Just before all four of us slipped through the side exit door, Bessie handed me two flashlights. They were the metal billy-club type of flashlights which were weapons in themselves....and Mother slipped off her heels and handed me one and retained the other. She whispered that they were lethal weapons if used correctly and told me to plant the spike heel in someone's temple if necessary. I cringed and gave Kerry one of the flashlights. SiAra was basically unarmed up to this point, but she grabbed a nearly full wine glass from an unattended table and downed it before we entered the dark and cold night. I supposed she was trying to fortify herself with liquid courage, but she took the empty wine glass with her as we entered the unknown.
"Oh...Oh..OHHHH...God, this asphalt is cold", Mother wailed as she ran in the darkness looking more like a crazed squaw doing a rain dance than a drag queen on a mission. Although the most of the exterior of the bar and it's parking area was lit by floodlights, this side of the bar drive-way, which was only wide enough to allow one car through at a time, was only a few feet from Convention boulevard, so it was not flood-lit. The full moon and the red-green-and yellow bulbs of the stoplight at the intersection of Malvern and Convention lit our way.
"Shit!" Mother exclaimed again ...and I'd never heard her utter this expletive as much as she did on this particular night which had to be another omen. "It's locked," she said as she tugged on the padlock that hung in the center of a plank door which was part of a tall wooden fenced-in area on the bar's edge. "We're gonna' have to hoist someone over it to get to the breaker box," she paused for a minute and scanned each one of us up and down ........ and then her eyes landed on SiAra.
"SiAra, you're the littlest. Git ur ass over here." Mother demanded and she allowed no room for protest. SiAra cautiously stepped out from behind Kerry and walked to Mother with her head down like a child who was about to be scolded. Mother jerked the wine glass out of her hand and placed it on the black-top and exchanged it with a lit flashlight...then she proceeded to give SiAra intricate instructions about the location of the breaker box and its main power switch which was on the side of the box..
With hesitation, SiAra spoke what we'd all been thinking, "Girl, there might be some bashers in there, and you'll be throwing me into the lion's den."
"Shit,gurl!" Mother exclaimed. "There ain't no bashers in there. That breaker went off cuz of that fog machine. Now, get over here before I throw you over this fence by myself. My toes are frozen, and I can't feel them anymore...........and I know I've gut a runner in my hose," Mother looked at me with a "keep your mouth shut" glare, and I complied....but I knew if SiAra had any sense that she'd know that it hadn't been a blown breaker or only a few of the lights would have gone out.....
"How am I going to get out after I switch it on?" SiAra asked with more sense than I gave her credit for.
"This is where Twyman keeps all of his empty beer kegs. They are all around the edge in there. It's a lot easier to get out of there than to get in to." Mother explained then turned to Kerry. "Come here, stud, help me hoist her up," she said to him and then turned and whispered to me, "You keep watch."
"Oh...Oh..OHHHH...God, this asphalt is cold", Mother wailed as she ran in the darkness looking more like a crazed squaw doing a rain dance than a drag queen on a mission. Although the most of the exterior of the bar and it's parking area was lit by floodlights, this side of the bar drive-way, which was only wide enough to allow one car through at a time, was only a few feet from Convention boulevard, so it was not flood-lit. The full moon and the red-green-and yellow bulbs of the stoplight at the intersection of Malvern and Convention lit our way.
"Shit!" Mother exclaimed again ...and I'd never heard her utter this expletive as much as she did on this particular night which had to be another omen. "It's locked," she said as she tugged on the padlock that hung in the center of a plank door which was part of a tall wooden fenced-in area on the bar's edge. "We're gonna' have to hoist someone over it to get to the breaker box," she paused for a minute and scanned each one of us up and down ........ and then her eyes landed on SiAra.
"SiAra, you're the littlest. Git ur ass over here." Mother demanded and she allowed no room for protest. SiAra cautiously stepped out from behind Kerry and walked to Mother with her head down like a child who was about to be scolded. Mother jerked the wine glass out of her hand and placed it on the black-top and exchanged it with a lit flashlight...then she proceeded to give SiAra intricate instructions about the location of the breaker box and its main power switch which was on the side of the box..
With hesitation, SiAra spoke what we'd all been thinking, "Girl, there might be some bashers in there, and you'll be throwing me into the lion's den."
"Shit,gurl!" Mother exclaimed. "There ain't no bashers in there. That breaker went off cuz of that fog machine. Now, get over here before I throw you over this fence by myself. My toes are frozen, and I can't feel them anymore...........and I know I've gut a runner in my hose," Mother looked at me with a "keep your mouth shut" glare, and I complied....but I knew if SiAra had any sense that she'd know that it hadn't been a blown breaker or only a few of the lights would have gone out.....
"How am I going to get out after I switch it on?" SiAra asked with more sense than I gave her credit for.
"This is where Twyman keeps all of his empty beer kegs. They are all around the edge in there. It's a lot easier to get out of there than to get in to." Mother explained then turned to Kerry. "Come here, stud, help me hoist her up," she said to him and then turned and whispered to me, "You keep watch."
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