Albatross

It wasn’t our usual place. The Morrison’s sign was tattered and dirty yet it still held a certain charm. It was a bar that I had always wanted to try. Not that I drank all that often, but it got boring to sit around in the same damn place and order the same damn drinks every weekend.

When the waitress brings out a drink and you haven’t even ordered yet, I say it’s way past time to find a new place. Looking around at the clientele of the bar made it obvious that our trio was the token group of the night. Of all the bars in Los Angeles, I would pick the blackest one to go to.  

“Chocolate Thunder has been eyeing you for the past twenty minutes.” Sebastian's southern accent sounded heavier with the alcohol. He swept back his dark brown hair and nodded, not very casually, towards the end of the bar. My eyes locked on the short black man. His small afro was haphazardly tossed to one side. His ridiculous grin displayed how hood he thought he was and if that wasn’t a dead giveaway his pants were fastened directly below his ass. I groaned to myself.

“Sebastian, stop staring at him. Do you want to get shot?” Melissa snapped. “Why in the hell are we here, Alyssa?” I ignored her attitude and gave her a broad smile, slapping her shoulder roughly.

“Because we’re celebrating. Relax. A big strong black man is not going to steal and eat you. But trust me when I say, it wouldn’t be half bad.” Melissa shot me a glare as Sebastian fell into a fit of giggles. I gave her the best innocent grin I could muster and signaled for another drink. As I turned back around I saw Chocolate Thunder heading towards our table and inwardly cringed. This asshole was going to come and kill my buzz. Before he could reach me, I slammed back the rest of my drink and ignored the stifled giggling coming from my two traitorous friends.

“Hey shawty, can I get you anotha drank.” He moved in close as he spoke, overpowering my senses with cheap cologne and the smell of menthol cigarettes. I immediately backed up, almost sliding completely off my chair in the process.

“No. I’m okay,” I guess my tone wasn’t dismissive enough for him, because he leaned in closer and licked his lips.

“I’ve been watching you all night, ma. You ain’t gonna give a brotha a chance?”

“No.” I replied irritably. I looked over at my friends but they were too busy laughing to help me.

“I can make it juicy for you, come on.” He moved in closer. “You know you need a big black dick in yo life.”

Without thinking, I pushed the idiot out of my face and watched him fall on his ass. He looked around as everyone around us laughed at him. His face transformed and that cocky grin became a mask of anger.

“Oh, so you one of them uppity sistas? Too good to date a brotha but not too good to be fucking the white boys.” He stood up and pulled at his pants and shirt.

“I told you no, that’s not some code for ‘try harder, I’m so ready for you, take me now’.”

He took a step forward, but Sebastian stepped between us.

“Look. You’re done here. She told you ‘no’ and now it’s time for you to go.” His arms were crossed and his six feet towered over the idiot.

“Oh, so now you wanna get up and claim that stuck up bitch.” Sebastian nodded towards security and they walked over as the asshole spoke.

“I wasn’t gonna hit that anyways,” he growled as he saw the men in black shirts approaching. With a final glare, he turned around and stalked off towards the exit.

“We need to leave.” Melissa started to put on her jacket when I stopped her.

“Look, it’s cool. They handled him, let’s just drink and hang out. This could be one of the last times that we do this. Don’t let some dickhead ruin it for us.” Sebastian sat back in his seat, stealing Melissa’s jacket in the process.

“So, are you ready for the big leagues yet?” Sebastian said as he tried to catch the eye of the bartender.

“I don’t know. I’ve been here so long it feels like my home.” I felt a wave of nostalgia hit me as I played with the straw of my empty drink.

“Alyssa, you have got to do this for yourself. You’ve worked so hard to get to where you are,”  Melissa said, reaching across the table for my hand. I gripped it tightly.

“What would your parents want for you, Lys?” Sebastian said quietly.

I thought back to the memories I had of my mother and father, fuzzy and out of place.

“And it’s a full ride,” I said to myself.

The bartender dropped a drink in front of me.

“It’s not too far away, we can still visit you.” Melissa smiled sadly at me.

“We’ve already established that you’re going, so you might as well get used to the idea. You don’t have a choice.” Sebastian’s tone was serious and his eyes stared straight into mine. I knew there would be no arguing after that. I’d realized that arguing with Sebastian was like trying to beat traffic while Prince played a free concert at the Staples Center.

I looked to the crazy people that had been by my side since I was in high school. We’d all been through a lot. Melissa, a child of an abusive family, joined our duo in high school. Sebastian and I took her into our little family and made her one of us after seeing ourselves in her. Sebastian’s family was murdered in front of him when he was fifteen. The state relocated him to California where he became my problem, or, as he likes to call himself, my Southern guardian angel, in our group home. I raised my glass and they both followed my lead.

“To all those we’ve lost in life and to those that are still here to help lead us the rest of the way.” I fought the tears that were crawling up my throat and took a hearty swig of my cocktail. I was so used to having them around. I didn’t know what I was going to do without them by my side.

“Alright, enough of this sappy shit, you and Melissa need drinks,” Sebastian said as he waved again at the bartender.

“I’m not drinking, Sebastian. You know that.” She sipped her water and gave him a glare over her glass. It was obvious that she was annoyed with him, but then again, what else was new?

“It’s a celebration. Loosen up.” Sebastian ordered three Long Islands from the bartender.

“So, I should drink and make an ass out of myself like you? No, I’m okay.”

Sebastian looked over at her and gave his best puppy eyed look.

“No,” she stated again, glaring at him from across the table.

“Fine. I can have them make you a crown out of beer bottle caps if you would like, your grace.” He shoved out his chair, got down on his knees and began bowing to her, occasionally saying, “I’m not worthy.”

I laughed as she pulled at him, scolding him the entire time about hepatitis and the amount of germs on the floor.  I really was going to miss this.

We stumbled out of the bar at last call and walked towards the Metro station. Sebastian had narrowly convinced Melissa to have a drink. It seemed that she could never deny him anything. They really should just do each other and get it over with. We all held onto each other as we walked down the street. The city looked its best at night and when I looked up I could see the infinite pitch black of the sky and a few scattered stars. I giggled and laid my head against Sebastian as we walked.

“All I’m saying is if a girl wants to throw her loose vagina at me, why should I say no?”

 I felt Melissa tense up in anger. They had been arguing for the past twenty minutes.

“Umm, because of Herpes, HIV, Gonorrhea, and, and… you would just die!”

“Not everyone that has sex has a disease! Do you have the Herp?”

I punched his side as Melissa puffed angrily away, storming across the street without another word.

“Oh come on Mely, you know he’s just being a dick,” I yelled ahead to her. “Apologize.” I said to him through gritted teeth.

He looked down at me before begrudgingly letting me go and jogging towards Melissa.

“It was just a joke, Ice Queen. Come on, give me a break.” He pulled at her arm but she just pushed him away. I watched as they huffed and bickered with one another, not fighting the smile that crept across my face. Trying to fight off the chill of the night, I rubbed my arms and tried to remind myself that I would still see them. That the world wouldn’t stop when I moved away. And, above all else, we’d still be family.