[€uroMeinke]

She had no business being there.

I know it may not be the right thing to say, but she was just asking for trouble showing up that day and she never should have stuck around as long as she did.

I guess it’s still no excuse about what happened, but Jay could be a real asshole. Any of us who knew him, knew to stay clear when he was in one of his moods. I know she couldn’t of known that, and maybe we should of tried to stop it. But the truth is, we didn’t.

It was hot that day, that southern kind of hot that just weighs on you like a sick old dog. Nobody was even playing pool, just talking Sh*t and enjoying the coolness of the beer.

The room changed when she walked through the door. She was a sweet little thing, all tight jeans, and a halter-top. The crappy air-conditioning was probably a relief to her, I can still see the beads of sweat disappearing between her tits. There aren’t too many woman who come into Nora’s, except maybe somebody’s ex looking to pick another fight. Women like this just didn’t come here – one whiff of bleach, stale beer, and sweat should have been enough to send her back out onto the interstate and find some other place to take a piss.

Maybe the heat got to her, I don’t know, but instead of turning tale, she asked for the restroom and walked on in.

Jay was beside himself of course, He was always bragging about the p*ssy he got on the road. We all thought he was full of sh*t – maybe that’s why he felt the need to prove something. And the rest of us? Well, I said we don’t get many women here so I don’t think any of us was going to chase her off, own good or not.

When she came out she hesitated a moment, maybe some sense came into her after all. But Jay quickly put an end to that, pressing a beer into her hand, telling her to relax and cool down a bit.

I didn’t hear her say all that much. I think she was running from something, must have been on the road for a while. But Jay started to get a bit weird, saying that he knew her from somewhere, some bar down in Mobile. Said he’d seen her dance there. That’s when she really shut up. “I don’t dance any more.” Was all she said.

“Honey, I don’t want to see you dance”

He grabbed her head and pulled her in to kiss her. She tried to push him away, but Jay wasn’t going to stop. "f*ck you Jay, I’m done with that”

“Like hell, you are bitch - not till you show me a little respect first.” Before I knew it, he’d backhanded her and she fell back against the pool table. He was on her before she ever got her balance. He grabed her halter, twisting and ripping it down so you could see her bra. “you gonna be friendly now?”

She said nothing.

Some of us had gotten up over the commotion. I didn’t know what to think. It wasn’t right. But damn if I wasn’t getting hard myself.

“You f*cking whore” He shouted into her face. “This bitch comes all the way from Mobile to come looking for some cash. Well if she wants something she’s gonna earn it.”

Hank was the first to step in. “Cool it Jay, I don’t want any trouble here.”

Then it happened.

She grabbed the knife off Jay’s belt. He charged into her but that just plunged the knife deeper into his belly. That was the freakiest thing I ever seen, Jay with a knife stuck right in him and it was like nothing happene. His rage wouldn’t stop. He took hold of her and threw her to the ground.
Hank tried to stop him but got a beer bottle in the face before he could even touch him. Then he was on top of her, the knife still sticking from his belly. “Now you’re really gonna pay, bitch!”

I pulled Hank behind the bar and it suddenly got silent. Jay, there on top of her, his arm raised about to give her another one – but he stopped there, let out a gurgling belch, and a single drop of blood slid down the side of his mouth.

They say he might have lived if he left the knife alone. But it seems in those last moments he’d pulled it out and bled to death. It took days to get the blood up, I doubt it'll ever come full clean. I still can smell him.

We never found out who the woman was, or what she was doing there. Maybe Jay knew, but then he was always full of sh*t. Who ever she was though, she had no business being there.