Birthday's brought out Aman's childlike nature. For someone who was a year older than me, Aman had a good balance of being an immiature child and a mature older brother. But it seemed like on his birthday was when he threw the whole maturity thing out the window and became a kid again. He loved his birthdays.
It was his 19th birthday that I remember most. We were bored on a Saturday night. It was his birthday few days prior. We decided to celebrate it. As the new legal non-drinker, he decided to have a few drinks that night. He confidently entered the LCBO and got a whole mix-bag of different liquors, beers and mixers.
Obviously the guy behind the counter knew he was dealing with a rookie.
Back then, neither of us drank. Too much. Maybe once every two months? If that? We were both lightweights. We knew tonight will get dirty. We headed to a close by park and started to drink in the car. Talking, gossiping, telling jokes, stories. Having a hear-to-heart. Boy stuff. As the night progressed, we started to get a bit tipsy. That's when the games stared. We made up a game. It went like this. One person says something and whoever has done it, has to take a shot. This was pretty bad since we both knew a lot about each other. We were basically getting each other really drunk. Really fast.
Before you knew it, we were hammered. Laughing. Mumbling. Blasting the music from the car stereo. Having a great time. We decided that we needed to sober up. Aman was way too drunk to drive so we got out of the car and walked over to our local coffee joint. It seemed like it took hours for us to get to a place that was only 15 minutes away. Wobbling, Stopping. I fell and hurt my jaw because I tried to light my smoke but lost my balance. Aman was worse. He didn't get hurt, but every few steps he would hold on to something to make sure the world wasn't really turning really fast. After we got the coffee shop and medicated my injured jaw, we headed back home. We thought it best that Aman sleep over. Which he did.
We fell asleep in front of the TV. My mom was wondering why Aman's car was a few miles down the road and not in the driveway. We made up some bad story. We think she bought it, but I'm sure she knew the truth.
As the years followed, we ended up having better birthdays. More elaborate birthdays. Less intoxicating birthdays. But that 19th one was my favorite. Even though I already knew Aman very well and were already like brothers, that night I felt like I got to know him even more. I got to know about how loyal of a friend he was. How funny he could be. How sincere he was. Funny what liquor does to you.
It's around this time of year when I will think and appreciate Aman's awesome traits and dry sense of humor and one liners. But most of all. I'll remember his friendship and his childlike spirit that is missed so much.
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