October Night, Part I

When I finished tapping the card, the small pile of powder had spread out and appeared to have grown. My driver’s license made a hideous screeching noise as it scraped against the smooth plastic plate, dividing the pile up into two small rails. I always thought it was funny to use my driver’s license for this activity.

Carefully, I tightly rolled up the five dollar bill until I was satisfied with it. Steadying my hand, I leaned over the plate and inhaled the first line, then paused for a moment.

I was hunched over, about do the other line when I was stopped by a knock on the door.

"Hey, Jackie." It was Kevin. He was getting antsy.

"Yeah?"

"Can I come in?"

"Hold on a sec." I sniffled, a drip falling down my throat. Carefully, I stowed the plate under the bed, stood up, checked my nose in the mirror, and walked to the door. I unlocked the door and opened it up. My brother stood there. His eyes were red and I caught a slight whiff of weed. He was probably high as shit.

"How much longer til you’re ready?" he asked. He was anxious to get going.

I paused, fighting the urge to sniffle. "Gimme, like, five minutes, okay?"

Kevin smirked, rubbing his nose mockingly. He knew what was up. He said nothing as he turned and left me alone again. I quietly closed the door of the guest room and locked it again.

It was a Friday night, a chilly weekend in early October. We were visiting our grandparents with Dad. Mom had to stay behind back at home to take Jimmy to his soccer game on Saturday. Dad’s parents lived smack dab in the middle of nowhere, out in the sticks, with three neighboring houses clustered together here in the woods surrounding the lake. We usually visited them a few times here each year, with this visit being centered around helping everybody pull the docks for the winter. Kevin’s friend Nate was here with us this weekend to help and hang out.

Dad was with our grandparents at a neighbor’s campfire. Kevin, Nate, and I had visited with them earlier at the campfire but left early under the pretense of wanting to get something to eat. Instead, we were getting ready to go out on an expedition of sorts.

My bag was packed, ready to go. All I had left to do was finish the plate and throw on my shoes and hoodie. I pulled out the plate and re-rolled the bill again, then did my thing. Finished.

After cleaning off the plate and gently tossing it onto the bed like a Frisbee, I glanced around for my shoes, spotting them in the corner. After sliding them on, I found my hoodie and pulled it on. I slid the bag onto my back and leaped to my feet, nearly pulsating with energy.

Prancing over to the other guest room where my brother and his friend were staying, I shoved open the door, hitting the wall with the doorknob. "Oops," I said rather unapologetically, glancing over at the wall. "Let’s go, let’s go."

  "Finally," Nate said. They were both ready and waiting.

We left the house and disappeared into the woods. Most of the houses near our grandparents’ were nicer homes, cabins for the rich to come to for the summer and stay in while they abuse the lake. Therefore, in our minds, we felt no guilt whatsoever in our plan.

We wandered a bit through the woods, passing a few homes as we followed the shape of the lake. Somewhere along the way, Nate pulled out a joint and sparked it, passing it along as we walked and talked quietly. It was dark out, but the half-moon helped light the way. As we passed some more homes, they seemed to get nicer and nicer. We were getting closer to the rich neighborhood of the lake.

Finally we spotted a house that looked suitably abandoned for the season. The joint was still rolling, so we stood in the woods, staring at the house as we finished smoking. It looked like a pretty nice home, definitely capable of holding some fun goodies. No lights were on, no one appeared to be around, and even the dock had been pulled.

We started to sneak around the house to the front, still staying in the woods, when suddenly we were startled by a cough. The three of us froze. It sounded like someone was out in front of the house, possibly on a porch.

"Crap," I said under my breath. "Someone’s out on a smoke break." Quietly we snuck back into the woods and continued along our original path.