Chapter 5

Chapter 5

There was no highway or interstate to take to get to Chuck's house. Josh & I had to take a series of country roads, some of which weren't even on a map. It kind of worried me about Chuck & the way he was acting on the phone. He hasn't always been such a weird guy. He used to have a barber shop. Chuck was indeed gay, but nobody even cared because he was such a nice guy & if somebody didn't have enough money for a haircut, all he asked was that they let him know ahead of time & usually he wouldn't care. Then he was forced to move because his kindness was hurting business. When he moved, the only houses on the market he could afford was in a real rough neighborhood. I remembered when he called Mom crying because some people in a gang found out that he was gay & beat the s**t out of him when he was closing his store one night. In the new neighborhood it was really easy to find any type of drug you wanted. The first drug that Chuck really got into was Ecstasy. He said that it made him feel happy even if there was no reason to at all. After a awhile Chuck lost lots of his morals & his judgment got really bad, he never thought about anything before answering...usually with a yes. He made a friend & he didn't know it at the time, but his friend, who he called "Bud", was a wanted drug dealer all over the county. Bud soon introduced him to shrooms & acid. It wasn't long after that when Chuck closed his Barber Shop because he wanted to live a more free life with no worries. I don't approve of some of, well actually pretty much all of his decisions, but I can't say much considering I'm completely supporting his habits now.

"So are you excited to do shrooms tonight man?" Josh asked breaking the silence & getting my mind of Chuck.

"Yeah I am." I turned down the music to have a better conversation. "Actually I'm kind of worried that I'll have a bad trip."

"Oh s**t man! You gotta get that s**t out of your head now!"

"What?"

"You need to be happy when you do them. You can't even have the slightest doubt that you're going to have a bad time. Confidence goes a long way."

"I get it....I guess I'll just take some Hydro's with them so I can keep a happy feeling."

"Yeah that's actually a really good idea man." Josh said as he messed up my hair.

Josh always made me feel better about s**t that worried me. Doing drugs with Josh always made feel safe because he had such a good knowledge about them.

The sun was starting to go down & the sky turned a beautiful mix of pink & orange. I haven't seen but one or two cars & we have been driving for a good twenty minutes. As soon as that crossed my mind a big blue truck probably an F-150 or something like that came flying up behind us & came right up on our a*s. Josh looks back & starts cussing. I was wondering myself what the f**k that guy was doing. I looked back at the guy & I noticed it was that same old man that I've seen multiple times & he gave me the creeps. He revved his engine & got even closer to Joshes car. Josh stuck his hand out the window & flipped him off. I told Josh not to do that, but he didn't listen. When Josh did that the old man pulls up next to us, flips us off then flies down the road ahead of us. Within seconds he was out of sight. I just looked at Josh & he looked at back at me with a face that was full of fear.

"What the hell was that all about?!" Josh shrieked as he wipes sweat beads off from his forehead.

"I don't exactly know. I've seen that old man before & he has always freaked me out. The f****r like stares me down & s**t. I'm beginning to think he follows me everywhere I go."

"God-damn. dude" Joshes eyes were completely locked on the road now. "How much farther?"

"About thirty minutes I think."

By now it was getting pretty dark & it seemed darker than ever tonight. The headlights seem to be dimmed as if the darkness was stronger than hundreds of watts of light. After the event with the old man Josh was pretty quiet. I couldn't blame him my legs were shaking & I was on edge for awhile too. I almost thought about saying f**k it & voting to go back. I formed a large amount of saliva in my mouth & popped two more hydrocodons. Josh was took a big sigh of relief & opened the glove compartment. He pulled out a joint that he had just laying on the inside. I swear Josh smokes so much weed, it's ridiculous. I wasn't about to complain though.

"I think it's time for this right here." Josh lights up the joint & take a nice big hit, you could instantly see his nerves relax.

"Is this the same s**t that you gave me this morning?" He nodded. "That joint made Jes & I trip the f**k out. Everything starting spinning.....I can't really explain it, but it was crazy."

"It's some good s**t."

Josh passed the joint to me & I took a long drag. I don't know why but Josh & I started talking about how people always refer to pot as "s**t". They never say stuff or marijuana. It also annoys us when parents call weed "dope". It makes it sound like we are smoking crack or something worse.

Right then my phone starting vibrating. I looked down & the caller ID read: Chuck. Therefore I answered.

"Hello."

"Where are you guys?" He didn't sound very happy.

"We have about ten minutes & we will be there."

"Okay, just walk inside when you get here."

Then before I had the chance to say anything else or even a goodbye, he hung up. I was really worried about Chuck. Something didn't feel right & I had a bad feeling about tonight. I'm not sure when this bad thing was going to take place but I knew something bad was going to happen. I pointed at an upcoming road so Josh knew to turn there. I was still lost in thought about Chuck. Even though he has never really been close to me, he was still a relative that I loved & wanted him to be happy. Josh then handed the joint to me & everything about Chuck just left my mind. I didn't even care anymore.

We arrived a Chuck's house. Well it was an apartment building with an upstairs & downstairs. Chuck's apartment was upstairs. The house looked as if it was going to fall to the ground in pieces if we closed the door too hard. The grass was tall & in some spots there was grass growing through the gravel driveway. I could tell that Josh wasn't getting a very good vibe from this place either.

"So are you supposed to call him or something?" Josh said with his eyes still examining the place.

"He said for us just to walk in."

"Man I think I'm going to stay out here." Okay, so Josh really didn't like it.

"Dude...don't make do this alone." I begged, I really didn't want to go inside by myself.

"Okay." He looked at me for a moment. "I'll guess I can."

We got out of the car & shut the doors. The air was dead feeling. Most of time when you step outside you expect to take a whiff of fresh air. Not here. it was almost like someone had left ten cars running for days & days. Josh actually coughed when he breathed in. I started walking & Josh followed. I tried to get the timid feeling out of my head while replacing it with a brave, strong kind of mindset. I walked up to the door & stopped. There was no light on in the first room. I could smell an awful stench coming from inside. I'm not going to lie, I am kind of scared to open this door. Josh looked at me & motioned his hands as if he was pushing forward. I took a deep breath & opened the door. I stepped inside & of course Josh followed. We immediately looked at each other. I'm pretty sure he was thinking the same thing I was. The odor in here was something so awful, it made me feel like I was going to vomit right there. I held it in & continued.

"Hello?" I tried to say it loud, but came out sounding like a p***y said it.

"In here!" I heard Chuck yell.

I walked quickly towards the only room with the light. It's not that his place was messy, in fact there was almost nothing in there. I wasn't worried for tripping on anything because there was one or two pieces of furniture in each room. I bet he got rid of all the furniture for drugs. I got to the room & what I saw left me shocked.

There was a guy with goggles on working at a desk. The desk had tubes & glass beakers, multiple hot-plates, & lots and lots of pots. He was making Meth! I've never even wanted to do meth, so it left me speechless. The street name around here for it is "Crank". Chuck sat in a chair that was all torn to shreds. My timidness was almost immidiately replaced with anger. I couldn't believe that Chuck was into this kind of s**t now.

"See something you like?" Chuck noticed that we were locked onto the mini meth lab. He gave me a grin that was one of the most sinister things I had ever seen.

"Hell no!" I raised my voice without even meaning to. "So your doing crank now, huh?" I was upset & he could tell. His face was covered with scratches & one spot on his arm was bleeding pretty bad, but he didn't even seem to notice.

"Look you little f****r!" He tried to sound intimidating, but he didn't even have life in him to get out of the chair. "If you feel like giving me s**t, you can leave or get an a*s-wooping!"

"Whatever." I looked at Josh, he was just standing back completely amazed by this whole situation. I could tell he was scared too. The stench, which I had pretty much gotten used to or ignored because of my anger, it had made Joshes eyes start watering & he was trying his hardest not to show it. "You got the shrooms I wanted?"

"Yeah I got them man." Chuck's tone was all friendly now almost as if he forgot that whole little confrontation didn't even happen. He walked into a different room & rummaged through a bunch of s**t. The guy that was making the crank didn't even look at us the whole time we were there, even during the argument. I guess he was probably used to crazy s**t happening. "I hooked you up good for three people, you guys should trip balls tonight." I nodded & stuck my hand out. He pulled the bag back quick. "Where is my sixty bucks?" I rolled my eyes & took a twenty out of my pocket. I reached back & Josh gave me his forty. I handed it to Chuck. I glared at him, hoping it would make him feel like s**t for doing what he was doing, I don't think it bothered him at all though.

"Well I guess I'll see ya around." I said.

"Hold on mister." He grabbed my arm, which I jerked away very quickly. "Where is this third person?"

"Man..." I wasn't sure what to say. "...We are meeting her later."

"Ohhhh." He did his sinister grin again. "So my Ian is finally f*****g some b*****s! I was beginning to think that you rolled the other way man."

"Whatever man." I turned around & motioned to Josh that we were leaving.

"Whatever you need...substance-wise....I got it for-" I slammed the door before Chuck could finish.

Josh & I hurried to the car, we just wanted to get the f**k out of here. He started the car & started back up at a dangerous speed.

"Sorry you had to go through that man." I looked at my feet...I was really ashamed.

"Dude...I know, it's not your fault." He put the car in drive when he got in the road & took a deep breath. "That was just....to much...f**k that guy."

"I know, he never used to be like that." I stared out the window into the endless night. "He used to be cool." I said almost to myself. Josh looked at me with sympathy.

"At least we got the shrooms & we are going to have fun tonight."

"Hell yeah!" I tried to lift my spirits. I couldn't.

The night was so dark that Josh was driving at least ten miles per hour slower than he did on the way there. I looked out the window most of the ride even though, I couldn't see anything but black. I have to say that the event we just went through sucked, but I still had that feeling that something was going to go wrong. I tried to convince myself that we just experienced it & the rest of the night was going to be great. I mean I get to be with Jessica again & I get to try shrooms for the first time. Finally I did it. I could tell that my body was relieved & just the thought of cuddling up with Jessica made me feel a lot better. I didn't care about the shrooms, I was completely sober now, except for the hydros, all I could think about Jes. I think I can honestly say that I love that girl & I wouldn't even have the slightest doubt about it.

Josh has always been pretty good with directions, I told him how to get there & he had no trouble finding his way back. We were about ten minutes from home & I was really relieved that the weird old man didn't appear again. I took three more hydrcodons & gave Josh two.

"Thanks man." He said. Josh didn't say a thing the whole ride home. Except for a few times he was just quietly singing along with the music.

"Anytime bro."

I just then realized that we were both out of cigs & that I hadn't one in over an hour. Josh stopped at a gas station & got two buy one get one free deals. He gave me two packs of "Cowboy Killers" that's what everyone called Marlboro Reds. He got some Marlboro Milds. I opened up a pack without even packing it & lit one. It seemed like the ride home took twice as long. I called Jessica to make sure she was ready because we were about five minutes away from her house. Her sweet voice answered the phone & she said she had been ready for awhile. So I told her we would be there shortly. It made the night so much better having cigarettes & hearing Jessica's voice again.

Jessica was waiting outside when we got there. She ran up to the car, Josh popped the trunk. She put her things in the trunk & got in the backseat. She had her usual smile on her face, it nice to see, considering what we had been through.

"Did you guys get the shrooms?" She asked.

"Yeah." I answered. "We went to hell & back to get them, but we're good."

"Hell? What?"

"I'll explain later." I didn't feel like explaining everything again. That would require putting everything back into my head, not for me.

The drive to Joshes house seemed like it took forever. We listened to another mix CD that Jes had made. It had the usual indie sounding music that she always listened to. I was really hoping that Josh would have some weed for us to smoke when we got there. It would ease my nerves a little bit. I don't want to be in a bad state of mind when I take the shrooms. As we pulled into the uphill driveway at Joshes house, I was so relieved. I made sure I had the shrooms in my pocket & grabbed my cigarettes & pills. Those were the two things I always had to have, no matter what. Josh led us into his house. Everyone went straight for the refrigerator to get a soda. Man, I didn't notice how thirsty I was. The cold carbonation of the soda seemed like the coldest, purest spring water ever.

"So, I was thinking we would smoke some weed before we ate the shrooms." Josh looked at me & took a sip of his drink. "I'm not sure about you Jes, but Ian & I need something to calm our nerves a little bit."

"That's fine with me." Jes replied.

Josh went into his room & got the weed & rolling papers, along with an old Taco Bell tray he used to roll & break up the weed on. Jes & I went on the porch to smoke a cigarette. Josh followed us out there. Jes never asked again about what happened to us. I assumed she just didn't care, I don't see why she would. She was going to get high & trip on shrooms, I wouldn't give a s**t either. She looked at me with her loving, glowing eyes. Everytime she looked at me I got chills. They were good chills though, they weren't the scared type, they were the kind that you got when a girl ran her fingers lightly down your back down to your butt. I loved it when girls would do that.

Josh had a nice big joint rolled in a matter of minutes. There was no one that could compete with Josh on anything that had to do with marijuana. As Josh lit the joint I watched him hit it. Josh always knew how to enjoy his weed. He takes a long slow hit & actually taste the weed in his throat. Josh wasn't one of those people that would smoke until he so high he couldn't move or talk. When he got to level he wanted to be at, he wasn't afraid to say "no". I respected him for that too, lots of people just smoke & smoke until they get so high that when they come down they have an awful headache. I learned to be like that from Josh too. I smoked until I wanted to stop then I quit, no questions asked. Jes on the other hand would smoke until she passed out right where she was at. It's okay though, in this little trio of friends, none of us had to worry about fitting in. We were just all ourselves & each one of us accepted the other two. No matter what.

Josh passed the joint to me. I hit & immediately felt the head-change. It was such a good feeling mixed with the pills. I couldn't help but to say it outloud either.

"Dude, this is going to be a good night you guys." I said as I let a huge cloud of smoke out my mouth slowly. "It started out to be horrible, but now that we are back here, I'm completely relaxed."

"Hell yeah man." Jes & Josh both said together. They looked at each other & laughed.

I passed the joint Jes & she hit & leaned back in her chair as well. All three of us just looked up at the stars & enjoyed the warm temperature in the night air. I'm guessing it was probably about seventy degrees outside. There was a nice breeze that almost seemed like an air-conditioner turned on low. I had nothing to complain about anymore. I was sitting there already high as a kite, listening to the sounds all around me. I could hear every leave blow in the woods & I could hear an owl way off in the distance. The night was exceptional & so was the feeling I had in my head.

The joint got back around to me & hit it again. Josh must have some really good weed, because I was hitting it for the third time & I was high as s**t. Time seemed like it was going so slow. I felt like I was sitting there for a good thirty minutes, but I was just finishing my cigarette that I lit when I first came out. I passed it to Jes, ofcourse she showed her beautiful pearly whites with her big smile. It seemed like Jes was always the one who brought the smile to the group. Josh was the one who brought the drugs & the good times. I guess I don't know what I contributed to this group. It kind of made me feel bad, I quickly forgot about it though. As I pulled the bag of shrooms out my pocket, I held them up to my nose & smelt them. The smell was horrible. I couldn't explain it, it wasn't as bad as the stench at Chuck's house, but it wasn't far behind it.

"I think it's about time for that man." Josh said, his eyes were locked onto the shrooms like a crack-addict would a crack-rock.

I handed the bag to Josh & he separated them into three equal piles. "I bet those taste like s**t.....don't they?"

Jes put her hand on my arm. "Yeah they do, but it's all worth it."

I believed her too, I had no reason not to. Josh scooted his chair towards me & motioned for Jes to do the same. Even though Jes's chair was already pretty close to me.

"On the count of three." Josh said, still eye-balling the f**k out of them. "One....Two....Three!" Everyone gobbled up the shrooms like they hadn't eaten in months. I was not surprised by the tast of them. They tasted exactly like I thought they would....s**t. I actually thought I was going to puke for a second. To my surprise I held it back.

I smoked a cigarette and enjoyed the high I still had from the weed. I wasn' quite sure what to expect tonight, but I'm glad I'm with my best friends. Josh sat went into the bathroom & Jes laid her head down on my shoulder. I loved her affection that she now had towards me. No matter what mood I was in, she made me feel better instantly.