I felt the warm rush of nostalgia run through me as we walked the streets of downtown Austin last weekend. Or maybe it was the warm rush of alcohol running through me on its way to infect my liver. Anyhow, after the requisite bar hopping on 6th Street, we ended up at this place called The Wave. The downstairs area was lined with your Homers, the beer drinkers who huddled around booths and tables engaged in conversation while checking out the scenery and the beer drinkers who pretended to be engaged in conversation while checking out the scenery. The upstairs had more of a club feel, with overly-cushioned booths lined in that fake, white pleather and a bar surrounded by people who were enjoying the company of Mr. Goose with Miss Cranberry and Lil’ Walker On The Rocks. I flagged down the brown-eyed bartender with the universal sign of impatient alcoholics...yelling at her while waving dollar bills in the air.
"2 Patróns," I blurt out. "2 Gran Patróns chilled." She stopped for a second and threw me a look that said "This is 6th Street you drunk moron, not Madison Avenue." "The best we've got is Silv-" I cut her off, nodding my head. "That's fine...2 Patrón Silvers then. And don't forget to make one for yourself."
Brown-Eyes flashed a quick smile and mouthed the word "Thanks" before turning back to grab the shot glasses. I spun around to look for my drinking partner Min, only to see him a little ways off heading towards a group of Indian girls...dots, not feathers. He stumbled into the middle of their group, placing his index finger underneath his nose, and yelled out, "I smell currrrrrry!" before huddling over, cracking up hysterically at the genius of his observation. Goddamnit, that bastard. Just as I was about to walk over there and grab him, his eyes locked onto a pair of blonds with lithesome bodies and ass-ets big enough for him to lose interest in the group. Assuring myself that he was too drunk to be a threat and not drunk enough to get kicked out, I posted back up to the bar just in time for the tequila shots. Reaching for Min’s shot glass, I clanked it with the bartender’s, shot it down, and remembered how much I hated tequila. I chewed on the lime wedge like it was my last meal as she headed back to the register to add the damage to my tab. Brown-Eyes then returned unexpectedly, slammed down my shot and proceeded with some shameless flirting- “You know, that shirt makes you look like an asshole..."
Coming in September: Austin Redux