Quite Quitting

The Best Birthday Gift

"This is my favorite song! Let's dance!" Glenn screamed, more from excitement than the need to be heard over the music in the club.

"Glenn? How about we go get some food? It's getting late, and you've drunk a lot!" I suggested. In the last half an hour since Glenn crashed my party, he had four tequila shots and chugged a whole beer. I was shocked he hadn't puked yet.

"Don't be a bore like Alex. Sometimes I think I am the younger one! It's your birthday anyway. I need to get you a drink! I'll put it on The Tribecc Foundation's tab. You know I am technically the VP of outreach or some shit there." He yelled as he dragged me to the bar, grabbing my hand. I felt like a kite that was being tugged at by a distracted toddler.

"I am all drink-ed out for today," I said. "How did you find out about tonight anyways?" I asked, trying to get the drink he had just gotten out of his hand and failing miserably. How could I win? This man was a foot taller than Alex and probably two feet taller than me.

"I called your phone to wish you a happy birthday. Heard Alex talking about ordering you a gift, and he's the one who told me it was your birthday. So where was I going with this again...." He said, staring into space.

"You were telling me how you found out about tonight?"

"Oh yeah!" He exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "Right, so I talked to some chick, Candy or something. She told me you were all meeting tonight at La Vista, so I ditched Alex and roamed around until I was ready to catch up and party with you! Can't believe I am here with you! I can't believe I am out. Rehab sucked. It always sucks," He said, sucking down another clear drink. How fast was the bartender serving this man?

"Man, this place sucks! Why don't we go out and get some air and look for something more fun!" I lied. I just needed to get him away from the substance he would continue abusing.

"Really? I like this place. Service is great." He winked at the half-dressed bartender. "But sure, let's find something even more fun!"

Now he was the kite, and I was the toddler, a very mature and focused toddler whose goal was to get Glenn out of the bar. Once we made it out, I placed him against the same wall  I was at about an hour ago. I called an Uber back to my place, standing by the edge of the sidewalk to give Glenn some air to breathe behind me. I was hoping he would fall asleep there, and I could use him as an excuse to get out of this god-awful night. "Damn it!" I yelled, the Uber had surged up the price, and one wasn't available for another half an hour. I could not believe my night was somehow repeating itself. At least this company wasn't with someone I had romantic prospects with.

"What happened?" Glenn said, stumbling towards me.

"Nothing!" I exhaled.

"Oh, I have a good idea...." He said and disappeared towards the wall again. I looked over, and he was busy on his phone. How was he still functioning?

I canceled my Uber and contemplated calling Alex. He was going to be pissed, sure, but he did have a right to know where his brother was. After a few minutes of pondering the possibility of calling Alex here to pick up Glenn, I decided against it. I really didn't feel like continuing our phone fight in real life. "Glenn, I think we should go back inside and wait out the surge. Try not to drink...?" I turned around to see Glenn wasn't there. Where the fuck did this man go?

Panic set in as I roamed around the front of the club, where a life of hopefuls waited in line for the entrance. Glenn wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere. I ran down the street at both ends. I walked across to a small convenience store and dashed through the 3 isles it held. Nothing. Great, babysitting and losing a 40-year-old alcoholic was the perfect way to end this shitty birthday.