DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If you are offended by 
sexually explicit material or are under the age of 18, stop reading 
now. This material cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes 
without the consent of the author.

JC: Ed Biggers
Part 1: Epiphany
Chapter 21
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Tuesdays and Thursdays were long days for Ed. Those were the 
days he worked from eight to six and then went to school from 
seven to nine. It was usually nearly ten before he arrived home. 
Thursdays were always the worst. This evening had been 
particularly tough since he had a major test in his geology class. 
The test material hadn't been difficult, but Ed strove for excellence 
and didn't want to settle for less than a perfect score.

Coming home, Ed drove carefully fighting to stay awake. He was 
half tempted to pull over and take a nap, but his hunger drove him 
on to the house. John was supposed to return today. To welcome 
him back, Beth and Kelly had taken the evening off from work. 
This had the added benefit that he wouldn't have a problem getting 
dinner. The past few Thursdays had been rough. Two weeks prior, 
he had the run in with Jim. 

Entering the house, he was disappointed to find it empty. Tired 
from a long day, all he wanted to do was to eat before going to 
bed. Spotting the note that lay on the table by the door, he realized 
that his night wasn't going to be that simple. He picked it up and 
read it aloud, "Ed, we have gone to Maria's for dinner. Come there 
when you get home. Love Kelly."

Ed didn't want to go there, but he knew if he was going to get 
anything to eat that he must show up there. With a sigh, he 
dropped his books on the desk that Shirley had bought him as a 
back to school present. He had been overwhelmed by her 
generosity and valued the desk more than anything else in the 
house. 

He went in the bathroom and looked at all of the feminine bath 
products cluttering every inch of the available shelf space. The 
disarray, all of it recent, told him that Kelly was going to spend the 
night tonight. Washing his face in the hope that it would help him 
stay awake, he considered his reflection in the mirror. His 
reflection looked two years older every Thursday night. He went to 
the door and stepped out of the house. Closing the door behind 
him, he set off down the street to Maria's restaurant. 

Entering the restaurant, Ed stopped and looked around for his 
group. Sherry spotted Ed before he had a chance to spot her. She 
leaned to Jim and said, "Oh, God. Ed is here."

Jim answered, "Just remember what John said about Ed. He's 
changed and for the better."

The events of two weeks ago had been explained to them by 
Maria. The fact that Ed had left rather than create a scene had 
suggested that he had changed, but Sherry wasn't about to believe 
it. It was one thing to talk about Ed when he was a thousand miles 
away, but a completely different thing to be faced with him up 
close. Sherry whispered, "Another dinner out ruined."

Still looking for his party, Ed saw Jim and Sherry sitting at a 
corner table. His stomach clenched at the memories of what he had 
done to her in the past. He swore to himself, knowing that he 
would not be able to enjoy his meal now. 

The time had come for him to address his guilt directly. It was best 
to do it in a public place where everyone could hear what he had to 
say. Walking to their table, he stopped a few paces away and then 
said, "Jim, I know that you have threatened to kill me if I should 
ever speak to your wife again. I hope that you will make an 
exception for me this one time."

He stepped back from the table. His stomach churned, twisted to 
the point where he felt like throwing up. In a voice loud enough for 
everyone in the restaurant to hear him he said, "Sherry, I have 
treated you horribly in the past and I am sorry. I was jealous of you 
and the relationship that you have with Jim. I will admit that I only 
saw you as a fat woman with no special qualities. I wondered how 
someone that looked like you could find a husband as handsome 
and successful as Jim while I was living an empty life. I see now 
that you are a woman of great quality, a woman that knows what it 
means to love. Jim is the one that should be envied for having 
found you."

As tears started to trickle down his cheeks, Ed swallowed and his 
voice quavered as he said, "I had thought that I was handsome and 
dashing. I see now that I was shallow and mean spirited. I look in 
the mirror and see the ugliness that was within me."

Making sure that all could hear him, he raised his voice as he said, 
"You are, and remain, a better person than I. I do not ask for your 
forgiveness, as what I have done is unforgivable. No one deserves 
to be treated the way that I have behaved towards you over the 
years. I am truly sorry."

Jim watched as Ed turned to face him. Jim could see there were 
tears running down the Ed's cheeks. He hardly heard Ed say, "I 
thank you for the opportunity to speak my peace."

Sherry broke out in tears. Never in a million years had she 
expected that Ed would make such a statement to her. It was 
unbelievable that he would make that statement in public. She 
wept as Ed turned and went to the table where John, Beth, and 
Kelly were seated. The other patrons in the restaurant talked 
quietly among themselves about what Ed had said. One might have 
thought the world was ending by the shock that his statement had 
on everyone there. 

John shook Ed's hand when he sat down. "Ed, that was an 
amazingly courageous thing you have done."

Ed started shaking as an urge to run away swept over him. There 
was no way he could stay here and eat. The evening, starting bad, 
had turned even worse. He mumbled, "Would you mind getting me 
an order to go? I would like to return home now."

Beth looked to John who shook his head. She made her suggestion 
anyway, saying, "Ed, I'll come with you."

Ed shook his head and said, "No, I need to be alone for a while."

Standing up, he left the restaurant feeling like a defeated man. 
Rover followed him out. Rather than heading home, Ed went to 
John's house and sat in the backyard looking at the desert. Rover 
lay down beside him. Appreciating the nonjudgmental company, 
Ed petted Rover for a minute. 

Sitting there, he wondered in hindsight how he could have been so 
mean in the past. It was as though the hurt of each insult that he 
had ever hurled at Sherry had rebounded upon him. He started to 
cry, as the true horror of the damage he had done in the past 
became clear. This wasn't the kind of sobbing that one might see at 
a funeral with wracking heaving sobs. This was a simple shedding 
of tears as he sat there looking out into space recognizing the 
smallness of his existence in the grand scheme of things.  

In time he quieted down and relaxed under the stars. He didn't 
know if his apology had done any good, but he did feel better 
about himself. Perhaps in the process of saying he was sorry, he 
had lost some of the meanness that had remained within himself. 
He looked down at Rover and said, "Well, I'm still tired and 
hungry."

The cat looked over at him. The look on the cat's face seemed to 
say that it wasn't his fault that Ed was tired or hungry. Ed had his 
chance to eat and passed it up. If he was really that tired, he should 
shut his eyes and sleep. Life was simple for the cat; it had never 
learned to tell time. 

As though he understood what the cat was thinking, Ed turned to 
look back at the desert. The moon was out and it lit the desert with 
that dull glow that allowed one to see, but not make out all of the 
details of what he saw. On nights like that, it was easy to mistake a 
cactus for a man or a stick for a snake. 

John stepped around the corner with a covered plate full of taco's. 
It was the best food to eat cold that they served the restaurant. He 
had known that Ed was coming here and had told the two women 
to go to Ed's. Handing the plate of tacos to Ed, he pulled up a chair 
as he asked, "Do you feel better now?"

"I guess."

John smiled and then suggested, "Good. Now eat."

Ed removed the foil off the plate and spotted the taco's. He smiled 
as he said, "Some tea would go great with this."

John looked surprised at the revelation. He said, "Oh, I thought 
you had some tea here. Let me get some for you."

John went in the house and got two glasses of iced tea. He brought 
the pitcher out to the patio with him. He set the pitcher on the 
cinder block and handed one of the glasses to Ed. John smiled and 
said, "I wanted to thank you. Nobody in town is talking about John 
Carter's fusion battery anymore. Everyone is talking about Ed 
Bigger's public apology to Sherry."

That John had invented a fusion reactor had not been lost on Ed. 
The whole school was full of talk about that. Several times, he had 
been tempted to say that he was going to marry John, but held off. 
Ed laughed and said, "It wasn't my intention to take the spotlight 
off you. I can promise you that."

John nodded as he understood. He said, "It was a very nice thing 
you did. It meant so much to her. The fact that it was public made 
it mean even more."

Ed shrugged off any praise. His apology was something that was 
long overdue. He replied, "All of my mean comments to her were 
in public, the least I could do was apologize in public. She must 
really hate me for the things I have done."

John shrugged and said, "I don't know. I do know that you made 
the first peace offer. You would be surprised at the effect that your 
words may have on her."

Ed slowly ate a taco, lost in his thoughts. He wondered how he 
could ever make it up to Sherry for his past treatment of her. The 
apology, heartfelt as it was, still seemed to be too little for the 
harm that he had done. While John was a going to be a rich man, 
his future wasn't that bright. He couldn't set up a charity for her 
like John. All he could do from now on was treat her with respect 
and defend her when others did not. 

There was only one taco left on the plate. His appetite satisfied, he 
looked up at John and said, "I will stop by Jim's office in Phoenix 
tomorrow before class to ask him about drawing up a contract for 
our group marriage."

John thought about telling Ed about the discussions in Austin, but 
decided that Ed may have a better reason to go there than just 
asking for his legal advice. He decided to broach the subject that 
had motivated them to eat out. With the smallest hint of pride, John 
said, "I became a millionaire today. Jim handled six leases on the 
patents for us. For twenty-five million dollars each, six 
corporations can use our patent with non-exclusive rights. He has 
close to forty other requests to handle."

Ed smiled at the news. Feeling real pride in John's 
accomplishment, he said, "Congratulations."

John laughed and said, "Well, you better tell Jim to get a move on 
setting up the legal structure for our group marriage. I want us to 
be able to share that money since I don't have anything to do with 
it."

Ed shrugged his shoulders denying the idea of taking any of John's 
money. He said, "I don't need any money. I'm happy the way I 
am."

"How about money so that you can attend school fulltime?"

Ed laughed at the suggestion. He answered, "I have enough money 
to go full time. I inherited the house, the truck, and insurance 
money from my parents when they passed away. My only 
expenses have been food, drink, utilities, and clothes. I've got 
enough money set aside to last a couple of years."

John shook his head in amazement. He asked, "So why aren't you 
going to school fulltime?"

"I think that a person should work."

John understood the ethic, but that didn't explain why he wasn't 
pursuing his goal more directly. He asked, "So why aren't you 
working at the school?"

Ed looked puzzled at the suggestion. He asked, "What do you 
mean?"

John answered, "You can get a student assistant job at the school. 
It will pay your tuition plus a little. If you feel that you have to 
work, why not work there. Shouldn't impact your savings too 
much."

Ed looked shocked at the idea that he could already be making 
money by going to school and studying what he wanted. He asked, 
"I can do that?"

"Sure. You have a 4.0 GPA. You shouldn't have a problem getting 
a position."

Ed looked thoughtful. He asked, "What kind of work could I get 
there?"

John answered, "Maybe a job classifying rocks. You'll never know 
until you ask."

Ed laughed at the suggestion that he could actually get paid to look 
at rocks. He answered, "By the Gods and Goddesses, I'll do it! That 
would beat pushing cattle around on the back of a horse."

John laughed and teased, "You're starting to talk like me."

Now that he had several things to do, Ed got serious. He said, "I'll 
take tomorrow off and stop by Jim's office. Then I'll go into the 
school and find out what I need to do."

John didn't want to bring it up, but he did it anyway. "So what are 
you going to tell Jim?"

"I will ask him to do this for you rather than for me. The fact of the 
matter is that I've really screwed up there. She's never going to 
forgive me."

A male voice came out of the dark around the corner. "You might 
be surprised, Ed."

The only who wasn't surprised was Rover who had been watching 
the man for the past minute. Ed turned so quickly that he almost 
twisted his back, "Who is it?"

"Jim."

Ed stood up to face Jim. Resigned to accept his fate, Ed said, "Go 
ahead and do what you want. I won't fight you."

Jim laughed at the suggestion. He said, "I just wanted to thank you 
for what you said to Sherry. Never in a million years did either of 
us think that you would do what you did tonight. She was 
genuinely touched."

Ed answered, "It was nothing compared to the damage that I've 
done a thousand times in the past."

Jim shook his head and said, "I wouldn't say that. You said several 
important things tonight. Things that she needed to hear from 
someone besides me."

Ed said, "If you ever need something, let me know and I will take 
care of it. I owe you both too much."

Jim looked uncomfortable and said, "Well, I had better get back. I 
wanted to say thank you for what you did. We will be over 
tomorrow night to talk about the contracts for the group marriage. 
Jack is flying in tomorrow afternoon."

Ed looked puzzled and asked, "Did John already ask you about the 
group marriage?"

Jim nodded and answered, "Yes, he did."

"Oh, I was going to stop by your office to ask you about that."

Jim replied, "Don't worry, We'll see you tomorrow night. I need to 
get back to Sherry now."

Jim stepped away even as he had spoken. Ed didn't have a chance 
to respond with even a good bye. He turned to look at John and 
asked, "What just happened?"

"What do you think?"

Ed, still standing, looked off into the distance. He shrugged and 
answered, "I don't know. I think I'm going to go home now."

The next morning, Ed left the house early and went straight to the 
school. The secretary was not in the office that early, so he went to 
breakfast at the student center. The breakfast wasn't as good as in 
town and it cost a little more, but it was a nice change to eat on 
campus watching the other students. After breakfast he went to 
class, relaxed for a change. 

Once the class was over, he headed back to the department office. 
The secretary was there in her normal spot. Entering, he waved to 
her and said, "Hello."

Looking up from the papers she was filling out, she saw that it was 
Ed. With a smile, she said, "Hello, Ed. What can I do for you?"

Once asked the question, Ed realized that he didn't know what he 
needed. He answered, "John, mentioned that I could possibly get 
employment on campus. Do you know anything about that?"

Much to his surprise, she answered, "Oh sure, we have 
assistantships. Would you like one of those?"

"Is that a job?"

She laughed at the innocence of his question. Nodding her head, 
she answered, "Yes, you will help one of the professors on a 
project in exchange for tuition and a little spending money."

The idea that he would be working for one of his professors 
intimidated him. He asked, "Do you think any of them would be 
interested in having me as an assistant?"

Some of the students that came into her office demanded great 
favors and expected her to deliver. Only Ed came in and asked 
politely, always seeing if he could do it on his own rather than 
bother her. Ed was the best student in the department and it 
amused her that he was concerned about how his professors judged 
him. She said, "They'll fight over you. Don't worry. The only 
problem is that you need to be a full time student."

Ed answered, "I will start going fulltime again next semester, so I 
don't think that will be a problem next semester. Is there anything I 
can do until then?"

After thinking about it for a moment, she said, "Why don't you go 
into Professor Simms' office and ask him? I think he has a grant 
that could support you for the next couple of months."

"Do I need to make an appointment?"

Amazed at the continued politeness, she answered, "No. He's in his 
office and I'm sure that he'll be glad to see you."

Ed went over the office and knocked on the door. Professor Simms 
was pouring over a map on his desk and glanced up to see who was 
at his door. Spotting Ed, he immediately dropped what he was 
doing and said, "Come in, Ed. How are things going?"

Surprised at the friendly reception, Ed entered the office and 
answered, "Things are going pretty well."

"That's good. You're making good grades here, you should be 
proud of yourself."

"Thank you. I'm enjoying it a lot." Ed was surprised that his 
advisor knew his grades.

The professor looked at Ed for a minute and then said, "You didn't 
come here to talk about your grades, did you?"

"No," answered Ed. He didn't know how to ask for a job in this 
environment. He blurted out, "The secretary said that I should talk 
to you about working for you for the rest of the semester until I 
qualify for an assistantship."

Pleased to have Ed working for him, Professor Simms said, "Great. 
I'll get the paperwork filled out for you. When can you start?"

Surprised at how quickly things were moving, Ed answered, "I 
have to give my notice at Livestock Auctions. I guess that would 
be in two weeks."

"Great, better get over there and give your notice. I've got a ton of 
rocks that need to be classified here and the sooner you can start on 
them, the better."

Surprised to hear such enthusiasm from his professor, Ed 
answered, "Thanks. Do I need to do anything?"

"No, Monday morning the paper work will be waiting for you in 
your mailbox here." The professor was already thinking about the 
number of samples that had to be classified from his last field trip. 
There was enough there to keep Ed busy for three months.

"I don't have a mailbox."

Professor Simms laughed and said, "You will on Monday. It will 
be in the department office. Now go quit your job."

Ed nodded his head as he turned to leave. At the door, he turned 
back and said, "Thanks a lot. You won't be sorry."

"I know that."

Ed left the school and headed to work. Since his discussion with 
Jim the night before, he knew that he didn't have to stop by Jim's 
office today. The drive went quickly, perhaps because he happy 
about taking more control over his life. He tuned in a country 
station on his radio and listened to the music singing along with the 
songs. 

He pulled into the parking lot and got out of his car. His normal 
routine would be to get to work immediately. Instead, he walked 
into the office and sat down in the chair in front of the desk used 
by Nevada. Nevada was talking on the telephone and looked up 
with a question on his face at Ed. Rather than interrupt, Ed waited 
for Nevada to finish his conversation. 

When Nevada finally hung up the phone, he looked at Ed with a 
frown and asked, "What's so important?"

Ed took a deep breath and said, "Nevada, I have enjoyed working 
for you all these years and I really appreciate the way you've 
treated me. You have always been fair and square with me, even 
when I was jerk."

With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Nevada was sure that he 
knew where this conversation was going. Holding up his hand to 
interrupt Ed, he asked, "You're giving your notice?"

Sadly, Ed nodded his head. He answered, "Yes, I'm afraid so. I'm 
taking a job at the university categorizing rocks."

Shaking his head, Nevada felt that Ed was making a big mistake. 
Rather than keep silent and watch as Ed ruined his life, he said, 
"Ed, I think this whole rock thing is a big waste of time. You are 
making a big mistake. Drop this dream and stay here."

Biting his lower lip, Ed listened to what Nevada had to say. When 
Nevada had finished his say, Ed said, "I'm sorry, but I have to do 
this. I know that you have my best interests at heart. You've been 
good to me and are doing the best you can to look out for me. I 
know that. It's just that this rock stuff, as you put it, is very 
important to me."

"Since when did this desire to work with rocks come over you?"

Laughing as he realized that it had come over him when he was 
eight, Ed answered, "When I was eight. It's only now that I realized 
that I could pursue formally."

"It's a kids dream. You aren't a kid anymore, you're a man. It's time 
for you to grasp reality and work for a living. You've got a good 
job here, much better than most people your age." Nevada was 
convinced more than ever that Ed was making a mistake.

Ed replied, "Nevada, tomorrow is Saturday. Why don't you come 
by my place and see my study? I think I will be able to change 
your mind about my decision."

Incredulous that Ed thought he could get him to change his mind, 
he accepted it as a challenge. He answered, "I tell you what. If you 
can convince me tomorrow that you are making the right decision, 
I won't hold you to two weeks notices. If you can't convince me, 
then you'll stay on, at least part time."

Smiling, Ed nodded his agreement. He said, "I'll agree to that. Is 
twenty hours a week, sufficient for you?"

Nevada, sensing that he had won, answered, "Twenty hours is fine. 
It'll be Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. That's before, 
during, and after the auctions."

Ed extended his hand and said, "It's a deal."

Feeling like he had won already, Nevada shook Ed's hand. He said, 
"Now, I'll let you get home and prepare for my visit tomorrow."

Rather than explain that he didn't need the time to prepare for his 
visit, Ed answered, "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."

Ed drove back home. As he drove, he thought about the fact that 
Jim and Sherry were coming over that night to discuss the group 
marriage. Laughing at the probable reaction of Sherry to the idea 
that Ed was going to marry another man, he wondered what she 
would say to him. Most likely, it wouldn't be something too mean.

He pulled into town and stopped at Shirley's. If they were going to 
entertain Jim and Sherry tonight, they should provide appropriate 
drinks and snacks. Shirley knew what everyone in town drank and 
he could get some advice from her. Entering the bar, Shirley 
looked over at him. He said, "Hello Shirley."

Surprised to see him at this time of day, she answered, "Hi, Ed. 
What's up?"

Settling on a barstool at the counter, Ed said, "We're entertaining 
Jim and Sherry tonight. I want to know what to serve them. You 
know, what do they like to drink?"

Shirley looked at Ed like he was from some other world. The 
whole town was talking about his apology to Sherry. Even though 
she had known that Ed had changed, the tone and nature of the 
apology had surprised even her. To learn that he was entertaining 
Jim and Sherry shocked her. She answered, "Jim likes Martinis and 
Sherry likes Margaritas." 

That was not the kind of answer that he had expected. He had 
thought that Jim would have a favorite whiskey and Sherry would 
have a favorite beer or wine. Frowning, Ed asked, "I know what 
they are, but I have no idea how to make them."

Smiling, Shirley said, "Well, if you don't mind paying for a few 
drinks, I'll teach you how to make them."

"I bet you never thought you'd be my teacher," said Ed with a 
good-natured laugh. Winking at her, he added, "I'll do my best not 
to get a crush on my teacher."

Shirley laughed and gestured for him to come behind the counter. 
As Ed walked around the counter, she said, "We'll start with the 
Martini. Jim is, not surprisingly, rather old fashioned about some 
things. He likes a good dry Gin Martini garnished with a large 
olive."

Ed repeated, "Gin Martini."

Shirley pointed to a glass overhead and said, "Take down one of 
those glasses."

Reaching up to the glass rack overhead, he got down a Martini 
glass. He had always wondered why Shirley had them in the bar. 
Smiling at him, she said, "It's been a while since he was in here, so 
the glass is a little dusty. Why don't you wash it off?"

Ed washed the glass out carefully and then dried it thoroughly with 
a bar towel. The action amused Shirley as the first step was to fill 
the glass with ice. Once it was clean, she said, "The first step is to 
fill the glass with ice."

Following her instructions, Ed filled the glass with ice. Once that 
was done, Shirley said, "Next we get a shaker and fill it with ice. 
That is the metal cup over there with the lid."

Ed got the shaker and filled it with ice. Since she didn't usually use 
any kind of measurement device, she didn't have a jigger measure. 
Using the next best thing, she said, "Take down a shot glass and 
pour two shots of Gin into the shaker."

It took Ed a minute to locate the Gin bottle from amongst the rows 
of bottles behind the bar. Pouring two shots of Gin into the shaker, 
he set the bottle back where he had gotten it. Shirley said, "Now 
comes the tricky part. You need to add just a few drops of Dry 
Vermouth to the shaker."

Raising an eyebrow, Ed asked, "Just a few drops?"

"Yes, just a few drops. Too much Vermouth will ruin it." Shirley 
could understand why Ed asked that. After all, she had asked that 
question of every Martini drinker she had ever encountered. It 
seemed that real Martini drinkers could taste the absence of the 
Vermouth and would complain if there was too much.

Incredulous, he searched the rows of bottles for the Vermouth. He 
found one and went to pour it in. Shirley quickly said, "Not that 
one. That's Sweet Vermouth, you need Dry Vermouth."

Shrugging his shoulders, Ed searched through the rows of bottles. 
He found another bottle labeled Vermouth and compared it to the 
first bottle. The Dry Vermouth was clear while the other was a 
dark color. He went to the shaker and poured in a couple of drops 
of Dry Vermouth. He returned the bottles to where they had been.

Watching the progress, Shirley said, "Jim likes his Martini swirled 
around rather than shaken or stirred with a spoon."

Ed picked up the shaker and swirled it around a few times. 
Looking over at Shirley for an indication when he should stop, the 
suggestion came rather quickly. She said, "That's enough. Now 
empty the ice out of the glass."

"Why did I put the ice in the glass if I just dump it out?"

Laughing, Shirley answered, "You were chilling the glass."

After dumping the ice out into the sink, he was about to pour the 
shaker into the glass. Shirley said, "Now you need to strain the 
contents of the shaker into the glass."

She handed him the strainer and watched as he used it to fill the 
Martini glass with the transparent drink. He smelled it and said, "It 
smells like Juniper Berries."

"That's because Gin is made from Juniper Berries. All that is left is 
to add an olive."

Ed dropped an olive into the drink and looked at the final product. 
It didn't look like that much. He looked over at Shirley and asked, 
"Is that it?"

"Yes, it is. Are you willing to taste it?"

Hesitantly, Ed took a very small sip. A look of disgust crossed his 
face as he said, "That's horrible."

Surprised at the reaction, Shirley picked up the glass and tasted it. 
It tasted like all Martini's that she had ever made, except that it 
appeared to be a little watered down. She said, "That's what it is 
supposed to taste like. Of course, you'll want to fix it a little faster 
so that it doesn't get so much water in it."

Incredulous that Jim would actually like this stuff, he said, "You're 
sure that Jim will like this?"

"Very sure," she answered. 

Ed learned how to make the Frozen Margarita that Sherry 
preferred. As the lesson progressed, Ed realized that he had 
underestimated the difficulty of working behind the bar. He had 
assumed that it was just fixing shots of whiskey or tequila and 
opening bottles of beer. When the lesson was over, Ed said, "Wow, 
I didn't realize that tending a bar was so much work. How many 
different drinks are there?"

Shirley smiled and said, "Oh, there are thousands. I only have to 
know less than a hundred here. Before I opened this place, I 
worked in the city. There I had to know almost five hundred. When 
I didn't know one, I had to look it up."

Shaking his head, Ed said, "No wonder you can't find someone to 
help you out here."

Shirley laughed at that being the problem. The real problem was 
finding someone local that wouldn't drink on the job. A lot of the 
men in the area wouldn't let their wives work in a bar, feeling like 
it represented a threat to their control over them. 

That evening, Ed entertained Jim and Sherry like they were special 
guests of honor. Sherry never completely relaxed in his presence, 
but he had done the best that he could to make her feel welcome. 
