No More Del Taco

Blog No. 1: New Year’s Eve

My New Year's Eve was filled with the Burn Notice marathon and more packing. The only entertaining thing I've done was waste time posting some videos on some Facebook profiles, reminding them of their Rabbi Mission. New Year's Eve in the past has never really been eventful for me. The only time I actually celebrated was at Kaylah's New Year's party, which didn't happen in Sacramento this year.

So, Taylor, Susan Surrandon, and I planned to go to Old Sac to watch the fireworks. Taylor texted around 9 PM to warn me of his arrival. From there, Taylor and I ventured downtown, getting stuck in traffic along the way. Taylor really doesn't take traffic well, seeing as he drove intentionally slow after a taxi kept on honking from behind during a red light.

After we parked, we walked through the K street mall and Old Sac. We ventured into the sea of partying people to find Susan Surrandon and Phillip, sitting by the Delta King. Susan Surrandon had alerted me that Dustin, Patric, and their other friend, Patrick, was going to be there but backed out at the last minute. I’ve heard some stories about Patrick and I am indeed looking forward to the day I meet him. In the mean while, we were trying to come up with things to occupy ourselves until midnight…

Taylor decided he wanted some salt water taffy, so we ended up walking to find an open taffy shop. Unfortunately, both of the taffy shops had been closed. I was very disappointed because I was picturing myself having pomegranate taffy, for old time’s sake. Taylor had immediately moved on and dismissed the idea…

Near the railroad museum, there was a band playing, representing the Eagle radio station and all it’s glory. The four of us stayed on the outskirts of the little crowd, enjoying some jazz themed rock, watching the people in the front of the stage dancing their hearts out. Phillip and Susan Surrandon had danced a little bit while I was watching Taylor trying to take a picture of the band to no avail.

Taylor and Phillip decided that we needed to move inside, seeing as the evening was getting colder. I pulled everyone away from the band and walked back in the direction of the Delta King with the intention of finding an open shop. Instead, we got distracted by a group Fire dancers, swiveling their hips and fire sticks to a soundtrack of a very hypnotizing acoustic base.

Ten minutes before midnight, we made a coffee run. I got a Mocha freeze, Taylor some hot drink, and Phillip a lime Italian soda. Then we hit the road, walking the railroad tracks in the direction of the “golden colored” bridge. The crowd had grown bigger as we finally reached our destination. The bridge was raised in preparation of the fireworks show. Strong, green laser pointers danced in jagged shapes on the bridge. It was very chilly outside, according to Taylor. Both Susan Surrandon and I offered our coats to him, to which he firmly denied our acts of kindness… He’s very stubborn.

We found ourselves right outside a parking garage, where we saw people on the metal gates on every floor in couples gazing into the starless sky. This made me feel a little uneasy, feeling all of the romance in the air, how I was left out of it. It was then that I noticed that Phillip and Susan Surrandon had never really left each other’s arms. Then the crowd yelled out to the sky an inaudible countdown and explosions ensued in the sky as the firework show had begun. I looked around and saw a lot of the couples had begun that clichéd ritual of making out as the clock stroke midnight. Taylor and I commented on what each of the explosions had looked like—he apparently saw a plethora of penises in the sky that night. I recognized how some of them had tried to take the shape of hearts in the night sky. I looked up at him, saw he was maneuvering his coffee cup across his lip rings, and I wondered if he had felt this same uneasiness as I did.

A few minutes and many heart thumping explosions later, the four of us slowly walked back to the parking garage. We ended up having to try and link ourselves together because it was very easy to get separated from each other. It was also very easy to bump into the wrong person, hear her curse your ear off as your party continues to walk away. When we got in the parking garage, there had been a long line of cars honking, blasting their stereos, and just doing whatever their drunk passengers were doing at that moment. So, to not get caught up in that mess, we just sat on Phillip’s car, trying to decide our next move for that evening.

After awhile, we ended up going through Taylor's music on his Droid. Taylor’s song list basically consisted of artists like Lily Allen and Alanis Morisette and soundtracks from video games and the Phantom of the Opera. I had noticed that, after I took off my coat to hang on the hood of the car, Taylor had picked up the coat and put it on, tying up the strings of the hood and wearing it like a cloak. During some of the songs, Taylor and Susan Surrandon had decided to show off their jazz dancing prowess, taking up more space as the parking garage suddenly felt more open.

Taylor talked of Denny's, but I told him to consider all of the drunk partying people out and about tonight. We conversed by the parked car for what seemed like forever, talking about our options and about other random things. We got engrossed into our conversation to the point where we realize we were trying to find a location to go to only when drunk people return to their cars.

Taylor mentioned a craving for fish and chips when we were in Old Sac, so Taylor and I decided to walk back to Old Sac to see if any of the shops were open. The walk back was very exhilarating, most of the K Street Mall, the tunnel, and Old Sac was deserted. Taylor took a few pictures along the way, and that’s where I was prompted to take pictures of him taking pictures of the K Street Mall at night. I recreated one picture I took of Piper through the arch at Porter College at Santa Cruz with Taylor inside the tunnel where the walls on both sides were tiled with bright and blocky designs.

When we arrived, we started walking through the main street when a bicycle cop stopped in front of us. He had alerted us that they closed Old Sacramento in a sarcastic tone. We politely said thanks and turned ourselves around back through the tunnel… I wanted to push him off of his bike. XD

When we arrived back at the car, Susan Surrandon, Taylor, and I conversed some more while Phillip drifted back and forth between talking and sleeping. Somehow we got to a point where the three of us surrounded Phillip’s car during the conversation. It was at that point that I heard a couple of guys from behind me. I didn’t acknowledge the chatter, but I looked at Susan Surrandon’s face, which told me that the people were coming closer. Suddenly, one of the guys, clearly very high, proposed casually in my ear, “Do yooouu want some druuuuuuuugs?” Then he pulled out a ziplock bag out of his hemp style jacket, which contained what looked like a green owl pellet. I was scared at this point as I tried to smile and declined his offer, trying to avoid eye contact with him at all costs.

The other guy had got the Del Taco smelling guy away from me, recognizing that the three of us did not want anything to do with them. While the guys high off of green owl pellet were walking away, the three of us sighed in relief. Somehow, that sigh prompted this second guy to pause. He asked, “Wait, I’m getting mixed signals here!” He continued on about something about a club or something. Either way, we stood our ground until the two kites walked away. This, finally, became incentive for us to get in the car where it was safe. XD

After a little more conversation, we ended up just saying goodbye seeing as both Susan Surrandon and Taylor had to work early in the morning. When Taylor drove me back to the house, I realized that it was 3:30 AM. I was not tired. At all. I had thought about asking Taylor if he wanted to go somewhere, but I decided against it, thinking I could utilize some of the time to finish packing. I reached over to him to hug him goodbye, but when we released from that hug I saw his face. He had looked genuinely sad, on the brink of distraught. It was literally like D: kind of distraught. I quickly looked away, but I felt that moment being engraved into my brain. As I got out of the car, I casually waved back and quickly walked up my driveway.

I don’t know what it was, but that night I just looked and looked at that face, which I tried mimicking in the mirror. I didn’t sleep. I only fell asleep after 3 cups of coffee, 2 pages of typing, some Facebook trolling, 2 episodes of Scrubs, 5 infomercials, and half a playlist later…

This feeling is foreshadowing some more heartbreak in the future, isn’t it?