He’s drunk beside me but still coherent enough to direct me back to the hotel. You live in a place for 17 years but never really learn the area as well as you could. I’m lost to the point of relying on a drunk.

It’s a big city. Not my fault.

1

2

We’re staying near the airport which is about a half hour away from MacDill Air force Base with traffic. 

We drive from a shitty neighborhood to one of the nicest parts of Tampa to get there. It looks so pretty at night. Past the malls and shopping districts. The big fancy restaurants I could never afford to eat at. It’s midnight, but with all the lights it’d be hard to tell.

He’s singing along to the radio. One of our favorite songs.

 If he wasn’t so drunk I’d say it’s romantic.

3

Tampa’s a weird place. There’s Ybor City where hobos roam and drugs and parties are never far away. 

4

Then there’s the Westshore area near the airport, where we are now. Everything big and bright and loud. 

South Tampa, with the McDonalds and Dollar Store within walking distance from MacDill, where it almost looks like you can get mugged but probably no one ever does. Then New Tampa, the closest thing to a college town in the city, except even the Starbucks closes at night. That’s not something I’m used to. I’ve been gone for three years, but know the city better now than I did before I left. It feels like home but also not.

We sit at a red light for what feels like eternity. Almost like it’s begging me to stay out later. This part of Tampa doesn’t sleep and maybe neither should I.

  

1: http://www.hotels.com/ho269506/towneplace-suites-by-marriott-tampa-westshore-airport-tampa-united-states/, Sept. 21, 2013.

2: 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacDill_Air_Force_Base, Sept. 21, 2013.

3: http://www.gaybor.com/, Sept. 21, 2013.

4: http://www.tampabayisnewnow.com/tampa-bay-times-forum/walkable-now.php, Sept. 21, 2013.

Background:  2012, http://www.amstafftalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8927, Sept. 21, 2013.