Are You Hearing Voices?

P. 41

Their backs were on the bed as they were laughing and their feet were planted on the ground.

"So what do you guys wanna do now? Joe said as he raised his upper body with his forarm and asked Jerry and Jason.

"I want some more of that meatball sandwich, jawn was popping!" Said Jerry.

Joe laughed. "I was in a rush when I made that jawn. You really liked it?"

Jerry nodded. "Hell yeah broski!"

Joe then got off the bed. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen. My mom made them jawns this morning. She still got more.

Jason and Jerry got off the bed and followed Joe as he went downstairs. When they reached the living room they made a left into the kitchen. There was a medium sized pot on top of the stove. Jason figured that's where the meatball must be. Joe reached up the fridge and pulled down a black plastic bag. He opened it and pulled out three long rolls of bread, he placed them on the counter top. As he was doing this Jason began smelling a certain odor, he knew exactly what it was. The familiar stench was coming from outside the back door. He turned around and began to follow it. He placed his hands on the doorknob and began to turn.

"Where you going?" Joe asked Jason.

"Ya'll don't smell that jawn?" Jason asked,

Joe chuckled. "That's just my pops bro, go join him if you want." Joe said to Jason, and that's exactly what he was going to do.. He opened the door and stepped out fully. Alvita and Cristopher were both seated at the back porch on top of two long white chairs, sipping from a bottle of Margarita and smoking from a small long white strip of paper.They were the roling paper jawns that Cristopher was talking about earlier. He/s always heard that they were more healthy for the envionrnment and yourself than the generic leaf or blunt wraps that Jason always gets. He wanted them, but he didn't know where to cop em' from. He neared the partners that were seated on the lawn chairs. Alvita was the first to see him. As soon as she did. She immediately got up from the chair she was seated on.

"I'll let you two boys be alone." Alvita said as she walked past Jason.

When she was gone Cristopher and Jason were alone at the backyard. They stared at each other.

"Sit down son." Cristopher finally said to Jason. He sat down on the white lawn chair next to Cristopher.

"You smoke?" Cristopher asked Jason as he handed him the white rolled up paper.

"Yes sir." Jason said as he stretched out his hand, he thought that he was never going to ask. Jason then put the rolled up paper in his mouth and took a slow drag. Immediately as the smoke filled his lungs he began to cough. Cristopher started laughing as Jason coughed his lungs out. He reached his hand to grab the paper from Jason. He quickly drew his hand back and pushed the paper close to his chest and cocked his head, Cristopher laughed harder.

"You okay?" Cristopher asked Jason in between his laughter.

Jason nodded his head, "I'm gucci broski.

Cristopher laughed again and gave a big smile. "So Joe tells me that you're married?"

"Yes sir I am." Jason said as he took another drag, this time he didn't cough.

Cristopher looked at Jason and raised an eyebrow up and smiled. Jason wondered as to why he bought that particular subject up. Out of all the things in the world that he could say to him.

"Can I ask you a question son?" Cristopher asked.

"Anything sir."

Cristopher gave a short pause, his eyebrow was no longer raised he was just smiling.

"You don't think you're too young son?" Cristopher asked Jason as he inhaled from the paper, he exhaled the smoke from out his nose. Jason wondered as to how he was able to do that without coughing.

"No sir I do not."

Cristopher nodded his head. "What pushed you to it?"

"Come again sir." Jason said,

Cristopher then took another drag and laid the paper down on the black table next to him.

"What made you ask that girl to marry you?" Cristopher asked.

Jason then turned his head away from Cristopher and stared at the open air, he gazed into nothing as he began to think deeply as to how he would answer the question.

"It just... felt right." Jason said.

Cristopher then adjusted his seating position on the chair as he continued to look at Jason. He knew that Cristopher wanted him to elaborate.

"I've never met a girl like Christy, and I don't think I ever will." He said.

"So I wanted to just grab the opportunity as fast as I could while I had the chance. I certainly would not want another boy to get the chance to. I mean... I know I'm still young. But I don't want to be an old 90 year old man still looking for love. I wanna be able to tell my future kids that I have with Christy that 'I married your mother the first chance that I got.'"

Cristopher listened attentively and did not interrupt Jason as he spoke. He had really long dreads, they stretched to his lower back, just like Christy's long black hair. Jason started to hear sobbing noises from the back where he was seated. As he turned around to look, he saw Alvita crouched behind the chair where he was seated close to the bushes. She was weeping.