Cutler 1 - Dawn Read Free Page B

her bedroom.
    "I'm tired too," Jimmy said. He got up and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I started to pull out the sofa bed, but then stopped, thinking about Momma lying in her bed, worried and frightened. In a moment I made up my mind―I opened the door quietly and left to look for Daddy.
    I hesitated outside the door of Frankie's Bar and Grill. I had never been in a bar. My hand trembled as I reached out for the doorknob, but before I could pull it, the door swung open and a pale-skinned woman with too much lipstick and rouge on her face stepped out. She had cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth. She paused when she saw me and smile. I saw she had teeth missing toward the back of her mouth.
    "Why, what you doing coming in here, honey? This ain't no place for someone as young as you."
    "I'm looking for Ormand Longchamp," I replied.
    "Never heard of him," she said. "You don't stay in there long, honey. It ain't a place for kids," she added and walked past me, the stale odor of cigarettes and beer floating in her wake. I watched her for a moment and then entered Frankie's.
    I had seen into it once in a while whenever someone opened the door, and I knew there was a long bar on the right with mirrors and shelves covered with liquor bottles. I saw the fans in the ceiling aid the sawdust on the dirty brown wood slab floor. I had never seen the tables to the left.
    A couple of men at the end of the bar turned my way when I stepped in. One smiled, the other just stared. The bartender, a short stout bald-headed man, was leaning against the wall. He had his arms folded across his chest.
    "What do you want?" he asked, coming down the bar.
    "I'm looking for Ormand Longchamp," I said. "I thought he might be in here." A glance down the bar didn't produce him.
    "He joined the army," someone quipped.
    "Shut up," the bartender snapped. Then he turned back to me. "He's over there," he said and gestured with his head toward the tables on the left. I looked and saw Daddy slumped over a table, but I was afraid to walk farther into the bar and grill. "You can wake him up and take him home," the bartender advised.
    Some of the men at the bar spun around to watch me as if it were the evening's entertainment.
    "Let her be," the bartender commanded.
    I walked between the tables until I reached Daddy. He had his head on his arms. There were five empty bottles of beer on the table and another nearly emptied. A glass with just a little beer in it was in front of the bottle.
    "Daddy," I said softly. He didn't budge. I looked back at the bar and saw that even the men who had continued to watch me had lost interest. "Daddy," I repeated a little louder. He stirred, but didn't lift his head. I poked him gently on the arm. "Daddy." He grunted and then slowly lifted his head.
    "What?"
    "Daddy, please come home now," I said. He wiped his eyes and gazed at me.
    "What . . . What are you doing here, Dawn?" he asked quickly.
    "Momma went to bed a while ago, but I know she's just lying there awake waiting for you, Daddy."
    "You shouldn't come in a place like this," he said sharply, making me jump.
    "I didn't want to come, Daddy, but—"
    "All right, all right," he said. "I guess I can't do nothing right these days," he added, shaking his head.
    "Just come home, Daddy. Everything will be all right."
    "Yeah, yeah," he said. He gazed at his beer a moment and then pushed back from the table. "Let's get you outta here. You shouldn't be here," he repeated. He started to stand and then sat down hard.
    He looked down at the bottles of beer again and then put his hand in his pocket and took out his billfold. He counted it quickly and shook his head.
    "Lost track of what I spent," he said, more to himself than to me, but when he said it, it sent a cold chill down my back.
    "How much did you spend, Daddy?"
    "Too much," he moaned. "Afraid we won't be eating all that well this week, either," he concluded. He pushed himself away from the table again and stood