The irony of Best Friends Day 9, part two.: zeroenthusiasm

zeroenthusiasm

The irony of Best Friends Day 9, part two.

Sep 07, 2010 19:49

DAY FOUR: Friday the 20th.
Kara and I were woken up right at 8 in the morning the next day by aggressively passionate, non-consensual dog kisses and loud country music that Mo was dancing around and singing along to. Kara got up while I continued to lay there with my eyes closed in defiance for another hour, before giving in and getting up to start re-sewing my fly patch over the hole in the ass of my shorts. While I sat the table and sewed, some others gathered and ate. Kara and I were asked if we were vegetarian or vegan or whatever and I said, "We're vegan... as in we don't eat animal products... as in we don't eat animal products out of a dumpster, because we're vegan." Mo then lived up to my expectations and told us that she'll eat, "a little," dairy if it's in a dumpster and will otherwise go to waste. I laughed and kept to myself about it, because it was then that it became completely clear that Kara and I were the only actual vegans present in the group of people we were with. We were both so hungry, but all the bagels they had in the house contained l-cysteine (no one in the house knew what that was when I mentioned it, nor had they ever even heard of it). Jon offered me some honey almond butter, but it had honey in it, so I said, "No, I'm vegan." He said, "But it's dumpstered," and I repeated, "No, I'm vegan." It was all becoming very frustrating how fickle everyone we knew was being about something as simple as veganism.

Day two of Best Friends Day 9 would be starting with a free show by a local math-rock band called Field Day, playing their final show, and then a giant punk decathlon in the park. Kara and I opted to not participate in that, but the rest of them were into it. Mo had gotten on makeup and football player shoulder pads. She looked like a total bad-ass. Kara got into the bus with Jon and the rest of us hopped into the back of Mo's truck, which was partly powered by veggie oil and covered in stenciled phrases like 'TOUGH NUGGET' and 'GO VEGAN!' and 'XVX'. As we drove down streets, myself, Lyle, and another Wingnut resident held up anarchist flags. A kid named Nick hopped into the back of the truck as it moved and joined us. We stopped at a cool local cafe called Crossroads. We met up with some of the others. Mo told me I should get the breakfast burrito, so I did, and then everyone started telling me there wasn't time for me to eat it. So I told them to leave without me. I was really starting to have an anxiety attack being around so many people, hearing about freeganism, and not having time enough to do the things I wanted to do because I was joining others' schedules. So I just sat there and tried to calm down over the course of an hour, eating my gigantic tofu scramble burrito, which also had a giant chunk of vegan sausage in it, with peppers, onions, and other spices. As I sat there, I browsed the flyers hung up on the walls and below the counter; I love seeing how eventful and unified the communities in other cities are. Everyone left without me without telling me first, so I had to call and get directions. I walked to this bar where the free show was happening, Mojo's. There was a moat of fixed-gear bikes, hipsters, and drunk punk scumbags laying on the concrete, presumably because they couldn't stand upright anymore, surrounding the bar. It made my stomach turn, but I went in and tried to enjoy myself. Field Day was extremely good, both successfully heavy, catchy, and complex. It's a shame that it was their last show ever. They even played a new song, boasting, "This is the first and last time you'll ever hear it!" After, I hopped back into the back of the truck to the nearby park where everyone would be participating in the day's events. The winning team would get free admission to the next day's giant show at Hadad's Lake. It was incredibly hot out and I was still so tired, I honestly didn't want to do anything at that point.

I stood around as they figured out teams, before eventually seeking refuge in the shade. Kara came down with Jon from the bus with Thora and her cage in her hands. Thora was panting and laying like a person inside her cage. Jon kept pouring water on her to keep her cool. Dominique joined the shade as well with Leshy, who also was overheated, as she tried to feed him water from a Nalgene. I laid down on the dirty concrete and tried to stretch out in order to cool down and relax, as shitty punk kids talked about nothingness with each other and smoked their cigarettes. A father sat with his two tiny kids on the ground and tried to get them to eat, adding, "If you see any hypodermic needles, don't pick them up!" He was covered in tattoos and seemed to know a lot of the punk kids in the decathlon. A skater douche rode up to us and asked if we wanted any drugs. I hung out with Kara and complained a lot about punk kids in general. We were both kind of bummed out at the amount of negative influence around us; the amount of culturally stale, inactive, inebriated mindlessness around us. In comparison to the other festivals and events we had attended earlier in the summer, this was the first one where being drunk was almost a top priority. Richmond's punk scene was definitely devastatingly typical. Or maybe we were just too tired and hot to enjoy watching other people play the games? After a dozen or two punks came over to sit and smoke, I got up and went to the other side of the park to sit by myself under the shade of a tree as two cops stood and watched the events, both texting and talking on their cellphones. I went back over eventually, worried that Kara was being hit on or bothered by them. Amongst constant crowd screaming from the games and the inane conversations between punk scenesters about cigarette brands and Thora, I ended up passing out on the ground, until I was woken up and told everyone was going down to James River to swim.

At first, I just sat down underneath a tree for shade as everyone else but Kara ate food. It was one of those few moments that being vegan really sucked; everyone else was chowing down on dumpstered Hostess doughnuts and other snacks that weren't vegan and because we were only two people, whether or not we were actually hungry didn't really matter. The tree above me was dropping pretty little leaves that were glossy on one side and fuzzy on the other. I tried to bring it up to the boy and girl and they just silently looked at me like I was an idiot. Eventually, we all walked down Oregon Hill, past an incredible view, then down these wooden stairs beneath the overpasses, across a little bridge, near train tracks, and eventually down a road to this tiny, sandy beach underneath tracks overhead. It was really nice down there. A rope had been tied and chained to the tracks above so people could grab it and swing out into the air and down into the water. Makeshift ladders were set up on the concrete pillars that held the tracks up so you could choose between two heights. All around us were dirty crust punks with giant backpacks, dogs, and tans that were actually dirt. Even though a sign upon entrance said very clearly that alcohol wasn't permitted, everyone there was drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon and loading in with twelve-packs in hand. Straight ahead of us, I pointed out to Kara three middle-aged men who sat by themselves in silence, wearing all black, self-studded torn vests, tight black jeans, Phobia shirts, and strategic facial grimaces painted on, just drinking their beers and looking like they weren't having any fun at all. Then why show up? I felt like I was inside of a punk version of a fashion magazine. It was the afternoon and I was honestly just so sick and fucking tired and looking at all these clones trying their hardest to get drunk and/or appear as though they weren't capable of having fun. We were at a tiny beach under train tracks! I couldn't imagine ever needing alcohol to up the ante on the fun capable of being had in such a setting! Since no one seemed to care about anyone but themselves, Kara and I were not warned of this plan to go swimming at any point in time. Kara got lucky and kept her bag in the bus, but all my stuff was at Mo's. So if I wanted to go swimming, I'd have to get my outfit wet. It sucked. But we both went in anyway. The water was beautiful, warmed by the sunbeams shooting through the bones of the tracks. We slowly walked in as the ground beneath our feet randomly changed from soft sand to jagged concrete. People flew into the air and out into the water from that rope and I couldn't believe that these people were drinking while doing it. I saw Mike Moak and talked to him a bit. Alex, of course, had to bring up how we look alike. Kara and I floated around for two hours until we wound up just sitting in one part of the shallow water, running our feet through the sand and picking rocks out of the water to admire them and feel how soft they were. I felt like such a little dork doing it, until I looked over at Jon as he was all by himself, analyzing a rock he had found underwater closely and admiring it. We made eye contact and I just laughed. Sitting with just Kara in the water was the best time I had that day.

We got out a little earlier than everyone else since we would have to rely solely on the sun to dry up before getting back on the bus. I filled bottles up with water to wash the sand off of our feet and let two of the rocks I found dry because they were so pretty and soft. We just sat back and gawked in disgust at all the drinkers around us. After a lot of procrastinating, we all started walking back up the hill to Oregon Hill. Kara and I were ahead of everyone else. A bunch of idiots with packs and packs of beer headed down as we went up and exclaimed, "You're goin' the wrong way, haha!" implying that the real fun was down there where the beer was. No, asshole, we weren't. The boy and girl were sitting in silence on a bench by a tree. I tried to speak to them, but they didn't respond, so I gave up. I went over to the bus because I heard Kara yell, "Oh, my god!" I asked, "What?!" without going inside, but she just repeated it. I walked up into the bus hesitantly and looked down at Thora's cage where they were surrounded around. Thora was completely stiff and silent. I kept trying to tell myself she was still alive, even tricking my eyes into seeing her stomach breathing in and out. But the reality was that Thora was dead. Kara was starting to cry, Jon stood lifeless with his hand over his mouth, and Kyle quietly said, "We should give her a proper burial." I left the bus because I'm not good with those types of situations. I walked over the bench and told the boy, girl, and Alex, "Jon's rat died!" The girl smirked and smugly said, "Heh, we walked by the bus earlier and I said that the rat shouldn't be in there!" What a fucking bitch. Neither her or the boy seemed to give a shit. Then again, they had been walking around with each other far from the rest of us the majority of the day, not participating or showing any interest in the day's events at all. Alex was concerned, but also didn't know what to do. He went into the bus and came back. I asked him, "What's it like in there right now?" and he said, "Very quiet. Kara's crying." The girl chimed in, "The bus was right under the sun..." Alex angrily responded, "I think Jon knows now that it wasn't a good idea to leave her in there!" The boy just said, "Shit." It was weird to witness such apathy, because I was genuinely upset that this wonderful animal was dead. That entire day, I was trying to figure out whether or not I should pay $20 to see the Propagandhi/Andrew WK show later that night. At that point, I knew I wouldn't be. I was just so incredibly bummed out. I went onto the bus to try and comfort Kara. Jon and Kyle brought Thora's body out and began digging a hole underneath the tree to bury her. It was such a sad moment. I asked Jon if he was okay and gave him a hug. I didn't know what else to do.

There was a lot of silence as we ate some mocha almond granola from Jon's bus. We went to Fine Foods and I got Kara and me some rootbeer and chips, since we had yet to really eat anything still. Jon still wanted to see if he could get into the show. I was surprised by his ability to even speak after that situation. Kara and I both knew we would have ran away crying far away from everyone else. But I guess Jon's just a stronger, more positive person than us. He probably knew screwing himself out of a fun night wouldn't do him any good. We rode with them to the parking lot where they parked. We decided we'd walk around and wander the city we never got to see last time we were there while they enjoyed the show. The first place we went to was a nearby bookstore called Fountain Books. Before we could get in, a hyper man came up to us and asked in a series of run-on sentences, "Can you spare some change c'mon it's a Friday night, man, nah mean, it's Friday!" as if the day of the week had something to do with whether or not we'd have money to give him. We didn't. The bookstore was really nice and I ended up buying a new stainless steel water bottle since Nalgenes aren't very good for your health. It had a cute little whale on it saying, "I ♥ water!" Then we went and sat next to this awesome pyramid fountain of steps as some R'n'B show was happening. We walked a mile or two back where we came and decided to explore a little, having a really in-depth conversation about veganism together; it was nice to know that the things I was vocally so upset about, Kara was silently being upset about. Once again, I felt like we were the only two people on the planet who felt a certain way. We got fruit smoothies at a place that smelled bad called Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Instead of saying I was vegan, I said we had severe allergies to dairy. It's only then that people take you seriously when you ask what's in their product. We walked over to the Krogers to get some soda and hotdogs to eat. As we walked toward it, a kid our age across the street with a girl yelled to us, "Hey, wanna get drunk?!" I replied, "Not at all!" He continued, "It's my birthday!" I said, "Well, happy birthday. We don't drink, so we won't be any fun, anyway!" He muttered to himself, "You suck," and we were back on our way. Inside Krogers, an employee walked by us with a shopping cart filled with vegan ice cream that was about to be tossed out. The entire natural foods freezer section was cleared out. So we ran out and to the back to see if they used a dumpster or a compactor. Sadly, they compacted their discarded foods, and we could hear the pints of ice cream being thrown into it. He saw us later and told us the next time we see him to ask him to put some of the food about to be trashed out back to take. It was pretty cool of him. But I just couldn't get over how much vegan food was just being tossed out for no good reason.

We ate hotdogs by the microwave, then went outside to sit on the curb. We saw a praying mantis in real life for the first time ever. What a creepy bug those things are. And then we just laid down on the ground until the Kroger cop walked over and stood above us, staring, obviously waiting for us to acknowledge him. Kara's eyes were closed, so she didn't notice. Mine were open and I just didn't want him to think he could get us to give him attention that easy, so I ignored him. A minute passed before he yelled at us, "HELLO?!" He asked if we were tired, we said yes. He asked us if we were going to lay there for much longer, we said no. He granted us ten more minutes to do so. It was stupid. After that, we decided to walk up Grace Street. So many awesome places were located there! A Chinese restaurant with a weekendly vegan buffet, a bar/arcade/venue/diner with vegan breakfast food, a 'gaming cafe' called Pay 2 Play where you come in and play video games; it was such an awesome street. We walked back a couple miles to the parking lot we were left at, since it was nearing midnight. I fell asleep on the ground with gravel and rocks lodged into my skin. We were there for two hours, waiting. It sucked so bad. When they finally got back to the car, we for some reason had to go back to Fine Foods, to wait for the girl, Dominique, and Mikey. When we got there, they were nowhere to be found. Alex tried calling them and was given a, "We'll explain later," excuse. So we just sat there. Across the street at a corner, we saw the girl walk up, look at us, and then walk back. A couple minutes later, an ambulance and two cop cars went to where they were with their lights on. I leaned my head against the window, so tired and annoyed and wanting to return to the Wingnut for some much-needed sleep on something soft with Kara. But for no good reason, we continued sitting there, waiting for three people who weren't even going with us. I think, if anything, they just needed a ride to where they would be staying. And because no one cares about anyone but themselves, they didn't give a shit if it meant making Jon, the nice guy driving everyone everywhere, sitting there, cluelessly waiting. Eventually, everyone but Kara and me got out of the bus to find out what was going on. We just didn't care.

Basically, here's what happened: Dominique and Mikey were sitting with a homebum and eating chicken wings. Dominique tried to take a chicken wing bone out of Leshy's mouth and he bit at her finger, breaking it. Her and Mikey were talking out loud about it while walking up the street when an older couple chimed in and offered help. First, just the husband drove Dominique to the store to get some supplies for her finger, but had to go back since the card he used required his wife's signature. So then she went back with the wife. On the ride, the wife started sobbing and talking about the husband and all their problems. When they got back to the house, hell broke loose. For some reason, instead of fucking leaving, Dominique and Mikey decided to just stay there and become personally involved in their domestic situation. I personally think it has something to do with the husband offering to buy Dominique a camera.

By the time anyone had returned to the bus, nothing was resolved, half of us were pissed that we sat there for seemingly no fucking reason, and Jon couldn't get a hold of Mo back at the Wingnut house, thus meaning we were screwed out of sleeping there for the night. Then it was proposed we all sleep down by James River, where the rest of the people we waited around for were planning on sleeping. I was so unbelievably pissed off. Because all my things were at the Wingnut house, I didn't have my sleeping bag, I had to go to the bathroom really bad for about two hours at that point, and I couldn't shake how unfair it was that three of us were fucked out of sleeping comfortably by a bunch of idiots who kept us waiting for no reason. I just sat there in silence. Kara was upset, too, but she tried to comfort me. I pushed her away, because I didn't want to take anything out on her. We drove and parked up on Oregon Hill. I stomped off and sat at a bench far away from everyone else. It was unbelievably humid out, drunk punks and crusty kids were down at the river where people were planning on sleeping, I didn't have a sleeping bag, Kara's had Leshy piss on it, I had to shit but had nowhere to do it, I was still hungry as hell, and it was all due to three strangers' stupid decisions and indifference towards others. Kara came over to me and I pushed her away again. I walked back over and the crazy husband appeared and started talking to Dominique, calling her 'honey'. Because it, "was awkward to tell him no," she remained polite and conversational with him as he gradually creeped all of us out. Rather than get in this scumbag's face, we all turned right around and got back on the bus. I should have hit the guy. We drove in a giant circle, only to return to where we were before. I was so confused by the decisions everyone was making and I felt bad for Jon, who more so than either Kara or I, was screwed over just by being a nice, patient, helpful guy. All of them took a large span of canvas Jon had for covering the windows of the bus late at night and they all went down to the river to sleep for the night. Kara and I had to sleep on the bus. It was like a sauna inside of it and I was so fucking mad at the entire situation. It would figure the first time Kara and I do something with others besides ourselves at the steering wheel, things would go wrong. Kara was so uncomfortable and angry. She also couldn't stop thinking about Thora dying and how the girl reacted to it. She was so upset, she started to cry. So I held her and we just talked for a long time. It got so hot in there and I was so uncomfortable, I got us to get out of the bus and sit out in the cool air on a nearby curb. She went back on the bus after a while and I went to walk in search for somewhere to use the bathroom. Luckily, something was being worked on across the street and I was able to use their porta-potty. I tried one more time to fall asleep on the bus, but just couldn't. So I went across the street and slept for a little over an hour on a bus stop bench. When I woke up, I was tired and dazed enough to walk over to the bus and fall asleep quickly despite conditions. What a horrible fucking day and night this was. I was just glad I had Kara with me to endure it with. She made me feel less lonely and a whole lot better.