“Relax, Keaton,” Gypsy consoled me. “It’s all under control.”
“How’s that? We gonna jump the fence or something? I’m not sneaking in to see some fuckin soccer game. I don’t even know whose playing. It’s not worth it! I only steal shit that’s somewhat valuable. A gallon of milk, maybe. But definitely not a soccer game.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Gypsy reassured. “We’ll get tickets.”
I became completely disconcerted with this statement. “How?” I asked my omniscient friend. “You said they sold out.”
“We’ll scalp some,” he replied.
“Did you know about this shit?” I asked Sconce. “Was this part of the plan to ride all the fuckin way out here to see a game with no tickets?” While I was awaiting a response from Sconce, I noticed that he was staring silently up at the floodlights that surrounded the stadium. I turned my gaze to follow his own, trying to decipher what he was looking at. “Is… is there something up there?” I asked him.
“Those must be upgraded projector lights,” Sconce replied. “Those are not stock flood lamps.”
Nonplussed, I looked back and forth between Gypsy’s bizarre friend and the massive floodlights that were positioned overhead. Seconds later, Gypsy stepped out of line and approached a tall man who was wearing a black, leather jacket.
“Can I help you?” the man asked Gypsy with a deep Bostonian accent.
“I hope so,” Gypsy replied. “We need three tickets.”
“Two hundred dolla’s,” the man replied.
“For three tickets?”
“This is America. If you don’t like the price, go fuck ya self.”
Gypsy eyed the man suspiciously and offered an uncomfortable laugh in response. “Well, you got anything cheaper than those two hundred dollar tickets?”
The scalper pulled out a fistful of tickets and began sorting through them. “I have others but not three in row,” he said.
“That’s cool,” I said to Gypsy. “I don’t have to sit by you guys.”
“Okay,” Gypsy stated. “I’ll take whatever you got in the middle rows behind one of the goals.”
“One-fifty,” the scalper announced.
Sconce and I gathered together our money and handed it over to Gypsy, who in turn purchased three tickets from off the Beantown hustler. With tickets in hand, the three of us filtered into the stadium and found our seats, mine being located several rows behind my fellow travelers.
I quickly became bored once the soccer game began. Players were running frantically across the soccer field, from one end to another, with no points being scored on either side. After sitting and watching the relentless action for over forty-five minutes I abandoned my seat and began wandering through the interior corridors of the stadium. An hour and six sodas later, the game was finished. I had not watched which team had won or what had taken place to achieve the victory. And I did not care. Being quite hungry, my only concern at the time was the acquisition of sustenance. After I met up with my two companions near the restroom area, we discussed our meal plans for the evening.
“So where do you guys want to go to eat?” Gypsy asked Sconce and me.
“I don’t really care, dude, I just need something soon,” I replied. “I’m famished.”
“What about you?” Gypsy asked Sconce, who was found closely examining the coiled bulbs that were lined along the top of a nearby vending booth.
“What’s up with your buddy?” I asked Gypsy. “Does he have some fetish for light bulbs or what?”
“He designs lights,” Gypsy replied. “That’s what he does for a living.”
“That’s real exciting,” I stated with a sarcastic tone. “I mean, I like bugs so I can’t say much but at least insects do cool shit like eat each other alive and parasitize their neighbors. What do light bulbs do besides hang in place and glow? My nuts do that.”
“He’s just checking out how they’re designed,” Gypsy stated in defense of his friend.
“Well, how many different ways are there to make a damn light bulb?”
“You’d be surprised.”
“Hey, dude,” I called over to Sconce. “We’re gonna go eat. You wanna come with us or fondle those bulbs?”
Sconce looked away from his intense study of the illuminated coils and refocused upon the goings on around him. “Alright,” he said. “Yeah, I’m pretty hungry too. Let’s go get something to eat.”
“I guess we’ll go find a place somewhere back in town,” Gypsy stated.
The three of us took the train back into the city. From there, we went on foot and quickly located an eating establishment not far from the youth hostel. The small diner was a typical burger joint that would have been at home near any university campus. Nevertheless, the meals were rather expensive in regard to their bland quality and the horrible table service that was offered from the waiting staff.
After we had finished eating, the server brought us a combined bill for our three meals. I counted out the dollars that were owed from my portion of the check and handed my money over to Sconce. I then immediately began plotting for our nighttime endeavors once the server had been paid.
“Alright, so check this out,” I said to Gypsy and Sconce. “I came out here a couple years ago when my friend was attending college just down the street. They have this great party district across town. There’s all sorts of bars and clubs. I went to this gnarly place called Axis. It kicks ass. There’s lots of fine trim in there but you have to meet the dress code to get in. So if we get on the T, I think we can take the green line and probably make it there by—”
“I don’t really feel like going out,” Sconce interjected. “I’m kind of tired. Sitting out in the sun sort of did me in.”
I offered Sconce and annoying glare. “You’re not going out? Well, what the hell are you going to do instead? I thought we had a plan…”
“I have a really good book back at the hostel.”
“A good book?” I asked. “It’s Saturday night.”
“Yeah, I was reading it on the plane over here and I couldn’t put it down. It’s a really good book.”
“It’s Saturday night,” I repeated. “In Boston. We’re in a major city on a Saturday night and you want to go back to the fuckin youth hostel to read a book?”
Sconce nodded his head sheepishly and looked away.
“Is this guy for real?” I asked Gypsy while thumbing at his lame friend.
“Well,” Gypsy replied, “you have to keep in mind that we’re a little older than you, Keaton.”
“So, you’re not dead are you?” Gypsy did not respond. Flummoxed, I looked between my two companions. I then returned my focus upon my coworker. “Alright, so your buddy here wants to go back to the hostel and read a god damn book. What do you want to do?”
Gypsy paused before answering my question. Then he said, “Well, I was interested in talking more with those Aussies.”
“The who?”
“Our Australian roommates. They seemed like some cool guys. I want to talk more with them.”
I started to become highly annoyed. “Hold the phone, wait a minute. Here we are. The three of us. It’s Saturday night. We’re in Boston. There’s dance clubs and hot snatch aplenty just across the way there. And you guys want to spend the night reading and chit-chatting