Young Blood

Chapter Three: Party Scene

Saturday night came quickly. Although I was done jockeying by 5pm, I stuck around to watch Imp destroyed a field of seven in the Gotham Stakes. The colt won handily by two lengths, and he had hardly given it his all in the final furlongs. Although I envied his jockey, I was just as elated to see Imp win without me in the saddle. His trail to the Kentucky Derby was written in stone, and people were proclaiming him the definite favorite for the race.

I got home to Foxy already playing her pre-party music and getting ready. If you gave Foxy a whole day to get ready, she'd find something in those twenty-four hours to do that pertained to the preparation.

For me, I showered and cleaned up. I wasn't much to dress to impress, but Foxy always insisted on skinny jeans and a shirt that dipped a little bit lower than I was accustomed to. Foxy, I guess, wouldn't be caught dead with someone so bland.

The apartment was somewhere in Queens, hosted by Foxy's former fuck buddy Donovan, and when we had arrived just after 9pm, things were already swinging.

My eyes scanned the room as I shifted amongst social circles uncomfortably. I knew a good quantity of faces in the room. All were younger track workers or family members of track workers, such as children of owners and trainers. It was our version of a college party, per say. We banded together and the legal ones bought the alcohol while the rest of us showed up. Or at least that was everyone else's role, I was more Foxy's shadow and babysitter. I tapered a bit in the party scene, but I wasn't into it like some of these people.

Suddenly, I recognize someone not familiar to these scenes. It was none other than Adam Holstein, the business boy with a fresh smile. He was talking to Donovan off to the side of a game of Mario Kart, where a group of guys were playing some sort of drinking game alongside the video game. I shifted over, waiting until Adam was alone.

"Couldn't get away from the old college life soon enough?" I questioned. 

He turned, his eyebrows arching when he recognize me. "Oh...hey..." he greeted off-handedly. I guess he didn't expect to see me here. In response to my question, he shrugged, "I'm just trying to get out. I'm still living with my father, so I need some time away from him."

I huffed. "Well, you certainly found the place."

"And what brings you here?"

I pointed across the room at Foxy hanging her arms around a blond boy. I didn't recognize the man, but I figured he was some new guy and had acquaintance to any one of the regulars here. If he was fresh blood, Foxy usually went right from them. Innocent and impervious to her charms, Foxy knew how to play them right.

Seeing my roommate in action, Adam gave a soft laugh.

"I see. She's yours?"

"Roommate. Someone has to keep tabs on her."

Donovan was walking back over towards us with two red plastic cups in his hands. I greeted him warmly, offering the slightly-drunk man a hug. He was the son of one of the owners, and the heir to the business. He was constantly hosting gatherings like this, blaring loud music and inviting over pretty girls. I took one of the cups he offered, the beer touching my lips.