Monday September 17 2012

[i]

☼ ○ ▬

Dead bodies in the backseat. Casualties of a failed mission. A friend, and accomplice in this knowledge, bears this burden with me. We leave the car behind and join up with a group of hip street urchins in an alley – all of us smoking rolled cigarettes and cracking light humor. All the while the graphic image of the dead bodies haunts me the whole time.

▬ ○ ☼

Waking up at 12:30 p.m.

Nutella Shortbread. Coffee.

Making decoration repairs around the house.

Double Egg Sandwich with Tomato. Salt n Vinegar Chips. Honey Oolong Tea.

Watching The Grey (2012).

Practicing for a little bit at the storage unit. Then straight to Chicho’s on 29^th Street. I’ve got a gig there with Mike Gombas. Kevin, Richie, and Anthony play a mix-up set of Pinball Locomotive and Playground Run Around songs. The whole gang is here: Tristan, James, Lauren, Josh, Aj, Carmen, Ken, Will, and Becca.

...

Becca recounts her experience at Chicho’s:

I pull into Chicho’s just in time to hear Robert play. I head straight to the bathroom first, cause after driving 5 hours from Blacksburg, VA I need to brush my teeth. A little girl tries to come in the bathroom and I can hear an older female tell her “you have to wait nicely…” over and over in a sweet voice.. it makes me feel like I have to rush even though I know they are waiting nicely outside the door..
I walk to the outside seating and see James first then Carmen… Robert startles me from the stage with a “Becca! hey…” then he laughs at my awkward surprise but happy to be here look. I sit and enjoy the environment, we are like cans of soda and we shake each other up… Explained to Carmen then James that I’m moving in 2 weeks. I look at Robert and look around and feel happy to enjoy life in the moment, and sad cause I realize that I haven’t been living my life truly. Now that I know I’m moving, I feel like a doctor has told me that I have 2 weeks to live. I want to live truly in the new season of my life. Robert’s singing is like giving sugar to kids, and the energy is contagious… its partly due to Anthony’s scheming. James is being ridiculous and saying absurd things. Robert finishes and asks me to split a pizza.

...

Sharing a whole Pizza with Becca.

...

Afterwards. Everyone’s invited to the house. It’s a loud, boisterous, and obnoxious playground for us kids who refuse to grow up...like old times...like the times that will always be as long as you choose to live in it. All of us migrate into Kevin’s room to see how many people we can cram in his bed.

Somehow this gathering transforms into a water balloon battle in the hallway creating a soaked carpet and dripping waterfalls from the ceiling. The staircase rumbles with footsteps stomping up and down at an endless pace.

...

Darren went off alone to the bar. Later he requests that I come pick him up because apparently he thinks he’s too messed up to drive back home. I grab Becca and Will to tag along. At Kelly’s Tavern we locate Darren yapping away with two dudes he just met. He’s just going on and on in such a dominating way about the absurdity of his life and the people he lives with (us).

Darren: “When you walk into my house you realize society is a lie!”

I can’t stop laughing behind Becca’s back.

We safely return home and the social lingering continues... 

Snacking on Muscadine Grapes, Broccoli, and Carrots.

...

Somebody puts on Clueless (1995). I stick around on the infamous red couch while Becca drifts off to sleep; Anthony and Kelley snuggle on the other couch.

To the bed. Sleep at some late hour.

---

[i] All images by me.