Unmissed

It’s 3:30 a.m. I’m in South Beach.

Ben and I are sitting at the bar in Club Twist’s main room. It’s packed. Bodybuilders, tourists, and drag queens. Cigarettes and overpriced drinks.

A Lady Gaga remix comes on. We scream in each other’s ears to talk. During the climax of the song, the lights of the bar start flashing like a seizure test. People scream and jump. I look at Ben and say, “I missed this.”

Later I’m downstairs and Carlos is introducing me to a pack of friends, quickly referencing a relationship, job, or affair so I can place the characters.

Earlier that evening we ate at Versailles in Little Havana.

Rice, beans, plantains, and gossip. Versailles is the most famous restaurant in Miami. Every time something happens in Cuba, the news crews go to Versailles to film the angry old men cursing the revolution.

I missed the Cuban food and clubs. I did not miss the $10 drinks or the greasy men¹ in BMWs who only slow down to flip someone off.

I’ve spent the majority of the day watching a Law & Order SVU marathon. I haven’t owned a TV since starting law school because I get held hostage by these marathons.

The last time I watched Law & Order was around this time last year at Jamie’s house. I had just come back from Miami and spent most of my break at Jamie’s place. He’d go to work. I sat around and drinking tea and watching Law & Order.

Law school and work have ruined Law & Order. It’s one huge evidence and professional responsibility disaster, but I watch because it’s break and I’m amused.

Law & Order is permanently associated with winter break. So is clubbing on South Beach and the greasy men in BMWs.

¹ This happened on US 1 near UMiami.