On the Rocks

by Jared Paakaula

  She watches the Fish y Chicks from afar with her hands folded across her chest. She begins to cough and decides to remove herself from the public eye. Trying not to seem sick in front of her guests, she quickly makes her way to her office and shuts the door.

  Once inside, she coughs heavily and clings to her desk with a death grip. Trying to stabilize herself, she tries to take deep breaths… but it doesn’t work. Barely being able to breathe at all, Robin starts to panic. Her thoughts go back and forth between hopeful and desperate: It will pass, it will pass, these cough attacks always do. Oh God, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe. I’m gonna die!

  She looks around for her phone, she knows she needs to call for help. Now breathing shallow breaths, her vision starts to blur and she starts feeling like everything is moving in slow motion. With her last ounce of energy, she lunges for the door knowing that as long as someone sees her, she stands a chance. She tries to scream, but having no breath to do so, she gasps and then blacks out. Her body hits the floor like a bag of bricks and she lays there with no one noticing her absence.

  The music continues to blare and the Fish y Chicks continue to entertain. The guests holler as each Chick takes their turn performing and the bartenders pour drinks almost in rhythm with the music. Feeling back in his groove, Kaleo starts slinging drinks as quickly as he did before. I’m back baby!

  Looking around, he knows that the club has been way more packed in the past, but he’s hopeful that more people are on their way. He looks to his right and watches Parker help a customer. Man, that’s my gorgeous friend. Maybe in another life we were together, but not this one. That’s ok, he’s my best friend though and I will take that.

  He looks back to his left and notices a hot asian guy waiting to order. Kaleo notices his slick hair and his dapper suit and starts to check him out. This asian ‘Rico Suave’ smiles as Kaleo walks up to him. I know that smile, Kaleo thinks to himself and then immediately realizes it’s Jimmy, back for another round.

  “You again?” Kaleo pretends to be irritated, but smiles back at Jimmy.

  “I’m back!” Jimmy flirts.

  “What do you want, Jimmy?” Kaleo asks.

  “Oh, so you remember my name I see?” Jimmy declares, knowing that he would.

  Kaleo rolls his eyes. “How could I forget someone as annoying as you?”

  Jimmy grabs his heart pretending as if he just got stabbed, “Ouch.”

  Kaleo looks at him with no remorse, “Do you want a drink or not?”

  “Yeah, my usual please,” Jimmy jokes, referring to his original order of ‘the gayest drink you have.’

  Kaleo rolls his eyes again, knowing exactly what Jimmy means. “So, two shots of whiskey then?”

  Jimmy nods, “Please.”

  Kaleo pours the two shots. He hands one to Jimmy and keeps one for himself.

  “Oh, did you want one?” Jimmy asks waiting for Kaleo to hand him the second shot as well.

  “Uh…” Kaleo feels dumb for assuming that one of the shots is for him.

  Jimmy cracks up, “I’m just playing! It’s for you.” Kaleo reaches over the bar and slaps his arm playfully. “Hey, you’re not the only one that gets to have fun,” Jimmy laughs.

  They cheers and shoot the whiskey. Jimmy makes a face suggesting that the shot was strong.

  “What? Can’t handle?” Kaleo teases.

  “Oh, I can handle. Wanna go again?” Jimmy readies himself for another round.

  “No. I want you to go away,” Kaleo jabs.

  “Hey, did you see my business card I left last time?” Jimmy asks.

  “Maybe…” Kaleo responds with a tone that says, What’s your point?

  “Oh, well, I never got a call, so I thought you might not have seen it.” Jimmy waits for a response.

  “Was I supposed to call?” Kaleo counters sassily.

  “So, you admit it. You did see it!” Jimmy imparts.

  Kaleo scoffs, knowing that he just got caught, “I might’ve.”

  “I thought we agreed that I would take you out?” Jimmy tries a swift one.

  “Agreed? Boy, please. I told you that I don’t date guys, who are in the closet,” Kaleo responds matter-of-factly.

  “Yeah, about that…” Jimmy starts, “Because of you, I came out to my friends.”

  “What?” Kaleo questions if he heard correctly.

  “Yup, so I just wanted to come in and say thank you,” Jimmy gets serious, “You triggered something in me that night that made me look at the way I was living. I realized I had to change… so I did.”

  “Wow.” Kaleo is impressed. “I’m happy for you.”

  “So… about that date?” Jimmy tries again.

  Kaleo rolls his eyes and chuckles, “Ho her God.”

  Just then, an older asian couple comes walking up to Kaleo. Ashley leaves her station at the door and waves her arms trying to get Kaleo’s attention. When she finally makes eye contact, she points at the older asian couple that’s just in front of her and makes a face saying trouble’s coming your way.

  “Mom! Dad!” Jimmy is shocked to see his parents at Violet. “What are you guys doing here?”

  Mom? Dad? Are these Jimmy’s parents? And why is Ashley trying to warn me about them? Kaleo thinks to himself.

  In a very heavy Chinese accent, Jimmy’s dad replies, “We own dis place.”

  “We here for show. We get invitation,” Jimmy’s mom informs.

  “Why you at gay bah?” Jimmy’s dad asks.

  “Uh… I was invited too,” Jimmy thinks quick on his feet.

  Knowing that Jimmy didn’t get an invitation, Kaleo puts two and two together, So he’s out to his friends, but still not out to his parents. Got it. Kaleo watches the whole conversation take place.

  Jimmy looks back over to Kaleo and hesitantly says, “Uh, Mom, Dad, this is, uh, my friend, Kaleo.” His fun, confident demeanor seems to have vanished instantly.

  Friend? Kaleo thinks to himself, but not wanting to start a family drama, he responds respectfully, “Nice to meet you.”

  “Kaleo, these are my parents,” Jimmy introduces. “They own the club apparently.”

  Jimmy’s dad bows his head slightly, while his mother says a stern “Hello.”

  “Oh, you’re the Wongs!” Kaleo exclaims, finally realizing that Ashley’s look meant that they are the building owners. He looks over at Jimmy with big eyes of realization, “Oh, you’re a Wong!” Shit! Maybe I shouldn’t have been treating the building owners’ son like crap this whole time.

  “Yup,” Jimmy nods his head. He shrugs his shoulders as to say, What can I say?

  “Mr. and Mrs. Wong, please, let me find you a seat.” Jeez, you would think that Robin would’ve reserved seats for the building owners or at least told us that they were coming.

  “Is Robin here? We want to say hello,” Mrs. Wong asks politely, but with her heavy Chinese accent, makes it sound like she’s barking a command.

  “Yeah, sure, of course. I think she’s in her office. I’ll take you to her.” Kaleo walks around the bar to guide them. He looks at Parker and says, “Parker, watch my side please.” Parker nods in confirmation.

  Kaleo and Jimmy walk just ahead of Jimmy’s parents and speak to each other quietly, so that his parents don’t overhear. “So, when were you gonna tell me that you’re a Wong?” Kaleo inquires.

  “Hey, to be fair, it said ‘Jimmy Wong’ on my business card,” Jimmy challenges.

  “Yeah, but there are a million people with the last name ‘Wong.’ How was I supposed to know that you were one of THE Wongs? Was that your tactic this whole time?” Kaleo questions with conviction.

  “What? No, I didn’t even know my parents owned Violet. They own a bunch of places in town, I stopped keeping track,” Jimmy admits. He recognizes that he finally has the upper-hand, “But, I guess that means… you kind of have to go out with me now, huh? Considering I’m the owners’ son and all.”

  Kaleo scoffs playfully, He just won’t give up! “I tol
d you, I don’t date guys who are in the closet,” Kaleo refers to the fact that Jimmy’s not ‘out’ to his parents.

  Jimmy laughs and shakes his head, “Touché.”

  Outside the club, there’s a few different groups of guests having a smoke break. Malu mans the door while Sam uses the bathroom. He peeks into the club and looks at Ashley. She looks back at him, but they both quickly look away. After their argument earlier, Ashley has been giving Malu the silent treatment. With such a small crowd and not really having anything to do, Malu looks up at the stars. I wonder if the girls on Mars are bitches too.

  From around the corner, a gang of five rowdy-looking guys start to make their way past the entrance of Violet. One of them rides a bicycle slowly and trails the rest of the gang, while another has his shirt off to establish dominance. He’s the shortest of the group with the tallest ego and with his shirt slung over his shoulder, he walks like an overconfident chihuahua leading a bunch of dumb pit bulls.

  They look at Violet’s flamboyant exterior and start laughing and cracking jokes at the club’s expense. Sensing that they could be trouble, several of the Violet customers put out their cigarettes and head back inside. This makes the gang feel empowered. Preying on people’s fears, they start to follow a group of gay guys making their way back into the club.

  Once the gang reaches the door, Malu stops them, “Whoa. Where you guys going?”

  “Inside,” the little gang leader says matter-of-factly. “We’re homos.” He looks back to his gang and they start laughing and egging him on.

  “You got an invitation?” Malu asks the gang. The fundraiser is not an “invite-only” event, but Malu pretends that it is.

  “No, we no need one. We invite ourselves!” The gang leader spits back.

  Trying to defuse the situation, Malu keeps calm. “Chill out, brah. Don’t get nuts.”

  “Nuts? NUTS?! Boys, he think I getting nuts.” The gang leader gets right in Malu’s face, “You think this is nuts?! Brah, I SHOW you nuts!” He throws his shirt on the ground and starts bouncing around with his fists up like he’s in a boxing match.

  “Brah, I not goin’ fight you,” Malu comments, still keeping calm, “but you guys cannot go inside.”

  “Oh boys, he telling us what we can and cannot do now! How’s dis fuckah!” The gang leader starts to get hyper with hate for Malu. He starts getting up in Malu’s face, acting as if he is going to hit him, but then backs away. He does this a couple times.

  With his back up against the doors to make sure the doors stay closed, Malu stands firm with his arms crossed at this chest. He stares down the little gang leader as the leader does his whole street fighter routine.

  “WHAT?! What kind door man you? You panty, yeah? I bet you one mahu like all the oddah fags in there!” The gang leader barks.

  “Brah, you pushin’ it,” Malu says, starting to get ticked off.

  “What? You tink you can stop us? You cannot stop nothin!” The gang leader keeps pushing, “We goin’ in there and we goin’ take this club,” he gets right up in Malu’s face, “and I goin’ take your chick too!”

  Having bottled up all of his anger from arguing with Ashley earlier and now this situation, Malu can’t keep a cool-head any longer. Although Ashley has been irritating him recently, Malu doesn’t let anyone talk about her like that. The last comment about ‘taking his chick’ was the last straw. With the little gang leader right up in his face, Malu head-butts him with all of his might.

  Not expecting that Malu would actually do anything, the little gang leader gets, literally, hit by surprise. Feeling woozy, he falls to the ground. The other gang members instantly jump on Malu to defend their leader. Malu swings and makes contact, punching one guy and then throwing another guy off him. Another guy tackles him to the ground and they start wrestling in the middle of the walkway.

  A few of the guests outside gasp and watch from afar, not wanting to get into the middle of the brawl. Malu continues to struggle with one of the guys, but finally gets him into a headlock. Trying to cut off his breathing and knock him out, Malu holds him tight.

  The fifth gang member gets off his bicycle and heads toward Malu. With the little gang leader dazed and confused on the ground, two of his other friends thrown across the way and his other friend trapped in a headlock, he knows he has to do something drastic. He sneaks up on Malu from behind, takes out a knife and stabs him on the right side of his ribs.

  “AAAHHHHH!!!” Malu yells and drops the guy out from his headlock. He grabs his side and falls to his knees. He looks at his ribs that’s now pouring blood and then looks back at the guy who stabbed him.

  As the guy walks toward him, possibly to stab him again, someone grabs the guy from behind and slams him on the ground. It’s Ryan, Lopaka’s ex-boyfriend. The knife falls to the ground far enough away from him and Ryan picks it up. He holds it at the gang member’s throat and threatens him, “Leave.”

  At that moment, Sam comes back from his pee break. He opens the door and sees guys thrown on the ground and Ryan threatening one of the gang members with a knife. “WHOA, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!” He looks to his feet and sees Malu on the ground bleeding. “Oh shit! Malu! Are you ok?”

  The gang members look at the size of Sam then look at Ryan with a knife and begin to back away. They pick up their gang leader, who’s still dizzy, and start running away like cockroaches scattering.

  Ryan watches as the gang disappears around the corner and then looks back at Malu, who’s down on all fours. He sees Sam at his side, down on one knee, trying to decide whether or not he should pick him up. Ryan runs into the club to get Ashley, who has no idea of what just happened outside of the entrance doors. “Malu got stabbed!”

  “WHAT?! What are you talking about?” Ashley exclaims. She gets out from behind the front desk and runs outside. Once outside, she sees Malu, with his arm around Sam’s neck, trying to stand up as he bleeds through his black shirt., “OH SHIT!” She screams. “Babe, are you ok?! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!!??”

  “He needs to go to the E.R.!” Sam says to Ashley, while holding Malu up.

  “He needs to go NOW!” Ryan necessitates.

  Ashley nods and runs back inside. She grabs her purse from behind the front desk and runs back out. She pulls out her keys and unlocks their SUV that’s sitting right outside of the club. “Sam, put him in, put him in!” She says trying to hurry him. She gets into the driver’s seat and starts the car. Once Malu is in the passenger’s seat, she reverses the car to the main street and speeds off. She grabs Malu’s hand and says with tears in her eyes, “Babe, stay with me ok.”

  At the same time that all of that is happening, Kaleo, Jimmy and Jimmy’s parents make their way to Robin’s office. With the door still closed, Kaleo knocks to see if they may enter. He knocks a second time, but with the music blasting from the Fish y Chicks performance, he figures that she probably can’t hear him. He opens the door slowly making sure he’s not intruding on anything, but doesn’t see Robin at her desk. He opens the door a little further, however, the door hits something and doesn’t open all the way. He looks down to see what’s blocking the doorway and realizes it’s Robin. She’s passed out on the floor on the backside of the door. “HOLY SHIT!”

  Jimmy looks down and sees what Kaleo is reacting to, “Oh my God!”

  Kaleo creeps his way into the office through the crack of the door and moves Robin away, so the others can enter. “Robin, are you ok?! ROBIN!” He taps her face slightly before checking her pulse.

  “Does she have a pulse?” Jimmy asks.

  “Uh, I don’t know. I think so,” Kaleo panics.

  Jimmy drops down and feels for a pulse in Robin’s neck. “Yeah, she’s got one. It’s faint, though.” He looks to his mom and dad who are standing and watching in shock, “Mom, call 911. Hurry!”

  Jimmy’s mom quickly grabs her cell phone from her purse and calls 911. “Yes, amburance. Violet Nightcrub. A woman fainted. Yes. Yes. Barery breathing. Please hurry!” />
  Kaleo looks to Jimmy with desperation in his eyes, “What do I do?”

  Jimmy grabs Kaleo’s shoulder and looks him dead in the eyes, “I got this, ok? Do you trust me?” Kaleo nods and moves out of the way. Jimmy takes off his suit jacket and positions himself to start CPR. He begins to pump Robin’s chest, “One, two, three, four, five, six…”

  Watching from the side of the stage, Chyna notices a bunch of commotion going on in Robin’s office and decides to head over. Once she gets near, she asks “What’s going on in h—, OH MY GOD!” She immediately sees her best friend on the floor unconscious with Jimmy working on her. “Oh my God, what’s happening?!”

  “I don’t know! We came in and she was passed out on the floor,” Kaleo explains. “Do you know if she’s allergic to anything or if she took something?”

  “No, I don’t thi—” Chyna stops herself and then quickly makes her way to Robin’s purse, she just might have a clue what the problem is. She reaches in and takes out Robin’s ARV pills that treat her HIV; it’s completely full. “Shit!”

  “What? What are those?” Kaleo asks as Jimmy still continues to give Robin CPR.

  “It’s her HIV pills,” Chyna informs, “She hasn’t been taking them.”

  “WHAT?! Why would she do that? And why wouldn’t she tell anyone that she’s battling with HIV?” Kaleo is shocked and upset.

  “It doesn’t matter. Did you call an ambulance?” Chyna redirects Kaleo’s focus.

  “Yes. I did. Zey on Zeir way,” Jimmy’s mom chimes in.

  Chyna looks at the older asian couple, then back at Kaleo, “Who’s this?”

  “These are the Wongs,” Kaleo replies staring into Chyna’s eyes trying to telepathically tell her that they are the owners of the building.

  Chyna receives Kaleo’s eye contact, but doesn’t know what he means. “The Wongs?” Then almost instantly, as soon as their names leave her lips, it hits her. “Oh my God, the Wongs!” She walks over to them and shakes their hands. “Hi, pleasure to meet you. I love the club, I love the space.” Trying to make a good impression for the building owners, Chyna almost forgets that her best friend is lying on the floor. She looks down and then back at the Wongs, “Sorry we have to meet under these conditions.”