Nobody's Place: A Cast Of Characters

         It was just another night at Nobody's Place and Joe was behind the bar sipping his Heineken. He looked around and decided his staff was working out nicely, especially Bo and Crystal.

         Bo was an old friend from Joe's original bartending days. He was everything Joe was not. Large, athletic, black and strong were the first impressions anyone would get of Bo. Back in the day, Bo was Albany's best bouncer and when Joe found him still bouncing he hired Bo on the spot. Bo was in charge of the bouncing staff, hiring and firing, and he took his job seriously.

         Bo is a little older now than he was in his semi-professional football days, but he is still in shape and still has a black belt in karate. More importantly, while he drinks socially, he's no longer the dangerous, sloppy drunk he used to be. Joe remembered many nights when Bo carried out unruly customers, holding them in the air by their neck, with just one hand. That wouldn't represent the kind of bar Joe wanted.

         What Joe had to work hardest to find was the perfect DJ. He knew he wanted a woman for the job because there were none center stage to attract the male college students. This made it a little harder. It also had to be someone who could sing fairly well for Karaoke nights.

         A few nights before the bar opened, Joe and Bo, were discussing some final arrangements when in walked a vision. Flowing, wavy blond hair, bright blue eyes, well endowed chest and unforgettable legs that took a long time to find the floor. It seemed like she should be looking for a beauty contest but she explained she wanted to apply for the DJ job.

         After a few minutes of talking Joe learned that the beautiful Crystal was 21 and leaving school because she was about to fail out anyway. She had no desire to move back to Long Island with her family and needed a job. Her true love was music and her joy in life was singing. She had absolutely no bar or DJ experience but felt she could learn as she was good with people and could really sing. Joe decided to hear her out so he fired up the Karaoke machine.

         Crystal first picked out the Melissa Etheridge song "Occasionally." Joe thought it was ambitious as Etheridge has a unique voice and her songs are difficult to sing. Crystal made her look like an amateur and Joe was awed.

         Next Crystal sang George Strait's "I Cross My Heart" and Joe almost felt tears in his eyes. For her final performance she did a bar room classic, Billy Joel's "Piano Man," and Joe almost looked up to see if she had brought the roof down.

         Joe and Bo looked at each other and smiled. Crystal came off the stage with an eager look on her face. Joe told her she was right, she could really sing, and hired her on the spot. Even if she couldn't learn to DJ he would pay her just to sing on Karaoke nights.

         It turned out to be an excellent hire. Many guys came into the bar just to see Crystal and many woman dragged their boyfriends to the bar on Karaoke nights just to hear her sing. She took to DJing like a wino to Thunderbird.

         Joe looked over to the door at Bo and saw him staring at Crystal while she belted out Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." Joe thought the big man was getting a crush but left it alone as they were both adults. He looked over at Crystal and smiled. She really was something but it was too bad it wouldn't last. She was bound to be discovered sooner or later.

         It was just another night at Nobody's Place. The rowdys were kept in line by Bo, the drinks flowed smoothly and often and the place seemed like heaven as the crowd listened to Crystal's angelic singing.