While distracted, Roz tipped the heavy bottle upside down, and it slipped out of her grasp.Crash.Glass shards and liquid exploded and landed everywhere.
Glenn jumped back, but some of the liquid landed on his gray pants anyway.
“Oh, that’s a shame,” Bruce said. “That was your favorite pair.”
“I’m so sorry,” Roz said. “I’ll pay for dry cleaning.”
The guy named Bubba glanced down at his jeans. “Hey, you got some on me too. Are you gonna pay for my dry cleaning?”
John hung his head and extracted a dustpan and brush from beneath the counter. As soon as he’d handed it to her, he crossed his arms and said, “This is why we don’t use real alcohol.”
Without a word, Roz cleaned up the glass. Meanwhile, Konrad found a bar towel and sopped up the gold liquid.
“Hey, I mean it,” Bubba said, agitated. “I ain’t washing these pants.”
Konrad straightened. “They’re jeans. They’ll go through the washing machine just fine. Besides, I don’t see anything on them.”
“Look here.” Bubba pointed out a miniscule drop. The golden color barely showed.
Konrad leaned against the bar. “You’re being ridiculous.”
Bubba started toward Konrad, and Konrad advanced on Bubba.
Roz slapped a palm against each of their chests. “I’ll wash them. No need for bloodshed, okay?”
Konrad stood where he was. “The guy can wash his own pants, Roz.”
Bubba glared down at her hand on his T-shirt and snarled, or came as close to it as anyone could. Something about him seemed off.
“Roz, why don’t you try that pour again?” Don said.
She picked up another bottle, and when she had the full shot in the glass, Bubba purposely bumped into her, knocking the drink out of her hand. It went crashing to the floor again, except this time it coated her shoes and Konrad’s pants. She gasped.
“That’s it,” Konrad said. “Let’s take this outside.”
“No!” Getting flustered, Roz tried again to interject herself between the two large, angry men.
Bubba pushed her out of the way, and she fell.
Konrad reacted as if he hadn’t thought about the consequences. Before she knew it, he threw a punch that knocked the guy off his feet.
Bubba climbed upright wearing a menacing smile. He took a swing at Konrad, but her lover’s reaction time was too quick, and the guy’s fist connected with the bottles. Several more crashed to the floor and shattered.
The other students scurried out of the way.
Bubba grabbed his fist and sucked in a deep breath between his teeth.
John strolled to the phone on the wall and dialed 911 as if he did it every day.
Bubba then shook out his bloody hand.
Konrad said, “We reallyshouldtake this outside, if you insist on fighting.”
“Oh, I insist.” He ran at Konrad like a football player making a tackle.
Konrad went down with a thud as everyone cleared out from behind the bar. The two fighters rolled back and forth, fists flying.
“Stop!” Roz yelled.
