“Wow you guys, all these gifts were just completely awesome.” Austin’s birthday had been a blast so far. Lula and their friends had filled up his apartment, conveniently big enough to fit the dozen or so party goers celebrating his 27th. The plan was to pregame at his house before heading out to their favorite local bar. On display in front of them were the gifts he had just opened, and Lula noted with a hint of pride he had taken just a little bit longer admiring her albums than everyone else’s. She knew taking time with it had been worth it.
“Yeah, who knew a hipster like yourself wanted anything other than an obscure craft beer to drink?” Everyone laughed, including Austin, at their friend Trevor’s remark. He had of course given a home brewing kit. Austin gave an exaggerated swig of his IPA from some brewery up state. As they all moved to get fresh drinks, head to the bathroom, or start up a side conversation, Austin wandered over to Lula. “Now where in the hell did you find those albums? I’ve been looking on eBay for like a year for one of them.” Lula just smiled and told him about the local antique shop near her house. “Funny,” Austin said, “I never noticed that place before. I’ll have to check it out sometime.” “Yeah,” Lula responded, “I actually picked up a…something for myself there as well.” Austin looked like he was about to ask what she had picked up, but Lula quickly excused herself to use the bathroom.
Closing the door she looked in the mirror. It was way too cold for a dress, but she was looking good tonight if she did say so herself. Maybe that was the buzz talking, maybe it wasn’t. It didn’t go unnoticed by her she was one of the few single people in their friend group. A population of which Austin was also a member, she noted for no particular reason at all. She sat down and put her purse on the edge of the tub. She had brought a large one out with her tonight. It didn’t really fit with going out to a bar, but as she unzipped the top, her hands found why she had made that decision. She felt even better than she already did as she pulled the comforting doll against her body. She absent-mindedly felt its hair as she finished up, regretfully putting it back into the depths of her purse before heading back to the party. She had thought about it sitting at home all day when she had been at work. When she had gotten ready for the party, she couldn’t bear to leave it on her bed alone for another couple of hours.
Back in the den, Trevor announced it was time for one more shot before they took Austin to the bar to “get wasted and laid”. Austin smiled like a good sport, but she noticed his eyes darted towards her own for a second after that was announced. Her eyes looked to the ground then got a little bigger, wondering for just a second before a shot glass of vodka was put in her face to distract her. “Happy birthday!” everyone cheered before taking the shot and heading for the door.
They were all eager to get inside the warm bar as they shuffled in the door. “Who’s the new guy?” Their friend Mary asked, noting the regular bouncer was nowhere to be seen. “He heard we were coming and decided he didn’t want to deal with it,” Bradley sarcastically replied. He waved them through one by one, offering happy birthday to Austin as he passed in just before Lula. She started in to the bar behind him when a hand stopped her. “I’m gonna need to see some ID,” the new bouncer asked, and not in a joking manner. Behind her, her friends laughed. Austin had glanced back and had now stopped to see why she wasn’t behind him anymore.
“Are you serious?” Lula asked. She hadn’t shown an ID at this place in a long time. Sure she was younger than the rest of the group, but at 24 she was hardly a teenager. “Good on you man, she’s just trying to sneak in with us!” Trevor was bringing up the rear and apparently the jokes as well. “Look it’s my first day and I don’t want to have any incidents. Just show me some ID and you can get out of the cold.” Lula was annoyed, but as she swung her purse up front a wave of fear came into her. She had brought that stupid doll with her, and if she opened up her purse her friends would definitely see it as she dug to find her wallet. What would they say if they saw her carrying around a child’s toy?
To make matters worse, Austin had walked back to see what the holdup was, and given the step up required to get in the bar, he would have a straight shot to see everything. “What’s going on?” he asked. “The baby of the group needs to show her ID,” Erin offered up. “Oh yeah, I forgot you were younger,” Austin responded with a laugh. “You guys just go on ahead, I’ll have to find my ID in this thing.” Lula said trying desperately to delay. The bouncer now looked suspicious. “No it’s no problem Lula, go on ahead.” Her friends behind her were not helping. Seeing no other option, she tried to hide her purse behind her coat as best she could as she began to unzip…
“Frank what the hell, there’s no reason to keep these people waiting outside. It’s freezing.” Like a knight in shining armor, the regular bouncer came strolling up behind Austin. He waved them all inside. “Sorry it’s his first day, he doesn’t know the familiar faces yet. How ya doin’ kid?” Quickly Lula hurried into the bar along with the rest of the group as the head bouncer began to explain to the new guy in his own way that it would be in his best interest to keep the regulars happy.
As they moved into their familiar corner of the bar, Trevor explained what had just happened to the rest. Much to Lula’s chagrin, they all seemed to think it was hilarious Lula could be mistaken for someone underage. Fortunately the waitress came to their rescue to take drink orders to change the subject. “I’ll have the IPA,” Lula let her know. “Could you make sure that comes in a bottle?” Trevor made sure to announce. Once again everyone laughed. “Little Lula can’t quite handle a glass.” She shot him a look. She did not like that these jokes about her age seemed to be becoming a meme.
“Ok,” Austin stated trying to bring it to an end, though he himself was still grinning. He changed the subject and the group moved on as drinks arrived and people started to move around. The night was going very well, Lula was sure to never let her eye wander too far from her purse though. She was a little paranoid, and after tonight couldn’t afford for everyone to know she was carrying around a doll. They would never let her live it down.
Eventually it began to get pretty late, and everyone was pretty drunk, especially the birthday boy. The guys had been encouraging him all night to hit on some of the random women that had come into the bar, but it seemed there was always another game of darts to play or another shot to take when it came time for that to happen. Lula had just gotten a drink and decided to go back over to their safe corner for a moment, just to quickly look at the little secret hiding in her purse before making her way back to the group. She sat down and unzipped her bag.
The doll she had purchased just looked so cute. She had no idea why she was so drawn to this thing, but she couldn’t help it! She looked around to confirm everyone was distracted. She knew it was stupid to take it out of the bag, but she wanted hold it so bad. By her own drunk logic, she would be fine. Using her body to conceal it as much as possible she let herself hold it for a moment. Then another. It felt so good and comforting in her arms. She had gotten her fix now and knew she should put it back, after all, she couldn’t risk anymore age jokes. Yet thinking back on it now, they had been kind of funny. Plus, she was littler than the rest of them, age wise anyway.
A curious thing happened then. She went to take a swig of her beer, yet instead of reaching for the beer, her hand moved towards her face. Instead of sucking down alcohol, she gave herself a few sucks of her thumb. It just seemed the right thing to do. Just as soon as she began however, she remembered she was a 24 year old woman in a bar. Stupid drunk behavior! She removed her thumb from her mouth and put the doll back in her bag. It was time for her to get back to the party…
Just then Austin slid into the booth next to her. With a start she quickly zipped her purse shut. “You scared me!” She told him. Austin looked drunk. He was giving her a look she hadn’t seen before, and thankfully it wasn’t one of confusion. So he hadn’t seen her acting like a child ten seconds before, thank God. “Thanks for coming out tonight.” “Of course, Austin.” He was definitely hammered. But it appeared that had given him a serious boost of confidence. Sure she was in winter clothes, but was it this hot in here earlier?
“I really liked my present,” he continued. “You’re definitely gonna have to tell me where you got them, I’d been looking for that one for like a year.” He wobbled a bit in his seat as he said it. Wow, Lula thought, he was definitely more drunk than cute at the moment…though that grin was threatening to tilt the scales back in his favor. “I’m glad, I wanted you to like it,” she said with a strange little smile. Ok, maybe she was the drunk one. Austin’s eyes flashed a little. “You did?” He said, moving ever so slightly closer to her. “Yeah…” Lula said, feeling like she needed to take her jacket off despite the fact it was lying next to her purse. Austin started to lean a little towards her as her heart beat quickened.
“SHOTS!” Trevor, Adam, and Bradley came up and violently jerked Austin out of the booth, pounding on the table as they chanted. Lula quickly put on a smile as she watched them carry Austin toward the bar. He looked back at her with a long look, but the moment had passed. Erin came up and sat down next to her. “Haha, Austin is so drunk!” she laughed. “Yeah,” Lula agreed. “Hey I think it’s about time I headed out. I’m gonna go ahead and get an Uber.”
When she arrived back at her apartment, alone, she threw her purse on the table and got out the special item waiting for her inside. She stood there for a few drunken moments, tightly holding the doll she just couldn’t seem to let go of. Kicking off her shoes and taking off her clothes, she crawled into bed clutching the same doll that had accompanied her every night since she had bought it. In the brief seconds before she passed out, her hand shifted on the pillow. It made its way to barely touch her lips for a moment, then she submerged it fully into her mouth. As she drifted off to sleep she slowly sucked on her finger while clutching her dolly. She hardly looked like the grown adult partying with friends she had been just an hour before, instead looking more and more like the little underage girl the bouncer thought he couldn’t let pass into his bar. And just as many little girls do, Lula, relaxed and content, never woke up as she had an accident in her bed.