The Double-Tap Accident

Chapter Fourteen: I Need You to Duct Tape Me.

Chapter Fourteen: "I Need You to Duct Tape Me."

"DO NOT LET ME cry tonight."

"I am not in control of your emotions." I reminded Mariam for the hundredth time on Saturday night as I scrolled through the party playlist on my phone. I sat on her bed, one leg crossed over the other as I watched her apply makeup to her face.

Near the big STOP sign in corner of Mariam's room, her speaker was blasting music. The sound was almost the same level as the music coming from the living room where friends and their acquaintances occupied, chatting and playing drinking games. The combined clash of rap music and pop music should have given me a headache but as I took a sip of the small Smirnoff peach vodka bottle I was cradling in my hands, somehow it blended well together.

I reached over for the Coke can on Mariam's nightstand as I knew I would reach my limit for tonight soon and handed the vodka bottle over to Clayton.

Clayton was laying astride on the bed, his head near my thigh. His black cape was currently hanging across his stomach and dangling on the floor. Over his teeth were fake, thick fangs that made him look goofy, accompanied by fake dried blood on the corner of his lips.

He took a hard sip as I put my neon purple purge mask over my face. Mariam's costume matched mine with her own neon yellow mask. However, while I was wearing a long sleeve mesh bodysuit over a bralette, she was wearing a big white button-up long sleeve over a skirt. The long sleeve was ripped in various places along with a splatter of fake blood across the fabric.

"I feel like I'm going to cry tonight," She suddenly pouted. "I hate crying."

"Does anyone like crying?" Clayton asked, making a face at another sip he had taken from the bottle.

"I don't know," I admitted, handing him the Coke. "Like when you cry really hard, and you get that headache after, the sleep is really good. I like that part."

Mariam nodded in agreement while Clayton snorted. "You're crazy."

"That sleep is amazing," I repeated. " I wake up better than I ever have before."

"Let's talk about relevant things from now on, how about that?" Clayton suggested and when I lightly shoved him, he lightly pushed me back, sending me a quick wink before looking back at his phone.

I tapped Clayton on the back of his head. His tanned face was slightly flushed, and he reached a hand up to take those ridiculous fangs out of his mouth. "Ask me," I said.

"On a scale of one to ten how Jaime'd are you?"

I got up. Mariam put down one of her brushes, glancing over at me as I kept my arms to my sides and proceeded to walk in what I considered a very straight line. "Like a 4. That was a straight line, right?"

Mariam and Clayton both stared at me for a quiet moment before the two of them burst into unapologetically tipsy laughter. "Fuck if I know," Mariam said, standing. "Look."

She copied me, attempting to walk in a straight line but when she almost stumbled on her own feet, I held a hand to my mouth while Clayton only laughed harder, and his face got redder.

"Mariam, you're drunk," Yasmeen said as she popped her head in the room. When I turned around to face her, she let out a loud scream that had Clayton falling to the ground near my feet. The man held his hands to his stomach as he wheezed as Yasmeen held a hand to her heart from the sight of my mask.

I took it off, laughing myself. "Happy Halloween."

Yasmeen sighed, removing her hand from her chest, "I'm heading out. Larine and Benny left a few minutes ago so make sure you lock up, okay?"