Even before I left the Distillery, I can feel one shoulder to be slightly aching. I thought it was because of the bag I was carrying the entire night. I told Sandy and her friends that the place is really just a twenty-minute walk from my house and I actually planned to walk home. But after buying some snack in a convenience store, I decided I was too tired to walk and took a cab instead.
My shoulder was even more painful when I arrived and I think I knew why: It was the cachaça. I ordered caipirinha when we arrived. For some reason, sugarcane-based spirits has that effect on me, the reason why I don’t drink much rhum.
After we had dinner, we went to the Distillery for a few drinks. Fran, one of Sandy’s friends, jokingly warned that there are plenty of gay men inside.
“Are there straight men among us?” I asked them, deadpan. In our group, there were two women, Sandy and Fran, and two other gay men, Karl and Carlo. Fran later told me that she (and her other friends, except Sandy) initially thought I was straight. It must be the frumpy clothing.
There were indeed plenty of gay men inside. Even with my first time there, I saw three other friends who happened to be there that night. Some of those friends turned out to also be friends with Carl.
“We probably have A LOT of friends in common,” I told him when went outside for some fresh air. “It’s surprising I only got to meet you now.”
“I don’t know why the place is usually packed,” Fran wondered after I told her it was my first time going there. We were comparing it to other popular places (frequented by gay people). “There isn’t a dance floor. The drinks aren’t expensive but all you get to do here is stand around and drink.”
“You can smoke inside,” I pointed out. Not a lot of places allows smoking in an air-conditioned establishment. Being smoker-friendly is, I’m sure, a strong selling point of the place.
Fran thought it made sense. “But the smell sticks to your hair though,” she complained. I agreed, and told her it was also my problem when I had my hair long; sometimes, washing my hair twice isn’t enough to remove the smell.
Just now, I smelled the beanie I was wearing last night. I think I ought to give it a wash.
