Tristan changed into his nice clothes once more as we got back to his house, to another tight t shirt, but this one wasn't as tight as the he wore to school, and I also went home to shower, and change as well. Well, this is what he looked like when he was said and done...
Tristan likes to show off his underwear boxers with shirts like this, and my outfit...
I just like to keep mines as basic as possible; tank top and a jacket, especially when I go out to town. Otherwise, we're both in skinnies, so that we both resemble skater boys going out on the town Saturday night. I already told my dad about purchasing my first truck, and he was also enthusiastic about it, mainly because he and mom didn't want us walking too late in the dark, when there was inclement weather, or that I was coming home late after a late studying session. Also, mom wasn't very trusting with her own car too, so she was very happy I finally got my own vehicle I could use for school. And my dad has this Chevy truck from 2008, but you couldn't tell if it was from that year, since mines and his are now almost identical, but he beats his to hell out of his from the daily ravages of work, both locally and the city below.
Tonight, we were waiting on Rae and Dylan, as they wanted to take us out on their usual Saturday night rituals of watching movies, hitting up the arcades, and eating hot dogs, and if Tristan and I had time, a little shopping trip to the mall.
Unlike us, these brothers always hung out at car parts stores, the "pick-and-pay" junkyards, and the local Home Depot, even though they don't look the part. They were always mistaken for band members who often came to the town just for signing sessions and whatnot. Speaking of the Home Depot, my dad always wanted these tool sets, and when we had the chance, he's always like a little kid if there were any specials on tools whenever we come out here with Rae and Dylan. We finally heard the distinct clatter of a large diesel pickup, and sure enough, it was the 'emo bros'. I quickly recognized the truck Rae had discussed with that stranger earlier...
Sure enough, that was his dad's 'new' pickup. They stopped and both brothers got out, each opening a tiny rear door that led to an even tinier back seat. Tristan sat behind Rae, as he closed the door. Tristan had already figured out how to sit in the back of this thing, as we took a drive in my Chevy truck. He sat sideways, crossing one leg on the bench, while I had a tough time getting into the back seat. Eventually I got in, but it was a tight fit, and Dylan had his seat almost all the way back. I nearly got a cramp just trying to imitate how Tristan sat in the tiny bench seat. I noticed this one wasn't a stick, but it had an automatic.
"Our dad just got this today, and he wants us to take it out on a test drive." Rae says, "He has the other one he uses for work. But we get to play with this one tonight." Rae started the engine.
[ff to :57 for the startup and diesel sounds, and 2:41 for driving]
This was also Tristan's first time in a diesel truck as well, and my second, besides the school bus. Rae adjusted the mirror so that he could see me while we're driving, and I could tell he was into my outfit I was wearing, especially the tank top and jacket combo.
We finally got to the town, and the first stop made is the movie theatre. Tristan let out a big stretch, considering this is a two-hour drive, while both brothers rode in total comfort up front, while we got the tight end in the back seat. At least it felt good standing on hard ground once more as we got out of Rae's truck. We went inside the theatre, and it was packed. There were a lot of people this Saturday night.
Must be a good movie premiering tonight. I thought. The four of us waited in line for what felt like eternity, until it was our turn.
"How many in your party?" The pimply kid behind the kiosk asked.
"Four," Rae proudly proclaimed, holding up four fingers. Then he wrapped his arm around my neck. We paid for our tickets, and there was an even longer line inside the theatre lobby for the snacks. Dylan jumped up and down, his hands were down between his legs, as if he wants to go to the bathroom.
"I told you not to drink all those Monster drinks on our way here," Rae scolded his brother. He then looked at the long line in front of us.
"Hurry up and go over there." Unfortunately, the men's room was closed off and the door was wrapped with "CAUTION" tape, and that only left the women's restroom open. Talk about your worst nightmare, unless if it was a gas station. But we were in a very crowded movie theatre, and it would be very, very awkward just to walk into the women's room. But for poor Dylan, he had no choice, as he booked it to the restroom. Soon, there were muffled screams, and some of the women quickly rushed out of there, while Tristan and I raised an eyebrow at the embarrassing situation in front of us.
Dylan emerged from the restroom, clearly relieved, like the old man from the movie Next Friday, after he was done using the restroom, and saying he was "5 pounds lighter".
We got to the snack counter, and to be honest, its been awhile since I've been to this theatre. Everything seemed, bigger. Newer, even. Both Rae and Dylan got the biggest Coke cup, while Tristan and I pondered over what kinds of candy to eat, and we, too, also would share that big cup of Coke.
$10 for a giant cup of Coke?! Wow. Even the drinks for a decent size at the fairs are a bit cheaper. At least the movie-sized candy bars are worth it. Meanwhile, Rae got a giant tub of popcorn, and he was hugging it with his right arm, and eating it, while Dylan got the candy bars and their drink.
"Holy hell! Elliot?" A long time "friend" came running, somehow picking me out of this crowded theatre. Well, he wasn't a friend; he's picked on me since grade school, and I was happy he was gone by the time I entered middle school. I rolled my eyes as he came to greet me.
"Holy s&*t, Elliot! Long time, no see! You look great!" Andre exclaimed, after finally remembering his face from memory. I knew he was feigning interest, just by the sound of his voice, and his weird eye contact. Even Tristan began trembling. He had it worse in grade school than I did, but it still hurts when I bring it up sometimes. Which is why I don't mention that day with him, or don't talk about it...
"So, you guys are dating now, huh? I knew you were this **** since grade school. Now it's become obvious-" Suddenly, Rae came out of nowhere, and grabbed Andre by his coat.
"You got a problem? Pick on me first," Rae seethed, pulling Andre even closer, their noses almost touching.
"Whoa, hey. I didn't want any trouble. I just came to say 'hi' is all. Well. Enjoy your date." Andre violently pushed Rae's hand, and quickly ran, while Rae looked on. Then he turned his attention to me, and like an older sibling, he straightened out my shirt and jacket. For the first time tonight Tristan and I decided to forgo the mall, and instead hang out at the Home Depot with Rae and Dylan. Besides tools and lumber, they told us we can meet up with hot guys there than the mall anyway, and this town is full of them.
We got into the theatre without further incident.
********************************
After the movies we stopped by the local hamburger drive-in joint, and since the nights were becoming warmer we decided to eat on the patio, where strangers would gawk at people who were sitting at the tables from the comfort of their cars and watch us eat. And the place was brightly lit. Most people who are not from this town consider this place a hole-in-the-wall dump type, but they serve the best hamburgers and hotdogs. And these locals know it, as all the drive-ins stalls were packed. Most were college aged kids, but there were a few high schoolers mixed in like ourselves that were sitting in their cars, watching us small-town folk eating at their drive-in.
And this was my kind of night, as I saw the sparkling downtown high rises in the distance, and where Tristan was sitting, he's facing the restaurant; behind there, in the dark distance, were the mountains, our homes. The only way to get back home was through the freeway, that left that downtown below. And it is the only road that goes into that mountain, as I saw headlights sparkle and disappear between the trees and hills within that mountain.
All around the drive-in people drove fancy cars and these minivan things, from Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, a Porsche, and a lone Toyota that was just parked next to Rae's old Dodge truck.
"Which car do you want to go for here?" Dylan asked his brother, checking out every manufacturer's make under the awnings.
"None. But maybe that Toyota. Otherwise, none of these cars hits the spot for me."
"I don't know. Maybe that Mercedes looks nice."
"You don't want that. Remember Mom's old car? Dad hated to work on it. He tells us horror stories about these European cars. He tried telling her to buy a plain Toyota or a Honda. No hybrids. Weird, isn't it?"
"I know. It's a theoretical question. But it was weird. Dad, with his American cars, and Mom, well, she did finally cave in and bought that Honda. Well, after she got tired of taking that Mercedes, and spending a fortune which they didn't really fix."
"Well, remember he wanted this Hellcat Challenger-"
"Oh, wow! Four hot guys!" We swung around, and the waitress blushed. She looked at me first, then to Tristan. Soon, Dylan and Rae looked at her. Rae was up to his charms once more, as he stood up.
"We'll take four hamburgers, two fries, two onion rings, four Cokes, four hotdogs, and a couple of ice cream cones for later." Rae says, not skipping a beat.
"A-are you guys in a band or something?" she asked.
"No, but I wish we were." Rae chuckled, leaning onto the metal awning's post.
"Your friends are good-looking. Especially those three. Are they models?" She was referring to Tristan, Dylan and I. Before we could answer, Rae answered.
"No, we're small town kids. We come from the mountains. Just hanging out on a Saturday night. Like what most kids do." Rae smiled again, and trying his best at imitating people who lived in the mountains all their lives, but the girl just laughed. Remember, my 'bad luck' with girls? Yeah. Just that I don't have the courage to go up to one and ask. Well, except for Sequoia, she's different. Aw crap. I still haven't finished my homework, and yet, here I am, in another town.
"Oh, I thought you were all from around here." the girl says, dropping her shoulders.
"Nope." went Dylan.
"You guys are really good-looking. I'll go put your orders in now."
Soon, Rae sat back down.
"Now, where were we?"
"That Challenger Dad wanted?"
"Oh yeah. He wanted that Challenger, since he hated the Charger when it came out back in 2006. What the hell was Dodge thinking?! Even to this day, they still have that four-door Charger. What's up with that? I liked the car Vin Diesel's character drove in the latest Fast and Furious movies. Now that is a real Charger, and that other movie, what was it again?"
"Bullitt?" Dylan asked.
"That one. Why can't they make decent cars like back in those days."
"Preach it, bro!"
"Even today's Mustangs are slower than the cars made just 25 years ago. You know that Fox body. Most people don't know this, especially some Mustang boys I know in a couple of my classes, but the 1994-2004 is a Fox underneath, just a different sheetmetal. One owns a Fox, and he was shocked when he saw the '99, next to an '84 on a lift, and compared underneath."
"You mean the 'girls Mustang' era?" Dylan asked.
"That one. My big dream is to own the Cobra from 2003." Just as Rae was about to continue, an early 2000s Ford truck came into the lot, and it really grabbed his attention. The driver, seemed to notice Rae looking, gave his truck some throttle, and a loud whine emerged from the engine. At that instant, Rae's mouth dropped.
"Oh. My. God. Listen to that supercharger whine." The driver gave another acceleration, clearly seeing Rae looking towards. "This. I got to see." He jumped from his seat, and went over to the Ford truck driver.
"Ever since we were little the Lightning always drew his attention, and the Dodge Viper V10 truck. Haven't seen the V10 truck these days, but the Lightnings are plentiful here." Dylan says, as we all watched as Rae engaged in a conversation with the truck's owner. After a while he came back, and at the same time, our food arrived. Rae was the first to unwrap his hamburger, and began taking huge bites of the thing, and at the same time, took a big drink of Coke right from the cup.
"So, what did the guy say?" Dylan asked, taking small bites.
"Nn-th-uu-g-r-tbbth. Bbthhh!" Rae sputtered, his hamburger pieces flew out of his mouth, and the Coke dribbling out of his mouth, struggling to talk with his mouth full. He looked like a chipmunk with his cheeks puffed from the meat and buns stuffed in his mouth. All while trying to drink his Coke at the same time. Straight from the cup!
"Eww!" Tristan groaned, quickly withdrawing his food away. Rae finally managed to swallow his burger and drink at the same time, and with that skinny long neck of his, he downed his food without choking.
"He said it's got the 5.4. I knew it. Supercharged, too. And its a 2002. Always wanted me one of those. Since when I was younger. Still do, to this day." Rae took another big bite of his burger, the juices oozed out of the sandwich and his mouth as he chewed. And just like that, he was done. He wrapped his empty burger foil, and threw it in the trash can, before starting on his hotdog, which, he finished.
In just two bites!
Tristan simply wrapped his, he's not the type to eat a whole big meal, on top of that, we shared a big Hershey's chocolate bar and that big giant cup of Coke back at the movies. We watched as both Dylan and Rae indulged in their ice creams, like two big children. After all, we're still technically, 'kids'. And they took their time eating their soft-serve ice cream cones.
"This place is so much better than McDonald's. Not only the machines are always working, but the ice cream is so much softer. And sweeter, too." Rae says, crunching the last of his ice cream cone.
"Alright. Let's head to Home Depot!" Dylan cheered, pumping his fists into the air, then cleaning his shirt and jacket from the crumbs he spilled.
"Let's see what kind of tools and other things are there." We gather our stuff and make our way back to the truck. The Toyota was long gone as we got inside. Tristan was already comfortable, while I still tried to get used to the tiny cubicle that is the Dodge backseat. But then again he's truly small, even though he's now slightly taller than I am.
***************************
We stroll around the Home Depot for 30 minutes, aimlessly wandering the aisles, and along the way we lost Dylan and Rae in the process. Tristan didn't know where to go in a place like this, so he simply stuck by my side, holding onto my arm, and laying his head on my shoulder, after dropping my jacket to expose my shoulder and part of my bicep, so he could lay his head comfortably. We wandered aimlessly through the window and door section like a lost gay couple, before we ended up in the plumbing section. A couple of guys did hit on Tristan, and one boy even asked for his number, but so far, none for me. Did I mention we were being stalked?
Eventually, we caught up with the brothers, looking at the various power tools. Dylan held in his hands a big Makita box that had a circular saw inside, which looked big compared to his skinny body, while Rae looked at various Milwaukee, Ridgid and DeWalt line of tools. Mostly he eyed the Milwaukee line, especially the wrench like the one he used earlier. He held a display model in his hand. Meanwhile Tristan stood in the middle of the aisle, like he didn't know what to do. Who could blame him? Finally, Dylan pulled Tristan, and held hands, so they could go exploring the tool section together like kids in a toy store. It felt like I was in a school field trip for some reason.
"My other one is losing power. This one looks like a new design, but this one's bigger and heavier. Which do you think I should get? Hm. Choices, choices." Rae kept looking at the gun, comparing the two different "FUEL" line of Milwaukee impact wrenches. I had no such experiences with these kinds of tools, so I was no help to Rae. All I had known was Milwaukee is best known for electricians and plumbers' tools, not so much auto mechanics, and my dad has plenty of Milwaukee Sawzalls, drills, an impact wrench that held a 1/4 inch bit, a couple of circular saws, various plumbing tools and measuring tapes, most of which he just haphazardly throws in his truck, and he's already had some stolen from this habit. Soon, Dylan and Tristan showed up, and Dylan was holding something in his hands, while I held in my hand the bulkiest cordless Sawzall I can hold from the display shelf, while Tristan held onto my shoulders, and leaned his chin on his hand. He had pulled my jacket down to my elbows, now exposing both my shoulders, so that Tristan can rest comfortably there.
"You should try this one out. This one's new, and they'll work with Dad's batteries. And it's small, so it should fit better when we're fixing that truck." Rae took the box, and inspected it. Rae, Tristan and I inspected it together. It was Milwaukee's new M18 mid torque impact wrench, and it was the 3/8 drive variety. It was also a "FUEL" version, as it spelled out across the box in big white letters, and underneath that "M18 FUEL" were the words "DRIVEN TO OUTPERFORM".
"Mmmm. Maybe." But then there was the kit version, and that caught his eye. He put the box on the display shelf, and got the kit, which had two 5.0 batteries, the tool, and the charger, all neatly wrapped in this hard box that looked like a red suitcase, and wrapped in an outer cardboard. All told, he had spent over $300, just for that single tool! But the neat thing was he got the big gun for free! As a "promo" sale for spending that much money.
Meanwhile Dylan bought himself a Husky socket set that cost him around $120, and he was almost struggling to carry the heavy box, which I later learned, was a three-drawer chest, that he got as an "open box". I knew they weren't leaving the Home Depot empty handed. Then I remembered! My dad wanted to know if there were any specials or promotions, so I did a quick check back to the tool section...
And there he was again. The stalker! Right where Dylan was standing at earlier. He picked the box Dylan had held in his hands, and he did the most weird, creepiest thing I saw. He took a sniff of the box, then did the same to the box Rae and I held earlier. Then he did the same to the display model Rae had held earlier, before going over to the big DeWalt table saw on the display rack, and doing the same to the handle. And finally, the Sawzall I had held earlier. The creepiest thing was that he held onto the Sawzall far longer, and was still sniffing it. Soon, he caressed the thing like a baby, while still sniffing it! I knew someone was watching us as we checked out some tools. Even creepier was he began to sniff the air around him, and realized, he was after us! I left the store quickly...
I jumped into the back seat, while Dylan was shocked, but he closed the door nonetheless. And once everyone was in the truck Rae just drove the truck like there was nothing wrong, but I didn't want to tell them, yet. Both Tristan and I turned back, and to our horror, the man was just standing there, in front of the open big bay door, watching us leave the property like we were in some sort of horror movie... We decided we were done for the night.
Tristan was asleep, his head on the back window, arms crossed, probably to the sound of the diesel and the drone of the large tires that lulled him to sleep, while I kept watch as Rae drove into the night, with Dylan as his copilot, back into the mountains. I looked at the radio in the dash.
11:45.
Even at this hour there were cars as far as the eye can see, snaking into the forests, into the dale, as we climbed higher. Leaving the city behind. This is the only road carrying us through this mountain as we head for home. I watched as the city lights were drowned by the trees, and hills, as we meandered through hills, and we still climbed. Somewhere even in this darkness, as we rounded a curve, I could make out the peaks as we drove on this straight part of the freeway, with cars headlights as far as we can see.