I had no idea where I was going when I ran from Gabe’s house. After walking around downtown for a while, I realized I didn’t have a clue what to do. Gabe was the only friend I felt comfortable being around. If I had gone to someone else’s house, they would have wondered why I was there.
I couldn’t go to Aunt Barbara’s house because that would be the first place he would look. He had probably already been there. I could hear him now threatening to get a search warrant if they didn’t let him in to see if I were there.
I looked at the clock on a nearby bank. It was 7:10. Gabe’s basketball game would be starting soon. If I walked quickly, I could make it by the second quarter.
I could hear students shouting as I approached the gym. I suddenly stopped when I saw a police cruiser parked in front of the entrance gate. Behind it was his black BMW. He had come to the school to look for me. I approached his car cautiously, and then I took the house key from my pocket and ran it alongside the car. I thought I was busted when a student came out the door and saw me.
I tried to hurry away, but he came running up beside me. “That was so cool, Man!” he laughed as he grabbed my arm and stopped me. “You keyed a BMW!”
“So what?” I said angrily as I pulled his hand from my arm and began to walk away.
“Hey!” he shouted. “Wait up!” He ran up beside me and skipped to keep up with my quick pace. I walked for about a block with him beside me. I couldn’t figure out why he wouldn’t leave me alone.
Finally, I stopped and faced him. “Look, Kid.”
“Wade,” he smiled. “My name is Wade.” He stood grinning with the most perfect white teeth I had ever seen. His brown eyes were shining as he brushed back a lock of blond hair that had fallen across his face.
He was cute- really cute. He was about an inch shorter than me. He had a few pimples on his red cheeks, but what teenager doesn’t? I had been trying to get rid of one on my chin for days. I wondered why I had never seen him in school before. Then again, he could have been a student at our opponent’s school.
“Look, Wade,” I said. He just stood and grinned at me. “I’m not really in the mood to be hanging with someone right now.”
“Why not?” he asked innocently.
I sighed and started to walk away. “I just don’t, okay?” He skipped up beside me.
“Is it because of the person whose car you keyed?”
I looked over at him and scowled. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“You must be the kid they are looking for?”
I stopped and faced him. “Who?”
“The cops,” he stated. “These two big cops were walking around checking out the student section. There was this guy dressed in a suit following them.” A worried look appeared on his face. “You in some kind of trouble?”
“Nope,” I replied sharply as I started to walk away.
He ran up and grabbed my arm. “Would you stop walking away.”
“Look, Wade,” I replied. “I don’t know you. I just want to be alone. All right?”
He started grinning as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a joint. He held it up to my face. “I got some good dope. Interested?”
“I don’t do drugs,” I insisted. He frowned, but then his lips formed another incredible grin.
“Then come with me while I get high.” I started to resist, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me down the street until we came to a small park. Since it was starting to get dark, no one else was around. He walked over and sat down on a bench. He then motioned for me to sit down beside him.
I looked nervously around as he put the joint to his lips and lit it. “Relax,” he laughed. “No one’s going to see us.” I watched as he took a deep puff on the thin joint. He closed his eyes and then slowly exhaled it.
“Here.” He handed it to me. “Hit it.”
I shook my head. “I’ve never done drugs before.” He sat up and faced me. His eyes twinkled with excitement.
“Then it’s time you learned, “he said. “Besides, after watching you key that car back there, I think you may need it.”
I looked into his cute, grinning face and reached for the half smoked joint. He watched carefully as I put it to my lips and inhaled deeply. I immediately started coughing. He patted me on my back and warned, “Take smaller puffs. You can’t inhale like that until you’ve smoked a while.” I nodded and then took a small puff. He smiled as I held it in my lungs for a few seconds before finally exhaling it.
“Good,” he grinned as he took it from my fingers and smoked what remained of the now consumed joint. He then turned and sat back, laying his head on the back of the bench. I sat back and did the same. Our arms were lightly touching. After about a minute, he spoke.
“Feel anything yet?” I opened my eyes and looked over at him. I couldn’t understand what I was supposed to be feeling.
“I don’t think so,” I said. He turned his head and smiled at me.
“I’ve got a small buzz,” he announced. I gave him a quizzical look. He sat back up and smiled. “We got to get you high, Man.” He then gave me a puzzled look. “I don’t even know your name.”
“Richie,” I replied. “My name is Richie Ferguson.”
An astonished look appeared on his face. “Really” He grew worried when I gave him an angry look.
“Sorry, Richie,” he quickly apologized. “I heard some kids talking about you in my science class last week.” He shook his head sadly. “It must be pretty shitty losing your mother like that.”
I started to get up, but he pulled me back down. “Look, I’m sorry. You probably don’t want to talk about it.” I shook my head. He grinned his signature smile again. “What you need is to get high.”
He took my hand and helped me up. “Come on.” I started to tell him I didn’t want to go, but for some reason I felt like I wanted to be with him. Even though we had just met, and I didn’t know anything about him other than his name, I enjoyed his company. He also seemed to be able to understand what I was going through, even though I hadn’t said anything.
I trailed behind him as we walked about four blocks. The sun was setting in the western sky and it was quickly becoming dark. We came to a corner store. It had a big sign over the roof that read, Big Jim’s. I remembered noticing the building before when we passed it on the way to one of my mother’s doctor appointments.
Wade walked around to the side and motioned for me to lean up against the building. “You stay here,” he said. “If you see a cop coming down the street, come in and get me.”
“Why?” I asked, but he had already disappeared around the corner. I waited nervously for him. I had no idea what he intended to do. His warning to watch for a police car had made me feel uncomfortable. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he came tearing around the corner. He had a scared look on his face.
“Run!” He grabbed my arm and we tore off behind the building. Suddenly, I heard a gunshot. I looked back and saw an enormous man wearing overalls holding a gun in the air. I ducked when he raised it and fired again.
“Damn kids!” he screamed at us.
Wade covered his head and continued to run. I followed him through several backyards until he finally collapsed into some brush behind a used car lot.
“What did you do?” I collapsed beside him, gasping for air.
“Wait a minute,” he managed to say as he tried to catch his breath. I lay watching his wet t-shirt as his chest rose and fell. His face was flushed from running and his wet blond hair clung to his forehead. After a few minutes, he raised himself on his elbow and grinned at me.
“That was close,” he said.
“What did you do?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. It was still wrapped in its plastic container.
“Did you steal that?” I squealed.
“Yeah,” he grinned. “I’ve never seen Jim so mad. I saw him grab his gun, but I didn’t think he’d shoot at me.”
“You almost got us killed!”
“Yeah,” he replied as he lay his head back on the dirty ground. He then leaned toward me and grinned as he held up the phone. “But I got us some weed.”
I stood up and looked down angrily at him. “You’re crazy!” I shouted as I walked away.
“Wait, Richie!” he yelled as he ran up beside me. “I only did it for you.”
“What! Did it for me?”
A sad look appeared on his face. “You seemed down, so I wanted to make you feel better.”
“Don’t do me any favors,” I huffed as I stormed off. He trailed about five feet behind me. We’d walked about two blocks when he finally stepped up beside me.
“Are you mad?” he asked timidly. I looked over and his brown eyes were staring at me. He brushed back the ever-troublesome lock of hair that kept falling across his eye.
I attempted to look angry, but I quickly melted away from his cute appearance. “Well, you did almost get me shot.” I turned and grinned.
“Sorry,” he lifted his head and smiled. “It was kind of fun, though, wasn’t it?”
“Playing video games is fun,” I replied. “Getting shot at isn’t.” He giggled and then threw his arm around my shoulder.
“Let’s go see if Lennie is home,” he said. “He usually has some good stuff.” He turned and we walked side by side for several blocks. He told me a little about himself on the way.
I found out he was the same age as me. He had failed the third grade, so he was a grade behind me in school. That was the reason I had never seen him before. I soon learned his story was almost as bad as mine.
His father was dead. He’d been shot in the back after arguing with a guy over a five-dollar debt. Wade was only three at the time, so he didn’t remember anything about it. His mother was in jail for theft and resisting arrest. She had entered a drug store last year and taken cosmetics. When the police arrived, she bit one of them when they tried to handcuff her. Since then, Wade has been living in a foster home. He has two older brothers and a younger sister he hasn’t seen since he left home. He said he misses his sister, but he never liked his brothers. When I asked him why, he didn’t give me an answer.
We walked up to an old, dilapidated home. He told me to wait outside while he knocked on the door and then disappeared inside. I sat on the step and waited for him to come out. Several people came up and gave me a quizzical look as they passed me. Minutes later, Wade came out the door and bounded down the steps.
“Let’s go,” he said as he started skipping down the sidewalk. I had to run to catch up with him.
“Where are we going?” I asked as I walked quickly beside him.
“I don’t know yet,” he responded as he continued walking. Suddenly, he stopped and looked at me. “I know.” He then turned and started walking in the opposite direction, back past Lennie’s house. We walked for about a half hour. He asked me some questions about my life, but I was hesitant to talk about anything personal. Gabe was the only person I felt comfortable talking about things like that. Even then, some things I hadn’t even mentioned to him.
It was dark when we approached a small bridge and stopped in the middle. I looked down and saw a small stream flowing by. It couldn’t have been any more than a few feet deep. I remember seeing it years ago when Gabe and I rode our bicycles one Saturday afternoon. A friend had told us that a Brink’s truck had overturned somewhere near the bridge and that money had been strewn all over. We spent hours walking through tall weeds in the hope of getting rich. On Monday that friend fell on the floor in laughter when we told him what we had done. I don’t think I’d ever seen Gabe’s face so red.
I quietly followed Wade down a narrow path that led to a grassy spot under the bridge. We sat atop one of the large rocks and watched the stream trickle past. A streetlight over the bridge gave us some light as Wade reached in his pocket and pulled out a plastic sandwich bag. It contained a large amount of marijuana. He then pulled out a small package and removed a thin piece of paper. I watched as he rolled a couple of joints and placed them in his lap. When he was finished, he looked over at me and grinned.
“Here.” He passed me a joint and lighter. I tentatively took them from him. He giggled as I put the joint to my mouth and lit it. “Smoke it slow,” he warned as he took the lighter and lit another joint. I guess he wanted me to smoke the one in my hand by myself.
After taking a few hits, he stood and pulled out a small bottle from his pants. I hadn’t noticed it before. “Ta dum,” he laughed as he held it in the air. “Time for a party,” he giggled. He opened the bottle and took a drink. He then passed it to me.
“What’s this?”
“Read the label, Stupid,” he giggled. “It’s vodka. Lennie gave it to me. He hates vodka.” I lifted the bottle to my nose and smelled it. I pulled it away and wrinkled my nose. He giggled again as he took the bottle from me and took another swig. He then handed it back to me.
“It tastes horrible out of the bottle,” he said, “but it takes away your problems.” He pushed the bottle toward me. “Take a sip.”
I wrinkled my nose and smelled it again before putting it to my lips. Wade watched intently as I took a small sip from the bottle. I pulled it away and started coughing. “It tastes like lighter fluid,” I managed to whisper hoarsely.
“How would you know what lighter fluid tastes like,” Wade giggled.
I rolled my eyes. “Well, if I drank lighter fluid,” I replied, “this is what it would probably taste like.” I handed the bottle back to him.
He frowned. “Party pooper.”
“I’m not a party pooper,” I insisted indignantly He handed the bottle back to me.
“Prove it,” he smiled. I rolled my eyes again and took the bottle from him. I took a deep breath and took a swig. My throat instantly started to burn. I wanted to spit it out, but Wade was enjoying watching me suffer. I swallowed it and then lifted the bottle to my lips and took another drink.
He rolled on the ground and laughed uproariously. “Okay,” he said as he caught his breath. “You’re not a party pooper.” He snatched the bottle from me. Half the contents had disappeared. “Hey, save some for me.”
He lit another joint as he drank more of the vodka. My stomach was beginning to do somersaults, but I was determined I would not get sick in front of Wade.
We smoked about three joints each before the bottle of vodka was empty. I laid my head back on the soft grass and closed my eyes. Every time I opened them, the trees above my head seemed to be swirling faster. One thing I realized, though, was that nothing seemed to matter. It seemed like all my problems had been washed away. For the first time in months, I felt relaxed.
I opened my eyes when Wade moved next to me. I turned my head and he was looking worriedly at me. “Are you okay, Richie?” I stared into his brown eyes.
“Yeah,” I replied as I turned my head and closed my eyes. “Never felt better.”
“Yep,” he sighed. “Nothing like a good high to make you forget all your troubles.” There was a sense of sadness in his voice. I looked over at him as he lay back with his eyes closed. He was so handsome; yet from what he had shared with me, his life was as tragic as mine.
My mind was still reeling as the effects of the alcohol and weed finally caught up with my brain. Several times I had to swallow the vomit that had made its way to my mouth. I was almost asleep listening to the croaking of the frogs that were surrounding us. Suddenly, Wade got up and rushed over to the side of the stream. He unzipped his pants and I could hear the steady stream hitting the water.
I squinted my eyes and watched him under the dim light from above the bridge. His head was leaning back as he relieved himself. He then turned and approached me with his pants down.
I couldn’t believe it when he sat down, looked over and asked nonchalantly, “Do you want to mess around?”
“What?” I shouted as I sat up. I tried to look at his face, but my gaze dropped what he was doing.
“Do you want to do something?”
My eyes widened. “You’re gay?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I just need to do something. Weed always makes me like this."
He pulled his shorts off and then his shirt. Except for his shoes, he was sitting naked beside me. He nudged me with his elbow. “Come on, Richie. I know you want to.”
“I’m not gay,”
“No one said you were. Please," he begged.
“I don’t know."
He got up and straddled my body. I couldn’t believe what was happening. The alcohol and weed had weakened my resistance and I felt powerless to stop him.
“Wade,” I mumbled faintly. “I don’t think I’m ready for this."
“Trust me," he assured me.
We made out for about a half hour. I had my first sexual experience with another boy. When we finished, he turned to me and grinned. “You’ve done this before?”
“No,” I confessed. My face began to redden. “This was my first time.”
“No way,” he laughed as he sat up with a surprised look.
“Yes, way,” I giggled. “I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.”
“For someone who didn’t know what he was doing, you sure did a good job.”
I laughed and replied, “You did a pretty good job, too.”
He gave me a wicked wink. “Yeah, well, I’ve been around.”
“I bet you have." Wade put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me tighter to him.
I thought about how much my life had changed over the past four hours. I had smoked weed, got drunk and had my first sexual experience. I looked up into the sky and tears appeared in my eyes. I looked at the blurry stars and wondered what my mother would think of me now. Did she somehow look down on me and see what I had done?
“Sorry,” I cried softly.
“What?” Wade sat up and looked at me.
“Nothing.” I rolled over on my side, trying to hide the tears from him. He scooted closer and put his arm around me.
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered gently in my ear.
“Yeah, sure,” I responded softly as tears flowed down my cheek and wetted the ground below.