Walking A Tightrope Over The Ohio River(pg. 2)

     
     We always played cards in the back of Squire's Bar and Grill, a little hole in the wall place. I lost that night at cards and was more interested in the female persuasion than losing all my money that night so I got up from the poker table and left my dad to defend our honor in cards. I sat on the bar stool ordered a beer and was talking to an attractive gal when out of nowhere my cousin Stingray walked in and strolled up to the bar and ordered a 12-pack of Budweiser, and was headed out the door before I caught up to him. 
     "Hey, Cuz," I said to my cousin, who was about 30% Choctaw Indian from his mother's side, and his hair was long and black down to his waist, and you could tell he was proud of his Indian status, and he always wore his Clint Eastwood's The Good, Bad, and the Ugly poncho with his wild hair over it. 
    "Hey, Little Joe, what's going on, and what brings you to Raywick?" He said and the Raywickians always called me Little Joe, because I guess I acted like my dad.
     "I was playing cards with my dad, but hey, did you hear, I start working Monday with you guys? I said about as happy as I could ever be because I knew my cousin Stingray would always look after me. 
     "OK, cool, we leave early!" he said.
     "Oh yeah, can you pick me up, I'll give you gas money, twenty okay?" I said hoping he'd say yes because we were going to Ohio River's Milton-Madison bridge, and I haven't one clue getting there.
     "You got the cash now?" Stingray said. 
     "Here you go," as I handed him a crisp twenty. 
     "I'll pick you up at 5:00 on Sunday night," Stingray said, and before I could say a word he hurried out the door to his van loaded with women. 
     I sat back on the bar stool and thought I was the man with a plan now. I checked back on my dad who was doing alright too, and I told him, let's hit the road, he was reluctant but I ended up winning. We got into the truck and dad was a bit tipsy from drinking beer. He won about $800.00 but wasn't satisfied winning that much but he eventually piped down on our way home back to Bardstown that was twenty miles away. I didn't say one word the rest of the way home as I thought my destiny was set and my fare was paid. Now, all I had to do was wait on Sunday evening and that was two days away.
      

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