the chapters progress
ok so.. forget that other entry with my story. read this one.. i've added more chapters and the storyline is better. enjoy
Speed Aftermath
It came in waves. Anxious warmth, spreading like ink through tiny threads of paper. My veins vibrated in pleasure. Time passed quickly and then slowed to a stop around five in the morning. I stand to greet cold air and shake its hand with a lit cigarette. Inhale. Exhale. The unconscious movements have become fully conscious. I make my own heart beat, and its pounding. I notice every leaf, every vein that lies within the leaf and its emotions as the wind caresses it and carries it. The feeling of being weightless. My eyes widened with curiosity, feeling so connected with everything. Discovery is absolute.
I put out the filter I was smoking and shake my head at myself. Its times when you realize that you do stuff like that that makes you wonder how you made it to your age. When it’s this early you give yourself directions. Car door open. Car door close. Key in the ignition. Miss. Try again. Start car. Find completely tripped out music to listen to. Drive to pick up Jamison. Honk the horn. Again. Again. Tapping fingers on the steering wheel. C’mon Jamison! Finally the tall lanky thing of a man stumbles in slumber out of his house.
“Christ! I’ll be there in a goddamn minute! You’re fucking early as hell.”
How I love the sound of assholes in the morning. He pulls on the passenger car door.
“Its locked, let me in.”
I press the unlock button but its not working for that door.
“Pull on it!”
He pulls on it with his weight and the handle snaps back to the door. Nothing. What a piece of shit. I roll down his window.
“Sorry, man, it’s jammed.”
“Motherfucker.” He’s halfway through the window by this time, bringing the cold dry air with him and my body shivers. He finally settles himself in the seat next to me, adjusting the space for his legs and pulling out the things he needs; a couple of CD’s, a small pillbox, some rolling papers and tobacco. He seems set for the trip and he gets starting on a cigarette for himself.
“You see, it’s a series of pull and tuck methods. You gotta make everything even, gotta spread it out without tearing the paper. If you tear it, your shit outta luck and you better hope you gotta lot of spare papers man.”
“What kind of tobacco did you get?”
“None of your goddamn business cause you’re not having any of it!”
“You’re such a motherfucker in the morning, you know?” I pull out my own cigarettes and stick one in my mouth and I laugh at him, still trying desperately to roll his before I get mine lit.
“Having some trouble there?”
“Shut up and drive asshole.”
So I did.
There’s A Red Hair In My Coffee
We drove for hours, stopping every now and again at cheap little diners to refuel on energy. We stopped at a particular one called the Holton Diner. We walked into the sleazy dirty place and asked for a smoking booth. Our waitress talked in a low, raspy voice, rich with nicotine and tar. Her hair was a nest of white frizz and her eyes were smothered with the most brilliant blue eyeshadow I’d ever seen. I must admit, I was a little afraid this mess of a woman was to be handling my food. I glanced at her name tag. Marge. The name fit her perfectly.
“Do you boys want a drink?” Her breath smells as bad as you’d expect.
“Two coffees, with cream.” Jamison always had the ordering job, I was more of the strong silent type. At least that’s what I like to think. I thought myself the cool, mysterious and suave sidekick that hung around the loud cursing asshole. You know the one the girls always go for. Yeah, right. I took my napkin and wiped my running nose on it.
“I hate the beginning of winter.” I mumbled into the napkin.
Jamison turned to me with a sharp look, completely serious.
“We can’t do this all our life, ya know.” I’d never seen his face like that before. I brought the snotty napkin away from my nose and put it on the lopsided table.
“I know.” I looked down. Our lives were a series of random road trips. I saw my entire life as a windy road that went nowhere. But I couldn’t see it any other way. I watched Jamison stare at a cigarette burn in the table and I could tell this disgusting shit hole was becoming the metaphor of his life to him. I knew he was meant for greater things. I just didn’t think I was.
“Hey man, check that chick out.” His face and mood had completely changed as a wicked smile spread across his face and tilted his head towards a fiery red headed girl with knee-high I’m-gonna-kick-your-ass-boots and a pair of eyes that killed me. I took a long pull of my cigarette. Inhale. Exhale.
“Damn.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“I’m going to ask her for directions.” He stood up, took a drag and put his cigarette out. He started to head over to her.
“To where?” I asked him but he had already gone on his way. I watched as he sat in her booth across from her, uninvited. She took a bite of her burger and stared at him. He talked and she watched. He stopped for a moment, and she put her burger down, folded her arms on the table and said something apparently very stern. That’s when Jamison returned to my booth and sat.
Bitchy But Beautiful
“Well…what happened?”
“To be honest, I have not a fucking clue.” He pulled out his tobacco and started to roll. He had a confused expression on his face and I glanced over at the girl. She was eating her cheeseburger. She caught me staring at her and she glared at me. I looked away. Why couldn’t I ever confront confrontation?
“Well what did she say to you?”
“She said she’d only waste her breath on me if we’d give her a ride.”
“Well what’d you tell her?
“Nothing. I walked over here. You don’t want a bitch like that in the car. Fuck her!”
“Maybe she needs a ride, though. Maybe she just doesn’t want to be bothered by anyone who won’t help her. I’ll go ask her.”
“You? Talk to a girl? I’d give twenty to see that!”
“Fucking hand it over.” I stood and realized that my legs had turned to rubber. But I wasn’t about to let Jamison see me fold. I took the eight thousand steps to the red head. I stood at her booth and she just continued eating her burger. It was repulsive the way she ate. Shoveling the food into her mouth like she’d never had a bite to eat. She looked up at me, chewing.
“Can I help you?” I could see all the contents of her mouth. It wasn’t anything beautiful.
“Can I sit?”
“Yeah, whatever.” She took another mouthful of food. I sat across from her, watching. I couldn’t help but stare at her, it was disgusting. She put her burger down and slammed her arms on the table.
“Well?!”
“I heard you need a ride.”
“Yeah? You wanna give me one?” She swallowed.
“Where are you headed?”
“Where are you?” She ate the last of her food and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Then she sat and stared at me. I couldn’t help but wonder if that burger grease was going to end up rubbed on the back seat of my car.
“We don’t really have a direction. We’re just driving around.”
“Then it won’t be a problem givin’ me a ride.” She brought her hand towards me for a shake. “Names’ Tory.”
“Tory?” I blurted, shaking her hand. “As in Victoria?”
“As in none of your business.”
“Oh, well, do you have a last name?”
“Yeah, it’s Tory.”
“Tory…Tory?”
“Yeah, say it once and save your breath.” Jamison was right. She was a bitch. Her sarcasm sorta got to me, but I could handle it. Actually, I kind of liked it. She was raw and real and didn’t bullshit around. I can’t handle bullshit.
Taking Sides
I walked over to Jamison and sat across from him.
“What the hell took you so long? Why were you shaking hands? She is not getting in the car!”
“Man, what did she really say to you before?” I could tell something was wrong, he didn’t usually get this way.
“I told you already… I just think she’s a bitch and a downer. But whatever, it’s your car man.”
“Yeah. Well we might as well give her a ride. We have nothing better to do.”
I heard loud footsteps coming from behind me and there was Tory, standing in all her glory. I had to admit I was attracted to her and that was enough reason to bring her in the car. It’d been ages since I’d had a girl. I was getting used to watching Jamison use them like toilet paper and then laugh about it when he threw them out. I’d be glad to have the crypt keeper at this point.
“So, where we leaving you?” Jamison was especially cold.
“I gotta stop by my friends place. She’s an hour or so away.”
“Why do you have to go there?” I inquired. Wrong question I guess because she glared at me in her usual none-of-your-damn-business way.
“Well I guess I’ll go pay then.” Jamison swiped the check off the table and brought it hastily up to the counter. A whole two dollars, big fucking deal. There was no reason to be so bitchy about it. I thought now was a good time to ask Tory.
“What did you say to my friend before when he came to your booth?”
“Fuckin’ idiot asked if I needed directions to his pants. Asshole was looking for sex. I told him I’d never seen anything that more resembled a dog’s ass in my life. Then I said I wouldn’t talk anymore without a ride.”
Jamison started to walk back to where we were standing and I tried to stifle my laughter. I loved it, knowing that someone had finally taken Jamison’s ego and slapped him in the face with it.
“Are you ready?” Jamison stated obnoxiously. I turned to look at Tory and she nodded so we made our way to my car. I unlocked the front door, then the back so that Tory could sit back there. Turning the car on I unrolled the passenger window for Jamison. He was head in when I heard from behind; “What the fuck?”
“Yeah, my side door doesn’t unlock for some reason.”
“Wow what a shit-mobile. Glad you guys came around.” She rolled her eyes. Bad idea.
“Do you want us to leave you here?!” Jamison screamed while struggling to push himself through the window. Tory looked at me and mouthed Don’t.
“Jamie, just shut up and roll up the window.” And I drove, every now and then getting different directions from Tory. She seemed to lighten up about a half hour into it. Maybe she was just getting comfortable.
Bumping And Grinding
It was sometime around Bob Dylan hour on the radio when I felt the gas pedal going out of whack.
“What the hell…”
“What’s going on, man?” Jamison could feel the bumping of the car too. The more weight I put on the accelerator the more we jumped. I couldn’t get a handle on our speed or movement. The jostling woke Tory from her sleep in the back.
“What’s wrong with the car?” I began to get frustrated.
“If I knew what was wrong I’d fix it!” My lit cigarette was banging against the window as we jumped the lines of the highway.
“Why don’t you stop?! Pull over!” Jamison’s screaming led me into a frenzy.
“There’s no goddamn shoulder!” With another jump my lit cigarette flung into the window knocking the hot red cherry onto my lap.
“Fuck! Fuck! Where is it?!” I swerved all the way to the right over the solid white line and into a ditch where the car finally stopped. I frantically pushed my door open and shook myself out, getting the cherry off my pants. I leaned over and examined my burn hole. Goddamn that cigarette. I guess Jamison had been watching me.
“Stop worrying about your jeans, man. It’s the fucking car that’s the problem! How are we getting home?”
I heard the car door slam and I stood up. Turning around I saw Tory leaning against the car, arms folded. One long boot was crossed over the other. The car smoking behind her. All I could think was Damn she is hot.
“Pop the hood, would ya?” Jamison’s voice was really starting to get to me. Fumbling for the lever I eventually popped the hood and stood next to him as he examined the engine. Checking the oil he pulled out the dipstick. There wasn’t much there, but he didn’t think that was the problem. He said that one time; his cousin had the same problem. His car was jumping and accelerating out of nowhere. He said it was the transmission that died and that it was really expensive to fix.
“This car isn’t worth saving. Let’s just leave it.”
“And go where? I don’t even know where we are! That bitch fell asleep for a half hour; we probably missed whatever exit we were supposed to take!”
“Don’t call me a bitch you bastard.” I hadn’t heard her speak like that since we left the diner.
“Well if we didn’t have to fucking drive Ms. Daisy around for hours we probably wouldn’t be in a ditch on the side of the fucking highway. By the way, where the hell are we?”
“Umm…” Tory glanced around, but the entire view was bare. Even the sky was cloudless. It was eerie and not comforting at all. We were lost and stranded. And I was out of cigarettes.
Speed Aftermath
It came in waves. Anxious warmth, spreading like ink through tiny threads of paper. My veins vibrated in pleasure. Time passed quickly and then slowed to a stop around five in the morning. I stand to greet cold air and shake its hand with a lit cigarette. Inhale. Exhale. The unconscious movements have become fully conscious. I make my own heart beat, and its pounding. I notice every leaf, every vein that lies within the leaf and its emotions as the wind caresses it and carries it. The feeling of being weightless. My eyes widened with curiosity, feeling so connected with everything. Discovery is absolute.
I put out the filter I was smoking and shake my head at myself. Its times when you realize that you do stuff like that that makes you wonder how you made it to your age. When it’s this early you give yourself directions. Car door open. Car door close. Key in the ignition. Miss. Try again. Start car. Find completely tripped out music to listen to. Drive to pick up Jamison. Honk the horn. Again. Again. Tapping fingers on the steering wheel. C’mon Jamison! Finally the tall lanky thing of a man stumbles in slumber out of his house.
“Christ! I’ll be there in a goddamn minute! You’re fucking early as hell.”
How I love the sound of assholes in the morning. He pulls on the passenger car door.
“Its locked, let me in.”
I press the unlock button but its not working for that door.
“Pull on it!”
He pulls on it with his weight and the handle snaps back to the door. Nothing. What a piece of shit. I roll down his window.
“Sorry, man, it’s jammed.”
“Motherfucker.” He’s halfway through the window by this time, bringing the cold dry air with him and my body shivers. He finally settles himself in the seat next to me, adjusting the space for his legs and pulling out the things he needs; a couple of CD’s, a small pillbox, some rolling papers and tobacco. He seems set for the trip and he gets starting on a cigarette for himself.
“You see, it’s a series of pull and tuck methods. You gotta make everything even, gotta spread it out without tearing the paper. If you tear it, your shit outta luck and you better hope you gotta lot of spare papers man.”
“What kind of tobacco did you get?”
“None of your goddamn business cause you’re not having any of it!”
“You’re such a motherfucker in the morning, you know?” I pull out my own cigarettes and stick one in my mouth and I laugh at him, still trying desperately to roll his before I get mine lit.
“Having some trouble there?”
“Shut up and drive asshole.”
So I did.
There’s A Red Hair In My Coffee
We drove for hours, stopping every now and again at cheap little diners to refuel on energy. We stopped at a particular one called the Holton Diner. We walked into the sleazy dirty place and asked for a smoking booth. Our waitress talked in a low, raspy voice, rich with nicotine and tar. Her hair was a nest of white frizz and her eyes were smothered with the most brilliant blue eyeshadow I’d ever seen. I must admit, I was a little afraid this mess of a woman was to be handling my food. I glanced at her name tag. Marge. The name fit her perfectly.
“Do you boys want a drink?” Her breath smells as bad as you’d expect.
“Two coffees, with cream.” Jamison always had the ordering job, I was more of the strong silent type. At least that’s what I like to think. I thought myself the cool, mysterious and suave sidekick that hung around the loud cursing asshole. You know the one the girls always go for. Yeah, right. I took my napkin and wiped my running nose on it.
“I hate the beginning of winter.” I mumbled into the napkin.
Jamison turned to me with a sharp look, completely serious.
“We can’t do this all our life, ya know.” I’d never seen his face like that before. I brought the snotty napkin away from my nose and put it on the lopsided table.
“I know.” I looked down. Our lives were a series of random road trips. I saw my entire life as a windy road that went nowhere. But I couldn’t see it any other way. I watched Jamison stare at a cigarette burn in the table and I could tell this disgusting shit hole was becoming the metaphor of his life to him. I knew he was meant for greater things. I just didn’t think I was.
“Hey man, check that chick out.” His face and mood had completely changed as a wicked smile spread across his face and tilted his head towards a fiery red headed girl with knee-high I’m-gonna-kick-your-ass-boots and a pair of eyes that killed me. I took a long pull of my cigarette. Inhale. Exhale.
“Damn.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“I’m going to ask her for directions.” He stood up, took a drag and put his cigarette out. He started to head over to her.
“To where?” I asked him but he had already gone on his way. I watched as he sat in her booth across from her, uninvited. She took a bite of her burger and stared at him. He talked and she watched. He stopped for a moment, and she put her burger down, folded her arms on the table and said something apparently very stern. That’s when Jamison returned to my booth and sat.
Bitchy But Beautiful
“Well…what happened?”
“To be honest, I have not a fucking clue.” He pulled out his tobacco and started to roll. He had a confused expression on his face and I glanced over at the girl. She was eating her cheeseburger. She caught me staring at her and she glared at me. I looked away. Why couldn’t I ever confront confrontation?
“Well what did she say to you?”
“She said she’d only waste her breath on me if we’d give her a ride.”
“Well what’d you tell her?
“Nothing. I walked over here. You don’t want a bitch like that in the car. Fuck her!”
“Maybe she needs a ride, though. Maybe she just doesn’t want to be bothered by anyone who won’t help her. I’ll go ask her.”
“You? Talk to a girl? I’d give twenty to see that!”
“Fucking hand it over.” I stood and realized that my legs had turned to rubber. But I wasn’t about to let Jamison see me fold. I took the eight thousand steps to the red head. I stood at her booth and she just continued eating her burger. It was repulsive the way she ate. Shoveling the food into her mouth like she’d never had a bite to eat. She looked up at me, chewing.
“Can I help you?” I could see all the contents of her mouth. It wasn’t anything beautiful.
“Can I sit?”
“Yeah, whatever.” She took another mouthful of food. I sat across from her, watching. I couldn’t help but stare at her, it was disgusting. She put her burger down and slammed her arms on the table.
“Well?!”
“I heard you need a ride.”
“Yeah? You wanna give me one?” She swallowed.
“Where are you headed?”
“Where are you?” She ate the last of her food and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Then she sat and stared at me. I couldn’t help but wonder if that burger grease was going to end up rubbed on the back seat of my car.
“We don’t really have a direction. We’re just driving around.”
“Then it won’t be a problem givin’ me a ride.” She brought her hand towards me for a shake. “Names’ Tory.”
“Tory?” I blurted, shaking her hand. “As in Victoria?”
“As in none of your business.”
“Oh, well, do you have a last name?”
“Yeah, it’s Tory.”
“Tory…Tory?”
“Yeah, say it once and save your breath.” Jamison was right. She was a bitch. Her sarcasm sorta got to me, but I could handle it. Actually, I kind of liked it. She was raw and real and didn’t bullshit around. I can’t handle bullshit.
Taking Sides
I walked over to Jamison and sat across from him.
“What the hell took you so long? Why were you shaking hands? She is not getting in the car!”
“Man, what did she really say to you before?” I could tell something was wrong, he didn’t usually get this way.
“I told you already… I just think she’s a bitch and a downer. But whatever, it’s your car man.”
“Yeah. Well we might as well give her a ride. We have nothing better to do.”
I heard loud footsteps coming from behind me and there was Tory, standing in all her glory. I had to admit I was attracted to her and that was enough reason to bring her in the car. It’d been ages since I’d had a girl. I was getting used to watching Jamison use them like toilet paper and then laugh about it when he threw them out. I’d be glad to have the crypt keeper at this point.
“So, where we leaving you?” Jamison was especially cold.
“I gotta stop by my friends place. She’s an hour or so away.”
“Why do you have to go there?” I inquired. Wrong question I guess because she glared at me in her usual none-of-your-damn-business way.
“Well I guess I’ll go pay then.” Jamison swiped the check off the table and brought it hastily up to the counter. A whole two dollars, big fucking deal. There was no reason to be so bitchy about it. I thought now was a good time to ask Tory.
“What did you say to my friend before when he came to your booth?”
“Fuckin’ idiot asked if I needed directions to his pants. Asshole was looking for sex. I told him I’d never seen anything that more resembled a dog’s ass in my life. Then I said I wouldn’t talk anymore without a ride.”
Jamison started to walk back to where we were standing and I tried to stifle my laughter. I loved it, knowing that someone had finally taken Jamison’s ego and slapped him in the face with it.
“Are you ready?” Jamison stated obnoxiously. I turned to look at Tory and she nodded so we made our way to my car. I unlocked the front door, then the back so that Tory could sit back there. Turning the car on I unrolled the passenger window for Jamison. He was head in when I heard from behind; “What the fuck?”
“Yeah, my side door doesn’t unlock for some reason.”
“Wow what a shit-mobile. Glad you guys came around.” She rolled her eyes. Bad idea.
“Do you want us to leave you here?!” Jamison screamed while struggling to push himself through the window. Tory looked at me and mouthed Don’t.
“Jamie, just shut up and roll up the window.” And I drove, every now and then getting different directions from Tory. She seemed to lighten up about a half hour into it. Maybe she was just getting comfortable.
Bumping And Grinding
It was sometime around Bob Dylan hour on the radio when I felt the gas pedal going out of whack.
“What the hell…”
“What’s going on, man?” Jamison could feel the bumping of the car too. The more weight I put on the accelerator the more we jumped. I couldn’t get a handle on our speed or movement. The jostling woke Tory from her sleep in the back.
“What’s wrong with the car?” I began to get frustrated.
“If I knew what was wrong I’d fix it!” My lit cigarette was banging against the window as we jumped the lines of the highway.
“Why don’t you stop?! Pull over!” Jamison’s screaming led me into a frenzy.
“There’s no goddamn shoulder!” With another jump my lit cigarette flung into the window knocking the hot red cherry onto my lap.
“Fuck! Fuck! Where is it?!” I swerved all the way to the right over the solid white line and into a ditch where the car finally stopped. I frantically pushed my door open and shook myself out, getting the cherry off my pants. I leaned over and examined my burn hole. Goddamn that cigarette. I guess Jamison had been watching me.
“Stop worrying about your jeans, man. It’s the fucking car that’s the problem! How are we getting home?”
I heard the car door slam and I stood up. Turning around I saw Tory leaning against the car, arms folded. One long boot was crossed over the other. The car smoking behind her. All I could think was Damn she is hot.
“Pop the hood, would ya?” Jamison’s voice was really starting to get to me. Fumbling for the lever I eventually popped the hood and stood next to him as he examined the engine. Checking the oil he pulled out the dipstick. There wasn’t much there, but he didn’t think that was the problem. He said that one time; his cousin had the same problem. His car was jumping and accelerating out of nowhere. He said it was the transmission that died and that it was really expensive to fix.
“This car isn’t worth saving. Let’s just leave it.”
“And go where? I don’t even know where we are! That bitch fell asleep for a half hour; we probably missed whatever exit we were supposed to take!”
“Don’t call me a bitch you bastard.” I hadn’t heard her speak like that since we left the diner.
“Well if we didn’t have to fucking drive Ms. Daisy around for hours we probably wouldn’t be in a ditch on the side of the fucking highway. By the way, where the hell are we?”
“Umm…” Tory glanced around, but the entire view was bare. Even the sky was cloudless. It was eerie and not comforting at all. We were lost and stranded. And I was out of cigarettes.