Burning Sage

Chapter 13: Tumble Dry

I went and took a shower myself. There was no more blood on me... just cold, r.v water. I was clean for once. My skin was glowing with joy. When I walked into the cabin of the r.v, Blondy was laying on the floor. She looked so pretty with a baby in her hands. The way she'd hold it against her, and say not a word unless it was a quiet one she'd mumble half asleep. It touched me, and made me rethink Hope's ideology of killing Maple.

Hope herself was asleep on the couch. Everyone was in place, and I found that place very odd. I stumbled past them to the passenger seat, without a word spoken. I didn't want to mention what Hope had said about Maple.

"Take the pipe out of my bag." Ember told me, "And pack me a bowl." I pulled out her pipe, and the bag of weed she had to go with it. I closed the door behind me so no-body would intrude.

"I'd pack myself a bowl but, you know, I'm driving. Wouldn't want to crash." I gave it to her, softly putting it in the rim of her open hands. She sat back, relaxed, taking it all in while keeping her other hand on the wheel. Dense, puffy clouds of smoke filled the air like giddy teenagers sneaking into a rave. The nugs stuck to my fingers like vaseline and a bottle of tissues.

"That's it." she laughed, "Why don't you hit it? It's really nice Sage."

"Yeah let me hit it. I fucking need it." I lit up after her, calmly spirited, reclaiming my zeal for life. Mom always told me drugs were the root of all evil. I thought she didn't know what she was talking about.

"I miss Keith." Ember bluely squeaked. The phrase dribbled throughout the cabin, "I miss Keith, I really do."

"Yeah." I said nothing else, and the silence took over us. "I suppose he or any other fool that has ruined my life will surely rot in the pits of hell. Am I right Sage? Will he, will he rot in the pits of hell?" Ember kept her eyes on the road. It was for the best, I thought. If she took them off, they'd turn all googly.

"Well do you want him to?" I wanted to say something, like a well endowed rant which centered around the love of God, but I didn't know how to articulate it. "Fuck YES Sage. I want Keith to hurt like I did."

"Well he's probably in a better place right now." I pointed out, "You'd know, this is hell. Hell is incomparable to hurt."

"At least I have my Aaron, God, I wouldn't know what to do without him. He's the only thing that's kept me going. Well him and the weed. Peace really is for the stoners."

And then, the off-kiltered engine converged into a convulsing nightmare. There was something screeching below the floorboard. Scared shitless, pure fright had condensed and melted into my thoughts. I frantically looked over at Ember, her face was glowing red, "OH SHIT!"

Her eyes fluttered, zooming off the shaky walls. Ember started to swerve like the woman she was made out to be. "Sage, THE WHEEL IS LOCKED." I jumped through the hazy, drugged smoke, and landed in the driver's seat. I slammed on the breaks, and smashed the petal into the floor.

"Uh, oh." I'd slammed on the gas, "Where's God when you need him?"

We crashed hard right, like a Trump election. Ember held onto me. I gripped the wheel, but it wouldn't budge. The r.v plowed through the metal rail of the road, and into a downward facing hill.

Ember shattered the windshield. The r.v was barrelling down the hillside. My chest jerked against the cupboard. I wheezed and breathed like a castrated goat. A deathful montage - it all happened too fast. She came jarring back, flying into my lengthy frame. Her hair whipped my gyring eyes, blinding me. I was stuck inside a dryer, except we were on tumble dry, rumbling down the hillside.