Covid had shut down a lot of services in the city including driver licence renewals. I parked my car and stood in a long line with a number of other people waiting and waiting. I waited behind a person who looked female but moved like a male. Their thick, shiny black hair was tied in a ponytail that hung down between their shoulder blades.
Impatience brewed and I was jostled from behind and I bumped into the person in front. He turned to see who was behind him. I apologized and pointed behind me. "Sorry."
"That's okay." By then I could tell it was a he. "I guess..."
That's as far as his sentence got as we both looked at each other. It took a few moments before... "I know you. Aren't you, Mike?"
"Yeah." He said. You're Gerry."
We were school friends. I had lost track of him and after I moved cities, I had no thought of us ever meeting up again. Both of us were Asian in a mostly Caucasian school so we tended to buddy up together. Since my mother was a housewife and both his parents worked, we spent a lot of time at his place. Back then there was no concerns of a kid being left alone during the day.
Mike was different from me. He listened to FM and rock while I listed to more jazz. He had great stereo equipment while I had a small Sony transistor radio. He was a little more street smart while I was much more naΓ―ve.
We finally made it inside. I got my licence renewed and was folding my temp licence as I exited the place. Waiting for me was Mike. "Oh. Hi!"
"Hey, Ger. Did you want to get a drink?" He asked.
I had nothing more to do that day. "Sure."
"I've got beer at my place. I don't live to far from here if you want to go there." Mike pointed in the general direction.
"Great. I guess I'll follow you? My car is there." I told him.
"I really close and walked over." Mike told me.
We drove to his place together. It was a four minute drive. With lights and traffic, it certainly would have been quicker to walk. Mike had a one bedroom apartment on the tenth floor. It was clean and neat but was nothing special except for the view. From his balcony, he over looked the park. It was warm so that's where we had our beers.
We reminisced about the old days. I commented back then his hair was much longer, almost down to the small of his back. A few more beers later and we started running out of things to reminisce about. He asked. "Do you smoke?"
"Nah. Never got the desire I guess." I admitted. I did cigars for a bit but ultimately didn't like tobacco that much."
"No. Not cigarettes. Weed." Mike sniggered.
Marijuana in the country was deemed legal for a number of years now although the provinces regulated much of the industry. It was another habit I couldn't get into. "I tried it. That's it. But go ahead if you like. It doesn't bother me."
Mike lit up a joint. The strong smelling smoke wafted around me. And while I wasn't directly imbibing, the second hand smoke was definitely having some affect.
Mike suddenly asked. "Remember that game we used to play at my place?"
I immediately knew what he was referring to. "Yeah. You were always willing."
"Yeah but you always made an excuse to leave when it was your turn." Mike smiled. "You always chickened out."