The Party on Abudu Smith Street

Chapter II

"Hi!"

"Are you okay?"

CJ looked at Dele and there was a worry line on his forehead.

"Oh I'm fine, babe. I think it was the alcohol rush. I needed a second. Hahaha."

The aura of the quartet rebalanced.

"How are you, Folarin?" He stretched out his hand.

"I'm great, thanks. Lovely to meet you."

"Likewise."

"Let's get more drinks, guys. I've been wanting to make this blend that I named The Vatican again, I think it will positively blow your minds. It's with real raspberry fruit. I just hope they have that at the bar."

Rookie sped off behind the bar and started to look for some fruit and bring some bottles out.
Folarin found a spot across the counter where Rookie worked and helped him out.
Back at the table, CJ took charge of the conversation and made commentary on the scarcity of snacks at the party. Dele told him that a snack table was set up at the front of the hall and literally no one had touched down there.

"Could the snacks be bad?"

"Or maybe these people simply didn't come to eat. They've been dancing like this since I got here."

"Who wouldn't eat at a party? I'll make that trip soon anyway. After one Vatican, then I'm off on the quest for the snack table at the northernmost end of Upper Hall." He finished off with an English accent again.

Dele loved when he did that. They complimented each other in the most beautiful and complex of ways.

"Rookie and Flo look like a good team, don't they?"

"Yeah, I'd say. I only got to find out tonight that Flo is 8 years older than he is. Can you believe Rookie? And what's more, it is not surprising at all. When Rookie was 13, he wrote a love letter to a 17-year-old boy. I found it, first time I learned that my cousin was gay. I'll tell you that story later." He briefly placed his hand on CJ's thigh with a soft smile, then he returned to the spirit of the gist. "That lad has never seen himself as his age. There's probably one old pa living inside that boy you see right there."

"He's a blue man, after all. You reckon the color of the ocean? That is depth. The vastness. And that is who we are. The ocean. And because of who we are, we need the sunshine in our lives to remind us that we're not alone in our lives."

CJ slowed down his heart rate and was looking into Dele's eyes.

"That was...wise words...Master." Dele said in a Chinese accent, with praying hand gestures.

CJ threw an olive at him.

"But yeah, yeah, I get it. You're right. You're indeed a man of great depth.
When they speak of eyes being the window to the soul, it's deeper with you. Because the depth starts from even there. The eyes. Getting through those is one journey, getting to and through the soul? That's another."

"But that is only an experience for people that have not known me."

"Not many people do know you, CJ."

"You know me."

"Yes... I can say that I do, to a degree. But you'll agree that we have only known each other for two months. I can only know so much within that period. And that's okay. There's time."

"I'll say you know all the parts that matter. You know me, Day-day, and I will never change, I promise you. And if any new things come up along the way, we'll try to find common ground because we're both civil and levelheaded."