Chapter 2 ; More than a sunset
"Who wants a beer? Their from last night. Kinda warm." Zack smiled at the room with that effortless serenity he had. He chuckled and added "Probably flat, too." and cracked one open A soft foam sprayed from the mouth of the can. "I'll take one, fuck it" Jason responds.
Liz and Phill both decline. After lighting a cigarette Phill asks if anyone wanted to smoke a bowl. It didn't take long for someone to answer. The four of them stood around the remains of the fire and smoked their cigarettes and listened to the crackle. It was cold, but not true cold, like the winter there can be capable of.
"Some party the other night." liz had broken the silence, and they were grateful she did. If the moment had been bucolic for too long, someone would have farted to ruin it.
For some reason it was always "the other night" with them, never any night in particular, just "the other night". It was as if already their sense of time had degraded to the point of not being able to match specific times with the corresponding dates.
Jason chortled and reminded her of the vomit stain she had left on the grass three feet from where they stood, then Zack had to poke Jason and remind him of the two aerosol cans of hairspray Jason had dropped into the embers of "the other night". Apparently Jason had crowed hysterically as he said it was to make this night's party a bang. Never to be accused of having made a pun, or thinking one was funny, he denied the existence of the cans, and said that if they should explode, it would indeed be "fucked up".
Phil made his way to the barn upon finishing his cigarette. Liz, Zack and Jason followed suit. It was time to smoke a bowl, and make plans for that night, the time in between would be filled with the same dangerous hilarity
that had caused Liz to vomit, or made Jason laugh at a self made pun and toss incendiaries into a waiting bonfire.
Most gatherings seemed to contain several smaller parties within. At some point in the night they would all converge into the sanctuary that was the barn. Most nights it was a game of Asshole that would pull them all together, or the construction of a gravity bong, or the actual act of drinking. Tonight it was an explosion that came ripping out of the fire.
The objects thrown into the fire were garden variety tonight; broken table scraps, dining room chairs, an old television, but nothing explosive. Someone yelled at the two stooges to stop throwing things in the fire. All they could do was laugh and point at the rising flames.
"Did you see that shit?" Jason yelled. Someone, a young girl with sandy hair and cheap earrings, explained all of the reasons why she didn't feel safe and went into the barn. That was all it took to get everyone together tonight.
Already a small group sitting on the sofa smoking from a glass pipe and talking about the noise that came from outside. "What was that?" asked one of them.
"We're not to sure at this point" Zack spoke with his familiar zen-calmness. Most of the people that had been outside were convinced that it was something that had just been put into the fire but Zack and Jason weren't as sure.
"We didn't throw anything explosive in there tonight, asshole" Jason defended himself to someone outside. Then as fast as things had escalated it was decided that it wasn't important.A small group began to play cards, the sandy-haired girl was with them and was now exceedingly drunk. Jeremy later in the night asked the question that ended all questions about the explosion,"what about the hairspray can you threw in two days ago? It didn't explode that night". A laughter was born in that small room, with all the furious joy of a riotous mob.
Zack was sitting on the sofa with Will and Weezer, talking about the strains of buds that had been moving around town lately. Becca and Liz had migrated to the floor, giggling and talking in those ululating tones only girls can attain. Phil sat between them, drawing dreamily with stoned-red eyes. Jason was somewhere, stumbling and screaming about the meaning of life to whoever was unlucky enough to get trapped by him. A group was forming around the fire again when the insanity began to build once more.
A red truck barreled around an ancient oak, down a small hill, and half circled the fire and the crowd around it. Will stumble-stepped from the cab of his Toyota, cigarette dangling from a slackened mouth. The firelight made his glasses look like burning holes, hiding his eyes. Something about the freedom of youth, combined with the solitude of a country farm house always made the perfect impetus for bad ideas.
"We're taking it to the field, who wants to come?" Will called out.
Jason left a confused and weary art student, who had been for half an hour trying to find meaning in the slurring and sussing of his new pedagogue, and jumped into the back of the truck. He howled and braced the side wall of the truck bed and shook. Becca and Phil trotted after him, while Zack, Weezer and, Will climbed into the cab. The small red work truck took off into the field.
The group in the truck bed cackled with drunk delight and tried to yell over one another. They melded with the grinding tires of the truck as it made its circles and doughnuts in the muddy field, a sound that would make a passerby worry for their safety.
All worries about work, school, home life, or money had vanished into the chilled night air. In this moment they were a family chasing a falling star. Together with one wish. A wish for this night to never end, to not go back to the problems that wait with the morning sun. A cheer goes up in the back of the truck, almost in unison with the front cutting through the tall grass and dropping onto the road. Screams of excitement turned into screams of fear as they flew around the bed of the small work truck. A bottle smashed onto the road making the thud of the truck hitting the road sound a lot worse then it actually was. After the truck came to an abrupt stop Zack exploded out of the cab and ran full throttle back to the barn. Will gave a shout asking if everyone was alright. It only took a moment to get everyone focused on the situation at hand. When it was clear that everyone was fine Will drove back to the barn.
The ones that decided not to go were all coming around to meet the survivors. "What the fuck are you guys doing now?" Liz asked with a small grin. Jason replied to her question with an insult and a chuckle as he made his way to whatever beer he could find. Will stated that it was "just another night with you fuckers". Weezer made the announcement of flying onto the road waving his hands around and giving her a slight shake every couple of words. As he was accosting her Zack came around the corner with the handle from a broken bottle in his fist looking dazed. "You alright?" weezer asked upon looking up and seeing him. To which the soldier replied "yeah, I'm not exactly sure what happened but whatever". Laughter again filled the air as they went back to normal routine. A few people decided they had had enough and went home. The ones that were left planned on going soon, or so they said, and the rest were already staking there claim on sleeping spots. Phill, Liz, Will, Zack , and Jason stood together around the fire finishing there drinks. Becca pulled weezer together long enough to get him into the car. Said good bye and left. After smoking another joint and laughing about the abuse his truck takes on a daily basis, Will gathered everyone he had brought with him ,gave his salutations and drove into the night. More often then not Zack, Jason, Liz, and Phill always spent the last hours of a party hanging out with each other.
Living in Frederick never seemed to amount to much. When anything sparked an interest here it only lasted for seconds. Activities turn into a living organism with the attention span of a fish. Some people make it out of Frederick by going to collage or going out on the open road. Some people try to entertain themselves with what ever Frederick has decided to make an outlet. The rave scene lasted awhile, but slowly became uninteresting. Then came the tattoo boom. Shops everywhere with assholes that take themselves way to serious. Representing your hometown is a sense of pride, a sense of belonging and loving for your community. Why the fuck you would have those feelings for this "city" is beyond me. The kids that came out to the barn parties didn't care about there "hometown", it was all about having fun no matter who you were. Most nights they were having fun by forgetting where they were. Existing only in a place where they could feel free to express themselves and enjoy one another. The only place most of them had to do this while living in this wasteland of boredom was Zack's barn.
Liz decided she wanted to try and get some sleep for school the next day, so it was time to end the night. "Same bat time, same bat channel" Jason said to Zack after giving him a small hit on the shoulder. Liz gave Zack a hug. Phill just waved as he got into the car. Starting out of the driveway was vary similar to pulling in, laughing and talking about what had just happened in comparison to other nights. Jason knew in the back of his mind that Liz would probably decide to not goto school the next day. It wasn't that she was predictable, it was that he knew her that well. She dropped Jason off at the end of his driveway so the dogs didn't go ballistic. "Later" he slurred and hopped out. Phill was passed out already and Liz told him that he would probably hear from her tomorrow. He made his way back to the house and with each step he could feel the lost hope contained within those walls. Just before he came around the corner at the end of the drive, he lit a cigarette. It was the same thing every time he came home, light up a smoke, try not to make any noise and hope everyone else was in bed. When he got to the basement door he felt the beer he had been drinking start to work its way up. After he was done throwing up Jason seen that he had gotten some on his cigarette. This was the only thing that seemed to bother him about this. It only took him a moment to pull himself together and make his way through the dreaded AIDS cat room. Down the hall and to his door He could feel the weight of his eyelids begin to take hold as he entered his room. "Just another day in the office", he told himself as he collapsed onto his bed.
Liz and Phill both decline. After lighting a cigarette Phill asks if anyone wanted to smoke a bowl. It didn't take long for someone to answer. The four of them stood around the remains of the fire and smoked their cigarettes and listened to the crackle. It was cold, but not true cold, like the winter there can be capable of.
"Some party the other night." liz had broken the silence, and they were grateful she did. If the moment had been bucolic for too long, someone would have farted to ruin it.
For some reason it was always "the other night" with them, never any night in particular, just "the other night". It was as if already their sense of time had degraded to the point of not being able to match specific times with the corresponding dates.
Jason chortled and reminded her of the vomit stain she had left on the grass three feet from where they stood, then Zack had to poke Jason and remind him of the two aerosol cans of hairspray Jason had dropped into the embers of "the other night". Apparently Jason had crowed hysterically as he said it was to make this night's party a bang. Never to be accused of having made a pun, or thinking one was funny, he denied the existence of the cans, and said that if they should explode, it would indeed be "fucked up".
Phil made his way to the barn upon finishing his cigarette. Liz, Zack and Jason followed suit. It was time to smoke a bowl, and make plans for that night, the time in between would be filled with the same dangerous hilarity
that had caused Liz to vomit, or made Jason laugh at a self made pun and toss incendiaries into a waiting bonfire.
Most gatherings seemed to contain several smaller parties within. At some point in the night they would all converge into the sanctuary that was the barn. Most nights it was a game of Asshole that would pull them all together, or the construction of a gravity bong, or the actual act of drinking. Tonight it was an explosion that came ripping out of the fire.
The objects thrown into the fire were garden variety tonight; broken table scraps, dining room chairs, an old television, but nothing explosive. Someone yelled at the two stooges to stop throwing things in the fire. All they could do was laugh and point at the rising flames.
"Did you see that shit?" Jason yelled. Someone, a young girl with sandy hair and cheap earrings, explained all of the reasons why she didn't feel safe and went into the barn. That was all it took to get everyone together tonight.
Already a small group sitting on the sofa smoking from a glass pipe and talking about the noise that came from outside. "What was that?" asked one of them.
"We're not to sure at this point" Zack spoke with his familiar zen-calmness. Most of the people that had been outside were convinced that it was something that had just been put into the fire but Zack and Jason weren't as sure.
"We didn't throw anything explosive in there tonight, asshole" Jason defended himself to someone outside. Then as fast as things had escalated it was decided that it wasn't important.A small group began to play cards, the sandy-haired girl was with them and was now exceedingly drunk. Jeremy later in the night asked the question that ended all questions about the explosion,"what about the hairspray can you threw in two days ago? It didn't explode that night". A laughter was born in that small room, with all the furious joy of a riotous mob.
Zack was sitting on the sofa with Will and Weezer, talking about the strains of buds that had been moving around town lately. Becca and Liz had migrated to the floor, giggling and talking in those ululating tones only girls can attain. Phil sat between them, drawing dreamily with stoned-red eyes. Jason was somewhere, stumbling and screaming about the meaning of life to whoever was unlucky enough to get trapped by him. A group was forming around the fire again when the insanity began to build once more.
A red truck barreled around an ancient oak, down a small hill, and half circled the fire and the crowd around it. Will stumble-stepped from the cab of his Toyota, cigarette dangling from a slackened mouth. The firelight made his glasses look like burning holes, hiding his eyes. Something about the freedom of youth, combined with the solitude of a country farm house always made the perfect impetus for bad ideas.
"We're taking it to the field, who wants to come?" Will called out.
Jason left a confused and weary art student, who had been for half an hour trying to find meaning in the slurring and sussing of his new pedagogue, and jumped into the back of the truck. He howled and braced the side wall of the truck bed and shook. Becca and Phil trotted after him, while Zack, Weezer and, Will climbed into the cab. The small red work truck took off into the field.
The group in the truck bed cackled with drunk delight and tried to yell over one another. They melded with the grinding tires of the truck as it made its circles and doughnuts in the muddy field, a sound that would make a passerby worry for their safety.
All worries about work, school, home life, or money had vanished into the chilled night air. In this moment they were a family chasing a falling star. Together with one wish. A wish for this night to never end, to not go back to the problems that wait with the morning sun. A cheer goes up in the back of the truck, almost in unison with the front cutting through the tall grass and dropping onto the road. Screams of excitement turned into screams of fear as they flew around the bed of the small work truck. A bottle smashed onto the road making the thud of the truck hitting the road sound a lot worse then it actually was. After the truck came to an abrupt stop Zack exploded out of the cab and ran full throttle back to the barn. Will gave a shout asking if everyone was alright. It only took a moment to get everyone focused on the situation at hand. When it was clear that everyone was fine Will drove back to the barn.
The ones that decided not to go were all coming around to meet the survivors. "What the fuck are you guys doing now?" Liz asked with a small grin. Jason replied to her question with an insult and a chuckle as he made his way to whatever beer he could find. Will stated that it was "just another night with you fuckers". Weezer made the announcement of flying onto the road waving his hands around and giving her a slight shake every couple of words. As he was accosting her Zack came around the corner with the handle from a broken bottle in his fist looking dazed. "You alright?" weezer asked upon looking up and seeing him. To which the soldier replied "yeah, I'm not exactly sure what happened but whatever". Laughter again filled the air as they went back to normal routine. A few people decided they had had enough and went home. The ones that were left planned on going soon, or so they said, and the rest were already staking there claim on sleeping spots. Phill, Liz, Will, Zack , and Jason stood together around the fire finishing there drinks. Becca pulled weezer together long enough to get him into the car. Said good bye and left. After smoking another joint and laughing about the abuse his truck takes on a daily basis, Will gathered everyone he had brought with him ,gave his salutations and drove into the night. More often then not Zack, Jason, Liz, and Phill always spent the last hours of a party hanging out with each other.
Living in Frederick never seemed to amount to much. When anything sparked an interest here it only lasted for seconds. Activities turn into a living organism with the attention span of a fish. Some people make it out of Frederick by going to collage or going out on the open road. Some people try to entertain themselves with what ever Frederick has decided to make an outlet. The rave scene lasted awhile, but slowly became uninteresting. Then came the tattoo boom. Shops everywhere with assholes that take themselves way to serious. Representing your hometown is a sense of pride, a sense of belonging and loving for your community. Why the fuck you would have those feelings for this "city" is beyond me. The kids that came out to the barn parties didn't care about there "hometown", it was all about having fun no matter who you were. Most nights they were having fun by forgetting where they were. Existing only in a place where they could feel free to express themselves and enjoy one another. The only place most of them had to do this while living in this wasteland of boredom was Zack's barn.
Liz decided she wanted to try and get some sleep for school the next day, so it was time to end the night. "Same bat time, same bat channel" Jason said to Zack after giving him a small hit on the shoulder. Liz gave Zack a hug. Phill just waved as he got into the car. Starting out of the driveway was vary similar to pulling in, laughing and talking about what had just happened in comparison to other nights. Jason knew in the back of his mind that Liz would probably decide to not goto school the next day. It wasn't that she was predictable, it was that he knew her that well. She dropped Jason off at the end of his driveway so the dogs didn't go ballistic. "Later" he slurred and hopped out. Phill was passed out already and Liz told him that he would probably hear from her tomorrow. He made his way back to the house and with each step he could feel the lost hope contained within those walls. Just before he came around the corner at the end of the drive, he lit a cigarette. It was the same thing every time he came home, light up a smoke, try not to make any noise and hope everyone else was in bed. When he got to the basement door he felt the beer he had been drinking start to work its way up. After he was done throwing up Jason seen that he had gotten some on his cigarette. This was the only thing that seemed to bother him about this. It only took him a moment to pull himself together and make his way through the dreaded AIDS cat room. Down the hall and to his door He could feel the weight of his eyelids begin to take hold as he entered his room. "Just another day in the office", he told himself as he collapsed onto his bed.