We set off to find the bar we’d been hearing so much about.
Sasha and Amber told us more about themselves on the way. They were both twenty-four and from Sarasota, so a year older than us. Sasha worked with her mother running a wedding venue. Amber was a hairdresser, ironically.
“What do you guys do?”
“We run an in-home bakery,” I answered.
“For real? How do you guys do? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Pretty good.”
“She’s being modest,” Jacob cut in. “They live and breathe orders. If I knew there was so much money in sugar cookies I wouldn’t have gone to college.”
Sasha laughed and turned towards him. “And what is it you do?”
“I’m a photographer. AJ’s Photography if you ever need a connect. Alex is my tech genius. Tyson sells Malibu mansions, and Collin babysits inmates.”
“I’m a prison guard,” Collin corrected dryly. “Look, the bars over there. The lines not too long either. We got here at the perfect time.”
“Wait, before we go in…” Alex lifted one side of my wicker basket and removed a small black box.
I eyed it suspiciously. “What is that and when did you put it in here?”
“Get ready to be amazed,” Jacob lilted excitedly.
Alex popped the lid off and revealed what was inside.
“Chocolate?”
“Not just any kind of chocolate,” he leaned in and lowered his voice, “MDMA.”
“Who did you get that from?” Bellatrix asked.
“What do you mean who? I brought this with me?”
“How?”
“Easy. I crushed, measured, poured and sculpted. Boom--got me a box of chocolates.”
“Not that,” I rebuffed. “How did you get it on the plane?”
“I can do anything.” He lifted a single piece of chocolate from the box and popped it into his mouth, sighing loudly as he chewed.
I stared at the box and noticed the name-brand label he’d used to help disguise what was inside. Altogether there were four rows of six, one now having five. Each piece of chocolate was about the size of a mini-Hershey bar.
“I thought you were a tech guy,” Sasha teased.
“I’m a jack of all trades. Want one?” He nudged the box towards her.
“Sure, why not?”
I watched with my mouth slightly agape as she casually took two, eating one and giving the other to Amber.
“So, we’re just going to do drugs?”
“You smoke weed,” Collin pointed out, taking a piece for himself.
“I think marijuana is a little different than this,” Bellatrix retorted.
“Come on girls and guy,” Jacob implored around a half-chewed glob. “Remember what the website said? This is something you experience only once in your lifetime. Let this be part of that.”
“It’s really good,” Amber added.
I’m sure she meant the chocolate and not the drugs. Bellatrix and I had done it before years ago, but I barely had a recollection of what the result was. We obviously survived just fine.
Tyson looked between me and my sister. “Are we doing this? I’m only doing it if you two do.”
Alex shook the box at us. “It’s a festival of sin, you’re supposed to sin like you’ve never sinned before.”
I lightly chewed my lower lip, weighing the pros and cons of this decision. “What do you think?” I asked my sister.
She gave me a one-shouldered shrug. “Maybe we shouldn’t be thinking at all. How strong are these, Alex? Are they adulterated?”
He sputtered and rolled his eyes. “Fuck no! I know what I’m doing. I’ll be here to watch over you guys and make sure none of you die.”
“That’s so comforting,” I deadpanned. “And how strong did you say they were?”
“On a scale of–I’m so fucked up I’m terrified—to--did I even do drugs?--I’d say it’s somewhere around, wow, this shit is amazing!”
“That narrows it down.”
“The lines getting longer,” Collin pointed out.
“Someone better remember how to find our way back to the Inn,” I warned, removing a piece of chocolate from the box.
“We won’t be going back until long after these bad boys have worn off,” Alex vowed.
I waited for my sister and Tyson to get a piece of their own, counting down from three before we simultaneously tossed the candy in our mouths.
I started with a Bobbing For Apples and somehow wound up with a Candy Apple on The Rocks. The bartenders were working hard for their tips, both drinks hit me right in the chest. I’m sure the drug beginning to swim through my veins had a helping hand in that. Alex demanding round after round of shots wasn’t helping either.
I could normally outdrink a frat house and manage to keep hold of my liquor and dignity. At this rate, I knew it would be best to tap out before I lost one or the other, potentially both. Yet, I was waiting in line with Bellatrix and Amber for another drink, my whole body amazingly warm and feeling like it was floating a bit.
The bar itself was packed. All the tables and booths had been claimed. People were spread across the dance floor and patio, all partying like their lives depended on it.