Awakenings - SF1 (71 page)

Finally Conor asked Ryan to get up and sing a happy song for the crowd. Jamie chimed in, "I didn't know you sang in public, Ryan!"

Rory replied, "She could make a good living with music if she wanted to, Jamie. She's probably the most talented of all of us."

Ryan blushed a bit at this praise but she admitted that singing for others was not a driving force for her. "I like to sing for myself mostly," she admitted. "I don't mind singing in public once in a while, but it's not something that I love enough to do every day."

"I would love to hear you Ryan," Jamie begged. "Please?"

"Okay, okay. You know I can't turn down begging," she grinned. Since the band was still on their break Brendan agreed to accompany her on the guitar. They discussed what songs to play and finally settled on two favorites. "You asked for it, Jamie," she said with a smile as she got up.

She was wearing her deep red Angora turtleneck and a pair of soft black slacks. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and she had just a few wispy bangs touching her forehead. Brendan grabbed an acoustic guitar and adjusted the strap. When he was ready he introduced himself. There was a single spotlight shining on Ryan as Brendan introduced her as the most beautiful and talented of the entire O'Flaherty clan. She beamed back at him as he began the first chords to the song they had chosen.

The spotlight highlighted the mahogany and gold tones in her raven hair. Her cheeks were pink from the warmth of the room and her eyes sparkled and danced in the bright white light. She looked entirely at ease as she sat on a tall stool with the heels of her loafers hooked over a rung. Her posture was upright and poised but very casual. She looked as though she was singing in front of very close friends at her home.

The song they had chosen was, in fact, rather happy. In her smooth, clear alto Ryan began to sing,

"First when I came to the town, they called me young and bonny,

Now they've changed my name, call me the Lee boys honey.

I'll dye my petticoats red, and I'll face them with a yellow,

I'll tell the Dyster lads, that the Lee boys I've to follow."

Several things impressed Jamie immediately. First, of course, was the sheer beauty of Ryan's voice. The music seemed to flow from her effortlessly. She almost seemed to be talking rather than singing. The second thing was the girlish smile and body language that Ryan had appropriated to sing the song. This was clearly a song about a young heterosexual girl and Ryan had the ability to adopt that demeanor to sell the lyrics. The final impressive element was Ryan's ability to just have fun with this. She even shot Jamie a cute little smile when she sang the next line:

"It's over hill and dale, and over dykes and ditches,

Say, will I like the lad, that wears the moleskin britches?

The black horse draws the cart, and she's as proud as any

Say will I like the lad that drives him on so canny?"

"Feather beds are fine, painted rooms are bonny

But I would leave them all to jog away with Johnny.

Oh for Saturday night, it's I that'll see my dearie

He'll come whistling in when I am tired and weary."

"First when I came to the town, they called me proud and saucy

Now they've changed my name, call me the Lee boys lassie."

Jamie was easily able to believe that Ryan could be the Lee boys lassie. But for a genetic difference she could easily be the girl that boys fought over. She could be sitting in her house on a Saturday night waiting for her Johnny. Jamie was never so glad that homosexuality existed. It gave her a fighting chance to one day know the love of this woman.

Conor and Rory sat behind Jamie casually watching both their sister and her friend. Conor had told Rory of his conversation with Ryan and they had decided to determine if there was any mutual interest on Jamie's part. Even though Conor doubted that he would win the bet he offered to double it. But Rory held firm. At the end of the song they both looked at the expression on Jamie's face. It was a mixture of love and desire with a good measure of pure worship thrown in. Rory smiled sweetly at Conor as he held out his hand. Conor reached into his wallet, pulling out two 20's and a ten that he slapped onto the table.

Later that night, Ryan walked her friend out to her car. Jamie lavished praise upon Ryan for both her singing voice and her stage presence. After discussing the band and the various members for a long while she could tell that Ryan was beat so she bid her goodnight.

As Jamie got into the car Ryan asked, "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Uh...
nothing. Why?"

"It's Saint Patrick's Day, lassie!" she announced in her lilting Irish accent.

"Okay...
what are you doing?"

"I'm the barmaid at The Dubliner of course!"

"Since when do you work in a bar?!"

"I do it every St. Patrick's day," she explained in her normal voice. "If you're free come over and have a pint. Conor and some of the cousins will be there to harass me of course, so it should be fun."

"Is that the place right on 24
^th
?"

"Yeah, but if you come be prepared for a huge crowd. It's quite a zoo!"

Jamie didn't want to be at the bar alone so she waited until 8 to head over. She had to park so far away from the bar that she wound up a block past Ryan's house.
My God, it's never been this congested over here,
she marveled.
I guess everyone is out celebrating St. Patrick's Day.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she tried to wedge into the bar. The rowdy patrons were packed in so tight she knew they were violating several city ordinances, but she assumed the local police turned a blind eye on St. Paddy's Day. It took a great deal of patience and a few well placed elbows but she finally made her way near to the large wooden bar. She lucked out and found that the crowd had deposited her right next to a happy little group that featured Brendan, Conor, Niall, Kieran and Frank. "Jamie!" they cried, nearly as one.

The overly exuberant tone to their call indicated the advanced level of their inebriation but she gamely allowed each of the men to offer a hug and didn't even complain about Conor's rather sloppy kiss on her cheek. "How long have you boys been here?" she shouted over the din.

"We walked Ryan over at 5," Brendan supplied. "What time is it now?"

"Almost 9," she yelled in reply.

"No wonder I can't feel me feet!" he marveled in his own little Irish accent.

Just then Jamie spotted her favorite barmaid. Ryan looked extremely attractive this evening, not that that was a news flash. But there was something about her that looked very different. It took Jamie a moment to realize that Ryan looked straight! It wasn't just that her hair was held back with a braided green and white ribbon; it wasn't that she was dressed in a form fitting emerald green knit vest sans blouse; it wasn't even the fact that she wore a touch of makeup. No, it was the fact that she was
acting
straight and that, most decidedly, to Jamie's keen eye, was a first. Ryan spotted her and gave a demure little wave along with a toss of her jet black hair. Jamie grinned and shook her head at the display, but when Ryan approached the man to her left she nearly fell from the stool that Brendan insisted she occupy.

"Evenin' darlin'," she announced in a rather dramatic, thick Irish accent, as she graced him with her most winning smile and a girlish batting of her eyes. "How can I help ya?"

The tongue tied man seemed as flabbergasted by the raven haired beauty as Jamie was but he managed to choke out, "Are you new around here?"

"Aye!" she cried. "Just over from Killala in Mayo!" She said this with such joy that it appeared she expected the man to be a relative from the old sod or at least a fellow Kilallan.

"Welcome to America," he said dreamily. "Can I have a pint of Guinness and your phone number?"

"Ahh, go on with ya!" she cried. "You lads are all so friendly! I've had more good wishes and offers to show me around than I can count. Such a friendly place!" she said as she turned to draw his pint. Jamie noticed that her friend bent over just enough to show her best assets as she drew his stout, smiling that unnerving smile the entire time. She placed the pint in front of him and said coyly, "I'm not sure how long I'll be stayin' luv. It costs a pretty pence to stay in your lovely city. But if I can afford it maybe you can come 'round some time, eh?"

He nodded as if in a trance, pulling out a $5 for the $3 pint and thanking Ryan profusely as he walked back to his mates, happy to leave the gorgeous woman a 66% tip. Ryan dashed to the register and rang up the $3 sticking two singles into her bulging back pocket. She trotted back and signaled to Jamie, "Meet me at the end of the bar!"

It was a tough trip but she made the short distance not too much after her grinning friend. Ryan dug into her straining pocket and handed the gob of slightly damp bills to her friend. "Keep my tips, will you?" she said right into Jamie's ear in order to be heard. "It doesn't look right to look like I'm doing too well."

"Geez
,
Ryan!" she cried. "How did you make all this?"

"An Irish accent, a tight sweater and a Wonder bra!" she laughed. "How else?"

"So you put on this act just to make money?" she asked, slightly incredulous.

"Mighty!" she agreed as she pinched Jamie's cheek and trotted back to her post.

By the time Jamie made it back Conor had procured a perfectly poured pint of Guinness for her as well as another round for his drinking buddies. She had never seen any of the boys in their cups...had never in fact seen them drink at all except for bowling night. But she had to admit that they were a fun group of drunks. Conor especially was twice as charming, if a little sloppy. He tossed an arm around Jamie and held on to her for the duration of the evening. But after a while it became clear that he did so to maintain his balance as much as to show his affection.

The boys had been teasing and taunting each other mercilessly all night and Jamie found herself on the end of a few pointed barbs herself. But she didn't mind a bit...in fact it made her feel like one of the group and she did her best to give as good as she got. She limited herself to two pints but that was more than enough to give her a very pleasant buzz. Her mind reeled at the thought of how the boys must be feeling since she had personally seen them each have 3 in the two hours she had occupied her stool.

When one patron got a little too enamored of Ryan she watched all of the boys give him a long stern look but they didn't make an obvious move to deter him. Ryan took his wandering hands in stride, stepping quickly out of the way when he tried to grab a handful of her shapely butt. "I'm amazed you didn't flatten him," Jamie chuckled into Conor's ear.

"Ahh, you can't blame them, Jamie," he explained rather expansively. "She looks like she wants them to grab her; she flirts with them constantly...hell, I'm half tempted to make a play for her!" He laughed at his own joke and nearly passed out in hysterics when he caught the look on Jamie's stunned face. "I'm kidding, Jamie!" he howled. She slapped him lightly on the side and rolled her eyes in exasperation at his antics. But he leaned over as he pulled her tightly against his side. "How about you?" he purred rather seductively.

Her mouth grew bone dry as she stammered, "M...
M...
Me what?"

"Do you have an interest in my baby sister?" he asked in the same seductive growl.

"W...
W...
Why would I have an interest?" she stuttered weakly.

"I asked first," he reminded her. "Come on now, you can tell Uncle Conor," he crooned. "I promise I won't tell."

"I...
I...
I um..." she muttered, annoyed at her own inarticulateness.

"Um hmm," he murmured, "Just as I thought." Her rapidly blushing face and weakening knees caused him to pat her shoulder comfortingly and hold on a bit tighter. "There, there," he assured her. "You could do worse than to fall for my sister, you know. And personally, I think she'd be a fool to let you get away." He tilted his dark head down and rested it against Jamie's for a moment. "You're quite a woman, Jamie."

She closed her eyes tightly and accepted the truth of his statement. But a relatively soft object hurled at her head at close range broke the moment. Turning faster than her slightly blurry eyes appreciated she whirled around to find a grinning Ryan tossing peanuts at her head from a dish on the bar. "Don't encourage him, Jamie," she warned. "He'll follow you home like a lost puppy."

"No problem," she replied with a grin of her own. "I've always wanted a puppy," she said affectionately as she teasingly petted Conor's dark head.

"Well, don't blame me if he starts humpin' your leg," she warned, accent firmly in place as she dashed down the bar to pour another pint.

Even though she had tried valiantly to leave several times Jamie found herself still in place as Ryan called out, "Last call, lads! Final pints!"

She lifted her arm to gaze in amazement at her watch which did, in fact, read 1:45 a.m. "My God," she muttered. "How did it get to be so late!"

"And how did I get to be so drunk?" Brendan moaned, dropping his head into his hands.

"You are drunk," Frank agreed, shaking his head and clucking in disdain.

"Can't hold his liquor," agreed Kieran, who was clearly as drunk as the rest of the boys.

"I've only had two and I can hardly talk!" Jamie moaned. "How will I get home?"

"Yer comin' wit us," Conor insisted in his own Irish accent. "As soon as we help the wee one wit her chores."

Jamie watched in awe as the drunken O'Flaherty's got to their wobbly feet and gamely bussed the small tables around the still crowded bar. "Drink up, drink up," Niall insisted as he walked from patron to patron trying to retrieve their still full glasses.

She hopped to her feet and went behind the bar to aid Ryan and the other two women in their daunting task of washing each glass that was returned. But many hands made short work of it and by the time Frank and Brendan rather forcibly ushered the last patron out at 2:15 the bar was clean enough for the professional cleaning crew that arrived every morning to clean the floors and the bathrooms.

Ryan walked and the others stumbled the few short blocks first to Frank's home, then another few to Kieran and Niall's. They arrived at the O'Flaherty house at 2:45, grateful for the fact that Martin was at work. Ryan guided Brendan to her father's room and gave him a kiss on the cheek as he fell to the bed. Conor was able to make it all the way up to his room but he accomplished the feat by holding on to the banister for dear life.

Ryan tossed an arm around Jamie and guided her down to her bedroom. "So, did ya have fun?" she asked, back in her Gaelic persona.

"Yeah, very much so," she admitted. "Your family is really a blast to hang out with, Ryan. And it was worth the trip to see you playing the coquettish straight girl," she teased as she playfully backhanded her in the belly.

Ryan looked thoughtful as they reached the lower floor. "It's fun for me to act like that once in a while," she mused. "But I can't imagine having to do that every day! I don't know how some straight women keep that act up!" She held out her hands as Jamie started unburdening her pockets of the plethora of bills she carried. "Like you," Ryan said as she started to sort the money. "You're a straight girl and you don't hardly ever seem like you're putting on that 'Oh you're so cool and I'm such a helpless creature' routine." She looked up at Jamie who was choosing a t-shirt from the massive selection in Ryan's neatly labeled drawers.

"Hardly ever?" Jamie asked.

"Well, I saw you do it with Jack that time I was in Palo Alto," she mused. "But that's the only time."

"Hmm, I guess I don't do it much," she admitted. "But Cassie does it constantly," she observed as she considered her circle of friends. "She acts like she's got a brain stem injury when her boyfriend is around."

"Well it's nice that you don't do it much," Ryan observed. "It must be demeaning."

"Well, you do some manipulative things to get women too, Ryan, don't act like you don't."

Ryan looked up at her with a completely guileless look on her handsome face. "I don't think I do," she said. "Oh, I flirt and act a little more forceful than normal, but I don't think I try to alter who I am or what my capabilities are," she mused. "I just try to show my assets to the best of my ability," she said with a wicked glare as she shook her shoulders and jiggled her breasts in an entirely provocative manner. "That kind of stuff is too easy," she muttered disdainfully. "Women just don't go for it."