A Night to Remember

Content warning: gun violence

Lockdown 2020 gave me the freedom to embrace my true self. Introvert to the tenth power. My roommate, Esther and I spent our mornings sleeping in until noon, our afternoons reading or taking short works in our neighborhoods, and our nights watching  rom coms until three in the morning. The best part is our jobs went remote, so we did the bare minimum and still got a full paycheck. Life was sweet. 

Now it’s the middle of 2021, Esther and I are fully vaccinated and she’s ready to let loose. While I’m secretly wishing lockdown was still a thing. Before March of last year, Esther would drag me to nightclubs and bars, and I had to pretend as if I was enjoying myself as much as she was. I’ve always been the outcast, the quiet girl, but Esther doesn’t know that side of me. Ever since we moved in together two years ago, I’ve had to fake it. I was afraid if I didn’t live up to her expectations she would move out and I need her rent money. Being a preschool teacher does not cover all the bills required in a New York apartment. 

Last year was the only time she’s seen my true self, and now I have to let go of my introverted nature and put my big girl panties on and fake my way through whatever she has planned for tonight. To make it easier for myself, since it’s been awhile, I’ve invited my best friend, Delia, to help me get through the night. She’s also allergic to the outside world  but she’s willing to attempt to be outgoing for my sake. 

I reach for one of my hundreds of disposable masks and put it on around my chin. I always wait until I step foot outside the door to put it on. Even though I'm vaxxed, I don't feel safe going out without a mask just yet. 

Esther is putting in one of her silver hoop earrings and then she grabs the leather jacket she was saving for her first night out since lockdown. “The uber will be here in five minutes,” She says, grabbing the keys and throwing them my way. 

I notice her head for the door, and no mask in sight. “Mask?”

Esther laughs. “I’m vaccinated, I don’t need one, and neither do you.” She reaches for my mask to take it off but I smack her hand away.

“You know we can still catch the virus right?”

Esther just shrugs. “Yeah but we won’t die from it.”

I cringe at her words and just thinking of all the other people out there with her mentality. All the maskless people out there, vaccinated and not. The horror. As if venturing out didn’t already give me anxiety. I can just hear the couch calling my name and the next chapter in my book just waiting to be read. 

“Let’s go!” Esther’s excitement cuts through my gravitational pull to the couch and we head out into the cold cruel streets of New York.

The moment we step off the elevator, Delia is standing there waiting for us and I let out a sigh of relief to see she’s wearing a mask too. I’m glad I'm not the only one. 

“No mask?” Delia asks Esther. She’s just as surprised as I am that she isn’t wearing one. 

“We’re all vaccinated aren’t we? The whole point of that was to get rid of the mask!”

Delia looks at me and I just shrug and shake my head. I can’t make Esther believe what I believe but I wish she at least had a mask with her, just in case we run into any issues with the uber or the bar that might want us to wear one. In most stores it is required that you wear one.

“You know you can’t get into an Uber without a mask right?” Delia says. “Before you even get an Uber you have to check off that you’re wearing a mask.” 

I forgot about that but Esther isn’t phased, she just rolls her eyes. “I have my vax card with me! Stop freaking out!! Tonight is our first night back to reality, the virus can’t hurt us anymore. It’s time to have fun again, right  Taytum? Tell her!” 

I nod and smile. “Tonight is going to be lots of fun!” I say and try to make myself believe that’s going to be true. 

Three Uber minutes later 

A silver Honda Accord pulls up and Esther is quick to open the door and jump in. Delia and I hesitantly slide in after her and close the door behind us. The driver begins to drive and Delia and I exchange looks of shock. 

She’s actually getting away with this. 

Esther starts updating her Instagram stories on her plans for this evening, while Delia and I try to accomplish a simple back seat selfie. Just to keep up with everyone else on Instagram.

In the middle of Esther explaining her earring choice for tonight the driver glances at us through the rearview mirror. 

“Excuse me, masks on please,” he says looking directly at Esther. 

Esther ignores him and continues her story. Delia and I look from Esther to the man, wondering how this is going to go. Esther isn’t usually rude but she’s been inside so long, I’m not sure what’s going to happen. 

“Miss, masks are mandatory,” he says with more base in his voice. 

This time Esther sucks her teeth. “This man is trying to make me wear my mask and I’m vaccinated! That’s against the law!” I see her flip the camera to face the driver instead of her. “Sir, according to the governor, if I’m vaccinated I don’t have to wear a mask,” she takes her vax card out and waves it at him. “See! So leave me the hell alone!” 

Oh boy, this is not going to end well. Delia grips my arm in anticipation and the driver pulls over to a quick stop. 

“No mask, no service!” The driver snaps and this time he turns around to face Esther who still has her camera uploading him to her Instagram stories. 

Delia begins to open the door when Esther starts ranting. “You cannot deny me a ride!” 

“In my car you wear a mask or you get the hell out of my car!” 

“I will not!” 

Delia looks to me for support and I’m frozen. I’m not good with confrontation and to be fair she was warned.

“Let’s just take the train,” Delia says, pushing herself out the door. 

I make a move to follow her out when Esther says, “I paid for this ride, so we’re not going anywhere!” 

“Get out now, or I will call the police,” he warns. 

“Esther….” I start but I don’t get to finish. 

“Call the police! I don’t give a fuck! The world is already seeing what an asshole you are!” 

“Let’s just go!” I manage to say but Esther isn’t budging. 

Esther turns the camera back to her and continues her rant, “You see this America! I risked my life to get vaccinated and now I’m being kicked out of a car I paid to ride in just because I’m not wearing a mask! Vaccines exist for a reason people! Get vaccinated and throw those masks away! Burn them! We’re safe!” 

“I’m giving you one more chance, put a mask on!” The driver shouts.

“Fuck off!” Esther says, giving him the finger. 

The driver pulls out his phone and is already through to 911.I’m dying inside. I want to get out of the car with Delia but I can’t leave Esther to face the police and the wrath of this driver alone. Delia gestures for me to get out of the car but I can’t move. I don’t know what to do but I definitely don’t want to get arrested, so I make another effort to get out of the car when Esther grabs my hand.

She puts her phone in my face so both of us are in the shot. “Taytum and I are fighting this injustice together!” She moves the camera over more to get Delia in the shot who is standing by the door of the car. “Delia too! We will not let this Uber driver tell us what to do with our lives!”

I pull down my mask and give a forced smile and wave at the phone like a total idiot.

Three minutes later

Delia is still standing near the door of the car and is shifting uncomfortably. She keeps looking at me as if I have all the answers and I have no clue. I’ve never seen Esther be this intense or intense at all. The most I’ve ever seen her do is get on top of a bar and then surf the crowd while leading everyone in a sing along to the theme song from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. That’s nothing compared to this, we could get arrested. 

Sirens are heard in the distance and I look out the back window and see the red and blue lights  from afar. 

“Omg!” I say and Esther pauses her rant and takes a look too. 

“Oh shit!” She says and shoves her phone into her purse. “Go!” She’s pushing me out of the car.

“But….” 

“Now!” She yells and I quickly get out and she comes behind me, but then I hear her say, “Hey!”

“You’re not going anywhere!” The driver has her by the arm and Esther uses her other free arm to punch him in the face. The driver moans in pain and Esther gets out of the car at warp speed and starts zooming down the block. We follow right behind her and we hear the sirens getting closer, but Esther doesn’t stop or look back and neither do we. 

“Where are we going?” Delia asks as we try to keep up with Esther. 

I shrug and just keep running. I can’t believe Esther had to make the most dramatic exit out of the car. We could have avoided this if she just got out before the cops got involved. Now that man can give the driver a description of us and we will be wanted criminals. The driver has Esther's number that could track her phone. 

“Turn off your phone!” I yell to Esther. She can run extremely fast in heels. 

Esther stops and we stop too and catch our breath. I look back and see we ran about five blocks. “We should be safe now.” 

“Turn off your phone,” I say. “The driver has your number and will probably give it to the police.”

“Good thinking Tay Tay,” Esther says, taking her phone out of her purse and turning it off. “Wasn’t that such a rush?! Now we can cross running from the police off our bucket list.”

As if it were on my list. 

“Great, can we go back home now?” Delia asks and I'm so thrilled she did. I want nothing more than to go back to the safety of my home. So far the universe does not seem to be on our side and I'm scared to see what else could possibly be next. 

“That sounds like a-,”

“No way! Our night has just begun!” Esther cuts me off and starts walking towards the train. 

Delia and I just follow her and hope for the best. 

The Subway 

The walk to the six train was uneventful and once we arrived the train was pulling into the station, so I’m going to take that as a good sign but I won’t be getting my hopes up too high. We’re still on the run. 

We are being held temporarily. Thank you for your patience. The train announcers announce a slight delay, which is usually nothing but tonight I have a feeling it’s going to be more than usual. 

Like I said, my hopes are not high.

“I’m definitely going to need endless drinks tonight,” Esther says, crossing her arms. 

A man opens the door in between the tracks and runs onto our train car. He’s panting as if he just ran a marathon and sweat is running down his face. “SOMEONE HELP ME!” He screams and everyone just stares at him. “He’s trying to kill me!” 

And there goes my hope.

Some people just glance, others continue staring off into space or in their books or phone and pretend as if nothing is happening and others like me and my friends just watch to see if anything is going to actually happen. On the subway you never know if someone is mentally unstable or is actually in danger.

“You son of a Bitch!” Another man yells as he comes onto our train car. 

He’s actually in danger. Great. 

The three of us curl into each other and latch onto each other's arms. Afraid of what is going to happen. 

“No please!!” The first man says. “Don’t kill me!” 

“You disrespected me and everything I stand for!” The second man snarls. 

The first man looks terrified, but I see him reaching into his pocket. “I’m sorry, please forgive me!” 

“Sorry my ass!” The second man pulls out his gun and just as he’s about to shoot him the first man pulls out his gun and shoots right at the second man. Everyone screams and ducks but he misses and the bullet hits the wall. 

“What the fuck?” Delia screams, holding tightly onto us. “I don’t want to die!” 

I bet she wishes she wore that mask now, then we would be in the uber and not in the middle of a Law and Order reenactment. 

“You lying fuck!” The second man says. “I knew you were nothing but a piece of worthless shit!” 

The train begins to move again but the gunmen are unfazed. Everyone else is freaking out but trying to stay calm before they become a target. 

“I owe you nothing!” The first man says moving closer to the second one. 

“You owe me your life!” The second one says and both guns go off at the same exact moment. I scream so loud I think I overpowered all the others. Delia is shaking next to me and I see a tear run down Delia’s cheek. This has got to be the most terrifying moment of our lives. This is what you see on the news, not what you witness in real time. It’s different in real time. It’s awful. 

The bullet hit the first man in the stomach and the other bullet hit the second man in his leg. Both collapsed on the floor in pain, while blood pools around them. They’re hands are covering their wounds but that’s not stopping them from shouting insults.

“Look what you did.. You...you....dick!” The second man says. 

“Eat….ea….sh….”The first man tries to say. He’s hurt the worst with blood coming from his stomach. 

  We finally reach a stop and everyone, including the three of us jump up and run out of the train car. We run until we’re back outside and once there we just stop and take a breath. Delia is trying to stop shaking and Delia is just standing there, while I try to process what could have happened and what did happen. We could have been killed. We could be on the floor of the train bleeding right now, but we made it out and we’re alive and breathing. 

I look at my friends and say, “Home?” Both of them nod. 

We just walk, even though we’re about twenty blocks from home. We need the air. 

“I’m sorry for not wearing a mask,” Esther says once we’re a few blocks from home. “If i did we wouldn’t have witnessed that.” 

“It’s not your fault,” I say, not wanting her to feel responsible. 

“I was just so excited to go out tonight and have a normal life again,” Esther says. “I never thought it would be like this.” 

I don’t think anyone expects a night like tonight. 

“Just to be safe,” Delia says. “I’m never going out with you again.”