‹ Prequel: Family Reunion
Sequel: Communion

Union

The Bad Trip

Rose awoke to the sun in her eyes early in the morning. She re-adjusted her sleeping position and turned over to be met face to face with her husband.

Tre was still fast asleep, and who wouldn't be after fifteen Cheech? Well, fifteen is where Rose had lost count anyways. She had been keeping tabs on his drinking the previous night because she was beginning to realize how out of control both of them were getting with it.

"Frank..." Rose said quietly as she gave his body a soft push.

No reaction from him, except a slight grunt.

"Hmm, Frank sweetie...wake up," Rose said once again.

"Naa..." Tre said crankily as he pushed her hand away.

Rose sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Great, what was he going to do, sleep through her twenty-first Birthday? "Frank!" Rose said loudly.

"Wha! What!?" he said jumping up into a sitting position. He looked at his wife, sighed, and then laid back down. "Hmm...what is it babe?"

"Get up..." she said softly again.

"Oh...do I have to? My head fucking hurts..." Tre groaned.

"Aww, your head hurts every morning," Rose laughed.

"Yeah, what's your point?" Tre laughed lightly.

"Nothing...I just...I think you should get up."

"Really? I think that's a great idea Rose," Tre said sarcastically.

"Yeah..." Rose said rolling her eyes.

"What day is it?" Tre asked.

"Wednesday," Rose answered.

"Ah, oh...Oh! Umm...Happy Birthday," Tre said.

"Thank you..." Rose smiled, and then gave him a kiss on the nose.

As Rose pulled her lips back from his nose, he brought his lips against hers. "Hmm...you're welcome," he sighed as their lips parted.

Rose giggled, "So what should we do today?"

"Hmm...nothing," he joked. "I'll tell you what we can do actually."

"What?" Rose asked with excitement.

"We can wait for my hangover to go away, then we can go clubbing in San Fransisco," Tre suggested.

"Hmm, get drunk again?" Rose asked.

"Well yeah..." Tre said.

"Okay..." Rose agreed. As long as they didn't have too many drunken nights everything should be fine.

Just then the phone rang and Rose hopped out of bed in a hurry to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey Rose! It's Billie! Happy Birthday!" said her cousin on the other end.

"Hey Billie! Thanks a lot. What are you up to today?" Rose asked.

"Oh, nothing much. What are Tre and you doing today?" he asked.

"We're going clubbing tonight," Rose answered.

Tre slinked down in the bed as he heard Rose tell Billie Joe that they were going clubbing. He was supposed to do something with her that wasn't drinking.

"Oh, was that Tre's idea?" Billie asked.

"Yeah it was," Rose answered.

"Oh, I see..." Billie said monotoneously.

"Yeah, so do Adrienne and you want to come with us?" Rose asked.

"Oh hell sure, why not?"

"Cool, well I'll call you later then," Rose said.

"Great, talk to you in awhile," Billie said.

"Yep, love you," Rose said.

"Love you cous..." Billie laughed and then hung up.

"Billie and Adie are going to come to the club with us tonight," Rose said with excitement.

"Awesome," Tre smiled. He lent over to pick his aspirin bottle up off of his night table. He left it there all the time for convenience, because an occasion where he didn't need it was rare.

Something else had changed in the last two years as well. Claudia moved out of the house with Frankito. She claimed her reason was feeling as though she was imposing on her ex's new marriage.

Rose hadn't minded Claudia's presence when she was around, but when trying to get romantic, it could be a great inconvenience. Claudia had always been very nice to Rose, but Rose didn't want to trust Tre's ex-wife around her Frank.

***

Tre hadn't given Rose a birthday present yet.

That evening at around 7 o'clock Rose called Billie Joe and informed him that Tre and herself would be heading into San Francisco.

The two of them were going to head into the city in Tre's new Mercedies Benz. Billie Joe and Adrienne had also bought a new vehicle, it was a hybrid more environmental-friendly car.

They all met up at a club downtown. It was a very nice and expensive club. It was the kind of club with a bouncer. But luckily the Cool's and Armstrong's didn't have to wait anytime to get in. They were let in on the spot.

The rock stars and their respectful wives were given a nice booth in a secluded area of the club. It was an awesome party room, and they even had their very own bartender.

"She just turned twenty-one so get us a round of beers, the most expensive crap you have, and I want a Cheech as well. And if you don't know what a Cheech is, you seriously suck," Tre laughed at the bartender, very much lavishing in his arrogant rock star status like he was entitled.

Rose laughed along with her husband, knowing he immaturely considered the behavior punk, or so she got out of it. Billie Joe laughed as well and Adrienne just slightly rolled her eyes. "He's kidding..." Rose said to the bartender. "But we want the liquor, now!"

"I'll be right back!" the bartender assured them.

"Ah, you guys have really rubbed off on me, way too much," Rose giggled.

"Nah, not at all. The arrogance is within us all," Billie Joe said.

After a few hours of heavy drinking Billie Joe was heavily drunk. Adrienne felt it was okay since it was a special occasion and she too was also quite drunk and all over her man. Each her and Billie were more drunk then Tre and Rose. I guess you could say they were more immune.

"You sounded bummed earlier, about drinking tonight," Tre mentioned to Rose over the loud music.

"Did I? I wasn't..." she said.

"Oh that's good. I'll have a birthday surprise for you," Tre grinned.

"Oh, I can't wait," Rose smiled.

"I feel right in the middle of seriously buzzed, and drunk. I'm not there yet," Tre grinned as he picked up a glass of beer that wasn't his.

Billie Joe and Adrienne were looking at each other and laughing. They didn't really seem to be aware of anything around them except each other.

Rose took another big gulp of her beer and slammed the mug down on the table. "Man...I just wish we had something else to do," she said.

"Something else? What do you mean?" Tre asked.

"Like something different than booze and weed all the time, it gets boring," she explained, loosely letting her subconscious feelings come out.

"What do you want to try?" Tre inquired as he took another big chug off the beer mug that wasn't his.

"Something better," Rose replied blatantly and it was obvious she was getting pretty hammered now.

Tre looked at Billie Joe, Billie didn't have a clue what the fuck they were talking about. "Shit, I don't know," Tre answered and he scratched the back of his neck in an unassured manner.

"Go get us something..." Rose urged him.

"Okay," Tre agreed finally, now in his drunken state. He clammered up from the table and went out into the main part of the club. Usually he could tell the drug dealers from the non-drug dealers just by the different style of dress. He spotted one of the sort he was looking for, almost right away.

"Hmm, where'd Tre go...hmmahh?" Billie asked drunkenly after Tre had been gone over near five minutes.

"Bahroom I tink..." Rose lied and noticed she was starting to slurr quite noticibly.

"Lem'me kiss yer neck..." Adrienne laughed as she flirted with her husband.

Rose just smiled to herself and looked away from the couple. She could see a man, he was short and she could make it he was wearing a black suit and a white tie. Staggering back down the private hallway, her husband fell against the wall before finding his way up to her, his tie now had been obviously loosened. "Frank babi com' 'ere!"

"I commin' Rose!" Tre laughed as he bounced from wall to wall before finally reaching her with a clumsy lean into the booth..

"Hmm...you geta sometin' for us?" Rose muttered, fluttering her eyelashes while trying to keep herself level.

"Mmmhmm..." Tre smiled as his wife started suckling on his neck. "Stop it, thes ain't my birfday," he laughed and he gently pushed her back, not far into her seat.

"I kno..your neck is so nice thoa," Rose stopped to say and then continued on his neck, nibbling and massaging with her tongue.

"Hmm...I dun mind tha much," Tre sighed.

Rose giggled.

"I gaw some stuff," Tre said as he pulled a baggy out of his blazer pocket.

"Whas, it?" Rose asked.

"Metahethametamine," Tre said very screwily.

"Ohh...ya men speed?" Rose asked.

"Yeh..." Tre answered.

"You dunnit b'for?"

"Lon time 'go," Tre said.

"I neva dunnit...izit goo?"

"Uhuh..."

"Kay...let tryit," Rose said eagerly.

Since they were in a club and Billie Joe and Adrienne were right there the two deciced to just turn away and snort. It would be a lot better than having to wait twenty minutes if they had ingested it.

Five minutes passed in a blur and the couple were starting to feel extreme hyper activeness. "Les go out ta the club n' dance Frank!" Rose suggested, yelling though unaware.

"Yeh...me go wit you," Tre said as the two jumped up from the booth and took off to do some dancing.

After hours of dancing and ending up pretty much in the same ordeal as their wedding, meaning on the floor of the club, someone unnamed called the couple a cab.

***

The sun was shining as usual over a summer in Oakland. The morning was typical for most in the California North, but for others things were just strange and new.

Rose woke up very early. In her bed, she stirred and tossed and turned. Her eyes opened, but she was near unseeing and the room spinned as though she were still drunk. Something didn't feel right with her. She wasn't sure where she was and her body was shaking uncontrollably.

In this mysterious place where she lay, her husband just happened to be with her.

She got out of slobed, her knees weak and unstable. and went over to a mirror that was in this very large contemperary style room she had just woken up in. "Hmm...Frank where are we?" she asked with a tired voice.

Tre rolled over in the bed and looked up at the ceiling. "Fuck...I feel fucking fucked up," he said.

"Me too...why do I feel like this?" Rose asked him as she came back over to the bed holding her stomach and shaking uncontrollably. She sat on the edge of the bed with her back turned to her husband.

Tre just looked at her as he tried to recall the night before. "Hmm...we were at a club with Bill and Adrienne," Tre said as he just remembered.

"Oh yeah...where are they?" she asked as she looked around the big Hotel Suite.

"I have no fucking clue," Tre answered.

"Fuck...I can't stop shaking," Rose complained as she rocked herself back and forth on the edge of the bed.

Tre then sat up and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I think we did something last night..." Tre said truthfully.

"Like what?" Rose asked.

"I think it was Speed," Tre said. He didn't like to admit that he could remember buying it, but he also didn't want to lie either.

"What? We did Meth?" Rose asked.

"Yeah...I think so," Tre replied, making it half sound like he wasn't sure. Even though he was quite shamefully positive.

"Where did it come from?" Rose asked.

"Umm...I don't know," Tre answered nervously.

"It couldn't have been me that bought it, I left my cash and credit cards at home yesterday," Rose pointed out.

"Yeah, I don't know..." Tre said.

"I'll be fine anyways... How are you feeling?" Rose said as she turned around to look at Tre.

"I'm a bit nippy, nippy nippy," Tre said.

"How long does this feeling last for? The withdrawal that is..." Rose asked.

"For a few days..." Tre said.

"Fuck...I feel like shit right now. And I'm so lightheaded.... Fuck, we should see if Billie and Adie made it home safely last night," Rose said as she motioned towards the phone at Frank.

"Hmm...oh yeah. That would be a good idea," he said as he grabbed the phone off of the night table. He dialed Billie's home phone and passed it to Rose.

"Hello?" answered a now ten year old Jakob.

"Hey Jake, is your mom around?" Rose asked.

"Hi Rose, I'm not sure. They might be in their room, I haven't checked," Jakob answered.

"Oh, well can you check for me quickly? They were with us last night, but somewhere during the night we got separated," Rose said.

"Drunk again?" Jakob laughed.

Rose laughed as well, "You are so not naive anymore are you?"

"Not very much..." Jakob said. "Okay, I'm walking up the stairs right now...going down the hall. And I'll just give mom's and dad's door a knock."

Rose could hear a knocking sound. "Are they in there?" she asked.

"Hmm...not sure. Mom, dad? Are you guys in there?" Jakob asked.

"Hmm...they are probably just out cold," Rose said.

"Yeah, I'll just let myself in," Jakob said and he opened his parents bedroom door.

"Ahh!" a mans voice was heard coming over Jakob's end of the line.

Then Jakob was heard as well, "Ahh!"

"Fuck! Get out!" Billie Joe shouted all of a sudden at his son.

Jakob ran out of the room and slammed the door shut as fast as he could. "Whoa...what just happened?" Rose asked with concern.

"Ah...umm...I don't want to talk about it," Jakob said. "I got to go now bye..." he said and quickly hung up.

***

"Fuck...Billie. I thought you said you locked the door!" Adrienne shouted from where she had been laying under her husband, sweaty and naked.

"Fuck! Great, now our kid is going to be all disturbed!" Billie said as he got off of his wife and laid down beside her. He pulled the comforters up over himself nervously.

"I can't believe you let that happen!" Adrienne retorted.

"Don't blame me! I thought I locked it!" Billie sighed.

***

"Were they there?" Tre asked Rose.

"It sounded like it, yeah..." Rose answered.

"Oh, that's good."

"I'm shaking really bad right now. Maybe we should go get some coffee or something?" Rose suggested.

"Yeah, let's go find the car. Then we can go home," Tre said.

"Tre...do you think you can drive right now?" Rose asked.

"Oh yeah...I can even drive drunk with no problem whatsoever," Tre strangely boasted.

"Okay..." Rose said.

The couple checked out of the Hotel they had been taken to downtown San Fransisco and made their way back to the club they were at the previous night.

Surely enough, their Mercedes was parked in the clubs parking lot. And yes, it had racked up about ten tickets for occupying the same spot for so long.

Tre hopped in the drivers seat and Rose the passengers. They started on their was home. "Let's stop at Starbucks," Rose suggested as she saw they were going to pass it.

"Okay..." Tre said as turned off into the parking lot.

The two both got out and went inside. Rose started looking at the menu, "Hmm..." she said.

"What do you want?" Tre asked.

"ORANGE MOCHA FRAPPUCCINO!" shouted Rose jokingly as she thought back to Bullet in a Bible. She then went back to frowning because of how uncomfortable the shaking was making her.

Tre laughed lightly, "What's so funny?"

"Remember? Bullet in a Bible?" Rose asked.

"Oh....OH!" he said, suddenly remembering he had said that at some point in front of a camera. "Oh yeah...well you gotta love 'em," he said.

"Two, Orange Frappy's," Rose said to the woman at the counter. Rose then turned towards a television set that was mounted on the wall. Her jaw dropped to the floor as she sighted what was on the television screen.

"Oh my God, Frank..." she said pointing at the television.