Trans Am {MCR}

Trans Am

The smell of cheap Irish Whiskey and old Gin, burned my nostrils. The rolling vibrations of the music thumped in my tight throat. The buzz of the social hornets hovered around me. I sat at the bar with my hands flat on the bar top. My eyes darted nervously being in an environment, in which, wasn't very controlled. Don't get me wrong, i wasn't scared. I lived my life in the desert these days. No rules, no laws or government outrageously enthralled in the meaning of Utopian city. I had never been in a bar so alive with people in such a while. Not since Battery City almost ten years ago.

Things had changed drastically since then. The balance of society's good and evil made a drastic change to Battery City. Sure, they pushed this beautiful Utopian lifestyle that no one would ever worry about getting hurt in their every day life. I remember it sounding quite impossible at first. I was just a teenager filled with angst, then. Maybe I was looking for this salvation that BLI would supply us with. My biggest concern had always been the balance of good and evil in society. Growing up, I knew that there had to be both in order to live. But BLI promised to take all of this away.

My eyes snapped up to the woman approaching me. Her faded blond hair sat matted on her head. Her breasts bounced up and down, almost out of her low-cut black tank top. Her shorts covered some, but not enough and before I knew it her tits were in my face. I sighed.

"You lookin' for a good time?" She slurred. Really trying to keep her value above one-hundred pesos. Her shaking hands that sat beside mine on the top of the bar trembled. Her breath smelled of sweat and the smell of a backed-up sewage system. Cruel, I know, but the truth nonetheless. The track marks on her arms were fairly new. If I wasn't wearing sunglasses, she'd slap me when she'd see the look on my face. She'd been standing there for at least a minute waiting for a response, or just waiting for me to notice her.

"No, no. Sweetie. He's definitely taken." Someone had spoken up abruptly. A woman's voice. I didn't even hear someone come in...could I have heard someone come in? I was oddly afraid to look up. I know I didn't know her. Why were they doing this for me? "You see, Red here has a lady. And I happen to know that lady." I still hadn't looked up but I hoped that she didn't resemble the other one, in anyway. By the way she spoke, I could tell that she hadn't had a drink yet. "I would like to know what brings him so far out here." She turned to me with her hands firmly on her hips. The poor excuse for a Debbie Harry look-alike walked away shamelessly scoffing. The unknown woman remained standing next to me. I swear I didn't know this lady. I spoke.

"Thanks." I nervously gave. This inert feeling to look at her shot through me.

"No sweat, Red." The corner of her mouth slowly curled into a smile. She sat next to me. I got a full glimpse of her. Her long black tresses, loosely curled, ran down the back of her black leather jacket. Her supple lips pouted naturally. Her complexion was very natural. The dim bar lights did her no justice. Her eyes were fully covered by Aviator sunglasses that stopped at the middle of her cheeks. She sat with poise and confidence on the sunken, leather bar stool. I straightened my posture as she drew her glasses back to the top of her head.

"So what brings you all this way?" Her voice was sultry, almost like it had a smokey taste if it could be tasted. I wanted to taste it. There was something about her that served me something different. As if she was having the time of her life out in the Zones. I liked that.

"Just hopping Zones and such." I spoke, not trying to sound like I was trying to impress her. i adjusted myself comfortably on the stool, which was almost impossible.

"I think that's the purpose of most these crazy fucks here." She looked straight ahead as she spoke. Then, she turned to me. Her eyes were full with life. "So what makes you different? You know, other than that red head of yours?" My hands folded themselves slowly. I gulped and let out a small sigh.

"I'm trying to find my brother." Taking my sunglasses off, I looked her straight in her bluish-green eyes. They darted down in sympathy.

"I'm sorry." One thing I admired about her, she didn't hold this mystique about her. She was an actual person with actual feelings. Something hard to find, even outside of Battery City. "This may sound weird, but I feel like I've seen your face somewhere." I giggled lightly to myself. Clearing my throat, I pulled out a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it under the table so only she could see. "Wow. You look a lot different. Seeing as, all you are able to see in this picture is up your nostrils." She laughed. It was contagious.

"Yeah, I ran out of BLI skin care products so I felt self-conscious about my face that day. But I made sure I plucked my nose hairs before I took the picture." She giggled loudly, slapping the table in front of us.

"You're funny, Red. I like that about you." I smiled back at her. She seemed like such a likable person. She didn't have a veneer to hide behind, and that made me feel comfortable.

"So what do you go by?"

"I go by...Desiree...?" She was confused.

"I mean, what's you're name." Her eyes shifted side-to-side.

"My name's Desiree." She obviously wasn't following.

"You need a pseudonym. Something that identifies, maybe, the color or power of your gun." She lifted her light blue tee slightly. Revealing a white gun with small black dots on it.

"Dice?" She popped her head up, apparently excited. "Does that work? Does someone already have that?" I shook my head laughing as she wanted my honest answer.

"No, at least I don't think so. I don't think it would matter 'cause no Zone Hopper is ever the same." I reasoned.

"Okay. Well, Dice it is!"

"Well Dice," I stuck my hand out toward her. "I'm Party Poison. Poison for short." She took my hand and shook it while she giggled.

"I like Party Poison, and all, but can I call you Red for now?" I smiled not sure of what she'd been thinking.

"Sure."

"Good." She turned back to looking straight ahead as her soft fingers fumbled with each other. A small smile crept at the corner of her mouth. "There's something about you, Red. Something I like." She declared. All of a sudden I felt this sudden burst of confidence.

"And what would that be?"

"You're someone my father would hate." She shook her head slightly as her smile grew wider.

"Well, who's your father?" Swiftly, she grabbed my hand and pulled me up-right off the stool.

"No time for questions. Let's dance instead." I agreed as she lead me to the crowded floor.