Me, You, and Mason

1

Neon never glowed as brightly as it did in Mason.

Nestled in the South, cupped by forestry on one side and freed by a river on the other, Mason had neon that acted as a road to any man's pleasure.

It lined stores filled with spirits. It buzzed in the windows of local diners. It even promised ecstasy through naked illusions. Wherever neon flickered, a good time was sure to ignite.

But it was tonight that neon would paint a black girl blue.

As high as the moon hung, the night was still young. By this time, Masonians were still at their first bar of the night, on their first cloud of an oncoming high. Clubs were just starting to settle into their nightly rowdiness.

Exodus was no exception.

Out of the heat of a packed house and into the chill of an early spring, a woman stumbled out of the club's side door. Weighing on her shoulders was another woman with disheveled hair and running mascara.

Music poured out behind them as if the door had been a dam withholding a flood of chest-thumping, bone-jumping bass.

"I'm fine! Really!" the sobbing woman insisted over the rush of music.

"You're not. Alright? You in there fuckin' up the vibe. Look at yourself right now. You're a mess, and I'm taking you home," the other woman reprimanded.

The club door boomed shut, shushing the music into a mere bump in the night.

The crier sniveled, embarking on a battle to stop her tears, "I'm sorry, Aria. I really am. I just—"

"Walk straight. I can't carry you all the way to the car," Aria fussed.

"I'm sorry!" The squeal resembled a whistle that sent Aria's ears into a ringing frenzy.

Within seconds, Aria was making the same request, "Come on, hold your weight."

Just as quickly as the words were uttered, the woman collapsed, nearly clipping Aria at her shin and taking her down with her.

With a frustrated huff that sent her bangs flying up like an elephant trunk, Aria crouched down next to her best friend.

"Dee, get up. The whole East side can see up your skirt," Aria's words were quiet and rushed as if a secret were fleeing her lips. With a grip on the woman's hands, Aria leveraged her weight to bring her beloved friend to her stilettos.

"You know what? Just stay right here while I get the car, alright?" It was with stern instruction that Aria dug into her clutch purse.

"Right here?" an inebriated Dee sniffled, making the query sound as if it were that of a child's.

"Right here."

"Where's, um... Jay? He can't stand out here with me?" her voice shrunk as paranoia flooded her system.

"Jay..." Aria sighed and shook her head, finally emerging from her purse with a pair of keys in her grasp.

"Jay what? You finna' leave me out here by myself?" Dee's eyes widened, the whites of them glowing brighter than ever under the teal lighting that trimmed the building.

"Jay's not fuckin' wit' us right now," Aria murmured with eyes that burned into the club door rather than the disappointment settling into her friend's features.

Dee scrunched her eyebrows together as if they were pulled by drawstrings. "Are you for real? He can't stand out here with me for two minutes because of what? He can't handle the fact I called him out?"

"He just needs time... to cool down," Aria nodded assuringly.

Her friend wasn't convinced, murmuring profanities as she shook her head.