Page 46 of Sending Love Letters to Animals

“Fine!” Davud huffed comically. “Twist my arm!”

When I held my arm up and fist pumped excitedly, Davud laughed. Finally, once we got to his house, his mom was waiting on the porch for us. The two of us exchanged a wave as she hollered “thanks.” I indicated that it was no problem as I got Davud’s chair out of the trunk.

Once he had lifted himself out of the passenger seat and into his wheelchair, I hung his backpack on the back of his chair.

“Pick you up at seven-thirty?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll convince Mom that it’s a good idea before then.”

I laughed. “Okay. See you then!”

Before I could dash around to the driver’s side once again, Davud spoke up.

“Thanks, man.”

“For what?”

He shrugged. “The ride. Being a good friend.”

With a wink, which made him laugh, I slid back into my car and headed home for dinner.

“How do you want to do this?” I asked Davud.

We were at the front door of Low-Key Café, and the bouncer was holding the front door for us. There are two relatively short steps up into the building, and no ramp. Jules, Elijah, Liam, Aubrey, and Daniel had already gone inside to wait for us. I told them that Davud and I would meet them inside. Having them stand around, watching us as I helped him up the stairs, would make things awkward for him. Fortunately, no one in the line behind us paid us any mind. They were waiting their turn to go inside.

“I’ll just, uh, turn around,” Davud said. “If you grab the handles and go up the steps backwards, you, just kind of yank me up the first step, then the second really quickly, and keep pulling so that I don’t start rolling forward. Don’t stop pulling on the handles until we’re both up on the landing.”

“Easy enough,” I said, moving to the steps as he turned around.

“But don’t like, be violent,” he chuckled nervously. “Like, solid quick pulls that don’t make me fall out of my chair.”

“Got it,” I said, laughing with him.

The bouncer did a good job of holding the door open with one arm while moving his body out of the way of the door. Davud turned the back of the chair to me, and I grabbed ahold of the handles. Together, we positioned his wheels against the first step, and I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to make the situation more awkward for Davud than necessary.

Then I pulled him up the first step, stepping back as I did so. Without waiting for his weight to shift us forward, I pulled him up the second step, then I began pulling backwards, moving as I went, to bring him up on the landing. Within five seconds, he was up on the landing in front of the door, and he was able to turn himself when I let go of the handles.

Giving us a smile, the bouncer let Davud wheel himself inside, and I followed. I thanked the bouncer, and he responded with a nod and a mumbled: “We really need a ramp.” Once the door was closed behind us, I followed Davud into the club. Stay by Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber was starting when we stepped into the main area of the club. When I looked over at Davud, he looked anxious, but his eyes were alight with the sights before him.

Obviously, he had always wanted to come to Low-Key Café, so actually being inside for the first time was intriguing. Of course, it was a white flag night, so everyone had worn white, the black lights were on, and teal and pink lights throbbed in and out from time to time. Everything seemed to glow, then be warmed by the pink lights, then glow again. It had to be overwhelming for someone who had never experienced it before.

“Why do they call it a ‘white flag’ night?” Davud asked loudly to be heard over the music.

“Everyone wears white and surrenders to the beat, man!” I hollered back.

Davud looked at me like I was crazy. When he saw that I was being serious and shrugged off his look, he laughed loudly. A quick glance around and I saw that Aubrey and Daniel were dancing on the periphery of the dance floor. I spotted Elijah and Liam taking pictures with a group of girls from school on the other side of the room. And, as I expected, I spotted Jules over at the drink bar. Unexpected was the fact that she was talking animatedly with Connor Payne as she waited for her order.

“So?” I asked Davud. “What do you want to do first? Get a drink? Cut a rug? Take some pictures? Eat some food? Stare at everything mindlessly?”

Davud thought about what I’d said, and my final question registered with him.

“Shut up,” he nudged my hip with his elbow.

“Well?”

“Um, I think taking my wheelchair on the dance floor might be a bad idea,” he eyed the crowded space warily. “Maybe you can buy me that Boba Tea you promised?”

“Sure thing,” I said and gestured towards the bar. “This way, my good sir.”