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could easily serve drinks in any club. Daytime Bartender Moonlights as Madman. Now there’s a novel.
    “Where were you born?” he asked, kicking off the interview.
    “Poplar Bluff.”
    “Is that where you grew up?”
    “No.”
    “Where’d you grow up?”
    “A small town about an hour away from there.”
    “Did you live with your mother and father?”
    “Yes.”
    “Do you have brothers or sisters?”
    “One brother.”
    “Where does he live?”
    “He doesn’t.” Against my hopes that he’d leave it alone and move on, he asked me about it.
    “What does that mean?”
    “He died in a car accident three weeks after graduating from high school.”
    He studied my face, probably making mental notes of my reaction and my emotions. Then, he continued with his barrage of questions. “Were you two close?”
    “Yes.”
    “Did your parents fight a lot?”
    “No.”
    “No?”
    “They fought some, but no more than anybody else.”
    “So your childhood was a happy one?”
    “Yeah, I guess it was.”
    “Were you molested by anyone?”
    “I think that’s enough. There’s no sense in this.”
    “Just answer the question. I’m just trying to get a feel of what your life was like and what made you the person you are today.”
    I sighed. “No, I wasn’t molested, I wasn’t beaten, and I wasn’t raped by anyone in or out of my family.”
    He nodded. “How old were you when you first had sex?”
    “Come on. This is ridiculous.”
    “It’s not ridiculous. It’s research.”
    “Why would you ever have to know that?”
    “For the book, of course.”
    “My ass. There’s no reason you need to know that. And even if you did, you can make it up. It’s a fiction book, not a biography of my life.”
    “It’s all part of your makeup, part of why you are the wonderful person you are now. I like to know how things came to be what they are. Don’t you want to know things like that?”
    I wanted to know what made him the way he was. Then again, maybe I didn’t.
    “I’ll answer your questions only if you swear that you’ll answer any questions I may have now or in the future.” I stared at him as he agreed, trying to determine if he was being honest. Of course he was. Apparently the one thing he didn’t do is lie.
    “I swear to you to always be honest and answer any questions you may have. I haven’t lied to you as of yet, and I have no plans to do so. You may ask me anything you like, but I do hope you hold off until I’ve asked all my questions of you.”
    “Fine.”
    “Fine,” he agreed.
    I took a long drink before answering. “I was sixteen.”
    “Your boyfriend?”
    “Yes.”
    “Did you love him?”
    “I thought I did. But at sixteen, no one knows what real love is.”
    “I take it he isn’t your husband.”
    It was my turn to chuckle. “No.”
    “Why is that amusing to you?”
    “Because he and my husband are completely different. They have no similarities whatsoever.”
    He laid down his last card and we began to add our scores. After jotting them on the notepad, he shuffle d the cards again. “Were you a good student?”
    “Yes.”
    “You made good grades?”
    “Yes. In fact, I rarely had homework and I never studied. I read through my notes before a test, and I was an A student.”
    “So learning came naturally for you?”
    “I guess so,” I said and finished my drink.
    After shuffling the cards, he set them on the table and got up. He took my empty glass to the counter and refilled it. As soon as he brought it back, I took a drink.

Chapter 7
     
    He sat in his chair, scooted it up to the table, and asked, “Were you promiscuous as a teenager?”
    “No,” I said, taking a little offense to such a question.
    “Are you promiscuous now?”
    “No,” I snapped. “I’m married.”
    “Lots of promiscuous women are married.” He pointed to the hallway and said, “She’s married, but that didn’t stop her from offering herself to me in the bar that night.”
    I swallowed