home is with you//joshler

The Run and Go

Josh and I spent the rest of the night stoned. We ate 3 family size bags of jalapeno chips while we played Mario Kart. I crushed him, and he only won once because I let him.

It's nearing 4 am, and I'm still having issues comprehending everything that's happened. If I hadn't have gone to Sonic, would I still've met Josh? What if I hadn't gone to the broken machine? Would he still have been the carhop? I guess I had Ruby to thank. If she didn't give me the $20 to spend in the first place, I definitely wouldn't have gone to Sonic.

I guess it's actually pretty easy to understand why I met him, but rather difficult to understand why he's so nice to me. He took me to the movies and bought all the food. He brought me to his fucking house. How much trust does he have to give?

"Ty?" Josh was sitting upside down on the couch, meaning his head was on the floor and his legs on the back.

"What?" I giggled from the bungee chair. My body felt light, and I wonder if I could fly. I imagine myself floating above Ohio, seeing everybody. Only they couldn't see me, I'd be too high. That made me laugh more.

Josh laughs too, his hands going to his stomach as he curls in a ball and falls off the couch with a thud. He stops laughing and groans, clutching his head. I jump up.

"Josh?" My bare feet become cold against the hard floor while I slowly make my way over to him. He doesn't answer. I start to worry.

"Josh, are you okay?" I reach down to shake him, but before I can I'm being pulled down to the ground.

"TICKLE FIGHT!" I'm barely allowed enough time to catch my breath before Josh straddles my waist, pinning both of my wrists above my head with one hand, the other tickling my entire torso. Of course, me being me, I'm ticklish literally everywhere.

"Josh, st-stop, I ca-can't breathe!" In the midst of struggling to get out of his grip (and breathe) I somehow manage to knock over the entire tray of weed and white-colored contents in unsealed bags onto the FOB rug, and into the vent next to the couch. Josh immediately stops.

"Ohnoohshitohmygodtylerno," I'm frozen on the floor, my elbows holding myself up while Josh scrambles to get as much as he can off of the carpet.

"Fuck, oh my god. He's going to kill me, Tyler. I'm seriously dead. Oh my god," Josh sits on his legs and buries his head into his hands. He's crying. Joshua William Dun, a stranger only a few hours ago, is crying in front of me for something I did. I fucked up.

"Josh, I-" I was about to apologize when Josh wipes his face and stands up. He walks out of the room.

"Tyler? We have to leave. Like, right now," Josh comes back in with a big duffel bag. I still haven't moved. He walks over to me and holds his hand out.

"Ty, I'm serious. Please, just come with me and I'll explain on the way. We need to move fast."

All I can do is nod while Josh puts a shirt on and shoves clothes into his bag. Slowly, I end up finding my bag in his bedroom. My entire body feels numb. What the fuck is going on?

"Will you please grab the green backpack underneath my bed? It has what we need," Josh speaks fast and focused. He's still putting things into his bag.

I do what he says, and when I open it, my jaw drops. The bag is packed to the brim with bundles of cash, all of them $100 bills.

"Ty, please hurry. Did you get your bag? If you could, please carry the green one, too. If there's anything you need we can grab it at a store or something," Josh grabs a black wallet off of his dresser and grabbed my hand, pulling me back into the living room where he slipped a bag over his shoulder, shut the TV off, grabbed his shoes and mine and made our way out the front door.

After driving for a good half hour in silence, I finally say something.

"I didn't mean to knock it over," my chin is rested of my hand and I watch the cars pass. I feel horrible. It's already 5am. Josh sighs.

"It's not your fault. I shouldn't have gotten it out," I can feel Josh looking over at me, but I keep my gaze on the oncoming headlights. "Look, hear me out before you say anything, please. It's a long story."

With that, Josh proceeds to tell me that the reason he's able to afford a house with a part-time job is because he doesn't pay for it, a guy named Brad does. Brad gives young people like Josh everything they need; food, money, shelter, as long as they do what he needs. So, in other words, Josh sells drugs for Brad, and Brad pays him triple the amount the buyers pay. For example, if somebody bought $350 worth of "speed" from Josh, Brad would give him $1,050 to keep. The only problem is, if anything went wrong, anybody got ratted out, or Josh fucked up somehow, Brad knew.

"Brad cut a man's throat in my kitchen for trying to knock down the price. When he finds out I dumped $7,000 worth of drugs into the vent and onto the floor, he'll have the entire city looking for me. I know a guy in Cincinnati. He can get us a new car and some fake ID's, if you want to come with me, anyway. I get it if you don't," I reach over and intertwine our fingers. What did I get myself into? Why the fuck am I on the run and go, with quite possibly the most beautiful semi-stranger I've ever seen, and in his pajamas?