Reality Shmeality

Chapter Thirteen

The flight to Kennedy was quick, and I spent my layover waiting to get through security. By the time I passed through the screening, I only had an hour before it was time to board my flight to Amsterdam. The flight was eight hours long and I lucked out having no one sitting next to me. I listened to music until falling asleep and didn't wake up until they served breakfast with a little over an hour to go before touching down in the Netherlands.

I was never a big marijuana smoker, but from time to time I did enjoy a quick puff to inspire my paintings or help me slog through hours of producing comics. I did, however, plan on smoking while exploring Amsterdam on my own for two days to enhance my experience and enjoy the countless museums. I booked two nights at a hostel in the Red Light District, located next to one of Amsterdam's many canals. The Bulldog was not only famous for being a popular hostel in a great location, but it was also famous because it was part of the same family that opened the very first coffeeshop, revolutionizing tourism in Amsterdam and making it the most popular destination on the planet for pot smokers.

I arrived at the hostel early in the morning after having taken a train from the airport to Amsterdam Centraal Station. It was too early to check in so I left my bag at reception and headed out to explore. It was a pleasant summer day and the scent of flowers and marijuana filled the air as I strolled around the canals of the city center. Disheveled, red-eyed travelers stumbled around laughing while I took in the old architecture, a far cry from the buildings I was used to seeing in Western New York. I walked into a coffeeshop to experience smoking weed with no chance of getting in trouble. It was only eight in the morning but the cloud that enveloped me as I opened the door to the café showed me that I wasn't the only one looking for an early morning buzz. The man behind the counter looked like a skinny Jerry Garcia and asked me in a thick accent what I would like. I think he could tell that it was my first time because my eyes lit up as I saw all of the different choices. He asked what kind of high I was looking for and I told him that I was looking for something to kill the sadness of having left my family behind because of my hedonistic ways.

"Don't start your trip like that, mate. Cheer up. This isn't a place for sadness. And I'm sure your folks would not approve of you spending your time away from home with that attitude."

Skinny Jerry pulled out a jar and weighed a gram of buds before brushing it into a little bag. I bought a pack of king-size rolling papers and headed over to a small wooden table and rolled a joint. I was usually paranoid about smoking because I was scared of getting in trouble. To be able to do this with no worries whatsoever was a nice treat and I smiled for the first time since watching Sunshine and Anthony acting silly at my going-away party.

I took about an hour just to get halfway through the joint. I would take a few puffs and sit there in a daze and it would go out. Then I would forget that I had the joint in my hand and would sit there watching a dozen or so tables of chubby-eyed travelers speaking in different languages, explosions of giggles ringing out as the morning ticked away. It was only nine o'clock when I lit my first joint for maybe the twentieth time when she walked in the front door. She was short with bronzed skin and eyes so dark they were practically black. I wasn't the only one in the shop that noticed when she made her way to the counter. She wore glasses and had her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. After paying Skinny Jerry, she looked around for a place to sit. I could see a few sketchy guys wave her over but she scanned past their table until her eyes reached me. I shyly looked down pretending that I hadn't noticed her.

"May I join you?" she asked in an accent I had never heard before.

I smiled and pushed out the chair in front of me with my foot under the table.

"I'm Ana. What's your name?" She sat down and started rolling her own joint.

"My name is Flower. Where are you from, Ana?"