The ride to the club was uneventful, and as I was about to exit my car I remembered something that had me diving into the ashtray by the radio. That special little piece of liquid metal clay stuff! The one I’d accidentally taken from Reggie’s house. I hoped it was still there, and that someone hadn’t taken it during the initial break-in. Upon first glance, I couldn’t see it, and I was heartbroken, thinking I would have to explain to Reggie that not only did I freak out his lover, but I stole something from his house that in turn was stolen from me! Upon closer inspection, however, I could see that it was simply camouflaged against the metal of the ashtray. It had conformed to the bottom, looking like it was part of the car.
Again, I was struck with how amazing a thing it was. It was like metal clay, changing shape, stretching out, contorting to whatever form I gave it, and when I laid it out on my palm, it began to simply puddle. I felt like there was a buzzing kind of energy that surrounded the metal, the way two magnets with the same poles will interact with a particular force. You can’t see it, but when you try to put them together, you feel the resistance. It was like magic, except not, because there’s an actual scientific explanation for the reaction of the magnets. There was no scientific explanation that I could think of to explain this liquid metal stuff, which didn’t mean there wasn’t one. I was not a science major in college. Could it be dangerous?
My brain immediately nixed the thought. There was no way Reggie would have any hazardous materials lying around in his kitchen.
But I knew I needed to get inside so I wouldn’t have Johnny hollering at me about values and responsibility and how the only way to succeed in life is to work hard and be on time.
“Where do I put this?” I asked myself, not wanting to risk leaving it in an unsecured car any longer. My brain had been so freaked about the break-in that I’d completely forgotten about it. I supposed I could stick my finger through it and make it a ring. But my hands were usually busy as a bartender, and I wouldn’t want it slipping off, maybe going down the drain. Toe ring?
With that thought in mind, I pushed the liquidy metal bit over my third toe and it conformed perfectly, creating a center hole and hugging my digit like it was a second skin. It actually looked sexy. I stuck my strappy heels on, which held the ring more securely in place, the energy of it humming against my skin, almost tickling me. Then I made my way into the club.
Johnny’s Spot was even busier on Saturday nights. Young singles in their twenties had had time to rest, get all hoochie-mamaed out and meet up with all their friends who were looking for an equally good time. I was up to my neck mixing drinks, grabbing beers, cleaning up bar spills and trying to maintain clever repartee with customers who were getting progressively more plastered. I knew that if I could get them to laugh, though, the tip jar would fill faster, which is good for all of us.
For the first part of the night, I developed a headache that I tried to ignore and just push through. It started out strongly enough, but I noticed that over the course of three hours, it dwindled. Eventually, it was gone, though a feeling of lightheadedness presented itself. But that was okay because it was a kind-of-cool feeling and didn’t hurt. I also thought I caught glimpses of Ryder in the crowd, which kept my heart jumping, but I could never get a clear view because of the constant movement of bodies. Disappointing. I also figured I could be imagining things, because wouldn’t he come up to me if he was there? We had shared some very intimate moments.
God, I want to grab your tits.
I heard the statement and looked around sharply to see which of the guys around me had said it. There were three guys looking up at the TV screen located behind the bar, watching a soccer game; there were two women flirting with Barry, waiting for him to finish pouring them drinks at his end of the bar; there was a lone woman who looked like she was waiting for someone; and there was a couple not too far diagonally from me. The guy was looking at the woman as though mesmerized by whatever she was saying. I thought the statement came from him.