Consumed By Fire

  Is tonight really the best night to do this?  Leaving for the mountains in the morning, knowing that I would drive the entire 4.5 hours had me rethinking my decision to go out tonight. My mind wanders back to the night I got sucked into this. Just a couple of nights ago, Clyde and I had made a deal. Since my sister was staying with a friend, Friday night would be my night to go out while he stayed home with the kids. This was an abnormal arrangement as normally he went every night and I stayed home with the kids. Clyde played poker every Thursday night so, it was only fair that I should get Friday. As I was getting ready to go one of Clyde's friends called and asked he wanted to go see a band. Our agreement then turned into a mandate; I was to be home by 10:00. Clyde could then leave and catch the show with his buddies. I voiced my disagreement to deaf ears. I just needed to get out of the house, he could not force a curfew on me. I entered Depot Club and it was not what you would call dead in there, but slow. I noticed that Clyde's friend and co-worker Todd was over at the bar so I made my way over and took the seat next to him. "So, did Clyde tell you to watch me?", I ask. "He might have let me know that you were gonna be here... Don't worry, I'm not a snitch.", he says with a wink. Addy, the bartender walks up, "Can I get you something to drink?" "Normally, I would just order a diet coke, tonight let's start with a beer and a Vegas bomb.", I reply. Todd looks at me with an archeded brow. It is common knowledge amongst Clyde's friends that I rarely drink. Clyde does enough of that for the both of us. Todd looks at me and says, "By the way, I'm supposed to get you out of here a little before 10:00." "Well, I say good luck to you sir! How the hell, do you plan on accomplishing that? Are you going to hoist me over your shoulder and carry me out of here cave-man style?", I retort. "I never said I was actually going to try to do it. Just letting you know that Clyde has asked me to remind you to be home by 10:00. Thanks for the imagery though. I imagine I might enjoy carrying you out of here cave-man style.", he states with a smirk. These are the friends he trusts to watch over me? "HA HA, yeah right, Todd.", I blow off the comment and order another round. They finally start the karaoke and I continue to talk with Addy between customers. I was just returning to my seat when Addy looks at me slightly bewildered and says, "You know Taylor, you are nothing like what I expected you to be." "Oh, okay. Well a couple of questions there... what were you expecting and why were you expecting anything?", I asked curiously. "You know Clyde is in here almost every night and I have never really met you before. I have seen you a couple of times but didn't realize you are his wife. I thought you would be some frumpy house hermit.", she answers honestly. "Oh because he's a troll, a hermit would be the perfect match?", I ask. Todd laughed beside me and almost spit his drink on me. "I like you, you're fun to hang out with.", Todd says. Just then the phone behind the bar starts ringing. "Taylor, it's Clyde, he wants to talk to you.", Addy says extending the phone. "Hello", I say in a slow bored tone. "Hey, I just want to make sure that you are going to be home by 10:00.", Clyde demands. "Is everything alright with the kids?", I ask. "The kids are fine, just make sure you have your ass home on time!", he barks at me. I hold the phone out away from ear and end the call. I handed the phone back to Addy and said, "Oops, we had a bad connection.", I laughed and ordered another round. The phone started ringing again and when Addy looked at me, I knew that Clyde was on the other end. "I need to sit here and sober up before I drive home. I'll be home when it is safe.", I say before giving him a chance to speak and hanging up the phone again. The beautiful thing about Depot Club is that it was a metal building and cell reception in that place was non-existent so he could not blow up my phone. I thought surely he would not keep calling the bar's landline... I thought wrong. After immediately hanging up on him a few more times, Addy passes the phone to Todd. "Come on lady, I'm taking you home.", Todd says. "I still have a drink, I'm not going anywhere until I finish my drink.", I pout. "Finish your drink and then I am going to get you home.", he says definitively. Addy says, "Hey, we always hang out on the lake on Sundays and then we go out to The Lounge on Sunday nights for karaoke. Why don't you come Sunday? I would love to be able to sit and talk without having customers interrupt us." We exchanged numbers and I said I would let her know if I caould make it. I took the last sip of my drink and looked at Todd, "You can take me to my jailer now."  I arrived at The Lounge aound 8:00. I am dressed very conservatively in a pair of jeans and a pale pink t-shirt with my shoulder-length chocolate brown hair straightened.  I went inside and found a table.  Where is Addy? I always show up too early.  I’ve never been comfortable being on my own in a bar and sitting at the farthest table alone had me feeling a little like an outcast and I had this feeling that someone was looking at me. I began to take in my surroundings; there are very few patrons in the bar. Of the patrons here, most are significantly older than me. I begin looking around and noticed a handsome stranger that looked to be in his early 20’s seemingly stealing glances. Does he wonder about the pathetic loner sitting in the corner alone? I decide to shoot a quick text to Addy, “I’m here.”  A few minutes later she responds to let me know that she will be here soon. I decided to order a soda and move to a bigger table knowing that there would be a few others joining us. Is he checking me out or is it becuase I am all by myslef and have moved tables and not spoken to anyone. It could be because I am not a regular and I am all alone. I was brought out of my thoughts when the handsome stranger picked up a microphone and announced, “Hi, my name is Jake, and we are going to be getting started soon. If you want to sing a song, come on up and introduce yourself and if you don’t want to talk to me, you can fill out one of the slips on your table.”  I am not sure why, but it felt like he was speaking to me. I made my way to the handsome stranger, now known to be Jake. He is lean with tan skin, jet black hair and brown eyes. I offer my hand, “Hi, I’m Taylor.”  “Hi Taylor, I'm Jake. Are you singing tonight?,” he responds. Knowing that I will be singing tonight, I lie, “Probably, I am waiting for some friends.”  We exchanged smiles and he said I should just let him know if I decide to sing.  Addy is taking forever, and I am getting anxious and almost ready to head back home when I see my old friend Denise walk in. It had been quite a while since Denise, and I had hung out. Denise introduced me to Karaoke when I was 19. You see, Denise's mom used to host karaoke at another bar we used to go to. Denise was a seasoned karaoke veteran and a great singer. We always had so much fun. She gave me a huge hug and sat beside me. She immediately went into talking about songs we should sing and when I told her that I was not sure how long I would be staying because I was leaving for a family trip the following morning, she shut that s**t down. "I haven't seen you in forever. Now settle in, we're going to have some fun like we used to.", Denise said. "I remember when your mom used to tell me what to sing when we would go out to where she was working. She liked to challenge me, for sure." I said, smiling at the memory. Finally, Addy and the rest of her crew arrive and join Denise and me. My friends poked fun at me about what song I would sing first, they said "not Like A Virgin". This is not the first time they had seen me sing and they all knew that I chose from a couple of songs to warm up. They all laughed as I belted out Like a Virgin in the style of 80's Madonna. When the song was over, I handed the microphone back to Jake. Walking back to my seat, I hear, “I bet y’all ain’t never heard no Madonna like that.”  I look back and he has a smile that lights up his whole face. My face flushed a little as I returned his smile. Now that I was no longer alone, I was in my element. I was having a great time. Jake was complimentary of each song I sang and when I looked into his eyes, there was a shine. One by one, we sang song after song and laughed the night away until we heard the last call. So much for only staying a couple of hours, but at least I won't be hungover. The drive to Tennessee is going to be torture later this morning. I said goodbye to everyone and flashed one last smile at Jake and walked out the door. I wasn't sure what but, something was changing in me. With each passing day, I wanted more and more to escape the prison of my own making.