📸 Photo

A NIGHT ON THE TOWN

relax properly. I drank beer after beer and then switched to stronger drinks.

Surprisingly, Jaime was almost keeping up with me one for one. Given the price of the drinks, I knew that my money wouldn't last very long, so I went to the bathroom to have a line of the stuff I had brought from San Pedro. This time, my escort didn't follow me. Over the course of the afternoon, we seemed to have established a friendship, or perhaps he was just too drunk to care. I was drunk too, so the effect of the coke was even stronger than usual. I immediately felt in control. In fact, as I strode out of the bathroom, I was no longer an officially imprisoned man. I was wide awake and ready to meet the world.

A pretty girl dancing with her friend caught my eye. She was too beautiful for me, but I was high and feeling extremely confident so I called her over to where we were sitting. She whispered something to the friend, who shook her head and kept dancing, and the girl came on her own. Man, she was pretty, but she wasn't Bolivian. That much was obvious. I was talking a lot and asking a lot of questions and we hit it off straight away. Her name was Yasheeda and it turned out that she was from Israel. She was in La Paz for a week travelling with a group of friends after completing her national military service. Within a few minutes she asked me if I knew where we could get some cocaine. She had heard that Bolivia had the best in the world but didn't know where to get it. Her guidebook warned that it was too dangerous to buy it off the street, since the dealers often work with the police. 'Wait here, then, I'll see what I can do.' I went to the bar, bought her a drink and when I came back, I handed her the small envelope under the table. 'Wow! Thanks. That was quick! You're amazing! I'll be back in a minute.'

When Yasheeda returned from the bathroom, she was smiling. 'That stuff is strong!' she whispered, hugging me and slipping the package into my hand. 'Do you want another drink?' I asked. 'No way. I can't sit still. I have to move.' She grabbed my hand and we went out onto the dance floor together. I danced around her, and the shimmering lights above flowed into my eyes and I was drunk with life and with being alive and having blood in my veins and a beautiful girl in front of me. Man, she was pretty. And she seemed to like me, too.