A Night Out

It was the last day of school and classes were finally over. Summer vacation has officially commenced. I completed my first year teaching 7th grade English at a local junior high school here in the South Bronx and I was ready to celebrate. After our last faculty meeting for the year concluded, a few coworkers suggested we all go out for happy hour at the nearby Tapa Hut. As we sat down and enjoyed our quick bites we had a chance to do some last minute catching up before we all went off our separate ways for the summer. Some people were spending time with their kids, some decided to do some traveling, I on the other hand will make this summer more of a staycation than a vacation. I just moved into my apartment and needed this time to get settled into the new place. I was just looking forward to having time off.

When happy hour was over the group of us decided that the night was still young and suggested we head to a speak-easy that was in the area. “Hey Kevin, you should come with us, it'll be fun,” said Kelly. Kelly was one the history teachers at the school, her classroom was across the hall from mine. An attractive woman in her early thirties, she has a lot of personality to say the least. “Where are you guys heading off to?” I wasn’t entirely ready to end the night early. I mean to go home and do what? Eat a carton of ice cream followed by Netflix and chill on my iPad? I didn’t even have my internet hooked up yet. So yea… I was going out.

We said our goodbyes then hoped in an Uber and made our way to the next spot. When we arrived I stared out the back passenger window in confusion. “I thought we were going to a nightclub? What is this place?” I asked. “Well this is the address my friend gave me.” said one of our coworkers who suggested the place. “Well she did say it’s a speak-easy so one of these places has to be it.” We got out of the Uber and stared at the large, pre-war, red brick apartment building across the street. At the corner of the block there was a diner, with large windows and a large neon sign over the door that read Papi’s. “This is it right here!” she exclaimed! “Your kidding me? This is a local diner?” I looked at the group with a heightened level of confusion. Were they pulling my leg?

My coworker Victor saw the expression on my face and started to chuckle.

“Bro don’t worry, I’ve heard about this place. It’s pretty underground but the food here is good.” “ Oh yea? What do they make?”

“They got your typical diner food. You know breakfast all day, a variety of Latin food, but they are really known for their late night sandwich, the Chopped Cheese.”

“What's Chopped Cheese?”

“It’s kinda like a Philly Cheesesteak but better.” Victor explained.

“It’s what a bougie ass restaurant would call a deconstructed cheeseburger.” Kelly chimed in.

I’m from Boston, so that one went over my head but being native New Yorkers, they both couldn’t help but laugh at their little inside joke.

As we walked inside we could feel the vibrations of the speakers through the floor. The sounds of the music were slightly muffled. Our leader of the group guided us past the filled booths and counters, through the double doors that looked like they lead to the kitchen. There was a tall, burly looking man sitting on a stool next to a closed door. He sat there with his arms folded, the expression on his face looked as if everything presented was non-negotiable. He looked down the line of us and proceeded to open the door. With each admission came a certified click to account for our presence.

We walked down a semi-narrow corridor with beautiful graffiti art decorating the walls. Two turns later and we arrived at the basement level of the establishment. Large, metal double doors stood before us with sounds and rhythms of Latin music on the other side. You could still hear the footsteps of the patrons and line cooks walking above us. It almost felt as if I was on the cusp between two worlds. I’ve never been to a speakeasy like this before. Usually the places I’ve seen aren’t that ambiguous, but this place was next level.

When we walked through the doors I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was like accidentally stepping on the set of one of your favorite hip-hop videos. I felt very under dressed compared to everyone else in the room. The live band was on set and the room was definitely a vibe. We grabbed a table near the dance floor and proceeded to get part 2 of the night started.

******

Time passed and the place was still jumping the same as when we came in. The smooth rhythms of Latin drums and horns filled the air. Time really does fly when you're having fun. In two hours we learned that I’m not as bad of a salsa dancer as I thought I would be, Victor is quite the ladies man as, for Kelly, we learned that Kelly is the world traveler, the inked stamps in her passport can compete with the ink on her left sleeve tattoos.

By my fourth margarita I seemed to have lost track of time altogether. Half of the group was ready to go home and I was ready to join them. “Hey have you guys seen Kelly?” I scoured the room to see if she was still out there but the dance floor was still surprisingly crowded and I couldn’t get a clear sight of her. I didn’t want to leave her behind in case she was still here, so I opted to stay behind and look for her while the others headed home.

I paid my tab and decided to look for Kelly on my way out of here. After a few minutes of searching, the margarita’s started to catch up with me and I needed to use the bathroom pretty bad. I made my way towards the nearest exit and proceeded to walk down the cinder blocked hallway to find a bathroom. I made my first turn from what I could remember and I managed to find a bathroom. I entered the men’s room and proceeded to the middle urinal against the wall. I could still hear the music from the nightclub vibrating through the walls. As I stood there and welcomed the relief of urinating the alcohol out of my system, I was sharply awakened from day-dreaming by the sound of muffled screams coming through the vent. I peered out of the bathroom and to see where the sound was coming from. “Hello?” I called out. I thought someone may be hurt or injured. It was hard to hear anything over the base of the music.

I continued to walk down the hallway until I saw a door slightly ajar with some light showing through. I started to call out for a response when I heard the woman scream again, only this time the screams were louder and coming through the opened door. These weren’t the screams of injury as much as they were a desperate plea to stop. But stop what exactly? I’m not sure what came over me, maybe it was the tequila or maybe I just felt bold and willing to try new things but something inside of me wanted to know what was on the other side of the door.

I managed to get a good view of what looked like an ordinary commercial kitchen. Nothing looked strange to naked eye. There were pots boiling on a large stove, the ovens were on and the grills seemed to have been just turned down. I can still smell the scent of flavorful meat in the air. Thinking that I’m near the kitchen I was sure that I was close to the exit, I figured I could go inside and ask one of the cooks for directions on how to navigate this maze when one of them went up a small set of spiral stairs carrying a tray of meat. I walked in wanting to call out to him when I heard the woman’s muffled screams again. It was coming from the kitchen walk-in fridge. I walked in and whispered as loudly as I could. “Hello? Does someone need…” I almost vomited on sight that I couldn’t believe my eyes.

It was Kelly sitting tied to a chair, her shirt torn and her face bloody. She had a thick cloth covering her mouth; her scalp was raw and bloody, evidence of her hair being pulled so hard that it ripped from the root of her scalp. I stumbled backwards in disbelief as my eyes examined my surroundings. This was no ordinary refrigerator as it housed a collection of exotic meats and delicacies, most disturbing was what appeared to be a badly bruised torso of a man. There were remnants of human remains all throughout the fridge. As lowered Kelly’s mouth gag I could hear the echo of party noises dipping in frequency. There must be another door somewhere near leading back to the party, that’s probably how she got here.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said. I tried my best to give her reassurance, but after sitting among human remains I don’t think my words had much impact. She sniffled and sat in silence; through her whispered cries she picked her head up, looked me in the eye and simply said “no it’s not.” As I loosened the knot that held her upper body in place, she slowly began to slump over. The blood on the back of the chair was thick, as she tilted forward I saw that her back was raw and bloody. Layers of her skin were peeled off as if she was skinned alive. I was horrified, I tried to hold back tears and reactions of disgust to not upset Kelly. It was a miracle that she was even alive after enduring that. I continued to work on untying the knot when I heard someone coming.

“Yea bring the rest of it upstairs.” Oh shit! At this moment I was forced to make a decision and I wasn’t entirely proud of the choice I made. I tried to loosen the last knot around her feet but it was too late. Kelly slipped into unconsciousness and I don’t think we would be able to get out of here without being noticed, there was blood everywhere. Having to think quickly, I ran out the refrigerator and tried to find a place to hide. With the kitchen being such an open space, I quickly jumped into the trough sink on the other side of the room to hide. The sink was short but deep, so I crouched into the fetal position, held my breath and hoped for the best. I heard voices coming from the other side of the kitchen. “How much more do they need?” asked one man. “About 2 more boxes. Donnie finished with the fresh one yet?” “Check the fridge.”

“Oh no. They must be talking about Kelly,” I thought to myself. I heard the footsteps from their hard sole shoes. They were standing in the refrigerator; as they stood there staring at Kelly I could hear the commotion unfolding, the anger in their voices started to rise.

“They gotta still be here. Go find them!” The sounds of footsteps start to fade. I arose and pecked my head a bit to see if the cost was clear. The kitchen was empty, now is my chance. The trough sink was deep. I slowly managed to crawl out the sink being ever so careful not to make a sound. I held on to the ledge of the sink carefully placing my right foot on the floor...Success. As I carefully attempted to get my left leg out, I heard a whistle. “You can tell them to stop looking.”

My heart began to beat fast and my legs felt weak. He slowly closes the door behind him.

Shit.