The Drug Dealers Handbook

Chapter Twenty- Four

Really quick announcement! I changed the time that James will be gone to 6 months, as it should have been from the beginning. But I'm a space case and screwed it up.

Enjoy!

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If they say distance makes the heart grow fonder, what can be said about that time leading up to said distance? In the two weeks that we had before James had to leave, that question plagued my mind. The question that would lead up to the inevitable, and would prove whether a cliched saying would prove true. I couldn't help that think that for someone who made me so happy, James sure caused me a lot of heartache.

The time moved so strangely, with the weeks short but the days long. We were in our own little world, and I had little reguard for anything else other than the numbered days. All I knew was it certainly wasn't enough time to fully grasp what was happening.

My crude awakening came the last night that I would have with James. We sat in our park on blankets, with Mariah, Ben, and Weston on either side of us. It was a night that we were all determined to not make a pity party, but instead a "one last hoorah" kind of thing. But a sober hoorah. I don't think that idea really got through to Ben and Weston when I had told them not to worry about bringing drinks or "party favors", as I would cover it. They definitely weren't happy when I got out of the car with a case of Dr. Pepper in one hand and a giant tub of Red Vines in the other.

"He's going away to rehab, you dipshits, why the Hell would we have alcohol and drugs?" I chided them after they complained for the millionth time.

"Besides, you aren't allowed to do anything, anyways," Mariah told Ben. "We have a kid to take care of." Ben just rolled his eyes.

Ignoring the both of us, Weston turned to James and said: "It really says something about our relationship that I haven't left you for the six-pack I have at home."

"I love you too, man," James replied jokingly.

It was the kind of night where everything useless was said, but everything meaningful was implied. No one said the good-byes that were usually expected, because none of us were the sort. James didn't say anything about how much he hated his parents for making him go, and none of us asked about what was going on. We didn't need to vocally express the fact that we were all feeling the same anger that James was.

When ten o'clock rolled around, Mariah and Ben got up to leave, saying that they had to save Mariah's mom from watching Grace. Weston stayed firmly seated in his spot, even as we all stared at him expectantly.

"Don't you want to get home to your beer?" Mariah prodded.

"Nah, I think I'm going to stay here for awhile longer,"

"It's getting late," James added. "You should probably get going,"

Weston looked up at Mariah and Ben, and then over at James and I before he finally got it. "Oh, so this is you guys telling me to leave. I see how it is."

"We mean it with all of our love backing it," I reassure him.

"Whatever, I get it. I'll leave." he sighed dramatically before standing and leaving without another word. Mariah and Ben said good-bye again before leaving the two of us alone.

We sat in silence for a while, with my head resting on his shoulder. The faint sounds of crickets and traffic in the distance were the only things we could hear, and I wrapped those around me like a blanket. The quiet was a gaurd against what words would bring on.

But, alas, we could not sit there forever. "What time is your flight tomorrow?" I finally asked.

"Too early," He replied.