Mad Ravings Part II (April '13)

"Mr. K, stop humping the kitchen door. You're drunk! Get your drink and sit down." J blurted out, falling sideways on the couch, laughing hysterically.

     "Fuck you! I'm not drunk, yet. I'm doing the Harlem Shake, bozo." K replied, finishing his drink. "Hey, will somebody please turn up the music?" He continued. I moved over to the music player, studied the controls for a while and moved my fingers over the right  switches. I made sure that the music was loud enough reasonably, but not enough to wake up the neighbours. A gathering like this is always ends up inviting some trouble, I thought. 

      "I need a refill." he continued "Please, everybody, don't be pussies, huh. C'mon, dance with me. 

Hey, We'll make a video. Just cover your faces with your shirts and shake! shake!! shake!!!"

      "Alright!" everybody raised and clicked their glasses. "Cheers" they said but none moved. 

     There were endless rounds of chicken nuggets, fish fingers and fumes and as the evening grew darker so did the conversations. "I'm a Buddhist. I QUESTION EVERYTHING." The guy in the blue shirt started. "I don't know God. But it is my duty to question his world." And then he turned to me "What about you? Do you believe in God?"  It was a rhetorical question but I decided to answer him anyway. 

"I believe in God like I believe in everything else. Nothing special. It is subject to change." 

"You're quite the strange one, huh?"

"Thank you."

      "Hell, away with you philosophies. Hey Ben, put the music back on, will ya?" K called out, made his way back to the middle of the hall and started dancing again. "Hey, have you guys heard that joke... the one about the Gods, Britney Spears and Shakira?"

"No. Let's hear it, my man." I answered. 

"So, the Gods got bored of their wives, and so invited Britney Spears and Shakira to Heaven..." he went on. The music dissolved in the background. 

      The girls walked in at around half past ten. "Hello boys! We've got the cake. Let's celebrate!"

My friend, old boy Terry, came out from the kitchen, excited.
"Holy shit! Why are you all dressed up for?"

"I wanted to look nice. Is that a crime." 

"No. no. You look beautiful. Like a princess." He helped her with the cake. 

We set the table and everyone refilled their glasses. There was around fourteen people in the room. Half of them were strangers to me but I was not bothered. The night was still so young. 

     Not long after, the room broke up into little groups and private conversations grew louder with every passing minute. The guy in the blue shirt loved to argue. He was the loudest too. But from time to time, he would pause, finish his drink and recite a haiku. We all laughed and praised him heartily. The others were occupied catching up on old stories, contemplating the good old days. Before midnight, the gathering had turned into a school re-union, most of them were classmates. Me? I came from a different school from a very different city so I moved away a little and gave the boys their space, that space where memory is resurrected for a night, for a few laughs over old tidings.

     "I'm gonna sit next to Ben." Princess pulled a chair next to me in her beautiful yellow dress. "You guys keep talking about those wasted days. Damn." she told the others.

"Hi, again." I moved aside a little and made room for her chair.

"What's wrong, Ben? You look depressed." 

"Yeah? I'm just tired. Didn't really sleep well yesterday. Actually, I didn't sleep at all. I was at a friend's birthday party yeterday. It went on till 5 in the morning. You know how those things turn out. Don't you?"

"Hah, right. To be young, huh?" she laughed cynically. "Seems like we can't really have a conversation with these boys tonight. They're reminiscing the old days. Good for them. But I wasn't in their school and neither were you."

      "Yeah. I guess we're both outsiders tonight. Cheers!"

      "Cheers!"

Something like Olivia... played on.