Escape the reality


Chapter one: Her

A dreary and cold night in Florida, I am driving around in my S-10 black on black tinted windows. The tint was so dark, that even plastering your face to the glass, the inside stayed invisible.

I pulled up to a house in a small neighborhood. Killing the engine of my truck I climbed out and slammed the door shut loudly. The noise was on purpose, hopefully that slacker inside would get a head start to the door. I pulled down my black hoodie revealing my jet black hair spiked in menacing disarray. I stuck my hands in the pockets of my dark blue jeans, and trudged forwards. My feet dragged along the driveway as I made my way to the front door.
As expected my hand didn’t even reach the doorbell before it swung open. My smirk twitched a little higher seeing the man who opened the door. He was tall at 5’9, but had no meat on him. The goatee on his chin had grown, but looking at his muscles, they were like always virtually nonexistent. As he soon as he opened the door he was being a smart a**.

“You know you don’t have to knock, Mikia isn’t home dude.”

“What am I, psychic?”

He smacked me upside the head and ushered me inside, closing the door behind me. He smirked too crossing his arms and leaning up against the wall.

“Whatever. Josh did you bring the stuff?"

He nodded to the small bag I held in my hand. To any passer-by it was just a brown paper bag, probably filled with a sandwich and chips for lunch, but Stevo knew better than that- I wasn’t here for a picnic.

"Yep, I got it Stephen."

"Well come on in you idiot. I haven’t got all day, you know Miki, she practically teleports.”

We walked down the hall and into the main room where the plasma screen TV was.

“Can I get you anything? Mountain Dew, Pepsi?"

"Beer?"

"You know I can't have that crap with Mikia.”

"Yeah, yeah what ever. You ready to play?”

"No, the question is are you ready?”

He said handing me a remote control to a play station.

"Yeah hold on, let's light one up."

“In here?”

“Its cold out.”

"Dude, that means I’ve got to open the freaking doors and windows!"

"If you don’t want to get caught yeah, ha-ha."

"I hate you..." He replied angrily.

"No you don’t, you love me!” I said with a smile.

I took out the little rolled up drug from inside the paper bag and lit it on fire. I took a long drag of it, letting the feeling of euphoria take me over. Pretty soon I’d be nice and numb, it was better that way. The less hurt I feel-the better. Finally- I could escape reality.

The room already smelled like smoke after just a few puffs, but I didn’t care. I started up the game system as Steven came back in and grabbed one of the baggies from inside and rolled it up. I watched as he did it, it was almost like an art really.
The screen loaded but the game said “error”.

“Whats wrong with it?”

I feel stoned, very, very stoned. Like waking up from anesthesia, incoherent.

“The back plug is missing.”

I glanced at the back and while all I saw three holes spinning around, the fact that the plug was missing was obvious.

“Oh.”

I walked outside to grab the cord for the game system I left behind. The cool wind hit my face and the smell of smoke started to wash off me. The dizzying feeling dropped away a little too. I walked to the corner of the house and came face to face with the transporting devil herself.

"Well hello there Mikia, long time no see?"

I greeted her with five times too much cheer and a little laughter in my voice.

"What are you doing here pot head?” She replied with an irritated tone.

"Can’t I stop by to visit?"

"I told you I don’t want you around Stephen. He has a life unlike you. You had your chance with-"

I interrupted her immediately.

"Don’t you f***ing say that name!”

I blew up in her face knowing what name she was going to say. Her name.

Stephen walked out the front door probably to help me find the cord. By the looks of him, he as far gone as I was. The minute he saw Mikia he almost backtracked into the house, but she had already spotted him. He strode forward plastering a grin on his face, playing it cool.

"Hey what is going on out here?”

Mikia replied, “Josh was just leaving”

She glanced at Steven then turned to me once more. “Weren’t you?”

She glared at me with a dead look in her eyes. I glared back as if it were a staring contest. My lips suddenly tilted upwards.

"Yeah I’m done smoking here."

Her jaw opened up as wide as she could open it.

“You b******." She said between gritted teeth.

"Dude what the hell Josh!?!" Stephen said quickly.

I ignored him and walked back into the house grabbing my controllers and leftover weed, shoving them all in the same paper bag as before.

“Looks like our gaming session just came to an early end Stevo.”

I patted him on the back and shuffled out the door.

“God, really was that necessary? Now I have to hear her bull**** for the next hour.”

"Sorry dude, you married her not me. I’m out of here."

Mikia was standing guard at the door, like a tigress ready to pounce on me if I went on any more uncharted territory. I shoved past her and clamored into my truck, slamming the door shut. I rolled down my window and tossed out the last of my cigarette.

"Oh and by the way Mikia, go screw yourself."

I peeled out of the driveway like a drag racer. The shrieking sound of my tires pierced the still midday air and I didn’t bother looking back. I blasted on Lil Wayne “I feel like dying” and I drove for miles without slowing. The fact that there wasn’t a cop on my bumper was a miracle. It seemed like forever just riding mindlessly, trying to drown out my world in a rush of sound.

It wasn’t until the glimmering lights of dawn came that I finally pulled up into my driveway and went into my apartment. Turning the lock on the old rusted door I twisted the knob and flicked on the lights. In the kitchen I heard the annoying beeping of the answering machine telling me I had three new messages. They were all missed calls from my mother according to the caller ID. I pressed play and walked over to my room to get changed. The feel and reek of these clothes were finally starting to overpower me. I pulled off my clingy t-shirt as the first message started playing.

“Joshua I’ve been trying to get a hold of you, but I guess you must not be home…I haven’t talked to you in a while, it would be nice to hear from you. Give me a call back alright? I love you."

The message clicked off and the machine spat out the time. She’d called earlier that morning, probably not long after he’d left. I’d spent a good half of the morning sitting in the park doing nothing at all but staring up at the clouds and watching them pass by. It was a good way to kill time without doing anything at all.

I threw my car keys onto the bad as the second message began to play. I ran my finger though my hair that was slick with sweat.

“Of course I haven’t called you mother, you know me, I’m a failure at everything-why should this be any different?”

"Josh it is me your mother, I was going to ask you if you had spoken to Ashley in a while. I heard she was back in town you know. You might want to go see her, and-"

I spoke back to the answer machine as if it were talking to me, "Why would I want to do that? So I can look more like a failure?”

“-Sarah says she misses you. I love you Josh.”

I walked back into the kitchen and over to the sink grabbing a cup from the dish washer. I twisted on the faucet and watched as it filled.

“Hey Josh, it is your mother again. You never answer this thing-”

I smiled lifting the glass to my lips.

“Well you know that Lorra-"

The glass fell from hands and I let it crash to floor and shatter. I grabbed onto the machine and chucked it against the wall. The splintering sound of metal filled the room as it clattered into pieces.

“Why does she even try? Damn it, now I have to buy a new one…”

My chest was slowly rising up and down. My heart was practically trying to ram its way through my ribcage. I walked back down the hallway and dropped onto my king-sized bed face first. I felt the absolute want to scream into my sheets, but the explosions in my kitchen had probably already made the neighbors wonder what was happening in here. I didn’t need anyone calling the cops thinking I was raping some teenage girl.

“Sleep...”

My mind buzzed off and into darkness where the loud echoing around me ceased, and silence was the most beautiful thing.

Finally-peace.