A LATE MORNING --AN EARLY NIGHT PART 5--7 (EROTICA NARRATIVE)
A LATE MORNING --AN EARLY NIGHT PART 5--7 (EROTICA NARRATIVE) WRITTEN BY ARA FIG 2026 PART 5 Alle pushed through the side door of Beppy’s Alley Tavern just as the lunch rush died into its usual mid-afternoon lull. The place smelled like stale beer, fried onions, and the faint citrus cleaner Sophia always used on the bar top. A couple of old-timers nursed drinks at the far end. Sophia Baleno—Sofi—was wiping down a table in a tight black tank and a short black skirt that rode high every time she bent. She looked up, dark eyes catching Alle’s, and tipped her chin toward the back. They slipped into the narrow pantry off the kitchen without a word. Crates of wine, sacks of flour, the low hum of the walk-in cooler. Sofi already had a cigarette lit by the time Alle closed the door. Alle pulled the small folded paper from the inner pocket of her sundress—product she and Franny had split from the gym bag someone left in a parking lot weeks ago—and held it out. “E and a little blow,” Alle said...