The Real After Hours

I am such a creature of habit. Once I get a routine down it’s tough to get me to deviate easily. On the opposite side, if my routine is horrible interrupted then it’s damn tough for me to jump back on the horse as it were, even when it’s something I WANT to do.
I can still remember the first night I ever attended a club by myself. Drakes Nightclub, which is now a ghost of its former glory, had been my Cheers. The head bouncer along with several of his crew gave us hugs on the way in and out of the club, checking on my best friend Janai and I from time to time while out on the dance floor. Big D, master of the cash box and wielder of the hand stamp, had stopped charging us for cover all together. Several of the main floor bartenders as well as the general manager Kent knew us both by name. The main floor DJ was becoming a pretty good friend and we were following his talent back and forth to other clubs as well.
Janai and I on a whim had started going one night a week for the sake of getting both our butts out of the house. That turned into every weekend and, at this moment in particular, we were doing three nights a week. Then, out of the blue (well for me anyway) Janai didn’t want to go out. I was in shock! But like every other time I’ve wanted to go out dancing, I hated being dependent on someone else’s presence in order for me to go out and have fun. This time I put my foot down and told myself the obvious. I knew every damn person that worked that club. I would be perfectly safe if I went alone, just this once.
The courage lasted long enough for me to get all dolled up and drive to the club. Once I was parked in my normal spot, everything I had convinced myself of had fled. I sat in my car for the longest time nervous as hell about going somewhere alone, let alone a club. If something were to happen to me, there’d be no one around to miss me. Going dancing still had a very social side to it. Even though I went early in the night to dance as the soul occupant to the House music the main floor DJ spun while there was no one in the club, when it changed to Hip Hop I really preferred to have a male dance partner.
Meeting guys at a club was still a new thing for me. Even if it lasted a dance or two, I adored the flattery and praise that I was receiving from total strangers. It was getting damn well addicting. For all my nervousness about walking in the door alone, I sincerely doubted I would have to worry about an overzealous gentleman. I worried more that I would feel so alone that I wouldn’t dance and I’d just end up scared of my own shadow the whole night.
In the end I dealt with a lot of jokes about where my “partner in crime” was, but other than that I was well taken care of and really started to meet people on my own. For the first time I really explored my own outgoing personality, not just riding safely on the coat-tails of my sometimes outrageous best friend.
Looking back on that “first” moment, it was a hell of turning point. If I had never conquered that fear I can think of tons of great people that I never would have met, tons of moments that later defined my personality and my passions for both House music and dancing that never would have happened. It makes me sad to ponder that sort of alternate reality.
For some reason all that came flooding back to me as I drove to the Last Supper Club for a second Thursday in a row. It felt so good to be heading out into the night, on my own, knowing that I was going to spend the night dancing and hanging out with people that I could talk music with.
An empty pay lot faced me as I parked in what I decided would be my own personal “spot” from here on out. I was seriously early, even for my own standards. The “Open House” crew was not an early one. The majority of the party crowd wouldn’t roll in until well after eleven-thirty which meant my entrance into the club would be just as desolate. For some reason I had been totally on my game when I had gotten ready and jumped in the car. Deep down I think I was just a little too excited for the time out.
As if on cue, and I swear these people wait for me to arrive, a shabbily dressed black man turned off from his original direction down the sidewalk to crossing the empty lot with a purpose. I don’t even have to guess what he’s about to tell me and it’s not the usual, “Spare any change,” question that most bums in this area plague everyone else with. Oh no, with me it’s a lovely lecture on paid parking verses the free spaces that are apparently abundant and that I somehow miss each time. The parking ticket already in my hand I was glad that I was facing this gentleman with my car keys in hand and my credit card already safely stashed. “You know you shouldn’t pay for parking.” Man, what is it with me! “But since you already did, I wanted to let you know that I live in this area and I keep an eye on all the cars that are parked around here.” At this point I am surprised at this new story, but still moving away from him intent on placing my parking voucher face up on my dash, as directed, and getting into the club as quickly as possible. Keeping him in my sight lines I nodded at him as my only response. “If you could spare some change for the service I am performing toward the safety of you’re car that would be greatly appreciated.” Well that was a hell of a speech. I explained that I had no cash and moved away from my car, after a big show of setting the alarm more than once, expecting that to be the end of the conversation. That was normally enough for them. But oh no! “I take credit, just come over to the store and get me a six pack. That would work” I couldn’t hold in my shock or my disgust. I told him in no uncertain terms that I was not interested in helping him out and marched off. I was seriously pissed off by the time I got into the club. It then occurred to me that I just left my car as the soul occupant in a parking lot with a now pissed off homeless person. Not that smart.
Visions of slashed tires and broken windshields danced through my head as I stuck to the safety of the pillar closest to the entrance. The cold night also set in and I realized, as my anger faded, that I was frozen solid. Arms crossed I stood there glancing about the room to see if Lifeguard had showed up yet. The place was pretty empty but the regular few were on the dance floor spread out and enjoying the elbow room. I caught sight of the same red shirted girl from the week before that had been great at throwing elbows. In the middle of the room she was dancing in her usual energetic style that made it dangerous for anyone else to be near her. I had to laugh at what a great ploy that must be. When things get too crowded just start smacking people and you get the middle of the floor to yourself.
I watched her for a while trying not to let my teeth chatter loudly. The breeze from the entrance every time someone came through the velvet curtain was almost as bad as being outside still. Yet for some reason I didn’t want to move. Trying to keep from being catty all night, I admired the girl’s style and energy. A lot of her dance moves were something I would do. She was always dressed simply in a tight t-shirt with some clever statement and jeans. Maybe I was just cranky with her presence because I wished it was still me in the center of the floor. Then I remembered how inconsiderate she tended to be in close quarters and changed my mind. The girl caught my eye and gave me this look of recognition. It was a strange look more akin to something I would call territorial. On the other hand I was too damn cold to care at that moment. Normally something like that would make me jump on the floor immediately as if in response to a challenge.
As with my nostalgia from my drive earlier I thought back to a feud I once had with a girl I had never personally met. Based out of the same club from years ago this girl had suddenly appeared and seemed intent on physically pushing me aside. It seemed like every time I turned around this girl was taking up a spot I had vacated or talking to the people I had just talked to. She was also becoming quite friendly with the main floor DJ. But she was allowed in the DJ booth where as Janai and I were told that “knee pads were required for VIP DJ booth access.” That didn’t really endear me to the whole “DJ groupie” idea. It pissed me off that I was the one that was being a loyal fan and could hold long conversations about music and the club scene, while she just had to bat her eyes and get access to the booth and any song she wanted played. I think this was the start of my realization that the underworld of clubbing was no different that anything else. Girls willing to give a man what he wants will always get ahead in the world.
Even with all the perks that she was getting, apparently my presence was being taken as a threat to her hold on her DJ. More than once I had caught nasty looks she was shooting me from the booth or when she was across the room and I was taking up some favorable stage space. It all came to a head one night at Club Medusa. Janai and I had been following the DJ up to the city on Thursdays for several months when she started showing up and pulling the same deal at this club. One night in particular I had noticed her earlier in the evening weaving her way through the dance floor with a guy I recognized as another great local House DJ from down south. The girl had DJs standing in line! The dance floor was packed to the point of ridiculousness and I didn’t even see her coming when she decided to make a path between me and Janai that required an elbow to be placed forcibly to my stomach. With the wind knocked out of me she was gone before I could even be angry. The DJ following close behind her had seen the exchange and stopped to give me this look of recognition and understanding as if he knew why she had chosen to specifically give me the elbow. I was left with Janai ready to cat fight her, and a sore stomach. What a killer for the night.
To this day I don’t even know what really spurred that whole thing. I knew that her name was Megan but not from ever talking to her, I learned that tidbit of info from DJ F who would talk about her a lot. As the years have passed I’ve run into her at several other places but we’ve done nothing more than give each other the evil eye. What a silly bit of girlish nonsense.
In most recent history I got the same sort of reaction for a girl that Bryan had drug with him to go out dancing. It seemed like I’ve run into Bryan a million times since he dated Janai and he always had a new girl on his arm. Way back when I was seeing a bartender named Mondavi at Taboo down south, Bryan spotted me across the room and came over to do our usual update on what Janai was up to and where his boy DJ F was spinning. I felt more like DJ F’s secretary in those days than anything else. The girl that was clinging to his back was not his usual sort of girl. Bryan loves nothing higher than himself. In the wake of that, I had seen a ton of model type girls clinging to some appendage as Bryan swept on and off dance floors. This girl was the epitome of a white trash hoochie. She wore a baby doll dress that looked more like a maternity shirt that didn’t quite hang right and barely covered her. Her hair had obvious roots from her bleaching out a natural color that was closer to black. I could tell from the look on her face she was VERY displeased that Bryan was talking to me. I could only smile back at her because if she didn’t like him talking to me, who had no interest in Bryan whatsoever, then she wasn’t going to deal with Bryan’s extremely flirty nature at all.
Bryan and I ran into each other again at the bar and as we talked for a bit more his girl walked off in a huff. I remember how unconcerned he had been as he watched her stomp off. Getting his drink he smiled sheepishly at me and said he’d better find his woman. I could only laugh, at the fact that he was undoubtedly in for a bit of bitching. I was completely unprepared with the girl came back to have a little moment with me instead.
I was ordering a drink from Mondavi and talking to him while he had a moment to chat. Since I had started seeing him, I spent a lot more time at the bar than I ever use to. Most of it was spent letting him rave about stupid people and annoying drunks. In mid-sentence I saw blonde out of the corner of my eye as she threw an elbow, again to my stomach, and stepped in font of me as I fell back in pain. Thinking she could just play the whole move off, she started ordering a drink. Mondavi just stopped everything to tell her off. It was a beautiful moment. “You don’t shove people at my bar.” Reaching past her to hand me the drink he had been making, he refused to serve her for the rest of the night. Shannon was the other bartender at the time and all it had taken was a mention from Mondavi to make her a very thirsty girl for the rest of the night.
Since then I had managed to not get on any other woman’s shit list, at least that I knew about. I hadn’t been elbowed purposefully since that time at Taboo, but this girl that was dancing in front of me at present seemed to have the noticeable signs of progressing into that sort of interaction. I either had to watch out or wear protective gear.
The DJ was spinning some great tracks that would make anyone want to dance. There is just something about that deep tribal beat that will affect me when I’m eighty years old. Some other types of House music have to speak to me on a song by song basis. This stuff just seemed to get me dancing no matter what. As the urge to dance continued to grow I started to look around me at the people that were coming through the door. It was definitely a different crowd. I was so use to the regular, trendy sort that was always out and about. These people had a hardcore, punk rock, card carrying shopper at Hot Topic sort of look. It was beginning to feel like I was the one out of the loop as there began to be more of them than of me.
I was still huddled close to my pillar feeling marginally warmer and still very shy when Lifeguard finally walked through the door. Much to my disappointment he stopped right next to me, eyeing up the room as if looking for something and then continued right by. Part of me wanted to just walk back out the door and go home where it was warm. The other part wanted to ignore him for the rest of the night and pretend I never saw him either. I can be such a retard. Where as in the past I would have entertained one of these options and then been pissed off because I had a crappy night due to my terrible decision making, this time I reached out and tapped his shoulder. Pretty darn simple.
I was relieved when Lifeguard seemed happy to see me. We stood talking for a moment about the strange crowd that I had been watching from afar. When he started to ask about my day and how things were going with work I felt like a five year old all of a sudden. I was still freezing and my whole demeanor was that of a shy little kid. I didn’t want to launch into some grand conversation with the loud music yet work was stressing me out so badly that I really wanted the chance to talk. He seemed to read right through me as I danced about the topic vaguely. Offering to get me a drink to warm me up he also added that we should find a place to sit and talk.
I was really blown away that he did actually want to sit and talk. The idea was a strange one when it comes to “club friends”. Club friends are people that you only meet up with at clubs and then keep all conversation centered around the action at hand. That keeps things simple and light hearted really which is best usually in that situation. It isn’t about life outside the club anyway; it’s about connecting with someone within that specific experience. Then again Lifeguard and I had been emailing back a forth for a while on topics outside the realm of House music, and the night at Watertown conversation topics weren’t religiously centered around music alone.
After saying hello to Shannon and taking a sip from my drink I was really expecting Lifeguard to half ass his suggestion and stand at one of the tables to talk. But he didn’t, he moved toward the more secluded seating that was out of the way and really more set up for being able to hear someone. Motioning to one of the chairs with his beer he plopped down next to me, moving closer to be able to hear better and got me talking.
I totally unloaded and we talked for a good ten or fifteen minutes. I was almost startled when a friend of his happened to come over and grab his attention finally. I felt so much better having gotten a ton of stuff off my chest. It had been such a long time since I had a friend that wasn’t someone I already worked with. Even to the point of the people I’ve dated in the past, Jon’s father worked at the same place. No matter where I went, there was work. It was awesome to get a fresh perspective and just someone to listen that wasn’t already dealing with their own shit concerning whatever was stressing me out.
After that first interruption it was basically like a parade of DJ’s that was stopping by to talk with Lifeguard, which was blowing my mind. All these people that I had seen before and admired from afar were smiling at me as they talked to Lifeguard about whatever. The topper was when Hyperfunk stopped by to chat about the next time Lifeguard would be getting behind the decks and other such DJ nonsense and, before leaving, turned to me to ask how I was and give me a high five, smiling as if he knew me from sight. Rock Star Moment! I know I say this a lot, but this colors my whole reasoning for my recognition of Rock Star Moments. I’ve always been that nobody that stands in the back and watches life roll by unnoticed. These little moments were I find myself in what I feel like is the middle of life are always so incredible to me.
As the DJ’s continued to keep rolling by I was feeling in the way. I got up and walked away at that point knowing that I was sort of hogging Lifeguard and we were done talking anyway. It was time I got back out to the dance floor and jump into the activity I love and adore. The red-shirt girl was still at the height of her energy as well as dominating the dance floor. Standing on the edge of the floor and bobbing my head to the beat I was at that point were I wanted to join in but didn’t have that track cue that would get me on the dance floor, no questions asked. I was getting shy in my old age. I wasn’t so ready to just throw myself on the floor and abandon my normally cautious nature.
Yet again it was Lifeguard that saved me from myself as it were. He showed back up and we talked for a moment about what the DJ was doing. I’m not sure how it came up but for the sake of all my stress and for the fun of the evening we decided to have a drinking contest. Both of us blowing past our usual three drink limit, he just kept the drinks coming and I was beating him two to one and damn proud of it. What ever stress I had from a couple hours ago, days ago, heck from the month seemed to melt away.
Half way through this game I made sure to stash my coat in a safe place behind the speaker cabinets, I wasn’t about to go through the same problem of stolen property this week. Being a smart girl I learn from my mistakes as quickly as possible. Or I’d at least like to think that I do. That left me free to bounce between dancing my ass off and trying to catch back up with whatever drink Lifeguard was on. Both of us were slowing down since he was off schmoozing and I was dominating as much real estate on the dance floor as red-shirt girl would give me.
Back in the crowd again I took a breather and received yet another drink from Lifeguard. He was chilling with Solitude as well as another friend of theirs’ named Joey. It didn’t take more than a short conversation to get a feel for Joey. He came off as the ultimate playboy partier, yet he really talked to a person. Not just the usual chit-chat that people do when they’re only being polite. He made me feel welcome and I liked him right off. It was great to see that he and Solitude were dancing fools as well. I was so happy I was meeting all these people that loved House music and loved clubbing and dancing to it as well. Men who go out and drink the night away at a club are entirely different than the ones that really get out there and dance, and not just for the sake of rubbing up on some girl.
The rest of my night was spent hanging out and dancing. Flave and Jordan were the DJs in charge of the headliner’s spot. Man those guys can put on a hell of a show! I love that it’s more than just the music sometimes. It’s about showmanship and riling up the crowd. Flave put on “California Dreaming” and it was like a magnet. I walked away from where I was standing, made my way through the crowd and had to jump up on to the walkway right in front of the turntable set-up to dance along with the couple other girls that were already up there. It was just too good of a song. It was funny to have Solitude and Joey dancing near by and giving me encouragement. It has been forever since I had jumped up in front of a crowd to dance. It becomes so much more of a performance art for me when I’m in front of a crowd on a stage. Yet, when I’m the soul person on the dance floor it’s not the same. That dancing is for me alone. When the floor is packed and I’m on display then it’s on baby! It’s about me showing what I can do and getting the crowd as pumped up about the song as I am. It is so much fun to have a self important moment of involvement. I’m a DJ cheerleader and I want everyone to have some fun!
Coming down off the stage all three guys seemed surprised if not pleased at my daring on the stage. It was like getting back in touch with the old me again. I was dancing and socializing and having such a great time. The night took a turn when Lifeguard went to go tab out and he came back looking less than pleased. Apparently the bartender had just given his credit card out to someone else. Thankfully she knew who she had handed it to and swore she could get it back, but I was blown away. WHAT THE HELL? If that had happened to me I would freak the fuck out. It wasn’t like you could really ever understand what happens at the bar anyway with the loud music and the bar staff doing a weird sort of sign language. Lifeguard seemed pretty low key about it, but man that really just sucked.
When the lights came on I was totally surprised. How the hell had I made it through the whole night without really noticing time slip by me? Then I realized how as I followed the exodus of people being unceremoniously herded out the door in any fashion possible: I was drunk. Standing outside became a great big game of “Marco - Polo”. Everyone was looking for someone: the one they came with, the one they wanted to go home with, the one they wanted to smoke with, the one that they just wanted to make out with. That’s where we found DJ Solitude as Joey, Lifeguard, and I managed to connect up. Solitude was handing out flyers at the main entrance except at the exact moment we found him; he was involved in a pretty heavy make-out session with a cute blonde girl. From the jokes that the boys were making at his expense it would seem like that sort of thing didn’t happen very often to him. Then again guy friends are the worst!
As Solitude disengaged from his object of momentary desire and went back to handing out flyers, I found my self in the middle of a discussion of “After Hours”. Lifeguard wasn’t willing to drive at the level of intoxication he was at, and I was feeling less than safe about it myself. It was decided, to The Contour we would go as they always seemed to go every week from the sound of it. Raising the call to other people heading the same direction it was beginning to look like the majority of the people that had just been at Last Supper were all relocating.
Convincing Solitude to put the flyers down and follow us, Joey and he started in with the rapper Little John’s signature “What!” and “Okay!” that was being answered by people walking behind us or driving by with their windows rolled down. I could only laugh and hurry to keep up with the lot of them.
As we started the three block journey to the other club, I was surprised at how many times I was being bothered by homeless people asking for change. Each time Lifeguard would step in front of me and give the robotic response of “Not tonight.” As if there would ever be a night that he would just throw pounds of change into the air for any bum that asked. It was just really nice to have him step up and take care of the interaction. I’m a silly girl really, and scared to death of bums. Friends of mine have been harassed, robbed, and assaulted by random people asking for change. I’m just never ready to have that next person be me.
After a million automatic responses we both got kinda silly. Getting fed up with the fact that Joey and Solitude were falling behind, the next group of bums that approached us got a different spiel. Whirling around to point the two of them out, we both announced “Go ask them, they’ve got all the change!” and then ran off like two little kids. I never looked back as the people that had been asking us for change moved off to intersect the unsuspecting victims.
Lifeguard and I ran the whole way to the other club laughing like we had done the most hilarious thing ever. When we got to Contour I felt sort of bad since there was no sign of Joey or Solitude. It was then that it hit me that there was a cover charge at Contour and I never carry cash. Honestly I panicked as I stood in line behind Lifeguard. I hate being caught in a situation where I have to ask for charity, my usual response is to just walk away and save face. That’s what I planned on doing too. Tapping him on the shoulder I asked what the cover charge was and admitted I had no cash. Apologizing, I mumbled that I would just head back to car and moved to step out of the line. Acting like I was being crazy Lifeguard grabbed my arm and said he’d take care of it.
I tried to disagree but we were at the head of the line suddenly and he was already working his mojo with the girl that was Mistress of Club Admittance. A bigger girl she had a very pretty face that had been scowling at every sob story she had been faced with since the other clubs had closed down for the night. She also had a large bouncer standing on the other side of the door and I had watched him remove several people that she had decided would not be going inside. As Lifeguard stood talking to her she smiled and blushed through it all. I tried to look separate from him, almost for the sake of not ruining whatever it was he was doing. This gave me time to look around at the outdoor patio that seemed ridiculous in the cold ass weather I was standing in, yet it was a nice place to smoke I bet.
Tuning back into the conversation I heard Lifeguard explaining that he only had enough money for himself but he’d gladly come back out after using the cash machine inside, or next week he would owe her. She just smiled and blushed stamping the back of his hand and mine, motioning for both of us to just go into the club. Lifeguard gave me a triumphant look as he held open the door to the club, letting me walk in first. A warm blast of air was the best thing of all as I walked in looking around like I’d never been inside the place. There wasn’t many people dancing but the line behind us had been growing so it was only a matter of time. One of the early DJ’s was on the turntables spinning great music. As I gravitated toward the small dance floor, I had to laugh at the wonderful sense of déjà vu. It was like Last Supper Club had just been transplanted.
Lifeguard was off socializing again and I was content to dance for a moment on the open floor and just explore. I had only been inside this club once before with Janai right after we had both turned twenty-one. I had been desperate to get out into the clubbing world and she had just started as a bartender for a cruise line. Reading up on the best places in the city to visit, The Contour had come up so many times that I suggested it one night as a place to go check out. Janai knew right where it was and drove us out on a Monday night to see what trouble we could find.
A whole lot of nothing was what we found. It was a Monday night after all, for that we sort of felt stupid later. Instead of a DJ it was open mike night for hip hop artists and at the time we sort of felt racially out numbered. Two white guys sat at the bar and one older looking white gentleman was seated at a table closer to the dance floor. We looked at each other and shrugged. We were out to find trouble! Going to the bar Janai ordered a Long Island and watched in shock as the bartender poured one of the strongest versions of the drink at eight o’clock at night. I got water when I saw the look on Janai’s face. Sitting at this rather long table that would seat about eight other people, it was the only place we could find that wasn’t right at the bar. Still new to the world of intoxicated men trying to hit on women at bars the rest of this experience was damn shocking.
One of the guys at the bar immediately was upon us the minute we sat down. He had a rather interesting Southern drawl and just launched into conversation like he had done it a million times and yet seemed like an awkward person the whole time. Janai wasn’t really helping; at this time she had cultivated the grand ability to be rude to guy’s faces.
He immediately told us he was in the army and that he and his buddy were out looking for a party. No girl wants to hear that. Then the most incredible thing happened, and I wanted throw my hands up in despair. “This is my last night in this port. What are you ladies up tonight?” I thought guys had stopped using that line after the end of World War Two. Are you kidding me!?! We tried to explain that we were college girls but not from that area so we didn’t know any good parties going on. It was Monday night people!
When we told him what college we did attend he recognized it as being close to the base he was stationed at for the moment. The college’s ROTC program did a lot of stuff with the soldiers on base. The ironic thing was that I was in a serious relationship at the time with a guy that was in that ROTC program, soon to commission as an officer into the Army. All that meant was as Janai was making cracks at this guy about his “deep south accent” I was getting damn annoyed at the fact that he was blatantly trying to bullshit us with a bunch of acronyms and information that meant nothing. Finally fed up when he tried to make some statement about the mountains in South America looking so much like the mountains here I was looking for any opportunity to get this guy to shut up. When he asked if we knew anything about the ROTC program, and that he might know some of the same people we went to school with, I jumped in and said “Really? Do you know my boyfriend?” Yeah that ended the conversation right quick. The guy promptly excused himself from Janai’s personal attacks and my lack of singleness. Man what a silly exchange.
It got even better when the older gentleman tried his luck with us as well. In his late forties with his sunglasses still on, he had the distinct image of someone desperately trying to still be hip. Sitting down next to Janai he pushed his sunglasses to the top of his balding head and announced, “I’m from York.” Janai just blinked at him and smiled and I had to laugh. The guy was from England and was trying to use that both an ice breaker and a pick up line at the same time. Trying once again to impress her, the guy gave her a very crooked teeth smile and repeated himself. When she still just shook her head confused and didn’t say anything more he stood back up with his drink in hand and returned to his table. Turning to me she still looked terribly confused as to what had just happened.
“Why did that guy just tell me he was from New York?” I shook my head and explained the situation to her. He had been trying to use exotic geography to woo her. Rolling her eyes we went back to watching the singer that was belting on some great sounds over a record that was playing.
In the end we left pretty much right after that, Janai was getting drunk off only a third of the Long Island she had ordered and we had to take a walk around the block for her to feel better about driving. I remember her going on and on about the fact that a shot is supposed to be a three count from a pour spout. When the bartender had poured out the three shots of liquor into the glass, she had counted to at least six each time. That had been one hell of a Long Island.
The club at present looked pretty much the same as it had back then. There was art on the walls; impressionistic and overly flattering depictions of the female form, but art none the less. The set up for the DJ had definitely improved. The part I liked best of all was that they were playing Cartoon Network on all the TVs in the place which was showing an Anime movie at that moment. When I didn’t feel like dancing I stood by the bar watching the movie for a bit.
I wasn’t there very long. I connected back up with Lifeguard, who was chugging down Red Bull and water. We both exclaimed in delight when the DJ put on the remix, and only mix if you ask me, of “Spin, Spin Sugar” by the Sneaker Pimps. I remember being obsessed with that song for the longest time, trying to figure out the artist and get a version to call my own. This song is truly a club anthem and just reminds me of being young and dancing.
Both of us agreed it was time to head home, having pretty much the same length of a drive ahead of us. I headed to the bathroom before we set back out, and I realized that I had no idea where to go. Following directions I walked in the door labeled “Women” and headed toward the obviously empty stall. Right as I went to unbuckle my belt I hear a girl laugh in the stall next to me which was answered by a muffled guy’s voice. I was shocked. I hurried up to finish my intended purpose for being there and rushed back out. I must have lead a very sheltered life, but a couple getting freaky in the bathroom seemed like something that only happened on TV. Besides a majority of women won’t even sit down to pee in a public restroom, why the hell would you want to have sex in one?
Meeting back up with Lifeguard I had to tell my story which only got me a funny look from him. He didn’t seem as shocked about it as I did and again I felt sheltered. We headed back over to the parking lot. I was little worried when Lifeguard said he never saw Joey or Solitude come into the club. I would hate to think that something bad had happened because of that prank we pulled with the homeless people begging for change. Lifeguard seemed completely unconcerned so I tried not to turn into my usual paranoid self.
Something closer to three in the morning the way was clear of anyone on the streets. All the same I was glad that I had Lifeguard there walking me back to my car. This journey to after hours wouldn’t be something I’d attempt on my own ever. After running the gauntlet of bums on the way down, it just didn’t seem like a very safe thing for me to be doing alone anyway.
Driving home I had to laugh as I thought about what I would be writing for particular post. The theme of this little space of mine is totally focused on After Hours and this had honestly been the first time I’d gone to a club in order to keep on dancing. After Hours for me was Denny’s. The club sandwich is damn good drunk food. Other than that, this was a completely new experience and one I had enjoyed, if only I didn’t have to get up for work in four hours.
In the end when I crawled into bed I didn’t care. I’d had a damn good time and danced a lot. I had also managed to get good and drunk as well as dance in two different clubs without spending a dime. But that sounds terrible. I’m not one to let favors like that sit as if I expect them. I pay back any money spent. But on the whole I had a great time with good people. For me that was justification enough for sleep lost.