Taking Chances, by E. L. Van Hine and L.H. Nicoll

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 17:

“Aw... darlin,” Ennis said.

“Well, part of it was that I lost my dad the year before that, an when Beagle an I got together I couldn’t let em go. I wasn’t always the hard ass independent minded asshole you see before you.”

“But still...he didn’t say nothin... how he felt, or anythin?”

“No, an I fell real hard for that boy too.” Ellery smiled, his eyes distant, wistful. “Ya could say I had my summer up on the mountain an it lasted nine months at school. I almost didn’t go back either.”

Ennis pushed back the lank strands of hair that had fallen over Ellery’s pale face. “How did you do it... the suicide thing?”

“Pills. Back then ya could get just about anythin from the other students, uppers, downers, acid, pot... an I took some downers, but didn’t know shit about em an just slept for a couple a days, woke up hung over an dehydrated an was sick in bed for a week. Moped around all summer an grandpa thought it was about my dad. But it wasn’t. It was all about a brown eyed longhaired boy who stole my heart an went back ta Jackson with it.”

“You ever talk to em after that?”

Ellery shook his head. “Nah, no point. Hey buddy, you remember that roommate you fucked all through first year? Nah. If he wanted me he knew where ta find me an he never wrote or called after the wedding invite.”

Ennis leaned in close, kissing Ellery gently on the mouth. “That was a real sad story, Ellery. I am sorry about that.”

“Yeah well... I had more sex than most freshmen at the U do, so it wasn’t a total loss.”

“But you told me it had somethin ta do with how ya feel inside, not in the sex.”

“Yeah, I’m just bein flip. I was upset about Beagle for a long time, boy. A good long time. I really loved that boy.”

L

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 18, a classic Ellery line:

Ellery was eating ice cream smothered with chocolate sauce, watching a poorly lit film noir when Ennis came in and dropped his hat on the table. “Yer back early, quiet down there?”

“Yeah. ‘Cept for some guy named Blackwell makin out with yer bartender out back an beatin off after.”

Ellery stared. “You ain’t serious. Rudy? Gabe?”

“Dead serious. Lauren didn’t want ta say nothing but he was serving a busy bar with no Rudy in sight when I came in at nine, an when I stuck my head out they was joined at the hips. Rudy don’t say much of anythin ta me when he comes back in, an when I looked back out there was Mr. Pearl Handled finishin emself off.”

“Rudy just kicked his boyfriend out –“ he looked at his watch “Not even 48 hours ago.” He put a hand over his eyes briefly. “Is every gay bartender alive a fuckin slut I ask you?”

“Maybe he likes antique pistols,” Ennis said, unbuttoning his shirt. “I’m gonna wash off the smoke.”

and at the end of the chapter:

“Don’t worry Ellery,” Ennis said. “I didn’t say that ta stir ya up.”

“Well I am stirred up. I think I better go pay another visit ta Rudy. Got ta go down there an interview a bouncer anyhow. Would you come with me tomorrow?”

“Ellery…”

“Ennis, this is about you too.”

“Shit, okay.”

“Good now you ready ta go ta bed? I want ta take advantage a any free floatin jealousy ya got that makes you so frisky in the sack.”

“Got some a that,” Ennis said, getting up and letting the towel drop.

“So I see.”

L

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 19:

“Then somethin new. I made pancakes. They’re in the oven fer when yer ready.”

“Damn Ennis, first dinner now breakfast.”

Ennis smiled, stroking the lank hairs away from Ellery’s face and pressing his lips against his cheek, working his way toward his mouth. “It’s cause I love ya.”

“It’s cause yer still feelin sorry for me for havin an asshole first boyfriend. You should see a picture a me when I was first in college an you wouldn’t feel so guilty. I was a smug little shit an looked like one a those Weathermen who was goin around threatenin ta blow up the Golden Gate Bridge if my daddy reduced my trust fund.”

“Weather what?”

“Weathermen. Longhaired hippie people that were agitatin against Nixon an all that. You do remember the Nixon years I assume?”

“Yeah, yeah, Vietnam war protest or whatever... “

“Yeah somethin like that, you get the point. Okay let me down, yeah, if you can rub that old spot there, that place right above where Mr. Coyote gave me a real good nip the other night...” he grinned.

Ennis laughed softly. “I know where it is.” And he helped Ellery roll onto his stomach, pulling his legs straight, a surge of arousal coursing through him as he straightened his hips and leaned over him, straddling the narrow thighs. “I got ya right where I want ya....”

“Yeah but you try anythin on me right now you might end up with me makin some sounds you ain’t never heard, mostly “Help! an get the fuck off me.”

L

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 20:

“Huh, go figure,” he said, getting out his deposit book. “We’re doin better.”

“Place has been crawlin, Ellery, with this gun show an then that round-up thing they got goin. Wish I’d come down to a queer bar years ago if only ta know just how many a those rough an ready types ain’t no different from me.”

“Or me, you think aside from my hair there’d be anyone down at the courthouse or police department knowin better, ever think I was queer? They think they’re all... like Wayne, wigglin their asses an slickin up their hair an usin a bit a eyeliner ta give em a sultry exotic look.”

Ennis smirked, stacking quarters. “Yeah. Well some a those guys, ya see em around, lookin at guys playin pool, you know what I mean...”

Ellery nodded. “Yeah. Wolves I call em. We got enough wolves here.”


and a bit later, same chapter:

Ellery squinted into the comparative gloom of the bar. “What do my agin eyes see... “

“Hey Chief,” Dupree said. “Ennis had me hang back here a bit.”

“What the hell are you doin here, had nothin ta do an decided ta visit the queer side a town?”

“Well, I was hopin you hadn’t hired someone as yet fer a bouncer.”

“Shit Dupree, I’m lookin for somebody four nights a week, maybe five, four hours a night. You’re doin full time at the station.”

“Yeah but Chief... I was an Army grunt, you want ta know how many hours I was doin there? Besides, my GI Bill is runnin out an... I still got the loans. I was hopin I could ... you know, work for you a bit more. Besides, me an Ennis get along good.”

Ellery looked at Ennis and back at Dupree. “It’s a queer bar, Dupree.”

Dupree laughed. “I know that Chief.”

“You ain’t queer.”

“Yeah. But I work for a man who is, an my friend Ennis here is queer. An... I was kinda hopin it might gimme some money I really need an help me ... I dunno. Get ta know you guys better. If that makes any sense.”

Ellery flashed Ennis a look, and Ennis shrugged.

“Look Dupree, I think you would be more than overqualified an I would be deliriously happy to have you. Say nothin more. Okay?”

Dupree stepped over to the desk and offered his hand. “Thank you Chief. My bank thanks you too.”

“Shit, now we made everybody just way too happy,” Ellery said. “You want ta make Ennis a whole lot more happy an show up tonight at say ten so he doesn’t have ta glare at the femboys all alone?”

“Sure!” Dupree said.

“Let’s have a beer then,” Ellery said, gesturing to the tap. “Ennis would you do the honors?”


L

[mariez]

Hi Leslie -  hope you're safe in the bad weather!  We're having ice storms and I'm crossing my fingers that the power stays on!  Thanks for the quotes - we finally hear the sad Beagle story.   

On a different note, I love seeing Ennis relishing his role as bouncer:

Ennis shook his head, sitting down at the bar. He frowned, looking around. “You alone tonight Lauren? I thought Rudy was –“

“He is workin, but he’s… out back.”

“Out back?”

Lauren’s face reddened. He slid Ennis’s beer over, and gestured slightly with his head. Ennis slid back off his stool and walked to the back door, opening it a crack. Rudy was there, he could tell mostly from the hair, his build and the bar apron, pressed up against the wall by a very large man in a black hat, clinched in a deep kiss. Ennis cleared his throat. “Hey ain’t you got some bartendin ta do?” he said. To his mild shock, the big man unwound himself from Rudy and turned, a little smile on his face, which slowly faded as Ennis came eye to eye once more with Gabe Blackwell.

“Well I guess you just like to break up all the fun don’t ya boy?” Gabe said, voice dripping with sarcasm as he let Rudy go.

“If it’s bar hours, yep.” Ennis ducked back inside and returned to the bar, face dark with anger. Lauren looked at him uneasily. “He’s out there makin out with that gun dealer guy.”

“Yeah. I know,” Lauren said.

“How long’s he been out there?” Ennis asked quietly, watching the door.

“A while,” Lauren said.

A few minutes later Rudy came back in, hauling a keg of beer from the storage cooler, and setting it up on the tap. He avoided Ennis’s gaze. Gabe did not return.

“So he keeping a spot warm for ya out there fer yer next hourly break or something?” Ennis said, his voice cold.

Rudy shot Ennis a grim look and said nothing.

“Why don’t we just go take a look?” Ennis said, sliding back off the stool and taking a sip of beer before setting it back down and heading back to the door.

“No need ta do that, Ennis…” but Ennis had opened the door once more in time to see the gun dealer adjusting himself and zipping up.

“What a we got ta do, put up a ‘No Jerkin Off’ sign fer fucks like you?”

Unexpectedly, Blackwell smiled at him. “Yer a feisty one. No wonder Ellie Mae went for ya. You’d like ta take a swing at me wouldn’t ya?”

“Wouldn’t mind, you givin me a reason?”

Blackwell stepped closer, and from that distance Ennis could see he was still aroused, the bulge made by his cock obvious to anyone nearby as it poked out the fly of his denims. “Nah, I could wipe up this parkin lot with you. Yer a little scrawny fer me, besides, I tend ta settle things a little more directly…” He patted his holster, and it then became clear why he hadn’t followed Rudy back in – he was armed with his pearl-handled pistols.

“I got nothin ta settle,” Ennis said, and pointed at his crotch. “Just don’t jerk off in our parkin lot, that’s what the city park is for.”

Blackwell touched his fingers to his hat. “I’ll be goin now. You tell Ellie Mae hi for me when you see him.”

“Fuck off,” Ennis growled, and slammed the door as he walked back inside the bar.



I just love the line about the "No Jerkin' Off' sign! 

Thanks - Marie

[MaineWriter]

Good morning, re-readers,

Today, chapters 21-25:

http://louisev.livejournal.com/55414.html

A little PDA from Ellery and Ennis didn't seem to mind...

Ellery hung up and moved slowly to his feet, shuffling out to the bar. “Hey Chief, what’s wrong, you hurt yer back again?”

Ellery gave Ennis a quick glance, which he avoided. “Best not ta go inta details. I bring this shit on myself mostly.”

“Right Chief,” Dupree said, closing his mouth quickly.

“Now the rambunctious ones, they’re just lookin ta get attention, is how I figure, so I just give em a cold look. That way they know if they go further, I might stand up. With those kinda boys I don’t ever need ta stand up, see, because they know the line. The line is always starin em right in the face,” Ennis said.

“Right. Basic psychology, I can see that.”

“Don’t ever let em irritate you or make you raise yer voice or you end up with a crowd heckling ya an ya might as well just go home by then, place’ll be calmer without ya. I seen this a thousand times sittin in bars over the years.”

Dupree grinned. “So that’s how you get all this wisdom, eh Ennis…? Yer a barfly.”

“Yep. Used ta drink beers an watch the rowdies get drunk an get kicked out one by one. Good bouncer’ll remind em a the line before they go too far or start throwin punches.”

Ellery slipped an arm around Ennis’s shoulder. “An Ennis here keeps em calm don’t ya?”

“Hope so,” Ennis mumbled, looking down into his beer.


L

[MaineWriter]

More from Chapter 21:

“I thought after last night I might not have a job,” Rudy said, looking uneasily at Ellery.

“Oh, how’s that?”

“Cause a Ennis an Gabe.”

“Did ya do anythin wrong Rudy?” Ellery asked, not taking his eyes off Rudy’s face.

“I took a kind a long break out back.”

“You left Lauren alone with a bar full a thirsty men. He is overworked, I ain’t payin em to do your job while you have a lip lock with some guy from outta town who gets ya hard. If yer gonna show up ta work, work. If ya want ta go off an fuck you got ta call in for that. That’s also why I’m getting a new assistant tender, so all a you guys can have some more flexibility in yer schedule if you need it.”

“Right. I’m sorry about that. I got a little carried away. This thing with Chuck…”

“This thing with Chuck has got you makin out with customers in the back? Come on Rudy, how old are you, fifteen?”

Rudy smiled, blushing. “Ya you got a point there. You had somethin with this Gabe before huh?”

“If you could call it a somethin. It was somethin but I wouldn’t say it was much of a somethin. I don’t give a fuck about that. What I do care about is men are not allowed ta bring loaded weapons in or flash em in the bar. From what Ennis said he made some smart comment about settlin arguments with guns an that is not gonna go down here with me. I want this ta be a peaceful bar, an I want you ta help keep it peaceful an do not cross Ennis if he throws somebody out, even if you are fuckin em.”

Rudy blushed again, looking down.

“So, you are fuckin em. Just keep that action outta the bar, Rudy. An I mean it. It pisses Ennis off, an frankly… it pisses me off, an not because I’m jealous. Because Gabe is somethin of an asshole. You’ll find that out in good time. You hear me?”

“Yeah. An… thanks for not jumpin ta conclusions, Ellery.”

“I’m a detective Rudy, I come ta my own conclusions.”

“Right.”

L

[MaineWriter]

A serious moment comes up unexpectedly in Chapter 22:

After dinner, Ennis drove Ellery back home, helped him get his brace on and return to bed since he was definitely sagging. He lay with Ellery for a while, as they waited for his second Percodan to kick in.

“You think I done the right thing, hirin Dupree an Jim?”

“Dupree for sure, he’s a sensible boy an I like em.”

“An Jim?”

Ennis shrugged, trying not to look at Ellery.

“What about em Ennis?”

“It’s yer bar.”

“Well, no, I thought I had gotten around ta tellin you that I think of it as part yer bar too Ennis.”

“I don’t own it, I am just helpin you out an payin part a my rent, Ellery.”

Ellery brought a long hand up and touched it lightly against Ennis’s cheek. “I think of us as partners, Ennis. An partners is… partners. I ain’t got nobody but you, an I want ta share my life with you, an that means sharin what I got.”

“Ellery we only been together…”

“That don’t matter Ennis. I never felt this way about Bill an we was together four years more or less. I want you ta be my partner… in every way. Ta share everythin.”

“Shit Ellery… I… I don’t know what ta say…”

“Say you ain’t gonna bolt out the door an drive off in a cloud a smoke cause I just scared ya witless.”

“Okay, I ain’t.” Ennis’s face was flushed, however, and he looked anxious, even frightened. “You… sure?”

“Sure I’m sure, Ennis. Have I told ya lately that I love ya?”

“Yeah, last night after the blowjob.”

Ellery smirked. “Oh yeah. Well I love ya, Ennis.”

Ennis leaned over and pressed his lips softly against Ellery’s cheek. “I love you too, darlin. Feel better. We can talk about it later, okay? I got ta go.”

Ellery nodded, a satisfied smile on his face. By the time Ennis pulled on his boots and denims, he was already nodding off. Ennis gave him another soft kiss on the cheek, which made him stir slightly, but he did not wake.


L

[MaineWriter]

Obviously, Ennis took the partner comment seriously. More from Chapter 22:

“So yer Ellie Mae’s new buck, huh?” Gabe said, deliberately situating himself on the stool Ennis had risen from.

Ennis did not reply, but moved down the bar. Gabe got up and followed, standing much too close as Ennis sat back down. “Can I help you with somethin?” he said, voice low, irritated but controlled.

“I asked you a question Del Monte.”

“The name is Del Mar,” Ennis replied, speaking through his teeth.

“So it is.” Gabe was still grinning nastily.

“An Ellery asked you nicely ta refer ta him by name at the time as well. If you come in here ta stir shit up or ta piss me off I’ll get yer pistols for ya an ya can go find another bar with some other guys in it ta pick on.”

“I came here ta talk ta you, Ennis Del Mar. Yer Ellery’s new buck then.”

“Partner.”

“Oh partner is it? Does that mean ya switch off? When I came round last year it was pretty much always him on the bottom, or have his tastes changed since then?”

Ennis got up from his stool. “Yer buggin me, Blackwell. So you’d best go.”

“I think maybe we’d just best step outside, seein as how we’re equivalently armed.”

“Why is that?”

“Cause I got a bone ta pick with you about embarrassin me in this bar in front a someone I respect.”

“That’s too bad. I think you had just better go,” Ennis said tightly, and nodded to Dupree.


L

[MaineWriter]

Chapter 23:

He pointed subtly with his glass. “That... is Lang, an he’s got a new boy. Careful, Leon’ll slap ya if ya get too close, he’s what the boys around here call a little bitch. Only boy I ever known who really deserves the moniker if ya ask me.”

Dupree chuckled. “How long you been around here? You really seem ta know these folks.”

Ennis shrugged. “Only so many queers in Laramie, Dupree, they show up over an over.”

“That’s true. You think this Gabe fella is gonna come back an stir things up?”

“Gee I dunno, but if Rudy calls an wakes Ellery up he is gonna get a piece a my mind.” Jim set the plate of nachos down for the bikers, setting out napkins, a welcoming smile on his face, and Ennis heard him introducing himself.

“Oh he’s a friendly one all right, looky there. Can you see him bein a bouncer here?”

“Nah. Too touchy feely is my view.”

“Bartender, cook, maybe.” Ennis turned away as one of the bigger men reached around Jim and patted his snugly clothed rear with a wide hand, giving his ass a squeeze. “Ain’t no one’d try that on me.”

“Cept Ellery.”

“He never done that. Not before we was...” Ennis suddenly turned brick-red. “He knows I ain’t into that public affection stuff.”

“What are you talkin about, Ennis?” Dupree said, looking frankly amazed. "He came out a the office today an threw his arm right around you an you didn’t even flinch! An right in front a me an Rudy too!”

“He did?”

Dupree nodded. “See, yer so used to it you don’t even notice anymore.”

“Wow, guess not.”