What Passes For Normal

Chapter 9

So, my name. It was Geoffrey's choice; probably wouldn't have been mine if I'd have had any say in it, but my father is actually a fan of biology and evolution, and Charles Darwin is, like, his hero. I guess he was hoping that giving me that name would spark an interest in science. Supposedly, when I was a baby he would read to me from The Origin of the Species. What a cutie.

I'm solidly behind the whole evolution thing along with, you know, the Earth being more than 6,000 years old, not flat, etc., but ol' Charlie D had some pretty messed up ideas about races and women, so I can't say I'm one hundred percent behind sharing his name.

As a name though it's way better than, I don't know, Lily Lilley or Patricia the Second or Tammy Lynn or Bertha or Windsong or millions of others I could think of. I'm fine with it. Could have been worse.

Our drug of choice procured, we're in an alley behind a print shop in a sort of recessed area that's at least semi-hidden from curious onlookers. The building has no windows out the back and it seems like maybe business isn't very good cuz there's never anything happening back here. There are a couple piles of yellowing boxy, computerish things, printers and monitors, two broken office chairs and who knows what else, just abandoned along with piles of papers, some of them bundled and some just strewn around. Mixed in with all that are some stray used needles, signs that we aren't the only ones who've discovered the place.

After Switch's we went and found the others and we all came back here to share in the good times. It was Kodi's idea, of course, the sharing. There's P. L., Ty, Amiya, Jewels, Bryn, and a girl named Wicksy or Wiksi or something who I've never even seen before. So Neea's money is like, easy come, easy go and once again Kodi is the Candy Man sharing our teener with pretty much everyone in sight.

Now P. L. lets us all know that the new girl's name is spelled W-i-x-i-e because somehow that's important, then says "You wanna know why they call her Wixie?" and everyone's like "No, not really" and P. L. and Wixie look a little hurt but no one cares because we're watching Kodi load the pipe.

I always smoke it. I don't really like smoking stuff (probably because it reminds me of my mother when she still used to burn through a pack of du Maurier Extra Lights every single day) but it's what Kodi and the guys do, it's what I learned, and it's a habit now. Never IV'ed it though. Not once. Needles can be dirty, and slamming just seems so hardcore. The people who shoot up are the real addicts.

Kodi's an artist with a meth pipe. He knows the perfect way to position the little mesh filter thing, the perfect amount of rock to put in and, unlike Jewels for example, he never lets even a single shard fall to the ground. I, on the other hand, would make a total mess of it—probably set everyone on fire or something so I'm fine leaving that stuff to Kodi.

He's carefully working the flame under the bowl now to melt the meth crystals. Kodi mods his Bic lighters so that they give out a longer, thinner flame that he can control more precisely. Now the meth crystals are starting to liquefy and, as he tilts the pipe slowly from side to side, the puddle starts to bubble and smoke. He keeps it up until there's a thick cloud of meth vapour in the pipe and then eases off the flame, puts his mouth to the pipe and draws the smoke deep. In a few seconds he lets it out then points the mouthpiece toward me for my turn.

It was always this way before. No matter who was there, Kodi would pass the pipe to me first. We never talked about it, but to me it signified something. My importance to him, my position in the group as part of the alpha couple, I don't know. But at this point, after all that's happened lately, I have no idea why I still rate going right after him. Is it because I'm still his girl? Because I'm usually the source of the meth money? Because he would have passed it to whoever was closest? I don't know, but I choose to believe it's the first one.