Good Times Are Now

8 - A Rock and Roll Baptism

Chapter 8
A Rock and Roll Baptism

    "You've got to be joking." Maya sighed as Roger placed his hands over Maya's eyes, blinding her from her path.

"Sorry. Freddie's orders." Roger tutted. "Ready, Freddie?" He shouted.

"Bring 'er in!" Roger heard Freddie exclaim followed by an excited applause by him, Rosemary and Brian.

"Okay, let's go." Roger began walking from behind her, his hands still clasped over her eyes.

"I can't see shit, Roger." Maya stuck out her hands in front of her, sluggishly moving forward.

"It's alright, just stay close by me."

With his hands still snug around her face, Roger pulled Maya closer to his body, his shoulders framing around hers. Slowly, he put forward his leg, gesturing for her leg that was in front of it to move in unison. Eventually, they were stepping in harmony with one another, easing Maya's hesitance. She placed her arms down that she was initially using to blindly navigate her way, now sinking herself back into Roger so he could be the sole guidance of her walk.

Although she was apprehensive to see what would await her, she was quite content in her position now. Her body was beating with warmth by Roger's cover against the night cold.

Maya knew she was close upon hearing Rosemary's muffled giggles, her anxiousness heightening further.

Roger's pace slowed down to a halt while Maya felt a glowing heat pulsate in front of her. Although Roger's hands were still secure around her eyes, red flickering brightness streamed its way through the tight gaps in between his fingers, and she could hear the sound of faint crackling.

Fire.

Maya took in a sharp breath as she stumbled back from the heat, but she had only leaned back into Roger, who hadn't left her side.

"It's okay." Roger shushed.

"Now." Maya heard Freddie's voice.

Roger removed his hands from Maya's eyes. It took a few seconds for Maya's eyes to adjust to the scene before her. There was certainly a fire in front of her, with a carefully, yet hastily built barrier around it.

Eventually, her eyes adjusted to see it illuminate the spirited smiles of the four friends.

"Oh, so this is how I die." Maya muttered to herself.

Freddie laughed while approaching Maya with a cardboard box. "On the contrary, darling. This is, let's say, a baptism of sorts."

Maya struggled between furrowing her brows in confusion or raising her brows in shock.

"I thought you were joking..." Maya looked to Roger. She sighed, eyeing Freddie with bewilderment. "You call this a baptism? There is a raging fire in front of me."

"Forget what we call it." Freddie said slightly irritated. "Think of this as your initiation into your new life. A purification. And to purify yourself for the life you want..." Freddie handed Maya the cardboard box he had been holding. "You must say goodbye to the life you were once supposed to have."

A purification. That made sense. Freddie and Maya grew up with Zoroastrian beliefs in the power of sacred flames. Although she wouldn't deem what they were doing as a particularly religious ritual, it felt profound in their value of fire as the supreme symbol for purity. Maya looked into the box. It was cluttered with a bunch of things she thought she had stored away from her sight. Pamphlets and ribbons from potential universities she could've gotten into, her old school uniform, letters of recommendations, certificates of achievements, small trinkets and trophies - everything that reminded her of all the hopes and dreams everyone else had for her.

Presumably, she should be proud of it all. But as her eyes shifted between the box and the fire in front of her, her lips trembled into an eager smile.

Freddie let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in upon seeing Maya's smile. Growing up, Maya seemed to be the one that would make their parents proud, succeeding in every academic avenue they had put in front of her. This was a contributing factor towards the growth of Freddie and Maya's distant relationship. Not that he wasn't proud of his little sister - but it had seemed that Maya was determined to live out hopes and dreams that were wildly different to his, and although they would always be a loving family, that absence of true understanding would always remain. Thank goodness he was wrong.

Maya lifted the her school shirt from the box, chuckling. 

"If you're throwing that in there, I hope you have a spare uniform set." Brian said. 

Maya nodded. Rosemary tutted at Brian. "Why must you spoil this?"

"I'm not, I'm just saying. Doesn't she still have to finish up a few more days of school?" Brian put up his hands defensively.

"Well, she has a spare set, so it's fine." Roger said.

Brian snickered under his breath. "Kind of defeats the purpose of throwing it in the fire since she's still going to wearing the same thing after th-"

"It's a meta-"

"Enough." Freddie exclaimed. "Maya, when you're ready."

Maya didn't skip a beat as she tossed the shirt into the fire, the other four erupting into cheers and applause as the fire flickered upward. 

Maya dropped the box to the ground, gesturing for everyone to pick something from the box and feed the fire. She laughed incessantly as she picked up an armful of trinkets, throwing them in the fire one by one as she skipped around it. Everyone joined in, laughing harmoniously as they followed her lead, scrunching up papers and throwing them in the flames while dancing around. 

The night lingered on longer as they had run out of things to throw into the fire, yet continued to dance around it. Bursting into song, Freddie led the five of them into a drunken sing along to The Streets of Laredo. 

Eventually, Maya stumbled as she fell back on the grass, huffing in exhaustion. Soon, Rosemary crashed beside her, giggling out of breath. Roger and Brian stopped beside them, looking down and laughing at the two tired girls. Rosemary plastered a smug smile on her face as she kicked both of them in the shin, causing each of them to keel over and fall on top of Rosemary and Maya. Freddie, before he could feel left out, ran over and did an exaggerated dive down towards them, establishing himself as the extra topping in the drunken tumble.

They were all breathless from laughter as they tried to untangle themselves from one another, and find a comfortable spot in the grass to lie down on.

Laughter died down and they all lay still in their spots as they looked up at the night sky. Soon nothing could be heard but the flickering beat of the well-fed fire and each of their breaths slowing down at a lulling pace.