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not to chuckle at his attempt to be
cool about the whole situation.   He
looks like he’ll spontaneously combust at any moment.
    One of Emma’s
friends comes to retrieve her, and they retreat again to the kitchen, probably
to refill Emma’s drink – like she needs it.
    After a weak
attempt to wring out the drenched shirt, Nick grunts and succumbs to his
fate.   “Hell, whatever.   These people already think I’m a
freak.   Who cares if my back is
bright red?”
    I smile
encouragingly.   “That’s the right
attitude, man.   Just rock it.   Maybe you’ll start a trend.”   He is laughing now too, which makes me
feel good.   For a minute there, I
thought he’d want to leave.
    There are dozens of
people in the backyard and even a few splashing around in the swimming pool,
which looks more like a Hawaiian lagoon than any backyard pool I’ve ever
seen.   A line trailing out from the
white lattice gazebo signals that’s where I go for beer, so I head that
way.   Nick follows me.   I’m starting to think he doesn’t know any
of the people at this party, or none of them know him.   If he wants to stay close, that’s fine
with me.   I wouldn’t ditch my
cousin.
    As we wait in the
short line near the keg, I observe kids in the yard.   Some are dancing to the hip-hop music blaring from the
outdoor speakers.   It’s great dance
music, and I plan to find a hottie to dance with later tonight.
    “Look at those
girls over there,” I say to Nick, nodding in the direction of two girls
grinding on each other.
    “Sluts,” is Nick’s
response.
    “Yeah,
probably.   But it’s still
hot.”   I nudge Nick’s arm with my
elbow.
    He smiles and
wiggles his piercing up and down.   “Definitely.”
    His answer makes me
happy.   I’ve never seen him with a
girlfriend, and I’d be lying if I said I never suspected him to swing the other
way – not that I would mind or anything.    I’ve got a couple of gay friends.   But the fact that Nick is into chicks
means we can hopefully share some cousin bonding time talking about them.
    I don’t have any
siblings, so Nick is it for me.   We
grew up together until we were about ten.   That’s when my aunt and uncle moved to Orange County.   He visited me in Texas two years after
his dad died.   I guess he thought I
would understand because of what happened to me.  
    My friend Ricky and
I got him drunk for the first time.   Ricky gave him a couple of tattoos with a homemade gun.   It felt good to have family around
me.   I thought that maybe we could
be like brothers again, as we were back then.   That he’s even at this party with me is a step in the right
direction.
    When I’m filling my
plastic cup, I hear a commotion from inside the house.   Everyone starts cheering as the
football team arrives.   They’re
receiving a hero’s welcome, which is pretty cool since they absolutely crushed
the other team.   I guess they
deserve it.
    I offer a cup to
Nick.   “You want a beer?”
    Nick shakes his
head and turns his attention back to the football players as they come out onto
the patio.   A new round of applause
erupts from the outside crowd, and the guys on the team yell obscenities about
San Clemente, to which everyone’s cheers grow louder.
    Jeff Weaver slaps
high-fives through a sea of people and ambles over to the keg near Nick and me.
    “Veneto!   Glad you could make it.”   He grabs a cup from the table.
    “’Sup Jeff?   Nice game.   You guys killed ‘em.”
    He beams.   “Yeah, man.   They had it coming.”   He starts filling his cup under the keg spout and eyes Nick.   “Who’s your friend?”
    “Another Veneto
actually.   This is my cousin,
Nick.”
    He slaps hands with
Nick.   “What’s up, man?”
    “Hey.   Your house is great.   Nice party.”
    Jeff looks between
the two of us.   “Two Venetos.   Well, I’m glad you both could make
it.   Have fun.   Just don’t break anything.”   He takes a big gulp