Red’s apartment was a six block walk away. I talked mostly with Kate and Bones while Tommy was talking to one of the girls. “Guys, I can’t tell you what this means to me; my after parties are usually going to Mc Donald’s,” I said.

 

“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” said Kate.

 

“Well, it’s not a bad thing, but this is way better,” I said.

 

“Wait till you see Red’s Place,” said Bones.

 

“Dude now I want Mc Donald’s,” said Kate.

 

We arrived at one of those Art Deco buildings that look like a cruise ship. It wasn’t well kept; but you could say the same thing about every building in the neighborhood, and about the streets and sidewalks too for that matter. As we were walking towards the end of an eternal terrazzo corridor, Tommy walked a few fast steps to get ahead of everyone and performed a somersault without dropping the cigarette from his mouth. Kate rolled her eyes. The rest laughed while Red tried to shush them unsuccessfully.

 

Red’s place was one of, if not the coolest pad I’d ever been to. For starters, he was the only person I knew who didn’t live with their parents. Then there were the worn out wooden floors, high ceilings with baroque crown molding, the crystal chandelier, the amps, the guitars, the music festival posters, the oriental rug, and more importantly, Jimbo, the black cocker spaniel who moved only one ear up and down when someone scratched his head.

 

One could tell it wasn’t the first time they did this because without anyone giving any indication they all went in different directions as if they had pre established tasks. Red got the bottles, Bones got the cups, one of the guys got the ice, Tommy and his girl set up the table, the other girl got the weed grinder, Kate got the music, I got Jimbo.

 

In less than two minutes the ten of us were sitting on the floor around a large marble coffee table playing a drinking game that required more motor skills than anyone in the circle possessed at the time, causing a vicious circle that resulted in all of us getting hammered quite fast.

 

Kate went to the kitchen and came back with a bottle of cold still water. We passed it around and drank it as if it were the last water bottle on Earth. Watching that scene I understood that these were all just good kids playing rockstars for fun.

 

“Hey, Red,” said Bones. “D’you know if The Wizard is coming?” Everyone giggled; it was clearly an internal joke I didn’t understand.

 

“He might be coming,” said Red. “Let me check, I think he’s already here,” he said and went to his room. Jimbo followed him.

 

“Who’s the Wizard?” I asked.

 

“You don’t know The Wizard?” said one of the guys.

 

Kate bit her lower lip and shook her head, letting me know that I was about to witness something stupid.

 

Red came back to the living room with a fuzzy purple blanket wrapped around like a hooded cloak, and costume glasses with spirals in the eyes. He was in a hunchback posture, walking slowly and waving an old TV antenna as if it were a magic wand. “All heil to The Wizard,” he said in a funny voice.

 

“Heil Wizard,” everyone said in unison.

 

“I knew you would say that,” he said. “I know everything.”

 

I was praying he didn’t involve me in his act. I only like the spotlight when I want it, not when it’s forced upon me. But I was out of luck; he walked next to me and kneeled. “What is your name, youngster?”

​

“Uhm.. I’m…”

 

“Silence!” he said. “It was a rhetorical question.”

 

He walked to Tommy. He placed the tip of the antenna on top of his head and closed his eyes. “Your dick is small.” Everyone was cracking up even when he didn’t speak. “Who here wants to know their future?” he asked. Kate raised her hand. The Wizard pointed at her with the antenna. “What trouble troubles you?” he asked.

 

“Are we ever going to play at Glastonbury?” she asked.

​

The Wizard took both hands to his temple. I noticed that he was laughing while trying to figure out what to say. “You have come to the right place,” he finally said. “But you ask the wrong question.”

​

He did us all one by one, then he anointed Jimbo as King of the Universe and disappeared in a poorly executed twirl. He came back as Red, agitated from running. “Did he come?” he asked.

 

“He just left,” said Bones.

​

“Damn it, I always miss him,” he said, and with that concluded his act. I wanted to clap but no one else did so I didn’t either.

 

Most of the people got up after the show; some of the guys went to the kitchen to get refills, Tommy and his girl went to the bathroom, Red went by the audio system to lower the volume, while Bones, Kate and I went to the terrace to get some fresh air. It wasn’t really a terrace; it was more like a semi open space adjacent to the kitchen, no larger than two square meters, commonly used to air the laundry.

 

We sat on the floor, shoulder to shoulder, each one holding a can of cold beer. “That was one of the best Wizards ever,” said Bones.

 

“I can’t believe he pulled that off,” I said. “He’s a genius.”

​

“Don’t know ‘bout genius,” said Kate. “But yeah, he can be funny.”

​

Bones brought his index finger to the corner of his mouth and whispered “they used to date.” Kate slapped down his hand. 

 

“Shut up,” she said.

 

“I’m not gonna ask,” I said. “But he is definitely a character. Everyone here is a character,” I said. “Have you known each other for long?” I asked.

 

“Not that long,” said Bones. “Around three years or so. Most of them play in another band.”

 

“Guys, you know what I just realized?” I said. “I don’t know the name of your band.”

 

“That’s crazy,” said Kate. “I thought you told him.” 

 

“I guess it didn’t come up,” said Bones. He told me the name of the band. I hadn’t heard of it before.

 

“Did you show him any of our songs?” Kate asked.

 

“We met literally one minute before you showed up at that awful place,” he said.

 

“You’re kidding,” she said. She reached inside her pocket and took out a white iPod mini, which she displayed holding it between her fingers. “Wanna listen?” she asked while shaking the iPod. 

 

“I’m nervous,” I said. “I already love you as people but what if I don’t like it?”

 

“Don’t worry,” said Bones.” If you don’t like it, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

 

I put the headphones on. I was sitting in the middle and both of them brought their ears right next to mine so they could hear a little of what I was hearing.  Kate picked one of the tracks and pressed play. We listened to the entire track like that.

​

It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 

​

THE END