Katie sat at the bar stool and thought about her night ahead of her. The weed that they had just smoked in the car was getting to her head making her feel warm inside and everything go in slow motion. Her favorite song came on the speakers. Katie began to tap her foot on the bar stool and let the beat go through her alcohol-weed infused bloodstream. As she began to get up from the stool and hop up on the bar, Diane began to join her as they swayed their hips left and right making themselves looks like drunken messes that will be dragged out the bar later that night."Hey, where did we go, days when the rains came?, down in the hollow, playing a new game, laughing and a-running, hey, hey, skipping and a-jumping, in the misty morning fog with, our, our hearts a-thumping, and you, my brown-eyed girl, you, my brown-eyed girl". were the lyrics being belted out from Katie and Diane on top of the bar as everyone else looked at them.
Once Katie hopped off the bar and down on the ground, Katie noticed a tall man standing at the bar staring at her just waiting for her to approach him. Shit, it's Roman. What the hell is he doing here and what does he want from me? Quit fucking staring at me Roman. I'm not coming over to you. Roman was best friends with Bobby O'Donnell; Katie's stalker ex. Katie tried to walk in a straight line up to Roman so her wouldn't think anything of Katie's condition at this point.
"You a tad hammered there, Katie" No fucking shit Roman, I was just on a bar dancing my ass off enjoying my last night here before I go off and fucking elope the man of my dreams.
"I'm a bit buzzed," Ha who could believe that? He definitely knows I am not a "tad" bit hammered.
Roman gave a short laugh and exposed his pearly white teeth to Katie. "A bit buzzed, huh? Yeah, okay, Katie. Let me ask you something," Please don't, I couldn't care less of what you're about to say or what your opinion is. "You think Bobby would like hearing you were making a fucking ass of yourself at McGuills tonight? You think he'd like hearing that?" Why does it fucking matter? I'm leaving tomorrow and never coming back. He'll forget about me.
"No." I said that just to shut him up because god only knows that if I said something else, he would pull me out in the alley and make sure I listened to him.
" 'Cause I didn't like hearing it, Katie. You see what I'm saying?" Who the fuck are you, Roman? The drunk poilce?
"Right."
Roman cupped his hand behind his ear. "What's that?"
"Right."
Roman left his hand where it was, leaned into her. "I'm sorry. What?"
"I'll go home right now." Fucking douche making me leave when I'm having the best time of my life. Last time I checked you didn't run the damn bar.
"You sure? I don't want to make you do anything you don't feel like."
"No, no. I've had enough." Not like you didn't already ruin my night asshole.
"Sure, sure. Hey, can I settle your tab?" You can settle my night by not talking to me in the first place.
"No, no. Thanks, Roman, we already paid cash."
"Call you a cab, then?"
"No, no. This time of night we'll be able to flag one down." Like I would accept your offer after you ruined my night.
"Yeah, you will. All right then, Katie, we'll be seeing you." No you won't. I'm out of here and glad I'll never have to see your face again.
And on that note, Katie walked out of the bar with Eve and Diane. Once they got to the parking lot, Eve hunched over and threw up some of the alcohol they had consumed that night. Some of it splashed against the back tires of Katie's blue Toyota. When she was done, Katie went in the bottom of her purse and grabbed some mouthwash she had stored in there for whatever reason. Ugh, I have to drive 14 blocks to drop off Diane and Eve.
As Katie drove to Eve's house to drop off her and Diane, she could feel each block becoming harder and harder to drive to. Not only because she was drunk and high, but because she couldn't bear saying goodbye to her best friends. They both bent at the waist and looked back in through the open passenger window at Katie. The bitter drop the evening had taken in its last hour caused their faces to sag, their shoulders to droop, and Katie could feel their sadness on the side of her face as she looked through the windshield at the spitting drops. She could feel the rest of their lives weighing stilted and unhappy on top of them. Her best friends since kindergarten, and she might never see them again. "You going to be okay?" Diane's voice had a high, bubbling pitch to it.
"Yeah, course. I'll call you from Vegas. You'll come visit." Please because I can't see you two slip out of my life and it's not like I want to come back to East Buckingham.
"Flights are cheap." Eve said.
"Real cheap."
Eve and Diane stretched their hands in through he window and Katie took a lingering pull on each of them, and they stepped back from the car. They waved. Katie waved back, and then she tooted the horn and drove away.
She could feel them now, the soft drizzle of tears in her hair like the soft drizzle against her windshield, and she was trying to remember the color of her mother's eyes when she saw the body lying in the middle of the street. It lay like a sack just in front of her tires and she swerved hard to the right, feeling something bump under her rear left tire, thinking, Oh Jesus, oh God, no, tell me I didn't hit it, please God. Jesus, God no. I can't fucking afford this now.
She slammed her Toyota into the curb on the right side of the street, and her foot came off the clutch, and the car lurched forward, sputtering, then died.
Someone caller to her. "Hey, you okay?" Could that be the person? I didn't hit them? They're making sure I'm alright, I have to make sure they're alright. Get out of the car right now Katie Marcus and help the dear person.
Katie saw him coming toward her, and she started to relax because he looked familiar and harmless until she noticed the gun in his hand. What the fuck? He has a GUN. Get out of here. Run, just run. Run for your dear life.
