Goal: Stay sober Conflict: Convinced to drink Disaster: Drinks
The gang smoked up quickly while keeping a lookout for intruders. Then Amit and Saad said their goodbyes, took half the beers and left Happy and Jug along sitting alone in the stairwell.
“There’s a fucking sulla was talking shit,” Jug grumbled.
“Why do you hate him so much? I think he’s cool,” Happy said.
“His people tried to convert or kill us at the beginning of Sikhi. They would boil us alive or brick our kids to death,” Jug said.
“Yeah but that wasn’t him,” Happy said.
“Guru Gobind Singh wasn’t you but you take pride in him correct?” Jug said.
“Yeah of course,” Happy said.
“If you can take pride in the good people, you need to feel shame for the bad people too. It ain’t fair otherwise,” Jug said.
Jug transferred the remaining beers from the 2-4 case into his backpack. He paused on the last bottle and then extended it to Happy, looking at him out the corner of his eye. Happy shrugged reflexively. He was already a bit more tarnished by now than when they’d first met and he remembered Jug being adamant against this.
“You sure?” Happy said.
“You’re going to be selling weed now I know you’re too pussy to try that, but you should try this,” Jug said.
Happy took the bottle in his hands. It was still cold to the touch from the beer store freezer and then outside and now in the uninsulated stairwell. He sniffed the top and it smelled like his dad’s breath.
“Just take a swig,” Jug said.
Happy, feeling rushed, put the bottle to his lips and tipped it back. The taste was like liquid roti mixed with skunk spray. He felt the carbonation in his nose and a bit of a gag. He gulped down and felt the warm feeling in the pit of his belly soon after.
Jug grabbed his shoulder.
“You’re a real G now drinking and shit. Badmon Singh. Good,” Jug said
Happy waited a few seconds to feel something, and feeling nothing other than digestion, he took 2 more swigs.
“When am I supposed to get drunk?” Happy said.
“Drunk off 1 beer? Ha. I don’t even think you could accomplish that, but you will feel a buzz soon,” Jug said.
“Buzz,” Happy said, feeling the word on the fulness of his tongue in the aftertaste of the beer.
Soon the stairwell felt warmer and Happy so did Happy.