Quoc Te

There was a bar in the basement below where the bank machine is on Kensington Ave. The Quoc Te was William’s bar. William was Vietnamese. His stories of how he got here were harrowing: boats, jungles, separation and abuse. He was companionate and accommodating for the down and out lonely hearts who found their way there. He arrived without his family who he talked about and opened the The Quoc Te. The dark basement room was painted matt black. There was smoky mirrored tile on the wall behind the bottles and not many lights. The bar itself was so high I could rest my elbows on it when standing and had 5 or 6 high stools, usually pushed aside so the crowd could place their orders. There was a pool table.

William was always nice to me. I was a forlorn, strung out, druggie. I was habitually shitfaced. I was often bullied and pissed folk off. I didn’t have any money and optimistic guys paid for all my drinks. I was a mooch but I think most folks could sense desperation and that I didn’t fit with the usual.

William gave me food he made for himself and let me sit even though I didn’t have money to drink. He took pity and talked to me and I’d listen in on conversations with the repetitive and dull bullies who drank there.

There were rumours of him jumping over the bar with a baseball bat, or numb-chucks or a kitchen knife and quelling whatever disruption might threaten his lively hood. A five foot nothing dynamo who’d already proven he’d endure.

Now he owns of The Temp, the Red door on Spadina and The Green Door on Bloor where my underage son can get served. All the places make pad-thai, and spring rolls like what William made for himself and shared with me.

Now the place is a booze-can, despised in KM not because its illegal there’s lots of illegal stuff happening here but because they let the patrons out at 8:30 in the morning shitfaced, sometimes bloody, sometimes naked-ish. Wet from spilling drinks on themselves.

Anyone can tell if there are still folks inside the bar, queuing taxis whisk drunken partiers away.