My Cardboard Balcony

The Beer Stains by Belinda Roddie The beer stains on my shirt indicated that it had been a crazy night, one that I could not remember. Sprawled on a bed I did not recognize, I grunted, sat up, and forced my way into the kitchen, where I saw my cousin still cleaning up a mess of plastic cups and filling bin after bin with bottles. A loud hiccup rang from the couch, where a friend lay and snored. "Great party," my cousin informed me. "You got to kiss Samantha, and then she poured a whole glass of beer on you. Girls tend to do that a lot to you, like it's revenge." So that's what I did during my booze binge.

"We've got to get out of here!" Arvey moaned as she pressed herself against the locked door. "Given the shoddy architecture of this place, I'm sure the roof could collapse at any moment!" "Maybe the walls are even less sturdy," Quinoni said from the corner of their prison, a lopsided grin permeating through the smoke of her cigar. "Give me your pistol, Arv!" Arvey fumbled for her firearm and tossed it to her companion, who lobbed five shots at the wall and laughed loudly as several chunks of it fell away as a result.