Freely we Love

Let the Years

Ali drove unnecessarily fast. Jason had phone Nat to ask for the direction of "The Sub". After a long ride they arrived. It wasn't even address. It wasn't even in town. The Sub was an abandoned bridge surrounded by wastelands. Ali shrieked every time she though a rat crossed their paths. As they got closer to the bridge they could hear music playing loud in the distance.

They were there. It was impossible for Jason to count the people. People slammed their bodies "rhythmically" to the music. But the party seemed to be revolting about a spot somewhere in the middle. A face familiar to Jason stumbled out of the wall of people.

Carlos. He had a drunken smile drawn on his face. He looked to Jason's direction.

"Blondie! You did come!" he said, laying on Jason's shoulder "Nathan will be thrilled to see you!"

In spite of his alcohol scented breath, he looked nice, Jason thought. He was wearing a red leather jacket with little spike scattered here and there across the shoulders.

"And who may this be?" Carlos brushed a finger on Billie's cheek. She blushed.

"I'm Bill," she said. Billie stared into Carlos' and he took her hand in his.

"Carlos, where's Nat?" Jason asked. Without responding, Carlos took Jason's hand too and walked them both into pandemonium.

"The fuck? I'm here too!" Ali screamed running behind them.

Carlos made his way through the crowd, pushing people aside. Some were so drunk and couldn't care less about what was happening around them. Some pushed back or swore in Spanish.

"Chinga tu madre," was the one Jason heard the most. He didn't want to ask what it meant. They reached the core of the party, a simple bar, speakers and some tables were arranged unevenly. Standing by one of the tables, Jason spotted a familiar red head.

"Nat!" he walked towards him as he didn't turn around. He was behind him. Nat was bending over on the table. Jason pulled his shirt to turn him around. Nat's eyes were lost for a second before focusing on Jason.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to graze us with his presence," he said putting a lock of blonde behind Jason's ear. He wrapped an arm around Nat's neck, first testing of it would be awkward. Nat smiled. Jason wrapped both his arms and stood on his toes to reach his face and kiss him. It was odd, Jason thought control over the kiss was his. But when their lips met Nat opened his mouth and Jason sucked in a breath. Jason cupped Nat's face with his palms. Their faces separated.

"Now that's what I call developing feelings," Nat joked.

"Shut up," Jason pecked Nat's cheek.

Nat snorted and then sneezed a white powdery cloud. It was difficult to know if it was anger or fear what Jason was feeling. The mood swing was very sudden. The table Nat was bending over was dusted with white powder, segmented on irregular lines. Cocaine.

"What the fuck?" Jason scoffed.

"What?" Nat asked "Want some?"

"YOU'RE HIGH AS FUCK, AREN'T YOU?" Jason's once quiet voice raised unexpectedly.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on?" someone doddered besides Nat. He looked a lot like Carlos. He was shorter probably but even his clothes were similar. They had to be brothers.

"Nothing, babe," Nat whispered on Carlos' brother ear. He smiled goofily and kissed Nat's lips. He noticed Jason glaring. "Hey, I'm Santiago,"

"Babe? Babe? Bitch, you better fuck off before I ... You," Jason pointed a finger to Nat "The fuck is this?"