Barcelona Chronicles I - The night of Sant Joan

- La Rambla del Raval, por favor?

- There you are! French?

- Ah ok ... Mika answers looking around him. How did you guess I was French?

- The accent! Your "Por favor ..."

- OK ! Mika smiled. Do you know where Botero's cat is? he asks his interlocutor.

- A little lower. In fact, follow me I'm going close to it.

Pam, pam! Mika jumps. Once again! And barely two meters from him. The kids laugh, and leave, a few yards away; then start their little game a little further.

- It's Sant Joan tonight! It's authorized. Javi answers.

- What’s that?

- The big party announcing the summer in Barcelona. Javi by the way, holding out his hand.

- Mika. Nice to meet you.

- All night, and a little the next day, people are allowed to blow firecrackers, all over the city!

- OK! I understand better now.

- Here you are, Mika. This is Botero's cat in front of you. I turn right. Hasta luego!

They shake hands again, then Javi turns right in a small street. Sounds of firecrackers again! The same kids, and a thick smoke escapes on that alley. Mika who walked for several hours throughout the city took the temperature of this Sant Joan without even knowing what it means. Arriving for two days, for the first time in Barcelona, the atmosphere pleases him.

But for now, he decides to wait for his appointment of 20:00 to a terrace, just in front of the big bronze cat, the place that told him his friend who hosts him for the night.

A good half hour, a first mojito whistled slowly, and still no response from this friend. Mika sends him a message again. That's when Javi goes back.

- Still here !? asks Javi.

- As you can see! May I offer you a drink? Mika invites him to sit down.

- So what’s going on! On holiday? Javi asks, taking a seat.

- Yes, and holidays that turn to hell. It had started well. Anyway! What about you?

- Nothing special just had an apartment visit in the neighborhood. What's wrong?

- I was waiting for a friend, I was supposed to stay at his place, but apparently, he argued with his girlfriend. So, I wait!

- "When it comes to girls, there's no friendship!" tells them a guy at the next table.

-Sorry?? Mika says. 

The voice with the Italian accent repeats the phrase again.

- Yes, I understood but ... said Mika. And before he finished :

- Well, I'm with my roommate the guy you see here. We were supposed to have a cool Sant Joan night between friends, and now it's all compromised ! Because of his girlfriend. She has the power. said the voice with the Italian accent. By the way, I’m Matteo, I heard your conversation couldn’t helped sharing with you, ends with a smily face Matteo, a tank top that reveals a physique of gym, all decorated with tattoos on the shoulder and the front-bottom.

- Do not listen to him! Tonight, there is no girlfriend, it's party time! Tom said, putting his phone on the table.

They laugh, and bring their tables together. A new tour of cervezas for all three, and for Mika a mojito. The latter feels almost obliged to come back to Barcelona. He does not know why, but the mojito is the drink of the holidays!

-Fuck ! Barcelona is deadly! Two days that I'm here ... The girls, the atmosphere, the weather, the beach ... People are so cool here!

- You have no idea! Matteo adds.

A wheelchair-bound woman with a missing leg, a crooked mouth, and a tired Cindy Lauper look, stood in front of their table, and towards Mika:

- Hola guapo, tienes una moneda? she says.

- What does she want ? their request Mika whose notions in Spanish are very limited.

- That you give him a room! Javi told him.

- Or more ! said Matteo, laughing.

Mika started pulling a coin out of her pocket.

- Guy, you should not. Tom says.

- Solidarity between blacks people, we would say, he told them amused after she left. says Mika.

- If you start like this here, I do not give two hours in the neighborhood. says Javi.

- Why is he special?

- It's a little favela here. says Matteo.

- Whores, pakis, Moroccans, gays, Africans, or hipsters... And it's a short list.

- So, all that gives life then! I like it, says Mika.

- You could say that. Tom said, passing his hand over his beard.

- So guys what's going on tonight? asks a Mika excited by the prospect of the coming night.

- We can start on the beach, suggests Matteo.

- La Sant Joan is going on there! Tom

- I’m not expected anywhere, says Javi. 

- Then "vamos a la playa!", Says Mika, one of the few phrases that he knows in Spanish.

They arrived on Bogatell beach, a few hundred meters from too touristic Port Olympic , with some good blood sugar already, increasing their blood alcohol level by a few beers bought on the fly on the way. It's warm tonight. The port lights glitter. And the sounds of firecrackers do not stop.

The seaside is no more than a mass of groups of friends and strangers who have piled up on the sand, and you have to step over if you want to make your way. All in perfect osmosis. Families, young people, the not so young, are spread over this part of the city.

Mika, and the expression is all found, feels like a fish in the water a few meters from the sea. Not to the point of imitating the foolhardy ones who went to sting a head in the dark water. In any case, the most important thing happens on the sand.

But he likes the simplicity of the dress code: flip-flops, shorts, tank tops ... And let himself be grounded in the painting that presents itself to him. In the background  the pakis who tirelessly roam the arena offering their "cervezas", with tonight a kind of three-star service that includes mojitos from coolers, and all the other substances that make an evening. Not to mention the Asian masseuses, their massages and their ephemeral tattoos.

In the foreground of this paint, Tom who dances with a girl around a small band of who came with his speaker that sends a Latino rhythm music. And Javi begins to pitch under the effect of different mixtures poorly dosed ...

- It smells weeds everywhere! launches Mika turning to Matteo.

- You want some ? Matteo says. 

Without even waiting for Mika's answer, he hands him the end of the joint that remains in his hands.

- Mika!

Astonished head of the latter who turns to identify the unknown voice who calls from behind.

- Angelique ! from the hostel, says the young female voice.

- Yes, yes ... answers Mika trying to reconnect the name and face. The hostel where he stayed the day before in the Gotico, and where he started a flirtation; she had held his leg all night.

- How are you my friend? balance the guy who accompanies Angélique. We saw each other three hours ago when you played guitar in the city center!

- What? From the guitar, what are you talking about? said Mika, who obviously does not understand.

- Yes, it was you black, he sends this guy on the breath charged approaching too close to Mika.

The latter puts his hand in front to stop the advance of the importunate.

- Good, leave him. And Angelique put her hand on the shoulder obviously interested again by Mika. So your party?

- Who is this guy ? Mika asks.

- A friend, but also a relook. But he came down from Toulouse to get me back. she said, shrugging her shoulders.

- I'm going to grab a drink. said Mika, who has already taken a step back.

- She's a cute girl. But this guy "is a tonto" loose Matteo putting the finishing touches to his new joint.

- A tonto?

- An idiot in spanish.

- Not my girlfriend! let's go! And this guy is clear!

Mika fled, he does not want to spend the rest of the evening with these two compatriots. Yes, run away from them before they ruin his night, taking an excuse to go get a drink. "I'm paying you a beer," Angelique suggested. "I do not drink beer, and anyway I have to piss," he told him, and head for the little dune or part of the crowd. comes to relieve himself.

Then, he found refuge near the chiringuito, a small hut that serves as a bar and where a DJ who spits on this part of the beach a powerful electro sound.

Near 4:00 am now, the evening is in full swing on the beach. Loud music. The heat still strong mixed with the freshness of the sea air. The four lost each others. Mika looks around him : yes no more sign of Matteo, Tom or Javi, with whom he came. No more signs of Angelique and her tonto either... so much the better.

It should have remained with this beginning of flirting near the bar; this brunette with emerald eyes, and jean mini shorts ... But once it was packed, the temptation was too strong to test its power of seduction on this crowded beach.

But now he needs to move away from the crowd. He sits on a bench a hundred yards away, and tries to put little order in his head. And after all, he still has a few hours left of this beautiful night. And still has no place to stay ! So let's go on !

The day has taken its colors for a few hours. It's gonna be a hot day in Barcelona, as yesterday. A few scattered sounds of firecrackers are still heard. But the kids are sleeping now. Mika realizes that he came back to the same place at the beginning of the evening by recognizing the big cat! It feels moist, sticky! Want to sit down. Yes, ask yourself a drink a coffee. But no bar is open yet! The neighborhood is sleeping. Even the pakis who offered cerveza went to sleep, replaced by those who are about to open their grocery store.

Mika has only a few memories of her evening after leaving the beach in the morning, but confused. He remembers leaving a group of four in a huge hangar. The following, some flashes, lights ...

Coffee con leche, bocadillo jamon on the terrace of "Els Tres Tombs" only place open at this time in the neighborhood, to find some strength.

- Matteo, Tom! shot Mika.

- My friend ! We lost you last night. Tom said pulling a chair to sit down.

- So,  how did you end the night ? their request Mika.

- A very big St Joan. Matteo replies who also takes his place.

- What did you do next? their request again Mika.

Silence of the English and the Italian ... Next to them are somenightclubbers like them playing extra time, and on whose faces the evening has left its mark. Also some old, inside, regulars who read their morning paper. The nocturnal fauna to meet that of the day.

- After we get lost ...? It's a little vague, I confess. We went each on our side, said Matteo turning to his English friend. And, you Tom, it's true what did you do?

- Me ? Tom who readjusts his sunglasses.

- Yes, the guy who has a girlfriend! laughed at Mika.

Wide silence of Tom.

- In any case, the summer definitely started the guys! do they get for only answer of the latter.

- Do not avoid! said Matteo.

- Well, what about you, did not you go with the French girl? send him Tom.

- The French ? Matteo asks, pretending not to understand.

- Yes, Mika's girlfriend. Tom clarifies.

- Angelique, but that's not my girlfriend at all, wants to rectify Mika.

Silence of Matteo.

- And you Mika, your late night? asks Matteo to change the subject.

Same silence...

- Good guys, I see things happened last night. This is what I propose to you: we write each one what we did more trash tonight. We leave our paper to the waiter who is a friend, and at the end of the summer, after the Mercé we come back and we open them all, says Tom.

- For the Mercé? Mika asks.

- The big party of September which closes the summer. Matteo answers him

- Ah ... But I may not be there any more!

- "Maybe...". I tell you, you get caught by the Barcelona v! And summer here, it's worth it buddy!

- I admit that it would tempt me to stay here for a few months ... I love this city!

-We have a free room, you can stay a good time. Tom said.

- So ? Matteo advancing towards Mika.

- Tempting indeed: a French, an English, and Italian. Great combination!

- Let's do it guys. And let's write our night  story, continues Tom.

Each writes his night story on his piece of paper, and closes it to give it to the waiter.

To be continued...

Photos : Gauvin Lapetoule
Text : Melvin Dia