Thursday, January 21, 2016

Randy #5

RANDY

“You were the only guy there?” Nathan asked Brian before taking a drink of his beer.

“Yeah, but it was fun. I’m going back next month,” Brian said.

“You also get to spend time with Chrissy,” Randy said. “You should ask her out. It’s clear she likes you.” Randy’s name was announced from the man at the karaoke stage. “Already?”

“We put our names in right when they got here,” Nathan said as Randy went up to the stage. “Why haven’t you dated anyone seriously since Becky?”

“I don’t know. I just never found anyone,” Brian shrugged.

“Bull. You haven’t even tried,” Nathan took another drink. Randy began ‘The Joker’. “I agree with Randy. You should ask out Chrissy and see what happens.”

“And ruin our friendship? No thanks,” Brian scoffed and took a drink of his own beverage. His phone suddenly chirped. “Speak of the devil. Text from Chrissy.”

“Text her back using the eggplant emoji and see what happens,” Nathan suggested.

“I’m not gonna do that,” Brian texted back to Chrissy and sat his phone back down. “How are things between you and Jess? I heard that you two have started dating again.”

“Yeah. I don’t know where it’s leading but we’re having fun. I’m having fun. I think she’s having fun,” Nathan said. Brian’s phone chirped again. “What’s Chrissy texting you about?”

“She’s just asking me about my night. She must be bored.”

“That is a much harder song to sing along to than I imagined,” Randy said as he sat back down at the booth. “Brian, I think you’re up next.”

“I didn’t even want to do this,” Brian grumbled as he slid out of the booth just a second before his name was called.




“Give her your number,” Nathan said.

“She’s a waitress in a bar. She probably gets hit on all the time,” Brian said.

“Just give her your number when you pay for your tab,” Randy said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“I guess,” Brian wrote his phone number on a slip of paper and stuck it in with the dollar bills. The waitress came by and took the money along with Randy and Nathan’s and went back to the bar. Brian, Nathan and Randy watched discreetly as she went through the money, found the slip of paper, rolled her eyes and threw it away. “Hmm. That kind of hurts more than I expected it to but I get it.”

“Come on, let’s go. It’s time for part two of tonight,” Randy said.

They all got into Brian’s car and drove away. “So where am I driving to?”

“Head down the highway, past 151st,” Randy directed. “There’s a good place near there on a hill where we should be able to find some.”

Brian began driving, music playing softly from the radio. “Why do you want to do this? You do realize that we are in our late 20s, right?”

“I know but it’s one night of reliving our youth. We can go back to being our boring old selves tomorrow,” Randy said.

“I like my boring old self,” Brian muttered. “What if we get caught? It’s not when we’re sixteen or seventeen anymore.”

“When have we ever gotten caught?”

“Remember when we were stealing that street sign and a cop car flashed their lights at us from a parking lot on the next block then started driving toward us?” Nathan reminded.

“But we didn’t get caught. We quickly drove away and was able to outrun the cop,” Randy corrected.

“I still have that street sign,” Brian smiled. “It’s in my storage closet but I still have it.”

They continued driving, reminiscing occasionally, until they arrived at their destination. Clarion Woods Park was a new subdivision being built off of 175th and Pflumm. Right now, it was just an area of dirt with flattened areas where the roads would be placed. “Look at all these hills,” Randy said. “I think there are some up there on that ridge,” he pointed.

“This is stupid,” Brian complained but walked with Randy and Nathan up the ridge to the row of four port-o-potties at the top. “All right, now what?”

“Now we each do our thing,” Randy said deviously. He went into one of the port-o-potties. Nathan went into another one. Brian went into another but didn’t know what to do. He started to pee on the seat but it back splashed onto him so he just peed in the toilet.

Brian was out of the port-o-potty first with Randy a minute or so later. Nathan came out several minutes later. “Okay, that was stupid. Let’s get this over with.”

They each went behind their portable bathroom and began pushing. Soon, all three tipped over and began sliding down the hill, the sloshing of the toilet water barely audible over the loud thud of the plastic walls.

Randy and Nathan were giddy with excitement as they all ran back to the car. Brian started the car and pulled away, shaking his head. “What was wrong with us back then? You would think that with all the stupid, moronic things we did that we were high all the time.”

“I sometimes was,” Nathan admitted.

Brian’s phone chirped and he noticed that he had five messages from Chrissy that came in while he was out playing with the portable bathrooms. “What does Chrissy want?” Randy asked.

“We’ve just been talking all night. Not much else,” Brian said. He looked at the latest message that came in: I guess you’re in bed. Maybe you can come over some other night. G’Night. Brian typed in ‘good night’ but then deleted it and sat the phone back down.




When Brian got home to his apartment, he grabbed another key off of the key hook and went back downstairs to his storage closet. Behind some boxes, a green street sign leaned against the back wall. Printed on the metal sign were the words ‘Lone Elm.’ He took the sign, closed the door, and got out his phone.

Are you up for a road trip some time? he texted to Randy. He went back to his apartment and his phone bleeped.

Sure, just let me know when.