Let me in

Chapter 2 : Just one drink.

Buck told himself this as he climbed into his car.

He said it to himself on the way over.

And he said it when he got to the bar.

Just one drink.

But then, he said it again when he's on his sixth or maybe seventh?

He'll probably regret it tomorrow, but it doesn't matter. For the moment, he's laughing so hard that his stomach hurts.

"And then, what did you do next?"

"I gave it to my grandmother. She put it on the veranda with her other plants." 

"But she must have realized that, right? Or your parents?"

"Yes. I've had time to enjoy it for barely a week. My dad ended up showing up on the veranda as she was watering the plants and she said, and I quote, 'Look what a pretty plant Evan gave me. I don't know what it is, but it's wilting fast, it's almost leafless'."

"How did he react?"

"He was furious. But like, really, it was all red, like in the cartoons. My grandmother didn't understand why he was yelling at me, she was completely lost. And I was fucking laughing my ass off. I said, 'You told me to get that out of my room, so I did. And what's more, it makes grandma happy'. I swear, I thought he was going to have a stroke. When he explained to my grandmother that it was cannabis, she laughed as much as I did. And when he told my mom afterwards, she didn't speak to me for almost a month."

The girl bursts out laughing and Buck imitates her.

The bar is so noisy that their laughter is lost amidst the tinkling of bottles and the bursts of voices.

Buck takes a sip from his glass to soothe the irritation in his throat.

Julia pushes her hair back behind her ears and then presses her chin in her hand, watching Buck finish his drink.

Buck was in the process of hitting on her when he came up to her. He thought to himself; she's pretty, she's lonely and I'm not against a little distraction tonight. Julia accepted his drink but also told him that she preferred girls, ending all his hopes of ending the night in a bed other than his own. He wanted to take his mind off it. His parents were coming in two days and dinner was imminent. And he still couldn't sleep. So, yes, he really needed a distraction. And finally, he got it. After all, it wasn't just sex that could make him forget for a moment how shitty his life was.

Julia is funny. She talks as much as she listens. And she has almost as many anecdotes to tell as he does.

"Are you still using it?" She asks him.

"Weed? No. I think the last time I did it, I was in my early 20s."

"What if I told you I had some on me? What would you say?"

Buck just thinks for a few seconds. Anyway, one more drink or a joint at this point, it's not sure there's much difference.

So that's how he follows the young woman out of the bar. They isolate themselves at the back of the Pub, between the dumpsters and some poorly trimmed bushes.

Buck is lying on an old brown leather couch, on which the employees are probably spending their break. Julia sits on the backrest, her legs hanging in the void.

They feel like teenagers sneaking out and smoking their first pot.

Their discussions no longer make much sense and they can't even say two words without being giggled at.