Blind Blue

Chapter 19

“I hate this to you know,” Scarlet said now calm as well.

“Then let’s all forget it,” Kyle said dryly. “Let’s forget all of it. We’re all friends, we wont bother about relationships for now at least. Friends?”

“Friends.” Me and Scar said in unison.

“So a man opens his front door and finds a snail on the porch so he throws it across the road,” Kyle started. “A year later he open’s his front door and finds the same snail on the porch and the snail says ‘what the fuck was that all about you asshole?’”

Both me and Scarlet just stayed quiet. She probably gave him a funny look, I know I had one on my face.

“I’ll tell you a good joke,” Scarlet said sounding confident.

“Ahh, a joke war. Bring it on.” Kyle had a smile in his voice.

“So a man goes to the doctors for his annual check up and the doctor tells him ‘you need to stop masturbating.’ The guy asks ‘why?’ And the doctor replies ‘Because I’m trying to examine you.’” We all laughed at that one.

It went on like that, us all laughing and happy as we passed the time. At that moment everything was great, perfect in fact. The excitement in the car, the laughter and bad singing to random songs we barely new. For a while at least we felt immortal, like nothing could touch us as we drove along the quiet roads to whatever destination Kyle had in mind.

We all knew it wouldn’t last though, it couldn’t last but as we waited for Kyle to tell us we were here it didn’t matter. Nothing really mattered, not the fight, not illness or doctors or death. We were us and right now it was all we cared about, all we truly knew.

In my head I could see the future. Scarlet’s funeral, going home to Kyle’s asses of friends and my non-existent parents. It would be awful, we’d be torn apart one way or another but now, in this perfect moment we were all together and for me at least it was all that mattered.

I could never have asked for anything more.

~~~

“We’ll be there in an hour guys,” Kyle said. “So campfire stories.”

“We’re not around a campfire, we’re in a car.” I pointed out.

“Theoretically Cy.” He sighed. “Now since you want to be all smart you can go first so shoot.”

“So once there was a lazy boy called Jack who lived with his mother who made a modest wage by making clothes.” I stared, having decided on a classic fairytale. “One day his mother was sick of him just sitting there and doing nothing so she sent him out to find work for the day. Jack found work at a farm and the farmer paid him a penny but on his way home he dropped the penny. ‘You stupid boy,’ his mother yelled, ‘you should have put it in your pocket.’ And so the next day he went back to the farmer who instead of a penny gave him a jug of milk. So as his mother had said he put the milk in his pocket but as he walked it all sloshed out. ‘You ninny!’ his mother shouted, ‘you should have carried it on your head’. The next day the farmer gave him some soft cheese and like his mother had said he carried it on his head but by the time he got home it had melted all over his hair. ‘You featherbrain,’ his mother said, ‘you should have carried it in your hands.’ The next day the farmer gave Jack a half grown tom cat and like his mother had said he carried it in his hands but the cat struggled and scratched him so much he let it go. ‘You dolt! You should have tied it with a string and dragged it along after you,’ His mother told him. The next day the farmer gave Jack a leg of mutton witch he tied with a string and dragged behind him on the way home. By the time he got home it was filthy with dust and other things. ‘You halfwit!’ His mother screamed at the top of her voice incredibly angry at him, ‘You should have carried it on your shoulders.’ The next day Jack worked very hard and so the farmer decided to give him his old donkey. Jack was a strong lad but even he struggled to lift the donkey onto his shoulders and he huffed and puffed all the way home…”