Ben and Daniel walked down the lit streets of Newcastle with partying on the brain. It felt good to be out of the house, felt good to be back out on the party scene with Ben again and it really felt good to know that tonight he'd be under the influence of whatever, doing what he'd been thinking about for a while now. People watching.
Daniel was amazed as he stood next to Ben in line to get into the dark club. It sounded quiet when they first arrived but now, as they inched closer to the door he could hear fast, hard metal music pumping inside. He tried to glance in but could see nothing but a huge guy standing in front of the doors, winking at half-dressed girls and giving some guys shit about the cover charge. Daniel knew it only cost $8 to get in, not the $15 that the bouncer was suggesting.
He turned to Ben to thank him for finally getting him out into the real world, only to see him with his muscular arms around a what looked like a 15 year old girl dressed in long, tight blue jeaned flares and a see-through sweater. The tank top underneath was almost pointless. She should have just come topless. Daniel shook his head and turned back around, biting his lip. It had been quite a while since he stood in a crowd like this. He looked down at his shoes and realized that they were a God-awful shade of maroon. His jeans were fading to an almost white color and he didn't even bother to change his shirt. He was looking pretty grungy, but he made a point to smell good and brush his teeth. Bad breath never did anybody good.
"Next," called the door man.
Daniel nervously stepped up and reminded himself of the price to get in, prepared for what he would say when the guy suggested a whopping $15.
"Fifteen bucks."
"The sign says eight, sir."
"The sign can suck my dick. Fifteen bucks."
"Look, fuckhole, the sign says eight, and if you don't want to be sued out of your paycheck for false advertising you better take my eight dollars and let me into the fucking building."
The bouncer sighed heavily and glared at Daniel, but taking his eight dollars stepped gracefully aside. "Have a nice night, smart ass."
"Know anybody else who can sit on ice cream and tell you the flavor?" Daniel retorted.
He waltzed inside and told Ben he'd talk to him later. He began to walk around and mingle a little bit when he saw Kathy and Rita.
"Hey, Daniel! How the hell are ya?"
"Hey guys," Daniel said smiling. "I'm good, and you?"
"I'm good," said Kathy. "Rita's not all here tonight. Right, babe?" Kathy looked over at Rita who was standing with her arms crossed, staring at her bangs.
"My hair looks red. Is it red? I thought I dyed it blue. Didn't I do that?"
Daniel just laughed. "She needs a drink."
"No, Dan. She's had one too many of those. I'm going to go find Ben. Hopefully he hasn't resorted to the back room yet with a twelve year old. See ya," Kathy said. And off she went to find Ben.
Daniel just looked at Rita. "Rita, where did you get it? I want some."
"Daniel, babe, you don't. I feel so fucking heavy. My eyelashes feel like they weigh fifty pounds."
It sounded so great to Daniel. Where the hell could he find some? He took Rita by her arm and led her around the club. She denied getting the stuff from anybody there, until she saw the guy. "Yeah, that one...that guy right there. There, Daniel, see?"
Dan thanked Rita profusely and walked over to the guy, pushing his way through a crowd of dancing morons who were enjoying the techno music way too much. He reminded himself that they were dancing, not humping each other as he finally got across the floor. "Hey," he said to the guy who looked pretty familiar. "What's going on?"
"Not much, man. Daniel?!"
Daniel peered at the man, desperately trying to tell who he was through the purple of the black lights in the room. It clicked. "Gary, hey! How have you been?"
Gary sold some smack to Chris last year and got arrested for it. He got out on bail but was on probation for three months and was supposedly swearing off dealing anything for the rest of his life. That lasted about seven minutes. "I've been better man, I've been better. I'm making hardly any money for my own but I'm getting some everywhere I go. I just deal a little, steal a little, you know what I'm saying?" He started laughing at his own lame joke as Daniel realized what an idiot this guy was. But he was dying for something.
"Yeah, Gary. Cool. Look, I was wondering if I could make a purchase, just something small, you know? I haven't been out in a while, and I..."
"Oh Dan, my man, it's cool. These ones are on the house, how's that? Is that good? Look, I gotta go," he said quickly as he threw the bag at Daniel. "Talk to you later. Thanks for the chat."
"Thank you," called Daniel. He looked at the bag. It was full of a few colorful little pills, three small sheets of paper and a plastic baggy of brownish-colored powder. He was in heaven.
Daniel roamed around the club for about ten minutes before deciding to leave and get himself messed up. He finally came across Ben and Kathy, who were upstairs talking in a dark corner of the loft. "Guys, look. Look! I ran into Gary."
Ben's big eyes widened as he jumped up and ran over to the bag. Kathy just smirked. "What the hell did you do with Rita?" she asked. She looked over the balcony to see a stoned Rita laying across three bar stools examining her fingernails. "I'll catch you later, guys." She gave Ben a quick kiss and Daniel a punch in the arm as she ran down the stairs.
"Gary just gave you all this shit? Man, he is a GOD." Daniel agreed, and they walked downstairs and out of the club. They needed some fresh air.
They walked into a nearby gas station to buy a lighter and some sodas. Daniel bought his Dr. Pepper and left, while Ben decided to be annoyingly choosy. Daniel went outside and sat on the front sidewalk of the station, looking around, knowing that what was in his coat pocket was going to be the best trip he'd ever had. He was simplifying the set in his head. He could take one pill, one acid hit and a shot and he'd be in his glory.
Ben refused to shoot but would definitely take the other two pills without a question. He finally exited the store and ran over to Daniel. "Okay, man. Let's go. Let's go, man, come on!" He reached for Daniel's hand and helped him up off the ground and sprinted over to the car. He was really excited and really craving a hit now.
Daniel hopped into the driver's seat and drove around the block a few times, just to tantalize Ben. Then he gave in and sped over to Egg Drop park, across the street from Newcastle High. He was so happy to have graduated. No more fucking quizzes, teachers, preppies...it was his dream. Thank God he didn't have to go there anymore.
They pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car. As they sat underneath the pavillion, Daniel distributed the drugs to each of them knowing exactly what he and Ben each wanted.
Ben was anxious, tapping his fingers on the table like drumsticks in no particular rhythm, staring at Daniel. "Hurry up, fucker!"
"Piss off, Ben. Wait." Daniel finally got it all evened out. Ben now had two pills and a sheet in his possession. The sheet looked appetizing, a little white piece of paper-like material with colorful hardened liquid on it. He delicately picked it up and knowingly placed it on his long tongue, then shut his mouth, savoring the barely-there taste and closing his eyes, knowing what was to come in the next half hour or so.
Daniel reached into his inside coat pocket and took out a spoon and a syringe. He ripped open the small baggy and half-filled the spoon with the powder. He spit into the spoon mixed it around with his skinny finger. Lighting the lighter underneath the mixture he grinned. He hadn't done this for a long time.
When the now orange-ish liquid was coming to a boil he pulled back the syringe handle and filled it with the stuff. He flexed his arm a few times and with a little help from Ben, tied one of his shoelaces around his upper arm to make his vein stand out. It worked instantly and with a heavy sigh and a smile, he put the needle in his blue vein and tilted his head back in satisfaction. It felt so good. So strong, almost like an orgasm and he could not believe he'd waited so long to do this again.
When
his tremor of pleasure ended he looked
back at Ben, now staring into space with
a fixed look on his face. Daniel
swallowed a pill and layed down on the
bench while patiently waiting for the
drugs to take their toll on him. He
could hardly contain himself.