Part Three ::: Jason Finds a Woman
Jason Turner didn't quite feel like himself. Anger seethed in his heart. He wanted to get revenge on Ashlee. He wanted her to feel pain when she saw him in another woman's arms. He wanted her to discover this ache he was feeling after witnessing her making love to his worse enemy. He vowed he would do whatever it would take to make Ashlee suffer.
Jason left the waterfront, taking the familiar street which would lead him to 'The Bucket O' Blood,' the tavern where he once drank, played pool, and caroused with loose women. He hadn't been there for months now, for Ashlee had forbidden him to hang out in such a shameful place. He decided he would head over there now and make up for lost time.
Jason hadn't been inside 'The Bucket O' Blood' since a new owner had taken over the establishment. As Jason entered the smoke-infested building, filled with raucous laughter and the raunchy swearing of drunken men, he knew that the place was now even more sleazy than ever before.
Country music played on the beat-up juke box, but Jason could barely hear the drawl of Randy Travis over the noise of the beer-drinkers. The new owner of the joint stood at the bar, serving mugs of frothy beer and potent whiskey, and Jason immediately recognized the man to be Eddie Layne, the notorious sex-crazed ex-con. Jason didn't think much of the man, for he was known to be an ugly brute and a corrupter of young women. Rumors were circulating all over that Layne had forced his own daughter into becoming a porno actress, seriously ruining the young lady's reputation.
Jason sat at a circular table in the corner of the bar, his brown eyes drinking in his surroundings, yet finding very little to like about what took place before him. Half-naked, young waitresses were serving pawing drunks. The men were fondling the pretty women as they walked by carrying laden trays of beverages. Sometimes a bold one would pull a waitress down on his lap, his hand grasping a breast or a thigh. Jason wondered what happened to the days of playing pool and joking around with the guys. This certainly was a different scene.
Then Jason's heart dropped in his chest. A lovely young woman walked across the room. She wore a revealing uniform like the other waitresses, but she looked somehow out of place, as though she despised the lustful comments and touches of the men. A sad expression came to her face, as she appeared to be longing for something better.
She approached Jason's table, a tentative smile coming to her lips when she thought she saw kindness behind his eyes. "Hi. Can I bring you anything?" she asked.
"How about a dance?" Jason asked, suddenly longing to hold this lovely young woman close in his arms.
"I----I don't know," she said softly. "My..... daddy doesn't like me to dance with the customers."
"Ohhh. Is Layne your father?"
