Lethal

Chapter Two.

The music bounced off the walls as we walked through the crowded club, my body yearned for the dance floor so I grabbed Mari's hand and headed to the center of the club. I felt my worries melt away as the two of us danced, Jericho soon joined us with drinks in hand. I gratefully accepted my cocktail and drank it in record time, feeling the residual tension in my shoulders begin to melt away as the alcohol began to do its job. I slipped away to the bar while Jericho and Mariana danced to gather, ready for a shot or two of straight alcohol.

After taking a few shots at the bar, I was tipsy enough to dance again. I headed back and hoped that Mari and Jericho wouldn't know where I'd gone- I didn't want the shots to count towards the drink limit that I was supposed to abide by. I was feeling sorry for myself, no matter how much of a brave face I was putting on for them; I felt like shit and I wanted alcohol to make me feel better. It had been a long six months of being turned down for jobs; no matter how much I did to make my talents known, no one could see me.

"That's the last one Zana!" Mari shouted over the loud music as I plucked a glass off of a platter while Mari tried to drag me away. Jericho had experienced his fill of general population and ushered us to the VIP area. "Sit down, you need to cool off for a bit." Mari said sternly.

I nodded and finished my last drink for the night, "I hear you Mari." I waved her off with a smile as I looked out onto the dance floor. "I'm gonna go dance some more."

Mari made a move to get up but I once again waved her off.

"I'll be fine, I'll even stay within your line of sight mom!" I teased; I knew that she was tired, neither of them were used to partying nonstop like I was. I also wanted to give them to have some couple time, they never made me feel weird but sometimes I was painfully aware of my status as the permanent third wheel.

Jericho and Mari nodded apprehensively but let me go. I desperately wanted to go to the bar but I didn't want to deceive my friends anymore that I already had, I knew that the drink limit would save me from feeling worse in the morning. I started to dance like no one was watching; I believed that it was the only real way to dance. I didn't care much for anyone's opinion of my skill or lack thereof, all I cared about was dancing until my stress melted away.

Hands wrapped around my waist and I immediately moved, I only wanted to dance on my own in that moment; I'd had enough of dancing on random guys for one night. The hands returned and I immediately whipped my head around.

"Get the fuck offa me!" I shouted before attempting to move for a second time.

The person's hand grabbed my wrist, "You been dancin' on every nigga in this bitch and now you wanna act brand new?" His disgusting beer scented breath wafted into my face and my nose wrinkled on impact. My lips curled upward as I prepared to cuss the man out; there was nothing that I hated more than drunkenly obnoxious human beings.

I yanked my wrist out of his grasp, "So the fuck what? You ain't them, fuckin' lame ass bitch!"

His hand raised in a motion that suggested that he was going to slap me but he never got the chance; it happened so fast that I almost missed it. A fist collided with the man's jaw, he fell to the floor immediately and that was when members of the crowd finally looked in our direction.

"Thanks for that." I said when I finally looked at the person who came to my defense. Oh no was my immediate thought when I looked at him, there were tattoos on every inch of his exposed skin; even his face. Alarm bells automatically sounded in my head which caused a devilish smirk to form on my lips.

The guy, whoever he was, nodded at me, "Ain't shit. Stay safe out here gorgeous" And with that he disappeared into the crowd.

I made a mental note to find him again before I left, he looked like my type; trouble with a capital 'T'. Maybe it was wrong for me to judge him solely on his appearance but time would tell if I was right or not- hopefully. I looked at the man on the floor and laughed, he was out cold and his well-being wasn't any of my business. It was time for me to go back to the VIP section where I left my friends; I'd had about enough of general population and decided to remove myself before someone else tried to put their hands on me.

Mari was leaning on Jericho's shoulder, completely asleep while he scrolled through his phone. I laughed softly and took my phone out so that I could snap a photo of the world's most boring couple. A sigh escaped me as I looked at the photo, they may have been boring but at least they were boring together. It was time for us to leave, I couldn't subject them to the atmosphere any longer.

"You ready to go?" I asked Jericho as I perched on the seat next to him.

Jericho was startled out of his own thoughts when I spoke but nodded graciously, "Been ready, wake up baby." He gently shook Mari awake and kissed her forehead as she groggily came to.

"Damn, did I really fall asleep?" She laughed and shook her head before standing up.

I nodded, "I guess Law school really does drain all of your energy." I turned to Jericho, "I need to pee before we leave, can you meet us at the door?" I asked him.

"Yeah cool, but hurry up!" Jericho said in his dad voice.

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed Mari's hand and went in search of the bathroom. I scanned the room as we walked in hopes of finding the guy from earlier but it was a hopeless endeavor; especially with the amount of people in the building. Sighing, Mari and I finally made it to the bathroom and I was grateful that the line was almost nonexistent, I just hoped that I wasn't about to piss on myself so that some bitches could take a nasty mirror selfie. We made quick work of our bathroom trip and headed to where Jericho was waiting for us, on the way out I saw the guy that I'd been looking for; unfortunately he was with a girl. I shrugged and kept walking, I had no claim on a complete stranger; however I couldn't help but hope that we crossed paths again.

"Are you drunk?" Mari giggled next to me, I'd spaced out while we were walking.

I scoffed, "I wish, my tolerance level is too high for the drink limit that you put in place. Plus that other shit sobered me the fuck up." I groaned as our trio exited the club.

"What other shit?" Jericho and Mari asked simultaneously.

I shook my head, regretting that I even mentioned it and then went into detail as we walked to the car; another thing Jericho didn't like was the lack of a valet service. My friends hooted and hollered after I gave them a summary of the events that took place on the dance floor and I assured them that everything was fine. It was times like that when it became clear how different our upbringings were; I'd dealt with my fair share of belligerent assholes to the point that I was borderline immune to them.

I loved my friends but they wouldn't have understood if I told them that I was okay. With the upbringing that I'd had, dangerous situations could never faze me and on some level, I felt more comfortable around the people who seemed the most dangerous. After all, I learned at a young age that the ones who appeared the nicest often had the cruelest intentions; at least I wasn't lulled into a false sense of security when I was around the ones who didn't attempt to hide their nature. I thought back once more to Mr. Tattoos and knew that I wanted him, the woman by his side only intrigued me and I hoped that we would cross paths again so that I could learn all about his situation.