Key

One’s memory holds one special birthday, one day where everything comes back. Reid remembers traveling from St. Louis, Timberlands hugging bare feet, driving from his hotel in Key Largo to Key West to briefly escape his mundane life. Reid has guts to hand debauchery keys to drive his life. He starts dancing with alcohol mid-afternoon at the Bleu Macaw, a local dive where a gorgeous young woman expertly plays pool, leaving downtrodden men thankful to escape with a little dignity. Reid’s a shark, gambling for no-strings sex. She toys with him, losing so they both win. Grabbing his hand, running through pouring rain, she zigzags through alleys and streets, popping in and out of the open-air Tiki Lounge. Against a brick wall, she attacks, strips him and herself down. Once done, she grabs her things, taking off before Reid can thank her or catch her name. Gretchen – bartender and owner of the Tiki Lounge – can’t help him, nor does she feel it necessary. Frustrated, drunk, Reid runs into one odd character after another: Andrew, an angry young black man; Bowling Bill, a man obsessed with opening a bowling alley; English Bob, a feisty Brit dedicated to World Cup Soccer; Delmar, Tiki Lounge’s Kentucky-bred barback; town drunk and his wife, Duval Street fixtures; a friendly transvestite; some not-so-friendly people. Rescued at night's end? Could be considered as such in his remembrance. Paradise isn’t a place to be lost, but found.