“It looks like she got a ride home from one of her friends,” I said as I sat back down.
“I just can’t … wow,” Karen said, looking deep into the middle distance.
The waitstaff was wandering from table to table making sure everyone was ok. Two or three of the bussing staff were cleaning up the area closest to the dance floor.
“I thought they were just playing around until she slapped him.” Karen put her right hand over her mouth and blinked like she was trying to bring herself back from deep space.
“I didn’t see it. I heard it,” I said, “ but I knew it was bad because I heard it over the music.”
Karen had finally convinced me to stop by a new local spot she found. It was between my house and my Mom’s place so I had no excuse. There was a band playing she had heard about from one of her colleagues. She was there for support. The colleague was interested in the bass player and didn’t want to seem like a groupie. Karen wanted me to stop by so if her friend got wrapped up with the bass player she wouldn’t be the single woman in the bar.
I felt like the only person in the bar still wearing a mask. It was me and one other woman but her mask fell just beneath her nose.
The band was used to catering to an older crowd. The songs were late 60’s through mid 70’s pop tunes with one or two popular songs from the early aughts and the mid-teens. You could tell they were used to the older crowd because you could still talk to people next to you and hear yourself think while they played. The music didn’t pin you to the wall or push you out the door but you could feel it and like it.
It was like they had set up a dj a bingo night. There were a lot of older folks getting up and dancing. When I was younger, I worked at a movie theater. There were certain showings that were mostly the older crowd. It was all silver, grey, and white hair. It looked like a sea of Q-tips from the back of the theater. The dance floor looked like a sea of Q-tips moving to the groove.
The couple in question was in their mid 40s or early 50s. They had been handsy and flirty most of the evening. The drinks had been flowing like water. The incident came out of nowhere and was over in seconds. By the time I turned around after hearing the slap, he had already flipped two tables near the dance floor.
There were a few tense seconds where it seemed like this 6-foot-tall man was going to attack this 5-foot-tall woman and the few people around him. The band stopped playing and stepped back from the edge of the stage.
He balled his fists so tight it seemed like his fingers were trying to push through his palms and wrap around themselves. You could see the gravity of the situation set in his face. The dance floor split as he stormed out. You could hear his vehicle tear out of the parking lot.
The older women in the crowd tried to make sure the younger woman was ok but she was already on her phone. She ignored all of them and kept to herself. In about 10 minutes her friend arrived to take her home.
Everyone tried to pretend like nothing happened but you could feel it in the air. The band started playing. Karen’s colleague decided to stay and take time to make time with the bass player. I walked Karen to her car. Her gaze was still deep in the solar system.
“Are you ok?”
“I just … I thought of Tony … “. There was a sinking feeling in my chest. I’d known both Tony and Karen for years. I had been there for both of them during the divorce. I was the one who hadn’t taken sides or played politics between the two of them. I was friends with Tony and Amber, his current younger girlfriend. I had also seen Karen through her various attempts to date since everything was finalized.
There were things neither of them had told me. I was hoping not to hear the worst.
“Did things get that bad between you and Tony?” I asked quietly.
“No. It was the opposite. There was nothing. It was like he crawled into a void of emptiness and silence.” She leaned against her car and let the darkness of the night wash over her.
The light of the police car broke the darkness. It did a quick drive through the lot then got back on the road after a quick talk with security.
“Is it crazy to wish,” she said, “that there was just something more near the end? I didn’t need flipped tables or public slaps. I just …” her voice trailed off, “I just wanted him to feel something, anything.”
She put her head on my left shoulder and exhaled.
“Don’t get me wrong I’m not advocating domestic … “
“I know. I know.” I said putting my hands up in understanding.
“You’re gonna to be all right,” I said, now looking straight at her as she leaned against the driver’s side door of her car.
“You’re damn right I will,” she said with solid confidence. Her thousand-yard stare was coming into focus. Her eyes met mine with a smile. Her hug was deep, strong, and resilient.
