Well-Behaved Monsters: chapter 21

Yes, I have a black name,” is one of the first things out of Shoniqua’s mouth, this maiden voyage meeting her. Though I haven’t mentioned that, she is apparently used to hearing such, hence the preemptive strike. Yet still must prefer it to her middle name or an abbreviation or perhaps something else entirely. “I have a black name,” she repeats.

Thus begins the glorious introduction to Joe’s new girlfriend. Just the three of us, somehow, at Triads Lounge, on an otherwise unremarkable and somehow still brutally cold — though we are nearly through March now — weeknight. Jeff is manning the bar with his usual brand of outrageous repartee, only occasionally cutting through the noise and discernible at this side table where we are seated. He’s in a much more subdued mood than usual, yet still manages to entertain.

“YOU’RE A DICK!” he shouts at some customer, then gets all sensitive a moment later when a sappy ballad comes on juke.

“This is my song, here,” he says, hand over heart.

Yet I soon return my focus to the primary concern, appraising Joe’s new find. It seems he met her through his parents, that she’s the daughter of some family friends. And she’s a decent looking, blue eyed brunette — not as jaw dropping in appearance as the stripper, yet this was presumably the whole point, and a worthwhile tradeoff to…