Chapter 23 Steven’s PoW

It was damn awkward. Both of his female friends were stupid. There was no other explanation. He could not even fathom how their relationships could devolve into that-… Whatever it was. Steven did not even know how to label it.

Somehow Mika had managed to talk her crush. Who happened to be their friend and get her to go on a date. Both of them even admitted that they had a great time, and from descriptions, Steven had to agree with their assessment.

Mika had even told Silva that she is a lesbian. With how Mika usually acted there was no way for Silva to make a mistake and misunderstand the meaning of the signals she got sent in her direction.

So how did they return to being best friends? How did it work?

“How do women work?” Steven asked Ben who was currently taking a break from prancing around the new bar he had brought him to.

“Are you drunk?” Benjamin returned a question. “What is even happening in that head of yours? I know you are not the smartest cookie, but…” He did not finish.

“Eat a dick.” Steven spat out and took another shot of whatever the wile brew it was. Ben was paying and he would drink everything his friend found suitable for the evening.

It had been four days now since Mika and Silva had their date. At least both of them did not seem to be hurt by the new revelation. It meant that Steven did not have to try and mend their friendship. He wouldn’t even know where to start if he had to.

On the downside, nothing was resolved. Most of the time Mika still was looking at Silva with lovestruck eyes and other times… He had to wonder how innocent his friend actually was inside because sometimes Mika’s eyes reminded him of a predator.

On the upside, both of them did not blame him for choosing a horror movie. Though it seemed that Mika could not recall the movie at all while Silva did not want to recall it.

On the downside, at this point, he had no idea how to help them get closer. And he had run out of the booze.

“Yo, Benjamin, my dude, we are out of the juice.” Steven shook his empty glass.

“What’s gotten into you? I know you can drink a horse under the table, but at this rate, I am afraid you’ll wake up in a hospital.” Ben eyed Steven with suspicion. Still, he made a sign and after a moment they got another bottle.

“It’s all their fault!” Steven let out an agitated shout.

“Who’s? Women?”

“Yes! Yes! Where was I?” Steven did a small self-diagnosis before taking another shot. He was still fine. The amount he had drunk was horrendous. In regular intervals, he had to go to the toilet and empty his bladder, but the buzz he had gotten out of it was not worth mentioning.

It would be bad if his judgement became clouded. Without him around Ben would surely find trouble, even in a run-down place like this. Especially in a run-down place like this.

They were in an old bar which smelled of cigarettes and varnish. Nothing like ‘The Enchantress’ and Steven missed ‘The Enchantress’. At least that place had its own security.

The guy he had knocked out fifteen minutes ago was still lying next to their table. At least this guys ‘friend’s’ had been smart enough to not go for more. If only they had taken the body along when they ran. The guy was snoring too, so all was fine in the world.

Except it wasn’t!

“Fuuuuuck!” Steven groaned.

On the upside, it did not seem that Silva had anything against Mika. It was clear that she was actually enjoying all the pampering Mika was doing to her. So, was there something more to it? Silva had been very quiet about her preferences. Up to this point she had never mentioned ever liking someone.

Steven knew that there people like that. People who did not fall in love. Silva, however, did not seem like one of them. For example, she loved her father. She was also attached to him and Mika.

While Steven himself had met them only twice this week, he knew that Mika and Silva met each other every day. The truth was he felt a little bit left out. Only a little, because he was always invited. Unfortunately, the one who always invited him was Silva. Mika did ask him to join sometimes, but only when Silva made her.

It was not that he did not want to spend time with them. He also knew why Mika was so stingy with her invites. His best friend had a one-track mind regarding her crush.

Steven did not mind it. At least Mika had finally found a special someone. Even if he was left at the wayside he was happy to help her out. That’s how great of a friend he was. And at the very least he had Ben.

“Speaking of which… BEN!” Steven started to look for his friend. “The fuck are you? Where the-, fuck!” His attempt to stand up was not entirely successful. He still had to use a hand to keep himself straight. So, on the second thought, maybe he should stop drinking. There was only that much his body could take.

Steven scanned the room and saw his friend next to a dirty slot machine talking to a girl. Of course, the girl had a guy with her. He had seen the dude go to the toilet, but Ben, probably, had not. Or maybe he had. Ben was very attentive. If he cared was a different matter.

A short walk later Steven was sure that he had enough for drinks tonight. Walking was too taxing and at some point, the girl’s boyfriend had returned and was not taking Ben’s presence well. Knowing his friend, Ben had not known where to draw the line and inevitably said something stupid.

“Just another night out with Ben,” Steven said to no one and joined the fray.

It took only a short while to sort out the problem. It was clear that Ben was at fault here, so Steven had been gentle and diffused the situation carefully. With the tried and tested method of knocking the boyfriend down. The guy did not deserve to spend the rest of the night out cold. But this event once again showed why he hated places like these. It always came down to a fistfight.

The only thing going for this place was that there were no dealers here. Steven guessed that it was beneath even them to try and sell their junk here. But of course, there was nothing beneath them. Half an hour later Steven noticed one of their kind lurking in a corner.

At this point, Steven had sobered up somewhat, while Ben had continued drinking and was in a much worse condition. It was already set in stone that Ben would be skipping school tomorrow. Or today. It was practically a morning anyway.

Steven sometimes envied his free-spirited friend, but their situations were vastly different and it was not like Ben did not have his own problems. In a way, they were even worse than Steven’s.

“It’s time to go, buddy.” Steven nudged Ben, who was nodding off in his own droll. The sleeping beauty had had already paid for all the damage they had done to the place, with a hefty bonus thrown in. It indicated that Ben wanted to come again and while Steven did not share the sentiment, at least this place had drinks with enough strength to impact even his superhuman endurance. It counted for something, right?

With Ben thrown over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry, Steven exited the bar. The place was imaginatively called ‘Bar.’ For a moment he considered if he should get Ben’s car and drive him home or call a taxi.

The end decision was to walk. Steven still was fuzzy in the head and it would be better if Ben came to conciseness before he arrived at his place.

Steven sent a message to one of Benjamin’s caretakers to inform them of where the car was left and started to walk. He would still have to call a taxi at some point, as Ben’s house was too far to just walk but for now, he took a breath of the cold air, enjoying the shivers that it brought.

After a short while of marching, Ben woke up. He did not appreciate Steven’s way of handling him, but after a short argument, they resumed walking. Only now each on their own legs. Ben, in his inebriation, kept complaining about everything that happened to be in front of him. If there was nothing he complained about everything else.

“So, I said, Pop’s, you like, should, like, do stuff, you know what I mean?”

“Sure, and what happened next?” Steven encouraged Ben. At least Ben did not speak about finding a new place to continue the night.

“And then, you know my mom was… She was, like, no way…” Ben droned on and on. Most of what he said was incomprehensible. The rest Steven had already heard before.

There was a problem though. At some point, people had started following them. Steven did not know who they were, but for him to notice it so late meant that they were good. It also meant that they did not plan to rob them and their more likely target was Ben.

It was not for the first time and not for the last for him to encounter guys like these. Steven had dealt with situations like these several times already.

It was part of the reason Benjamin’s father let his son out with him. The ability to keep his son safe. Usually, there was only one group that made the attempt, but after Steven had let these men trail after them for a short while he had noticed that there were actually two groups of people aiming after them.

“This is a first.” Steven could not help but remark.