A Mild Case of Alcohol Poisoning

Recently, one of my friends, Carl, who has been previously mentioned, had a birthday party. He turned twenty. Gina, Christina and I all went. I pride myself on the fact that I was able to find the party place all by myself, following directions, and barely got lost. We pulled up to the house, saw that it was bopping, and parked.


I was wearing my ridiculously tall brown leather boots, a tight purple tank top and long jeans with the holes in the thighs. Basically, I was smoking hot. We opened the door, and we were immediately greeted by all of Carl's friends from school. Gina and Christina knew them, but I didn't. We hadn't gone to the same high school.


People greeted me with handshakes and eyes that said, "Well, don't you look familiar?" I smiled and introduced myself. They continued to give me that look of, I know you, but I don't know where from.


Marcel stood up when he saw us and gave me a very tight hug. I think he was just squishing my boobs onto him.


We let ourselves into the kitchen, and like a good bartender, I poured Gina and I matching drinks of vodka and Kool-aid. We clinked plastic cups and looked towards the party in the other room. Carl came in and said, "Come on! All the white people need to come hang with us black folks!" Then he gave Gina a hug and then gave me another super squishy hug.


We followed him into the living room where a card game called Taboo was starting up. I sat down next to Marcel and seriously started to read the rules. Basically, you had to get your group to say the word on your card with out saying the word, or the words or ideas that pertain to. Those secondary words were listed below the actual word.


"Oh, lord," I said, taking a swig of my concoction.


"What?" Marcel asked me, taking the rules from me.


"I am going to be horrible at this game," I said. Then I explained how I have a terrible with the tip-of-the-tongue phenomena. He found my utter misery directed towards the game highly amusing. I sighed, and drank more.


I was on team two, and for the first five or six people in my group, I offered no guesses. It was so difficult because most of the time, I had no idea what they were referencing. It's politically incorrect to say that blacks and whites come from different backgrounds, but it is true. The majority of the party was black boys and girls who got the references. I didn't.


After I finished my cup, and the alcohol was finally loosening my little pea brain, I started to see some connections.


It was when the word was Nicole Kidman, that I got in the spirit.


"She is from Australia," one of my teammates said, waving her hand like she was turning a crank.


"Oh! Oh!" I exclaimed, waving my hand similarly. "She's blond... and was in that movie... with Hugh Jackman!" I was so sure. "It's on the tip of my tongue!" I waved frantically. Time was up.


"Nicole Kidman," she offered. I nodded vigorously.


"Ah, yeah. I need more to drink, obviously." I passed my cup back to Gina who went and fetched me something akin to Jungle Juice. "Mmmm," I said into my cup. "This is good shit."


Gina told me later that by this point she was on her third cup. I wanted to say, it's not a competition.


We continued playing, and even though Gina was one her "third cup" she still wasn't loosened up. She refused to play.


"No, no, no. I am no good at this."


"Play! Play! Play!" We all chanted. Finally she took the cards. She tried. She tried really hard. Teams one and two were playing together, trying to help her out. We only got two answers.


We all laughed, but I saw the red creeping into her face. I knew she was embarrassed. Nobody else seemed to care. Someone patted her nicely on the shoulder and she smiled, feeling a little relieved.


The cards were passed around, and by this point, I was guessing and actually getting things right. I was proud of myself.


"It's my turn!" I grabbed for the cards, prepared myself for something really hard. I can't recall what it was, but I know my team scored six points in one minute. I felt like a rockstar. That meant I needed more to drink. I stood up and looked around, realizing Gina wasn't on the arm chair.


"Shit." I set my cup down. I had one thing to do that night, and it was make sure Gina didn't make out with Carl. Se had asked me to watch her. Already I had lost her. I went into the kitchen, sure that I would find her. I didn't.


Instead I found Carl. He was pouring himself some horrible pink liquid that I thought was Pepto Bismal. "Hey," I said, nodding.


"Oh," Carl said, topping of his red plastic cup. "We should chat." I had told him we needed to, after he almost had sex with Gina the weekend before.


"Yeah. It's a good idea." I felt sober. He opened the door to the stairs leading outside. I followed him and plunked down on the step.


"So what is going on." It wasn't a question, and he meant with Gina. She had freaked out about last weekend. They were drunk, and she was teasing him. He wanted to prove a point. They almost had sex, but he remembered he had promised me to not do that that night. It was a pinky promise.


Gina had freaked out. I told her it was no big deal, that we could just get her some Plan B. Just in case there was any "icky boy stuff." When she refuse, I explained how people can get pregnant without ever having sex. It was meant as, please, please think about these things before hand!


She hadn't had nearly as many sex education classes as me. It was understandable she didn't know these things.


"She is spazzing out a little," I said, drinking from Carl's cup of pink.


"Why?" He picked it up and drank too.


"Because..." I chewed on the inside of my lip. "She doesn't 'believe' in birth control, you know?" I always used quote marks when I said this. I thought it was a silly notion, like not believing in grass, or fingernails, or chocolate. It was there, so you have to believe it, right?


"Yeah, so?" He took another swig.


"So, she thinks it's a possibility..." I paused again, knowing this was going to sound ridiculously stupid, "That you could have gotten her pregnant that night. That's a scary thought for a young girl."


He laughed, a belly laugh. "Why would she think that?"


"Well, I explained how people can get pregnant even without having sex. It was more of a warning, you know? I didn't mean for her to get all wonky in the head." I mean, in the television show 'Scrubs,' J. D. got that one chick pregnant without sex.


"Is she... you know, bleeding?"


"Yeah. She was still a little freaked out. I mean, it's a good thing I brought up the topic. It'll keep you guys from making bad decisions. Just imbibing you both with fear." He looked at me, not understanding exactly what I had meant by 'imbibing.' "I was putting the fear of God into you guys, to say the least." I hoped it was still going to be there.


"Oh," he said, laughing again. "So she is on the rag, and not pregnant."


"Yup."


"And me and you, were good right?" He was sitting next to me, resting his hand on my knee.


"Of course, Carl." I gave him a side hug just as the door opened. It was Adley.


"Oh... sorry." He closed the door quickly. I blushed furiously and stood up. Carl followed suit.


"Adley!" I called as I swung the door open. He was still standing right there. Sadly, I still had to look up at him. I may have been almost six foot in my ridiculously tall boots, but he was still almost a head taller. "Nothing was going on, okay?" I pointed my finger at him dangerously.


"It's cool, it's cool." He waved his hands around him helplessly. "I don't want to get on your bad side," he said laughing. I smiled and patted his wrist.


"No you don't." We went into the living room again. The cake was alight with fire. The candles had been lit.


"Happy birthday to you," we all started singing. When that one finished, Marcel and Carl's god-sisters started singing the more fun version. "Happy birthday to ya'! Happy birthday to ya'! Happy biiiiirthday! Happy birthday to ya'!" It went on for almost two minutes, but was all in good fun.


"Make a wish!" Someone yelled as he blew the candles out. I looked around I realized that I had still not found Gina. I headed outside.


She was standing on the step, talking to Christina. I waved, "You missed the candles." They shrugged. I was thirsty and went back inside.


I went into the kitchen and went to fill up a cup. Carl was standing in there. He scooped my boob.


"Hey!" I crinkled my brows together. "That was my boob!"


"Yeah. And this is your ass," he said, reaching around and squeezing it.


"Uh!" I walked towards the door as Marcel came in. "He just groped me!" I complained.


Marcel grabbed my ass then ran his hand up to my boob. "He's got good reason to," he said, chuckling. "You are fucking hot."


"Uh!" I blushed. I tried to be mad, but I was secretly flattered.


"And you know," Carl said.


"You are acting taller than both of us. It's not fair you want to look like a model."


It was like they had rehearsed it.


"Thanks, I think." I took a sip of my drink. I didn't know what it was. I thought a beer would have been better than the purple sweet drink I had.


They laughed and headed out into the living room. That was when Gina's all time crush came in.


His name was Jermarco. I looked at him quizzically, knowing there was something he needed to know. I cocked my head like a dog. I didn't know what Gina saw in him because he was definitely not her type. He wasn't macho, he wasn't very tall, and he wore glasses.


"Jermarco, right?" I asked, handing him my hand.


"Ana," he said, shaking it. He fished around in the chicken bowl. "You and Chris are still broken up right?"


I didn't know why people asked it like that. Still broken up. Like there was the expectation we would get back together.


"Yes, we are not together anymore." I nodded. "It's a 'not getting back together' sort of not together anymore, if you know what I mean."


"Oh," he said, popping a piece of chicken in his mouth.


"Yep, and Jermarco," I said, remembering what I need to say, "If you make out with Gina tonight. It won't mean anything like sex." I smiled, and he smiled back. I picked up my drink, and for the third time went in search of Gina.


She was still on the porch, but Christina wasn't around. Marcel was talking to her. I stepped out.


"Gina!" I waved at the back of her head. She turned and looked at me. It was like she was looking at a train wreck waiting to happen.


"Yes..." Her 's' was extra long.


"Do you want me to stop you from making out with him too?" I pointed with my full arm at Marcel. He wiggled his fingers at me.


"What?" She stumbled in her tall shoes. I bounced from one foot to the other.


"You don't want to make out with Carl. You want to make out with Jermarco." I said it loudly and smiled. I didn't know how badly I was embarrassing her in front of Marcel.


"Uh, you don't have to stop me from making out with Marcel," she said, looking back at him. He looked up at me, and I beamed.


"Don't worry," he said. He put his hand up in the air, offering his pinky. "I won't let anything bad happen between us."


For some reason, that reassured me. Looking back, I don't know why. I don't even know if he was talking about Gina. But I raised my pinky and did a fake curl and a thumb pump.


"I am gonna hold you to your word!" I went back inside and sat down to play cards. I got up some time later when Gina beckoned me outside.


"What did you tell Jermarco?" She hissed at me. She was upset. Her usual manner of dealing with things when upset and drunk was to hit them. I looked at her hands, wondering if I was going to have to react to being slapped. I curled my left hand loosely.


"I told him to not think anything of it if you guys macked." I raised an eyebrow, waiting.


"You said what!" It wasn't necessarily a question. I knew I had spoken clearly. We were standing at the end of the driveway. I didn't want to have to drag her back to the house if I had to punch her.


She raised her hands in the air, getting close to the point of almost hitting me. Then she turned to her left and walked away, throwing her hands in the air furiously. I relaxed my stance, shaking out my arms and shoulders.


"How could you say that?" She screamed it at the air. I shrugged. She was too far away to try anything without me knowing. I watched her like a wolf though, ready act if need be.


"It's not a big deal. I just told him not to try to bang you. Paraphrasing, of course." I shifted from foot to foot.


"Ugh." She sighed and headed towards the house. "Oh, well. It doesn't matter that much." She was back to normal. I let out a deep breath. I didn't want to take out my best friend, but if I was drunk, I knew I would react first, then probably never ask questions later.


We were back in the house, and there was another card game starting up. Never Have I Ever. I was so ready to play. Then Carl, Marcel, Dick (whose name is actually Joey), and some other guy walked in. I got my cup full, ready to play. Carl waved me over. With a groan, I got up, grabbed my cup, and followed him to the stairs again.


He sat one step below me. I curled my legs around his back. We had sat like this many times before, so I didn't find it weird.


"Oh, God," he said. He wrapped an arm around my calf. My ears twitched back like they sometimes do when I am slightly alarmed.


"Carl," I asked, keeping completely still.


"I shouldn't," he moaned to himself. My ears twitched again.


"Shouldn't..." I dragged it out.


"I shouldn't want you, but I do." He rolled his head into my lap and looked up at me.


"Oh." I continued to not move. I had a thousand things rolling through my head. It was perfectly legitimate to want to make out with him. I would have if I hadn't have had the Everclear Gatoraide. But Gina was macking with him now. On a regular basis. That was weird. And on top of that, he was Chris the Ex's best friend.


"I just...you are so beautiful. In your swimsuit, when you went to the Y with me and Chris. You're so beautiful." I sat there, my eyes the size of saucers. I didn't have anything to say.


How flattering, didn't cut it. It was weird and I didn't know how to deal with it. I wasn't in love with Chris anymore. But did the fact that I went out with him, had slept with him, had loved, and lost him make me sloppy seconds?


"I just want you so bad. Everything about you. I just want to taste you." He licked my jeans.


"That's my pants," I said, matter-of-factly.


"You could take them off. I can eat you out."


"I don't think that is a good idea." I checked to make sure I hadn't lost my belt.


"Please, it's all I want."


"I think ponies are a better thing to want." I continued to not move.


"You can ride me like a pony." I laughed.


"No, I don't think so." I sat there, pursing my lips. He turned so he was eye to eye with me.


"You know I can't control how I feel."


"A lot of guys probably feel like you," I said, trying to help. I leaned back and away from him. "It's totally natural. You are a young male with raging hormones."


"It's not just that," he said, giving me the once over. I looked at the broom at the bottom of the stair. "Please," he said, putting his hands on my wrists. It wasn't a controlling motion. He scooted so he was sitting next to me and started licking my neck. I didn't move.


"You know," I said, "There isn't enough genetic material in the tiger population to keep the species genetically diverse enough to sustain them and keep them healthy. In our lifetime, we may see the extinction of a species."


"Mmm," he said, still licking my neck.


"You shouldn't do that." I batted him away. "I get marks easy."


"Oh." He moved to the top of my boob.


"Hey," I said, batting him away again.


"God!" He said, standing up. "You make me so hard!" He started unbuttoning his pants.


"Uh..." I crinkled my eyebrows again.


"I need to go outside," he said.


"That's a good idea."


He opened the door just as Adley and Christina were coming around.


"Hey guys!" He gave them both hugs. It was dark, so I don't think they noticed he had unbuttoned pants. "Where are you going?"


"I need to go home," Christina said. She patted his shoulder. "It was so much fun," she said, looking at me. I waved.


"See you later," I said. Adley and Christina went back through the gate and Carl turned around and peed on the grass. I shook my head. "How much have you drank?" I asked.


"Too much," he said, sitting down on the sidewalk. He laid down on his side and sighed.


"You okay?" I stayed put. I didn't want to recharge his sexual energy.


"Yeah. I'm sorry. I am being such a jerk. I know I shouldn't feel this way." He sighed again and didn't say anything for a long time.


"It's okay." I didn't want him to feel bad for feeling.


"It's just...you know. You are you. And like, you are amazing. So I want to get with that, you know?"


"I am not taking your virginity, Carl."


"I wouldn't protest," he said. He curled his arm under his head.


"Yeah, well, I am still not going to be your first time. Sorry." I said it, but I didn't mean the 'sorry.' I didn't want to take his virginity. I wasn't sure I wanted to have sex with him. There were too many ties with other people I knew.


"I would be great in bed," he said, like he knew a thing or two.


"I am calling bullshit," I said.


"You have always said Chris was great in bed."


I blushed, because I do always say that. "He learned very quickly. Doesn't mean he was great all the time. Or at first."


"Okay, okay." He stopped talking and I told him I had to go pee. There was a lot less people in the house. I went to the bathroom and came back. Carl was quiet. I grew concerned and went outside.


"Hey," I said, and poked him.


"Uhn," he groaned.


"Wake up." He moved away from me and onto a tent that was rolled up. "Are you gonna be sick?" I asked. I was concerned.


My phone started to ring as he began heaving into the grass. I picked it up.


"Hello?" It was Kyra.


"What the hell is going on?" She harped into my ear. I held the phone out about a foot. I could still hear her. "Where are you! Gina is scared and lost! What did you do!"


"I don't know where she is," I mumbled at her, absently rubbing Carl's back. He dry heaved again and again.


"YOU DON'T KNOW!" She screeched it so loud that Carl stopped dry heaving and perked his head up like a dog. He just needed to whine at me.


"She got mad at me, Kyra. I don't know if she is still here, or if she is with Christina."


"She could be in the woods or something! You need to find her." I looked around the back yard. It was North City. There were no woods.


"Here. Let me give you Christina's number. Call her." I smacked Carl's hip, and he turned like a trained horse and stuck his leg out. I reached in his pocket and grabbed his phone. I searched through his contacts and found Christina.


"The number is..." I repeated it to her three times, then had her repeat it back to me. I double checked it, the alcohol swimming behind my eyes.


"Call her and see if she has Gina." Kyra complied to my calm tone. I lacked slurred words because I was talking slowly and clearly.


I hung up, put my phone in my left pocket and Carl's in my right. He had gone back to dry heaving. I petted his back. Twenty minutes went by, and he finally spit something up. He was getting clammy, and the sky was starting to drizzle cold rain on our backs.


The door inside squeaked open, and then I heard feet clack downstairs. The screen door made a screech and a bang as it swung shut. It was Gina in her white jacket. I smiled.


"Hey, I thought you left." She looked at Carl, shirtless and dry heaving on a tent.


"Why would I do that?" She shucked off her coat and handed it to me. I had goosebumps.


I put her coat on. It smelled like her body wash and sweat. "You were mad at me. I thought you went home with Christina."


"No. I was just playing cards. What wrong with him?" She pointed from her hip.


"Drank too much, of course." I patted him like he was a good ol' boy.


"I'll go get Adley." She went inside and came back out a few minutes later. Adley looked like a giant from where I knelt.


I stepped back as Adley moved in. "Come on, Carl," he said calmly, hoisting Carl up like a rag doll. "What did you do to yourself?" Carl shook his head like he didn't know or didn't remember.


We let Adley take Carl into the house and dump him in the bathroom. Gina and I sat on the tub. I shook my head. I didn't want to talk about anything.


Carl finally got sick again. I thought he would get better, but he didn't. We dumped him in the tub.


"Why are your pants unbuttoned?" She asked him, looking at him like he was a bad puppy who peed on the floor.


"It's a long story," I offered. She shrugged, not wanting to know.


We left Carl in the tub, thinking that he would get better.


When we came back an hour later, after Malcolm had heard the story about both of my beta fish, Frankenfurter and Malcolm, Carl had only gotten worse.


"Oh, lords," I cursed. I pressed my hand to his forehead. He was clammy.


"You think he has alcohol poisoning?" I pulled out my phone and connected to the web. After I willed my fingers to behave, (they kept typing 'alcohohol poisononining') I pulled up a website listing the symptoms and how to mitigate it.


"He needs sugar and water." I brought a huge cup of pineapple juice and a huge cup of water.


"Drink these," Gina insisted. She handed him the cups. At first he resisted us, but then after much forcing, he conceded to do what we said. I got bored and headed out into the living room. The girl on couch wanted a status update.


"What's wrong with him?" She harped at me. She had a screechy voice that was high and nasally.


"I think," I said slowly, making sure to enunciate, "He has a mild case of alcohol poisoning. We are treating him with an increased intake of glucose and H₂O. He should be getting better shortly."


She looked at me with wide eyes that were hyper dilated from marijuana. "Are you are docta' or summin?" I shrugged. I was just smart.


I grabbed some water from the faucet and sat at the card table and started playing spades. I was good. I won five out of the six games. The boys grumbled with annoyance. I laughed and got up then headed to the bathroom to check on Carl and Gina. She was sitting on the toilet.


"Hey," I said, nodding at Carl. He smiled.


"I am feeling so much better now." He laughed and wiggled. Gina and I sighed. Boys were so dumb.


At some point, Carl was able to get out of the tub and get into the living room. He fell asleep on the floor. I looked at my phone. It was almost four in the morning.


I asked Gina to go with me to get our sleeping bags. We brought them in the house, I rolled out my sleeping bag, plopped down and went to sleep. I was done for the night!