we were both leaning on the bar, and exchanging a few toasts to ridiculous things like spicy mustard and well made leather boots, knowing we weren’t as clever as we seemed, but not caring. There was no urgency. There was no agenda. I decided to try a new topic, one that would hopefully shed some light on comments he’d made before, things that didn’t make sense.

“So, tell me more about how you ended up in Vegas. I mean, I don’t want to press you, but I’m curious,” I said casually.

There was a pause, and then giving a sigh, Felix said, “It actually happened by accident.”

“I wanted to get away from the 360 degree female influence at home, and decided to man up somewhere I could profit from. I mean, I’m pretty good with math and numbers, but I wanted to try my hand, you know. I sort of got sucked in, and somehow, eight years of my life had passed, and I had a real problem. I couldn’t see the forest for the trees, though in my case, the trees were huge debts. Some of those were mine, but not all of them.” He scowled for a moment, hesitant.

“What do you mean?” I asked, prompting.

“It’s my sister, Audrey. She has a knack for getting into trouble, and I mean real trouble--drugs, jail, fighting, stealing…even, well, other stuff. I love her, but I can’t just let her keep tumbling down the hole, without trying to give her a leg up, you know?” He looked at me, questioning.

“Of course, she’s your sister,” I said, trying to comfort him. He looked so helpless, talking about her. I’d had no idea he was so tied to her difficulties. I wondered what Audrey thought of Felix. I wondered if she loved him for it, or resented him. It wasn’t the right time to ask.

“Well, I saw a lot of things while bailing Audrey out. Sam and I took turns trying to help her. Nic-Nic was too broke; she’s a kindergarten teacher,” he said.

“Nic-Nic?” I asked, confused.

“Oh, yeah, that’s Nicole. Sometimes I call her funny names. Nic-Nic, Knick-Knack, Knickerback, Knickerbottom. We don’t get a chance to talk much, but she’s cool.” He grinned at the last one, clearly pleased he’d added a new name to the list.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“That’s why I got so upset that day in Tosca. Once you’ve seen so much of the underground illegal dealings that go on in a big city, you can’t really un-see it. And you really didn’t have any idea how dangerous it was for you to be there. There was tension going on between two families, and it looked like it was going to get messy. You were in real danger, Pale,” he said, softly.

My face burned brightly in the light, as I took in everything Felix was saying. But he continued on, opening up now that he’d already started.

“I had the hardest time admitting I was an addict. I thought I really had a grip on things. It’s been difficult to come here. No friends, no family. Trying to get away from the life my sister Audrey seems to crave. I don’t want to follow her. I don’t want to think of having fun as risking my life all the time. Not just my physical life…my heart…my body…my soul…” Felix trailed off, struggling to keep his conflicted face from breaking down.

“I know that I’m really prickly about the gambling thing. But you have to be, in recovery. For a long while there, I wasn’t sure if I could do it. I thought you were just another delusional, ambitious woman, climbing and clawing your way up to the spotlight, for your moment of Fame. That all that mattered to you was finding tools in others you could use. I just wasn’t sure about any of you girls. Now I can see it was that I didn’t believe anyone COULD be doing it for good reasons, since I’d lost all my good reasons for keeping up the fight.

“You are a good person, and I’m glad we finally came out. Here’s to new dreams,” Felix raised his glass, and I grabbed my glass hurriedly to toast. I had been so engrossed in his telling me about his past, I had leaned close. I recovered and leaned back, sitting up straight. He shot me another of his sun-bright smiles.

“New Dreams!” we said loudly, clinking and drinking with grins crinkling the sides of our faces.

Felix cheered up considerably after that. He seemed free, as if sharing his story with me had somehow lightened his burden. I thought about all the times I’d been in bars, just like this one, seeing conversations. My mind drifted on how many times young friends had worked out something weighing on them over a beer, spanning the hundreds of years that humans had been on earth. It was sort of staggering to consider that it was trillions of times, over thousands of years, in all of the taverns, pubs, and public houses. Even at the Egyptian Pyramids, slaves must’ve shared the burden of their masters’ wishes over a beer in the hot desert sun.

We played a quick game of pool, backed off of the heavy topics, and went back to our banter. When Felix wasn’t making me the target of his teasing, we got along really well. It was a very nice night.

The next few weeks passed very quickly. Work was typical work. I saw my regulars and greeted them all warmly: Coach Bill, Lydia Kim, Ben the Bartender, who loved showing me his abs. They were all part of the big tapestry of my trip around the Land of Oz, where strange wonders awaited. The highlight of my entire year happened at the end of August, when an impeccably dressed, older black man was standing outside the Condor Club, chatting with some smokers. He saw me walking in, gave a very long, very low whistle and said “Mercy, do you work here?” in amazement. It was so kind, and said with such awe, I turned and gave him my best smile.

“No, but thanks for that,” I said.

Felix and I continued to hang out about once a week, usually getting a beer and swapping stories. He was genuinely interested in Jana, my Dad, childhood adventures, and especially my adoption. I was a little more reticent to talk about it, but he had a way of worming his way in--damn those charming Texan manners.

It was really nice having a regular person I could call and talk to, but we both kept it cool in the office, just to keep the drama down. Thom was only briefly happy, then back to his Eeyore ways. He hadn’t yet said why. Ransom continued to fixate on Selene, and Lisbet continued to pop in every once in a while, and shake things up for everyone. My sales continued to do well, and though I wasn’t rolling in a bunch of extra cash, I was doing ok. I kept texting Michael, but he ignored me completely. This was the only blight on my summer.

Things did get pretty intense one night, when Felix got a call at work on his cell. I was busy getting ready for a SoMa run, coupled with the Castro. I glanced in the mirror, and after I saw him bark a few words, he took the call outside, looking thunderous and silent. Uh Oh.

I waited a few minutes and went outside to see what was going on, and he was standing at the curb, hands clenched at his sides. He was turned towards the street, and his shoulders were hunched up, obviously stressed.

“Felix? What is it?”

He looked like someone just shot his dog, twice. “It’s Audrey. She’s in jail again, and she needs my help. It’s bad this time, Daisy. Really bad.” He turned towards me, his face tight, eyes bleak and burning. Without thinking, I pulled him into a hug, holding him tight. He stood there shocked, then relaxed slightly, giving me a squeeze, and gently pulling away.

“I have to go. Right now. I have to go to Vegas, and get the ten grand for her bail, or she’s in big trouble. I’m going to have to buy into a poker game and win her what she needs.”

“What?” I asked, flabbergasted.

“Felix, you can’t. You CAN’T do this! It’ll ruin all the work you’ve done. You deserve better than this. Can’t Audrey ask your mom, or your other sisters…” even as I trailed off, I could see this was a weak idea. Whatever she’d been mixed up in must have been pretty illegal for her to ask so much of him, especially knowing he’d been dealing with breaking away from gambling.

Felix pried my hand from his arm, which I hadn’t noticed was clutching him fiercely.

“I have to. And I have to leave right now. I’ll be back, ok? Just, don’t say anything to anyone at work.” He gave me a quick hug, and looked me in the eye, confirming our agreement. I nodded silently. Felix started towards his van, and I called out to him.

“Hey!”

He looked back, questioning.

“If you need anything, just call, ok?” I knew that it wasn’t much, but it was the best I could figure to say at a time like this. He gave me his sunny smile and turned back.

I stood outside a few minutes, thinking up a story for Felix’s cover, and headed back inside.