from Friend
It was cold. Virginia winter. Throwing lit firecrackers down the hallway, apostrophes of scorch. The heat didn't work, we cranked it, cranked the Guided by Voices, cranked our capacity for enduring the weird. The Irishman below us, how I would dress for Third Street Diner, how I told you he spanked me before work, how weird it was, how nearly non-sexy, where did you go when I went to work? You must have gone to work, too. We worked so much, cooking, waiting, dishwashing, baking, a constant flow of food, our whole lives centered around sustenance, how basic, youth, all the money we ate. You walked from Church Hill to the Bottom to work at the best restaurant in Richmond. How I took it for granted when I straddled a bar stool at 9am, the chorizo, the poached eggs, the Sriracha before everyone had it in her fridge, what a time to fake bourgeoisie, when everything I loved was the opposite. Might have had my apron still cinched around me. Might have had ones blooming from my hips. Might have drank there until the bartender told you I needed to leave. Might have left there. Might have.
There were the beers at Sophie's, the whiskeys at Pete's, the beers at Millie's, the bloody Marys at the Sidewalk Café (Manhattan), the beers at the Sidewalk Café (Richmond), there were the beers at The Abbey, the beers at Diner, the beers at Main St. Grill, the beers at Redd's, the whiskeys at Bowery Ballroom, the cocktails at Rye, the beers at The Commodore, the beers at Spirit's, the beers at Sammy T's, the beers at 4th Street Diner, the beers at 3rd Street Diner, the beers at The Border, the beers at Kuba Kuba, the white Russians at Mulligan's, the beers at the Lost Sock, the beers at 821, the beers at Caffeine's, the whiskeys at Bandito's, the sake at Ninja, the whiskey at Odessa, the whiskeys at Huckleberry Bar, the beers at the Brooklyn Alehouse, the beers at Alligator Lounge, the beers at Lazy Catfish, the beers at Bally's (Atlantic City), the beers at Lakeside, the beers at Dumont, the cocktails at The Richardson, the beers at Muggs, the whiskey at the Royal Oak, the beers at the Turkey's Nest, the beers at Orbit's, the shots of beer with oysters at I can't remember the place, the beers at Awful Arthur's, the beers at the Baja Bean Co., the beers at Alley Katz, the whiskey at Hole in the Wall, the whiskey at Dokebi, the beers at the Blue Bottle, the wine at Mamma Zu, the wine at Edo's, the white Russians at Dot's Back Inn, the beers at Joe's Inn, the beers at the Chuckwagon, the whiskeys at the Hill Café, the cocktails at Delish, the beers at Black Rabbit, Europa, Sin E, Blue Moon, Poe's, Chugger's, Barcade, Anytime, Pencil Factory, Spuyten Duyvil, Subway Bar, Berry Park, Irish Brigade, J Brian's, Horseshoe Bar (7B), the cocktails at Helen's, at Fada, at Merriman's, the whiskey at The Gutter, The Levee, Mars Bar, Capone's, Iona, Larry Lawrence, Zablozski's, Trash Bar, Cary St. Café, Schillers, Havana '59, Buddy's, the beers at Moto, the beers at Commercial Tap House, the whiskeys at Max Fish, the beers at McSorley's, the beers at Café Gitane, the beers at Old Town, the whiskeys at Detour, the beers at White Horse Tavern, the whiskeys at Avalon, the white Russians at Bottom's Up, the whiskey at Whitlow's, the whiskeys at Sticky Rice, the whiskey, beer and wine at the Village, the whiskeys at Cabo's, the beers at The Grapevine, the whiskeys at Bogart's, the beer, whiskey and wine at Ipanema, the beer at Twister's, the beers at Barricou, the whiskeys at Five Leaves, the beers at Motor City, the beers at Daddy's, the whiskeys at Enid's, the beers at Matchless, the beers at Hank's, at Soda, at Knitting Factory, the whiskeys at Ontario Bar, the wine at Ino, the whiskeys at Kettle of Fish, the whiskeys at Davis and Main, the beers at River City, the beers at ODC
Within friendship isn't there competition? Mustn't friendship grown out of capitalism, harbor its DNA, learn from its mother, live with the infection? But how about when I show up at the bar dressed as a boy, when you send me your writing, when we dream of the screenplay, when we move Kurosawa to the porch, when we travel alone, when we steal my stereo, when we drive to funerals, when one of us spends the night on the couch, when we're evicted, read the right things, punch my boyfriends, listen to your messages, poison each other?