Sid got a text from Maxxie, as usual, on Saturday evening at around 6. 6:13 today he noticed. Maxxie was wondering what he was up to that night. The only times when Sid didn't get a text from Maxxie was when there was some boy Maxxie was fucking around with.
Rays from the sun came through Sid's window, onto his bed. Sid was lying on his bed. Tony always texted him later in the night. They were always texts about how many times Tony was planning to fuck that night, texts that never failed to reference Sid's virginity.
The text from Maxxie said 'hey hey hey where will you be this beautiful evening?' Sid imagined his virginity as some kind of bird, beating its wings in the air over his head. Its beak was long and curved. Sid texted Maxxie back saying, 'wherever you etc. will be.'
Sid got dressed and was out the house by 8. His father spat some kind of insult at him as he pounded down the stairs, but it bounced off the front door as Sid slammed it shut. Sid tried to think of an adjective to describe the air that night. It was autumn. Crisp he thought, but it was more electric than that. There was a feeling of anticipation, of possibility. The sky was dark, the sodium light from the streetlamps bounced off the clouds. The clouds were low. Sid thought of rain as he walked to the pub where he was meeting Maxxie and Anwar (inseparable). He patted the baggie of weed in the breast pocket of his jacket.
*
The pub was called the Cock and Bull, it was in an old charmless building. Maxxie and Anwar were there already, Chris and Jal were there too. Jal looking put out, nursing what looked like a whiskey ginger. The guys all had pints, and when Maxxie glanced Sid slide into the pub he called over to him. Sid raised his hand in return, fetched a pint for himself from the bar and slid in beside them.
Maxxie put his arm around Sid's shoulder and said "Heard from Tone tonight?"
Sid said no and took a long drink of the bitter. There was a band clattering around on stage, getting their equipment set up. "Who's playing?"
"Fuck if I know," Chris said and got up to get another pint.
"I think it's some local shit," Jal grimaced, "But hopefully we'll find something to do before they actually start."
"I am planning on fucking one of those two girls," Anwar gestured across the room to two Asian girls, who were out of his league.
Maxxie rolled his eyes and said, "Tone said there's a party somewhere but I forget where . . . "he pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans. "It's at Osmosis," he said, naming a club downtown. Then to Anwar, "If you're not too tied up in a threesome you should come too."
Sid laughed. A bluish cloud of smoke drifted over towards them. The lights were dim.
*
At Osmosis, Maxxie, Anwar and Chris were dancing in a densely packed group. Jal and Sid stood away a bit between the bar and the DJ, drinking slowly.
"Gah this is terrible," Sid said raising his vodka & Red Bull to eye level.
"Well it has Red Bull in it," Jal laughed at him. A guy came over to them and asked Jal to dance. He glanced at Sid, then apologized and slunk back off into the crowd.
"Did he think we were a couple or something?" Sid asked then gingerly took a sip of the drink.
"Well, I guess you're good for something. Anyways I won't dance unless the DJ decides to play, ummm . . ."
"Poker Face maybe?" Sid grinned.
"Fuck you. I won't dance till he plays Poker Face," she agreed.
The club was a smallish club, chromey and dotted with brightly colored rubber balls. The balls had thin tendrils on them that were thrown into sharp relief when the lights flashed. No doubt they were meant to resemble cells or something. Sid thought of dog toys.
Maxxie disentangled himself from the others and waded through the crowds to Jal and Sid. "What the fuck kind of name for a club is Osmosis?"
"Maxxie you are drunk," Jal rubbed his head.
"Yes. Come dance with me."
"No, I'm good."
"Sid then," Maxxie turned to him, "Come dance with me."
"I'm good too," Sid said.
"Fuck you both," Maxxie said. Someone jostled him from behind and he fell into Sid. Maxxie must have been very drunk indeed. Ususlly so graceful and well-poised he took a nose-dive to towards the floor. Sid caught him in his arms. Maxxie's weight was on him, all of Maxxie's weight. Maxxie's damp forearms. He disentangled himself from Sid. "See?" he said smiling but a little flustered from the almost-fall, "We dance well. You should come dance with me."
Sid went out onto the dance floor with Maxxie. Maxxie stood across from him, holding Sid's gaze. Blue eyes. Next to Maxxie, Sid was a terrible dancer. He was very conscious of this. Maxxie's arms and hips and legs moved very well. Sid was reminded of a song lyric: when you dance you're more fluid than a bedsheet in the breeze. Sid realized he was drunker than he thought. Out of the corner of his eye, he was Anwar and Chris leave the floor and go to talk to Jal. Sid moved jerkily, awkwardly.
Poker Face came on. Maxxie let out a whoop. Sid looked over at Jal, who saw his gaze, shook her head, knit her brows together and turned back to Anwar and Chris who were having a conversation that huge, dangerously huge, hand gestures. "When it comes to love if it's not rough it isn't fun," Maxxie was singing with his eyes closed. He was moving his arms in circles. There was a line of perspiration on his upper lip. Sid had been nudged closer to Maxxie by the press of bodies. His chest bounced off of Maxxie's. Maxxie opened his eyes, "Sid!" he said, as if recognizing he was there for the first time, and threw his arms around Sid's shoulders. Pulled Sid closer.
*
Outside the club, Sid and Maxxie caught their breath. "You are a surprisingly good dancer," Maxxie said. "I don't think I've ever seen you dance."
"I don't think I'm a good dancer really," Sid replied.
"Well you are a persistent one." Maxxie pulled out his cell phone. "Shit," he said, "I got a text from Anwar. They've all headed back."
"Back where?"
"I have no idea. He just said 'back.'"
"Like to the pub maybe?"
"Maybe . . ." Maxxie frowned and shut his phone and put it back in his pocket. "Probably home."
"Sounds like a good idea," Sid was tired, and cold. Being alone with Maxxie didn't appeal to him for some reason. Or appealed to him too deeply.
"No it doesn't," Maxxie said. "Do you have any weed?"
Sid remembered the baggie in his jacket pocket. "Yeah," he said, "That also sounds like a good idea."
Maxxie grinned, and took them to a park nearby. By the river, which Sid couldn't see but could hear. They sat on a bench. Sid took out the little pipe he had with him always. It was ceramic, he found it at a junk shop and stole it. It was so small, so darkly purple. He couldn't resist taking it. He filled the bowl tightly and then handed it to Maxxie. Maxxie took the lighter too and took the first breath of it. The smoke wreathed around his head. The light from the streetlamp threw the smoke around hi head into sharper relief. Maxxie shut his eyes halfway, and handed the lighter and the pipe to Sid. He leaned back and said "Awesome."
Weed made Sid more thoughtful but also less aware of the thoughts he was thinking. He inhaled it deeply, he could feel it resting in his lungs. He breathed it out again. "Tony is a cock to me isn't he?"
Maxxie looked at him, and then said "Yeah." He took another toke. "He is a cock to everyone."
"Hmmmmmmmm," Sid leaned back too. He and Mxxie were leaning back together, looking up at the murky sky.
Maxxie handed Sid the weed things and as Sid took another toke, he felt Maxxie's hands on his back and shoulder, rubbing them. "It's OK," he was saying, "He's a cock to everybody." Sid exhaled. Maxxie kissed him lightly on the mouth then drew back.
"It's OK," Sid repeated, tasting the words. Maxxie leaned in to kiss him again, and Sid kissed him back now. Kissed his lower lip and then his upper. Maxxie's hand pulled Sid closer. Sid turned to face Maxxie. Sid still had the weed things in his hand. "Hang on," he said and turned to put them on the bench behind him. They kissed again then, under cover of night. Under cover of being drunk and being high. Sid took Maxxie's hand that wasn't over his shoulder and twined his fingers between Maxxie's.
Sid pulled away soon, to study Maxxie. Maxxie's mouth was wet, his eyelids drooped. "You tired?" he asked.
"Mmmmm," Maxxie said. Then kissed Sid again and stood up. "You coming?"
"Where?"
Maxxie shrugged and smiled. Sid stood up and they walked together through the dark park.