F***in' Arizona

Straight from the Horse's Mouth Pt. 14 (Chapter 47)

Since he didn't pick up, I called a few of my old college buddies that I was still close with and they of course wanted to take me out to celebrate.

After texting my brother where I'd be, my friends came by to pick me up around 8pm to drag my excited ass to our old favorite college bar, this 25 cent old and new arcade games spot, where we would get wasted and attempt to dominate each other in Dance, Dance Revolution. Loser had to buy the winner a shot and wings of their choice.

Keep in mind that I was great on my feet and had an unmatched reaction time because of my football skills, plus I wasn't too shabby in the dancing department if I do say so myself. I mention all this to say that winning that game comes easily. Because I would majority of the time win, I would get "white boy wasted" and would have to practically be carried out of that place.

The night of my celebration was unfortunately no different. Even though I hadn't been there in months (since graduating) most of the bartenders and servers were the same. And just like the old show Cheers, everyone there knew my name.

"Is that UCLA football prodigy Arizona Matthews I spot?!" A raven-haired blue-eyed model-like woman named Rihanna says as soon as my group walks inside.

"It sure is! Although, now it's "newly promoted at his job, Arizona Matthews"!" My friend Shawn says wrapping his arm around my shoulders and shaking me.

"Oh snap babe! That's great to hear, congratulations! It's also great to see you! Your boys still frequent here and cause just as many laughs for all of us, but we haven't seen you in a while. Did you move?"

We make our way up to the twenty- person dark laminate wood bar and sit in our old favorite spots, in the middle so we could feel like we were a part of everything.

"Thanks, Rih. Nah, I'm still here in the city. I just don't drink like I used to," I responded to her while popping in my mouth some of the bar, honey roasted peanuts Rihanna placed in front of us.

I took pride in my sobriety. I cherished it an insurmountable amount because of the strenuous work I had to put into achieving it. I used to be a fuckin' mess and it's not something I want to revert to.

However, I have been known to let my emotions get the better of me.

"That's beautiful honey. Well, in that case, what can I grab for you boys?"

The guys ended up buying a round of tequila shots while I had my sad and safe non-alcoholic beer that honestly was the weirdest tasting thing in the world. It tasted like fermented juice, but sometimes I still want to feel included.

The guys and Rihanna, who was going to take a shot with my friends in my name, toasted to me and my accomplishments and I can justly say it was one of my happiest moments. I had my good friends around to celebrate me and my hard work that finally got recognized. What could go wrong?

Said literally everyone right before shit hits the fan.

The guys and I ran around the arcade like adult children playing and battling each other in various games just having a good time that I completely forgot to call my father again or to even check to see if he had returned my call.

By this time, it was almost 10:11pm.
I knew my dad, like clockwork, went to bed around the same time every night, 10:30pm. I had to quickly call him so I wouldn't miss my opportunity.
Yeah, I could always call him tomorrow when he's more awake and not settling in for bed, but I wanted to ride this current excitement and hope he would possibly want to share in my enthusiasm.

I excused myself from my group and walked outside into the packed, terribly lit parking lot to try and obtain a better signal and some quiet to make my phone call.