Daddy Issues

21 - Fun

Two hours later, I'm finally happy. I've joined a group of old guys in a game of darts. I'm terrible at it, but they cheer for me anyway whenever I manage to hit the board.

They're a little handsy, but who cares? They keep buying me drinks, which is a good thing because maybe now I can just give Dan some of his money back. Not that he's on my mind much at the moment. All I'm thinking about now is the drink in my hand, the dart board in front of me and laughing with my new friends. I've no idea who they are, but I think they're hilarious.

'Eeyoooooo!' this guy called Carl calls out when the dart lands in the very edge of the board.

'10.000 points!' I call out.

'10.000 for you, honey,' Carl says, giving me a high five.

Then I shriek when this other guy grabs my waist and pulls me onto his lap. Isn't he called Carl as well?

'You earned another shot!' he tells me. He pushes a shot of something alcoholic into my hand and when I lean back to take it, I can feel his nose against my neck. I'm too drunk to protest.

But then another man appears in front of me, blocking my view of the dart board. I don't recognize him as the barman until he speaks.

'Sam, get that girl off your lap, she's clearly wasted.'

'Mind your own business, Marv,' the guy, who is apparently not called Carl, grunts at him.

'Yeah, mind your own business, Marv,' I giggle. Everything's hilarious at this point.

But Marv doesn't accept it. He reaches out to take grab my arm and pulls me off the guy's lap.

'Hey!' we both call out.

'I'm cutting you off,' he tells me. 'And I'm calling you a cap.'

'No! I don't want to go home,' I protest, trying to get back to my new friends and the dart board. 'I'm winning the game.'

'Where do you live?' he asks anyway.

'I live with... your momma.'

I laugh loudly at my own joke and the guys laugh with me. The barman just looks exasperated. But then, to my surprise, someone calls my name.

'Emma? What are you doing here?'

I look over and recognize a fierce, short woman with short black hair.

'Yuki,' the barman says, sounding relieved. 'You know this girl?'

'Yes, we know each other,' I answer excitedly. 'Dan's band.'

I push past the barman to give Yuki a hug. That she responds to by going entirely rigid.

'What a nice surprise, Emma.'

I look up to see who's talking. It's Keith, the drummer from the band. I release Yuki to hug him too. He's much more excited about it.

'What are you guys doing here?' I ask, amazed. I recognize Pete too. He looks at me a little warily.

'We've been to Roses,' Keith tells me. I notice vaguely that Yuki is talking to the barman and they keep looking over at me. 'Doing some sound checks for the show that's coming up. We figured we'd grab a quick drink before heading home.'

'Why didn't you bring Dan?' I ask him. 'You didn't kick him out of the band, did you? He'd be devastated.'

'Of course not,' Pete, tells me. 'We didn't need everybody for this and Dan didn't want to come because he has to work tomorrow. And I thought he wanted to keep an eye on you,' he adds, sounding a little confused.