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“Everythin’ alright?” Mack asked me, getting up from his spot next to Rose.
“Guess Kara wants to leave,” I replied, watching her get drunken hugs from all the women.
“Thought she was havin’ a good time,” Mack said curiously. “First time she’s ever wanted to go out with us.”
“What?” I asked, turning to look at him.
“Yep.” He shrugged. “Doesn’t happen often, but we always invite the girls when we go out. Charlie usually shows at some point, but Kara never has.”
“Never?”
“Think this is her first time in a bar,” he said seriously, watching his daughter. He looked over at me. “That’s weird, right? Kids still go out and party with their friends, it’s not uncool or some shit?”
“You’re askin’ the wrong person,” I replied. “Haven’t exactly been partyin’ for the last few years.”
He nodded in acknowledgement as Kara and Charlie reached us.
“We’re heading out,” Kara said to her dad, giving him a half-hug as she held on to Charlie’s drunk ass. “I’m sure we’ll see you tomorrow.”
“My parents’ house burned to the fuckin’ ground,” Charlie said to me, fisting her hands up by her face and then spreading her fingers wide. “Poof! Gone.”
“Yeah,” I said, pulling her away from Kara to help Charlie walk toward the entrance. If Charlie went down, I wasn’t sure what Kara thought she’d be able to do about it. They’d both end up on the dirty floor.
I kept one eye on Kara as we made our way through the crowd, and I was so focused on her that I almost didn’t catch Charlie as she lurched away from me.
“I know you,” she said, pointing at a table. “I know all of you.”
The table laughed.
“Don’t laugh,” she said, sounding surprisingly sober for a moment. “You’re all a bunch of little prick douche canoes.”
“Shut up, Charlie,” Kara said, pushing us toward the door.
“Fucking creeps,” Charlie yelled over her shoulder. “You peaked in high school, dickheads, and that’s not saying much!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one guy rise from the table, but his friends forced him back into his seat.
“Yeah, sit back down,” Charlie yelled just as my gramps came up behind us. “I’ll beat your ass again, just like when we were in school!”
“Jesus,” Gramps spat. He stepped around me and bent at the waist, throwing Charlie over his shoulder—a move I’d seen him pull on my Gram a hundred times. “I’m gettin’ too old for this shit.”
We followed him out of the bar as Charlie struggled to straighten up long enough to yell more insults at the table.
“Knock it off,” Gramps said, giving her a shake.
“Those assholes,” Charlie bitched. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I should’ve just started swinging.”
Kara was suspiciously silent.
“You want me to fight with those young fuckers?” Gramps asked easily, setting her on her feet. “You start that fight and I’m gonna have to end it.”
“You could take them,” Charlie replied, scowling back at the bar.
A couple of people standing outside to smoke were laughing.
“You got it from here?” Gramps asked me, shaking his head.
“Yeah, I’ll get ’em home,” I replied.
He walked back into the bar as I ushered Kara and Charlie to the Jeep. I didn’t even laugh when Charlie bumped her head trying to climb inside, even though it was funny as hell. All my attention was on Kara, who had gone completely silent.
She was like a ghost as she quietly climbed into the front seat, gently closing the door behind her. I rounded the hood as she buckled herself in. As soon as I’d gotten into my seat, she locked the doors.
“Those motherfuckers,” Charlie was mumbling, leaning forward to wrap her arms around Kara from behind. “I’ll kill ’em.”
“Drop it, Charles,” Kara ordered softly.
“Fuck that,” Charlie said as we drove toward the apartments.
And as luck would have it, halfway there, lights lit up behind me. I was being pulled over.
I tried to control my breathing as I pulled over and reached for my wallet to get my driver’s license.
“You got insurance and registration?” I asked Kara as she rummaged through the glove compartment.
“Here,” she said nervously, handing them over.
“Keep your mouth shut, Charlie,” I ordered as I rolled down my window.
“License and registration,” a voice in the darkness ordered. I couldn’t see his face because of the flashlight he was pointing at mine.
“Here you go,” I said, handing them over before putting both hands on the wheel. I wasn’t about to give him any reason to hassle me.
“You been drinking tonight?”
“No, sir,” I said.
“You came from a bar,” he replied.
“I’m the designated driver,” I replied. “I only had one beer.”
“So you have been drinking.”
“Just a beer—”
“Step out of the vehicle, please.”
I took a second to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth.
“I need to unbuckle my seatbelt,” I told him.
“Go ahead.”
As I unbuckled my seatbelt, his flashlight moved through the car, pausing on Kara before sweeping over Charlie in the back seat.
