Inspirational Songs: I Need Some Sleep by Eels, and Desperado by Eagles
Chapter 2: Drunken Nights
Ironically enough, it began to rain. Just my luck, right?
Desperate to get out of the cold, I rushed through the sopping rain and kept my jacket over my head in a useless attempt to stay dry. I ran in the direction of the bar. After the day I had, I was entitled to a drink. Or two.
The bar wasn’t very different from the other houses in the village. It was long and rectangular with a wooden-shackled roof and a chimney that spewed smoke. The only difference was that there was a giant sign over the entryway that read, “Dewey’s”. And unlike the blunt, lifelessness of the rest of the village, the bar was animated and vivacious. Its prominent yellow lights were radiant in the dark blue canvas of the night. In the freezing, merciless rain, the warmth that protruded from the bar was inviting.
I thanked my lucky stars that I still had some money and dashed into Dewey’s. Even though I was soaking wet, the minute I stepped into the bar I felt warm. Glowing heat seemed to exude from everything; the fireplace, the lamp lights, even the people were warm and bubbly as they chatted away with each other. In the far corner of the bar there was an elf playing a nice melody on a piano. The place wasn’t completely filled tonight, but it wasn’t empty either. I really hoped I wouldn’t cause any trouble here, but it was inevitable that I would.
Instead of dwelling on that thought, I spotted an empty seat at the counter and sat down. Dewey, a short, brawny man appeared behind the counter and pulled out a glass.
“What can I get you, chum?” he asked.
“The strongest thing you have,” I said, unfamiliar with any names.
“Rough day?” he assumed.
I nodded, “Got fired.”
“This one’s on the house, then.” He said sympathetically, pouring a honey colored liquid into the small glass. He pushed the glass and the bottle towards me.
“Thanks.” I lifted the glass to my mouth, swallowing the drink in one gulp. It was the first time I’d ever had alcohol, and man, it tasted awful. To tell you the truth, I was a little worried about how dangerous I’d be while I was drunk. I mean, even when I was sober I was a walking plague. But I figured I owed it to myself to loosen up tonight. So I poured myself a few more drinks and chugged them all down one after the other.
Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever been drunk before, but it is a sensation like no other. First, my body started to feel really loose and tingly, and then sounds became more muffled. And then I had the urge to scream whatever was on my mind. That was when the spinning started. The world rotated all around me, and I wasn’t even moving.
Before I knew it, the bottle was empty, and I was quite disappointed. But a small part of my brain was telling me I’d had enough to drink. I knew I couldn’t stay any longer without causing trouble.
I sighed and reluctantly stood up, which was a bad move because the ground felt like it was moving. I stumbled over but caught myself on the edge of the counter while managing to knock down the stool I was sitting on.
I’d worked in the bakery for so long that I couldn’t help myself; I picked the stool back up. Old habits die hard, I guess.
I turned around and tried to walk straight. As I tried to make my way across the bar to the exit, my head swirled. Man, how could people stand this? I stared at the ground while I walked, attempting to stay steady on my feet, which was not a good idea because I ran into something massive and fell flat on my back. The breath came out of my lungs like a gust of wind.
“Ouch,” I croaked. I looked up at what knocked me down. It was a guy. Even though my vision was really blurry, I could see that the guy was big, bald, and had two equally large men standing behind him. I tilted my head, looking at him questioningly, trying to figure out who he was.
I eventually pulled myself up - with great difficulty I might add - and tried to stay balanced.
“Watch it,” the beefy man who knocked me down barked as he brushed past me.
“You watch it,” I muttered under my breath.
The big man snapped his head back, “What did you just say to me?”
“I said, ‘You watch it’.” I emphasized each word slowly, partly to piss him off, and partly because I was too drunk to speak coherently.
His nostrils flared in rage. He yanked his arm back and snapped it forward, landing his fist square in my jaw and made me fly back into the counter. I landed on my back, breaking a couple of glasses and bottles in the process. My head spun. The big man marched over and pulled me by the front of my shirt so that we were face to face, and I got a closer look at him.
Man, was he was scary-looking. His eyes were dark and they were red where they should have been white. His teeth ground together as he pulled back his lips to snarl at me. Ugh. He smelled gross, too.
“Do you have any idea who you’re messing with?” he growled.
I knew I should shut up now, but I couldn’t stop the next words from coming out of my mouth, “No. But I know that you’re the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen.”
That did it. I’d never seen anyone so angry, not even Mr. Garrow when I broke his display counter. His eyes bulged out in fury. With a menacing snarl, he picked me up and lifted me high above his head. I closed my eyes, preparing for the pain. He threw me down onto something hard, and whatever it was shattered underneath my weight. I groaned agonizingly. Damn, that hurt. Luckily, I didn’t seem to have broken any bones, but there was no doubt that I would be covered in bruises the next day. I managed to stand back up with some effort.
I was really pissed now; I’d had a bad enough day already without this bozo making it worse. I lunged at the big guy and tackled him without thinking. I speared him right through the piano behind him. The elf playing the piano had the foresight to move out of the way quickly. We smashed onto the keys, making the notes jangle wildly.
I was about to punch his brains out, but before I could nail the guy in the face, I felt strong hands pulling me away. I was too drunk to even put up a fight. I let whoever was grabbing me drag me out of the bar.
The only reason I knew we were outside was because the air got colder and rain splattered on my face. I got dumped onto the cold stone alleyway, and I was a little annoyed at that. I looked up to see who pulled me out of the pub. It was Dewey. He was glaring down at me with an angry expression. I smiled up at him sheepishly, my eyes half open.
“Hey, Dewey!”
He rolled his eyes, “I shouldn’t have given you that bottle of tequila.”
“Was that what it was? Dang, that stuff sure is great!” I said, but it sounded like mush when I spoke.
“Right. We need to get you out of here.” Dewey muttered. He pulled me up and swung my arm over his shoulder. I didn’t protest when Dewey tugged me along the flight of stairs at the back of the pub; I was too far gone to understand what was going on around me. All I remembered was my head hitting something soft and fluffy before I blacked out.
