The Dream of Genes

Chapter 5: Eugene

"What are you doing?" I asked.

Like a criminal caught in headlights, Vincent looked at me, his green-contacted eyes wider than normal. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No." I rolled my eyes as I explained his monumental mistake. "The whole reason to play roulette is to deal with the fear of getting the unwanted outcome." Vincent listened to me like a child standing in front of their parents who were scolding them, the adult never truly knowing if their kin's brain was soaking in their words. "We both know which bottle is which. That won't be fair since we will be pouring our shots. I'll close my eyes, and you can switch the bottles however you would like."

I closed my eyes. In my view, Vincent had placed the bottle of water on my right. I listened to the changing of glasses as he moved them around like a magician doing the ball and cup trick.

"You can open your eyes now," he said, and I did just that. Now I had no way of knowing which bottle was which, but I could try to flip them around in a particular order, so I could switch them, yet keep them in the same position in my mind and figure it out later.

I grabbed the glass bottles and switched them in a semicircle motion as if they were sailors with their oars out in the sea. Finally, I made the final switch, which changed them from their original position. "You can start the game," I said. "We can do this after we both have a turn each round."

Vincent opened his green-contacted eyes, and I watched them dilate slightly to the fluorescent lights of the house. He paused to think before telling a fact. "Never have I ever been out of the state before."

I scoffed as the second part of the game had begun, some might believe that this was the more important part and the part which would take longer as we had to pour our drinks. I reached for the bottle to my left, a bottle of vodka I believed, pouring myself a shot and making sure that it was filled to the brim, like a drop of water on the verge of breaking the surface tension. "I should have known that you would never go anywhere outside the state of California. Ironic that you..." The corners of my mouth went downward only for a second. "...will explore another planet's moon rather than explore what's outside this state's lines."

"Where have you been?" Vincent asked.

The glass was almost to my lips as he asked me that question. I lowered the shot of vodka a handful of centimeters as I gave him a strange look. "I'm not from the United States of America. I'm from Europe." Before the water tension broke, the glass went bottom up as I drank the alcohol in one gulp—yet it wasn't alcohol. I was disappointed, but now I knew what bottle was which for this round, and if I played my figurative cards right, then I could get Vincent to drink the vodka. Weird, was it not, that I wanted him to drink alcohol in my stead? Whatever. Slamming my hand down on the table with a satisfied grin on my face, I declared, "I thought you knew that already." I needed to make it seem that I drank alcohol.

Vincent lightly shook his head. "As I say, you learn something new every day." He looked at me. "Your turn."

I rolled my eyes as if to say 'duh' before I did my turn. "Never have I ever..." I paused as I tried to think of something. Then a funny thought popped into my head. A shaky grin grew on my face as I tried to contain my laughter. "...had surgery to alter my height."

When Vincent's jaw dropped, I couldn't hold it in anymore and my laughter echoed off the concrete walls. I was unable to wipe the smile off my face as I held the table and one of the armrests on my wheelchair. For a while, I forgot about the water and vodka. I took a few deep breaths as I felt my heart beating a kilometer a minute. It had been a while if not longer since I laughed, not a scoff or a smirk but one out of pure happiness. Interesting that this stupid game that, I thought, would let me get easily drunk would make me do something that was recently foreign as I am.

I pushed my body up from the table and set myself upright in my chair. Vincent's shocked expression had transformed into a simple smile. "Are you good?"

"Never better," I said, matching his smile. It was the truth, not one of my sarcastic responses.

"Well, I guess I should take my shot now."

"You should," I grinned.

I watched as Vincent surveyed his options. His hand floated above each bottle, taking his time to figure out a difference that could tip him off to which was which, but all he could rely on was me at that moment. He took the bottle that was on my left and his right. I conveyed no emotion as he poured the shot. The ascent up to his lips was slow, and I swore I saw a tremor in his hand holding the small glass. It was only filled halfway by its owner. I was like he knew that he made the wrong choice yet stuck it all the same. We made eye contact seconds before the alcohol touched his lips. With the speed of a bullet, Vincent downed the ounce of vodka, only to spray it out.

I could not help but chuckle as I was sprinkled with vodka droplets. For some reason, I did not care that my suit was ruined for the day.

I closed my eyes and waited for Vincent to continue the game.