Nic almost gagged when he walked
into Les Lez, a lesbian bar on Industrial, just west of The Strip, surrounded
by several gentlemen’s clubs that adorned the busy back street. The inside
looked as though it were still being renovated after a failure at being a
country bar. There was even a mechanical bull sitting inside a ring. The music
was terrible, with some out-of-place Bread song playing when he walked in. The
neon was typical of Vegas: gawdy, and trying to disguise a potential imagination
on the proprietor’s part. All around the central bar, and other tables were
females, many of them on the butch side. There was not much physical action
going. Only one couple was making out, and Nic was discreet in his observation
of it. The rest of the clientele was just hanging about, looking slightly
embarrassed. For the life of him, Nic couldn’t see why anyone, straight or gay,
would hang out in a place like this.
Remembering her description according to Corday, Nic slowly made his way
to a corner of the bar where Yaritza Esteban sat. He took a long look at her
from afar first, and thought her to be quite beautiful. She was definitely not
on the butch. He sat down next to her and took off his Stetson. “Detective
Esteban?”
Yaritza smiled a lopsided smile. “Well, right now I’m just Yaritza, but
you have the right person.”
“I’m Nic Viernes.”
“No cop title with your name?”
“None to give. I’m not a cop.”
“Corday told me you had information on one of my cases, so I assumed you
were a cop.”
“No. I just kind of posed as one, but officially.”
She looked at Nic with narrow but amused eyes. “How the hell did you get
away with that?”
Nic shrugged. “I can track people, so solving simple cases made the
department look good. Had a friend in there.”
“I see. Care for a drink, Nic?”
“I’ll take a ginger ale.”
“Not a drinking man?”
“No offense, Ms. Esteban, but I don’t feel good in this place.”
The bartender, a woman dressed like a male 1980s yuppie, walked up to
them and Yaritza gave Nic’s order. The bartender looked him over for a moment,
disapproving of his presence but seeing he was harmless, nodded and went to get
his drink.
Nic looked around some more while waiting. Yaritza was quiet, staring
into what looked like a sea breeze. Nic knew something wasn’t right with the
picture, but did not know exactly what yet. When he got his drink, he raised
his glass to hers. “Cheers!”
She raised her glass and iterated.
After a long pull on the short glass, Nic turned to Yaritza. “I don’t
buy it.”
“What?”
“I don’t buy your being a dyke.”
She scowled at him. “And you know this how? A powerful sexual tension
between us?”
“Nope. I can tell you look out of place here, that’s all.”
She so wanted to argue that point, but she couldn’t. It was true. “I
haven’t figured it out yet.”
“Figured what out?”
“How to be a lesbian.”
Nic suppressed a grin. “Well, having seen a few skin flicks in my life,
I know the mechanics of the physical side.”
“That’s not what I meant, Nic.”
“I know. I imagine the art of picking up women is different for women
than it is for guys. Women don’t do the pick-up lines as well, or as badly, as
we do. They tend to be more direct. That is what you’re here to do, right? Try
to pick up?”
Yaritza looked at Nic a moment. It sounded as he understood, to a point
anyway, what was going on. What was better, he wasn’t being too judgmental
about it. “I really don’t know what I’m here for.”
“How many times have you come in here?”
“This is the second time, actually.”
“When was the first time?”
“Yesterday, same time.”
Nic nodded. “Maybe you should try a later time, when the place is more
full, or try a bar that looks more personable.”
“I’ve been to other bars, Nic. They’re not much different.”
“But the others don’t have the ambience of a mechanical bull, either.”
Yaritza giggled quietly, reluctantly. “You’re funny, Nic.”
Nic noticed how informal she was with him, despite only knowing each
other for a few minutes. She was nice, and he felt that if they were to join
forces on anything regarding his mission, he should be honest with her.
“Yaritza, I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Your boss thinks I can change you.”
A dark look came over her face. “Change me?”
“That’s what he said.”
“You mean, change me back into a straight woman.”
“That’s what I think he meant.”
“And how do you propose to do that?”
“I don’t.”
“What?”
“I don’t intend to change you, much less propose.”
The dark look disappeared. “You mean that?”
“I do.”
“Thank you. I am having enough trouble discovering who I am these days
without people trying to help me out.”
Nic sipped at his ginger ale for a moment before continuing. “How long?”
“How long what, Nic?”
“How long have you felt this way about yourself?”
“A few weeks.”
Nic shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Huh?”
“My sister came out of the closet when she was 24, and she’d been hiding
for fifteen of those years. One of her friends kissed her at a slumber party
when she was in the fifth grade, and she’d been trying new things with her for
years after. The only person who knew was me, and I read up on it, thinking I
could somehow ‘cure’ her before the folks found out. There is no cure, because
it’s not a disease.”
Yaritza shook her head. “I’m not following.”
“I mean, she went through years of discovery, joy, fun, and pure hell
before she came to grips with who she was. You’re telling me you discovered you
were gay a few weeks ago. You’re in what, your early 30s?”
“I’m close, yes.”
“Yaritza, something there just doesn’t seem right.”
She looked back at her drink. “It’s not something I want to discuss,
Nic. Not right now.”
Nic considered pursuing it. He wondered why he even cared, this wasn’t
why he came to town, but decided to drop it for the time being. “All right,
then let’s discuss the closing of one of your cases, and maybe the opening of a
new one.”
“That, I’ll listen to.”
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