Thursday, May 27, 2004

The Party Turned To Tragedy

My roommate pounded on my bedroom door. Nine minutes into my disco nap I popped out of bed. Half dressed I went to the door. "Can you answer the door for the paramedics. WE have situation here." I glanced towards the bathroom. A body lay on the tile, light brown limbs akimbo, naked. The sight didn't surprise me. I didn't ask any questions. A few weeks ago I found out that I my roommate liked to party and play. This apparently was one of the consequences. I opened the front door. I was going to hop down the three flights of stairs to the foyer but decided I really should be wearing shoes. So I went back to my bedroom and pulled on a pair of Adidas. My roommate tried to talk to the guy in the bathroom. "Are you awake? Stay with me." I couldn't discern if there was real concern in his voice. I went back out only to be met by one of the paramedics halfway up the stairwell. "Hey, how's it going?" I asked as if we were old friends. "There are going to be a lot of people following me up" he replied walking pass me into the condo. "Um OK." "What's going on here? What's the situation?" the medic grilled my roommate. Their voices became indiscernible as they filled up the bathroom but I did make out "craigslist." I left the door open and walked back to my room. Outside two fire trucks and one ambulance had gathered. A woman yelled out "We're going to need a stair chair!" In the kitchen and hallway a medic carnival had sprung up. The naked trick was brought in front of my bedroom door. The first paramedic was barking orders and trying to get the man to regain consciousness. "Can you hear me? Squeeze my finger? Can you hear me?" "Who has the stair chair?" Soon he was on his way out the door. As fast as the carnival was up it came down. I heard the ambulance pull away from the curb without sirens. Fifteen minutes later my roommate had put the towels from the bathroom into the washing machine. I heard doors close before I walked out, now fully clothed. I looked over the place. If I had not been there I would have never known what had happened. I'm not sure I like knowing what happened.

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