somethin’.”
David searched his mind for his schedule for the weekend. “Ya. Sounds good to me. How about lookin’ around Glacier?”
The excitement in Tomas’s voice came through the receiver as he answered, “That sounds great David. What day?”
“Let’s meet Sunday morning around ten. We can drive to the end of Lake McDonald and eat our lunch there. I’ll pick you up at the bunkhouse.” After he hung up the phone, he smiled and relished the thought of how his plans with Tommy would irritate his father-in-law. “Maybe I’ll start to do a lot with Tommy. We can stop at a few bars along the Trapline and end up at Mabels. That’ll really piss off his old man.”
CHAPTER SIX
T he forty-seat Royal Theater stood on the south side of Main Street in Martin City. The locals and Dam workers who worked the project for a few years spoke for most of the seats. There was unspoken assigned seating and new customers to the one story, log movie house soon learned which seats were available and which seats were reserved. On opening night of a new movie, only one row of seats remained open to first time customers.
Mikhail and John Nolan lumbered up the three stairs to the front door of the theater. Friday night and the first paycheck for the two drove them to the Royal to watch Abbott and Costello in Meet The Invisible Man . Mikhail loved to go to shows and hadn’t been in a theater for over a year. Nolan teased Mikhail the entire half a mile walk from the barracks to the Royal about their lousy choice to go to a show instead of to one of the thirteen bars in Martin city. “Our first night off and payday and we go to a goddamn show. We should be drinking and getting primed for Mabels.”
Mikhail managed a grin before he answered, “You don’t need no more primin’. You already had a six pack.”
Nolan entered first and slapped down a silver dollar on the table in front of the girl selling tickets. “I’ll be paying for the both of us, honey. The bohunk is too cheap. I get stuck for paying his way. You probably should charge him double because of his big ass.”
The teenage girl giggled and handed a ticket to each of the men. Mikhail shook his head as he passed the red-faced girl. He walked over to the concession table and bought a big box of popcorn and a Hershey candy bar. “You want anything, Nolan.”
“Ya, I’d like a can of Great Falls Select and a shot of Seagrams. And then I’d like a good—”
Mikhail gave him a slight push that broke his thought. “Get us a seat Nolan.” The two men walked down toward the front of the theater and sat on the right side near the exit door. Mikhail sat near the aisle and Nolan left a seat between them. Mikhail ate his popcorn and stretched out his long legs, “Perfect seats he thought. No seats in front of me for once.”
Three women visited as they walked up the aisle and stopped next to Mikhail. The taller, well-dressed lady whispered to him, “Sir. I believe you’re sitting in my seat and the man next to you is sitting in my friend’s seat. You’ll have to move.”
Before Mikhail could respond, Nolan leaned toward the women and quietly said, “Ma’am, I believe you should go shit in your hat. Find a different seat your own self.”
The women stomped back up the aisle and returned quickly with the owner of the theater. Hannah Holley owned the theater for over a year and managed to breath life into the building with the latest movies and a clean, modern appearing decor. The Royal was a focal point of the community for the locals and a peaceful distraction for the dam workers. She stopped in front of Mikhail and Nolan. A kind smile introduced her well-practiced speech about reserved seating and the location of other seats for new customers. “Gentlemen, welcome to the Royal Theater. You’re new and don’t know about the seating rules we have here. One of you needs to follow me and I will show you to your seat.”
Mikhail stood up and towered
Jinsey Reese, Victoria Green