I was startled by a finger poking me in the side, I turned around and saw that it was Hendy “hey are you playing?” he asked “Oh! its my turn? of course I’m playing” I said sliding off my stool. “Nicole this is Hendy, please don’t hurt him” I said winking at her as I turned to walk over to the pool table. I saw that I had practically lost the game so I may as well throw in the towel. I surrendered my cue stick to one of the guys who had been waiting impatiently for the table. I looked around for Celia, as far as I could tell she wasn’t in the bar which meant she was probably upstairs. I glanced over and saw that Hendy was still talking to Nicole. I decided to head on upstairs to see if Celia was there, maybe she was ready to go somewhere else. I was hungry but wasn’t in the mood for deep fried chicken tonight.
I maneuvered my way through the crowd and up to the 2nd floor. Celia was sitting at a crowded table on the balcony a cigarette held between two fingers as she gesticulated vigorously. As usual she was surrounded by a cloud of cigarette smoke and a bunch of guys who were hanging onto her every word. I decided to stand at the bar and wait until she she saw me. I love Celia but I honestly hate cigarette smoke! I looked around the room, some of the women were on the stage dancing in time to the pulsating beat of the Jamaican dance hall music. I noticed that a few were also sitting with customers at the bar nearby. A group of guys seated at a table near the top of the stairs suddenly started whistling and drumming on the table. I looked over and saw that Nicole and Hendy had followed me up.