THE CAGE
Ryan stood with his sister in the middle of the living room at what was now her place. Riley handed her brother a beer from the fridge. It was some German beer. The University of Pittsburgh students were starting the year off by partying. It was Riley’s junior year and Kody’s senior year. Classes actually started at the end of August but Kody and Riley were a few weeks late to have a party to start the year off. The original plan for the night wasn’t a party but it ended up that way.
“How’s the team doing?” Riley asked.
“Green team is doing great as always but Gold is so-so,” Ryan said teetering his hand.
“I feel bad for not being around so much lately,” Riley said. “I really enjoyed being around the kids.” She was going to say something more but Kody grabbed her attention and she stepped away leaving Ryan alone.
Ryan looked around the room as he took a drink wondering if any of the cute girls were single.
“Hey,” a guy said approaching Ryan. “That beer was in the fridge, right?”
“Yeah, probably,” Ryan said with a nod.
“Then that’s my beer,” the guy said without breaking his stare.
“Oh, well my–”
“I don’t care,” he said. “You can’t just come into a party and start taking beers. This beer is expensive. Can you not afford your own? Were you even invited to the party?” Ryan noticed most people were looking at them. They were probably expecting a fight. “I’ll bet you’re just some random guy who saw a party and thought you could score some free beer.”
If this guy kept talking then the crowd would get what they wanted because Ryan’s eyes were darkening. Ryan had felt bad for taking the guy’s beer at first but it was Riley who had given it to him. He was going to apologize at first but the guy kept up with the insults so there was no chance of Ryan admitting any wrongdoing now.
Suddenly, Riley stepped in between them staring down the guy. The guy jumped at Riley’s sudden appearance.
“You got a problem, Tom?”
“Yeah, this guy stole one of my beers.”
“This guy is my brother and I gave him that beer thinking it was one of my roommate's.”
“Oh,” Tom said visibly deflating.
“And you could’ve been more civil about it instead of immediately flying off the handle.”
“Your brother should’ve said so,” Tom said as if he was trying to save face.
“You didn’t give me the chance,” Ryan said. “You know what, take your fucking beer.” Ryan shoved the half-full bottle forcefully into Tom’s chest and then stormed out of the party.
Riley chased after him. He was already on the sidewalk by the time she walked out the front door. She forgot how easily he could maneuver around people; something he picked up as a football player no doubt.
“Ryan, wait up,” Riley said jogging up to him. He stopped with a huff. “What’s going on?”
Ryan shook his head. “That guy just pissed me off. I can’t stand your college friends.”
“He’s hardly a friend. He’s dating one of my teammates so he tagged along with her.”
“Well, whatever. The original plan was for the three of us to just drink and bullshit but then it ended up being a party. I wanted to catch up with you guys but I’ve barely seen you all night. Hell, I haven’t seen you for like a month.”
“Aren’t you being a little clingy?” Riley asked. “I mean, what did you think, that we’d live together for the rest of our lives?”
“Of course not,” Ryan said. “I knew this would happen at some point but me wanting to spend time with you doesn’t mean I’m being clingy. Do you realize how lonely I am right now? I rarely see Steven and Wayne. The only time I do is at football practice. Every night I come home to an empty apartment and I spend every night sitting on the couch wishing I had someone to talk to. God forbid for me to want to see my sister once in a while. Whatever. Enjoy your party. I’m out.”
Riley watched her brother storm away until he disappeared around the corner. She knew he’d have to blow off steam on his own. She sighed as she didn’t realize how lonely he must be these days. She had assumed he was doing fine and had plenty of people to hang out with. She didn’t realize just how out of the loop she had been. She returned to the party with less enthusiasm than before.
Ryan walked up the street to the intersection of Murray and Forbes Avenue. He ventured into the Squirrel Hill Cafe which has been known to not card anyone. Ryan was only a few months away from being 21 so this was his only shot at getting any more alcohol for the night. If he didn’t then he might as well go home.
The bar still had its rustic appearance. It wasn’t as busy as he had expected. All the booths were full as well as the upstairs area but there were spots open at the bar. He found a spot at the end of the bar near the window. It had been some time since he had come into this bar. The last time was when he met Taeyeon. He hoped there was a chance he’d run into her here but those chances were slim if not non-existent.
One of the bartenders, who was hot as hell, came over and leaned on the bar, giving Ryan a nice view down her spaghetti strap shirt. It was a tactic that bartenders used to get men to return and possibly give bigger tips.
“Whata ya have, Hun?”
“Pitcher of Killians.”
The woman noticed he wasn’t associated with anyone else. She nodded before jumping away to get his drink. She returned a moment later with a glass and a full pitcher.
“You’re not going to be trouble for me will ya?”
“Hadn’t planned on it,” Ryan said filling his glass.
“Wait, you’re Ryan,” she said. Ryan stopped before the glass touched his lips.
“Are you a witch?”
“You used to date one of my friends. Taeyeon. You two came over for movie night sometimes.” Now Ryan remembered her. Her name was Adrienne.
“Oh, shit. Yeah, I remember now. You’re still hot as ever, of course, I think most of Taeyeon’s female friends were hot. Have you talked to her recently?”
“Not since she moved back home,” Adrienne said. “She said something happened and she had to move back home. But hey, let’s talk some more later.” She stepped away to take more orders. Ryan watched her as she bounced around the bar. She didn’t appear to be the type to work at such a place. Her pink cropped shirt and tight light blue jeans stood out among the brown and black of the bar.
The Cage, as it was generally called, didn’t look like the bars that were down on the south side. That was the party scene and Adrienne’s appearance fit that. The people here didn’t look like typical college students. They gave off the local vibe. No one was wearing Pitt clothing like one would find at bars closer to campus. The Cage supported the local teams as they sported banners on the wall of all the different Pittsburgh teams but Ryan couldn’t see anyone who was wearing anything sports related. But it wasn’t a game night so that might change.
Adrienne brought him a menu and he ended up ordering a burger.
As the night wore on, the bar started to empty out. That was something south side bars would not be doing even at closing time. As the number of customers began to decline, Adrienne spent more time in front of Ryan. The amount of attention she was specifically giving him did not go unnoticed by him. He wondered if there was genuine attraction or if she knew he wasn’t a regular but tried to make him one.
He was fine with either one.
2 am rolled around and the bar was empty minus a few people who were finishing their drinks before leaving. Ryan figured it was time to leave. He hopped off the stool and before he could pull out his wallet to pay Amanda was in front of him again.
“Where do ya think you’re going?”
“Is it not closing time?”
“Oh it is, but you can stay until I leave. Unless you have somewhere you need to be.”
“Nowhere in particular,” Ryan said.
“Good,” she said as she put another beer in front of him. “Here. This one is on me while you wait.”
“You trying to get me drunk?”
“Of course not,” she said. “You’re no good to me drunk.”
The hell does that mean? Ryan shrugged as Adrienne darted off to do whatever it was, she needed to do before leaving. Ryan wasn’t going to complain about getting a free beer.
Adrienne came out from behind the bar sliding into a West Virginia University hoodie. Ryan initially mistook it for a Pitt hoodie as the two schools have similar colors. He was surprised she was wearing such a thing in Pittsburgh considering the rivalry between them. Their matchup was called the Backyard Brawl.
“Ya ready?” she asked as Ryan slid off the stool after downing the rest of his beer. They stepped outside and she slid her arm through his, catching him off guard. He wasn’t about to protest but she was very familiar with him considering they barely knew each other.
“So, where we going?” Ryan asked.
“Well, I got some PBR in my bag and I thought we could go back to my place and drink a bit.”
“First night and I’m already going back to your place.”
“It’s not really the first night as we’ve hung out before when you were with Taeyeon. She talked a lot about you.”
“Did she give any reason why she was moving back home?” Ryan asked.
Adrienne shook her head. “No, she just said something had come up and she had to drop out for the time being.”
“What the hell would cause her to drop out of school? I can’t imagine anything would force her to do that. I mean, her family made decent money and even if one of them got sick, she wouldn’t have leave school, unless maybe she got sick.”
Adrienne shrugged. “I don’t know. She didn’t want to say so I didn’t press her for it. Have you started up at Pitt or some other school yet?”
Ryan shook his head. “No, I’m applying to different ones like Texas, Ohio U, and Slippery Rock but I don’t know where I should go.”
“SRU is a good school. I do know some who went to OU. I haven’t heard any complaints about either one. OU has a big Halloween block party. I went two years ago and it was a good time. If you want, we can go this year if you’re not busy.”
“Yeah, if I’m not working, we can go.”
“And it’ll give you a chance to check out the campus too.”
They reached her apartment which was in the same building where Taeyeon used to live. She was just down the hall. Ryan had the urge to go toward Taeyeon’s old apartment. Adrienne’s apartment did cause some memories to flash through Ryan’s mind as her layout was the same as Taeyeon’s with the furniture being the only obvious difference.
“Do you still do movie nights these days?” Ryan asked looking at her massive collection of movies in both VHS and DVD.
“Not as often as I’d like,” Adrienne said pulling off her hoodie. Ryan looked back just as her undershirt was being pulled up, showing off Adrienne’s nice flat stomach. He quickly turned his head back to the movies acting like he didn’t notice. “Most people are busy since it’s their last year before graduating.”
“They were fun from what I can remember.”
“Not sure how much you remember considering you and Taeyeon couldn’t keep your hands off each other. You guys were like rabbits, I swear.” She stepped closer to Ryan, examining his face.
“I’ve been meaning to ask about the bruises.”
“Compliments of some girl’s father,” Ryan said.
“Did he catch you in the act in her room?”
“Not exactly. We were at my place when he and another guy barged in and beat me within an inch of my life. They believed I had defiled the girl and turned her into a whore. So, they put me into a coma. That was two months ago.”
“I was assuming it had been a bit ago as they look almost healed. Just a bit noticeable.” Her touch along his jaw was soothing. It was gentle and soft. It had been a long time since a woman touched him in such a way. It was different than the touching from the casual sex he had with Leah and Melina. This was intimate.
He watched her scan his battle wounds. Then their eyes locked onto each other and that was it. They pressed themselves into each other with their lips locked.
