Tales of Ricky #2

It was the loveliest party that Ricky had ever attended. The decorations were understated and elegant, without being cloying. He'd never thrown a party like this but he could tell that this wasn't easy to pull off. He had been to many parties and been drunk at many parties and made a mess at many parties, but he didn't feel the urge to get crazy tonight. Maybe it was old age, or maybe it really did have something to do with the decor, the ambiance.

An hour later, Ricky stumbled down the hallway toward the bathroom, 5th glass of a 2014 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir in hand. It was classy to be drunk on good wine, he told himself. Everything's fine. As he pivoted on his right heel to enter the bathroom, he wobbled backwards and bumped into the framed Ellsworth Kelly print on the wall opposite the door. The print fell to the floor with a thunderous clatter of splintering wood. Ricky froze with widening eyes before slowly turning around to survey the damage. He squatted down next to the fallen picture and saw that the glass in the frame was intact, but the bottom left corner of the frame itself was broken in two. His host and good friend Elizabeth rounded the corner from the kitchen into the hallway to see what caused all the noise. She saw Ricky hunched over the picture and walked the few steps up to him to help.

"I'm so sorry," Ricky said, standing up to face her. "I accidentally bumped it with my shoulder on my way to the bathroom. And I spilled my wine all over your floor," he said, just now noticing his glass was empty and a dark red splotch was spreading across the hardwoods.

"Oh don't worry about it," responded Elizabeth with a smile. "If the frame is truly broken, I'm sure it could be mended. Go grab a towel from the cupboard under the sink in the bathroom to clean up the wine and I'll put this picture away so it doesn't get damaged any more. Use a dark towel if there's one there so the wine doesn't show up as much."

Sheepishly, Ricky did as he was told. The wine cleaned up easily from the gleaming floors and he tossed the dirty towel into a hamper he found in the laundry room next door to the bathroom.

The house had filled up, and the wine was flowing freely when Ricky walked up to an acquaintance of his, Andy, to chat. Andy was there with another man that Ricky didn't recognize.

"Andy, man, what's up? It's been a while since I saw you! How've you been?" said Ricky.

"Hey! Ricky, good to see you dude. I'm good, not much new, still just working and stuff," replied Andy. "Oh, hey, this is my friend Matt. He just moved to town a couple months ago. We went to school together."

"Matt, nice to meet you," said Ricky, shaking Matt's hand. "Welcome to The City."

"Thanks," Matt said. "Nice to meet you, too. So far The City is good for the most part. I moved here from a much smaller town, so the traffic is really something new for me. Everybody seems so aggressive."

"Yeah, I hear you," said Ricky. "That's why I prefer to ride the subway. I can't stand sitting in traffic, even if it ends up being a little bit faster."

"Ha, yeah, no doubt. I'm not a huge fan of the subway yet. The first time I rode it to work, I saw this couple that looked like Jihadi Jamal and Jihadi Jane get on and I was like 'oh hell no, I'm not getting my ass blown up right after moving here.' So I got off at the next stop and took an Uber the rest of the way."

Ricky stared at Matt, blinking rapidly. He had to consciously keep his mouth from falling agape. "So anyway, what have you been up to recently?" asked Andy.

"I'm sorry," Ricky said to Andy, deliberately not looking at Matt. "I feel like a hypocrite talking to you and your racist friend as though everything's cool." Without a further word, Ricky turned and walked into the kitchen to grab another deviled egg and find someone else to talk to.

Elizabeth saw him and poured him another glass of wine. "I do hope you're having fun tonight," she said. "Who is that with Andy? I didn't get a chance to meet him yet."

"I think his name is Matt. I wouldn't bother with him if I were you," said Ricky. Elizabeth gave him a questioning look, but said nothing. "He kind of seems like a racist asshole," Ricky clarified.

"Ah," said Elizabeth. "I see."