I gave him the middle finger and popped open my new beer.
“Among other things. I think I’d be completely disowned.”
“Who cares? You have us, man. Womb to tomb.” Eric offered me a high-five. I took it, and he continued, “We’ve been friends since the third fucking grade, man, and we’re not going anywhere.”
Mick chuckled. “We’re gonna be old men in the nursing home, smacking nurses’ asses and causing hell.”
“As long as it’s one of the places with the good drugs,” Randy added.
“Yeah, us five and Desiderio’s old woman.” Mick nodded.
I gulped and looked off toward the empty parking lot. If only they knew how wrong they were. Maybe the four of them would be friends in their old age. I only had a year before I would never see them again. Before my heart stopped, I grew fangs, and was forced into the darkness as a new vampire.
“Why did she fly out at night?” Tommy asked.
“Because she’s a creature of the night.” Eric laughed. “Did you see what she was wearing?”
“Hey!” I warned him.
Eric put his hands up in innocence.
“Yeah, what’s with the sexy goth look?” Mick asked.
I reflexively reached for another cigarette. Whenever Aleida Linotti came up in conversation, I had the urge to smoke.
“She’s gone for a week. Will you guys just let me enjoy my vacation?”
“You’re a fucking schmuck.” Randy laughed.
“Must be good puss—” Eric started, but I punched his shoulder.
Memories of my relationship flashed through my mind. The sex was good then. Fucking phenomenal. But it was different than love, and it didn’t make a good marriage. We knew why we were getting married, and it wasn’t for love.
Honestly, the sex wasn’t even that good anymore. Lately, it felt like she was trying to tear me in half. Which, I guess, wasn’t her fault, considering she was a vampire now, and I was still a human.
For 365 more days. Then, we’d both be vampires, get married, and have all the little bat babies our parents wanted.
What a fucking life.
“Girls, Girls, Girls” came through the boombox, and I began to sing with Mötley Crüe while I finished my smoke.
“What time does the movie start?” I asked, kicking off the wall.
Mick brushed his long, dark hair off his shoulder and drained his beer. “Let me go callMoviefone.” He walked over to the payphone.
“What are we going to see again?” Eric asked.
“Return of the Living Dead III.”
“Hell yeah. All right.” He wiped the liquid from his brown mustache and gave me a high five. “Happy birthday, man.”
“Twenty-six. It’s a good year.” Randy lifted his beer. “Welcome to the club.”
I was the youngest of our group, and they never let me forget it. Much like my biological family. Mick returned just as Tommy reached into the beer case to give us another round.
We popped the tabs and held our cans toward each other in a circle.
“Let’s toast. To Desiderio Amato, may your last year as a free man be a good one. Happy birthday!” Randy cheered. We clanked our beers and then chugged them. I was the first one to finish, and I dropped the can to the ground and howled.
“Whoo! Fuck yeah!” The rest finished their drinks and did the same. Tommy grabbed his boombox. Mick picked up the case of remaining beer, and we started off on foot toward the movie theater. Randy put his arm around my shoulder as we walked unsteadily down the sidewalk.
“I love you, man, but you got to do something about her.”
Indeed, I had to.
I had one year to figure out how to get out of marrying Aleida Linotti, a full fucking vampire, before I was stuck with her for eternity.
