Staccato Bursts

Part Six: My "Yes" Moment

I’ve been having dates with Gunther for about two weeks now. I was happy with him. Two weeks ago, we went to a football game together- I honestly didn’t like sports but I went with him anyway. I still have no idea what team won that day because I wasn’t actually paying attention. I didn’t mind, though, because Gunther seemed really happy that time. We also went to a laser-tag tournament together- this was more of the type of date I liked. Neither of us won at the laser-tag, though. Two nights ago we had dinner in an outdoor lake-side restaurant- sounds romantic and calm, but there were more annoying bats and raccoons than we thought. Although, my favorite date would have to be the picnic in the Millsburry Fun Park.

He took me there one Saturday evening. He found this perfect spot right underneath an oak tree. He even laced the tree with hanging Christmas lights for a warmer ambiance. He had the whole picnic deal played out- the checkered blanket, picnic basket, his car parked not too far from us with open doors and windows and blasting music. He even brought along a bottle of wine even though neither of us liked wine.

        "I wanna ask you something.", Gunther said.

        "Go ahead. Ask me anything.", I said.

Gunther seemed to hesitate in asking me at first but after stammering a few times, he got to it.

        "What do you think of me selling weed?", he said.

        "Well I… didn’t approve of it being done in the library.", I was a little caught off guard. I didn’t wanna offend him by saying anything wrong.

        "Come on, seriously. I’m sure your friends or whatever don’t exactly see it as ideal that you’re dating someone like me.”, he said.

        "Honestly?", I asked.

He nodded.

        "I don’t feel bad about it. Maybe bothered, a little. But I don’t feel bad about it. I mean, sure, it’s not the safest or the most appropriate job for a high school guy, but since you’ve survived it all this time, maybe it’s okay?", I was still unsure of everything I said but I was honest.

He was partly wrong though, about my friends disapproving. Candy had a lot of comments about Gunther, one of them being a drug dealer, but most of them were about his eyes, his golden hair, his smile, and his mysteriousness. Jade, on the other hand, had no comment at all. Jade is the type of friend who would usually be silent and supportive of your endeavors but she cracks when something bad happens or if you make an extremely wrong decision. Dave and his friends, Dean and Adam (who have also grown to become my friends), were the only ones who still keep convincing me that dating Gunther isn’t the best idea. I guess it’s a gender thing. My girl friends think differently from my boy friends.

        "Okay then. You see… I’ve been thinking of letting it all go.", he said.

        "What?", I was confused.

        "This whole drug thing. I think I’m gonna let it all go.", he said like it was the best news ever.

I didn’t know how to react. I was glad, of course, but if I showed him that, it would imply that I somehow didn’t accept that part of him in the first place. Anyway, that was the night Gunther promised me he would cut himself off the drug business. That was also the night Gunther told me how he got in the business in the first place…

        "So how did it happen anyway?", I asked him.

        "I saw the opportunity I guess. And I took it.", he said.