She sat there twistin’ her long blonde hair…listenin’ to his crazy talk all night long…every once in awhile the woman would check her red fingernails out…holdin’ ’em up in the lights of the diner as he continued tellin’ stories ’bout bein’ out on the road…how he didn’t have a home…lived like a vagabond out of a car…an old Dodge Dart he’d bought from a priest for $500…no rust…great condition…just like her body…

They’d sip on cherry Cokes and pour whiskey in the glasses after they’d drank ’em down a little…stirin’ the booze to the bottom with a straw…the red head waitress who took frequent smoke breaks outside saw what they were doin’…she didn’t say anything…just kept takin’ drags and lookin’ at him with his greasy pompadour and a long strand of black hair hangin’ down in front of his face…thought he was real cool lookin’…thought ’bout havin’ a shot at him when the blonde went to the bathroom…she winked at him…lettin’ him know that she would be more than interested in bein’ a second prize if things didn’t work out…he smiled back…smiled with a closed mouth…ashammed of his cigarette stained teeth…she just looked at him…just looked at him…

And he talked ’bout bein’ in New York without a dime to his name…how he’d hustle and get loot from people…fillin’ plastic sandwich bags full of different colored construction paper…sellin’ ’em at $50 a bag…people wantin’ to trip would pay it…sucker born every minute…a real P.T. Barnum act he did…sayin’ it was the best acid they’d ever have in the whole tri-state region…the blonde laughed…soon he said he had $1,000 on him and had to leave town immediately…hadn’t been back to the big apple since…people still probably cursin’ his name…

The check was presented to him by big red…she said to take your time…he said he always did…he strolled to the bathroom where he hit his face with cold water…rubbin’ it up in his green eyes…takin’ wet hands and runnin’ ’em through his hair…went back out and the blonde was gone…just gone…like she’d vanished in the night…he’d asked the waitress with the thick hips if she’d seen the lady he was sittin’ with…she just smiled and slipped him a note…

The quick letter said…,Get off at midnight…I won’t wait…,she blew him a kiss as he walked out the door…he just smiled…just smiled…