It's turns he lived just down the street from where I worked. Although I was feeling a little groggy I figured the stuff we were about to indulge in would perk me up. Stephanie was in the front seat occupied with being the DJ. Dylan sat in the back giving me directions.
"So," I spoke up catching his attention. "Who's this plug of yours?" Normally I wouldn't ask but I had gotten myself into some pretty shady situations before and was in no mood for bullshit tonight.
He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Well my usual guy is out of town so we're going to go meet my brother right now. He usually has a pretty good hookup but I don't usually do this stuff very often."
"Neither do we," Stephanie spoke up. She was lying but I wasn't going to let Dylan know how often we indulged.
If someone was on the outside looking in they would tell us we had a problem. Personally I didn't think we did. The drinking and drugs hadn't affected my job or the relationship I had with my family. Sure I got told off for coming home late, or not at all but they hadn't seen me drunk or high yet.
I saw Dylan nod and smile in my rear view mirror, "That's good I've seen this stuff ruin a lot of good people, my brother included. Anyway you can turn left here and park anywhere on the right side."
We ended up parked in front of a couple of large apartment buildings. He squeezed my arm and hopped out of the car claiming he'd be right back. Stephanie lit up a cigarette as soon as we saw him disappear up the stairs.
"I knew he looked familiar, we used to go to school together. Hector was telling me he's really into you." She took a puff from the cigarette and passed it over to me.
My teeth we're chattering because we had all the windows down but I still managed to get a couple sentences out. "Well he's definitely my type, I'm not sure I'm looking for anything right now though. I saw you and Hector getting pretty cozy. Did you get his number?"
She smiled and nodded her head, "Not sure if it's going to go anywhere but he's 22 so if anything we can always ask him to buy us a bottle. I swear you better not swerve another guy because of your ex, not all guys are assholes like he was." She flicked the cigarette out the window and searched my glove box for gum and perfume.
I tossed a piece of minty fresh gum in my mouth and lathered myself in lotion to cover up the smell of smoke.
"You and I both know I'm over my ex. For some reason though it seems like we attract the assholes. Dylan seems genuine, let's see if he comes through tonight." I replied laughing.
"I hope he does I could really use a line right now," she pulled down the mirror and was half heartedly applying another layer of lip gloss.
"If not we still have half a bottle. Speaking of fork it over I need a shot."
She pulled the bottle from her bag and I took a long drink from it. My throat burned and my nose wrinkled so I quickly chased it with the bottle of soda sitting in the cup holder. To
my right I saw her quickly do the same and take a deep breath after.
We heard a door close and shortly after I saw Dylan's lanky build and black hair at the bottom of the stairs. Right behind him was a slightly taller boy, his shiny black hair was hidden under a hoodie, and he walked with a swagger Dylan didn't have. He wore a pair of slightly baggy jeans and a pair of chunky black converse. The boy, who I assumed was his brother, was built a little bigger than Dylan and had a sprinkling of facial hair covering his jaw.
"Shit is that his brother?" Stephanie slightly slurred out.
"I hope so, I could really use a line too."
Little did I know that this night was the beginning of a beautiful catastrophe.
•••
11/29/19
