It Is What It Is

Clouds

It was New Years Eve in New York City and it was hard to miss. Signs for every party imaginable lined the streets; bars were packed, various types of music mixed and mingled to create a charged atmosphere.

But Jessica Lange wasn't part of all that.

No, she decided that the smartest thing to do would be to sit home, and watch the ball drop from a window in her apartment. She was alone this year. Sarah couldn't make it due to plans with Holland. Her children couldn't make it for reasons ranging from A to Z. She and Sam still weren't on the best of terms. And everyone else was out of state.

Jessica had been drinking all day, not heavily, but enough so she forced herself to stay home and away from the crazies. Though, as much as she loved whiskey, it was starting to get a bit old and she felt as though she drank enough to last a lifetime. It was 8:45 PM and she was already done celebrating. Or so she thought. 

Tucked away in a small box in the back of her closet, was a joint Sam had purchased before the two of them split. The spark of excitement was quickly extinguished as she thought about it. That single joint had been sitting in that closet for almost eight years, and it had most likely lost all of its potency along with any sort of "pleasurable taste". There's no way in hell I'm going to smoke that.

It had obviously been a long while since Jessica had smoked, therefore she had no connections to anyone who dealt with that sort of thing. Well, she did, but it wasn't like she could approach these people and just casually ask for a gram without being looked at strange. Evan was definitely out of the picture in that case. Sarah, although she herself didn't smoke, knew who and where to get it from. Too bad she had other plans. 

That's when it hit her. Kathy. 

Kathy was the only one who stayed in the city.

Kathy always had something, and Jessica figured New Years Eve was no exception. 

So she called Kathy, hoping that she would pick up.

The phone rang three times before there was an answer.

"Hello?" Kathy said.

"Well, Ms. Bates. Enjoying your night?"Jessica questioned, she was trying to figure out just how fucked up Kathy might be.

"Hell Lange, I've only been partying for the last five hours. I guess you could say I'm having a hell of a time."

Jessica laughed at Kathy's comment.

"Are you still in New York?" Jessica asked, getting straight to the point.

"I'm right across the way at Meryl's right now, why?" 

"I've been thinking. I'm all by myself, drinking the same damn thing over and over again. It's beginning to get boring." Jessica sighed. "And I was thinking, you might have something that I might want to...revisit."

There was a silence on the other end of the phone.

"Hello?" Jessica said, thinking that they might have disconnected.

"Why, Ms. Lange. Are you asking me for some Mary Jane?" Kathy responded in a playful tone.

"One could say that, yes."

"Hold on for a sec, okay." Kathy said, then there was a few words exchanged between her and someone else on Kathy's end of the line.

"I might have some. Only if Meryl gets to come." 

"The more the merrier."

There was a chuckle on Kathy's end.

"We'll be over in ten minutes." The line went dead.

Jessica smiled to herself. In ten minutes the dream team would be back together again.

--------------

Within no time, there was a knock on the door and then it opened. Kathy had let herself in and Meryl had quickly followed suit. 

Jessica was sitting on the couch in the living room when the two walked in. She had a lighter placed on the table and was currently focused on her phone trying to find music that would suit the mood. Minus the phone, it was a sight that Kathy remembered well from the good old days. 

To the left of the couch sat a modern looking chair with red cushions. Kathy promptly grabbed the chaired and pulled it over to the large coffee table in front of the couch. Meryl took a seat next to Jessica. 

"Fuck it, Bob Dylan it is then." Jessica said before pressing on the album. The sound was rich coming from her speakers. 

Kathy wasted no time. She produced a hefty amount of green, a grinder, two pipes, and rolling papers. Meryl threw in a few wraps just in case they were feeling froggy. 

After a few minutes, Kathy had ground up, loaded up, and rolled up more than her fair share. Stopping for a minute, she looked at two of her closest friends. 

"Well, would you look at us. The legendary "Dream Team" back together again."

"I never stopped 'dreaming', that's for damn sure." Meryl joked.

Jessica threw her head back and laughed.

"It's been a long while for me." Jessica said, grabbing a joint and sparked up. 

The intoxicating smoke filled her lungs. A deep breath in and out marked her first hit since she was pregnant with Shura. Jessica closed her eyes and basked in the familiar scent. She wasn't high yet, nowhere near it, but she was already feeling quite relaxed . Eyes stilled closed she took another hit, then another, and another. Finally she opened her eyes. 

Both Kathy and Meryl were halfway through their own. Jessica took another hit. 

"Mer, do you remember the summer of 1978?" 

"I remember a lot of it, surprisingly..." Meryl chuckled.

"It was right before you and Don got married." Kathy chimed in.

"And we wanted you to have fun before shit got serious." Jessica said.

"If you count passing out at parties and waking up hung over from hell fun...." Meryl added.

"Oh hush, you loved every moment of it, especially when you got so buzzed that all you could do was swoon over Don." Jessica laughed.

"I did not!"

"'Oh Jess, he's just wonderful! He's absolutely wonderful!'"

"JESS."

"'And you won't believe him in the sheets! MY GOD, that man takes my breath away in more ways than one.'"

"I never said that!" Meryl retorted.

"Oh, just like you never used to talk about how sprung he was at any moment?" Kathy asked with a grin.

"Well, he was. And if anybody swooned it was Jessica over Paco." 

"You're goddamn right I did. That man could put Don to shame!"

Eyes red and heavy, smoke and laughter filling the air, the trio couldn't remember the last time they sat around the table having this much fun. They were the Dream Team, once again playing in the clouds.

*** I AM NOT CONDONING DRUG USE (THOUGH I DO NOT BELIEVE THE MARIJUANA IS DRUG LIKE EVERYONE THINKS IT TO BE) THIS IS SIMPLY SOMETHING I JUST THOUGHT UP AND WANTED TO SHARE. SO DON'T GET TOO UPSET OVER THIS PLEASE***