I followed Tabetha like a duckling follows her mother. I was not in familiar territory. In contrast to the comfortable bus floor, the outdoors left me chilled. It was quite cold. Oddly, in her skirt, Tabetha felt fine. She breathed in the air deeply. "Isn't this great?" No.
We approached the sidewalk, which was riddled with cracks everywhere. I noticed it was nighttime. To the side, there was a man punching another, probably robbing the poor bastard. I heard a woman yelling. I saw colorful bright lights flashing in bars with silhouettes dancing inside. As I looked around, I grew weary and anxious.
"I've never seen so many homeless people in one place." I said, referring to the multitude of dirty men and broken teeth sitting near the walls of the various buildings. "Especially, you know," I muttered, "Nearly naked homeless men." I whispered that last part.
I stuck even closer to Tabetha. At one point, I even almost grabbed her hand like a scared child. Then, I looked up at her. "Yeah, but don't worry."
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"We're going to a bar." She responded. Ok, why were we going to a bar? I'm 17. I can't even get in to a bar. Hell, I looked 14 without my beard, which was luckily present. But, despite the beard, it was my short stature and kid-like facial complexion that really gave me away. My voice didn't help either.
As if she just read my mind, she handed me a card. Upon examination, it was a fake ID. But, hell, it looked real. According to the card:
I was tall, 6'5", my name was "Benn" with two n's, and, most importantly, I was 24 years old.
"Are you serious? Look at me." I said. She looked down at me. "You see that? Your neck is bending down! I am not over 6 feet tall. How did you even make this? You know what? I'm out of here!"
I let go of her hand and began walking away when she pulled me back. "Where are you gonna go? You gotta trust me on this one. We'll go to the bar, we'll get in, we'll have like maybe one drink, and we'll all get out of here and it'll all be good."
"Ok, but why are we here? Why not somewhere normal like Oeaune?" Oeaune is my hometown, where I live, where I go to school.
"Look, you need to trust me. Do you want to be happy? Then let me do the talking." I agreed, partially because I had nowhere else to go, but also because I was now curious. We approached a long line of people standing behind a red rope, which was still behind a man who looked like he was from the secret service.
"Here, wear these." Tabetha put sunglasses on my face. Perhaps it was to cover up the distinct bruise on my left eye. The bouncer stared at everyone intently matching their face to their ID. We stood, slowly inching in line until it was finally our turn.
"Oh 'ey. What's up, Tabetha." The deep voice said. "Who's this?" He asked, pointing at me.
"This is Benn. He has a growth disorder that makes him look 17." Tabetha explained.
"Mmhmm." The man looked at the ID. "And this pipsqueak is 6 foot 5, you say."
"You must be reading it wrong. It says five six." Wow, she's good. "He's five six." And, indeed, I was.
The man looked at me, raising an eyebrow. I could tell he was studying me. "Speak." He said.
I tried my best to not sound like the scared 14-year-old boy that my voice would normally suggest. I breathed in, relaxed my throat, and retrieved an influx of air from my lungs. Regardless of my effort, I squeaked. "What do you want me to say?" At that moment, I knew I had let Tabetha down.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Get outta here!" The man said, pointing towards the streets.
I looked up at Tabetha, my eyes watering like a sad puppy. I wanted forgiveness for my failure. "I'm sorry." I said, sincerely.
"Look, these people want nothing more than a paycheck." Tabetha said, looking down at me now. I was still holding on to her hand. "And if you're willing to give them something more, then they will let you slide in."
I almost felt like a student, except this time Tabetha was my teacher. She was teaching me about real life. I wasn't in a classroom being yelled at by an underpaid and merciless fiend talking about how fast shit moves. Instead, I was being led by a beautiful and magnificent woman to a new life, free from my lonely past.
That's when I remembered the questionable pill Tabetha had given me earlier. I took out the Ziploc bag and looked at the man. I let out a coy smile and gently hit the man's chest with the Ziploc bag. "What say you let us go through." I said, trying to sound cool.
"I'll take that!" He grumbled. That's odd. He seemed angry. "A little kid like you shouldn' be havin' this." He snatched the bag.
Despite his anger, he gestured for Tabetha. I tried to follow and, to my surprise, succeeded.
"That's why I come here." Tabetha said, walking into the bar. "They fall for the same thing every time."
YOU ARE READING
as the way comes
Ficção Geral[redacted] is a 17-year old kid in high school. He is sort of a lonely kid until one day, he meets an attractive young woman who saves him from the feeling. He decides to go with the flow and see what happens. That is, until he doesn't.
