How Do We Start by Hunter Spurlock

The heavy wooden door slammed behind Charlie as he entered the bar. He wiped away the water that had gathered on his face. The warm air of the bar made him suddenly aware of the fact that his suit was soaked and clinging to his body.

The warmth of the bar made Charlie shiver while he stood in the doorway. A kid was playing a song that Charlie did not recognize on his acoustic guitar. There was a hum just below the music that was being created by the collective early evening crowd. Sam, a beautiful redhead who worked the bar most nights, waved to Charlie and he made his way up to her.

“You okay?” She asked and handed him a whiskey.

“Yeah,” he said and swallowed down the drink in one gulp.

“You want to talk about it?” 

“Not really. Dave called and said my nephew was here.” She motioned her head to a man that sat tucked away in the corner of the bar. Charlie thanked her, finished his whiskey, and began that direction.

The man at the table looked heavier than Charlie remembered, but even from several feet away he knew it was Jay. Charlie came to a stop at the end of the table. Jay did not look up from his beer glass.

“This kid any good?” Charlie asked as he watched the young man re-tune his guitar.

“Sounds alright to me.”

“Not as good as a kid I used to come to see play up here,” Charlie was still staring and Jay lifted his head to watch as well.

“That was a long time ago.”

“9 years by my count.”

“What do you want, Charlie?”

“Well I didn’t see you at the funeral,” he began. “Then, Dave calls me and tells me that you’ve been here all day.”

“They don’t even open until 2,” Jay muttered and took another sip of his beer. 

“So you just happened to be in the area for the first time in a decade?” Charlie’s question hangs in the air between them. 

“I heard about him passing from a friend who still lives down the road. So I decided I was going to go.” Jay picked at his beer bottle absently, while he spoke. “But then I thought about seeing Amanda and all of the family and I lost my heart.”

“You know,” Charlie began, “I know it won’t make up for lost years, and I’m sure not your father, but it seems like it’s time to put our pride aside and figure out how to make the family whole again.”

“But, how do we start?” Jay asked.

“You can start by letting me buy you a drink and telling me about the last 9 years.”

Jay tipped his beer glass and motioned to the empty mahogany stool.

Hunter Spurlock graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2020 and is currently a high school English teacher in Carrollton, Georgia.