Second-hand smoke
Fills my lungs
As I sit perched
Awkwardly
A Steinlager Pure
in one hand
And a stranger’s sweaty palm
In the other.
I fake a smile and
Take a sip
While thinking that
I’m not drunk enough to
Deal with this bullshit yet
So I chug it all down
And hope that the 5% alcohol
Will drown some of the noise
That’s deafening in my head
And slow down the rush of
Anxiety in my nerves and
Maybe he’ll start to look
different?
Let’s get shots. Tequila.
One More.
Again.
Another night of poor choices
That I’ll forget about
Come morning.
Reload is the name of one of the bars in Nuku'alofa. It's business slogan is "Probably the best bar in Tonga". I always thought that was funny. I found this piece in an old notebook from 2015. I was probably 21 or 22. That was before I started dating Nela and eventually marrying him, and when I was a regular customer at Reload. Hahaha, anyway, back then at Reload, people were still allowed to smoke on the balcony upstairs, and they didn't have the wire fence around the balcony at that time.
I vaguely recall writing this after someone tried to set me up with their cousin. I can't even remember that person's name or face anymore, just that they had a very sweaty hand. They were nervous, and that made me even more nervous. I'm so glad it didn't work out.
Also, Ican't even remember the last time I even went to Reload Bar. Koia pe. Bye.
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