Spirits and Demons

South Louisiana

                                                              Part Twenty Five

  Walking down to the mountain stream to cool their feet from the hot floorboard of the Volkswagon, Bubba decided to take the purple microdots he had left over from the concert. Mike recalled Julia and Veronica dancing wildly after seeing them take some similar drugs and he knew he'd be the one driving all night. Mike lit one of the joints the hippie chicks had given him and passed it to Bubba. The strawberry flavored papers scent was in the air as Bubba puffed the sweet smoke in deep. After finally exhaling he said groovy, man. Once they'd smoked the joint, Mike and Bubba walked dizzily back up the mountain until they reached the Volkswagon. Mike placed the lovebead roachclip necklace around his neck while Bubba grabbed another beer apiece. Nearly two days after the concert, they could still hear the music reverberating throughout their minds whilst they watched the sun slowly setting on the horizon. Bubba began describing rainbow colors he was seeing while Mike was humming Iron Butterfly's song Inna-Ga-Da-Vida. Then he started driving down the mountain towards home as the marijuana high rushed upon him.

  Hours later, Mike pulled into a truckstop since he'd noticed the fuel gauge was almost on empty. Having the munchies from smoking the marijuana, he'd parked near the all night restaurant. Mike looked into the mirror at his bloodshot, puffy eyes and knew he'd have to get some much needed sleep. Near noon, Mike woke and noticed Bubba was still sleeping hard. He shoved and shoved but couldn't wake Bubba up so he poured water over his head and splashed his face. Bubba groggily awakened, sputtering and trying to talk though nothing he said could be understood. Mike lit a joint, passed it to Bubba and he began grinning from ear to ear. Drying his face with his shirt tail, Bubba opened his door and fell out laughing onto the pavement. Mike walked around the Volkswagon to help him get back on his feet and they went inside for a hot breakfast. Bubba asked Mike what had happened after they'd left the mountains behind and Mike told him that he'd passed out from the drugs and that he'd jerked and talked crazy all night in his sleep. Bubba was still pretty stoned and didn't even notice country music was playing on the jukebox. Neither one knew where they were at until the waitress told them they were in Jackson, Mississippi. Mike was relieved to discover they were only several hours from home.

  After filling up the Volkswagon and getting back on the highway, Mike related to Bubba where to drop him off when they reached Baton Rouge. They arrived near dark, Bubba hid the car behind the Schlitz company and they sat there for quite awhile. It wasn't long until Jimmy Don, Ricky, and Ronny walked up and asked where they'd been all week. Bubba told them they'd been all the way to New York and back and was at the Woodstock concert. Mike was relieved none of his brothers believed what Bubba had told them and he said they'd been fishing and camping all week. Jimmy Don, Ricky, and Ronny all spoke at one time, telling Mike to get home and help pack. They were moving to Texas as soon as Arlis returned from his deep sea fishing trip. Jimmy Don had been picked up by the police for being drunk and riding his bicycle. And if that wasn't enough, Ricky and Ronny had been picked up by the truant officer for skipping school. They were caught hanging out with older boys, gambling with the neighborhood's school dropouts. Once home, Mike noticed his mother was drunk and she seemed to not know he'd been gone all week. She had the country music playing loud on the stereo. Bubba came in and hung around a while, then left later to return his sister's car in the middle of the night. He asked if he could spend the night on the couch and Virginia told him he could but he better not be there when Arlis came in. The next day Virginia checked Jimmy Don, Mike, Ricky, and Ronny out of school for the upcoming move to Texas. Arlis arrived home late that evening with an ice chest full of strange looking fish none of the kids had ever seen before. He asked what had went on while he had been gone on his deep sea fishing trip and Virginia didn't relate any of the troubles the boys had gotten into. She only related she'd been packing all week, waiting for his return. They'd already decided to move to Texas though Arlis had wanted to go on his last Louisiana deep sea fishing trip. Arlis said he needed to get some sleep and that tomorrow he'd barbeque while finishing loading everything into a rented U-Haul trailer. Jimmy Don, Mike, Ricky, and Ronny waited until everyone was asleep and they went drinking and gambling until near dawn. They knew they'd miss south Louisiana.