It’s always fine

Salim is throwing up in the bathroom. I’m laying drunk on the bed. Maiassa is there too, rambling some drunken thoughts.

I’m drunk, but I drove home. So it’s fine.

But there’s no water. Fuck. I try to flush the toilet. I try to use the sink. There’s no water.

Salim is throwing up in the bathroom upstairs. I’m downstairs. I’m not laying in the bed right now.

“There’s no water. Like, I mean there’s no water … no water in the sinks and toilets.”

Fuck.

Maiassa asks if she should go buy water to drink.

I try to explain that there’s no water, but there’s drinking water.

“Salim, you can’t flush. There’s no water.”

Fuck. I’m laying on the bed. Maiassa is laughing. I’m laughing.

I need to text Davy. I need to warn him. Fuck the bathroom smells so bad.

There’s no water. But we can just sleep now. Yes, just sleep now. Tomorrow we’ll figure it out.  I mean in the morning. It is tomorrow. You know what I mean.

“The party was so cool. We drank so much. Where’s Omar?”

“Omar went home. He texted me.”

We just need to sleep.

“Are you OK, Salim?”

He doesn’t respond. He just lays there. Maiassa wants to go home. She can’t drive home. She’s too drunk.

Just sleep. It’s fine. We’ll figure out the water in the morning.

Just rest. Just rest. I close my eyes.

Davy is home with Alex. They’re drunk. Did I sleep? I can’t tell. I’m drunk.

“There’s no water?”

They ask if they should buy drinking water. I try to explain. There’s no water in the sinks or toilets. The house is out of water.

Maiassa is awake. Salim is throwing up again. The bathroom smells so bad.

We’re all drunk. Five drunk people in a tiny apartment without working toilets, showers or sinks.

“If anyone else has to vomit, please vomit outside. I’m so sorry, really. We’ll figure it out in the morning. Just sleep. It’s fine.”

I ask Salim if he is OK. He isn’t OK. He throws up more. The bathroom smells so bad.

Maiassa wants to drive home. She’s so drunk. Just rest. Just sleep. It’s fine.

We’ll figure everything out in the morning. It’s fine.

It’s always fine.

I sleep. I wake up. Salim is still asleep in the bed next to me. I go downstairs. Davy and Alex are sleeping on the futon. Maiassa must’ve left.

I check my phone. Maiassa got home fine. That’s good.

There’s no water. It’s 8 a.m. I can’t sleep. I slept late … I mean early, but I can’t sleep. The bathroom smells so bad.

Salim is still sick. He’s apologizing.

It’s fine. It’s really so fine.

The water will come. We’ll figure it out. I don’t care about the mess.

I go to buy gallons of water to flush the toilets. I almost throw up opening the bathroom door. Salim takes care of it. He’s strong enough now.

We try to call a water truck. Davy and Alex are still sleeping. The water truck tells us to call back later.

Maiassa is texting, saying she wants to come back and experience this with us. She’s crazy. Everyone is sick. There’s no water.

Suddenly, the water comes back. I can hear it rushing. It’s amazing. It’s like Christmas, or something.

“The water’s back, al hamdillelah!”

Salim laughs. He’s feeling fine, not great, but sort of fine.

We’re laying there in bed. He’s sick. I’m slightly hungover, but not bad.

I look at him. He looks at me, sort of.

The power goes out.

It’s fine.