Julie walked into the hub to find Roxanne standing behind the bar, swinging her hips to the sound of Dee Snyder proclaim that he wasn’t going to take it anymore.
She had to suppress a laugh.
"Roy here?" Julie found herself screaming over the loud music.
Roxanne looked up, shocked, and obviously a little embarrassed. She turned around, reaching for the turn dial that controlled the jukebox’s volume. She straightened her hair, brushed out her shirt, and turned back towards Julie.
"He’s upstairs with William." She smiled, trying to catch her breath.
"Thanks." Julie headed towards the door that led up to Roy’s apartment.
"Hey," Roxanne yelled out. "You wrote Passion Fire, right?"
Julie paused, a little shocked to hear the title of her first book being said out loud. She knew she had a following, but Roxanne hadn’t really struck her as the reading type.
"Yeah." Julie turned, walking back towards the bar. She would catch Roy on his way down. Right now she suddenly felt like a beer and a talk of something other than murderous widows and blood rituals. "You read it?"
"Yes!" Roxanne reached under the bar, pulling out a tattered old paperback. "It’s my favorite book. I’ve read it like, a thousand times."
"Want me to sign it?" Julie leaned forward, holding her hand out.
Roxanne nodded, her face a bright light of excitement.
"You give me a beer, and I’ll give you an autograph."
Roxanne pulled out a beer and put it on the bar, then she handed the worn paperback to Julie.
They sat there talking for an hour about Julie’s book, and about how Roxanne wanted to become a writer.
"I even got a degree in it." Roxanne looked down at her feet, ashamed. "I’m still not very good though."
Julie was a little shocked to see such a tough looking woman turned into what amounted to a bashful child.
"Well, if you want, I can read some of your stuff sometime. Maybe give you a few tips." Julie took a sip of her beer.
"Really?" Roxanne’s eyes grew wide.
"Sure. It’s one of the perks of working for my cousin. You get free writing advice." Julie laughed.
In truth she couldn’t believe that anyone had thought her first book was any good. It was pure trash, but it had sold, and it had made a name for Julie at a very young age. So, while she was artistically ashamed of Passion Fire, it still held a special place in her heart.
"So what are they doing up there?" Julie glanced back at the little hidden door, covered by pictures from the bar’s past.
A big one of Chester Kamp was right in the middle. His big round face was bright red, his salt and pepper hair a mess, and he had a huge smile. Under his arm was a younger Roy, clinging to Chester as if he would never let go.
"They’re getting ready to move Roy’s boyfriend in tonight." Roxanne lit up a cigarette, then offered Julie the pack. "I guess some nurse at the hospital is acting kind of crazy, and Roy doesn’t want to leave Paul there alone."
"Can you blame him?" Julie pulled a cigarette from the pack and lit it up. "I mean, with everything that’s going on now?"
"Hell no! This town is a fricken insane asylum." Roxanne shook her head, ashing her cigarette into the large glass ashtray between them.
"Oh, I agree." Julie glanced around at the other pictures lining the walls, and was shocked to see that she recognized most of the faces. "I don’t know why I ever came back here."
"You needed answers. Good enough reason as any. Think about it this way, it’ll make one hell of book when it’s all over with." Roxanne laughed, a cloud of smoke bursting from her mouth.
Julie nodded. She was right about that. Although she doubted that anyone would believe it was non-fiction.
Both women turned at the sound of Roy and William entering the bar.
"Julie, is everything okay?" Roy’s face was red and tear streaked.
"Yeah, I just wanted to see how you were doing." She stood up from her seat. "Roxanne has been keeping me company. Turns out she’s one of my few fans."
"Your biggest fan." Roxanne was beaming. "She signed my book."
"You need to give her a raise." Julie crossed her arms, giving her cousin the once over. "I should be asking you if everything is okay."
"I’m fine. Just... been thinking about things." Roy used his palm to wipe away a stray tear that was running down his cheek. "Hey Roxanne, we’re going to be opening late tonight. I’m going to put a sign up, but just in case, can you hang around and keep the place locked up? I don’t want people here when he bring Paul in."
Roxanne nodded.
"No problem."
Julie glanced back at the picture of Roy and Chester. Her gut tightened with guilt. She hadn’t been here for him when he had needed her, and now she had brought a whole new kind of trouble down on top of him. She had to suppress the urge to run out of the bar in shame.
"I’m going to run over to the library to check on Carla. You know, make sure Harvey hasn’t done anything." William patted Roy on the shoulder and headed towards the front door.
"Harvey? That kid is harmless." Julie looked at William, confused.
"Yeah, not so much. Roy will fill you in." William opened the door to the bar. "Roy, I’ll meet you by my truck, okay?"
Roy nodded.
William left, the door slamming shut as a gust of wind hit it, making them all jump.
"So, Harvey?" Julie took a drag off of her new cigarette.
"Oh, you’ll love this."
Roy gave a weak smile and sat down at the bar.
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