our usual friday night

It was our usual Friday night out at the Harmony Tavern. The usual crowd was there, doing the usual things. I was waiting for the band to start up, The Night Crawlers, a Chicago blues band featuring Big Joe Carter. Justin was waiting for something else.

"Im gettin tired of this shit," Justin said. Susie, our waitress, had just placed our beers neatly in front of us and she had given me a wink while doing this so I was thinking just the opposite.

"Tired of what? Waiting for the band? You know they start at nine."

"No Bobby," he was exasperated with me already and we had only just arrived. We didnt see each other much anymore, in fact these monthly Friday nights were just about it. Wed graduated High School, and I went off to work and Justin continued in school. And it seemed to me that each time I saw him, he was more on edge, always fired up about some issue or another and he got annoyed with me when I didnt "get" what he was fired up about. The true fact was, I "got it" but I didnt really care.

So I grunted in response and looked to catch Susies eye again as she moved through the room. He continued anyway.