‘I got her. No worries,’ said the man. The bartender shrugged.
The room was spinning. Round and round and round, like a merry-go-round out of control. Faith held her hands to her head.
‘Let me help you there, little lady. Steady as she goes.’
Her legs felt like Jell-O.
‘The cab should be outside,’ said the bartender.
‘I’ll put her in it,’ he called out. ‘I got you now,’ he said to Faith reassuringly. ‘You need some air, is all. I think you had a little too much. What’s your name?’ he asked. He had a southern accent. Southern people were so nice.
‘Faith,’ she managed. The bodies in the bar and at the pool table were rushing her. She held on to the stranger’s arm.
‘How you feeling, Faith? You with me here?’
‘I’m not feeling,’ she answered – or thought she answered. The words weren’t coming out of her mouth the way she heard them in her head. She was having problems walking. It was like she was running out of power, one appendage at a time. She feared if the stranger let go of her arm and waist she would fall on her ass. The room kept spinning and bobbing.
The door opened and she was outside in a parking lot. ‘You tell me where you want to go, and I’ll take you there. You want to go home?’ he asked.
She nodded. The cab was sitting in front of the bar, only a few steps away, but the stranger was walking her away from it.
‘I have to go home,’ she said, trying to wave at the cab but her arm was too heavy. It wasn’t doing what she wanted. They were across the parking lot now, heading down an alley that led to a back parking lot.
‘Just a little bit more, then you can take a load off. Take a nap if you want.’
She heard the beep of a car alarm.
‘You’re gonna need it,’ he said. ‘It’s gonna be a long night, Faith.’
She nodded, because it was hard to say words any more. She was very tired. And everything was spinning. She had to lie down and close her eyes or she might be sick.
He leaned her up against the car and opened the passenger door. She looked around, trying to focus. This was not her car. This was not a cab. She suddenly felt very afraid and she knew she would soon forget her fear because she was falling asleep right there. She tried to run, but her legs no longer worked. She started to slump to the ground.
‘Not yet, Looky-Look. It’s nap-time in a minute.’ The stranger lifted her and carried her over to the passenger seat. He was wearing tinted glasses that hid his eyes, even though it was dark out. He smiled at her with crooked teeth. ‘And when you wake up, you and I are gonna have a whole lotta fun. Que pasa?’