After Frisco Eddie walked out of the Blue Moon Lounge that Sunday morning, he was reflecting on whether or not it would be a good idea to pursue a full-time career playing shuffleboard. He had just beaten “Big Al,” and he was weighing the pros and cons of becoming a “hustler” on a permanent basis.
Eddie gave the idea a great deal of thought. He had a girlfriend to think about also …. one that he might even ask to marry some day. It wouldn’t be fair to shut her out. His girl (Shelli) wasn’t too keen on the prospect of Eddie being on the road all the time. He had a good job at the Blue Moon, and it was expected that someday soon he would even be made a partner in the business, and eventually become sole owner.
He finally decided to just “hang-on” for awhile, and let the action come to him in the local area. If he was going to be able to hit all the tournaments, and hustle on the side also, he’d have to travel a lot. He would be on the road too much, in fact, to establish himself at the Blue Moon. Shelli was happy; the owner of the Blue Moon (Bob) was happy; Eddie was happy, and all was going just fine: Just fine, that is, until a very pretty gal walked into the bar one Friday night Her name was Lillian, but to the shuffleboard world her “handle” was “Long Beach Lil.” Eddie didn’t know it then, but all his plans …. were about to change.
“Long Beach Lil” was a dead giveaway as she strolled to the far end of the bar, near the rear exit. Her gaze shifted between the shuffleboard and on Eddie. The fact that she was carrying an expensive weight-case raised some eyebrows at the bar.
After she sat down, Eddie asked, “What’ll you have?” Lillian sized Eddie up and then stated very simply (in a low and lusty kind of Texas drawl), “Everything you’ve got, Eddie.” Eddie was taken back for a moment, but he kept on looking into her eyes. Lil was a thing to behold; she had dark brown hair, was about five feet, seven inches tall (with a knock-out body), and piercing blue eyes …. and the eyes were on Eddie.
Eddie asked, “Seems you know my name — now, what’s yours?” “Lil,” she replied. “Well, it sure is good to meet you. Nice case you have there,” said Eddie. Then Lil said, “I heard about your action, Eddie. How did you manage to luck-out against ‘Big Al’ and his crowd?” “Wasn’t much luck to it — I just shot-their-eyes-out,” Eddie replied. She countered with: “My eyes are on you right now, Eddie. Would you like to try to shoot them out, too?” Their gazes were locked as Eddie hollered out, “Hey, Bob, take over, O.K.? I’ve got a live one here!”
After the board was waxed, and they each had some practice shots, Eddie said, “How hard do you want to make this on yourself, Lil?” Lil replied, “As hard as it can get, Eddie. Let’s start for a hundred a game and build up from there. O.K. ?” Eddie’s anxiety level went up a little, and he had mixed emotions as he put the quarters in. He thought, “This is either too good to be true …. or too true to be good.”
Which will it be, readers: too good to be true — or too true to be good? Read the next chapter of “Frisco Eddie’s Revenge — the Return” next week in The Shuffleboard Federation’s Blog. This is better than the soaps!
