By Thursday, we had really settled into a routine. Wake up, head to the pool and start
drinking. This was no different. Again, Jackie bitched about the other guests using towels and blow-up rafts to “hold” their lounge chairs. But I had started tuning her out. It was just a peeve of hers and there was no use encouraging her by interjecting my opinions or thoughts. It didn’t matter, we found a good spot with two available chairs sandwiched between four or five of the chairs that were making Jackie so mad.
Just before noon, there was another couple that arrived at the pool. We watched them as they approach the pool area like a couple of bulls in a china shop. They were moving chairs and tables out of their way, knocking over other people’s drinks, bumping into waiters, and tripping over stray shoes. They made their way to our area and stopped. “Are these your chairs?” the guy asked loudly.
“Nope. Those towels have been there all day, but the owners haven’t been here yet,” explained Jackie, in a tone that clearly illustrated her frustration.
Then we watched the couple pick up the towels, wad them up and throw them in a nearby flower bed. Then, they spread their own towels out on the chairs and settled into them like nothing happened. I looked at Jackie and could tell she was pleased.
The couple looked at us and could tell that we were caught off guard by their actions.
“Fuck that,” he said. “It’s complete bullshit. Those people probably won’t even show up and we’re supposed to respect a fucking towel? Fuck that!”
“Yeah,” his wife added, “we’ve been coming here for too long to put up with that bullshit.”
Their names were Don and Darlene and by the end of the afternoon we got to know them pretty well. They were in their mid-forties but looked at least ten years younger, were from Detroit and come to this resort on the same week every year. They were hilarious. And they were big drinkers too. We all shared some of our favorite stories and laughed and had a great time.
As the afternoon ended, Jackie started planning our evening and invited Don and Darlene to join us after dinner at Murphy’s.
We showed up at the Irish bar at about 7:00 PM and were surprised to find our new friends already there. Turns out, they had been there for over an hour and were pretty looped already. The four of us continued to drink there for a couple of hours and Darlene suggested heading down the street to a new place she heard about. Andale Nightclub plays music from the 80’s and 90’s and is supposed to be a lot of fun. I’m not much of a nightclub kind of a guy, but I said “okay, let’s go.”
Andale is located just around the corner from the little place where we spent the afternoon drinking with Jesus and Eligio, the cab drivers, just a few days earlier.
The place was packed but we were able to find a table on the patio. The waitresses were very friendly and very efficient. As a matter of fact, I do not recall ever having to wait for a cocktail.
It was during this time that I must have really become drunk, because what seems like about ten minutes of my life was really several hours. Here are some of the highlights that I can recall:
- Don had one of those stupid laser pointers and kept shining it on people who were walking down the street. He would focus it on guys’ foreheads, girls’ tits, asses, whatever. I don’t know why I thought this was so funny. But it was.
- The bar has a staircase that goes upstairs. At some point, Don was curious about what was up there, so we left to check it out. The top of the staircase led to a small loft that overlooked a dance floor and the DJ. There were only a few people up there and there were just standing around like they were lost. There was nothing to do but head back downstairs. On the way down, Don decided to try to spit on the DJ’s bald head. I think he succeeded too. I started laughing so hard that I slipped on the stairs and spilled half of my Rum & Coke.
- After we returned to our table, we ordered another round and left with the drinks. We just got up, walked to the street, got in a cab and left. I don’t think we paid for anything.
It was a great night indeed.
