Part 2: The Bar scene
The spot wasn’t fancy—just a hole in the wall night club with flickering neon in the window and the smell of fried chicken wings and boiled meat clinging to the walls. Old heads played pool in the back, and a jukebox in the corner cycled through everything from N. W. A. to 90s R&B. The kind of place that never tried to be more than it was.
Jason, Johnny, and Bruce got a table, the vinyl seats cracked but familiar.
Waitress: “What y’all drinking?”
Jason: “Hennessy. Double.”
Johnny: “Crown straight.”
Bruce: “Man, aww beer. Bud heavy.”
She walked off, and they leaned back. For a second, nobody said anything. Just the hum of the bar, the clink of bottles.
Johnny: “Yo, y’all ever notice every chick you deal with come with a ‘situation’? Like ain’t nobody just… single.”
Bruce: “Man, that’s ‘cause everybody got baggage, bro. At thirty? Ain’t nobody luggage-free. They all come with an ex, a baby daddy, or some dude still lurking in the shadows.”
Jason: “Facts. My last one? Talkin’ ‘bout she was ‘done’ with her ex. Next thing you know, I’m droppin’ her off, and guess who pullin’ up two cars behind me? The damn ex.”
Johnny: “Damn. What you do?”
Jason: “What you think? Sped the hell off. I ain’t fightin’ over nobody who still getting hit on both sides.”
Bruce, smirking: “That’s what she said.”
Jason paused mid-sip, then busted out laughing. “Man, you a fool.”
They all cracked up, but the laughs faded when Johnny leaned in.
Johnny: “For real though… sometimes I wonder if it’s even worth it. Like, all I keep finding is drama. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I attract the wrong type.”
Bruce: “Nah, bro. Everybody lying ‘cause they scared of being hurt first.”
Jason: “Truth. Have to stop treating relationships like gambling. Like you rollin’ dice with your heart, get to know that person first and after that the house always wins.”
Bruce shook his head, looking down at his beer. “Man, I tried to be the good dude. Worked, provided, kept it real. Still got cheated on. And you know the worst part? She said it wasn’t even about love—it was about attention. Attention, bruh. Like my grind wasn’t enough.”
Johnny sighed, looking into his glass. “Crazy thing is, we still want it though. Still want somebody to come home to. Like, you can clown all night, smash random chicks, drink all the liquor… but when it’s quiet? That’s when it hit you.”
Jason nodded slowly. “Yeah. Loneliest sound in the world is silence in your own crib.”
The drinks came. They raised their glasses, clinking them together without ceremony.
Jason: “To us, the last real one’s standing.”
Johnny: “To not settling for less.”
Bruce, grinning again just to cut the tension: “To the left.”
Jason: “To the right.”
Johnny: “Man, y’all ain’t never gon’ stop.”
Bruce leaned back, smug. “That’s what she said.”