Schizo-Frenetic
Dedicated to Shane
Prologue:
“She hold her hand in mine,
Her eyes tell me she’s mine,
She needn’t say much to let me know.
I know she’ll never leave me,
Never try to begrieve me,
It’s what’s inside that makes her beauty show.”
-‘She’s Easy’, from Yesterday’s Children by Yesterday’s Children
Chapter 1: Getting High
A haze drifted through the basement swirling up and around Johnny’s head as he exhaled. Johnny passed the still burning joint to Lucas who inhaled softly and held the smoke in his lungs for a few moments before letting it go, adding to the cloud that was beginning to form above the couch in Johnny’s basement.
Lucas coughed twice and then spoke, “Dude, you have to come out to Colorado now that you’ve graduated. Legal weed, sexy women, and huge mountains you will love it.” Lucas took another puff and passed the joint back to Johnny.
“You do make it seem like the Promised Land,” replied Johnny who then inhaled the smoldering cannabis deeply into his lungs.
“That’s because it is,” said Lucas. “Plus, now that Red moved back up to Oregon, we have a room for you in my house. You can meet Tyler, he is a kick-ass skier, and Kevin, he is a musician; you’ll fit in perfectly. I can’t believe you didn’t come out west for college.”
Johnny took his second puff of the joint and coughed loudly as he exhaled. “What do you guys pay for rent?” he asked before passing the doobie back to Lucas.
“Two thousand, that’s five hundred a month for each of us, plus about fifty bucks a month for utilities and internet.” Lucas paused to take another hit of the joint that was now halfway done. “You’ll be able to manage it,” he said in between coughs. Smoke filled the room like a thick fog on the highway. The joint still burned as ash dropped onto the floor.
“Is it hard to find a job?”
“It’s not too bad, you’ll be able to find something pretty quick. It may not be something flashy but it will pay. Maybe if you majored in something besides English you could find something better.” Lucas gently knocked the excess ash off into the tray and then passed the joint back to Johnny.
“There you go knocking down the English major again,” said Johnny.
“I’m just speaking the truth.”
Johnny took a moment to inhale from the joint before replying, “Well look at how majoring in international studies turned out for you; you work in a hotel.”
“Dude, we’re both liberal arts majors so we are basically in the same boat. Besides, I like my job at the Hilton, half the time I get paid for doing nothing.”
“You do like doing nothing,” teased Johnny while passing the nearly finished joint back to Lucas for his finals puffs.
“That’s not true! I like doing lots of things,” Lucas retorted as he accepted the joint then held the roach up to his lips and inhaled deeply the last of the cannabis. Skiing, partying, dancing, fucking. I’m out to live life to the fullest. We only have so much time to be young my man and there is no better place to be young these days than Colorado.”
“You mentioned dancing. I hear the dance music scene in Denver is off the hook. Do you go to many shows?”
“We go to all kinds of shows,” responded Lucas as if the question was hardly worth asking. “All year round the shows are fucking awesome in Denver. There are all kinds of different venues: Red Rocks in the summer, the Convention Center in winter, and small shows at places like the Fillmore. That’s another reason you have to move out there. Just tell your parents that this is what you’re going to do, then do it.”
Things were always that simple with Lucas. If he wanted to do something he just went ahead and did it without pausing to question himself or others. It was simultaneously one of his greatest strengths and weaknesses. Johnny liked to ask questions, but this was one time that he was sure that Lucas was right. He needed a change. He had spent his whole life living on the East coast; growing up in Connecticut, going to school in Boston. He loved his home but he wanted people who were out there, and he wanted to be near mountains, real Rocky Mountains, not the sort of hills that he would take ski trips to in Vermont. He needed a change. “Okay,” he said. “I’m in. Having a place to live already will cut down on half the trouble of moving. Then, I will just need to find a job.”
“That’s the spirit!” shouted Lucas clapping Johnny on the back. “You are going to love it!”
