The Accident

The music was pumping through the whole house, the base vibrating against the wooden floor, which is why I attempted to go into the kitchen, Nathan close behind me. 

“Ahh Reu!” Jen screamed from the corner, pushing people out of the way as she got to us, drunkenly grabbing my face.

“Hey Jen,” I chuckled, Nathan laughing behind me and I slowly moved Jen’s hands off my face, her braids everywhere, her eyes slightly glazed over.

“Nathan, finally you let your brother drag you out,” she giggled, his arm around the top of her shoulders.

“I drag him out,” he scoffed but that was the biggest fucking lie I had ever heard. Jen was someone that we had known our whole lives, someone who had a relationship with a cousin, left him but didn’t really leave our family. We had a lot of them, our Dominican family, the tiny Caribbean island kind, expanded with blood relatives and those that were part of us in every other way.

“Meet some of my friends!” She laughed way too loudly and as I was pulled to the other side of the long kitchen, my eyes caught the bottles of rum, letting out a sad sigh.

“Girls, these are my cousins, Reuben and Nathan,” Jen beamed and I looked up at the three women, the first two very normal and I’m sure lovely but it was the one on the left that made me take one step back. Her hair was slightly wavy, a copper in colour which brought out her pale skin and freckles across her nose. The other two and Jen, were dressed up, tiny skirts the rest of it, but she wasn’t. The crisp white shirt she was wearing made her Hazel eyes shine, the specs of green nearly taking over.

“This is Amy, Susie and Eloise,” Jen pointed at each of them and I kept my eyes on Eloise, her full lips going into a smile.

“Nice to meet you,” I said to them all, elbowing Nathan.

“Jen, where have you been hiding these beautiful women,” he smirked and I groaned, going over to the rum. We were only two years apart, our sisters a fair bit older so with that and being in a family with a bunch of women, meant we were close. Nathan was cheeky, short compared to me, his skin the same deep brown, even our hair cut the same, short with a fade. He was also irritating but my little brother and my best friend.

“Bro, the fucking ginger-”

“The fucking ginger,” I cut him off, keeping my voice low as he cackled next to me, taking his drink the second I made it.

“Reuben!” Someone shouted and I turned around, throwing my hand up.

“I’m here too, what the fuck!” Nathan groaned, the kitchen erupting into laughter and as I sipped my drink, my eyes went to the corner, the three women chatting and as I looked up at her face, she was staring directly at me, her eyes quickly going down.

“You good bro?” Ade came over, slapping my open hand. How we knew him, I wasn’t sure, but my family and friendship group had a habit of intertwining.

“Yeah, you?” I asked, moving my body to him. Ade was tall, but he had nothing on me, lanky as fuck as well, which I also wasn’t.

“I was going to ask, if you could hook me up at your work?” He sighed and I looked up at Nathan, him rolling his eyes.

“What happened?” I asked, taking another sip, my head snapping upwards as the women left the kitchen, Eloise at the back.

“It’s a madness, my manager told me to go to a site right,” Ade explained, putting his glass down and Nathan went to talk to someone else, like a dickhead and leaving me with this long arse story which obviously ended with Ade being lazy and getting sacked.

“Right,” I said instead, taking another sip.

“Two hours later, I’m still there, by myself, so I went home,” he shrugged and I could ask if he tried to call his manager, or anybody else for that matter but I really couldn’t be fucked.

“I can get you into general labouring but not electrics, you need a qualification for that,” I reminded him, like I always did for any other dude that asked me to get them a job, something that actually came up way too much.

“I will take anything,” he slapped my shoulder and I walked into the living room, the party wild in here and I threw my hand up to some other people, Nathan dancing in the middle of the dark room, women around him. They were Jen’s friends, but one was missing. My interest definitely piqued and I scanned the room, finding her leaning against the back wall, drink in her hand and clearly in the world of her own. Walking backwards, I said hello to someone else, got my drink filled up by another person, until my back hit the wall.

“Not a dancer?” I asked and she scoffed, both of our heads straight.

“In a living room? No,” she chuckled and I looked at the side of her face, her hair tucked behind her ear, her diamond studs huge.

“What are you then?” I wondered and she still didn’t look at me.

“Uncomfortable, awkward, not drunk enough,” her voice was serious and I burst out laughing, her head finally turning to me.

“I meant your job,” I smiled and the corners of her lips tugged upwards, not enough to be a smile.

“I’m a junior architect,” she replied, taking a sip and fuck.

“How old are you?” I had to ask, that sounded like an old person job and she definitely wasn’t old.

“Twenty seven, you?” She tipped her head to the side.

“Thirty one,” I nodded and she looked at me up and down quickly, before moving her head back to the centre of the room. “My job, thanks for asking,” I cleared my throat and she finally smiled, not looking over. “I’m an electrician.”

“That’s a good job,” she moved her head to me.

“So is an architect,” I pointed out, finishing my drink and she shrugged, no smile on her face at all.

“I’m a junior so,” she mumbled and I caught eyes with Jen, her coming over with shot glasses and that probably wasn’t a bad idea.

“But the last word is architect, I’m not sure you realise-” I shut up as she laughed, pushing her waves back. “How did you know Jen?” I was curious, even though I knew she had a habit of knowing everyone.

“We went to uni together, different courses but,” she paused, shrugging. “I don’t see her much and couldn’t cancel for the tenth time,” she tutted, downing the rest of her drink.

“Shots!” Jen screamed, nearly bursting my ear drum and I took the tiny glass off her, the alcohol burning my throat and chest as it went down.

“Jen, that was rank,” I groaned, her giggling away.

“It was rose tequila!”

“That would explain it,” Eloise laughed, putting the glass behind her and she went to walk away, stopping as I grabbed her wrist.

“Where are you going?” I tried to laugh and she looked down at my hand on her, for way longer than I expected.

“I’m going to get drunk, then I can only be uncomfortable and awkward,” she smirked, my hand coming loose and I watched her going into the kitchen, thinking that wasn’t a bad idea at all.