Beijing Blues

We went to a bar to watch a sporting event on TV, but the owner switched off the TV fifteen minutes after we got there so a live band could perform. We had brought our own wine and paid a corking fee; I felt cheated. Let’s just leave, she said, so we got up and walked out.

Outside there weren’t any other bars or cafes with TVs, so we gave up and walked behind the monument on the East side of the square. There was an old neighborhood with narrow streets, brightly colored communist style exercise equipment in a little park, and men playing cards in front of shops. Even though it was night, the moon completely illuminated the small square. We sat down on a bench near the exercise equipment: a wheel that you spun with your hand, something that was supposed to imitate running but looked more like cross country skiing, hard sit-up benches with painful metal rollers that crunched your back. I was the only foreigner there, but people didn’t pay much attention to us.

We sat face to face, straddling the concrete bench. I drank the wine greedily; I’ve never been able to sip anything from a bottle. She didn’t really drink – just a half glass at the bar, and none out in the street. I’d once seen her down a 65ml shot of local vodka and practically had to carry her to a taxi. I took a few swigs and held her. The bottle was on the ground, but a group of local girls sitting on the bench next to us noticed and giggled. I didn’t care. I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her very close. We kissed and she complained about my mustache.

We waited and eventually the girls left. The men were still playing cards, but we were shielded by the exercise equipment and a small tree and I didn’t think they had a clear view of our bench. The wine was almost completely gone and I felt good. Looking at her in the middle of everything, the park, the ancient winding streets snaking out in every direction, the men laughing, cards being slammed onto the tables, so far away from where I was from, everything felt strangely romantic. She put her hand on the inside of my leg and kissed me. Do you think anyone can see us, she asked. No, I don’t think so, I don’t think so.

I reached down to finish the last bit of wine. I put the bottle to my mouth and began tilting it up; she was underneath the bottle playing with my belt. Suddenly she jerked up and hit the bottle with her head. I dropped the bottle and dropped to the ground. I wasn’t in pain, but my mouth watered and I spit on the ground several times. I rubbed my tongue on my upper teeth and the left front one felt different; it was chipped.