Boys’ Night Out

Sterling Myers was tying the laces on his boots. First he wrapped the two strings around and then tied it tight, just like his dad had taught him years ago. He stood up and took a personal inventory. His boots were on tight, his worn but trusty blue jeans were held up with a brown belt that didn’t match his black boots, he had a button up shirt that was light blue with thin white lines going vertically down the fabric. Atop his scaly head was a baseball cap with camouflage printed on it. He patted himself down. Keys in the right pocket and wallet in the left with his phone.

The phone in his pocket vibrated. Sterling pulled it out to see a text from a “Brenda” saying “Have fun tonight! :)” Sterling noticeably grimaced at the text, not sure how to respond. The person on the other end of this conversation was not his girlfriend but a fellow classmate. She was nice, friendly, she had let him copy her notes a few times, she was older than him. When he let it slip that his older brother was visiting tonight she wished him well. I’m the end he sent her a simple “Thanks” with one exclamation point after he decided two would feel weird.

Sterling exited and took the elevator down to the first floor of the dorms. He stood outside in the muggy Atlanta night, waiting. He stood for a few minutes, thinking his brother would be there any second to pick him up. Sterling didn’t have a car. At the ten minute mark he decided to sit on a nearby bench. He idly tapped his knees as ten minutes turned into fifteen. He thought about pulling his phone out to see if his brother had canceled but just then lights peaked up. Sterling could tell just by the car that is was him.

A pristine, pure white Audi pulled up in front of Sterling and out hopped Boone Myers, his older brother. Boone was a raccoon and despite being the older brother he was a fair bit shorter than Sterling. Boone was 5’ 9” and Sterling was 6’ 3”. Boone was dressed in blue jeans that barely looked like they had been worn at all. They were held up with a black belt that did in fact match his shoes. He had a black button up shirt that was tucked into his pants, showing how in shape Boone was. To top it all off, in his right breast pocket hung a pair of ray ban sunglasses even though it was 9 at night. Sterling had a little pudge on him, nothing all that noticeable unless you were looking for it. Boone had nothing of the sort.

“You been waitin’ long?” Boone asked, checking his phone.

“Nah. I just sat down.” Sterling lied.

It was then that Boone got a look at Sterling and what he was wearing. He looked him up and down and shrugged unimpressed. He went back to his car and dug around in the glovebox. He pulled out a metal stick and started extending it.

“Take your hat off. Selfie.” Boone said connecting his phone to the stick.

“Oh! Well alright...” Sterling said and took his hat off.

The oldest and second oldest brother of the Myers family bunched together. They put their arms around each other and smiled; Sterling much bigger than Boone. The phone camera flashed and then Boone dropped the selfie stick to catch it toward the top and pull his phone off.

“Is that for mom?” Sterling asked, putting his hat back on.

“Eh.  Mostly for my lady.” Boone said, sending the photo to said lady.

“Oh yeah? What’s her name?” Sterling asked.

“Rashida. Get in the car, baby brother.” Boone said pocketing his phone.

Boone’s dramatic demand was somewhat cut short when the brothers were forced to confront the harsh reality that was Atlanta traffic. People going twenty under the posted speed limit, cars packed so densely that you could carry on a conversation with a person in another vehicle, folks changing lanes without signaling and of course that one asshole who won’t let you over because you spaced out for and now your exit is coming up and you need to get over now so you slow to a crawl to let everyone in the other lane go by while people honk at you for being the guy going twenty under the speed limit!

“I. Fucking. Hate. Atlanta!!” Boone cursed while hitting his steering wheel.

“We coulda walked. It’s only like a mile.” Sterling chimed in.

“What? And get mugged?” Boone scoffed and finally switched lanes.

“You were in the army. Didn’t they teach you how to fight?” Sterling asked, holding onto his seatbelt and wincing as a car drove by, honking at them.

“My therapist recommends I avoid conflict.” Boone said taking his exit.

“So you drive in Atlanta traffic on a Friday night?” Sterling retorted.

“Brake check!” Boone shouted and slammed his foot on the brakes, making Sterling lurch.

“Got’ dang it!” Sterling coughed. “You tryin’ to kill me?!”

Boone pulled his car into a parking garage since there were no spaces in the parking lot or the nearby streets. The place Boone took his younger brother was, well, his place. Boone ran a nightclub that was booming with activity tonight. It was called “The Ringtail Lounge”. The sign was bright neon purple and in the shape of a raccoon tail. Boone and Sterling skipped past the massive line, people in line trying to get Boone’s attention in hopes of also skipping the line. Boone walked past them all without so much as glancing in their direction.

The bouncer let Boone and Sterling in without any trouble. “If you wanna drink, don’t get caught. I’m not getting shut down because of you.” Boone warned, shouting over the booming music. Sterling was only 19. His brother was 24. Sterling nodded, he didn’t really feel like drinking tonight. Sterling instinctively covered his ears, shielding them from the music. This made Boone laugh.

“You rather listen to Luke Bryan or some shit?” Boone teased.

“What?” Sterling asked, hearing his brother but acting like he didn’t.

“I said: would you rather listen to LUKE BRYAN or SOME SHIT??” Boone yelled.

“I can’t hear you!” Sterling shouted back, earning a punch in the arm from Boone.

Boone sure as hell was drinking tonight. He went up to the bar and after grilling his bartender about this and that he came back with two Old Fashioneds. He began to sip one as he scanned the patrons of his nightclub. His eyes fell back to Sterling who still had his hat on. “Who the hell raised you?” Boone asked, nudging his brother. “Take your fuckin’ hat off!” Sterling growl and begrudgingly removed his headwear to stuff it in his back pocket.

“The same people who raised you!” Sterling shot back. “Something tells me you don’t want too many folks knowin’ that.”

Boone and Sterling stared at each other for a few seconds. Boone cocked his head to the side, thinking. He tipped his drink up and downed it. He then shrugged and said “Not entirely wrong” making Sterling roll his eyes. Boone wasted no time getting to work on his second drink. “You wanna get laid, baby brother?”

“What?!” Sterling asked, his face getting a little red.

“Ten o’ clock.” Boone said, gesturing with his head.

Sterling looked over in the direction Boone pointed to and saw two young women chatting at a table. They were dressed in semi-revealing clothes, normal attire for a place like this. Before Sterling could object Boone was already walking over to them. Sterling groaned and reluctantly walked with him. The two women were named Keisha and Emily. They were a squirrel and Arctic fox respectively. Turns out the two of them were out celebrating because Keisha got a promotion. Boone immediately latched onto Emily.

“You’re so quiet!” Emily addressed Sterling laughing and very drunk. “Tell us something about you. Anything!”

“Uuuuuh....” Sterling blanked, suddenly wishing he had a drink of some kind.

“My brother here is a math genius.” Boone swooped in. “He’s like a living calculator. Sterling, what’s 64 times 786?”

“......50,304.” Sterling sighed.

“You two rehearsed this.” Keisha butted in, playfully. “The only real test is if one of us gives you a problem. You game?”

Boone and Emily verbally went “oooooooh!” as Sterling was challenged. “She’s calling you out, boy!” Boone laughed, on his fourth cocktail. Sterling wasn’t quite sure what was going on but he felt like this squirrel wasn’t going to take things too seriously. He nodded.

“412 times 536.” Keisha challenged, her calculator at the ready.

“220,832!” Sterling said, hitting the table with his fist a little.

“886 times 9512.” Keisha went along.

“You didn’t tell me if I got the first one right.” Sterling said.

“I think you know you did, smart boy.” Keisha teased. “Answer the question.”

Sterling gave a laugh. He closed his eyes for  second and then blurted out “8,427,632!”

“8,779,654 divided by 197!” Keisha called out, attempting to trip him up.

Sterling paused. He tapped two of his teeth together as he went through the equation in his head. He balled up his fist, deep in thought, and said “I don’t know how many decimal places you want so I’m just gonna go! 44,566 POINT 771573604-“

“Okay! Okay! We get it! You win!” Keisha laughed.

The laughter came to its natural end and Boone started to lead Emily to the dance floor. Sterling and Keisha were left at the table. Sterling suddenly became very aware of how dry his mouth was. He reached for his water and awkwardly drank from it as his squirrel companion looked at him with an amused smirk.

“You don’t really wanna be here, do you?” She asked, already knowing the answer.

“Is it that obvious?” Sterling asked.

“Ooooh yes.” She laughed. “I wondered if you two were even related but you have ‘big brother told me to come’ plastered on your face.”

Sterling covered his face and groaned a bit. Keisha laughed more but stopped herself to actually say something. “I’m not much of a partier either to be honest. I like to go out and dance every couple of months but that’s it. I like to get it out of my system.”

“Sorry.” Sterling apologized, rubbing the back of his head. “Hope I’m not messin’ up your good time.

“Not at all! Not at all.” Keisha assured him. “I like you more than your brother.”

“I think mama does too.” Sterling laughed.

“Mama?” Keisha giggled a little. “How old are you? Ten?”

“I’m 19.” Sterling answered plainly

“Oh yes, you are young and I am an old lady.” Keisha sighed, rubbing her temples.

“Something wrong?” Sterling asked.

“I’m trying to get laid.” Keisha said. “And no offense but you’re a little young. I’m 29”

Sterling’s face got even more red when Keisha started to talk openly about sex. It was barely anything, all she said was she wanted to get laid and that felt scandalous to Sterling. His mom had beat it into his head that it wasn’t proper to just talk about that stuff in the open, and he here this person was. His mother had especially warmed him about women who speak openly about such things.

“Th-that’s fine! I got...uh, I got somebody...I think.” Sterling stuttered.

“You think?” She asked, raising a brow.

“I dunno. She’s this girl I go to class with. She’s...I think she likes me. I don’t know. I’m not good at stuff like this.”

“Have you thought about, I dunno, asking here?” She suggested.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to do that...” Sterling said, confused. “I just thought you knew.”

“Who taught you that? Romeo over there?” Keisha asked, pointing at Boone who was already making out with Emily.

“Fair point.” Sterling nodded.

It wasn’t long after that that the Myers siblings said goodbye to Keisha and Emily. Sterling was glad to be in the comparative silence of outside, away from all that blasting music. Boone was tipsy, stumbling a little as the two of them walked down the street. Sterling realized that he was starving and thought food would probably do Boone some good. “You wanna get some Zaxby’s?” Sterling asked, attempting to hold how brother up.

“Can’t eat Zaxby’s.” Boone slurred, looking down at the ground. “I’m on a cleanse....”

“What?” Sterling asked, cocking his head.

“Me and Rashida are going gluten free for a month. No Zaxby’s.” Boone leaned against his taller brother.

“Okay...so what do you want instead?” Sterling asked.


They got Zaxby’s. Boone and Sterling were sitting down on the curb with black styrofoam containers in their hands and drinks at their feet. The place was closing up by the time they got there so they couldn’t sit down inside.  They ate in silence for the few minutes, Boone was savoring his greasy breaded release. He dipped a chicken finger in Zac sauce, slathering it, and stuffed it into his mouth before washing it down with coke.

“You want my zac sauce?” Sterling asked, his mouth full of salt and potatoes.

“Yep.” Boone said, taking the sauce pack.

They continued to munch in silence. This was good. It had gotten off to a rough start but the brothers eventually fell back into their mode. Then Sterling had to open his big mouth. “You hear what’s been going on back home? With Ozzy?” Sterling asked. Boone continued to eat, like he didn’t hear what his brother asked. He had. Boone wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Mhm.” Boone confirmed. Sterling sat there is shock at how dismissive Boone sounded.

“Is that all you got to say?” Sterling asked, offended. “Mhm?”

“What the fuck do you want me to say!?” Boone deflected. “I’m not the one who knocked him unconscious, Sterling.”

“.....What’s wrong with you?” Sterling asked. “Why are you acting like stuff isn’t real?! Dad could go to prison and Ozzy is being taken away!”

“Good!” Boone spoke up, letting his try fall to the ground. “Maybe the little pussy will toughen up when he gets kicked around the system for a little bit!”

Sterling grabbed Boone and yanked him to his feet. Sterling shook him around violently “You don’t say that about family!” Sterling shouted. “He’s our little brother, Boone!”

“Get the fuck off me, you hick!” Boone shouted, shoving his brother away. “So now you care about brothers? As I recall, it wasn’t just dad smackin’ him around. Or did you forget the time you threw a controller at the back of his head? Huh?”

“Shut up!” Sterling yelled, pushing Boone back. “I-“

“You what?” Boone interrupted him. “You didn’t know any better? You didn’t mean to? Fuck you! I wonder what that girl you were talking to would think if she knew the guy she was talking to made his little brother blee-“

Boone was knocked on his ass by Sterling who punched him square in the jaw. Boone groaned and held his face that began to throb in pain. Sterling’s eyes went wide when he realized what he had done. Boone got up and opened his mouth, moving his jaw around. “See? You’re a fucking hypocrite. You smacked him around like everyone else did! You don’t get to be the good guy in this. Fuck you!”

“At least I care about shit!!” Sterling shouted. “Was that Rashida you were shoving your tongue inside of or was-“

It was Sterling’s turn. Despite his drunkenness Boone still was able to move very quickly. He grabbed his brother’s shoulders and sent his knee into Sterling’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The croc lurched, bent over and fell to the Zaxby’s parking lot ground. He wheezed and coughed as he tried to breathe. Sterling laid there, curled up, ready for more blows. None came. Boone was trying not to look at his fallen brother. Boone’s ear twitched when he heard the sound of sniffling. Sterling was crying.

“I know.” He said, sniffing. With each word Sterling broke down more. “I know I did it too. I hurt him, Boone. I hurt him so bad. I didn’t even know what I was doing, Boone. Ever since Mom called, I can’t sleep at night. I just want to see him again. I want to tell him I’m sorry and that I love him.”

Sterling was bawling his eyes out like he was in his room and not in a Zaxby’s parking lot. He rubbed his eyes into his shirt sleeve, trying to clear his vision. Then he saw Boone’s had. He had his eyeglass cleaning cloth out and extended toward Sterling. Without saying anything he took to cloth and dried his eyes.

Boone let Sterling dry his eyes before the two of them started walking back to the car. It was silent. Both of them were still hurting, inside and out. Boone wasn’t ready to admit it though. The drive back to the dorm was without chit chat, just the occasional sniffing from Sterling who was still feeling sensitive. Even the Atlanta traffic didn’t elicit a response from either one of them.

Sterling was dropped off at his dorm. He stepped out and closed the door gently before standing there, waiting for one of them to say something. Anything. Sterling turned around and started walking back to his dorm.

“Call me in the morning.” Boone said. “Let me know how you’re feeling.”

“Okay.” Sterling nodded. “I will. Good night.”

“Night.” Boone said, not looking at him.

Sterling stood there and watched the window roll up and his brother’s car drive off.

“Love you too, Boone.” Sterling said sadly and sniffed one last time.