And De Fun Don't Done Read Online Free PDF Page B

inside.
    There was a long wooden bar as you walked in, a dining area down the back, a DJ stand and a small dancefloor to your left near a few chairs and tables and some cubicles. It had that ambient, old-style bar look about it Les had seen in about a hundred American movies and TV shows. Bad luck there wouldn’t have been more than six people in there, counting the barmaid. So much for Thursday night in swinging, downtown Siestasota, thought Norton. Still, it was a nice enough looking place and twenty years on Devils Island would have been better than another ten minutes alone with Laurel Lee.
    â€˜Righto, Hank,’ said Les slapping his hands together. ‘What’ll you have, mate?’
    Hank shrugged and straddled his arse across a stool. ‘Beer.’
    The barmaid was about thirty, fairly attractive with straight auburn hair. Although it was almost closing time she had a pleasant smile on her face; more than likely because she was bored having to talk to the skinny drunk at the end of the bar and it was something to break the monotony.
    â€˜Righto,’ Norton returned the barmaid’s smile. ‘A beer for me mate there. And I’ll have…’ Norton’s smile turned into a grin, ‘a margarita.’
    The barmaid looked at Les for a moment then began to grin herself. ‘Coming right up.’
    The drinks took barely a couple of minutes to arrive and Norton was impressed; even though he hardly had time to make a big fumble with his wallet so he could avoid talking to Hank before they came. The barmaid put Hank’s beer in front of him; Les handed her a twenty. As she went to the till Les turned to Hank and held up his drink.
    â€˜Cheers, mate,’ he said, trying to stop his stomach from heaving. ‘Good to see you again.’
    Hank raised his beer like he had a broken collarbone. ‘Whatever.’
    Les took a monstrous slurp on his margarita. It was delicious; the salt bit his lips and the whole thing hit the spot nicely. He noticed Hank took a lengthy pull too and guessed it might have been a while since Hank had his mitts on a nice cool one; especially a shout.
    The girl brought back Norton’s change, put it on the bar and continued to smile at Les. ‘Are you Australian?’ she asked.
    â€˜Yeah,’ answered Les, a little taken back. ‘How’d you guess?’
    â€˜The accent.’
    â€˜Christ!’ exclaimed Norton. ‘I only said about five bloody words.’
    â€˜That’s all you need, big guy,’ winked the girl.
    Les threw back his head and laughed out loud and the rest of the margarita disappeared down his throat. ‘Well, if that’s the case, good lookin’, while you’re standing there doing nothin’ I’ll have another one of those please.’ Les placed his empty glass on the bar and turned to Laurel. Laurel shrugged again. ‘And another beer for… him.’
    â€˜You got it.’
    While he waited for the next round to arrive Les had a slew round the bar, partly out of curiosity, mainly to avoid having to talk to Hank. There was just some skinny bloke in a Bud-Lite T-shirt under a TV at the end, a couple three stools down and another couple in a cubicle by the dancefloor. From out of the dining area a huge black man appeared, wearing jeans and a Toby’s T-shirt, and carrying some ashtrays and what looked like paper napkins. Les tossed him a wink and got a happy enough smile in return. The drinks arrived. Les thanked the girl and took another massive slurp.
    â€˜So how do you like the United States?’ asked the barmaid.
    â€˜It’s great,’ answered Norton. ‘One of the best places I ever seen.’
    â€˜Hey, isn’t that nice?’ The girl was genuinely pleased. ‘How long have you bin here?’
    Norton glanced at his watch. ‘About an hour and a half. I just got off the bloody plane at Tampa.’ Les watched the barmaid put her hand over