Last night was slow at the Chop Shop, despite the swell music Bosco played. Starla and Shep were there of course, Miss Wila, who was visiting and formerly lived in town came by, Mr Sky (couldn’t catch his last name but he’s a very nice gentleman) and Miss Reverie were there as well. Petr and Rick were there too, of course.
I tried hard not to let my face show my nervousness at the lack of patrons -after all, this is how I make a living…However, soon I’d have more serious matters to worry about. We hadn’t served any drinks yet when I noticed that Miss Gudrun, who hadn’t been at the Chop Shop or the Fiume (Chicago’s jazz club) for the first time, was carrying a Vice Squad ID. I caught a glimpse of it in a quick dance turn and soon gestured towards Rick and Petya to let them know what was going on. Miss Gudrun even asked for a drink at one time, and I held my breath, but Rick -being the experienced bartender he is- almost joked about it and offered her “water, water or lemonade”. Gudrun did not seem too happy about it and made some comments about alcoholic drinks which, fortunately, fell into deaf ears. Another tense moment took place when Miss Starla, after Wila and Shep had departed to see to some business Wila is preparing, sat at the bar and ordered a drink like any other night. One can surely not deny the Boss’s wife a drink! What would Rick do? Well, cleverly, he made the drink and said out loud “Here’s your ice tea, made with the best local water” but served instead a generous amount of our finest whiskey while winking at the quick-witted Starla, who got the situation immediately. I’m still in awe Rick can be so calm in situations like these!
Miss Gudrun left before a half hour to closing time, and then we were able to relax. Stormy and Syl arrived and good entertaining conversation ensued. Bosco even delighted us with some rare musical gems from the late 19th century and a performance by Caruso. I promise I don’t know where he carries all his records or how he keeps them in such pristine condition!
After closing Bosco and I stayed in and , while Rick was cleaning up, we began to have some good fun on stage -he sang to my (relatively poor but cheerful) piano accompaniment. Syl had left her camera behind and Rick used it to take a photo of us:
And one of me focusing hard on getting the right notes:
And this is how the days go by at the Chop Shop…
Bea Shamrock 