2.

There weren't any windows in the place, or mirrors. The door was made of thick weathered oak and had hanging iron rings for handles. There was a round brass ship's portal on the inside that didn't open.
"This place is dead," said Alec, holding the door for Peg and Sam. A mahogany bar with a brass rail ran the length of the wall to their right. Empty tables filled the rest of the room. A man with short red hair was reading a book behind the bar.
Sam saw him and exclaimed, "Hey, hey. It's Randle the Candle."
He sat at the first stool.
"Hi Sam. Long time. Where've you been?"
"Reality. Hell of a place."
Randle smiled. "Hi A and P. What can I get you?"
Alec sat. "I'll have a Budweiser."
"Yombie," said Sam.
"I'll have a Zombie too," said Peg, sitting between the two men. Randle pulled out a bottle from the cooler below the bar. He opened it, gave it to Alec, and began making the two drinks.
Peg asked, "So, Sam. How long have you been in?"
"Well..." He looked at his watch. "This thing doesn't really work. It keeps Bohemian time." He took a cigarette from Peg's pack and lit it.
"When the plane landed, the big hand was on the six and the little hand was on the three, which means..." He counted on his fingers.
"Ten minutes."
Peg grinned. "Bohemian time."
"Right." He looked at his watch again. "This thing is great. It makes me feel so productive. The other night I wrote twenty-seven pages in just seven minutes."
Randle brought out two green Polynesian glasses with what looked like demons on their back and front. He filled both from a mixing cup and placed them in front of Sam and Peg. He topped each drink with a
Bacardi 151 floater and an umbrella.
Peg lifted her drink and said, "Well, it's good to see you." She and Sam clicked glasses. "The place hasn't been the same without you."
"This place?"
Peg laughed. "Yeah." She looked around the room. "This place."
"Yep," said Alec.
"Please," said Peg stabbing ice with her umbrella.
Silence. Sam asked, "So what's new with you Alec?"
"New? Well, we saw someone get killed the other day."
"No kidding?" said Sam. He looked at Peg. She was staring at the display of liquor bottles across the bar. The bottles were lit from below by dusty panel lights.
Alec went on. "Damndest thing. Jeep came clear off that road near the mountain top. Not Peg's mountain, the other mountain."
"Saint Peter Mountain Road," said Peg.
"Right. We were on the road below it . . ."
"Hull Bay Road."
"Yeah. Going up the hill and slam, loud as hell right in front of us. A woman was thrown clear. I actually saw her flying away before it hit. She gets up real quick before I even get out of my Jeep, and starts screaming her boyfriend's name. She's okay, just some scratches, which was a miracle the way that thing hit. It'd landed pretty much on his side, but more towards the front." He gestured with his hands to show the position. "But definitely on the driver's side. I went over to help but ended up mostly holding her back."
"Pushing her back," said Peg.
Alec looked at Peg. "Oh come on. She was hysterical." He looked back at Sam. "The thing looked like it might blow up. She kept clawing at me, trying to get past me. It was obvious that there was nothing she could have done."
Rolling her head around her shoulders, Peg looked at the ceiling. Random things were caught in an old fishing net: a wooden anchor, a plastic palm tree, dead starfish, sea urchin shells. Fading pictures of smiling people were taped to the wall. She stood up and said, "Excuse me." With her drink, she walked to the bathroom.
"Jesus has she got a bug up her ass," said Alec. He took a sip from his beer. "She can be a real bitch, that one."
"She's a great lady," said Sam.
"Yeah, I guess. She's great in the sack. All we do is fight and fuck."
"I'm sure it must be tough."
"Hey, watch it. You know nothing about her and me." He took another sip from his beer.
"You're right."
"She's told me some of the things you've said about me." Sam closed his eyes briefly. "I'd appreciate it if you minded your goddamned business."
"Hey Alec, business be the last thing on my mind, mine or yours."
Silence. Sam looked at his watch. "Hey listen, I gotta go anyway. I'm gotta see a man about a dog."
"Yeah, sure. Whatever. See you around."
"Say see ya to your lady for me." Sam downed the rest of his drink and put five dollars on the bar. He waved at Randle and left.
When Peg returned, she asked "Where's Sam?"
"He had to leave."
"Where'd he say he was going?"
"He went to see someone. Said he was looking for a dog or something."
"See a man about a dog?"
"Yeah."
"That's Tom Waits."
"He went to see Tom Waits about a dog?"
"No," she laughed. "Christ Alec. It's a song lyric, sort of. From a tape he has."
"Well what's it supposed to mean?"
"Forget it."
"Well what?"
"Nothing. He was probably tired of talking to you." Alec shook his head and picked up his beer. He put it down again. "I want you to stay clear of him while he's down here."
Peg took the umbrella from her drink and studied the pattern. "Sure," she said, twirling the umbrella. "I'm supposed to let you slobber all over your sleazy little supposed ex-girlfriend and I'm forbidden to
speak to a friend of yours."
"Sam is not a friend of mine."
"You knew him before me."
"Yeah, before I knew he was rude and obnoxious."
"He is handsome though, don't you think."
"Don't start."
She looked at Randle and tapped her empty glass.
"You shouldn't drink those. You bitch enough as it is."
"Oh," she said. "Didn't you know. That's a female thing."
He stared back and said, "So you got your period."
"Christ Alec." She put her cigarettes in her handbag.
"Did you or didn't you."
She started toward the door.
Alec turned. "Where the hell are you going?"
"To see a man about a dog, alright?"