Part III: 4 Months Later

Part III: 4 Months Later

“Oh, sorry.” Sandra says as she bumps into Leon, going the other way. She and her family reach the arrival/departure gate and wait for Lizzie to get off of the plane.
“How long do we have to wait?” Randall, Sandra’s only brother complains.
“Relax, you should be excited that your sister is coming home.” Sonia says.
“I am, but did we all have to come?”
“Yes, Randy. Now look, see, you didn’t have to wait too long. Here she comes.” Lizzie looks around, finds her family, and approaches them.
“I missed you guys so much!” Lizzie says as she hugs all five of them.
“I missed you a lot too!” says Lana, the youngest.
“C’mon, let’s go home.” Maxx says. Later that night, Sandra is at work, bored, when she gets a customer. A tall, skinny girl with long, wavy light brown hair walks in.
“Oh, Michelle, what’s up?”
“Nothin’ much, you?”
“You’re looking at it… say, you wouldn’t happen to know anybody who’s looking for a couple of roommates, would you?”
“Actually, yeah. My roommate needs help with paying for bills and s**t. Hold on, I’ll talk to her.” She leaves the store and comes back with another woman. “This is her, Sandra. Sandra, Rachel, Rachel, Sandra.”
“Hi, I heard you’re looking for some roommates.
“Yeah…”
“I’ll gladly help. As you can see, I’ve got a job, and my sister gets paid by the army.”
“Cool. How soon can you move in?”
“Um, as soon as possible, I guess.”
“Cool. Lemme get your number.” They exchange numbers and both Michelle and Rachel leave.

May 21, 2009

Dear Diary:
Awesome, it finally happened… I found a place to move into, and out of my parents’ house! This is great, because I have a few hundred dollars saved up, and with Lizzie being gone for so long, we moved her stuff to the basement, so she really doesn’t have to pack and can come with me. I’m so freaking excited! We’re moving into this girl Rachel’s house, thanks to one of my new friends, Michelle. Michelle is this pretty cool girl I met one night when I was working. We have a bunch of stuff in common, and she knows Francine, so I guess it’s a small world. She’s been really cool, coming over to talk to me in the middle of the night, a couple of times she brought a bowl with her and we went to the side of the store and puffed. We became fast friends, and now I’m going to be able to live on my own rules, and I’ll have someone to chill with whenever Lizzie’s not around.

“Mom, dad? Um, so, I found a place to move into, and I’m going to be moving real soon.”
“Oh yeah? You have money saved up?” Maxx asks.
“Yeah, yeah I do.”
“Who are you moving in with?”
“A good friend of mine, her name is Michelle.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing. Be very careful, the world isn’t as sunshiny and happy as it looks.”
“I never said it did.”
“I’m just saying, I don’t want you hurt, or worse.”
“I’ll be fine, dad.”
“Be safe.”
“I will.” The next two days, Sandra packs and meanwhile informs Lizzie that they are moving. She moves her stuff into Rachel’s basement, and Lizzie moves hers into the attic. A couple of days later, Sandra returns to work. She’s about to punch in when her boss stops her.
“Hold on, Sandra.”
“Hm? What’s up, Ricky?”
“Come into the back for a second.” She follows him into the back room. “When your drawer got counted the other day, you were a hundred dollars over, which means you didn’t drop like you were supposed to.”
“But they were all ones and fives.”
“Doesn’t matter, this is your third violation. I’m sorry, but we’re gonna have to let you go.”
“What? No, you- please, no!”
“I’m sorry, my hands are tied.”
“So, just like that, I’m fi-fired?” She starts to cry.
“I’m sorry.” Sandra leaves and runs home. She looks for and finds Rachel.
“I’ve got some bad news.”
“What?” Rachel asks.
“I’m sorry, but I lost my job, but I promise to find a new one soon.”
“It’s alright.”
“Wha- really?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh- ok…” She goes downstairs where Lizzie and Michelle are smoking a bowl. “Mind if I jump in? I just lost my job.”
“Yeah, sure.” Michelle says. “Looks like everyone smoking this bowl is depressed.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, nobody has bought any of my music yet, and it’s been out for a month.”
“Hey, it might take a little while, female rappers are rare, especially underground.”
“Well, I promise you, one day, Burnout Betty will be the biggest rap star anyone will ever see!” Michelle takes a puff and hands it over.
“What about you, Lizzie, what’s wrong?”
“I’m not with Corey anymore.” Lizzie says.
“What? Why?”
“While I was at basic, he had himself a one night stand and got a girl pregnant.”
“What? When?”
“A couple months ago, actually.”
“Wow, what a scumbag.”
“Yeah.”
“When did he tell you this?”
“Yesterday.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve talked to you about it.”
“I prefer to cry myself to sleep.”
“Here, shut up and hit this, you’re depressing me even more.” Michelle says.” She hands Lizzie the pipe.

May 25, 2009

Dear Diary:
I lost my job today because of something small and stupid. My drawer was over by a hundred dollars and so they fired me. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll find another job soon, in the meantime I have my money saved up and one more check coming, so I should be fine until then. I still can’t believe Lizzie and Corey are over; they’ve been together for almost four years. I guess there’s nothing to do now but look for jobs and wait, in the meantime I’m just going to relax and experience life for a little while. I really hope that I can get back on my feet soon; I don’t wanna be a lazy bum my entire life. I’ve been observing how Michelle is as a singer, and I’ve come to realize she kinda sucks. She acts like she’s this huge deal that everyone should listen to and follow, and I’ve noticed some people are falling for her ruse. I’ve also found that she’s kind of a slob as a person. She hasn’t showered since we’ve been here, her room is full of half empty containers of food and drinks, and her room smells kinda funky. I don’t know, maybe I’m in no position to judge, we all have our faults, whatever.

About a month later, Sandra walks into Michelle’s room to smoke with her. “I’ve got some exciting news.” Michelle says.
“What’s that?”
“One of my fans wants to come visit me.”
“Why?”
“Well see, he’s my boyfriend, he just lives in another state.”
“I thought you said he was a fan.”
“He is, we’ve been dating online for about a week now and wants to meet me.”
“Don’t you think you’re rushing into it, like, way too fast?”
“Nah, I got this.”
“When is he coming over?”
“This Friday.”
“What? That’s like, two days from now.”
“Pfft. Yeah, so?”
“Just don’t do anything you’ll regret.”
“I know how to handle myself, Sandy.”
“Wanna smoke a bowl?”
“Yeah, sure.” Rachel comes downstairs to the basement.
“Hey Sandy, I uh, need like, fifty dollars.” She says.
“For what?” Sandra asks.
“I need it for a fine I need to pay.”
“Can’t you pay it?”
“No, I can’t, I’m broke.”
“Why should I?”
“Because if I go to jail, you won’t have a place to live.”
“Fine.” Sandra goes to her room and comes back with the money and hands it to Rachel. “Here.”
“Thanks.” Rachel heads back upstairs.
“Wanna sit in on another session?”
“Nah, sorry, but I don’t wanna hear the same song again.”
“Fine, whatever.” Friday morning comes, and Sandra is woken up to the sounds of movement coming from Michelle’s room. She opens the door to find Michelle hastily cleaning up her room.
“What time is he supposed to be here?” She yawns.
“Twelve.”
“That’s in three hours, weren’t you supposed to do that yesterday?”
“I forgot.”
“Yeah, well, could you tone it down? I fell asleep at five.”
“That’s not my fault.”
“Whatever.” She goes back to bed. She wakes up a few hours later to the sound of Michelle showing her boyfriend all of her neat recording equipment. Sandra gets dressed and greets the newcomer. “Hi, I‘m Sandra, Michelle’s roommate.”
“Oh, hi, I’m Alex.” the guy says.
“So, you’re a fan of Michelle’s?”
“Yeah, she has a nice voice. Listen, it’s been a long ride here, where’s the bathroom?”
“Upstairs.” Michelle says. Alex goes upstairs.
“He’s kinda hot, nice catch.” Sandra says.
“Thanks, Sandy. Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have any weed to lend me, would ya?”
“Yeah, sure.” She goes into her room and comes back with a little bit.
“Thanks, you’re the best.” Rachel comes downstairs
“Who’s the dude?” Rachel asks.
“My boyfriend.” Michelle says.
“Hahaha, you’re kidding, right? How’d you guys meet?”
“Online. He’s actually a fan of mine.”
“Hah! You suck, there’s no way you’ve got that dedicated a fan who’d be willing to visit you from another state and be your boyfriend.”
“Well, he is. And anyway, you suck worse, I don’t see any of your fans coming to visit you.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t care what you think is going on here, he’s still just a random dude. How long have you been dating?”
“A week.”
“Haha, this is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever dealt with. Is this the first time you’re meeting him?”
“Yeah…”
“Oh, this just gets better and better. Look at you, miss gangsta b***h; wait until he finds out who you really are.”
“Shut the f**k up.”
“Hey, I’m just saying, reality is going to creep in and he’s gonna find out you’re not who you make yourself out to be.” She walks away, still laughing.
“What a b***h.” Michelle says.

June 30, 2009

Dear Diary:
Well, there was nothing exciting about having her ‘boyfriend’ here this weekend. All they did was have sex. I should know, I heard it over my music, and woke up to it. Then, Michelle up and left the house this morning. She packed all of her things and she and her… thing left the house. I asked her why, and she told me she was sick of everyone making fun of her and her music, so she was just going to move in with her grandmother. So now, we’re down a roommate, which is fine by me, I guess, she was a bit of a mooch anyway. Who knows, maybe we can get someone we know a little better to move in with us. I still haven’t found a job yet, which really sucks. I still wish I had my other job, I wouldn’t be stressing out like this. I refuse to go back to living in my parents, though because I’m not giving up just yet. I’m going to see how far I can go before I don’t have a choice anymore.

The next day, Lizzie comes downstairs and wakes Sandra up. “What?” She mumbles.
“Help me and Alexis unload her van.” Lizzie says.
“Alexis? You mean, your best friend, Alexis? She’s moving in with us?”
“Yes. Now come on.” Sandra gets up and dressed, and helps Lizzie and Alexis move Alexis’ stuff into Michelle’s old room.
“Thanks, guys.” Alexis says.
“Wanna smoke?” Sandra asks.
“Oh, f**k yeah!” So, they sit and smoke and jam out to some music. A couple of days later, Rachel comes downstairs.
“Hey, just so you know, my ex and his kids are going to be living upstairs, so, in case you see people you don’t recognize, that’s who they are.”
“Why?” Sandra asks.
“They need a place to stay, don’t worry, I’ll keep the kids away from the basement, besides, everything they need is upstairs anyway.”
“I don’t know how I feel about this.”
“It’ll be fine.” She goes back upstairs.
“Great, that’s all we need now is a bunch of noisy kids staying with us.” Alexis says.
“I’m sure it won’t be for long.” Sandra says.

July 15, 2009

Well, it’s been two weeks since Alexis moved in with us. For the most part, its fine, but I just don’t like having to wake up at five in the morning after going to sleep at four to the sound of the bass coming from her minivan and shaking my room. The kids left yesterday, so it’s back to normal and I’m kind of sick at this point of hearing Alexis have sex with a bunch of different dudes. Nothing has really changed, I’m still jobless and no one seems to care, so why fight it? I know that sounds terrible and childish, but I’ve kind of given up at this point, maybe I’ll get lucky and something will come up, I don’t know. Jack has regularly visited me on a weekly basis, but whenever he comes over, he tells me what a fat lazy b***h I am and how I’m worthless because I don’t have a job or anything. F*****g cocksucker just comes over to f**k me, and I let him, because I know what will happen if I don’t. Sometimes I wonder if it’s all worth it, or if I’m just wasting my time. I’m pretty much broke at this point, between expenses and Rachel constantly asking me for money, it’s really depressing me. I tried asking Jack for money, but he says he’s always broke too; probably wasting it on that w***e of his.

The next day, Sandra goes upstairs to get something to eat, and when she does, she sees two people asleep on the couch, and she recognizes the woman. “Regina?”
The woman wakes up. “Sandra, buddy, how are ya?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Rachel told us we could move in.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, we’re gonna be living together, buddy.”
“Great.” Sandra says to herself, as Regina falls back to sleep. She gets her food and walks back downstairs. She eats and takes a nap, and wakes up a few hours later to music playing in Alexis’ room. She opens up her door and sees Alexis and Lizzie playing video games. “Hey, you guys wanna smoke a bowl?”
“Sure.” Alexis says. They smoke, and about halfway through, they hear a knock on the door. Alexis gets up and answers it to two cops standing there. “Can- can I help you?” she asks nervously.
“We’re looking for Christina Chrause.”
“I don’t know anybody by that name.” Sandra gets up and approaches the cops.
“Why are you looking for Christina?” Sandra asks.
“I thought you didn’t know anybody by that name.” The cop responds.
“She doesn’t, but I do.”
“There’s a warrant out for her arrest.”
“Oh, she’s in jail already.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
The cop talks into his walkie talkie. “I’ve been informed that the subject is already in jail, could you confirm?” An acknowledgement radios on the other side.
“I’m sorry for wasting your time, ma’am.” The cops leave.
“Wow, I’m still shaking from that.” Alexis says.
“Why?”
“Because the basement stinks, that’s why.”
“But they weren’t looking for us.”
“Even still.” A few days pass, and Sandra gets sick of Regina and her boyfriend. She gets wind that the cops are looking for her, so she calls the cops. The cops show up, talk to Regina, and leave. Regina comes downstairs, furious.
“What’s your f*****g problem, buddy? Why’d you call the f*****g cops on me? I thought we were friends?” Sandra doesn’t answer. “Are we gonna have a problem, buddy?”
“No.”
“Good. Don’t call the f*****g cops on me ever again, or I’ll tell them what you’re doing down here.”
“Alright, fine.”
“Good, I’m glad we understand each other.” A week passes, and suddenly Regina and her boyfriend are no longer there.
“Where’d Regina go?” Sandra asks Rachel.
“I got rid of them.”
“Why?”
“Because I caught them shooting up heroin, and found a bunch of needles in the garbage can.”
“Wow, really?”
“Yeah, pot’s one thing, I can tolerate that, but heroin is just a big no no.”
“Oh, wow, ok.” She goes downstairs.

July 25, 2009

Well, Regina and her boyfriend left, thank God. I just hope that no one else moves in, it’s like this place is a house of wayward youth. People constantly moving in out, including us, it was like, me and Lizzie started a trend of random occupants moving in for the hell of it. I’m so stressed and depressed, I can’t wait to go to the tattoo party this weekend. I don’t have money for a tattoo, but I can still party…damn, I have to tell Jack if he hasn’t found out about it already. Hopefully I’ll get smashed enough where he won’t faze me and I can just ignore him.

The weekend rolls around, and Sandra leaves the house to go to her friend Erica’s. On the way, she meets up with Jack. “You ready to go?” she asks.
“Sure. I don’t want you drinking your a*s off. You can have one drink and that’s it.” he tells her.
“Shut the f**k up, these are my friends, not yours.”
“I don’t care; I don’t want you embarrassing me.”
“Embarrassing YOU? Nobody there knows you!”
“So? I’m in charge of you.” They stop in front of the house.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“We’ve had this discussion already, I’m not property.”
“Yeah, I know, but you’re still mine.”
“Ugh. You’re impossible.” She knocks on the door and Erica, a medium height woman with round glasses, answers the door.
“Hey, welcome, Sandy. Glad you could make it. Who’s your friend?” Erica says.
“Jack, Erica; Erica, Jack.”
“Hi.” Jack says. They walk inside and Sandra heads for the kitchen, Jack following behind her. “Damn, your friend is ugly.”
“Uh, what?”
“Just saying; I wouldn’t do her.”
“You’re supposed to be thinking of doing me, not her!!”
“Oh yeah…right babe.” Sandra heads to the fridge, and grabs out two bottles of beer and opens one, sticking the other in her armpit to do so. “Oh hey, thanks, babe.” He reaches out for one, and Sandra stops him with her hand, chugs the first bottle, hands it to him, and opens the second bottle.
“Get your own.” She starts to drink her second bottle as she walks away from him to watch the person currently getting tattooed. Jack follows her anyway.
“So, you’re just going to ignore me then?”
“Pretty much.”
“I don’t know anyone else here.”
“Good, then leave.”
“I told you, I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Then suffer.”
“Fine, I will.” They both sit there and watch the needles tattooing the skin. Every time Sandra gets up for a drink, Jack matches it.
“I want a tattoo.”
“No. The hell you will.”
“It’s my body.”
“It’s mine too.”
“Boy, you just don’t know when to quit, do ya?”
“I just think that you having a tattoo would be trashy lookin’”
“Trashy?”
“Yeah, like trailer park or jailbird trashy, you know, white trash. Or, we could just go by your other half of your family and the tattoo could be like, since you’re Hispanic, it’ll be like you’re a criminal, it could be a tattoo from jail. Hell, we could just say you look trashy as in s****y, if you got a tramp stamp, which is probably what you want, am I right, you fat piece of s**t?”
“All I said was that I wanted a tattoo! You don’t even know where I want it, or what I want, you just assumed I was a piece of s**t just for thinking about it!”
“Yeah, so?”
“You’re horrible! I don’t know why you do this s**t to me for no reason!” She swigs yet another beer and heads to the fridge to grab another one.
“Oh, now here you go, being an alcoholic again, what number is that, six, seven?”
“It’s your fault I’m drinking so much! I never drink like this when you’re around, you bring me to it!”
“Oh, so it’s MY fault, you’re like this right now?”
“YES! And it’s five!” She opens up and drinks another beer, and Jack copies. “If you have such a problem with my drinking, then why have you been matching me?”
“To make sure you don’t outdo me, I’m a man after all, and a man’s gotta drink more beer than a woman, it’s basic science.”
“Whaa? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Beer is a man’s drink. I have to make sure I’m not outdone by a woman.”
“Really? You really have to go there?”
“I’m just sayin’”
“Just saying what, you’re better than me?”
“Yeah.”
“You know, I noticed we have the same fight over and over again.”
“Yeah, because you don’t shut up and just accept the fact that I’m better than you because I’m a f*****g man. And as man, I’m the dominant one in the relationship, and you have to do what I say. It’s been that way for hundreds of years, and no amount of women’s rights or feminists, or pioneers in women whatever will make you better than me.”
“You’re the stupidest m**********r I’ve ever had the displeasure to date.”
“Then why won’t you leave me?”
“Because I- cause I- shut up!”
“That’s right, because you know you can’t. Besides, it wouldn’t be over unless I said it was anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean if you ever broke up with me, I’d still get you to go back out with me, I’d still find a way to get you back just as quickly. Worked before.”
“You mean, you were just pretending to be nice so that I would take you back?”
“Hah, yeah, of course I even went the extra mile.”
“Extra mile? What do you mean- you son of a b***h!” She gets up and gets another beer out of the fridge.
“Get me one too, ya b***h.”
“No!”
“Fine.” He gets up and gets another beer. Francine and Lawrence show up with Zakk.
“It’s a real party now, m***********s!” Lawrence yells. “The brown horse is riding on the grass and in the snow!”
“Sandra, how the f**k are you? Didn’t expect that you’d be here before us.” Francine says.
“Yeah, no, you said two, and it’s three now, so, yeah.” Sandra says.
“Who’s this?”
“My sonofabitch boyfriend, Jack.”
“Hey, doll.” Jack says as he grabs Francine’s hand who pulls it back just as quickly.
“Gross!” Francine says.
“What was Lawrence saying?” Sandra says as she gets up and gets another beer.
“Oh, we brought Zakk over who brought a bunch of weed and other stuff with him, and he said he was gonna invite some people over, Erica’s cool with it, and anyway, this is supposed to be for the benefit of the artists anyway, that’s the point of this party.”
“Oh, yeah, what did he bring?”
“Weed, heroin, coke and meth. Some scripts for the pill heads, too.”
“Hmm…” She turns to Jack. “I have a challenge for you… If you’re man enough to do it.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Let’s see who can party the hardiest tonight.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, whoever has the biggest balls by the end of the night will be in charge of the relationship.”
“Deal.”
“I’m already one beer ahead of you, better step up your game.”
“What else do we have to do to win?”
“Well, the drinking portion is put on hold right now, I’m pretty full, maybe I’ll empty my stomach with a blunt.” She walks into the living room where Erica and Francine are each rolling a blunt.
“Fine, I can smo- um, smoke it too…” He follows her.
“Woo! Let’s get blitzed!”
“Hey, before start smoking, would anyone like a booster?” Zakk asks. A few people raise their hands. “Ten bucks a pop.”
“Lets go, Jack.”
“What do you mean?”
“On a scale of 1-10, everything but weed is about a nine or ten.”
“Fine. Cocaine for me, then.”
“Oh, somebody’s speeding before they crash, huh?” Zakk says. He hands Jack a small bag of cocaine.
“I wanna go fast, faster than him.” Sandra says.
“Line of meth for you, then.” He sets them both up. Sandra and Jack both make their lines and snort them.
“What is this supposed to prove again?” Jack asks.
“I wanna see how far you’d go to prove how much you really believe you’re more of a man than me.”
“How does doing drugs point prove anything? How does that prove you-“
“Just shut the f**k up.”
“Hey, don’t you-“
“I SAID SHUT THE F**K UP!”
“You’ve gone insane, Sandra!”
“Maybe I have, but see, I haven’t.”
“What?”
“Haha, see, because this is my challenge to you, in MY friend’s house, you are the lowest echelon of guest. You’re the guest of a guest. This means, I’m in charge now, so I’m ‘the man’, so to put it, and you are my b***h. Let’s see how you like being me for a day.”
“I’ll just leave.”
“If you leave, that means that you forfeit and I immediately take charge of the relationship and you have no more say, I’ll hit you, I’ll make fun of you. Go ahead, hit me, I can get you on so many assault and battery charges, but I don’t because I still see potential in you, I have hope, but you prove me wrong every day. So, if you lose, that’s what you can expect. I’ll make your life hell as long as you make my life hell.”
“You cold hearted b***h.”
“You drove me to this. How’s it feel?”
“Like s**t.”
“I think I’ll have another beer.” Jack follows her.
“Enjoy it while you can, cause you’re going down, princess.” They continue to drink, smoke, and take pills, and Jack ends up passing out on the couch. Sandra wakes him back up. He looks at her as if he doesn’t recognize her.
“Hey, talk to me.” He pulls back, silently fending her off by pushing her hands back to her as she reaches out. “Don’t you remember me? You’re girlfriend?” He shakes his head. He slowly passes out again, and Sandra wakes him back up.
“Whoa, my head…”
“You know you had temporary amnesia?”
“I thought that was a dream.”
“How’s your intoxication level?”
“Buzzed. But not completely smashed.”
“Time to bring you back to my level.”
“What? But my head is pounding.”
“Suck it up, you’re losing, and after all, aren’t you man enough?”
“Oh, s**t, yeah I forgot. I was thinking that maybe, the drugs are affecting your frame of mind. What you’re asking me to do is just ridiculous.”
“I got that idea while I was drinking, besides, smoke some weed and that headache will go right away.” She takes some weed out of her pocket. “Yo Erica, Francine!” Erica and Francine approach Sandra and Jack.
“What’s up, Sandy?” Erica asks.
“Get one of your bongs, and ask the artists if they want to throw in and take a break.”
“Alright.”
“Why are we starting with pot this time instead of drinking, like last time?” Jack asks.
“To get rid of your headache.” Sandra says. Erica comes back with a bong full of ice in the tube and water in the bottom.
“They’re busy.” Erica says. So, they smoke two rounds of the bong, and Sandra hands him two different kinds of pills that she gets from Francine.
“What are these?” Jack asks.
“One’s a muscle relaxer, the other’s a chill pill.”
“Oh, ok.” He takes them and goes to the fridge and starts drinking. He comes back into the living room and gives ten dollars to Zakk. “Give me the brown one this time, the white one made me jittery last time.” Zakk hands him a bag of heroin and he snorts it off of the coffee table. Two people rush out of the kitchen, through the living room, and out the front door. Francine and Lawrence are passed out on the floor, Erica is watching a red headed guy getting a tattoo and Jack is wide eyed and zoned out on the couch with Sandra zoning next to him. The other guests are either talking to each other, passed out, or doing a drug. Then, there’s the sound of yelling coming from the kitchen, which snaps Jack and Sandra out of their zone.
“-should have been watching it, now everything we made today was for nothing!” one artist is yelling at the other.
“Hey, man, I’m sorry, I had no idea.”
“Damn man, that was all of our money and all of our weed. That b***h distracted you while he took it… f**k you’re stupid.”
“What about you?”
“I was doing a tattoo, I was focused on my WORK, while you just sat there scratching your nuts, talking to a b***h who was helping to rob us.” Sandra walks back into the living room, and sits on the couch. Zakk’s phone buzzes, and he types on his phone, and a few minutes later, there’s a knock on the door and he answers it. Sydd and Janis come in.
“You told me this was where your support group meets.” Janis says.
“No, I just needed… um, Zakk, you got any pills for me?” Sydd asks.
“Sure.” Zakk says.
“Jack? What are you doing here?” Janis asks in surprise.
“This the b***h you’ve been f*****g?” Sandra asks Jack.
“Oh, so this your fat, worthless, b***h of a girlfriend. You’re right, she does look like a loser.” Janis says.
“Whoa, b***h, I don’t even know you, why are you f*****g with my man in the first place?” Sandra asks.
“Because when he’s tired of bacon, he’d rather prefer a salad instead.” Janis responds.
“Wait, you’ve been getting some on the side while I’m in rehab?” Sydd asks Janis.
“Which you’re supposed to be in right now.” Janis says.
“Wow, this whole thing is really fucked up.” Sandra says to herself. “Okay, the four of us are going to sit down and talk about this.” Sandra packs a pipe, lights it, and passes it to Sydd. “Ok, so, Sydd and Janis are dating, but Janis is cheating on Sydd with Jack who’s cheating on me. You two are gross, you know that? You should be ashamed of yourselves. Maybe me and Sydd should f**k to even the score.”
“Like I care.” Janis says.
“What? No!” Jack says.
“Why not?” Sandra asks.
“Because you’re mine!”
“So, you can’t be just mine? You have to be hers too?”
“I can’t help it.”
“Yeah, I think you can.”
“But I’m a man…”
“That’s not an excuse, plenty of men don’t get booty because ‘they can’t help it, they’re a man’. The ones that do are either gigolos, adulterers, or rapists.”
“That- that makes me sound terrible. I’ll go get you a beer, I’m so sorry babe.” He gets up and walks to the kitchen with Zakk following him.
“I’m sorry too.” Janis says to Sydd.
“Yeah, me too.” Sydd says. “I promise I’ll get completely clean… after tonight.” He does a line of heroin.
“I’m not so sure I believe you.”
“Well, maybe if you stop f*****g other guys, I’ll hold up my end of the bargain, and we could try fresh after I complete my program.”
“Yeah, ok.”
“You serious?”
“Only if you are.”
“I promise. Now, lets partay!” Jack returns with two open beers and hands one to Sandra.
“You opened it for me?” Sandra asks.
“It’s all part of the challenge, right?” Jack says.
“Now you’re getting it.” She takes a large swig of beer and chokes a little in the process.
“Time for me to regain control.” Jack says to himself. Sandra finishes her beer and starts swaying.
“Wow, I’m spinning, Jack, hold me.” She leans against Jack. “Mmm, you feel so nice and warm, I want you to… mmm.”
“We’re going upstairs, babe.”
“Mmm, ok.” She says sleepily. They go upstairs.
“Here, lemme help you out of those clothes.”
“Sure.” She says unintelligibly.
“I’m going to f**k you now.” She falls asleep before answering him. A half an hour later, she wakes up to the bed vibrating from the music in the next room as well as downstairs, naked. “What the f**k happened?” She gets dressed and goes downstairs. Everybody’s enjoying the party, and the artists have already left after their argument, so everybody is just standing around, talking and taking their various poisons. Sandra gets a beer out of the fridge and scans the kitchen and living room for Jack, not seeing him. Sydd is lying back on the couch, zoned. Sandra approaches him. “Sydd. Sydd!”
“Huh, what?”
“Where’s Jack?”
“Probably upstairs with Janis.”
“And you’re ok with that?”
“Fish pickles in the summer.”
“What?”
“I don’t care… too high for this s**t…” Sandra goes upstairs and opens the door with music coming from it. There she sees Jack humping Janis, unprotected, anally.
“What the f**k?” Sandra yells.
“I’m winning!” Jack says. “I fucked two b*****s tonight, you only had me!” He flips her the middle finger and she slams the door shut. She goes downstairs and walks back up to Sydd.
“Hey.” Sandra says as she wakes him.
“What?” Sydd asks.
“My boyfriend is humping your girlfriend. Let’s get them back.”
“Yeah, sure, she said she’d stop, so she already broke it. Let’s go.” So Sydd and Sandra have sex and Jack comes in.
“I figured you’d do this.” Jack says. Janis just walks by and goes downstairs.
“You did it to yourself. We’re tied.” She flips him the middle finger and he leaves. They finish and head back downstairs. Zakk approaches Sandra.
“I hear you and your boyfriend are competing to see who’s the bigger man.” Zakk says.
“Yeah, so?”
“How’s that working out for you?”
“We’re tied.”
“I’ve got a tiebreaker for ya.”
“Oh yeah? Like what?” He pulls out a gun.
“Russian Roulette.”
“That’s f*****g insane, no way.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I don’t wanna die.”
“I’ve played lots of rounds, and let me tell you, the chances of getting a bullet to the brain are slim, just spin the chamber after each turn, and you should be fine. If you wanna cheat, I won’t judge.”
“And in the event one of us does die?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything.”
“I still don’t know…”
“Trust me.”
“I don’t.”
“Well, it was your boyfriend’s idea, so I guess I can tell him you forfeit.”
“No, let’s go.” She sighs. Zakk and Sandra round up Sydd, Janis, Jack, Francine, and Lawrence. They all go upstairs to an empty room.
“Ok, so here’s how it goes: Lawrence will start things off. After every pull of the trigger, you pass it to the next person who spins the chamber, then fires.” Zakk says as he spins the chamber and hands it to Lawrence.
“You’re crazy for suggesting this.” Sandra says to Jack.
“I wanted to see how far you’d go to beat me.”
“Fine, you know what? I’m out.” She stands up and walks to the other side of the room. Lawrence checks the chamber, clicks the gun and passes it to Sydd. Sydd spins and clicks. He hands it to Francine. “I can’t watch my best friend die.” She goes to leave the room.
“No, you stay. At least watch me beat you.”
“But you already won, you don’t have to take it this far.” Francine spins, checks, clicks and passes to Jack.
“I win.” Jack smiles and fires, blowing his brains out, splattering the wall and Janis. Zakk and Sydd bolt out of the room and everyone else is sitting in shock, mouth agape.
“Oh my God, oh my God, he’s dead. He’s dead, oh my God!” Sandra squeals. Janis is screaming at the top of her lungs, trembling viciously, and then passing out in his blood while Sandra is crying on the body. Within ten minutes, everyone else besides Erica, Sandra and Janis leave the party before the cops show up.

July 29, 2009

Dear Diary:
I’m so traumatized right now. I watched my boyfriend kill himself, and I feel like it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t challenged him, he wouldn’t have brought it to that level. I feel like total s**t, because I started it. He always says how much of a man he is, and I couldn’t stand it, so I told him I’d out man him. It started innocently enough, a drinking competition, but something came over me and I brought drugs into it, and we stayed on the same level until we had sex, which I think he drugged me with that date rape drug, cause I don’t remember any of it. He proceeded to have sex with that b***h that he fucked on the side who happened to be at the party too, and we all learned things that makes the whole situation even more fucked up. I didn’t want to lose, so I got back at both of them by having sex with her boyfriend. He turned it up a notch by bringing Russian Roulette into it, and at that point, I gave up, I didn’t want to die. He just had to prove that he was the bigger man and do it anyway, and he ended up splattering his brains on his b***h. Everyone left immediately, and I just told the cops what happened. I’m probably gonna need therapy. I need to go to bed now, I’ve been up since it happened and it’s already the next night. I’m done; good night, it’s over with.