'No kids at the bar.'
The bartender looked up from the glass he'd been wiping to give a stern look to the newcomer. A chunky young woman who couldn't have been more than nineteen had just come in and bellied up to the bar, balancing a sleeping child on her hip. She scowled as she leaned in on her free arm.
'I thought we had a deal, Buck,' she said.
He looked up again and gave her a once-over. Despite her youth, time had not been kind to her. She stared at him with beady, bloodshot eyes as he kept going on with the dishrag.
'You and I had a deal, Carrie,' he said, setting the glass down on the counter. 'That kid, however, is a different story.'
She grumbled as she heaved the girl up on her hip once again.
'I could just go to Derrick's place across town, you know. At least they don't give me trouble, unless I say something...'
Buck froze. Heaving a sigh, he turned around to reach for the cheap whiskey she usually ordered.
'You drive a hard bargain, Carrie,' he said as he poured the booze into the glass in front of him. He shook his head as he slid it across the bar to her. 'Win or lose, the devil always gets your soul in the end.'
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