Vomit (3)

Temptation and betrayal and tequila make her giddy. Standing at the bar, waiting for the bartender to pour the shot, she is aware of the noise around her, the dull roar of laughing and flirting and rock and roll. The smells assault her, too: perfume and beer and sweat. The bartender places the shot in front of her and she hands him her money and smiles as she shakes salt onto the flesh between her thumb and forefinger. Still smiling, although the bartender has gone on to the next customer, she licks the salt from her skin and feels the taste buds become erect on her tongue. She tilts the shot glass back and downs the tequila, feeling the liquid wash over her tender tongue, harsh and stinging and sour. She gives an involuntary shiver and bites into the lemon, grateful for its tartness. She feels the heat spread in her stomach and she is grateful for that. She feels the liquor begin to dull her senses, and she is grateful for that, too. She licks her lips. And orders another.

As she weaves her way through the crowd back to her table, she holds her hands up, triumphantly, ten fingers in the air, and she hears herself announce the number of shots she's consumed. And then she gags and her stomach contracts and she can feel the last shot coming back up her throat and she pushes her way to the bathroom. The first stall is empty, thank god, and she falls to the floor as the vomit erupts out of her in a great hot gush. Again and again she vomits, her stomach clenches and horrible guttural noises come from deep within her, wrenching her guts, twisting them, in the effort to rid her of the poison. The bathroom stinks and the floor is wet and the toilet is dirty but she is grateful to be here, grateful that she is drunk, grateful for the lack of thought that is demanded at this very moment. She is dimly aware of someone holding her hair back, and then she is being pulled to her feet and dragged down the stairs, a muscled bouncer under each arm. They carry her out into the night and the air is cool against her hot skin and she shivers.    

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