Deamons

Chapter 23 "Greens..." part1

"Greens..."

Starke and Piner make it to the truck and now Robbie is willing to get out. He is hopping up and down like the Easter bunny, bopping his shoulders like Little Richard and rubbing his hands together like a miner looking forward to hitting the motherload. "Did you get it this time? Did you get it?" Robbie is asking. "Of course, I got it," Piner brags. "Let me see it! Let me see it!" Robbie is jumping and bopping like popcorn with excitement now. "Get out of my way Robbie! Not out here. If one of those bikers pulls in now with you like that we are dead!" Piner pushes by him and Starke follows. Robbie gets in and Will peels wheels on the way out creating a dusk cloud in his wake.

"Let me see it! Let me see it!" Robbie exclaims turned all the way around in the tight seat of the Jeep, his butt is pushed up on the windshield. Will driving is jerky and the road winding. He drives twenty miles over the limit. He needs to push Robbie back over when the road winds right as Robbie leans into him making the journey reckless. Neither seem to worry that the two kids in the back have illegal drugs in their pocket that make the whole cab smell like a can of raid went off. Obviously, part of being young and dumb includes believing you cannot wreck or be pulled over by the police. Piner and Starke shake around in the back like marbles in a kid's pocket. "Hold on Robbie! Not until we pull over somewhere!" Piner says. Robbie plops back around and pushes his brand new pristine white high dollar sneakers up against the windshield and stops his feet like a soft shoe dance on the glass. "Pull over Will! Pull over Will!" Robbie shouts.

Will slams on the brakes screeching to a stop on the side of a dark road. There is another dust cloud from where he skids on the dirt adjacent the white line of the roads end. Starke is coming to find this is not Will showing off it is just how he is, all or nothing. "We are stopped! Now let's see the g-r-e-e-n-s!" Robbie exclaims. Starke goes to pull his bag out of his pocket and stops when he catches the look of death from Piner. Then Piner looks back at Robbie who looks like a dog panting for raw meat. Piner squints an eye obviously thinking about which pocket he is going to reach for. He decides on the cigarette cellophane. It has less drugs in it. The PCP is soaked into parsley flakes which are so wet and fresh the some of the fluid looks to be leaching through the bag. Harvey had his drugs in a cooler on ice which kept the smell down by half. The chemical stench is overwhelming in the small cab of the jeep. Starke likes the smell. Then he always liked the smell of gas too and this is not far off from that.

"Roll it up! Roll that shit up!" Robbie screams. "Wait a minute," Will says. "Let me see that." Will reaches back grabbing the cellophane. "This ain't no half can. I want my money back," Will says. Starke reaches into his pocket just wanting to get things going. He is nervous here with drugs that stink to high heaven on the side of the road where if a cop comes by he will surely stop and question what they are doing. Piner grabs Starke's hand to stop him. No look this time. He is focused on Will. "That is what they gave me. It's a half can and if you don't like it you go back there and tell them you want your money back," Piner says.

Will swallows hard. He is beat. The fear in his eyes is real. He does not have the guts to deal with the people at the driveway and he does not have the guts to stand up to people that have the guts to deal with such people any more than he has. Robbie chimes in, "Just roll one up come on!" Piner pulls a pack of rolling papers from his front pocket and Will hands him back the cellophane. Piner is skillful. He fingers moves with almost spider like precision weaving a web. He rolls up two joints with plump middles and then one small one he calls his pinner. He puts the pinner in his pocket. Piner hands one of the fat joints to Robbie, who quickly shoves it in his mouth and hits it with a lighter. The joint licks up with fire enhanced by the chemicals then dies done as Robbie draws the hit in. Will points out that Robbie's eyebrows are slightly singed and the two laugh it away as the joint is passed to Will. Will takes a tiny drag then passes it to Starke. Something in him tells him not to take it. He wants to run and if they were not stuck in the back seat of the jeep he probably would. "Come on man hit that shit! You are letting it waste away," Robbie says in the whiniest voice. Starke starts to reach for it and stops. Piner hits his elbow forcing his hand the rest of the way forward. "Don't let it drop," Piner says. Starke is embarrassed and takes the joint in hand.

The gifts already drowned out by the alcohol make a desperate attempt reach Starke. They push at the deamons to try to take control. Some of their message gets through. The idea of being a square cut kid and good person comes to Starke's mind. Envy screams inside him, "Look at Will and Robbie's clothes. Robbie has a watch worth more than all of what you have!" Starke looks down at what he has on. It is a pair of jeans the girls were calling them his highwater's. When he figured out what they meant he cut the hem out to get another half inch, but they were still too short and looked frazzled. All of it infuriated him. Anger shot around in him like a loose cannon. Rejection calls for Oppression. "See them over there? Go rain on them. The gifts already weakened by alcohol are floundering in the great hall trying to influence Starke the best they can. Oppression heads their way.

Starke takes the hit. It is at the meatiest part of the joint. Piner designed his roll like that so the first two hits were mostly paper then the meat of the sandwich. It is caustic. Starke face immediately feels like straight pins are running all through it. He coughs. He chokes. Gasping for air he tries to pass to Piner. "Uh uh no way. Starke hit that bitch again!" Robbie says his feet still up on the glass. Piner hands it back to him. "Just draw it in slowly Piner says. It is at the fattest part of the joint now. Piner really is not happy with handing it back. He wanted that for himself.

Starke does want it, but the pressure is on. He draws on it steady. He is liking the taste now. Something is happening. His mind is pulling away. He feels light headed and powerful all at the same time. "Now hold that shit in! He-he-he," Robbie cackles. Starkie does and it is hard. He just wants to push it out, but he holds the chemically poisoned air in as long as he can. The oxygen hits his long but a parasite comes with it that goes straight to the mind. Starke's head rocks then falls back on the seat. He cannot open his eyes. The world looks to distorted. Like being on a spinning carnival ride he knows if he opens his eyes projectile puke will spew from his shotgun mouth.