Page 31 of Solo Stan

Elias

As the two neared the stage, the venue started to look more like a private party than a club.

The bass rising in Elias’s chest was almost unbearable, as though it had replaced his own heartbeat.

Rotating red lights cast long, sensual shadows that moved in rhythm to the music.

Every inch of the room was bathed in red light, which clung to the veil of fog that fell from somewhere above.

The sun could have been up and people could have been on their way to church for all he knew.

Walking into that red den was like entering into a vacuum where time was only a suggestion.

Elias led Dakarai by the arm through the sultry red glow. As he stepped closer to the stage, it was like figures appeared in the mist, looking him up and down. Some of their eyes lingered on him, but most drifted behind him to Dakarai.

It was so much louder on the floor than it had been in their little tucked-away corner.

The sheer volume felt confining, and Elias stopped—they’d gone far enough.

He wrapped Dakarai’s arms around his waist and leaned his head back onto Dakarai’s shoulder.

His body completely lost all strength the moment Dakarai held him, and he closed his eyes for a moment as they swayed together, watching the red-drenched CYPHR with the silhouettes of hundreds of hands against him, tendrils of fog shining through their fingers.

One hundred heads pointed their chins toward the ceiling at the sound of a loud pop. Confetti gushed from above. The band then launched into their next song, spraying bottles of water into the audience.

The cool droplets hit Elias’s skin, awakening and exhilarating him.

He turned to face Dakarai, who was shaking the confetti from his hair.

With a touch as gentle as a whisper, Dakarai cradled Elias’s face in his hands, his fingers delicately wiping away the liquid that threatened to fall into his eyes.

Then Dakarai’s eyes suddenly grew wide, and Elias watched as he ducked down as if trying to shrink himself.

Elias followed his gaze and was met with the familiar eyes of the security guard, his short-lived friend, Joshua.

Stationed near the entrance, Joshua’s stoic demeanor turned from confusion to rage in an instant.

He knelt to talk to Robin. What they were saying was inaudible, but Joshua was pointing directly at Elias, punctuating every word with a deeper furrow of his brow.

Elias put his mouth to Dakarai’s ear so he could hear him over the rattling bass and said, “Let’s go.”

As they scurried away, Dakarai accidentally bumped into a woman wearing a men’s hoodie that went down to her knees. He quickly said sorry, but she shoved Dakarai back and clung on to the man next to her, who was presumably her boyfriend, with a fervent “Fuck you!”

“Stay away from my girl,” the boyfriend said.

“Stay away from your girl?” Elias repeated incredulously, jumping in front of Dakarai. “You thought he was trying to be your boyfriend-in-law? He was just trying to get past.”

“Let’s just calm down,” Dakarai said, his eyes scanning the room nervously for Joshua.

“I’ll calm down when he says sorry,” the boyfriend said, pointing at Dakarai.

In a room too small for the sound being created inside of it, the boyfriend’s voice was the thing causing Elias’s temples to throb. He had chosen the hour just before sunrise, on a night when no one had had even a wink of sleep, and everyone was soaked with rain and confetti, to throw a tantrum.

Elias gave an apologetic look to Dakarai, who probably wasn’t going to like what he was about to do.

“He already said sorry,” Elias said. “And he wasn’t hitting on her. We’re together.”

The boyfriend scratched his head. “What do you mean?”

“What do you mean what do you mean ? The two of us are on a date, as in with each other, and no one’s trying to talk to your girlfriend. Now turn your goofy ass around and leave us alone.”

Elias, chest puffed and shoulders high, felt a strong sense of pride for not swinging at this guy.

Perhaps the influence of Southern kindness was already starting to rub off on him.

As he turned to Dakarai, seeking his well-deserved pat on the back, Elias found his attention usurped by something entering his periphery fast. Muscle memory alone propelled him backward in a clean dodge, only to discover that the boyfriend’s attempt to throw his drink on Elias had backfired in spectacular fashion.

The unintended consequence being that Dakarai, not Elias, was now the one wearing an assortment of melting ice cubes.

It was only a week ago that Elias took a hit to the face from a preteen, albeit one who looked like he was on a steady diet of red meat and other people’s lunches.

And while he usually prided himself on his facial symmetry, he really wasn’t trying to get a knock to the other side.

He wasn’t that person. It’s likely he never was.

Or at least he didn’t want to be anymore, especially here, with Dakarai.

Elias pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an exasperated sigh. “I did it again, didn’t I?”

“No one got hurt,” Dakarai said, brushing the ice off.

Wanting to prevent an impending altercation, Elias grabbed Dakarai’s hand, and they broke away from the disgruntled couple, nearly taking a head dive into the black waters of the floor, which was slick with spilled drinks.

They wove through the dancing bodies on the dance floor, shimmied between couples, ducked behind an empty DJ booth, and eventually made it to the back hallway that led to the bathrooms. Elias looked all around for Joshua, but he was no longer in sight.

He yanked Dakarai by the arm, and they both got into a half squat.

“What are you squatting for?” Dakarai asked.

“Solidarity. Just stay down,” Elias shouted over the music.

“Well, what’s the plan? We can’t duck them forever.”

“Let’s just go out the door we came in. It’s probably time we got home anyway.”

Elias and Dakarai exchanged a tacit pep talk in the form of firm nods. Elias then led the way into the dark passageway, only to reemerge about ten seconds later slung over the shoulder of his former friend Joshua, Dakarai in tow.

Elias observed CYPHR getting smaller and smaller past Dakarai’s head as he was carried out.

He felt like a popped parade balloon hanging limply over Joshua’s shoulder.

As such, he waved goodbye to Imani and Sarita, who were at the bar.

Joshua escorted Elias and Dakarai all the way to the main doors, where they walked past Robin, who wasn’t made any more pleasant by the last few hours that had passed.

“We could have been great friends, Joshua,” Elias said as his feet met the floor again. “I thought we had something special.”

“Get home safe,” Joshua said dismissively, returning to his post.

Elias and Dakarai went through the glass doors and were spat back out into the rain.

They stood there a moment, trying to let what just happened sink in.

Dakarai took one look at Elias’s disgruntled expression and burst out laughing.

He clutched his sides and dabbed at his eye, though Elias couldn’t tell if he was wiping away a tear or rain. That made him laugh.

Elias cleared his throat when their laughter became forced and trailed off.

“Well, I guess now we know he wasn’t hitting on you before,” Dakarai said, still holding on to his sides.

“Oh, you’ve got jokes,” Elias said with a suck of his teeth. “Let’s just get out of this rain. We don’t need to water you anymore; you’re tall enough.”

He extended a hand to Dakarai, who took it and followed behind him in a renewed fit of giggles.