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“Gabe?” he said, his eyes widening.
“Hey, Lou,” I smiled. “It’s been a while.”
“I thought they caught you, man,” he said and walked over to us. “Where have you been?”
“Well, that is a long story,” I said, not wanting to talk about it with him. “A lot has happened, and I really need your wine tonight.”
“You can have as much as you want,” he said. “It’s been sitting in the back room. You are the only one who drinks that shit.”
I laughed and turned to Nick.
“This is Nick,” I said. “My friend.”
They both nodded at each other, and Louis turned to get us two glasses.
“Will you be having the same shit as Gabriel?” Louis asked Nick, placing the glasses down in front of us.
“Sure,” Nick said.
Louis walked to the back room and came with my red mush. He poured it into both of our glasses and placed the bottle on the bar.
Nick took a sip and frowned.
“This sucks, man,” he said, placing the glass back down on the bar.
I laughed and took a big sip. He was right. It was awful. But it helped with anger.
“What happened to the bar, Lou?” I asked Louis.
He sighed and ran his hand through his greasy, gray hair.
“Hunters,” he said. “They came here a couple of times. Took some people away. They beat the crap out of one man. That’s his blood on the wall. People just stopped coming after that. Everybody is too afraid. The city is completely empty.”
“I noticed,” I muttered.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “It’s hard not to.”
“How are you?” I asked him.
“I am fine,” he said quietly. “I am thinking about closing this place down and getting the hell out of here.”
“Do you have anywhere to go?” I asked.
He never talked about friends and family. He mentioned a woman, but they were no longer together.
“I have a cousin in Varenna,” he said. “He could take me in.”
I had heard about that city. It was a few hours away.
“I will miss you and your wine, Lou,” I said and took a sip.
“Oh, I will be coming back,” he winked at me. “I am not giving up on my bar.”
I laughed and looked at Nick. He had drunk the whole glass and was pouring himself another one. So much about not liking it.
He was still bouncing his leg up and down and glancing at his watch constantly. I got that he was worried. I was too. But he would drive himself crazy if he didn’t stop doing that.
“Nick, you need to stop,” I said. “She is fine. She needed time away from us. We are doing this for her.”
