PART II

The popular downtown New Orleans restaurant Anything Goes was so popular because of its atmosphere. Each table had a theme, and the waiter or waitress dressed according to the theme of the table. There was a cheese table where the waiter was dressed as a mouse, a mafia table where the waiter was a gangster, and even a cave dweller’s hut that covered a private table. The food was below par, especially for New Orleans; they served delicacies such as burgers and fries and spaghetti. The girls sat at the firehouse table, their favorite due to the sexy fireman that waited on it, and ordered burgers and fries.

“Can you believe those guys? I mean, that one guy was like, 100 years old!” Breanna exclaimed as she handed the menu back to the waiter and winked at him.

“I know! Thank God we just left ‘em. They’ll be gone by the time we get outta here,” Lydia said.

The girls then began a different conversation, letting the smells of grilling hamburgers and frying grease penetrate their noses and fill their bodies. They ate a good meal while talking and laughing, and they all had a wonderful time just hanging out and stuffing their faces with burgers the size of bowling balls. They even had a contest to see who could stuff the whole burger in her mouth, chew it, and swallow it the fastest. As always, Lydia won – the reigning burger eating contest queen. No one had been able to dethrone her yet.

The girls finally finished about two hours later, and after they paid, they headed outside to smoke and walk around. When they opened the door to the restaurant, they saw the same three Greek men still standing there.

“You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me,” Lydia whispered. “They waited dis whole time?”

 “Ah, ‘ello girls. You finis now? How you like your food?” the oldest one asked.

 “It was, uh, good,” Breanna answered.

 “Zat’s wonderful. You girls ready now?”

 “Ready for what?” Zoé asked.

 “To ha’ some fun of course. Oh, how rude I am! You do not know our names. I am Teddy, zis is Billy, and zis is Stavros.” As he pointed to each of the men to introduce them, the girls’ eyes followed. Teddy was a big man of his late thirties with a curly, black afro, large, round, black eyes that penetrated to your soul, a pointy nose, and a mustache. The man to his left, Billy, was the youngest of the group, probably around his early twenties. He was extremely attractive with short, straight, dark hair parted to the side and sharp features. He had a square chin and no facial hair, and his teeth were so white they seemed to glow in the dark. The other man to Teddy’s right, Stavros, was a quiet man with a commanding presence. He was in between the other two in age, probably in his late twenties or early thirties. He had wavy, dark hair down to his collar, large, round, dark eyes, and a pointy nose. He never spoke, but he still somehow commanded your attention.

 “We are from Greece. You ladies ready to ha’ some fun now?” Teddy continued.

 The girls looked at each other, all thinking the same thing – adventure time!

 “Sure, we’ll hang out wit’ ya,” Breanna said. “Where ya wanna go?”

“We go to my bar around za corner. Follow me.” Teddy took off down the street, taking long strides and looking over his shoulder every few feet. He seemed extremely paranoid, which the girls found weird considering how large he was. The group rounded the corner, and Teddy stopped at the corner building. He walked up the five steps to the large double doors even with the corner and held one open for the girls. As Zoé walked up the steps, she looked up at the sign over the door that read “Scorpio’s.” A chill went up her spine as she read the name. This place didn’t sound so nice.

The inside of Scorpio’s consisted of a large, Mafioso table in the center of the room filled with place settings, Sangria, and food, a bandstand on which a large breasted woman in a blue sequined gown and lots of blue and purple eye shadow sang Greek songs, and a small dance floor in front of the bandstand. The place smelled of cigars, sweat, and alcohol.

Teddy led the girls to the large Mafioso table where they all sat and ordered wine and mixed drinks. After a few minutes, Teddy decided to introduce the girls to real Greek culture with some Ouzo. The waiter placed shot glasses in front of each girl and filled them with a thick, minty and licorice tasting liquid.

“Drink up!” Teddy shouted as the girls slammed the shots.

“Opa!” they all screamed, then smashed their glasses on the floor. Zoé was amazed at this foreign culture and their unique traditions and lifestyle. It was so much fun, and these guys had ended up being a lot cooler than she thought. She continued to have a great time with her new friends, and, as the night waned away into the early hours of the morning, the girls became more and more intoxicated. After about three or four hours of Greek parties, music, and Ouzo, the girls decided they had better get home.

“My motha is gonna kill me if I don’t get up for church in the mornin’,” Zoé slurred. “We gotta go.” Zoé stood to leave, along with Lydia, Breanna, and Tonia. Edith was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Edith?” Lydia asked. The girls searched the room and found Edith in the corner with her hand down Teddy’s pants. He had his hand on her rear end, and they were passionately making out in the dark recesses of the bar.

“Edith! Come on, let’s go,” Zoé said, dragging Edith away from her new found love.

“I’ll see ya lata, hun! Call me!” Edith yelled as her friends dragged her to the car.