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“I said back off.” My voice slices through the tension.
“Aw, she’s feisty,” one of the men hollers, his words slurring together as he steps closer.
The space between us is an ever-narrowing chasm filled with their predatory smirks and whispered threats.
“Where you gonna run, Jane?” Ricky mocks, blocking the only path to the door, his stance wide.
My heart tightens, a drumbeat of desperation urging my feet to move but they’re rooted to the spot. I’m a rabbit cornered by wolves, the playful banter a distant memory.
As they taunt me, I form an escape plan.
“This is your last warning.” My voice trembles despite my best efforts to remain composed.
“Or what? You’ll cry?” Snake sneers, his face too close, his breath foul with the stench of whiskey and cigarettes.
“Maybe she needs someone to tuck her in tonight,” another chimes in, laughter erupting around me.
“Enough!” The word explodes from my lips like a gunshot.
In my peripheral vision, I see the patrons hurrying out the door, their eyes darting nervously our way.
“Let’s see if you’re as tough as you talk,” Ricky says, advancing a step further.
His friends are an echo chamber of menace, their collective body language a tightening noose.
“Fellas, if I were you, I’d leave.” Mandy has her cellphone out and is holding it up as though she’s recording them.
“What are you going to do? Record us?” Snake laughs. “We’ll just delete it.”
Mandy smiles. “Oh no, I’m not recording you, I’m doing a Facebook live.” She turns the cellphone around so it’s facing her. “If you’re watching this, please call 911 and have the police come to the Tin Cup.” Mandy turns the phone back around, smiling at the group of men.
“We were only fucking around,” says Ricky. “We weren’t going to hurt her.”
Mandy gives him her big innocent eyes look. “No, of course, you weren’t. Best get going, fellas.”
One by one they leave the bar and I let out a sigh of relief then hurry over to Mandy and hug her.
“Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
Leaning back, I say, “We should call the police and tell them I’m okay.”
Mandy laughs. “I wasn’t recording.”
“What?”
“Nah, I just wanted them to leave.” Mandy hugs me, then steps back. “You really should hire someone to see you out at night.”
“I’ll put it on my list.”
Mandy winks at me and opens the door to the bar, then sticks her head out. “No one is out here except Tex on his bike. Looks like someone’s getting lucky tonight.”
“I’ve had enough fun.”
Mandy shakes her head and picks up empty glasses from tables around the room. For now, she says nothing, and we close up together.
It takes half the time it normally does and when everything is ready for tomorrow, Mandy again sticks her head outside.
