“Jack Daniels. A little water.”
He spoke with a slight drawl. Watuh.
The barmaid with spider web tattoos up her left arm and a studded belt put the drink in front of him. He had put some money on the bar. He leaned in. “Keep a dollar for yourself.” Dollah. Yossef.
He took the change with a small hand, parchment skin stretched over blue veins, ghostly tendons and knobby white knuckles. His nose was broken, really broken. I put him at 80.
I finished my burger, wiped my hands and gestured at the baseball game playing on the large screen across from us. “Follow sports much?”
“They don’t mean nothing to me.” The eyes on either side of his broken nose followed me, looking for a reaction. “That’s layin’ it out there.”
“Pardon?”
“That’s laying it out there, sayin’ what I mean.”
I shrugged. “Yeah.”
“These sports don’t mean nothing. I was a prizefighter. Fought 122 fights. Was a contender. I’ve lived it. These sports today don’t mean nothing.”
I was thinking that he could be interesting to talk to.
“I had the first television in the world.” Really?
“When was that?”
“1920.”
I think the first television broadcast was in 1926. He had a TV before that?
He chattered on about a couple of things. I’m doing the math, if he is 80, then he was borh in 1927.
“Did you fight in World War II?”
He talked about being on island campaigns in the Pacific. He talked with a lower tone and I couldnt follow everything he said. He pulled a picture from his wallet that showed a soldier and a Chinese soldier. He said it was from China in 1947.
He talked about televisions, when he owned them, and how big they were.
“You have a good evening, sir.”
I wasn’t ready to leave. I hadn’t paid my tab. I let it ride.
We had more fits and starts of conversation. He would end each one with “You have a good evening sir.” I had a little beer left and drank in in my own good time.
The size of the television changed from 4 to 10 inches and back to seven. He was 83 years old. He had fought in battles, been hurt in the prize ring. The barmaid with all the tattoos kept her distance. I know she would be back to try to sell him another drink later.
I left him to his memories.