It was his good friend’s birthday and he wanted to do something special. He had no idea that even people unknown to them would contribute to the good time.
The best part of Florida is that strip of islands known as the Keys. They were camping down on Bahia Honda Key, complete with lots of sand, tunes, a tent, a Frisbee, and a cooler of grapefruit. And beer.
All three friends attended the same university, grew up in a similar socio-economic backdrop, but had very little in common except for the enjoyment of sand beach, tunes, Frisbee, grapefruit and beer. But on this night they planned on treating the blonde haired one to a real good meal. Spend some money they had saved from traveling so cheaply.
Just over a couple of bridges to a more populated Key provided a first class steak and seafood joint. You know the type, fish nets and shells on the walls, light fixtures made from sailboat tiller wheels, and chilly air conditioning on sun burned skin. However, things warmed up considerably as we downed premium brews, spoke of ideas unthought-of, or so it seemed, and eat combo plates of delicacies from the sea.
Then to add to the lively conversation they ordered fine cigars and more beer. A great event was clearly in the making. The blonde one felt well treated and smiled and laughed accordingly. We had drawn a fair amount attention to ourselves, just being ourselves. He will always remember how it felt to first feel like an adult, be treated like an adult, and yet still have childlike actions on their minds.
They both told their blonde haired buddy to pull the car around front while we paid the bill. Almost simultaneously, as the front restaurant door closed behind him, a gentleman in the corner stood up and grunted while falling to the ground with an apparent heart attack. He and his friend extinguished their cigars and followed the crowd toward the ailing man. Someone was already going through the resuscitation steps, and since there was little they could offer, they just walked out the front door, diving into the backseat of the waiting car, laughing and yelling to “get outta here.”
"Happy Birthday my friend, our treat!”
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