Dance, Lust And Them

 “That’s not true,” Janelle said, but Curtis slapped the table with his hand in an effort to silence her.

 “Don’t you dare tell me what I already know is true,” Curtis said.

 “Don’t talk to her that way,” Vance said.

 “What?” Curtis spat.

 “I said don’t talk to her that way. Janelle has been nice enough to invite us into her home and she cooked dinner for us. In fact, she’s been nothing but nice this whole time. You’re the one who is being ridiculous. I have no idea what’s wrong with you, but you need to tone it down. Maybe you should have some water?”

 Curtis stood up, swaying slightly. “Quit telling me what to do man. You’re always just telling me what to do, as if you know. What is wrong with you? Huh? Janelle tell him.”

 “Um,” Janelle said, looking up at Vance for help. He placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back down in the seat.

 “You need to take a seat, Curtis,” Vance said.

 Curtis had stood up abruptly and knocked his chair to the floor. He was now swaying dangerously back and forth, looking like he would beat the hell out of Vance at any moment. Janelle knew they’d been drinking a lot, but she had no idea that they had drank that much. She felt light-headed and dizzy, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. She wasn’t sure what was wrong with her, but she was finding it harder and harder to breathe. In front of her, Vance was still trying to get Curtis to stop whatever it was he was about to do. He had one of the empty wine bottles in his hands and was swinging it dangerously around the room.

 “Just listen to me man, it’s not a big deal. No one’s boxing you out. We both care about you a lot.”

 “Boxing me out? No one’s boxing me out? What do you think you’ve been doing this whole time? You know that if you flirted with her she’d fall for you, man why’d you do it?”

 “Janelle is a single, independent women. I don’t know what it is you think you’re trying to get out of this situation, but you have to go through her, not me. I’m just telling you I’m not against you man, I’m not. You need to listen to me.”

 The house was hot and the temperature was climbing. Outside, it had begun to rain. The thunder was so loud in Janelle’s ears that she could barely handle it. There was quite literally a wall of thunder that sounded like it was barreling down on the house. Part of her wanted a spike of lightning to stab through the house, to crack the table in half. She wanted some grand gesture to occur so that Curtis could understand how serious the situation was. She wanted him to stop, he needed to stop. He wasn’t being nice, he was being cruel. Janelle hadn’t done anything at all; she was just sitting there. Why did her mind feel like it was racing?

 “Can I have some water?” she asked Vance, who ignored her. He was too busy yelling at Curtis.

 Janelle stood up, grasping the table for strength. The alcohol had definitely gone to her head. After she’d started eating, she thought it might be all right to drink a little bit more but she was wrong. She was more of a lightweight than Vance and Curtis, especially because she was shorter and lighter than they were. It was impossible for her to handle her liquor.

 Somehow, she made it towards the sink, but it wasn’t easy. Along the way her eyesight became like jelly. Everything was thick and confusing, and slanted. It felt like she had taken someone else’s prescription glasses and placed them over her eyes. She had no idea what was going on, and why everything looked so chubby and confusing.

 I’m in wonderland, she thought to herself. I’ve drunk something I really shouldn’t have been drinking and now I’m messed up. Something’s wrong, something doesn’t feel right. Why do I feel this way, why can’t I breathe?

 When she finally reached the sink after what felt like an eternity, she ran the water cold and stuck both hands under the sink. The water was cool and fell in blankets over her hands. She turned her palms over and over again; just wanting to get that feeling again—the feeling of water covering her like a blanket.

 “You guys I think we drank too much,” she said.

 Behind her, Vance had Curtis in a headlock.

 “I think I drank way too much,” she mumbled to herself. Part of her wanted to throw up but the other part of her, the sane part, knew it would be better to go to sleep. If she could just curl up in the sink like a cat, she’d be able to sleep for a while and then wake up new. It would be a baptism of sorts. She convinced herself it was a good idea but just as she started to lift her leg towards the sink, something happened in her brain that caused her to breathe even slower.

 “This…isn’t right,” she said. “Vance?”

 Something in her voice sounded panicked. Something about her tone was able to warn Vance that he needed to do something, that he needed to let go of Curtis.

 But when he looked over at Janelle, he realized it was too late. Janelle had passed out at some point, and was now lying on the floor, a thin trickle of blood coming out of her head from where she’d hit it on the sink.

 “Janelle?” Vance shouted, grabbing Curtis by the shoulders.

 They called 911 and flocked towards her body, cupping her head and shaking her body. But Janelle hadn’t woken up yet. She was having the most extraordinary dream.