Thursday, October 10, 2013

Live.Laugh.Learn: Don't Pass Me By, Part II


By: Lara Lettsome


Life should be about letting go, being free and growing into who you are meant to be. Follow the young character Karlie Sims as she attempts to transition into life after school in a new city; without all of her friends and family.
Antonio is a young man with an unexpected past. Karlie is a woman with a developing unexpected future. The present moments brings them together. Of course love will be an option, but are they ready to Live, Laugh and Learn? 

Missed out on the very beginning?  Click HERE to read Chapter 1: Realize, Honey...

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~*~CHAPTER THREE~*~

DON’T PASS ME BY
(Antonio)


(Don't Pass Me By, Continued) 
I looked back at the painting and then at them smiling. They were probably slightly wasted. I smiled. The show ended at about 11 o’clock and then we made our way back to south haven thinking about our next move. One of them suggested that we go to club Layers. Club layer’s was a 5 story club that played different types of music on each floor. There was a Rap, Todays Top Hits, Throw Back (mostly 90’s to 2000), Salsa and the top floor was usually a tossup. It would vary between techno, rock, jazz and reggae. We were unsure what the top floor would be tonight because it’s usually a surprise, but we decided to try our luck.
The women’s line went fast, they probably got in for free and we would probably be paying close to 25 dollars for the same experience.  By the time we got in, it was about 11:45. We skipped the rap floor; it was mostly teens dropping it low. Nothing we could really work with. Today’s hits had a mixed crowd. Which was fine, but they came to the club to choose, and they loved the black sisters.  For that same reason, the salsa floor wasn’t going to work. It was a cross between older folks who took salsa at their local gym and couples. We had already eliminated 3 floors. We only had two left. We stopped in the Throw Backs. EU’s doing the butt was on. The “thug” in them didn’t want to let them cut loose and do old school dances, so this floor wasn’t going to hold us for long. I glanced around. One of my brothers hit my arm to get my attention. His eyes were fixed on a group of about 7 or 8 women headed for the elevator. They looked good, mature and they fit the get chosen description. He watched as the elevator number went up to the 5th floor. He wasn’t the only one watching, my other brothers caught on quickly. 7 or 8 ladies who were that fine were not going walk out of the 4th floor without being noticed. We all made eye contact as we headed for the stairs. When we got up to the top floor, it was our luck. They were playing reggae. The vibe was nice, the roof top was open so the light summer/fall breeze and heat made it feel like we were on an island.  By the bars, they had fans that shot out a cool mist. It wasn’t too crowded up here, so the girls wouldn’t be that hard to find. I split up from the boys to go get a drink from the bar.
“Two Rum, no rocks” I said to the man standing behind the counter.
“10 dollars” He responded.
I handed him my money and took both shots to the head.  With a sour face, I turned around to see where the guys went.  I scanned the floor intensely. A soft voice was trying to increase volume to ask for a pina-colada. I turned to see a young pretty brown skin girl with dreads. She looked over and smiled at me.
“7 dollars” the bartender said to her.
“I’ll get it” I handed the bartender the money. I had no intentions to get at her, just wanted to do something nice. She looked like a sweetheart.
“Thanks You!”
“No problem at all”, I continued my search
“I’m here with my big sister and her friends. Are you alone?” She asked
“Naw… I’m here with my frat brothers”, I responded still in search.
“4 Guys?” she asked
“Yeah, have you seen them?” I turn towards her looking for answers.
“They are in V.I.P. with us. I don’t like the vodka or the champagne they have. That’s why I came over here. Plus they kind of all started flirting.”
“Can you show me to them?” I questioned
“Yea, sure” she said. She led me over to the V.I.P. section. 
She was right; everyone was kind of hooked up except for one light skin chick and another young looking girl. I couldn’t really make out all of the faces yet. The young girl with the dreads grabbed the other young looking girl as they made their way to the elevator. Probably to go to a floor with more people their age. I look intensely out of place as I sit down at the sofas with them, next to the light skin girl. She smiled at me.
“Hey, How are you?” I attempted to seem remotely interested.
“I’m ok.” She responded. I nodded. She continued, “These must be your friends who have my girls intrigued” I scan trying to make out the more distant faces in the low light. “Stacy and Lia are usually flirty. Its Quetta’s promotion celebration, so she is feeling herself. I don’t know the other chicks. Quetta’s cousin Jazz and Stacy’s friend Kimmie Sam or something like that” I nodded as she told me this uninteresting story. She was too drunk. That’s probably why they didn’t talk to her.
“Let’s play a drinking game!!” Light skin shouted as everyone turned away from each other to look towards her.  Everyone looked uninterested to play a drinking game in the club.
Then I caught a glimpse of Karlie. She looked different, in a good way though. Usually when I see her she is at the gym, natural faced and gorgeous. Tonight she had on makeup that highlighted all of her features. My mouth opened as I took a large breath. Her eyes looked sparkling. Her lips were shiny and plump, like she coated them with honey. She wasn’t dressed like the others in short revealing clothing. She had on plum high waist skinny pants, with a tight black cropped top that went up to her neck. She had a small portion of the top of her stomach out. She put the outfit together with a bright green clutch that matched her black and bright green pumps. She had style. My throat got dry as I clothed mouth. Brad was all over her. I got up, excusing myself from the drunken light skin girl and made my way to where they were sitting. Like I true cock blocker I interrupted their conversation.
“KARLIE, Brad” I addressed them both. Brad looked confused.
Karlie looked up and noticed me, “Oh……” she paused, looking lost. Her eyebrows made a slight V as they contracted. “Antonio?”
Brad stuttered, “You guys know each other?”

*Stay Tuned for Part III next week!*

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