Here and Gone Again

My good friend Jimmy has this terrible habit of never answering his phone when I call. He has gone a month or more with out ever returning a phone call. When I do get to talk to him, he just says he’s busy and that it doesn’t bother him that I call as often as I do. So when he disappears I just keep dialing his number whenever I think of him and leave a message in the hopes he’ll resurface.
I had been trying to get a hold of him for a week because his birthday had come and gone the Friday before. I even dragged poor Dominick with me to the mall to get him a present since we were suppose to all meet up last Thursday for Hyperfunk’s CD release party, which he never showed for.
Here it was Thursday again and he called me back at last. Already out with friends to a brewery on the Eastside, he kept promising one more pint and he would be on his way. Part of me knew that he would fall through and I would be left totally hanging again. Taking a power nap and heading out to his place, I still ended up sitting in the parking lot for a good twenty minutes. The man was weaving as he got out of his car and that pissed me off. Don’t get shit faced at one function by eight o’clock and think you can just change your clothes and be good to head out again. He was the one that was supposed to be driving as is. But I’m always weak. I don’t put my foot down when I should and I let the freak drive that night. The longer it took for him to get ready the more sober he did seem, but then again that’s me probably still trying to rationalize my poor actions.
By now it was eleven o’clock when I had been ordered to be at his place by ten… wait, no ten-thirty… umm maybe later. There was no point in trying to hit up the club that was playing House that night so we headed toward the hip-hop club instead. The man is a master of finding free parking even with his massive SUV that he drives around.
Walking into the club I noticed a guy I knew walking ahead of me. Something made Bryan turn around and he noticed me as well. Bryan was a friend of the DJ, now Entertainment Director, of this particular club. We had all gotten to know each other back in the day, and my best friend at the time went on several dates with him. The first thing anyone notices is how completely gorgeous Bryan is and then how outgoing to the point of strangeness. After talking with Bryan for five minutes, you also realize that the only thing Bryan loves better than him self is Sports. Interesting fellow.
Anyway as I said hi to Bryan, Jimmy seemed to eye him like a jealous boyfriend which made Bryan give me this look of, “Who’s this fool?” They immediately introduced themselves to each other. Some how or another Bryan made some weird comment about having always known Jimmy and grabbed him up into this huge hug. There is just something really odd about seeing a six foot-five black man swinging a five foot-seven bald Asian guy around in the air. But then again that’s Bryan and his weird physical nature.
I decided to check my coat that night; at this particular club it’s like a guilty pleasure. Thursday’s is ladies night so there’s no cover charge. I spend all my money on the close parking spot since the area around the club makes me nervous. After that the ritual is always to stash my coat in a corner. I usually have a coat just for this too; one with zipper pockets and no sentimental or fashion value so if something happens to it or numerous drinks get spilled on it, I won’t care.
That night, on the other hand, I had dressed up and due to lack of pockets I wanted to check my coat. This is another awesome coat check girl. I’ve never really talked with her but she’s always been nice. After a month hiatus she made mention of it when I did return. It always blows my mind when someone in this business who sees thousands of people a night, recognizes me to the point of realizing I had been gone for any length of time. That night she again surprised me, I had been expecting to pay the usual two-dollar fee but it had apparently gone up to three. Embarrassed that I would have to go ask Jimmy for money, I tried to explain I’d be right back with the extra dollar. She waved her hand and said not to worry about it. Thanking her several times, I felt really good that I leave the sort of impression that makes these jaded nightclub employees willing to be nice to me. I do not envy the crappy drunk people they deal with night after night.
To the dance floor we went, which was only sparsely populated at that moment. The first high light for the night was when I looked over and noticed someone I thought I knew. It was Mister-Man from Fat Tuesday, who had called me by my friend’s name and had promised up and down that he would call me this time. To his credit he had called me. We had had several phone conversations and even managed to go out on a single date, which I had felt had gone well. After another promise that we would get together again, my intention had been to wait for him patiently, which I’m bad at, and had moved on. If he had called I would have gone out again, but after meeting Dominick I stopped thinking of the guy completely. Now here he was sucking face with this girl on the dance floor. At first I wasn’t sure it was the right person, but when he came up for air I knew it was definitely him. Part of me was mad he’d never called again and the other part was relieved to be able to put that guy out of my mind for good. No mysterious disappearance, this guy had a “case closed” stamp now.
It was hilarious when Mister-Man caught sight of me and I waved. I don’t know if I had that evil smile that I’m told I do so well, or what but he basically grabbed his girl and left. I was proud that I could have that effect on someone, but then again to be thought of as a girl who might cause a scene kind of upset me as well. For whatever reason life is funny that way, and I believe things happen for a reason.
Back to my own situation, Jimmy was most certifiably at that asshole stage in his intoxication. The DJ slash Entertainment Director that I go way back with was spinning. Problem was he had been not so nice to me during the last encounter we had had. Receiving a strange email out of the blue apologizing for his actions, there was a promise of drinks being bought by him. Since Jimmy had been involved in the original situation I happened to mention the email. This left him trying to flag the DJ down and draw major attention to the fact that I was at the club that night. Man, if I could punch a guy, I would have. I really would have. Talk about embarrassing! One of the major misunderstandings the DJ and I were having was about the fact that Jimmy and I were NOT dating. Jimmy on the other hand was only succeeding in making a total liar out of me.
I found myself wandering away from Jimmy a lot, which made me kind of sad. We were supposed to be hanging out for his birthday. Then again, as I watched him go from lady to lady, he wasn’t exactly having a bad time either. I don’t think Jimmy is capable of having a bad time, he’s just one of those eternally optimistic, upbeat people.
I ran into Bryan again while standing off to the side. He grabbed my hand and told me that his friend needed me to teach him how to dance. After a few tries I was to the point of starting with the quest to find the beat. The guy had balls, that’s for sure, but talk about marching to the beat of a different drum. Bryan shook his head and said it was a lost cause but then started showing off, as he loves to do. Now don’t get my wrong, Bryan is a completely awesome dancer but you have to be in shape to keep up with this guy. His favorite move is to pull me astride him and I never know quite what to do. Here I am up in the air, straddling this guy around the waist. My answer is always to make a lassoing motion over my head like a cowgirl and make the best of it with humor. Dipping me low to the ground I lost my balance and he ranted that I never trust him. Shrugging as he walked away from me, I had forgotten that I wasn’t exactly fond of Bryan till that moment.
Back and forth all night was pretty much how it went. I danced with Jimmy for a while and then would get mad and walk away. I went over to the corner of the dance floor that had a long set of speakers for the sound system covered so that people could dance on top. Bryan had jumped up there and when I had waved him encouragement he motioned for me to join. We showed off for a bit but some annoying guy kept yelling obnoxious things at me and slapping the inside of both my legs. I got down and walked away at that point, problem was Bryan had been trying to dance with me as well so it ended up looking like I was rejecting Bryan more than the annoying guy on the ground.
During my rest sessions off to the side, there were these two really tall foreign looking guys that were head and shoulders above most of the crowd. One kept eyeing me but wasn’t moving. I was not interested in any sort of way so I kept from making eye contact and accidentally encouraging him. He finally got the courage to come over more than once but didn’t say a word to me. The guy would just stand next to me, sipping his drink through those tiny stir straws and stare at me like I was suppose to make the first move.
I ignored his ass most completely by keeping my attention on Go-Go dancers that the club has. It’s not hard for me to get lost in my selfish disappointment that more than once I had been told I was way better than the majority of the girls that were hired, and still I was grounded with no hopes of ascending to the heavenly balcony.
On his last pass through, the foreign guy did actually talk to me. His friend and he were from Europe, though I never heard what country because of how loud it was. His ice breaker was to ask if I was “From around here.” They were looking for someone who knew the area and could tell, or show, them where they could find a good time. We got to chatting about the inconceivable idea that I had never flown on an airplane of any sort and the great cites in Europe I would have to visit when I did finally get airborne. All in all an interesting guy I’m sure but not my type by any means.
Drinks from the DJ never happened. By the time I noticed he wasn’t spinning anymore and was flirting with the girls that immediately surrounded him by the back entrance to the kitchen I was in no mood to bother. Who was I to walk over there and try to bring that topic up in the first place? Selfishly I wanted him to take the initiative since it was his offer, but you don’t make the man do anything, hence my surprise about his emailed apology to begin with.
When we left the club, I ran into “Leg slapper” who had dance challenged me and proceeded to slap my side. I was seriously done with the guy and he was trying to make some sort of appeal in the face of my obvious disinterest. On the other hand, Jimmy was trying to hook me up. The one moment I wanted the guy to act like a jealous boyfriend and he flings me to the wolves. Grrr! Back to his apartment we went and I wasn’t really sure if we’d had a good time or not. It was a typical night out for us, with all the weird situations that had happened, but when I headed home I was still pretty much ambivalent about the whole thing.