I Listened to Myself

Part 4: Peace and Night

"Wow there are mad people here!" El  Rey said as they drove by the line of cars parked off the road. Tim drove slowly by the other cars in hopes for an open parking to sneak into. There were a few cars they recognized and a few they didn't. At last, they pulled over and parked in front of an unfamiliar car. El opens the door immediately and steps outside scrolling through his phone in one hand, and bottle of Henny under his arm. 

"Yes, I saw X's truck back there. He must have made it back early. I didn't think he would have made it back so soon. I wonder what happened out there?" Tim was referring to X's trip to boot camp. He was supposed to be back tomorrow. Tim was pondering different theories as to why X was here so soon. "Do you have have everything?" Tim asks before he shuts the door.

They locked their doors and looked both ways before crossing the street. Though there were no cars coming, they both made a run for the other side. The trail that lead to the lake was a dirt path off the side of the road.

Large trees grew on both sides of the trail. The only light came from the moon which will be full in the next few days. The blue hue glowed on every flat surface it touched. The leaves glistened as the moon light touched the oily surfaces. Foot prints were all over the trail as if an army had marched through it. El and Tim took note of the prints and pointed out the smaller ones that where made by small, female shoes with heels. They walked the muddy path to the section of the woods where they had to turn right. 

"This is our turn here." Tim says as he stares at the tree with a few marks of missing bark.

El protests, as he is more concerned with who he will be sharing his alcohol with. He starts talking anxiously, taking breaths between his sentences. "You sure, there are no prints heading that way... We are already late, Bro. You took forever at the liquor store... I don't hear nothing. We at the right place? The girls are going to be already..."

Tim interrupted El's rambling, before he could continue, " Don't worry bro. We're going to get there just in time. X always covers his tracks. He probably made sure no uninvited guest can find him. You know how he is. We've been coming here for the last three years and he doesn't want any one to ruin the spot."

"The Spot?" El says in confusion. "I thought the spot was in Andover near the water pump."

"Ahh, El,my boy. The Spot is anywhere we get together and share good times and good spirits. Me and X used to come here and fish, back in the day. We used to ride down here on our skateboards and stash them under that log. Best part was making a fire and camping for the night. We didn't eat the fish but we had hot dogs and cheese. As a matter of fact, this is where I caught my first turtle."

El looked at Tim's smiling face reminiscing about his times with X. El really didn't care about young Tim's and X's adventures. He felt disconnected from Tim and X's bonding.  El always had action in mind. He needed to be involved in all events. If things were not going to benefit or entertain him, he did not care about it. He was focused on getting to the spot and talking to one of the girls that would be there. He didn't know who would be there, he also didn't care. El lived for today and he would deal with tomorrow in the same way he did this morning. 

El looks down at his red basketball sneakers. Definitely not the right footwear for the terrain. "Tim, you must be joking... Look at my J's, bro. Look at this. Why do you bring me to these crazy places? Can't find a better path?..." El hears something in the distance and stops as if he was playing freeze tag. "Shh."He says and he focuses on what was out in the distance. "You hear that?" El says in surprise.

"Yeah man come on. It's this way." Tim says, and takes the lead splashing through a puddle of mud in his waterproof hiking boots.