Chapter 3

I continued to frequent The Shillelagh. I didn't chase the ladies. Neither did I chase them away.

Liam, the bartender responsible for keeping the peace the night I had the altercation with the big guy, was frequently comping me Diet Cokes. He said he was grateful I had taken care of the big guy because he couldn't. He also said he had noticed there were rarely fights when I was there. I had become the unofficial bouncer.

Liam helped steer me away from women who could get me in trouble.

I was sitting at a table two days before the first purchase in which I would be involved.

"Do you mind if I join you, John?"

"Please, Maeve."

"I don't want to be stepping on anybody's toes here. I see you leave with Darcy now and then." She put her hand on my thigh. "But I do have an interest in you."

I glanced down at her hand and smiled. "Your interest is welcome. And no toes are in danger."

I liked Darcy, but I didn't see it as anything serious.

I danced with Maeve. I tried to focus on the slower tunes. It is my sincere belief that an important part of the experience of dancing with a woman is feeling her body against mine. She did not complain.

We also talked. At times it felt awfully close to an interrogation.

"What kind of work do you do," she had asked me.

"Odd jobs."

She made a doubtful face. "You can't make very much doing odd jobs."

"No, odd jobs; Jobs where it can be difficult to find somebody who knows how to do them.

"One guy wanted me to teach his son how to throw a twelve-to-six curve ball and a slider. He also wanted me to teach the kid a changeup, but I never learned to throw a decent one myself.

"Another guy hired me to stop his kid from being bullied."

"That is an odd job," Maeve said. "How did you do that?"

"I 'happened' upon them around the time the bully usually did his thing. As the bully was approaching the kid I said, 'Hi, ' and asked him if this was the jerk he told me about.

"Of course, I was a lot bigger than the jerk and an adult, so it wasn't like I could smack him around. The cops would have been all over my ass.

"So, I asked the crowd if anybody would help me demonstrate how to take care of somebody like the bully. No volunteers. 'How about you, ' I asked the bully. He didn't say anything.

"That would probably have been sufficient intimidation for him to lay off. So I told the client's kid to come at me like he was attacking. 'Remember how to fall, ' I reminded him.

"He came at me like he was going to punch me. I leaned back a little and swept his feet. He went sprawling, but he broke his fall as he landed and popped back up.

"I gave him a big smile, told him how beautifully he broke his fall and said he should have no trouble with the take downs if he mastered the fall so easily. It wasn't entirely accurate, but none of the kids knew that. I said he probably didn't even need me, but he should give me a call if he had any more problems.

"As I was walking away, the bully remembered he had to get home."

"You're what, five nine, five ten?" she asked.

"Five eight."

"I can understand using somebody like one of Frank's goons for intimidation. But you're not exactly a scary physical presence, no offense."