Teenage Fever

Drunk Speech

I couldn't do too much, I had work in the morning but I was grateful for Damario taking me out.

He brought me to yet another place I've never been to or heard of called LIPS. It was a hookah and bar lounge.

"This is all on me, no worries," Damario said to me over his shoulder as he entered the bar/club first.

The atmosphere was pretty smoky and dark, the place had a very sweet smell to it. It was definitely a whole chill vibe here. Groups of friends or couples either had lounge chairs and a table to themselves or were chilling at the bar. Weird, slow, experimental music was playing throughout the place, it was fitting and comforting.

"Cruz!" Damario exclaims out of nowhere.

I looked back at him and saw him grinning in a light skin dude's face before he went in for a hug. I stepped over to them when I noticed the dude behind this Cruz guy. This guy was fucking pretty as fuck. He leaned against the bar, chilling. He was a brown skin dude but he had these outstanding light gray eyes. Them shits were heart stoppers. I think my jaw even unhinged. It seemed to take everything in me to look away and back to Damario. He was still laughing it up with this other guy before he reached out to my shoulder.

"Les, this is Cruz and his boyfriend Jaquez. Y'all this is Les, he's new in town, my old friend."

Damn. They make a pretty ass couple. The kind of couple that would make straight girls pissed as all hell!
Jaquez simply gave me a head nod. Cruz grinned at me with a lopsided, kind of cocky grin. It was a sexy ass look.

"What's up?" Cruz says.

I nod to the both of them, kind of overwhelmed with all the attractiveness. I've never ran into so many attractive guys in my life. Tahj plus them two? Section 1 had all the good looking people.

"I'mma catch you around," Damario said while starting to move down the bar.
"Come through the shop, I got you," Cruz shouts back.

I follow Damario and sit down besides him at the bar.
"He sometimes makes graphic T's at his job downtown," Damario informs me.
I nod in turn. Damario orders us some drinks.
"Still thinking about Jackie?"
"Hell no."
"That's good."

All of a sudden a noise comes from Damario's phone, signaling a text. I watch him stare at his phone for the longest with a startling look before the look turned to one of anger.

"You good?" I hesitate to ask.
"Yeah."

He slightly rolls his eyes, looking off into the distance before shutting his phone off and setting it on the bar. It remains quiet for a while. I could tell he was distracted. It was probably an old fling of his messaging was my guess. I figure Damario probably has his own problems that he deals with and here I am bringing my problems onto him.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" I offer to say. "I feel like I'm burdening you with my issues while never asking you if you okay."
He looked pretty touched by my words.
"Don't sweat it Les, I'm not one to dwell over issues so it's never really anything to bring up."

He pauses for a minute, our drinks come to us.
I'm not recognizing the drink at all, I take a sip and that shit was stronger than a bitch. I almost spit the shit back out. Before I could ask about it Damario spoke first.

"I mentioned earlier about dealing with someone who Jackie reminded me of... well..." he idly picked up his phone as if to indicate that was what that was about.
"Was it someone recent?"
"I wouldn't call a year ago recent," he says before taking a swig.
I was iffy about asking any more questions.
"Well if you do need to talk I'm here."
"I appreciate it, Les. I don't even want to think about it and I don't want you thinking about Jackie either."
"I'm not," I laugh reassuringly.
"Let's get a shot!"
I look at him like he's crazy.
"This shit is strong enough, fuck you mean? What even is this?"
"It's not even that strong, Les."
"Says the alcoholic."
He laughs along with me.
"You don't like it?"
I take another swig.
"It's growing on me."
He shakes his head at me.
"Light weight. It's a basic ass Long Island ice tea."
I've heard of the shits before. My eyes bugged out.
"Basic? Isn't there like 10 different type of drinks in this concoction?"
He was laughing.
"You'll live, bro. I'm about to order another."
He was for real.

It was a wrap. I didn't even know what time it was.
Those ice teas hit you at the last minute. Well, I mean, it definitely hit me at the last minute.
I was seeing doubles by the time I was more than halfway through my second one.

"Let's get another," Damario says.

If I wasn't so drunk I would have swung on him.... I did anyway and fell off my stool but he caught me while laughing.

"You better be fucking joking," I know is what I say but by this time I'm definitely slurring my words.
"I'm joking, I still gotta drive."

How the hell did this nigga manage to still be sober? Were we not drinking the same shit?

Well, he wasn't fully sober, he was sort of swerving on the road. My head was spinning! I could partly hear what Damario was complaining about.

"Niggas ain't shit! On everything I don't have no trust or love for these niggas. Claiming to be your friend but just end up being a bunch of backstabbers!"
He screams backstabbers at the top of his lungs. I wince and lean forward.

I don't know what happened to the mood but something must have transpired while I was in la la land on my way from the bar to the door to the car.

"You gonna make me sick, bro," I moaned.
"Fuck all that wanting to explain shit," he went on while I kept my head down between my legs.
"What's done is done! That's why I fuck with you, Les, because you ain't on the same shit as these other niggas!"
"Oh, God," I moan and bring my head slowly back up. "Just keep the car straight," I mutter with my eyes shut.
"You bounced on that bitch, had no time for no shit. Niggas really out here want to waste your shit! My time is everything, definitely not about to have some nigga out here wasting it."
"Are we there?"
"You ain't got to worry about shit, Les, I got you!"

I rolled down the window and laid my head on the door. It was lights out after that.

I was falling until I was caught. My vision was still shot but I could make out being in Damario's arms.

"I got you, bro," I overhear him.

I was climbing out of his car or rather he was dragging me out of it. My body was way ahead of my mind. I'm not sure if I've ever been this drunk before. Damario set me on the curb while he slammed the door shut.

"You good? I got you."
He proceeds to lift me up.
The nausea was coming back.
"I know that ain't my fucking phone going off!" He screamed.
It had to be almost one in the morning or something, it felt like.
"Yo, man, you got neighbors," I try to quiet him.
"Fuck niggas," I hear him mutter under his breath.

We move slowly, almost carrying each other. Him more so carrying me. We make it back to his hallway and I'm surprised at how quiet it still and always is.

Does he really have neighbors?

"You good, Les?" He asks while propping me against the wall as he stumbles trying to get his keys out.
"I'm good," I assure him.

I still feel like shit.

I catch Damario, through squinted eyes, stand up straighter while staring at his apartment door for a full minute before digging in his pocket and pulling out his phone. He just straight answers it without checking.

"Fuck is you calling me for, nigga?!"
"Oh my God," I moaned.
I definitely needed a bathroom, now.
"D."
"No! We cannot! Fuck is your problem?!"
"D," I moan again, face against the wall.
"You know what it is, though! Fuck are you really calling about?! Why do you still have my number?!"
"D!"
He shoves the keys into my hands.
"Fuck off!" I hear him scream into the phone before I opened the door.

As soon as that door opened it was over, I dashed for the bathroom. Stubbed my toe in the process. Had no time to turn on any lights so I was even more disoriented.

Shit wasn't fun.

But I made it and what happened next was violent. As I vomited I could still hear Damario in the background. My body wouldn't stay still. I was swaying to and fro. I couldn't see because lights weren't on. After the vomit I could feel myself starting to black out again but before I did I overheard Damario.

"Fuck that... I don't love you, nigga!"