So Close to Having Fucked Up Everything
Title
So Close to Having Fucked Up Everything
Creator
Juan Sebastian Riveros
Date
01/29/2022
Text
Bro, he made it... I don’t know how...
That was the line that I repeated constantly that night. It is funny now, but I was scared. Fucking alcohol, it really makes the things less serious.
I remember well ..., well, not so well, to be honest ... but Luciana wouldn't stop yelling at all of us: "Hey why isn't Franco with you?" "What happened?" "Why don't you know where he is?"
Now I understand perfectly why she was like that, but the truth is that nobody knew where he was, and obviously we all started to speculate. Some said that he was in another boat, or that he had slept in any boat. Others began to joke that he had gone with other girls. But my theory was that he had arrived in the first boat and had gone straight to his apartment because of how drunk he was. At that moment David and I ordered an Uber to Franco's house, an apartment in Midtown, close to the marina where we were all before. We entered the building quickly, we asked for the elevator (the guards know us because we always go there) and we went up to the apartment. His roommate opened the door for us and we asked him for Franco, to which he replied, "Since he left with you for the boat, has not returned to the apartment.”
But let's go back to the beginning of the story.
Last year, around the month of October, my friends and I organized a boat trip on a Saturday. The excuse? None other than to have a good time and drink some bottles. The idea was to rent several boats and spend the afternoon partying in some area of Biscayne Bay. We were maybe 52 people, clearly not all of us were friends, you know, one friend invites another and other invites another and so on ... they were normal boats, no yachts or anything like that, simple boats, but with good space for several people and most importantly, good speakers to play the music-- that's a rule. By boat we were 15 or 16 people between men and women, we were more men though, and each one had to pay 70 dollars, I think. I really don't remember well. That price was only for the boat, the alcohol was separate.
That Saturday morning, David, some friends, and I went to Franco's apartment to do the pre-game there. We were six people and only men. We were drinking, talking, and waiting for a call to go to the marina to meet all the other people. By that point we were already a little drunk, not so much, but at that point in which you are already feeling the effects in low power. We had drunk aguardiente which is a Colombian liquor, something strong and some beers. To our surprise, the other people in the marina were sober. We were the only ones who had made the pre-game. Anyway, we greeted those we knew and met those we didn't. Everyone was in a vibe of having a good time, which was cool.
We began to get on the boats in order of arrival at the marina, which made it impossible to choose who you wanted to go with or which of the three boats you wanted to get on. Franco, David, and I went on the same boat with other people, and we started to activate people in party mode. We played music, offered drinks, and talked to everyone. Franco is a character because he is a guy who is not very talkative sober, but when he gets drunk, he goes crazy, and he loves to do things that he shouldn't. It's nothing to worry about, he just changes completely and is very funny to be with.
The boat trip was normal, nothing more crazy than normal, many drunk people, many people dancing, many in the sea, others flirting, having a good time. We were passing between the boats, they were anchored very close together so that made moving between them easier, but it didn't make it easier for me, I fell at least three times and the last one was the same as the first and second. None hurt me -- hahaha -- being drunk I didn't feel the blows, but after three days I did feel the pain and the bruises were red and green. It had hit me hard but of course alcohol doesn't give a shit, so I kept joking around.
At about 8pm the day was getting darker, and it was starting to get a little cold. The plan was ending, and it was time to go back to the marina. At that point everyone was already drunk and the only thing we wanted was food. There is no better after than eating after drinking. The first boat came out very fast, I was in the second, but don't ask me what it was because I have no idea. I only remember Maria Paula, the girl I was talking to that day, she was there with me, David was also on that boat, but I didn't find out Franco was missing until I got to the marina.
This phrase changed everything "Franco does not appear, nobody knows where he is, nor do they remember where they saw him." At that moment I said to David, "shit bro, aghhh, we screwed up."
Going back to the moment of the marina, nobody found Franco, nobody knew anything, not even his girlfriend knew about him. We started calling everyone. The other boat was already on its way to the marina but without Franco. Everyone was 50% worried and 50% unconcerned. The other boat arrived, and Franco was not there. Luciana, his girlfriend, approached us asking "Tell me where he is!" To which we replied, "we have no idea!" We told her laughing a little because like that when he drinks, he goes crazy, we think "what crazy thing is he doing?" but she wasn't just bothered, she was upset, she got very stressed and was nervous and worried. At that moment there were her screams and then we went to her apartment, we didn't find him as I mentioned. We decided to return to the marina, some people had already left and those of us who were friends of the group stayed to see how we could find him, two hours had already passed, and he did not appear, there, at that moment it was that I shit my pants. My friend was not with us.
About 15 minutes later a boat arrives that had nothing to do with our group and they tell us, "We have a guy who says that his friends have already left, is that you?" Then Franco appears half drunk and half asleep, he sees us, laughs and says, "I have the best story of life, but sons of a bitches don't go looking for me!"
That calmed me and everyone else, he had finally appeared. He told us that going from boat to boat he had fallen into the sea, but luckily, he had a floater tied under his arms. He was lazy because he was drunk and thought we would see him and go for him, but while waiting he fell asleep in the sea with a float and away from boats. That's the last thing he remembers until he woke up because the man from another boat "rescued" him. But really rescued him because he could have died. That can happen when you're drunk. Crazy things happen and there's no explanation ... the truth is that it is a good story, but ...
Bro, he made it ... I don't know how...
That was the line that I repeated constantly that night. It is funny now, but I was scared. Fucking alcohol, it really makes the things less serious.
I remember well ..., well, not so well, to be honest ... but Luciana wouldn't stop yelling at all of us: "Hey why isn't Franco with you?" "What happened?" "Why don't you know where he is?"
Now I understand perfectly why she was like that, but the truth is that nobody knew where he was, and obviously we all started to speculate. Some said that he was in another boat, or that he had slept in any boat. Others began to joke that he had gone with other girls. But my theory was that he had arrived in the first boat and had gone straight to his apartment because of how drunk he was. At that moment David and I ordered an Uber to Franco's house, an apartment in Midtown, close to the marina where we were all before. We entered the building quickly, we asked for the elevator (the guards know us because we always go there) and we went up to the apartment. His roommate opened the door for us and we asked him for Franco, to which he replied, "Since he left with you for the boat, has not returned to the apartment.”
But let's go back to the beginning of the story.
Last year, around the month of October, my friends and I organized a boat trip on a Saturday. The excuse? None other than to have a good time and drink some bottles. The idea was to rent several boats and spend the afternoon partying in some area of Biscayne Bay. We were maybe 52 people, clearly not all of us were friends, you know, one friend invites another and other invites another and so on ... they were normal boats, no yachts or anything like that, simple boats, but with good space for several people and most importantly, good speakers to play the music-- that's a rule. By boat we were 15 or 16 people between men and women, we were more men though, and each one had to pay 70 dollars, I think. I really don't remember well. That price was only for the boat, the alcohol was separate.
That Saturday morning, David, some friends, and I went to Franco's apartment to do the pre-game there. We were six people and only men. We were drinking, talking, and waiting for a call to go to the marina to meet all the other people. By that point we were already a little drunk, not so much, but at that point in which you are already feeling the effects in low power. We had drunk aguardiente which is a Colombian liquor, something strong and some beers. To our surprise, the other people in the marina were sober. We were the only ones who had made the pre-game. Anyway, we greeted those we knew and met those we didn't. Everyone was in a vibe of having a good time, which was cool.
We began to get on the boats in order of arrival at the marina, which made it impossible to choose who you wanted to go with or which of the three boats you wanted to get on. Franco, David, and I went on the same boat with other people, and we started to activate people in party mode. We played music, offered drinks, and talked to everyone. Franco is a character because he is a guy who is not very talkative sober, but when he gets drunk, he goes crazy, and he loves to do things that he shouldn't. It's nothing to worry about, he just changes completely and is very funny to be with.
The boat trip was normal, nothing more crazy than normal, many drunk people, many people dancing, many in the sea, others flirting, having a good time. We were passing between the boats, they were anchored very close together so that made moving between them easier, but it didn't make it easier for me, I fell at least three times and the last one was the same as the first and second. None hurt me -- hahaha -- being drunk I didn't feel the blows, but after three days I did feel the pain and the bruises were red and green. It had hit me hard but of course alcohol doesn't give a shit, so I kept joking around.
At about 8pm the day was getting darker, and it was starting to get a little cold. The plan was ending, and it was time to go back to the marina. At that point everyone was already drunk and the only thing we wanted was food. There is no better after than eating after drinking. The first boat came out very fast, I was in the second, but don't ask me what it was because I have no idea. I only remember Maria Paula, the girl I was talking to that day, she was there with me, David was also on that boat, but I didn't find out Franco was missing until I got to the marina.
This phrase changed everything "Franco does not appear, nobody knows where he is, nor do they remember where they saw him." At that moment I said to David, "shit bro, aghhh, we screwed up."
Going back to the moment of the marina, nobody found Franco, nobody knew anything, not even his girlfriend knew about him. We started calling everyone. The other boat was already on its way to the marina but without Franco. Everyone was 50% worried and 50% unconcerned. The other boat arrived, and Franco was not there. Luciana, his girlfriend, approached us asking "Tell me where he is!" To which we replied, "we have no idea!" We told her laughing a little because like that when he drinks, he goes crazy, we think "what crazy thing is he doing?" but she wasn't just bothered, she was upset, she got very stressed and was nervous and worried. At that moment there were her screams and then we went to her apartment, we didn't find him as I mentioned. We decided to return to the marina, some people had already left and those of us who were friends of the group stayed to see how we could find him, two hours had already passed, and he did not appear, there, at that moment it was that I shit my pants. My friend was not with us.
About 15 minutes later a boat arrives that had nothing to do with our group and they tell us, "We have a guy who says that his friends have already left, is that you?" Then Franco appears half drunk and half asleep, he sees us, laughs and says, "I have the best story of life, but sons of a bitches don't go looking for me!"
That calmed me and everyone else, he had finally appeared. He told us that going from boat to boat he had fallen into the sea, but luckily, he had a floater tied under his arms. He was lazy because he was drunk and thought we would see him and go for him, but while waiting he fell asleep in the sea with a float and away from boats. That's the last thing he remembers until he woke up because the man from another boat "rescued" him. But really rescued him because he could have died. That can happen when you're drunk. Crazy things happen and there's no explanation ... the truth is that it is a good story, but ...
Bro, he made it ... I don't know how...
Collection
Citation
Juan Sebastian Riveros Rodriguez, “So Close to Having Fucked Up Everything ,” Everything Speaks To Me , accessed September 18, 2026, https://everythingspeakstome.com/items/show/54.