Elmore's Corner...Round Six.

Quint:  There's a couple of ways we can do this...

Deb:  Do what?  'Scuse me John, Quint...need to get through here.

I squeezed through the massed shoulders, and felt a hand come down on
my shoulder with the force of a piledriver.

Billy:  WHAT are you doin' in here??!

Deb:  Taking care of the linens.  Why else would I be here now?

Billy:  Don't you ever...oh, never mind!

Elmore was standing with his hands on his hips, rocked back with his 
weight on one leg.  Billy had finally turned me loose, and leaned back
against the bar, both elbows planted on it.  Quint stood to the side and
toward the rear, arms crossed over his chest.  Coley straddled a chair
backwards.  Neville stood, aloof, with his hands in his pockets.

Elmore:  I gotta...whatcha call yourself, Billy...a silent partner?

Billy:  Not so silent anymore, pard.

Cosmo:  Elmore...I can take all this off your hands...amd there'll be a job
for you as manager.

Elmore:  I think I got myself a good manager...Bill?

Billy chuckled to himself, looked at Elmore and smiled.

Billy:  If she wants it.

I stepped out of the herd, arms loaded with sheets.  Behind me I heard 
the door close and I wondered if Beth had decided to come in.  Her fear
of Cole was such that she would doubtless stand in the very back, keeping
several feet of solid muscle between herself and Cole.

Deb:  Mr. Cosmo, I'll be managing the Corner.

Cosmo:  You!?

Deb:  This surprises you?  Not everyone needs to resort to hiring Mighty
Joe Young.

Cosmo:  I'm wondering here how you people think a business like this can
run with so many non-business people trying to control it.

Deb:  This is Elmore's business.  He'll control it.  As for me...you know
what they say...if you can write a check, you can use QuickBooks.

Cosmo was smiling at me.

Cosmo:  I have nothing but the greatest admiration for your will power and
determination.  But I really think you're being naive if you believe that
you can run a business without any experience.  And this place has such
tremendous potential.

Cole appeared behind Cosmo, joining his keeper...er...employer.  He had
been prowling in the Corner's back rooms.  Beth tried to be invisible.

Deb:  Mr. Cosmo, we went with the sportsbar motif precisely because of the
potential.  Rock and Roll bars tend to go down the tubes fairly quickly
unless they're part of the Hard Rock chain.

This was a direct shot at Cosmo's plans for the property as he had
described them to me the last time we met.  He had intended to make a
rock and roll bar out of the place, one of a chain of such bars he planned
to call 'Cosmos Factory'.

Quint turned to Beth, who stood behind him trembling like a rabbit.  He
kept his voice low, so as not to draw attention to himself.

Quint:  Whatsa matter, darlin'?

Beth:  I do not want to be here.  At all.  The company is...marginal
...at best.

Quint smiled down at her.  She caught the doorframe and determinedly
thought of her Sam, home, hopefully resting and not baiting Hewey.

Quint:  Present company excepted, I hope.  You wanna leave?  

Beth:  I don't even know why I came in here, other than that I was getting
nervous by myself in the truck.  I just prefer to keep as much distance
between me and the Neanderthal Cole as possible. 

Quint:  Reason enough.  Just stay close, baby.  Nothin'll happen if you
just stay close.

Beth nodded helplessly and watched Cole, standing with his legs spread
and arms folded across his chest.  Beth noticed that it was a popular
position in the Corner.  Quint had resumed it himself.

Deb:  Well, damn...look what the cat dragged in.  Billy, you know we've
got varmints down here?

Cole:  Keep flappin your jaw, Flash.  Prolong the agony.

Deb:  Only agony I'm in right now, Tonto, is lookin' at your damn old ugly
mug.  Mr. Cosmo, I need to get behind you, please.

Cosmo stepped aside smoothly and I attempted to head up the middle 
between him and Big Ugly.  But Cole had other ideas.  He stepped toward
me, completely blocking my path and more or less pinning me to the bar.  
He pushed hard with his big body but hardest with his hips, and I started
to get rattled.  I could tell what he was really after, and I had managed
to avoid it once.  I had no idea how long I could expect to continue to 
get away with it.  On the other hand, being basically fearless or stupid,
I didn't feel I could give up an inch.

Deb:  You lookin' for another shot, there, Tonto?

I might have been more inclined to back off, wiggle away, if I had seen
the look on Billy's face.  I was later told it was the most curious mixture
of rage and fear that anybody had ever seen my boy wearing.

Cole:  You and I got some unfinished business, Flash.

Quint bent close to Beth.  Unlike many of the men in the room, Quint
liked to think about what he saw going on around him, and this was a facer
if he'd ever seen one.  He expected Beth would be able to answer his
questions.

Quint:  Am I missin' something, here?

Beth:  I don't know, what seems confusing?  I can give you the Cliff's
Notes version.

Quint:  The big one...and Deb.  It's like she's baiting him.

Beth:  That's Deb...find the biggest bully in the bunch and then pick on
him.  He roughed her up quite a bit when Cosmo thought it might be nice to
add kidnapping to his list of priors.

Quint:  I know where Bill comes into this but...

Beth:  She got loose before Bill could storm the place.  So he has yet to
repay Cole for his hospitality.  I'm surprised at his restraint, especially
with the Cavalry here.

Cole had dropped his voice to a dangerously low level.  I was the only 
one who could hear him at all distinctly.

Deb:  What business would that be, varmint?  Back the hell off, you're 
makin' the man mad.

Cole took my chin in hard fingers, wrenched my head up and kissed me.
Brutally.  If he'd been looking to start something he couldn't have thought 
of a better way to do it.  I heard sounds of a struggle and somebody saying
'Bill, she'll just get hurt you do that'.  I pushed hard against Cole, and
he must have decided to let me move him because he stepped back.

Cole:  We'll finish it, don't you worry, Flash.

I scrubbed at my mouth with the back of my hand and resisted the urge to
spit.

Deb:  That's Miss Flash to you, boy, since you're nasty.

Bill finally got loose and charged in.  He'd taken all he could.  He
grabbed the front of Cole's coat.  Cole returned the gesture in kind,
shoving Billy hard up against the bar.

Beth had been a silent witness to this little drama, and her fear of Cole
had been enough to keep her silent through the worst of it.  The last
thing she wanted was that flat, soulless stare directed at her.  But the
dusty air in the Corner had been tickling the back of her throat since 
she'd come in.  And she couldn't resist the urge to comment on Cole, if
only to Quint.  She sneezed, at the same time as she was muttering the
word 'asshole'.  I heard it, responded by coughing around the word 
'jackoff', all very Animal House.  Cole's glare went from me to Beth.

Cole:  Well, well.  Long time, no see.  Whatcha doin' hidin' over there,
Slick?

Beth shrank behind Quint, strapping her arms tightly across her
breasts and taking an unconscious step towards him.  Quint dropped his arms
to a position by his sides, ready for any move Cole migh make.  He stepped
slightly forward, placing his big body more completely between Beth and
Cole.

Billy:  You're just talkin' in circles, Cosmo.  This place ain't for sale
and it ain't open to the public yet, either...

I just had to chime in...

Deb:  'Specially not to you.

Billy nudged me, hard.

Billy:  ...so I'd appreciate you takin' your pet and leavin'.

Deb:  Pet?  Cockroach?  Oh, sorry, Coley.

Coley:  'Sokay, Ma.

Cosmo removed a cigar from his breast pocket, went through an elaborate
ritual of tamping and trimming and sniffing before finally setting the
thing alight.

Cosmo:  Deals were offered and refused.  No hard feelings, Mr. Pratt.  I
wish you luck.  You can hardly blame us for wanting to stop in early and 
wish Elmore the best of luck.  Especially knowing how much he's liable to
need it.

Billy:  And you can take your veiled threats with you.

Cosmo:  I'm a businessman, Mr. Strannix, not a thug.  I don't threaten.

Deb:  Cole's the thug, Billy.  But I hate to be insulting the thugs of the
world.  Mr. Cosmo...you keep referring to yourself as a businessman but
you never say exactly what your business is.  It's all so vague.  What
sort of business are you in, Mr. Cosmo?

Quint:  Get the hell out of there if you're gonna run your mouth, girl.

Coley:  C'mon over here, Ma.

Elmore:  Ain't too healthy there, Deb.

McCain:  Y'wanna stand clear, there, Ma.

Cosmo and Cole headed for the door.

Cole:  This ain't over, Strannix.  You'll be seein' me, Pratt.

Cole gave Billy one more hard shove into the bar.  I struggled to get
past Billy.  Cole, on his way out, stopped next to Beth.

Cole:  I ain't forgot you, either, Slick.

Beth looked petrified, and it set me off the way no threat to myself
could have.  She'd done nothing to deserve what he was doing and she was
my friend and Billy was already worked up enough.  I lunged at his 
retreating back, evading grabs by Billy, Elmore and Coley.  I skidded to a 
stop behind him and let fly with a solid shot at his ass.  Cole reached
behind him to vaguely rub at his behind, as though I was no more than an
irritating fly.  I was hopping clumsily, cursing a blue streak and trying
not to cry with the pain - I had kicked him with my bad leg, for some
reason.

Coley:  Maybe you wanna siddown, Ma.

Deb:  No, Coley...I'm okay.  I will be, anyway...

Elmore:  Looks t'me like y'just did that ankle in again, there, Darlin'.

Deb:  Oh, shut up.

I felt an arm across my back and another behind my knees.  Billy, as
usual, having to retrieve me before I could do myself serious damage.  He
carried me back to the bar and deposited me on it, thumping me down 
unnecessarily firmly.  He was furious.  He riveted me in place with a hard
gaze, placed his hands on either side of me on the bar, and brought
himself immensely close to me.

Billy:  Stay.  Put.

Deb:  Yes, Billy.

There was no arguing with that tone.  How truly foul his mood was I had 
no real idea until he started snapping out orders.

Billy:  Quint, McCain, Elmore!  You boys take this watch.  Neville, Blake!
Get the hell back to the house!  Take these two with ya!

Deb:  Beth, dontcha just love it when Annapolis stops in?

Beth had no answer for me, and when I looked over at her I saw that she
was backed against the doorjamb with her forehead resting between Quint's
shoulderblades.  I bit the inside of my lip, and not for the first time
cursed my big mouth.  I would wind up answering to Sam if he ever found out
what happened and why.

Beth:  Someone.  Take.  Me.  Home.

She paused for the longest time.

Beth:  Please.

Quint turned immediately to her and wrapped a big arm around her bowed
shoulders.

Quint:  That's the idea, Darlin'.  Come on...

Deb:  That sight would drive the Dawg straight up the wall.  Say...did I do
something wrong here?  Billy, where are you going if you're not staying here
and you're not coming home?

I rested my hands on his broad shoulders and looked into his fierce dark
eyes.  I swallowed heavily.  I knew a lot of Billy's anger was on my account
and while he didn't scare me particularly, I never did like to be the one
responsible for putting him in an evil mood.

Billy:  I need to...go see a man about a horse.  Then I need to make some
phone calls.  You.  Go home and stay there.

Deb:  You can't do that stuff from home?

All my bravado was gone, out the window.  Billy was doing what Cole 
wanted to do and couldn't - scare me spitless.

Coley:  Aw, Ma...c'mon home.  We c'n drink some beer and order up some
pizzas so you don't hafta cook.  An' we don't hafta eat it.

Beth had been genuinely shaken by the direct threat.  She had stumbled
once or twice as Quint led her to the truck.  She was thinking longingly
of the quiet of her home.  She wanted her bathtub, her soft robe, some hot 
tea and the incomparable refuge of Sam's arms.  Quint tightened his grip,
supporting her almost completely as they walked.

Quint:  Just a little further, baby.

Beth sighed, smiled tiredly.

Beth:  Thanks, Quint.  Sorry to be a pain in the ass.  It's been a long
couple of...years.

Quint:  No pains in the ass here, baby.  My pleasure.  Up you go...

Quint lifted Beth into the Suburban and climbed into the driver's seat,
to wait for Coley and Deb.

Deb:  What are you going to do now, Billy?  Is it me?  Did I screw up that
badly again?  Who are you hiding from?

Billy smirked, dropped his voice to dangerous levels.

Billy:  I ain't hidin', baby.  But those boys might need to very soon.

Neville:  They don't seem like the hiding type, Bill.

Deb:  Billy, I think they're waiting for me out there.  And Beth really 
wants to get home.

Billy lifted me off the bar as easily as he had put me there, and set
me gently on the floor.  He kissed me lightly on the top of my head.  Then,
so the 'boys' wouldn't think he had gone completely soft, he grabbed me in
a playful headlock.

Billy:  Go home and stay there unless I tell ya different.  You
understand?

Deb:  Yessir.  Permission to assume an upright position, sir!

Coley:  Let 'er loose, Bill.  Quint 'n I'll get 'er outa your hair.

Billy set me upright, leaned into my face, rubbed noses with me so
quickly I doubted anybody saw it.

Billy:  Y'all make sure the pipsqueak's okay.  And you keep your
ass off the street.

TO BE CONTINUED....