Chapter 5

As Kelly looked over the menu at Maria’s Cantina, Ed looked around the room at the other people around the tables. A few would look over at him and Kelly before talking quietly with each other. Proud that he was seated with the most beautiful woman in the room, he knew that the majority of conversations were not very flattering about him.

A very nervous Rosa came to the table with a tray. She was a very buxom Hispanic woman and hated the stares that her chest usually attracted. Ed was the worst, almost always commenting on her build. She set a shot of tequila and a beer in front of Ed and turned to Kelly ignoring Ed completely. She asked, “What would you like to drink?”

Kelly looked at Ed with a question. He understood that she wanted wine with her meal and winked at her. Despite telling her several times that it didn’t bother him if she had something to drink, she felt like her taking a drink tempted him to fall off the wagon. She answered, “I would like a glass of red wine.”

Looking at the beer and shot, Ed said, “I’m sorry, Rosa, but I would prefer iced tea with my meal.”

Rosa stepped back as if Ed had threatened her. Not quite believing his request, she asked, “You don’t want your regular drink?”

Wondering how long it would take for him to lose his reputation as a heavy drinker, Ed replied, “I quit drinking. I’ll just take an iced tea. Thank you for the thought.”

Uncertain what to do, Rosa put the beer and shot on the tray. As she returned to the bar, she set the beer on the table of another customer saying, “On the house.”

In the back, she drank back the shot in a single swallow. Maria watched with dismay, since her sister almost never drank. Concerned, she asked, “What happened?”

“Ed sent it back.”

Maria jeered, “He’s never sent a drink back.”

Shaking her head, Rosa replied, “You serve him. He scares me.”

Maria, well aware of her sister’s feelings towards Ed, asked, “What did he order?”

Rosa said, “A red wine for the woman and a glass of iced tea for him.”

Maria gave the order to the bartender. After a minute, she loaded the tray with the glass of wine and a glass of iced tea. She carried it over to the table and set the wine in front of the woman and the iced tea in front of Ed. Ignoring Ed, she examined Kelly wondering what her story was. What ever it was, it had to be bad for her to take up with Ed. Watching Maria, Ed could read the thoughts going through her mind. He said, “Maria, I’d like you to meet Kelly. She’s my lady friend. Kelly, this is Maria. She owns the restaurant.”

Surprised by the introduction, Maria found herself turning to Kelly saying, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Smiling at the other woman, Kelly replied, “This is a very nice place you have. You must be very proud of it.”

Warming to the woman, Maria smiled and answered, “I am, but it’s a lot of work.”

“I’ll bet.”

Maria liked the woman and just couldn’t imagine what she saw in Ed. Afraid to become involved with a woman that had taken up with Ed, she changed the subject by asking, “What would you like to eat?”

Kelly winked at her and said, “What do you recommend for a young woman wanting to watch her figure?”

At least the woman had the normal concerns of all women. Smiling, Maria answered, “How about a taco salad that’s light on the meat, cheese, and dressing?”

“Sounds perfect.”

Maria turned to Ed and, in a less than friendly manner, asked, “How about you?”

“I think I’ll have the Enchilada dinner,” answered Ed. He added, “You do them just right, Maria. I think they’re the best in the state.”

Maria stepped back and looked at Ed as though he grown a horn in the middle of his forehead. She answered, “Thanks, I’ll put the order in right now.”

Maria had just stepped away from the table when Harry Burton stumbled into her. He looked up, swaying drunkenly, and stared, first at Ed and then at Kelly. For almost a full minute he stared at Kelly. Finally, he shouted, “Hey, Ed. Who’s the whore?”

After a collective gasp, the entire restaurant turned quiet as a cemetery. A very angry Ed turned to look over at Harry. Skin flushing at the less than nice characterization of her, Kelly glanced at Ed seeing his eyes narrowed with anger and muscles along his jaw tight with tension. All eyes turned to Ed, waiting to see his reaction.

Harry wobbled, finding it difficult to stand. His skin was a pasty white and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Hands over his stomach, Harry was swallowing heavily as though trying to keep from getting sick. One thought went through Ed’s mind, ‘Harry is going to vomit.’

Jumping up, Ed raced over to Harry and threw a hand over his mouth. With his other hand, he grabbed Harry by his belt and lifted his butt up in the air. As he carried Harry out the fire exit, he heard someone shout, “Oh my God. He’s going to kill Harry.”

Carrying Harry over to the trashcan, they reached it just in time. With the noises familiar to everyone, Harry lost the contents of his stomach in a heaving retch. The anger drained out of Ed at the sight of the man being sick. Having years of experience getting sick after drinking, Ed rubbed him on the back and said, “Easy, Harry. Just relax. Don’t force it and don’t fight it.”

When Harry tried to stand, Ed held him over the barrel with a light touch on his back. He said, “You’ve got some more coming up, Harry.”

Groaning in misery, Harry threw up again. Ed stayed with him, making sure he was okay. When Harry finally stood up, Ed looked at him and could see that he was seriously ill. He was a very pale white and his whole body soaked with perspiration, possibly suffering from alcohol poisoning. Tottering like an infant, Harry bent over and threw up in the barrel again.

The Sheriff came around the corner. The dark scene, lit by a single dull light bulb, didn’t allow too many details to be seen. From where he stood, it looked like Ed was stuffing Harry in the trash can. The Sheriff shouted, “Let him go, Ed.”

Ed shouted back, “You better get an ambulance here.”

Based on the report called in, the Sheriff was convinced that Ed meant to kill Harry and pulled his gun. He approached cautiously, knowing that Ed could fight as dirty as anyone he had ever encountered. When Ed helped Harry stand up, he lost his shot since Harry was between him and Ed. The Sheriff stared in surprise when Harry, hanging onto Ed, said, “Ed, I don’t feel very good. Thanks for being here.”

Ed helping him stand, answered, “Don’t worry, Harry. I’m here to help you. The Sheriff is here and he’s called an ambulance.”

The moment of control was over as Harry bent over and vomited again. By this time, the Sheriff realized that Ed wasn’t hurting Harry. Holstering his weapon, he came over to help. Just a glance was sufficient to see that Harry was really sick. At least an ambulance was already on its way, a precaution taken as a result of the call received at the Sheriff’s station. Working together, the two men helped Harry stand up. With the wail of the ambulance in the background, Ed took a close look at Harry noticing a black drool from his lips. In a tone of real concern, Ed said, “Sheriff, he’s really sick. I think he’s throwing up blood.”

The Sheriff looked at Harry and could see that he was in dire need of medical attention. He ordered, “Let’s carry him to the front. The ambulance will be here in a few minutes.”

Carrying Harry around to the front of the restaurant, they reached the parking lot as the ambulance pulled up. There was a sudden loosening of Harry’s bowels and a terrible stench filled the air. The ambulance crew quickly took charge of the situation. It didn’t take them long to get him onto a gurney and into the ambulance. It was a relief when they pulled out of the parking lot. Neither man had realized the tension they were feeling.

As the Sheriff watched the ambulance drive off, he asked, “Ed, did you hit him?”

Ed shook his head and replied, “No, I didn’t. I took him outside because I didn’t want his throwing up to spoil my date’s evening.”

“Are you sure you didn’t hit him?”

“I didn’t hit him. Of course, you have no reason to believe me.” Ed straightened up and looked at his hands. There was vomit on them acquired when they had carried Harry around the building. He said, “Do you mind if I get cleaned up and let Kelly know that I’m going to the station with you? You might want to wash your hands as well.”

The Sheriff didn’t know what to say. Ed wasn’t his favorite person in town, he’d had more than one run in with Ed. His past record suggested that he had beaten Harry. The problem was that he had seen Ed helping Harry. Harry talking to him and thanking him. Deciding that he would wait until he had more information, he said, “Sure. Let’s get cleaned up.”

The two men went into the restroom of the restaurant walking past a scared Maria. The Sheriff washed his hands while Ed looked at the sleeves of his coat. Frowning, he took his coat off. After checking the pockets, he threw it in the trashcan in disgust. Turning to the Sheriff, he said, “First time I wore it, I got blood on it. The second time, vomit. I guess I’m not cut out to dress nice. At least the shirt is clean.”

The Sheriff said, “Tell me what happened out there.”

As the Sheriff dried his hands, Ed stepped up to the sink and started washing his. He said, “Well, Harry said something very rude about my date. I just about lost my temper, but I looked at him and could tell that he was in bad shape. When I realized he was about to vomit, I put my hand over his mouth and carried him by the belt outside and over to the trashcan so he could vomit there.”

“That doesn’t sound like you.”

Ed agreed with the assessment. He replied, “No, it doesn’t.”

The Sheriff said, “Let’s go in and talk to your date.”

Ed led the way to the table. The looks he received from everyone in the restaurant were very accusatory. When he reached the table, he sat down next to Kelly and pointed to a chair. He said, “Sheriff, I’d like you to meet Kelly. Kelly, this is the Sheriff.”

Relieved to see Ed and worried about the presence of the Sheriff, Kelly didn’t know what to think. She had wanted to follow him out the back door in an attempt to stop him from hurting Harry, but others had held her back. She had been left sitting there, scared and alone, wondering what she was supposed to do. Maria, after calling the Sheriff, had returned to the table and tried to comfort her. It had angered Kelly more than comforted her to hear the woman say that Ed was just a bad seed. The problem was that she had seen the anger flare up in his eyes.

The Sheriff looked at Kelly and said, “Nice to meet you.”

Kelly looked at Ed, fearing for the worst, and replied, “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you too. I just wish the circumstances were better.”

The Sheriff took in the beverages sitting on the table. The lack of a beer bottle surprised him as much as everything else he had seen. Watching Ed take a sip of the iced tea was an additional shock; he didn’t believe that Ed knew what iced tea was. The Sheriff sat down and signaled Maria over to the table. He asked, “Did they eat yet?”

Glaring at Ed, Maria answered, “No. I held off on putting in the order.”

The Sheriff said, “Well, put in the order and add a couple of tacos to it. I’ll take some iced tea, as well.”

Startled by this turn of events, Maria glanced at Ed, the Sheriff, and finally at Kelly. She backed away from the table. Before she had taken three steps, Ed said, “Maria. Don’t worry about what you said to Kelly. She’s heard it before from me. I know you’re just trying to spare another woman some pain.”

Turning back to Kelly, he said, “Don’t worry about Harry. The ambulance took him to the hospital. I think he’s going to be okay.”

“The ambulance?”

Hitting his head with the palm of his hand, Ed said, “Stupid me, I should have called you. You’re a nurse and would have known what to do.”

Kelly repeated her question, “The ambulance?”

Ed nodded as he answered, “He was really ill. We were lucky that Maria called the Sheriff and he called an ambulance.”

The nurse in Kelly emerged and she asked, “What was the matter?”

Ed said, “He was throwing up blood.”

With a glance in the Sheriff’s direction, she asked, “Did you hit him?”

“No, I just carried him out to the trashcan where he could throw up. I didn’t want to spoil our date.”

“So what is going to happen now?”

Ed shrugged and said, “I imagine the Sheriff is going to take me to the jail until we hear from Harry that I didn’t hit him. I don’t know what will happen if Harry doesn’t remember the events of tonight. I guess that is up to the Sheriff.”

The Sheriff watched the exchange with interest. Kelly shook her head and said, “It’s not going to be that easy. If he was throwing up blood, odds are that he’ll die before he gets to the hospital.”

The look on Ed’s face was one of horror. He leaned forward and asked, “You can’t be serious.”

After a glance at the Sheriff, she answered, “Very. I bet if the Sheriff makes a call now, he’ll get the news.”

As the Sheriff stood up and left the table, Ed held his head in his hands and moaned. He said, “There’s no way anyone is going to believe that I didn’t kill him.”

Putting her hand on his neck, she whispered, “You’re a good man, Ed. They won’t blame you if he had a medical problem.”

Ed just shook his head while thinking about how he had done the right thing for a change. It didn’t matter what others thought, he knew the truth and that was all that mattered. The thought gave him the strength to sit up straight. He said, “Don’t worry, I’ll be okay.”

The Sheriff came back to the table and sat down heavily in his chair. He looked around the room and then at the pair. He asked, “Do you want the news now or after you eat?”

Prepared for the worst, Ed sat back and said, “I’ll take it now, if that’s alright with you.”

“Well, your girlfriend was right. He died before he got to the hospital.” The Sheriff looked at Ed, noting that he didn’t protest his innocence. He asked, “What do you think about that?”

In a solemn tone of voice, Ed answered, “I feel sorry for Harry. What a horrible way to die. He spent the last minutes of life with someone that he detested bent over a trash barrel sick as hell. It’s not fair, not fair at all.”

Kelly nodded her agreement and said, “Sad. That is very sad.”

That was not the reaction that the Sheriff had expected. Ed looked at the Sheriff and said, “I assume you’ll be pressing murder charges.”

When Ed had made that statement, Maria showed up with their food on a large tray. Hands trembling, she set the dishes on the table in front of them. The Sheriff answered, “No. They cleared you.”

Puzzled, Ed asked, “How could they clear me?”

Standing off to the side, Maria listened with interest. She was convinced that Ed had killed Harry and was willing to testify to that in a court. The Sheriff answered, “The doctor said that if you had hit him, he would have died right then. I saw you taking care of him while he was throwing up. He talked to you and there wasn’t any fear in his voice.”