Bonnie & Clyde

Chapter 7: Smitty's

Dedicated to the wonderful ThatOneAuthor101 for telling me that the key to a successful story is the cover ❤ without you, I probably wouldn't have nearly as many reads (:
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When we arrived in the dimly lit parking lot, I knew that this trip was mostly for my sister. This had Lola written all over it.

Ever since I could remember, Lola had always wanted me to be a part of her wild life. But as the years went on, and the more I declined, the more she backed off. Until this night, that it.

This was my sister's way of trying to connect with me. She wasn't very good with words and neither was I. We didn't say that we loved each other regularly, but then again, we rarely spoke daily.

The smallest pang of disappointment niched at my chest but I quickly brushed it aside. Lola wanted to bond with me. And if going to a sketchy bar called Smitty's was going to do that, then that's what we were going to do.

She pulled her car into a parking space and turned off the engine. Turning to me, she asked, "Alright, you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," I said a bit too dryly. I quickly covered my bitter tone with a smile. I tried to make it as genuine as possible but Lola saw right through it.

She let out a small sigh and grabbed my hand. "Look," she said. "I promise we won't be in there that long. Just a few drinks and we'll be on our way."

"Who's going to drive?"

"I will," she answered.

I arched an eyebrow at her. "So you're not going to drink?" I didn't believe that.

She shook her head. "You'll be fine," she said as she grabbed her things from the back seat. She stepped out of the car and I reluctantly followed suit.

I pulled at the bottom of the skirt Lola had let me 'borrow.' I use the term borrow loosely given the fact that she forced me to wear it.

It was too short and too much of my leg was showing. I felt self conscious and unsure of the whole situation presented in front of me.

"In and out," I reminded her. "You know I don't like drinking."

She rolled her eyes with a small smile playing at her lips. "I know, grandma."

We made our way through the parking lot and Lola made a detour. Instead of heading through the front entrance, my sister guided me to the back.

Seeing the confused expression on my face, she simply said, "They won't let us in through the front."

Smitty's, I assumed, was one of the many bars that Lola was able to get into at the young age of nineteen. She's always had connections with people and places which made it painfully easy for her to get away with a lot of things.

Me, in the other hand, didn't have such connections. I knew almost no one and I wasn't able to get away with anything if my sister wasn't somehow involved.

Hell, I was so well unknown that my manager couldn't even remember my name. And I've been working there the whole summer.

When we pulled up to the back entrance we came across a very buff and very hairy man in a skin tight black t-shirt. He was bald with a full blown beard and a stern brow.

He had the word intimidation written all over him and made me feel small. His thick, cobra like, arms were crossed over his equally thick chest as he scanned the area.

The frown that I thought was permanently etched into his face immediately stretched into a happy grin. Lola smiled as she approached the big man and gave him a small hug.

"Hey, big guy," she said with a bright smile.

"Hey, girlie," the man responded. Without any further conversation, the bouncer opened the back door for me and my sister.

Both my sister and I gave small thanks as we stepped into the dimly lit bar. The only light came from the little bulbs attached to some lamps hanging over the bar itself and a few neon signs on the walls.

It was your average bar with nothing too spectacular to peak my interest. I will say that the place was crowded. But I did have a feeling that Lola chose this place for a reason though. It was simple enough and wasn't anything too crazy. And while it was still out of my comfort zone, it wasn't exactly something that I couldn't handle. Even though it was busy.

I was grateful that Lola kept me in mind when she chose the place. I made the mental note to thank her later.

I followed Lola as she confidently strolled up to the bar and sat down. She ordered some drinks that I didn't bother paying attention to as I looked around.

It was dark and musky as well as loud and crowded. On the way to the bar, I had run into several people trying to get by. In awe to me, there were surprisingly two seats unoccupied.

I sat down and read the little signs they had on the walls. Signs like, 'if you ain't drinkin' then your day will keep on stinkin'.' They weren't at all clever and made me want to roll my eyes with every word.

I was in the middle of reading yet another cringe worthy sign as the bartender presented me and my sister with our drinks. I looked at her. "I thought you said you weren't going to drink."

"This is different," Lola told me. She grabbed her little shot glass and ushered me to follow suite. I did. "This is your first birthday shot. We have to share this moment together." She smiled at me.

Seeing her smile gave me comfort. It was warm and gentle as well of confident and powerful. She was everything that I wanted to be. She had this heir to her that made her strong. She was independent and didn't need anybody to rely on. She was wild and free.

I couldn't help but smile back. She rose her drink in cheers and clanked her glass with mine.

"Happy seventeenth, loser," she said. After those words left her mouth we both knocked our heads back.

The liquid sent fire down my throat and made me want to cough. I could feel my eyes begin to water. I grabbed my chaser and the taste of lime lightened the burning sensation slightly.

The bar was hot and heaving with people and I was beginning to get hot. My hair was beginning to stick to back of my neck as Lola ordered another drink for me.

The bartender sat down a blue colored drink in front of me and I absentmindedly grabbed it and began drinking. It was sweet like a blueberry slushee and made me want to down it. The coolness was more than welcomed by me and it reminded me of when I was little and use to go to 7-11 for Slurpees.

"Woah, there," Lola said next to me. "You wanna be careful with those."

I took a brake from jugging the sweet, sweet slushee-like drink and turned to her. "What do you mean?"

"They taste good, but they're hard to keep track of," she answered. I gave her a puzzled look and she continued. "You don't know how much you're drinking until you've already drank too much," she yelled over the noise.

I nodded my head and tried to keep a mental note of how much I was drinking. The only problem though, was that the flavor was just so good. Before I knew it, I was already on my third one.

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Another chapter for you all. Get ready because it's about to get a little intense.

As always, thank you for reading!

-eryn ~~