Twelve

-12-

“Know when to walk away, Know when to run”

I had officially passed up on my first opportunity to experiment with more than just marijuana. There was only a tiny bit of regret, but Eric did his best to re-assure me that I wasn’t missing out on much. Of course, he could not stop running his mouth about it to me. He went on and on about how much fun he had that night. I never told him this, but Eric’s continued rambling left me feeling sorry for myself. Between his love of his one time coke binge and Sarah’s own recreational drug use, I felt that I was once again getting passed by in life. With my best friend and girlfriend living a party hard, carefree lifestyle, I would be left alone to fend for myself once again.

Sarah was none too pleased to find out that I had passed up cocaine. In fact, she was more upset that I didn’t call her over to join in. Sarah had dabbled in acid, mushrooms, and ecstasy, and as I found out later that night, Cocaine was next on her list. It was a list of things to do again. She explained to me that three really was no great come down from the drug the next morning. By that, she meant no achy body or no hangover, just simply some residue dripping down your nasal cavity into the back of your throat. All in all, it did not sound like a horribly good time.

School finished up for the semester with Sarah and me still going strong. We spent a fair amount of time together, which was nice. As we hung out more and more, we found more of a common ground than previously thought. We enjoyed the same T.V. shows and movies, for the most part. The similarities stopped a little bit with our tastes in music. It seems Tori Amos and Rap music doesn’t really mesh well together. Out of all of her music from the “We are tortured women” collection, I did come to appreciate the stylings of Mazzy Star. I can hear that song “Fade into You” and I’m immediately taken back to the year 2000. Of course, we had more in common than pop culture. Our viewpoints were very similar on society and religion, you know, your basic things in life. Sarah was bright, in her own right, and always carried a smile on her face. She had a cute factor that I could never exactly place, but it drove me wild. Every morning that I woke up next to her, I fell more in love with her. She loved to spend time with me. It wasn’t over bearing, like I had felt with Heather. I legitimately wanted to spend all of my time with her.

This, of course, did not please some of my friends. Eric mostly complained that I didn’t hang out enough. He said he liked the depressed me better, because that I meant more time with him drinking to the early hours of the morning. He understood, though, because he could see that I was happy. The only condition was that I had to still drink with him at least once in awhile, which I did.

Christopher and I, on the other hand, had stopped hanging out altogether. I guess I wouldn’t go that far because we still managed to hang out once in awhile. It was mostly at parties we had at the house, but never outside of that. I was spending many of my nights with Sarah because she lived alone. Christopher, one night over many beers, complained that I never slept at home, and that the place felt empty without me. Over the years, Christopher said a lot of things that made him seem gay, but I chose to accept this one as a compliment. Nevertheless, it did not change my routine. Sarah and I continued to stay at her house, except for the occasional time we both got drunk at my house. Those were the few times that made Christopher happy.

It was in the first part of that summer in which I realized that my life was once again settling into a routine. Granted, the routine involved drinking, parties, sex, and sleeping in until 3 P.M., but it was a routine nonetheless. I had gone to college partially to break free of the mundane, wash, rinse, and repeat existence that I had previously lived. To mix things up a little, I decided to get my first job in nearly 3 years. I got a job at a video rental store. It wasn’t too difficult to obtain because Eric was already working there. The place was a mid-size chain, but it was never too busy. A few of Eric’s other friends worked there, so I had no problem fitting right in. Most of the people that worked there were all around the same age and our manager was the best. The place was slow enough that when I needed a weekend off with part of the group, it was no problem.

I made minimum wage at the job, but that was no problem. I still had money saved up from financial aid and prior summer job, so the money I earned would just be put towards an enjoyable summer. Being twenty one in the summer for the first time, I surprisingly did not spend the majority of it at the bar. For one, I had a girlfriend that was underage. Unlike my time spent with Heather, I actually did not feel the need to hide from Sarah. On the other hand, Sarah spent a fair amount of time with her friends so I didn’t need to worry about lying to her about where I was. Many nights during the summer were spent with our respective friends. Then, as the night wore down, Sarah and I would get together. It was the perfect existence.

Eric and I spent most our time with Eric’s high school friends. I had occasionally hung out with these guys, mostly when Travis had a party. Our college friends and Eric’s high school friends didn’t exactly have the most in common, so it wasn’t often that the entire lot of friends would hang out together. It was during this summer when some of the college friends passed by the way side and the old high school friends of Eric stepped to the forefront.

Being bored with the city, many of our nights were spent up at the lake that was located about thirty minutes outside of town. It all started harmlessly at first. Eric, myself, and two other friends would make the drive up to the mountains with a case of beer and an open mind. One of the friends, Michael, would often do the driving, as he usually just chose to stay sober. He said it was easier to revel in our buffoonery that way. Anyways, we had found the perfect spot just off the dirt roads that had benches, a fire pit, and a dock to boot. Sometimes we’d build a fire, but for the most part we’d simply sit under the summer night sky, drink our beer, and banter back and forth about sports, movies, history, or whatever topic came to mind. The group eventually grew to include other friends and girlfriends or sometimes even random people we’d met the week before. No matter the case, we were at peace with ourselves and with nature.

We had many adventures up in those mountains. Eric got a blowjob from a girl in the back seat of my car. We burned some the sandals of some girl we didn’t like and then she complained for the next hour that she’d lost them. We even came close to fighting a group of Star Wars loving nerds that Eric and Michael had hated in high school. They had come up with some girls we knew and didn’t like them to begin with, but it made us seem even tougher when Eric broke a beer bottle over a bench and held it up to the poor kids. Michael and I stood behind him with utter arrogance as our other friend chose to stay back at our own fire. Needless to say, those kids stayed silent for the rest of the night. Those were just a few of the fun times I found myself tangled up in, but our time at the lake soon came to a harrowing end.

The night started in complete innocence. We were bored at the house and having a few beers and enjoying some video games. It was Brian who had suggested that we head to the mountains for a night of fun and relaxation. Brian was the fourth friend that had usually joined us on these jaunts. He drank from time to time, but never has heavily as Eric and I did. The man never really needed the alcohol to get riled up like we did. He was colorful and off the wall, which generally made some people uncomfortable, but we thought he was hilarious. Brian was a great friend and had even offered to drive my car. Being a few beers deep, I certainly had no problem with this.

Soon enough, I lost to Eric at the NBA LIVE video game we were playing. I had enough of losing and Eric humming the Superman theme song every time Shaq hit a three, so I was more than ready to leave. We grabbed what had remained of the beer and hopped in my car. Brian drove and Eric rode shotgun. I couldn’t even get shotgun in my own car, that’s how bad the night was going. I sat next to Michael in the back with the windows rolled down, enjoying the summer breeze. In no time at all we were on the dirt road leading to the campsite. Our excitement grew as we belted out the latest Nelly song that was dominating the airwaves. We had almost reached our destination. Of course we had done this numerous times over the course of the still early summer, but each time we’d gone up here we’d come back with quite a story, outrageous or not. This time would turn out to be no different.

We pulled up and the first thing that we noticed was that a camper was parked in the parking area. This was one of those trucks with a camper shell that you see at the camping sites in horror movies that usually spell doom. It was a white shell and was torn and weathered to pieces. This was the first time that someone else other than a person we knew had occupied our spot. Sure it was a public spot, but we’d almost come to believe that we’d owned this area. We debated quietly in the car as whether or not we should even stay here. In the end, Eric eventually made the decision for us. “We drove all the way up here. Even if they’re not in their camper, we can always hang out on the dock. It’s cool.”

Thinking this was fine logic, we agreed to Eric’s decision. One by one we opened the doors of my car. Eric grabbed the beer and the four of us walked single file down the path that led to the campsite. Sure enough, as soon as we came into sight of the area, there was a small fire built. We knew we had the dock as a second option, but the only problem with that is we needed to walk by the fire to get there. Eric continued to walk in front and the three of us followed closely.

As we walked by, two men of Native American ancestry were sitting at the picnic tables, drinking tall cans of Steel Reserve. I immediately had second thoughts about staying. We, being four white kids, were probably ruining their private beer drinking affair. I had wanted to just turn around and leave. Eric had other ideas, though, and he kept walking. “Hi, how’s it going,” he asked politely as we walked by.

“You kids look too young to be drinking,” responded the younger man as he pointed to our beer. “Can I see some I.D.s?

Eric and I laughed nervously, but the younger man did not return the gesture. He simply stared at us without even batting an eyelash. He was about ten years older than us. He wore a flannel jacket with jeans. He had a scar under his eye and was about 220 pounds. These men were obviously not cops, but Michael hesitantly reached for his wallet in order to appease the man and not cause trouble. As he did so, the man spoke. “Nah, I’m just fucking with you. What are you guys drinking?”

Ever the polite young man, I replied. “Keystone Light. If you don’t mind, we’re gonna go drink down on the dock. Is that cool?”

I tried my best to sound like a man, but I probably came across as a young school boy who was about to be paddled. The man simply smiled and nodded. I turned to walk away and had noticed that Eric and Michael were already half way down to the dock. I went to grab Brain, but he had already been ensnared. He was intrigued and wanted to know more about these men. Being the friend that I am and not wanting to leave Brian alone, I decided to stay with him.

“Hi. I’m Brian.”

“I’m Lucas,” the younger man of the two responded, “and this is my father.”

The older man did not respond. Instead, his eyes followed the beer down to the dock. He continued to stare down towards the dock as Brian stayed with the conversation. I kept my eyes alternating between Lucas and his father. “Cool scar,” Brian calmly stated as a smile crossed his face.

“Thanks. I got it in prison,” responded Lucas smugly.

Brian chuckled, but Lucas did not. “Seriously man, I got out about two weeks back. Me and my dad are just doing some camping. Getting away for a few days.”

I did not need to hear any more. I had wanted to get the hell out of dodge. Brian, though, felt a need to continue with his line of questioning. He seemed to be not at all worried about Lucas. “What did you go to jail for?”

“You ask a lot of questions,” Lucas said as he sipped from his Steel Reserve. “I got in a knife fight at a bar. This guy spilled some beer on me so I stabbed him. Fucker wouldn’t apologize, you know. So I just stabbed him a few times in the stomach area. He was my brother, though, so I let him off easy. You know, you kids shouldn’t be up here at night. Not alone, anyhow. You never know why kind of people you’ll run into. Me and my dad carry a shotgun with us, mostly for hunting, but you never know what could happen up here.”

Lucas did not take a breath during the entire time he spoke to us. It’s like everything he had just said had erupted in one, long run on sentence. I kept waiting for Lucas’ dad to say something, especially when Lucas mentioned that he had stabbed his own brother, but the old man just kept quiet. He only stared down towards the dock with a scowl upon his face. He was completely still for a few moments until he abruptly stood up, threw his empty can of beer on the ground, and slowly started to walk up the hill that led to his camper.

“Pops gets surly at night sometimes. He doesn’t really like people. He’s been drinking since two and probably just wants to fire off some rounds. No big deal.”

I had reached my breaking point, and by the looks of it, so had Brian. “Lucas, buddy, it was nice meeting you. We’re going to join our friends on the dock. Have a good night.”

Lucas did not respond and we didn’t wait around for an answer, either. Brian gave me a slight shove, all while smiling at Lucas, and we stumbled down to the dock.

Eric was already on his second beer by the time we got down there. Eric and Michael asked what happened and Brian quickly regaled them with the story of Lucas, with me adding a few points here and there. The entire time that Brian was talking, Eric was laughing his ass off. Michael had stood up as he was clearly ready to leave. At this point, to calm my nerves, I had cracked open a beer and had seated myself next to Eric. Brian and Michael were both ready to jet out of there as quick as humanely possible. Just to check up on the situation, I glanced up to the picnic area. I could see Lucas as he kind of just walked circles around the fire. His dad was still no where to be seen and I was a little nervous about that.

“Here’s what we’re gonna do,” said Eric. “Timmy and I are going to finish the beer that we have already opened. Then we’ll leave. If we give it a few minutes, things will calm down. That way, we don’t look like a bunch of scared pussies.”

Somehow, even though we were scared out of our minds, this line of reasoning made sense. Eric and I tried to joke around with the group, but even the laughs we got were forced. I was worried that the dad of Lucas was fucking with my car. Maybe he was slashing the tires or breaking into it, I didn’t know. I kept these thoughts to myself because I didn’t see the need to escalate the fear that Michael was facing. I gulped my beer in large quantities in hopes of getting out of there sooner.

Eric, on the other hand, chose now to actually sit back and sip on his beer. He was never one to do this. Eventually, he finished and stood up. He grabbed the box of beer and no one moved. We were all waiting for the other one to go first. It was finally decided that Brian should lead the way since he had already built a report with Lucas. Brian sighed and marched off. Michael followed close behind him and Eric and I brought up the rear; each of us now smoking a cigarette.

The four of us approached the picnic area and saw Lucas sitting alone on one of the tables. He had now produced a knife and was carving some art into the table. Lucas’ dad had not yet returned and now our fear was that he was waiting in the bushes for us. Brian and Michael walked by. Brian muttered good night and nice to meet you, or something along those lines. Michael gestured a sheepish wave good-bye and stuck right by Brian’s side. As Eric and I walked by Lucas, he decided to stop us. “Where are you going with my beer?”

This was truly not right. Lucas had blocked Eric’s path and was not letting us pass. We had clearly bought the beer and Eric wasn’t about to let Lucas forget that. “No man, this is our beer. We brought it with us. You were drinking Steel Reserve.”

Lucas did not hesitate. “Nah, man, my dad bought that beer there, in the box, earlier. I saw you grab it from our table when you walked to the dock.”

Brian and Michael, already on their way up the hill, were motioning for us to just leave the beer with Lucas. Lucas continued to play with the knife in his hand as Eric spoke. “You can have a few, if you want, but the beer is ours.”

Lucas took a step closer to Eric, now only a foot or two away. “I remember I offered you one, and you took the entire box.”

My mind could not stop thinking of the story Lucas told about the knife fight. The man was fragile and spoke with much conviction about that story. I didn’t want to see the same fate happen to Eric that happened to Lucas’ brother. “You know, man, it’s your beer. We took it by mistake. Have a good night. Let’s go, Eric.”

Eric reluctantly gave up the beer. He carefully set it down on the bench of the picnic table. I kind of shoved him forward as Lucas continued to stare at us. He stepped slightly to the side, and I did my best to avoid making eye contact. As we started up the hill, I reminded Eric of the knife story. He suddenly picked up his pace and nearly ran up the hill. I did the same, not wanting to find out if Lucas was willing to leave well enough alone. Brian and Michael had taken off just as Eric had set down the beer so Brian already had the car running as we got to it. I did a quick scan of the tires before I jumped in the back seat. Brian threw the car in reverse as my eyes were constantly focused on the hill. Thrusting the vehicle into drive, we sped away; leaving a cloud of dust behind us. Eric and I focused on the camper as we nervously awaited the dad to emerge with a shotgun. He never did.

The car ride home was silent. Every thirty seconds or so, we would look behind us to make sure that we weren’t being followed. We repeatedly called 911 in fear of our lives, but our cell phones never got service again until we had reached the city. By that time, we were completely deflated and had given up. We would not travel again to the lake at night that summer or for years to come for that matter. Lucas was simply too much for one night. Fortunately for me, the summer fun was not quite over. I still had a drug loving girlfriend to attend to.