Tonight was my first night of serving at the restaurant where for
the last month and a half I've been bussing tables while wearing a
blue thermal, blue jean and red suspender uniform. Celebrating this occasion was something I hadn't thought of at all until it was recommended by two alluring diners Diya and Marcela, I met advantageously via my new position. Diya displaying a playful smile said 'Oh its your first night, we should have a big cake'� then Marcela chimed in 'a cake, yeah and you should be drinking this Sandia with us, we need help with it anyway.'� They both went on finishing each other's sentences, while humorlessly describing the celebration that someone should have planned. I left the table surprised at the ease in which I flirted with them and in the mood to celebrate.
Twenty minutes later, at their request I came back to tell them the ingredients to the Sandia, 'Ok I got it. The Sandia is flavored rum, a lime sweetener and fresh watermelon or sandia. 'Nope its too late. We're over it.'� Diya said jokingly. Then, in a completely unenlightened moment I asked if they'd like to go have a drink after I got off work. 'On me, to celebrate'� I said thinking It would be a good way of spending my tips. As they declined my offer, and I was looking down at two half full Sandia pitchers, and at that moment I was abandoned by my confidence. Left standing like an orphaned yearling accepting rejection and loss of hope but not knowing what to do next. I try again. 'Ok do you guys like frozen yogurt? There's a really good place down the road.'�(I've never been there, but feel completely justified in my lie.) They look at each other and Diya consolingly say's '�oh he's so sweet, look at him.'� Agreeing Marcela smiles while slowly shaking her head and then replies 'Oh no I'm so'�'� She's interrupted by Diya's urge to give her reasoning 'we would but I have to get up really early for work tomorrow, we'll come back another night.'� Since I was now choking on my thoughts I had to use a goodbye from the appropriate schema 'alright that's cool, it was nice to meet you all, Marcela, Diya, yeah and have a good night.'�
During the forty-minute drive back to my current residence, my grandma's house, I convinced myself that Diya was sincere in telling me that she and Marcela would be back to see me. This opened up space to flirt with the idea of celebrating alone at a place within walking distance from the house. I decided I'd go but first I'd stop at the liquor store for a mini bottle of tequila. The clerk behind the glass was a young Asian guy talking casually on a cordless phone, beside me and in front of the other window were two black guy's one thin and talking on his cell phone to somebody needing a pack of cigarette's and the other much larger man telling a little girl maybe his daughter to 'go on get something.'� With nothing in my hand and the little girl looking for some candy the clerk had yet to attend to either of us. 'Yes I will'� the thin guy says into his cell phone and then twice as loud he yells 'as soon as he gets his punk ass off the phone!'� Within seconds I was asking for a mini bottle of Cazadores as the clerk was ending his phone conversation.
The house was quiet, I took the shot, drank a beer, walked out the front door and started my first walk to the pplace curiosly called the Puka Bar. My thoughts were gravitating to the girls I had just met and that interaction when suddenly appearing under the streetlights at an intersection was a pit bull. Meanwhile walking west as I'm walking south was a heavy set guy whom I assumed was the dog's owner, and I thought it was weird that he didn't have his dog on a leash. The closer I got to the dog still under the lights the further the guy had walked from the intersection but still at any minute I expected him to call for his dog. I looked again down the street and the guy had already disappeared into the darkness. Then I looked back to the dog that was now running towards me as if his previous owner told him that I would be taking care of him now. With the dog forgetting to stop until his paws where on my shirt I naturally took defensive actions. I realized he was completely harmless as he was licking my hands. With my heart beating fast this realization came too late to have saved my adrenaline. The dog wanted a friend and that's what I wanted so we walked out from under the lights and to the sidewalk.
Together we were walking side by side, in between a street lined with sleeping cars and houses dimly lit and tapering off, darker, one by one. Still excited the dog kept running up to trees, fences and whatever, just as he had ran up to me, smelling them and then running back to me like he had something to say but never barking. I had no doubt a dog like that would have a home and would soon be running back for it. Another block and we were at Willow a busy street that most cross at a cross walk or jaywalk by running to the middle median at a break in traffic wait for a break in traffic coming the other way and run to safety. At that point with the dog by my side, I still thought it was pretty reasonable to think that the dog would be trained to fear cars with bright headlights racing by and this fear would remind him he's too far from home. Believing we would be parting ways I said to myself, wait maybe this is a sign from god, this is the friend, a dog, mans best friend! I imagined myself adopting him, letting him live and run around the backyard at my grandmas, he would sleep at my feet while I read and write, he'd be admired by my family as a dog with intellect and manners, loved by everyone they would pet him with great smiles on their face, and tell me how lucky when I tell them the story. I'll let him wait outside either across the street or he would cross with me and wait in front of the bar and I'd nod to the bouncer so he would know to keep an eye on him. . I really grew to love this brown haired pit bull, with a side-winding walk because of his long torso here trotting along at my side. My thoughts of keeping him were manic thoughts and the mania waned when I saw myself picking up dog mess in the backyard or even worse my grandma out there with a shovel. We kept walking it would be another block until I had to cross the street. There were was a silver car with three girls that pulled up in front of the bar and childishly I was still caught in between adopting the dog if just for the night and letting those girls pet him after I confirmed it was mine and informed him that his name was Jack and chasing the dog away in good riddance and in time to get to the bar and have a shot at meeting those girls by some other means.

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