I picked up the final fry and ate it. My entire plate was empty of all the good shit and we can finally leave. I could go home and write again with no one around except me and my thoughts. My brilliant, and not at all procrastinating, thoughts. 

That’s what I would say if there was anyone sitting with me anymore. Instead, everyone spread about the restaurant doing something normal people would call fun. 

Karina was having a drink off with an old man in a biker jacket. The man was on his fifth drink while Karina was chugging them down one after the next. Once she got to the tenth, she collapsed on the table and I could hear her snoring from here. One man raised the old man’s hand, declaring him the winner.

Harmony hung out with the only other young woman in the bar, with men surrounding them on all sides. Everyone had a beer and were laughing after Harmony told them one of my jokes. I didn’t hear her credit me, so I guess this gives me the right to sue. I’m a nice person, however, and decide not to.

Jessica and Miranda were talking with an elderly woman, listening to her stories, and telling some of her own. I listened to their conversation for a while, but when Jessica began talking about her job about figuring out the recent murder cases, I blanked out. I don’t want to hear anything about that.

While everyone else was having the time of their lives, I sat back and just looked at random things I saw on the wall. That was fun for me. Ooh, A picture of the 2008 NASCAR race championship. I’m still surprised that sport isn’t dead since no one ever talks about it. 

“You aren’t joining them?” Zihao asks. 

He was the only other person not interacting with the crowd of people. He was busy washing cups and refilling beers to do that. Someone from the drinking competition called for more beer. I looked over and saw that Karina miraculously regained consciousness. She’s practically genociding her brain cells by this point. 

Zihao took out four cups, filled them up, and brought them over to the table with little care for their wellbeing. He was getting paid for all this and the fact he isn’t shut down with the building looking like this is rather surprising. If I ran a business and it’s still not shut down by its poor performance, I’d get a big head as well.

I heard the chair next to me squeak as someone sat on it and I turned around. Zihao’s daughter, I think her name was Lai, placed a piece of paper on the counter and began drawing on it with colored pencils beside her. 

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Drawing.” 

I ran right into that one, didn’t I.

“I mean, why is your dad allowing you to witness all this?”

“You know I can hear you.” Zihao said, walking up to the counter. He pointed at his ears. “I got perfect hearing just to let you know. If the room goes pitch black, I can easily tell where I am just from the sounds of everyone.”

“Sorry about that.”

He shook his head. “Nah, you’re fine. You just care about people which I can respect. I just don’t want to leave her at home all by herself in this neighborhood. Who knows what could happen when I’m not around?”

I can see what he means. If people like this were the norm here, then I can see why he wouldn’t want to leave her by herself. But then a question comes to mind.

“Why can’t her mother take care of her?”

Lai’s color pencil stopped making noises from her drawing, and I turned to see her looking at the floor. I looked back at Zihao and he was also looking beside him, as if he were staring at someone that was no longer there.

“That’s a sensitive topic.” He said.

The situation that I buried myself into finally caught up to me and the realization of what I asked hit me like a truck. 

“Oh shit, I’m sorry.”

“You’re fine. You didn’t know anything about it.” He looked at my empty glass. “Want a refill? Yours was just a normal coke so you won’t have to pay for it.”

I nodded, and he grabbed my cup, then walked to the kitchen with it. I could hear Lai begin coloring again and I look at her progress. When I do, I was absolutely stunned by what I was seeing.

She draws better than me and I’m a shit drawer. She was drawing a character from one of my favorite anime waving a staff around, creating a rain cloud overhead. It still looked like a kid drew it, but I could only draw stick figures, whereas she made it look like an actual person. 

“How did you learn to draw like that?” I hear something hit the counter and I look to see my drink has arrived.

“What else could I do? I’m not old like Dad is, so I can’t play with anyone else.” Lai said.

“When did I become old? Last time I checked I was twenty–seven.” Zihao said.

“That’s old.” Lai counter attacked.

I guess to a ten-year-old, someone more than ten years older would be old to them. I point to myself and grab her attention.

“Am I old?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “Aren’t you still in school?” I sulked to myself while Zihao began laughing his ass off. 

“How old are you anyway?” Zihao asked. “When you came in, I thought you were underage.”

“Twenty-four.”

He laughed even harder, which only made me hide into myself even more. I don’t have a beer, I don’t have a billion dollars, and I’m not the mother fucker that I imagine myself to be. At least someone’s laughing off my misfortune. 

I’m not a fan of being around people, but it’s nice seeing people smiling after everything that happened at the park. It filled up the happiness tank in my chest, and although I didn’t want to join in, it’s cool to watch. 

“You never really answered my question, though.” Zihao says.

“What question?” I ask.

He sighs. “What are you doing here rather than hanging out with all of them?” He waved his hand to the crowd that was surrounding Harmony and the woman. 

I looked over there, and the men had lined up behind a table. Harmony was on the opposite side of a man and they were grabbing each other’s hands from across the table. Suddenly, Harmony brought his hand down so hard the man shouted and shook his now red hand. The crowd cheered while Harmony waited for her next opponent. 

“It’s just not my style.” I say.

“Then why do you keep looking? You can’t tell me you don’t want to have fun with them when you stare so much.”

I don’t have to explain myself to this man. I’ve already talked about it in my head where no one could hear. I don’t want to repeat myself, even if it’s out loud. 

“Miranda!”

I sway my head behind me and see Karina stumbling over to Miranda and Jessica. She carried a cup of beer in hand, accidentally spilling a few drops on the floor.

“Oh my God.” I heard Miranda say.

“Hab a drink wit me.” Karina’s speech was so slurred that I had to listen really hard to understand her.

“How many drinks did you have?” Miranda said, standing up and grabbing onto her shoulders.

“Onwy toe.” She held up four fingers. 

“Two, huh.” Miranda turned to Jessica. “I think it’s time to go. She needs to get home.” Jessica nodded and stood up. Miranda looked over at Zihao. “Why didn’t you stop giving her drinks?”

“She’s an adult. She can decide what to do with her body.”

Miranda looked liked she was about to argue, but Karina nearly fell to the ground, forcing her to hold her up. Any fight in her body was now gone as she carried her friend outside. 

“Are y’all gonna pay?” Zihao called out. 

“I’ll do it.” Jessica said. For a second, I was afraid that I was going to pay. Thankfully, my wallet is secure. 

“I’ll get Harmony.” I said, standing up while gulping down the last of my drink. 

I head over to where Harmony is currently pounding another guy’s hand against the table while laughing demonically. She said cubbi aren’t demons, but she sure as hell makes herself seem like one.

“Come at me again you bitches.” Harmony shouted.

Another man sat opposite to her, the same guy that greeted me when Karina pushed me into here. I stood back, wondering what was about to happen. Harmony may be an extra powerful cubbi, but this man looked as if he prayed to the dumbbell God every night. And apparently it worked cause he’s absolutely jacked.

He drank the beer in his hand, set it down next to him, and cracked his knuckles. He slowly placed his shoulder on the table and held up his hand, waiting for Harmony to get ready.

“Looks like you’re done here. Why not one more time before you go?” 

He flexed his hand and I could see his muscles bulging. I didn’t even know people could do that. Despite the show of strength, Harmony cracked a smile and brought her hand to his.

Suddenly, he looked back at me, and I flinched on the spot. 

“Hey, tell that red head to stop paying your bill.” He turned back to Harmony. “I got myself a wager for you.” 

Turns out, I didn’t need to get Jessica to stop cause I heard Zihao do it for me. Turns out he does have really good ears. Jessica looked at the commotion and came walking toward us.

“What’s the bet?” Harmony asked.

“Simple really. All that beer you guys drank would cost a fortune.” He turned to Zihao. “What’s their bill looking like?”

Zihao looked over the ticket that rolled down to the counter like a scroll. “Nearly two-fifty.”

“Wholly sit Karina. What the fuck are you about to make me pay?” Jessica muttered to herself.

“Aren’t you a detective? Don’t they pay you a lot?” 

Jessica held in a laugh that was more of an answer than any words that would come out. 

“So here’s the bet.” The man said. “If you can beat me at this, then I’ll pay for your stuff. But if I win, you put my stuff on your bill too.” 

“Didn’t you see the way I beat these other guys? What makes you think you stand a chance?”

He flexed his arms and I could see his veins pump along with his muscles. “I don’t know. Why do you think I can win?” He squeezed his hands, and if it was hurting Harmony, she didn’t let it faze her.

“I’ll take this bet.” Harmony said. Her confident smile stayed strong as she squeezed her hand back in return. 

While this whole event was going down, I could only wonder what in the fuck was happening now. How did we get into this situation? He may not have bought much, but I don’t want our bill to be anymore higher than now. Harmony taking this bet is just reckless. If there’s one thing I would never describe about Harmony, is that she’s reckless. She can’t afford to because of who she is.

They squeezed each other’s hands while someone began counting down. I don’t know how strong Harmony is, but even if she was strong enough to break concrete, I doubted she could beat this guy.

“Two! One! Go!”

Their hands began shaking as they put all their strength into them, then they steadied out as they pushed on each other. Everyone’s eyes were locked onto the intense match going on. Both contestants smirked like they both knew they weren’t going to lose. 

The first push occurred. Harmony’s hand began to get pushed down by the man’s and he locked onto the advantage. Her lack of fucks given with that smile showed she wasn’t giving up yet. 

Suddenly, the tables were turning. Harmony began pushing back, bringing them back to being even, and then pushing him even further. I could see a bead of sweat pouring from his forehead, while Harmony’s still looked laser focused. 

I could see the man’s muscles bulging, and slowly, he pushed back. His veins throbbed, sweat poured from his head, and even his tongue was sticking out. How did that accomplish anything? I don’t know, but it was apparently working.

“Hey dude.” Harmony began talking. He didn’t say anything. He was too busy focusing on winning. “How much was your stuff again?”

He didn’t say anything for a bit until he squeezed out a sound. “Fifty bucks.” 

“Well then, it looks like you have to pay three hundred now.” With all her effort, she pushed as hard as she could and slammed his hand to the table. The man shouted, and the crowd cheered for the victor. 

The men crowded around and picked her up, shouting her name in glorious triumph, and she laughed all the while. The man who lost groaned and stood up with a smile still on his face despite his now hefty bill.

“Goddamn you’re one strong woman.”

“Yeah, she is.” Jessica said.

I sigh and walk up to Harmony and pull her down from the men’s grasp. She came down laughing and somewhat tipsy from the beers she drank. The man walked up and held out his hand, which was now bleeding from his knuckles. 

“Are you okay?” Harmony asked.

“I might need to get a cast, but otherwise I’m fine. You deserve the win.”

Harmony smiled back and shook his hand. With that, we waved goodbye and left the bar without having to pay for jack shit. Maybe this really is the best restaurant in Juxten.