The Empty Highway

It was the dawn of March. My partner and I were sitting in front of my old ford. We had in our possession 3,000 dollars worth of grass in
our selfish hands, ripe for selling. I was driving to Lou Reed's hit song Vicious. The twangy melody and dirty beat was the only thing keeping me awake. That, my 32nd cigarette and my 24th cup of coffee that night.

    My partner was next to me, high off his ass on something. All though I wasn't sure what. All I knew was that we were lucky I was driving. He was staring at his tye dye shirt as if the entire cosmos were located right inside of it.

    I stopped at the local gas station. I figured that we might as well get some caffeination and gas before we hit the empty highway. I went in to get a vanilla coke and asked my partner if he wanted anything. "Get me some of that unicorn asshole soda pop." he responded. I waved my hand dismissing his dreary trip and went in to get him some mountain dew.

    I entered the gas station. An old mexican fellow  in a hawian shirt greeted me. He (or she to tell you  the truth I had trouble judging the fellow's gender)  waved a dorito chip at me accompanied by an "Hola mi amigo!". I smiled back and waved. Then got my shit and left. I have had some pleasant experiences talking to clerks. They're not a rare breed but they sure do entertain me as a specimen. Whether they're name tag is on upside down or they seem all too keen to  show me their firearm. Which is understandable. I do look like an addicted kleptomaniac at times so it doesn't offend me.

I brought my partner his mountain dew.  He thanked me with a smile. "We're three quarters there!" I exclaimed as I jumped into the old ford.

The wind felt so nice in my black greasy hair. I haven't showered in days . But in this sort of work it is a rare commodity to bathe. My partner passed me a joint. The deranged fucked up bastard had rolled the most beautiful joint I had ever seen. It would be a sin not to blaze this beautiful piece of cannabisistic art up. I had enough caffeine and nicotine to stay awake despite not having slept the past 27 hours.

We were silent as I got on the highway. I was just happy to almost be done with this long and hard trip. That thought was precisely the point where my partner began his dive into his own moral psyche...

"What are we doing man." My partner startled me with these words. Not only because I was not in the mood to have this conversation but because it was obviously the drug talking and not him. "What do you mean?" I responded. He said "Is this really worth the risk for a couple thousand dollars?". "Buddy you're tripping a little too hard. Try to calm down." I responded. The peak of a psychedelic mountain is one of the most fearful, deep, and strange places to be. It's unearthly. Alien to a southern stoner on their way to the north. His face changed to be much more serious. Not concerned but you could tell from his body language that he had something to say. He slipped his second gorgeously rolled into the glove compartment. "Don't you wonder what life would be like? Like in a different universe? Marriage, kids, jobs. I might still be talking to my mother if I hadn't gotten into this."

I paused to marinate on his idea. Then spoke. " Life is full of regret. If you were a suburban family man. A uh white picket kind and such. You would wonder about it if you hadn't gone down that path. Would your band have gotten big if you pursue it further. Would you miss the pleasures of sex in a casual sense. The drugs you love. You would miss them. The people you never would have gotten close to or even met at all. Why lament on such a worrying idea when you know that across the board you would always have regrets."

He responded. "Why  do I not set out to live the best life I can live?"

    "I think that's what all that reincarnation bullshit is about. Some people like you wonder why you can't live the best life you can. Because you don't know what your best life is. You only have one. For all you know this is the ONLY life you have. We have these wonders in the same vein as others wonder why we have to die."