Lou lost count of how many drinks she had somewhere along the line. She had closed her eyes while dancing in sheer bliss. When she opened her eyes the couple was long gone. She felt confused and adrift in the sea of people. Had it all been just her imagination? Clearly she needed to get laid very soon, if she was entertaining voyeurs these days. Tammy looked at her amused she had witnessed her humiliation.

“He led her to the restroom.” Tammy said through slightly slurred lips and a knowing smirk.

Lou didn’t respond, she continued dancing in a bid to sweat out the liquor. Just plain old fortifying water, no more liquor for the rest of the night. Since she was the most sober of the lot she would no doubt be driving them home to Tammy’s that night.

Out of nowhere the crowd seemed to separate into two sides. Five of the guys that she had seen by the entrance earlier had formed a human barricade against some scruffy looking men from getting at their leader. Both sides were constantly being joined by members of their gang and Lou began to wonder if there was more gang members than patrons in the club.

The DJ stopped the music and said that he wouldn’t continue playing until they took their fight outside. The DJ that was now playing was that slender twin that she observed earlier. He looked very cute on stage and had groupies surrounding him. The patrons watched the entire debacle, some with fascination others with apprehension. She fell in the latter, so much for living, wild and free. This night firmly served to reinforce her belief that the partying lifestyle wasn’t her thing. Lou felt uncertain, caged and out of place. She didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire if war broke out in the club.

She was glad when the fighters walked out taking half the crowd with them as they made their way outside the club. There was a lot of hooting, hollering and jeering from the crowd. No one knew the reason for the tension in the club and speculation was rampant.

She gathered up the drunken girls amidst the groans and jabs of being a party pooper and somehow managed to get them to the car. Lou breathed a sigh of relief that she and her friends got out of that den of inequity the same way they entered. She drove with fastidiousness, and never once looked back.