"Thanks. I've had them for years. "
"So, the Monarch," he continued. "Happened it shared a back alley with an undertaker. Made it easy for the owners to dispose of gunshot victims. "
"That's a pretty piece of Beale Street trivia. "
"Oh, there's plenty more. Blues, rock - it's the home of both - voodoo, gambling, sex, scandal, bootleg whiskey, pickpockets, and murder. "
Music pumped out of a club as he talked, and struck Stella as southern-fried in the best possible way.
"It's all been right here," he continued. "But you oughta just enjoy the carnival the way it is now. "
They joined a crowd lining the sidewalk to watch three boys do running flips and gymnastics up and down the center of the street.
"I can do that. " She nodded toward one of the boys as he walked on his hands back to their tip box.
"Uh-huh. "
"I can. I'm not going to demonstrate here and now, but I certainly can. Six years of gymnastic lessons. I can bend my body like a pretzel. Well, half a pretzel now, but at one time. . . "
"You trying to get me hot?"
She laughed. "No. "
"Just a side effect, then. What does half a pretzel look like?"
"Maybe I'll show you sometime when I'm more appropriately dressed. "
"You are trying to make me hot. "
She laughed again and watched the performers. After Logan dropped money in the tip box, they strolled along the sidewalk. "Who's Betty Paige and why is her face on these shirts?"
He stopped dead. "You've got to be kidding. "
"I'm not. "
"I guess you didn't just live up north, you lived up north in a cave. Betty Paige, legendary fifties pinup and general sex goddess. "
"How do you know? You weren't even born in the fifties. "
"I make it a point to learn my cultural history, especially when it involves gorgeous women who strip. Look at that face. The girl next door with the body of Venus. "
"She probably couldn't walk on her hands," Stella said, and casually strolled away when he laughed.
They walked off the wine, and the meal, meandering down one side of the street and back up the other. He tempted her with a blues club, but after a brief, internal debate she shook her head.
"I really can't. It's already later than I'd planned. I've got a full day tomorrow, and I've imposed on Roz long enough tonight. "
"We'll rain-check it. "
"And a blues club will go on my list. Got more checks tonight. Beale Street and catfish. I'm practically a native now. "
"Next thing you know you'll be frying up the cat and putting peanuts in your Coke. "
"Why in the world would I put peanuts in my Coke? Never mind. " She waved him away as he drove out of town. "It's a southern thing. How about if I just say I had a good time tonight?"
"That'll work. "
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