Miscellanea from the Lost Quarter and beyond.

The Fair Way

It had been raining most of the morning by the time they drove down the long boulevard leading to the golf course. The road was lined with carefully sculpted shrubbery, hiding what lay beyond. A gold statue of some notable stood a gaudy watch at a roundabout. The pavement was the best quality they had driven on that day right up to the parking lot in front of the clubhouse.  

They parked as close as they could and ran through the rain to the cover of the building, which looked out on a driving range. The left side had a bar and the right a pro shop, while the middle was open leading to a concrete veranda lined with tables and industrial sized fans to keep back the humidity. The veranda was empty so they went into the bar, which was empty as well, except for the usual half dozen staff idling bored in one corner.  

They requested a table outside looking out on the driving range, which resulted in a surprisingly long, hushed conversation among the staff, at the end of which they were informed that would be quite impossible. Mystified, they pressed the point, saying they preferred to sit outside, to enjoy this brief respite from the crushing heat of summer. Again, they were told it was impossible. “But there’s literally no one else here,” one of them remarked. 

The staff grew defensive and it emerged that the outside tables were held for the local congressman who expected them to be available should he turn up. This was his economic development project, an attraction to bring wealthy tourists to the area. When they asked if he normally golfed in the rain, the staff finally relented and a table was arranged. They sat, eating pizza and watching the rain fall upon the empty driving range, staying well into the afternoon. 

Eventually the rain passed and, as if they had been waiting, a family appeared and started on the golf course. A well-dressed mother and her two children got a bucket of balls and some clubs and set up in front of their table. The staff hurried about, glad for the opportunity to do something. More golfers straggled in throughout the rapidly warming afternoon and by the time they left the veranda was full.