He spat the rest of the vomit out and smacked his lips. –I could use another hit, he said. –Yeah? she said, sniffling. She rubbed her palms together against the cold.
Before that he seized awake, eyes rolling to life in their sockets, sucking in and coughing out great gulps of oxygen. –Oh god, she said. –God damn, I was worried there for a second. He rolled over onto his side and spewed up a deluge of orange and brown.
Before that he lay on his back, half on the curb a few feet away. –Hey, she said. She approached and nudged his leg, then nudged it again. –Hey, what’s happening? She knelt beside him and shook his shoulders. His mouth hung open, but otherwise he stayed motionless. Something was caught in her chest. –Stop it, she said, and she began to shake him harder.
Before that she watched the taillights fade into the distance, and as she rose she stumbled a little. One of her heels seemed to have given way. She checked her purse—ripped-open packets of relish and what looked like spilled nail polish, the rest was fine—then touched a finger to her forehead. No blood, but it still hurt. Every other part of her felt numb. She needed to chew the idiot out, wherever he’d ended up.
Before that a pair of yellow dots appeared in the dark. –Car, she said. He continued his loop of the lot, ranting aloud to no one. The dots drew closer. –Car! she screamed, and she sprinted into the street. She grabbed the back of his jacket with both hands, feeling him go limp, and suddenly two streams of oncoming brightness were searing into her vision. Someone was yelling, and it was her, and as she strained and pulled they both tumbled to the ground, still in the middle of the road. The asphalt rushed up to meet them. Rays of light lanced overhead as the vehicle pulled harmlessly past.
Before that a large man in a dark shirt was pulling him past the coat check. –Alright, buddy, let’s go, he said. –Keep it moving. She followed close behind, hands held out in supplication. –Don’t hurt him, she kept repeating. –Just don’t hurt him. They made it out past the club doors, and the man deposited him in a heap on the front steps. Both were breathing heavy. –No encores, okay? the man said, and then he went back inside. She bent down and helped her boyfriend up. –Why’d you do that? she said. He looked at her and his eyes were red. He lurched by her into the parking lot.
Before that the other guy’s lip curled. –Fuck this, he said, and he began to walk away. Her boyfriend lunged forward, snarling, and the two collided at an angle. They were equal in size but her boyfriend was obviously struggling; he staggered, and the stranger planted his feet and shoulder-checked him, sending him sprawling into a table just off the dance floor. The loud series of crashes and swears punctuated a break in the music. Now more heads were starting to turn.
Before that she spun and smacked away what might have been the person closest to her. –Off me! she shouted. The guy looked through her, stone-faced. –Man, I didn’t touch you, he said. Her boyfriend forced himself between them. –Hey, he said, jabbing a finger into the stranger’s chest. –The lady asked you to stop. He tried to say more but the words were slurred, jumbled together, dripping and sliding so that all she could make out was a syrupy sort of mess. Immediately she felt self-conscious.
Before that they were writhing under the lights, specks of sweat and energy and heat oscillating between them in a haze. –Run that track again! howled the DJ, and the resounding wave of noise blew the hair back from her face. As she danced she tilted her head to the sky, and she swore she could feel the pulse of the beat in her body, in her bones. She knew that he was probably starting to shake beside her, the high catching him as it was catching her, and she let the air rush out of her lungs. She didn’t need to breathe where they were going. Beneath the haze of color and sound and bodies, she thought she could feel someone’s hand on her ass.
Before that they crowded together, huddling and whispering in a dingy stairwell. Both bathrooms were packed, lousy with onlookers, and they weren’t about to split their shit with a bunch of freeloaders. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of pink circles, each no larger than an M&M, before passing one to her. As he began to crush his into powder, she extended her tongue and dropped the pill into her waiting mouth.
Before that she tapped him on the shoulder and leaned into the warmth of his coat. –I could use another hit, she said.