Changing Seasons

Twenty-Two

****

Not long after Nina had kicked his ass to the curb, his dad got sick of him and gave him the boot as soon as he turned eighteen. He could have asked his mom to let him come home, but he was strung out and not trying to go to no rehab facility. She knew he was actively using but had supplied him with a debit card that she loaded money on. Linda felt that if he had money, he wouldn't be stealing to get his shit.

Instead, he moved next door to Michael's and crashed on the couch, not that he was doing a whole lot of sleeping. During that time, Michael's girlfriend, Athena, had gotten into escorting. Krist would ride along when Michael drove her to her "dates. " Krist, naive at the time, had thought she would be accompanying men to places or providing them company.

"No, she just fucks them," Michael said calmly when Krist had asked.

They were sitting inside Michael's car waiting for Athena in the parking lot of a hotel near the airport, Michael in the driver seat, Krist slumped down in the backseat, his feet on the seat.

Krist wasn't exactly the most moral of people, but he couldn't fathom being cool about his girlfriend fucking random dudes for money. Of course, he was not Michael, and Michael was lacking in the moral department.

"It don't bother you?" Krist wanted to know, carefully loading shards into his pipe.

"Nah, money is money, and she comes home to me," Michael said coolly.

"Wouldn't you rather she strip or something?"

"There ain't no money in that here. She tried that already," Michael told him, "Don't ask me no more questions."

Krist cracked his shit back, blowing down the stem to cool it. Once it had crystallized in the pipe, he flicked his lighter beneath it, rolling it back and forth as the dope melted down. He brought his lips to the stem, inhaling deeply and handing it to Michael. Nothing like that first hit off a new load in a clean pipe. He exhaled. All of the grief, sorrow, and anger left his body with the fluffy white clouds that filled the car. Nina, the baby, Atira, his loss of home, being thrown away by his family- none of that mattered.

Meth never made him happy. It just made him numb and emotionless for a short while. Of course, when he came down, all those ignored feelings would hit him like a tsunami wave. He would wish he could go to sleep and never wake up, but the numbness was worth it. Fuck a feeling.

Athena returned to the car a little over an hour after she'd gone in. "Sup, baby," Michael kissed her on the lips. She handed him a few twenty-dollar bills and buckled her seatbelt. She was quiet. Wordlessly, Krist handed her his loaded pipe and lighter.

"Thanks," she mumbled, taking a long hit. The pipe was passed from Michael to Krist, back to Athena, and circling back to Krist.

"Where's your next one?" Michael asked, turning the key. The Accord struggled to start but eventually turned on.

"That fuckin pink place off Stark," she told him.

Michael turned up his stereo, punk blasting tinny in the shitty speakers. Krist didn't like punk music as it was, but he found himself feeling irritated between being high and the horrible quality of Michael's speakers.

The porn shop was fortunately a short drive away, ten minutes or so. Michael parked towards the back of the pink building. After Athena exited the car, Michael looked at Krist, "I'm gonna go in. Are you gonna stay out here?"

Krist looked at him, "You're going in?"

"Yeah, they got them booths."

Krist shook his head, "Naw, bro, I'm cool. I'm gonna walk over to the 7-11, you want anything?"

"Get me a Mountain Dew," he said.

Krist nodded and walked next door to the 7-11, ignoring the pair of clucks loitering out front. He grabbed a large bottle of water, Mountain Dew for Michael, some gum because his breath tasted like straight shit, and a pack of Newports.

When he returned to the car, the same fucking clucks were outside Michael's car, attempting to flex the window.

"Aye, yo, what the fuck you doing?" He yelled, dropping his plastic bag and running towards them.

Michael had been exiting the porn shop and heard the commotion. Krist had the slower of the two hemmed up on the ground, wailing on him. The other one had taken off down Stark. Krist got up, he and Michael proceeded to kick the dude.

"Fuckin cluck," Krist said through clenched teeth, giving a final kick to the dude's ribs. They let him scramble to his feet and stagger away. "Fucking piece of shit," Krist muttered, wiping his clothes off. A few people had seen the skirmish but paid little to no attention. Nobody gave a fuck about those bummy ass mother fuckers anyway. Krist collected his 7-11 bag, handing Michael his soda.

"What the fuck happened?" Michael asked, trying to catch his breath.

"Fucking bums tried to get in your car," Krist cracked open the water bottle.

"Shit, well, good looking out," Michael grinned, "You see that dude's face?"

Krist lit a cigarette, laughing, "Mother fucker deserved it."

Athena emerged from the building, silently getting into the passenger seat. "Let me get some of your pop, Michael," she told him.

He clicked his tongue against his teeth, "Fuck no, I don't need some dude's cum on my drink."

"You're fucked up," she snapped, handing him a fifty-dollar bill.

"Yo, you want some gum?" Krist offered, realizing he sounded like a dick but meant to be nice.

She turned around, taking a stick. Michael laughed.

Athena was busy that night. They took her to an apartment and a couple motels off 82nd. After she'd gone into the third motel, Michael received a call.

"Hey, man, what's up...yeah, I'm actually nearby, over here at the Unicorn Motel parking lot...yeah..Imma be here twenty more minutes if you want to come through."

A few minutes later, a black mid-90s Suburban with blacked-out windows and 24s pulled up beside them. The rear passenger door opened, and Fernando stepped out. He leaned into Michael's window, quickly swapping money for the small bag. When he realized Krist was in the backseat, he was startled, becoming tense. After Fernando realized it was Krist, he settled, inviting him into the Suburban to smoke some shit.

Krist got into the back of the Suburban with Fernando. It was clear that the Mexican dudes up front weren't thrilled about Krist being there. The tension was thick. He didn't introduce them to him, and that was fine. They were clearly on some other shit at the moment.

The driver uttered something in Spanish that Krist couldn't make out. Fernando replied in Spanish as he loaded the bowl. He hit the pipe, handing it to Krist, "I told him you dated my sister and were cool," he informed him. Krist nodded, handing the pipe to the man in the front passenger seat.

After they'd all taken their hit, Krist exited the Suburban, getting into the back of Michael's seat. Michael was scrolling through one of those hookup sites on his phone while they waited for Athena.

"You ever use these sites?" He asked Krist.

He shook his head, "Naw."

He showed Krist different girls' profiles, all in various states of undress, telling him he was trying to meet up with them when he could get away from Athena for a few hours. Krist felt bad for the girl, but it wasn't his place to say anything, especially when he had nowhere else to go. Not to mention, if he stood up for Athena, Michael would trip on him and accuse him of wanting to fuck her. Funny to think that the guy who pimped out his girlfriend was otherwise jealous.

Athena returned to the car, handed Michael her money, and bummed a cigarette off Krist.

"You got any more lined up?" Michael wanted to know.

"No," she said quietly. Michael audibly groaned as though he was very inconvenienced. Krist had no doubt that he probably was, as Athena was earning him money.