The Green Guardian

Chapter 18: Night of the Second Moon

Paperblank's bar was lively that night. Groups of men sat at wooden tables. They bumped their beer cans together and announced, "Cheers!" Others fought each other in a bar brawl. They knocked down pictures and empty chairs.

Mateo ducked under a cup that flew over his head. It smashed into the white wall behind the marble counter. He gulped down an entire glass of Cabernet and grumbled, "I hate being an adult," to the bartender.

"Oh, I agree. It's awful," the bartender chuckled. He grabbed a cloth and wiped the beer off the wall.

Mateo held his glass up to him. "Give me another one."

The bartender did. He filled Mateo's glass and went to adjust some bottles in the bar's cabinet. Despite it being a small village, Paperblank had a wide range of beer and wine–including Rosé, Cabernet, Chardonnay, IPAs, Sweetwater 420s, and draft beers such as Miller Lite and Trifecta.

Mateo gulped down his second glass. He was already starting to get drunk. He tightened his grip around the cup's smooth surface. "You-You want to know wha-what's worse? My-my dawg gone mom does not acc-accept me as a real man yet. I am young. I will heal on my-my own." He crossed his eyes and shook the glass. "Give me another one. No-No, give me two."

Maria and Ms. Brook spent a good hour wandering around Paperblank Village looking for him.

Ms. Julie escorted Evie, her friends, and her parents to bed. Evie and her group members were going to remain in their cabin, but the village inn set up some rooms for her parents, Ms. Brook, Maria, and Ben. Maria, though, did not want to go to bed until she knew Mateo was safe.

She and Ms. Brook checked behind treehouses, non-treehouse buildings, barrels, and crates. Their search finally took them to the deepest, most empty section of the village where the bar was. Cheering came from it. Maria and Ms. Brook passed the 21 and Over sign. They looked inside the small but loud building.

Maria's face grayed at what she saw. "Oh my God." That was all she could say.

There was Mateo, drunk out of his mind. He stood on top of a table, with a crowd of men around him. They had to be at least twenty to thirty years older than him. Honestly, Mateo looked like he was the youngest person in the bar.

He held his Cabernet glass over his head and asked, "Who's tired of being an adult?"

"Yo!" The men lifted their own glasses. Another brawl started up at the back of the crowd. It became all too clear that Paperblank Village was more on the medieval side of Pinta Country rather than the modern.

Mateo stumbled over his own feet. He fell off the table and landed on two more men, both of whom were in their mid-forties. The wine in his glass splashed onto their faces. They now glowed a grape purple.

Mateo jumped to his feet. He clutched the table to help his balance. "Who-Who wants to come with me and show these a-adults and peas-peasants no mercy?" His words were beyond slurred.

"Yo!" the men said again.

One of the men whom Mateo accidentally knocked down got up. He flicked his ranger cap off his head.

Ms. Brook was so embarrassed. Her face burned. "I can't believe him. He said he would never have another drink."

Mateo, though, had always had problems with alcohol consumption–even as young as fifteen years old. While he had managed to cut back on wine, especially after the banquet, he still had a habit of turning to it when he felt stressed. One of the reasons why he became a ranger was to try to get away from his addiction.