Evenings and envy

Fifty shots lined up and waited for the eleven thirty bell. He pulled a paper from his pocket and started a tally and tab. Two columns and several ticks, he wrote the note to himself. Bought on one half, drank the other, he watched the left explode.

We all tossed back and danced around, watched a skinny girl work the pole. Counted days left and leaving, swapped stories of waking up to unclaimed objects in our rooms. Spiral downward to exit wounds, hug people you will soon have known once upon a time.