American Woman.
Young, wild, American. Lookin' to be Somethin'
“What is this shit we’re listening to Jerrica?” My regular, Darrel, slurs over the barely audible Kashmir by Led Zeppelin. “We’re in the heart of fucking Nashville and you’re listening to a band that’s not from America.”
“So?” I ask, half interested. “We play everything here. You out of everyone here, knows that better than anyone else. You’ve been coming here since this place opened.”
“But back then we listened to American bands more. It’s been an hour since I actually heard a good American band.”
“I played Jimi Hendrix twenty minutes ago.” I scoff. “You just have shitty taste in music, Darrel.”
“That ni---”
“I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I was you, Darrel.” The deep voice of our new bouncer, Gavin, stops Darrel in his tracks. “As a man of a certain age, you should know better than to use that kind of language around a lady.” He says, nodding towards my direction. “Hello, Jerrica.”
“Hey G.” I smile back at the bouncer. “Usual?” He just nods and I rush off to get him his pint of Stella Artois. The owner, Mac, allows one free pint per shift of whatever beer we have on tap. It’s a nice gesture that all of us take advantage of. He must know we wouldn’t be able to survive a shift at Whiskey Tango without some type of alcohol in our system.
“We aren’t going to keep having problems are we Mister Jackson, are we?” Gavin asks as he stands up, towering over Darrel. At 6’0 Gavin easily towers over Darrel who is only about 5’7 and is as scrawny as a teenage boy.
“No sir.” Darrel squeaks out before throwing money down on the bar. “In fact I was just leaving. I apologize for my rude behavior, Jerrica.” With that he slides off his barstool and scurries away, leaving me and Gavin behind.
“Thanks G, but you didn’t have to make the poor man shit himself.” I chuckle, causing a faint smile to appear across the bouncers lips. “It’s gonna be a slow night, what are you gonna do if you get sent home early tonight?”
“Why do you and every other bartender and waitress care about my personal life?” Gavin questions rudely. “Am I just a piece of meat to you ladies?”
“Them maybe.” I shrug. “I’m just trying to make conversation with the mysterious Marine working as a bouncer.”
“How did you know I’m a Marine?” He questions, eyes softening. “Or are you guessing?”
“Your first day here you wore a low v cut t-shirt and I caught a glimpse of the Semper fidelis tattoo across your chest.” I reply. “I’m the youngest of six kids. I have five older brothers. Two of those five brothers are in the Marines. Both of them have Semper Fi tattoos.”
“Wow, I didn’t know.” He sounds shocked. “Any of your other brothers military?”
“All of them are.” I chuckle. “This will be in order of age. “Derrik was in the Army but now he works for the Department of Defense. Travis is part of the United States Army Special Forces. Tony and his twin brother Corey are the Marines. And last but not least Ford is a Navy SEAL. So I have a lot of gear representing all of those.”
“That’s why you came in with a Marines hoodie last week.” He smiles. “I thought you were just one of those chicks that hooks up with military men. It seems like a lot of those girls exists at this bar.”
“I’m offended you thought I sleep around.” I laugh. “But yea, Bunny and Honey give us girls a bad name. I’m sorry about that.”
“You seriously have a brother that’s a Green Beret?” Gavin smirks. “How badass is that? Were you in the military like your brothers?”
“Nah,” I reply. “My father is extremely old school and doesn’t believe the frontline is a place for a woman. He’s a misogynistic prick. Plus it’s not my scene anyway. I had a strict upbringing and once I hit 16, I could not be told what to do.”
“You know boot camp isn’t exactly how movies make it out to be.” He smirks.
“I know but still not for me.”
“I’m surprised you’re from a military family.” He states. “I wouldn’t have thought that by just looking at you.”
“Maybe you should actually talk to us instead of being the ever present knight at our front door.” I shrug. “We aren’t going to hurt you or anything. Unless you’re into that. Then maybe you should see Bunny and Honey. Those girls are into some weird ass shit.
He just laughs. “I’ll keep that mind.” With that he walks back to his post, beer in hand. I just sigh as I was him looming over everyone. I feel like this man is hiding something or maybe he’s just running away from something in his past. Either way, this man’s stormy eyes are hiding something. Something I want to find out...
“So?” I ask, half interested. “We play everything here. You out of everyone here, knows that better than anyone else. You’ve been coming here since this place opened.”
“But back then we listened to American bands more. It’s been an hour since I actually heard a good American band.”
“I played Jimi Hendrix twenty minutes ago.” I scoff. “You just have shitty taste in music, Darrel.”
“That ni---”
“I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I was you, Darrel.” The deep voice of our new bouncer, Gavin, stops Darrel in his tracks. “As a man of a certain age, you should know better than to use that kind of language around a lady.” He says, nodding towards my direction. “Hello, Jerrica.”
“Hey G.” I smile back at the bouncer. “Usual?” He just nods and I rush off to get him his pint of Stella Artois. The owner, Mac, allows one free pint per shift of whatever beer we have on tap. It’s a nice gesture that all of us take advantage of. He must know we wouldn’t be able to survive a shift at Whiskey Tango without some type of alcohol in our system.
“We aren’t going to keep having problems are we Mister Jackson, are we?” Gavin asks as he stands up, towering over Darrel. At 6’0 Gavin easily towers over Darrel who is only about 5’7 and is as scrawny as a teenage boy.
“No sir.” Darrel squeaks out before throwing money down on the bar. “In fact I was just leaving. I apologize for my rude behavior, Jerrica.” With that he slides off his barstool and scurries away, leaving me and Gavin behind.
“Thanks G, but you didn’t have to make the poor man shit himself.” I chuckle, causing a faint smile to appear across the bouncers lips. “It’s gonna be a slow night, what are you gonna do if you get sent home early tonight?”
“Why do you and every other bartender and waitress care about my personal life?” Gavin questions rudely. “Am I just a piece of meat to you ladies?”
“Them maybe.” I shrug. “I’m just trying to make conversation with the mysterious Marine working as a bouncer.”
“How did you know I’m a Marine?” He questions, eyes softening. “Or are you guessing?”
“Your first day here you wore a low v cut t-shirt and I caught a glimpse of the Semper fidelis tattoo across your chest.” I reply. “I’m the youngest of six kids. I have five older brothers. Two of those five brothers are in the Marines. Both of them have Semper Fi tattoos.”
“Wow, I didn’t know.” He sounds shocked. “Any of your other brothers military?”
“All of them are.” I chuckle. “This will be in order of age. “Derrik was in the Army but now he works for the Department of Defense. Travis is part of the United States Army Special Forces. Tony and his twin brother Corey are the Marines. And last but not least Ford is a Navy SEAL. So I have a lot of gear representing all of those.”
“That’s why you came in with a Marines hoodie last week.” He smiles. “I thought you were just one of those chicks that hooks up with military men. It seems like a lot of those girls exists at this bar.”
“I’m offended you thought I sleep around.” I laugh. “But yea, Bunny and Honey give us girls a bad name. I’m sorry about that.”
“You seriously have a brother that’s a Green Beret?” Gavin smirks. “How badass is that? Were you in the military like your brothers?”
“Nah,” I reply. “My father is extremely old school and doesn’t believe the frontline is a place for a woman. He’s a misogynistic prick. Plus it’s not my scene anyway. I had a strict upbringing and once I hit 16, I could not be told what to do.”
“You know boot camp isn’t exactly how movies make it out to be.” He smirks.
“I know but still not for me.”
“I’m surprised you’re from a military family.” He states. “I wouldn’t have thought that by just looking at you.”
“Maybe you should actually talk to us instead of being the ever present knight at our front door.” I shrug. “We aren’t going to hurt you or anything. Unless you’re into that. Then maybe you should see Bunny and Honey. Those girls are into some weird ass shit.
He just laughs. “I’ll keep that mind.” With that he walks back to his post, beer in hand. I just sigh as I was him looming over everyone. I feel like this man is hiding something or maybe he’s just running away from something in his past. Either way, this man’s stormy eyes are hiding something. Something I want to find out...
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