Bonanza Barfly

She stepped out of the Bonanza Club along ‘C’ Street and walked to the rough hewn post I was intending to lean on. She wasn’t much more than thirty, but looked to have come directly out of the late 1950’s.

The woman wore a pair dark blue jeans without back pockets and which hugged her hips tightly. Her blouse was a red and gray checkerboard pattern with a thin collar and short mid-arm sleeves with perfectly hemmed cuffs.

Her hair was a light brown and coiffed in the manner that reminded me of Jackie before her husband was killed in Dallas. In her hand, she held a small leather hand bag and I heard her open and close it with a click.

Then I heard the flick of a lighter and as I glance over I saw a glint of gold as she lit a cigarette and took a lengthy drag of it. A couple of seconds later, I watched as a curl of thin white smoke curl from her nose and around her face.

I knew in an instant she was smoking a non-filtered cigarette, the same as my mother had when she was still alive.

When I finally looked at her, she had dark brown eyes that matched her hair. Her lips were bright red and her alabaster skin was flawless, save to a touch too much rouge on her hit and full cheek bones.

“God,” she cheerfully exclaimed, “I needed that.”

I simply chuckled as she took another puff of her cigarette.

“Business looks like it’s going good,” I said.

“Boy is it,” she said. “I can hardly keep up.”

I heard her puff again at her cigarette.

“That’s good to hear,” I said. “Lots of places are having a hard time financially because of this COVID stuff, but I guess you already…”

My son, Kyle interrupted me, “Dad, who you talking to?”

I glanced at him as he leaned forward of me and looked at the post on which I leaned.

Then I looked back at the woman. She was no longer there.

“I guess only to myself,” I answered.

He smiled, “I think you’re losing it,” and laughed.

I laughed along with him, but as I did I thought about going inside the Bonanza to see if she were there, but in the end decided not to.

“Best to leave well enough alone,” I told myself, as Kyle and I continued walking down Virginia City’s wooden boardwalk.