Vinny

6. Discarded Bud

"Thanks man, see you next week." Doug said as he got out of the car. He waved Vince goodbye before walking up to his house. He scrambled through his bag to find his keys before the light rain got his clothes too wet. Moving aside the binders labeled "Chem" and "History" then through the handouts that he had yet to organize, led him right to the red lanyard that was covered in the white letters of his dream college, Ohio State University. While not his true dream college, it is the best college in which he ever hopes to get into, or afford to get into, if put bluntly. Doug pulled at the lanyard and the keys followed suit. As he walked through the front door, he saw the familiar sight of a messy living room. Passing opened chip bags with only the crumbs of chips left in the bottoms, half empty bottles of water on the small three-legged table. The fourth leg broke off when Doug and his older brother had been wrestling as kids. Doug remembered back to the good ol' days, back when he was a kid, not troubled by homework and before he knew what a standardized test was, and back when his family wasn't sitting on the edge of the trench most people call debt. His mom only had one job back then, working down at the mill on 35th street. that was before his father left though, before the constant fighting. He had grown up learning to sleep while the walls were shaking with hard hitting screams. He continued through the living room, he entered the hallway, flicking the switch for the hallway light. Nothing. The light has been broken for years, sometimes he flicks the switch because he forgets, more often he tries as a symbol. Whenever his mother talks about buying a new light a bill comes in the mail, and the light idea is lost. Maybe if the light turns on that means we had enough money to get by this month, but that has yet to happen.

Throwing his bag onto his small twin bed, he sees the mattress sag, the few still intact supports under the mattress barely able to keep the bed up, let alone keep it flat.

Bzz

Reaching into to his pocket, he grabbed his phone, switching it to 'sound on' since he wasn't at school anymore. He checked who had texted him. "Ian?!" Doug said, exclaiming to himself. He opened the message.

FUCK YOU. YOU FUXKERS KICKED ME PFF THE TEAM!

Woah Ian, the first time you text me in a week and you're texting in all caps?

Yeah im fucjing yellling at you, I thought you werr my freinds,

Ian said out loud before typing it, finishing the Budweiser can before continuing texting, you giys said we weer gonna do it togehter.

Doug responded as he started to catch on to Ian's current condition as he typed his response.

Hey man, are you alright?

Im Finr

Ian typed, barely able to hold his phone up.

But Im not aleight, you gyys left me to die.

Ian, where are you?

Ian responded, slightly out of it as he finished another beer, throwing the can against the wall.

Im home wherr are yoi?

Doug picked up his jacket, grabbed his keys and walked out the door. Walking over to the run-down Scion xA from 2004. He put the key in, and it started after some muttering from the worn engine. "Oh, lucky me, lucky day." Doug said, excited that the engine turned over so he wouldn't have to walk. Pulling out of the driveway he drove quickly out to the main road, turned onto the street one over, and pulled into Ian's driveway. Doug looked out onto the yard, the perennial flowers just beginning to sprout, the lavender already halfway grown, the small plants climbing higher and higher into the sky to get closer to the source of their nutrients. The yard, weed less and cut, blades of grass from the previous mow scattered about the acting as natural mulch, feeding the grass with itself in a weird plant version of cannibalism. He knocked on the door, realizing Ian wouldn't be in the state to answer, he turned the knob, unlocked as usual.

"Ian! Dude I'm here." Doug announced after entering. He looked around, the house somewhat unfamiliar since Ian would typically come to Doug's house, not the other way around. Ian's house was clean on the inside most of the time, but as Doug looked around at the jackets and pants hung over couches and chairs, stacks of paper that had fallen over leaving the table and some of the floor covered, and other messy tropes filled the typically clean house. The lights being off, and curtains being drawn didn't help, making it difficult for Doug to traverse the house safely. As he walked to Ian's room his foot hit something, it snared him at the ankle trying to hold him back, looking down the hook of an umbrella that had fallen onto the floor had wrapped itself around him, restraining his movement.

"Wha do you want you you you jerk" Ian said loudly, exiting his bedroom, stumbling into the room with Doug.

"I want to talk man, this drinking thing isn't like you, you gotta get ahold of yourself." the umbrella losing its animation, released his ankle. His drunken friend threw another empty beer can to the ground. Doug's eye followed it until it disappeared behind the couch

"Oh, you wanna talk now," Ian started, a hiccup, from the alcohol, escaped before continuing, "Now you wanna talk, let's talk then Douggie. You and your... your friends—"

"Their your friends too. It's not that we don't like you, not that we don't like having you around," Doug explained, trying to show his best friend the groups true feelings. Ian walking around the living room while Doug is talking, "It's that we need to win this tournament. We love you Ian, we just need good players on the team." Ian still stumbling and searching inconsistently around the room, picking up a variety of items and finally pulling a bag out from under a pair of pants that had a weird unusual red stain on the right leg. Filling the bag with the items and pulling the drawstrings tight he threw one string over his shoulder, unable to slide his arm into the other string in his current state. With one strap holding the small crammed bag up, he looks up, giving Doug a surprised look when he sees him.

"Woah you're still here?" Ian said surprised, forgetting their conversation and clearly unable to retain what Doug had just said, "Alright well you gonna leave now cause I'm leaving." Ian said with a smile across his face, his memory of the fight and the anger drowned in beer suds, thinking his buddy Doug had just stopped by to visit. He opened the door and shut it behind him, exiting to the front yard.

"Wait where are you going?" Doug asked, but the closed door kept the words from Ian. Confused, Doug opened the unlocked door, stepped out onto the front steps, locking it behind him for Ian. Straining his eyes to adjust to the bright sun setting in the background after being in the dark room, he saw who was driving the car, Chad Edenborough. A previously not too popular kid in school, that is until he started drinking and partying with a clique that did the same. Soon he became known as the "party kid" for the crazy drunk acts he would do at parties, like climbing the inside of the chimney at Jimmy Campbell's house.

Chad'sscreeching tires were the last thing Doug heard as he got into his car to gohome. The drive back was one of many thoughts for Doug. He wondered why Ian hadstarted to hang out with Chad and that group. He wondered where they weregoing. Having thought better of it at the time maybe he would have followed,but the car had already disappeared from his rearview.