02 — One dollar pizzas and one ugly coyote

(Part 2/2 of the “Nights in New York” series)

May — 2017

“Yeah yeah I’m on my way!” I shout into my phone.

It’s raining again and I have no idea what time it is. I glide through the night traffic. Coloured lights stretch into long blurry beams, blending together to create wonderful patterns.

“Where to?”

“You know Beauty Bar?”

My cab driver assures me he knows where Beauty Bar is. What a silly name for a bar I thought to myself.

We drive past the bar which is packed with people. The driver stops on the other side of the street. I tip him generously. There’s a pleasant feeling that one gets when tipping generously. It feels like having all the power in the world. I’m still good on cash as I had withdrew a large amount yesterday. Nick was the one who taught me the concept of “pocket money”. His theory is that it costs you $20 just to walk out the front door. After spending a week in NY I could ascertain that his theory was absolutely on point.

I exit the cab and wave as it disappears into the darkness. I notice another one of these $1 pizza shops. The customers are spread out evenly throughout the small shop. I get the feeling that we might end up at this pizza place.

I cross the street and enter the bar. I hang my coat in one of the racks. The bar is covered in red light. The guests are all glowing in red too. The floor is covered in 80’s inspired black and white checks.

I walk to the back of the bar where I find the dance floor. The music is nostalgic. I join two girls who are dancing together. One of them is wearing round glasses.

“Harry Potter!” I yell to her ear.

“You’re silly” she says and walks away.

Her friend is staying. She is wearing a nice red dress and a denim jacket. She is not as pretty as her friend. Behind me I spot a large group of girls. I do a silly dance move and they laugh. I spot Nick and Sarah-Jay in the corner and join them.

“Why did we leave so soon?”

“It was time to go!” Nick says, trying to compete with the music.

“I was just getting to know people!”

Nick does not answer. I can see his head is spinning too.

“Go get a drink!”

I obey and go to the bar in the other room.

“Rum and coke!”

“What?!”

“Just a Rum and coke please!”

Andy taps me on the back. I turn around and gives him a warm hug. The bartender finishes my drink and hands it to me. He looks at Andy.

“Oh, you’re with Andy?”

Andy nods slowly.

“Then it’s on the house!”

“Oh no — please don’t!”

I take the first bill I can find in my pocket and tip the bartender. I bring it into the light and realise that it’s a $20 bill. The bartender is already on the way to accept it so it’s too late to take it back now. His face lights up.

“Gimme your drink buddy” he commands

I give him my drink and he fills it halfway up with rum, so much that it spills down the side.

He hands it back to me. “Enjoy!”

I thank him and take a sip. I fake a smile. I go back to the gang who are now hanging out in what seems to be salon chairs with hair dryers on top. I realise why it’s called “Beauty Bar”. I sit down and take a video of myself in the hair dryer. I look very silly. I just sit and watch the gang chat with each other. The music is drowning their conversation. At one point Robert suggests we go get pizzas and everyone agrees.

The pizza shop is very small and is manned by a young man. He tells us that he’s a designer by day and he’s selling pizza by night. What a city. We eat our pizza slices in silence. Only people who’ve had pizza at 4AM knows true bliss. Sarah-Jay says she’s leaving us for the comfort of her bed. Robert hails a cab for her.

“We’ll go the same way, No?” Robert aks Saray-Jay.

I’m too far away to hear the response. Robert jumps into the cab. They glided away in the dark.

“I should go too, call it a night?”

“No no no no no, I know a place!” Nick says.

“Where we going?”

“I know a place”

We walked across several blocks, for what must have been half an hour.

“It’s right here” he says.

We’re in front of a bar named “Coyote Ugly”. The doorman nods when he sees Nick. We enter what seems to be a mixture of an Australian dive bar and a strip club. The place is decorated in wood. The bar itself is covered in planks and barks. The bar is divided by three dancing poles. There are two ladies dancing on the bar, an african girl with dark curly hair, on the thick side and a pale white girl with dark hair, firm thighs and covered in tattoos. They are dressed in red plaid tops and denim hot pants. The clothing fit very tightly on both of them. Their dance is sexy and provoking.

One of the barmaids kicks out at a customer, an older guy, almost hitting him in the face. The old guy does not flinch. His head’s just tilt upwards. He’s looking right at the dancer’s face. He doesn’t even smile. He just drinks his beer. The barmaid with tattoos jumps down from the counter when she spots us. She tosses a microphone to her dancing colleague who starts to sing along to a Pink song.

“What can I do you for sweethearts?”

Nick orders two large beers. He looks up at the dancing girl. She’s stomping on the bar. She’s kicking and tapping her feet violently while singing along with Pink. I think the old guy is enjoying this very much even though he is completely still. The dancing girl spots Nick. She signals to her colleague with two twirling fingers and they switch places. She comes down and kisses Nick on the cheek.

“Hi honey, how you been?” she asks Nick.

Nick picks up both her hands.

“Did you miss me?”

“You know I did!”

Nick kisses her on the cheek.

“Who’s your friend” she asks.

I introduce myself as a friend from Denmark.

“Oh like your brother! I miss him too. He’s so sweet!”

Nick smiles. He kisses her hand. He pushes a $5 bill down her cleavage.

“I’ll dance for you”

She switch places with her colleague again. She starts to dance and kick and stomp but this time her eyes are locked on Nick’s. I walk outside to get some fresh air. After 10 minutes Nick joins me outside. He tells me that he’s been texting with this girl for a while.

“She a fucking tease!” he tells me.

“I know I can fuck her if I want to!”

“I’m sure you can, buddy” I say.

“Call it a night?”

“Alright now it’s a night” He replies.

“Nick, the subway is closed by now, I can’t get back to Brooklyn. Can I crash at your place?”

“Of course you can!” He pads me on the back. What a cool guy…

We walk to Nick’s place while the sun rises behind us. His wife is sleeping when we enter the apartment. I instantly crash on the couch.

“Thanks again buddy” I say to Nick.

He brush me off with his hand. He turns off the light and I fall asleep.

I wake up before Nick and his wife in the morning. Silent as a mouse, I pick up all my stuff and closes the door gently behind me. I ride the elevator 20 floors down. I nod at the doorman as I exit the building.

I start walking right, in the hope of seeing a subway sign or some other means of transportation to get me off Manhatten.

I have not seen Nick ever since — If we should, by some chance, ever meet again, I’ll be sure to thank him for one of the most unforgettable nights of my life.