five pizza & beer
five
pizza & beer
Marlowe
Chris walked into the kitchen holding five boxes of pizza, and my mouth began to water.
The rich combination of bread, cheese, and sauce filled my senses as the boxes passed by.
One of those boxes held my olive and onion pizza, and I followed closely behind Chris, ready to pounce on the box as soon as he set them down.
“It’s on the bottom, killer. Back down.” He chuckled, shoving me away lightly. “When Rich called and said you’d be here, I told them to put extra olives.”
“Ugh, you’re too good to me.” Pulling the box from the bottom of the stack, I opened it and marveled over the insane amount of olives on the slices. Devouring this thing would be a magical experience.
Chris was opening cabinets while I gathered some beer from the fridge. “Rich, where did you put those paper plates?”
“They’re right where they always are,” Rich shouted from the living room. He was moving things around so there was enough room for everyone to sit around the coffee table and eat.
I was finally able to get to one of Solace’s pizza and beer nights.
Dex kept asking me to come back to one, and this week it finally worked out.
Plus there was some news I needed to share with them.
Coming straight to Rich and Chris’s from work meant I had beaten Dexter and Bunny here, so they were still getting the place ready.
I set the beer on the table and turned to Rich, “What can I do to help?”
“You’re good, Mar. Dex and Bunny will be here soon. Just relax.” Rich smiled at me. “Have a beer.” Grabbing a bottle, he popped it open and handed it to me.
Shrugging and falling back onto the couch, I took a swig from the bottle.
Luckily, there had been a change of clothes in my bag at work, and I now wore baggy sweatpants and a purple baby tee.
I was much more comfortable than I had been in my work clothes.
I still smelled faintly of cigarettes and liquor, but that was the norm for me most days.
“Actually, I’m going to go have a smoke.
Let me know if you need me though, I’m serious.
” Walking back through the kitchen, I stepped onto the third-floor balcony and pulled the pack of cigarettes from my pocket.
Taking a deep inhale, I realized that this would be the first time I talked to Bunny since that night.
He hadn’t been to Captain’s, at least not while I was on shift.
Things were only a little different between Dexter and me, but not really.
I didn’t think too much of it, honestly.
But I hoped it was the same with Bunny too.
The apartment’s balcony looked over the parking lot, and I saw Dexter’s car pull in next to mine.
The two guys got out of the car. Bunny’s bleach blonde hair was impossible to miss in the lights of the parking lot.
When he glanced up toward the apartment, my hand raised in a slight wave, but he didn’t wave back.
He just looked away and walked toward Dexter and into the building.
Minutes later, there was a knock on the door.
Rich opened it, and the guys came in as Chris and I walked into the living room.
Dexter in his usual all-black. Bunny in baggy jeans, an Iron Maiden shirt, and his black jacket.
His blonde hair hung loosely around his face and fell into his eyes.
He didn’t even look up as Dexter greeted me and Chris.
With pizza boxes spread out on the table, we dug in.
As usual, I was the only one eating the olive and onion pizza.
Months ago, I gave up telling them not to worry about ordering me my own pizza.
They ignored me. Telling me that if Bunny got his own pineapple pizza, I got my own olive and onion.
“At least other people will eat yours.” Bunny had said the last time we were all together.
No one would ever touch the pineapple pizza.
Bunny would gladly share, but pineapple on pizza was vile.
We were happy that Bunny was happy. But the four of us wanted nothing to do with it.
Bunny and Dexter sat on the couch. I sat on the floor next to Bunny.
Rich sat in the recliner, and Chris sat on the other side of the coffee table.
We all fell into place like a puzzle. I hadn’t been here in a while, but it all still felt natural.
As we sat and ate, conversation was casual.
We chatted about life and how things were going.
I mentioned that Captain’s was still looking to hire a couple of bartenders because Naomi and I were working like crazy.
That I missed them and coming over and seeing practices.
They shared thoughts on their recent practices and songs they had been working on.
Rich told me to come to a practice when I could. Dexter and Chris agreed.
“You need to hear the new stuff, Mar, you’ll like it.” Dexter’s tone was emphatic. “It’s different from the older stuff. Think more Deftones. Bunny really channels Chino. It’s fucking sick.”
Everyone turned their attention to Bunny.
He had pulled sunglasses down on his face, and he was still picking at his first slice of pizza.
When he looked up from the crust, he turned to Dexter first. “What? Oh yeah, Chino. Thanks, man.” Bunny laughed and shoved Dexter’s shoulder lightly.
It was the first thing he had said all night.
We had all been chatting for a while. At least long enough for one of the pizza boxes to be empty.
Normally Bunny was pretty chatty around the four of us.
“You okay?” Placing my hand on his leg, I squeezed lightly.
It was a friendly gesture, something I had always done.
Bunny and I were close, so I didn’t really think twice about the touch.
He jerked away from me, as if my touch burned him.
I pulled my hand away, immediately regretting it.
Awkwardly, I looked at Dexter, who seemed just as confused as I was.
Rich and Chris were arguing over who should go get more beer and hadn’t seen the exchange.
“Fine,” Bunny said with finality. “Was there anything we needed to talk about tonight, or are we done?” His tone had shifted completely. The twins stopped arguing and looked over at Bunny.
“Oh,” Chris said. “Uh, I don’t have anything else, I guess.” He looked over to his brother, who shrugged and finished his beer. Rich held his empty bottle out to Chris and gestured to the kitchen. Chris didn’t argue, just stood up and walked into the other room.
At the same time, Dexter and I spoke, “Actually…”
“Wait a second…”
Dexter gestured to me with his beer bottle. “You first, Mar.”
Tossing a small smile in his direction, I set the rest of my crust down on my plate.
“I’m sure you all have heard that 93.3 is doing a Battle of the Bands for Trash Fest this year.
” Rich sat up straight, and I felt Bunny tense a bit next to me.
“Well, you probably also know that Captain’s is hosting it, so it’s also the sign-up location. ”
“Wait what?” Chris asked when he walked back into the room with five beers expertly tangled between his fingers.
Dexter leaned forward, his forearms resting against his knees.
I did my best not to focus on how they tensed when he adjusted to get comfortable.
That wasn’t possible, though. The lean muscle rippled beneath the skin.
When he spoke, his calming voice broke me out of my trance, and my eyes moved up to see his face.
My line of sight was interrupted by Bunny, who was staring directly at me.
He had taken his sunglasses off and looked at me in a way I would never be able to decode.
It seemed like he wanted to kill me, fuck me, and cry at the same time, but his eyes were hollow.
The emotion that was there was empty. I quickly glanced away, feeling an overwhelming urge to cry.
Dexter spoke, “That’s exactly what I was going to talk to everyone about and why I was so glad you were coming tonight, Mar. If the guys are okay with it, can you sign us up next time you work?”
“Fuck yeah, sign us up!” Rich exclaimed.
Chris frantically nodded in approval, chewing a bite of pizza and holding the remainder of the slice in the air.
Dexter turned to Bunny, placing his hand on his leg similar to how I had just a bit ago. “Bunny, your thoughts?”
Bunny looked down at Dexter’s hand, then slowly lifted his head to look straight at the other man. “Yeah. Whatever.” His response was clipped. This was getting weird now.
“Well, I was actually going to tell you that I already signed Solace up. But I could take you off if you don’t want to do it. Surprise!” The corners of my mouth lifted into a huge smile.
Bunny stood and walked in front of me toward the front door. “Don’t you dare take us off that list. Is there anything else?” He looked into the room, sunglasses back on.
Dexter got up from the couch and walked toward the door. “Um, I don’t think so. Where are you going? We drove here together.”
“I’ve got some things to take care of. I’ll walk. It’s not far.” Bunny reached for the door, but Dexter placed a hand on his shoulder. I looked at Chris and Rich with a questioning look on my face, but they looked just as confused as I did.
“Bunny, stop, where are you going?” Dexter’s voice was assertive, and Bunny shook Dexter off of him.
Through clenched teeth, Bunny mumbled, “I’m leaving.”