A big moony head leaned over Sheria, and a voice said, “Hey there, Brainhead.”

“You know this guy?” Sheria asked.

“That’s my pet faggot,” said Tate.

“Well, that’s not very nice.”

“You’re drunk, Ronny,” said Tate.

“I know.”

“Well, shit. I never saw you drunk before.”

“You want me to chase this guy away?” Sheria asked. Sara had come up beside her. Tate was looking Sara over. She was very pretty. But she ignored him, hand on Sheria’s shoulder. “Look at you!” Sara said. “Sloshed!”

“I found him first,” Tate said to her. “Hello. My name is Tate.”

“I found him first,” said Sheria.

“How long do you plan on laying down there?” Sara asked.

“Well, it depends on when I can feel my legs,” Ronny said, and he could hear the slurring in his voice. He was looking straight up at the bulletin board, a flyer for the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies. The tile walls had thin lines of stain on them. Up above was acoustic tile showing evidence of a leak. Another face swam into view, the snack bar cashier who sold him chili-dusted potato chips. Sheria was laughing and said, “He is so hilarious. Do you think he knows where he is?”

“I’m not sure,” said Sara.

“What’s going on? Oh, crap.” That was Ben. He was leaning over, looking Ronny in the eye, shaking his head. “How long have you been down there, buddy?”

“I don’t know.”

“You know who I am?”

“Sure.”

“All right. Wow. Who got him drunk like this? Was it you, Tate?”

“We just found him here,” said Sara.

“I think he did the drunk part all by himself,” said Tate. “I hope he hadn’t lost too many brain cells. We need those.”

There was Ben hovering over him again, face closer. “You think you ought to go on lying here?”

“I don’t know what else to do,” said Ronny.

“Can you stand up?”

“Oh, no way. That’s how I ended up down here. I just kind of didn’t have any legs anymore but there was this nice wall right here.” He reached out to pat it fondly. The concrete block was rough and cool to the touch.

Sheria was laughing, Sara was laughing, Tate was shaking his head.

“Tell you what, Ronny. Let me get you to your room, okay?”

“Do you even know this guy?” Sheria asked.

“Sure I do.”

“I don’t want him to end up naked in the elevator or anything,” said Sara, trying to look serious. “You know you guys do that sometimes.”

“I wouldn’t do anything like that,” said Tate, but he appeared to be considering something along those lines.

“Somebody will mess with him sure as shit if we leave him here,” said Ben.

“He looks so cute,” said Sheria. “I never saw him drunk before.”

“Nobody ever saw him drunk before,” said Sara.

“I did, once,” said Ben. “Hey, Ron. Don’t you want to go to your room?”

“I don’t know where it is,” said Ronny.