June 17-19 - When the Fun Stops and then Starts Again and Alls Well that Ends Well..

After the short work week it was right back out and ready to hang on this Friday Night. Vacation was nice but we wanted to hang just as bad after 3 days off than the usual five. We welcomed the arrival of the Jimmy but felt bad he had injured his shoulder in our absence. He was still ready to hang so we headed out just after 11pm and made our way into the city. We were ready to hang but didn't want too boisterous a crowd that would bump the shoulder of the Jimmy too much. However I still wanted to go to Gym and see how Barman Brett was after my 2 weeks of absence from the NYC hangout environs. We were able to find a parking space pretty easily and walked the 2 blocks down 8th Ave to arrive in front of Gym. However, some drama from earlier in the evening (bad lieutenant) and the attendance appeared way down the doorman were keeping the number inside greatly controlled. We saw Rick outside in a bad mood and no trace of Barman Brett so we decided that we would skip this jump on our barhop for the evening. We headed over the two blocks crosstown to head on into Splash. We got inside and wandered through the place for a bit and then picked up our drinks and started to hang out. We moved from the downstairs to the upstairs, from the back bar to the front bar and hung out till we strung out. Well not exactly but we definitely had a good time. The crowd was bumping, with DJ Eddie Elias totally keeping the crowd upbeat and moving to the tribal grooves. We ended up leaving the Jimmy to his own devices after 3am but we were all ready to go so we up and left. The cab was pretty easy to get right out front and we headed home none the worse for wear.

I woke up Saturday morning ready to move and ready to get out and do the workout thing so after a nice order of breakfast delivery (damn nasty burger) I made sure to hydrate and Pais and I headed over to the gym in downtown NYC. I was able to get the workout through fairly quickly but Pais had stopped in the office first and started late so after my workout was done I headed across the street to J&R. A little shopping for blank CDs and CD cases as well as some new movie DVDs downstairs and I was ready to head back home. I called up Pais after I had picked up a new bottle of Coca Cola Zero at the Duane Reade and climbed into the Murano and we headed back to Bklyn. We chilled out for a while in the afternoon, rested up and then ordered in the italian dinner. After finishing off the grilled chicken and started the late evening preparations. I had already received a call from Gigi and was finally able to determine her time of arrival. She clued me in that she wasn't arriving alone but it was really no stress as we had plenty of time and space before it was time to go. Gigi and Ana arrived around 10:30 and while I was changing on one side of the apt. they both changed on the other and we all came out outfitted and ready to head into the city.

After a quick stop off at the ATM we all piled into the car and headed into the city. The ride in was easy and the mood was high as we arrived fairly quickly and made ourselves for entry and arrival. We were there at 11:50 and we got in fairly easy saying hi to all the staff and I even introduced my sisters to a few of my friends on the staff. We then walked into Roxy ready to have some fun. We started off with drinks and a tour of the place. From the front to the back upstairs and down with drinks in hand we danced near the bar a bit and then headed upstairs to the Crystal Lounge just in time to hear a Janet Jackson compilation mega-mix that had us dancing with the crowd and having some fun. After the music changed we headed back downstairs and readied ourselves to really dive into the evening. The girls were a big hit, especially with one older spanish gentleman who danced with Gigi near the bar. Ana, Pais and I kept in the same general area but didn't crowd too much but just smiled and looked on. As the place grew more crowded around 1am we were ready to really jump into the eve and the guy Gigi was dancing with brought her over to the bar on the other side of the Barmistress to get a drink. Before we could step too much closer Gigi had already taken the shot glass and downed the drink. She put both of her hands up to her face as if the drink was hot but she said it wasn't too strong. She then announced to everyone that she needed a cigarette. Me and Ana converged to walk her outside and show her the way outside. The guy asked us where we were going but we told him we were related and walked her outside. Outside at the fence Gigi and Ana conversed with the guys outside but Gigi was getting quieter and quieter until I noticed she was not quite right. Before she even knew what was happening I could see she was about to be sick. I turned her around and she christened the fence for a minute or so before we walked her down to the stairs at the end of the area and sat for a bit. I ran back inside to get a bottle of water (seeing no sign of the mad spanish man) and quickly returned outside to see how they were doing. Gigi was not well and Ana volunteered to take her home. As we were celebrating my birthday it was decided that I would stay in the club but even though I saw them get into the taxi and head home and received status calls on my cell I was still in a bad mood until I got the call they had arrived at home OK and were about to go to bed. Pais left not too long afterwards as he had a game to go to the next day and needed some rest. I realized a little while later that bad things really do happen in triples (I had left some one of a kind clothes back in Vegas the previous weekend, lost my keys as soon as I got back home, and now had my sis get poisoned at the very space I spend almost every weekend). Once I realized that we had all come through it alive and maybe better for it I decided I would move out of that angry space and end my night on the stage. I got the stage to myself, lit both of my hands and put on a show for the DJ and lightboard crew (the crowd too). After that was over I headed back to the front picked up another drink and moved on with the rest of my night.
I stayed until just around 4am and headed outside to pick up a taxi and head back to BK. I arrived back home nice and safe and fell into a welcome sleep pretty quickly.

Sunday morning I awoke feeling pretty decent, ready to head out and see what needed to be seen and plans to do quite a lot of traveling. As Ana and Gigi had not gotten to return to pick up their wardrobe they had left at my place I packed it all up in a J&R bag and made ready to travel I walked down the street and picked up the Brooklyn bound train. The train arrived fairly quickly and I rode it down to 86th street and visualized the bus waiting for me upstairs and ready to head over to Staten. After finding the bus sitting there and waiting for my Metrocard to process the transfer I sat down very happy but then hungry as the people in front of my had brought on some bags from Mickey D's. I was definitely ready to eat something by the time I arrived down near Wagner College and waited for the bus to take me up the hill. The bus was not on schedule but at least I hadn't missed it as it arrived about 9 minutes late to take me up the hill. There were only about 2 other people on the bus and I ended up taking the bus a little too far but at least the walk back was downhill and not an uphill walk. After finding the right house I said hello to Ian and stepped inside. We spent a little while watching and playing Resident Evil 4. The game was really great looking and very disturbing. The crazed killers in that game just do not give up and go out of their way to throw a nice scare into you. It was real hard to get that girl out safely without her getting jumped too. Oh well, pretty soon The rest of the household arrived with babies in tow. I said hello to Ana Gigi and the kids and we began to prepare the food for the barbecue. With Moms in the kitchen throwing everything together Gigi and I got the grill going (mostly Gigi) and we made sure it was packed with loads of grillstuff. They didn't take too long to cook and right after we had removed the first waves to just stay warm the rest of the party arrived. Anissa, killer Kaheem, Willy, GF and all of the babies and we definitely had a houseful. With Heineken in hand I minded the grill and made sure everything stayed within the bounds of edible Kaheem showed off the new Crossfire and we started giving out buns, burgers and dogs as fast as they could come off the grill. However before it got too late Emmett, Ana and I knew we had other places to be in NYC. We hurriedly said our goodbye's as we piled into the car and headed down to the SI Ferry to catch the 8pm boat. We caught it with a few seconds to spare and sat down and enjoyed the short ride across the bay. Keeping the babies occupied in transit passed the time and pretty soon we were in downtown Manhattan. We said our goodbyes and then I headed over to the ATM to pick up some cash before riding the R train uptown. I changed over at 14th street to the L so I could move over to the 8th Avenue Line before continuing uptown to 28th Street. Of course the express train I caught went too far so I had to walk back down from 32nd street and over 2 blocks to get to the Eagle bar (better late than never). The place was ridiculously crowded with the leftover crowd from the earlier street fair and after picking up a bottle of bud light I wandered through the crowd and took in the sights. Pais was up on the roof, the team having had arrived en masse after finishing off their afternoon game. However there was a line every time I walked over and I could not head upstairs at first. After watching people practically devouring each other with hands and kisses I finally saw the way clear away enough for me to wait on the steps and head upstairs. After a 3 minute wait I was on the roofdeck and making my way across to the guys. Everyone else was far more advanced into their imbibe than I was but it was a very happy bunch. Pais, Donnie, Chris, the Jimmy, Ty, and Mike were all in attendance. I headed back over to the upstairs bar to pick up some more drinks and we commenced hanging out and having ourselves a good ol' time. However as the time approached 10:30PM we had to say our goodbye's so we could head back to the comfy environs of BK. After all of the goodnight's we went downstairs and found the Murano before heading downtown. We didn't have too many late night meal choices but finally we let the fact we need to buy gas decide. We picked up some gas after coming off of the Manhattan bridge and then headed over to Mickey D's. We picked up a meal for each of us and then quickly headed home so I could release some fluid (those damn beers). The night ended well and the weekend came to a close as well. I was glad everyone made it through OK and counted me and mine fortunate that if anything untoward were to happen we were all there together and ready to see it through till the finish. Out of all of us at the time of highest drama, the two most responsible were the ones able to maintain a cool head and get through with the night.

I hope I never have to see one of my friends incapacitated again, and as far as depends upon me and mine, it won't. I'm not saying I can watch everyone all of the time but I can make sure to be aware that even in the most familiar places there are underlying elements ready to pull you under. Until the next time, Keep it hot, Keep it safe.