Tequila To Kill Ya

What was my most cringe worthy moment? I was finally 21 and old enough to go to the clubs, finally old enough to drink liquor. I went with my best friend to our favorite club, where we could get drunk and dance all night long. Back then you could get drinking specials, and the one we liked to get at this particular place was $8 at the door would allow us to drink free from 8 pm until 10 pm.

We always drank really fast so we could get our money’s worth. Of course $8 back then was closer to $20 now, so we put a lot of alcohol in our bodies. I’ve always been a fast drinker, still am, but this one instance I decided to try tequila. I got margaritas as well as shots with lime and salt. It went down smooth, and I didn’t even feel it. I didn’t know then that it takes a while for tequila to hit, and once it does, WOW!

There was a guy I met who continued to buy me shots well after 10 pm. He even cautioned that I should slow down or I would get sick. I laughingly assured him that wouldn’t happen. I danced and laughed and had a great time. My friend met someone and left me at the club. I drove that night, so she didn’t think twice about leaving me. I was too drunk at the time to care that she should have known better. But then she might not have been aware of just how much I’d been drinking. I might even have told her to have a good time, since I was used to her picking up guys and going home with them.

The rest of the night is a blur. I don’t remember leaving the club, but I do remember my knees hurting as the gravel from the parking lot dug into them. Apparently, you get blackouts if you drink too much tequila. I don’t know if I walked, stumbled or was carried, but I was puking in public outside the club. The guy who cautioned me hours earlier was at my side telling me to be quiet or I would get arrested. I didn’t realize then that you could get arrested for being drunk and disorderly in public, and I laughed it off that I wouldn’t get arrested. Luckily, I didn’t.

He somehow found my keys, put me in the passenger seat of my car and drove to a nearby motel. I won’t go into detail about what happened in the room he rented, other than to say I’m pretty sure I had alcohol poisoning as I got chills and thought I was going to die. It was almost dawn before I was finally able to get to sleep.

I had no idea where I was, and I’m lucky this guy didn’t rob me and leave me in a ditch. He didn’t steal my car or anything from my purse. Somehow I was able to drive home, and this was well before GPS. Since the motel was close to the club, as soon as I saw it, I knew where I was. I threw up all that day until midnight, when blood started appearing in the toilet. I still lived at home, and my mom went to a drugstore that was open and got me some anti-nausea medicine.

It took me days to get back to normal, and I didn’t have the nerve to go back to that club for months. After all, I had no idea if I made a scene that would come back to haunt me. I was embarrassed to face anyone that might have been there that night. Whatever happened during those blackouts never came back.

Finally, my friend convinced me to return, and I wasn’t banned from the place. No one ever mentioned anything about it, so I eventually put it behind me, but I can never forget it. I did learn something that stayed with me though. It’s been decades, but I never again got anywhere near tequila. Can’t even stand the smell of the stuff.