What Can You Not Buy With Money?

“Woah! Pull over!” Vern pleaded as we drove down the Oklahoma highways, corn fields and other crops surrounding us in a never ending cycle.

“Why?” Walker asked as we slowed down and pulled over by the side on the gravel landing strip.

“I want a group photo.” Vern already had his camera out, preparing it and opening the van door.

Everyone groaned, more out of a teasing annoyance than really being frustrated by him.

“Please?” Vern begged, looking at us all with a playful smile. “I promise I’ll put the camera away for the rest of the trip if we do this. I want us all to be in this one last photo.”

“Deal.” Lucy grabbed Vern’s right hand and shook it. In a flash, she exited the car and stretched. “How much longer until we stop?”

“Dallas is about five more hours away. We’ll crash there for a day then it’ll be another four hours after that to Houston.” Walker had a map in his hand, pulling it out and unfolding it like a giant blanket. “After Houston, we’ll be heading to Disney World.”

“Disney World?” I raised an eyebrow but a smile played on my lips. “Never been there.”

“Neither have I,” Vern shrugged as he uncapped the lens of his camera. “Okay, everyone please huddle together. Look happy!” He carefully propped his camera on the hood of the van, positioning it to point to the group. After checking the view of the camera, he turned on the timer and quickly ran up. A rhythmic beep paced us as we all prepared to throw our widest smiles.

Walker threw his arm around my shoulder, pressing his cheek against mine. Vern was in Lucy’s embrace and we all waited until the flash went off. And I’ll tell you now—that picture was a definite keeper. I still have it.

>

“Houston!” Walker yelled at the top of his lungs with a proclamation, a hint of a faux Texas accent emanating from his voice. Everyone screamed in the van as we pulled up to the nearest motel.

And what we did was party in our motel rooms. Simple, isn’t it? Lucy went and bought drinks that ranged from beer to vodka and then we all huddled in hers and Vern’s suite to gather and let off all the steam that was built during the long hours on the road.

“And then I told him, ‘No! You will not take my anal virginity!’ Walker shouted at the top of his lungs, already stone cold drunk. He was wild as he told us the tale of when he was hitchhiking all the way to Northern California. His happy face was unfocused and dark red. His curly hair was matted with sweat and he took off his shirt and fanned himself heavily. “Man—I’m on fire! Hand me some ice, please?” He held out his hand to me, a silly grin glued to his mouth.

I nodded, also heavily buzzed but surprisingly not as rambunctious as the others. I turned to the ice bucket and picked it up, but frowned at feeling how light it was. “Oh no… there’s none left.”

“She who holds the bucket must get more ice,” Lucy proclaimed and started giggling as she took another swig of a whiskey bottle. “Be a dear, please Mary?”

I stumbled to get to my feet, laughing as I nodded. “Sure, I’ll be happy to get some ice. And how about I be your footstool for the rest of the night?”

“Dude…” Vern paused as he lost his train of thought—but quickly recovered it. “That… would be awesome!” Lucy and him roared in laughter as they fell over and rolled around like hyenas.

I was dazed but strong enough to leave the motel room and go outside near an alley, where the small ice box was waiting for me with its glowing lights. Houston was noisy, a city of lights and intense heat twenty four-seven.

I opened the ice box and began collecting ice into the bucket, my movements already gawked and unbalanced. I was more drunk than sober.

I’m sure you’re expecting something horrible to happen. And you are right. Footsteps swiftly approached me, much too fast for me to feel comfort at listening to. I turned to see who was quickly approaching me, but I was greeted by a calloused hand and suddenly I was slammed into the brick wall in the alley.

My head stung and throbbed at the violent movement—and when I felt the sharp cold of a blade being pressed against my throat I tried to let out a scream. But it was muffled by my attacker’s hands.

“Give me your money. Now.” It was a man—a complete stranger—and he was already pressing his body against mine to the point of being suffocated. My eyes felt as though they were stretched to the point of pain and my poor little heart was going at the speed of light.

I quickly nodded, hoping he’d release his grip. But he simply smacked me on the side of the temple, causing me to collapse to my knees. The world began to spin, and I felt the man begin to pat me down for my wallet. He pulled it out of one of my pockets, and he quickly jumped away to flee.

“Rumble!” Lucy yelled as she headbutted the mugger in the gut, taking him down to the pavement. He hit with a heavy thud, and already he had lost. He was crawling on his backside, trying to escape.

“What’s going on?” Walker and Vern stumbled over, confusion and terror etched on their faces.

“This guy just robbed Mary.” Lucy picked up the man’s fallen knife, studying it closely. “I say we castrate him right here.”

“Oh fuck. No. Fuck. Please.” The man was shaking now, and I could smell the foul tang of urine rise. He was pissing himself.

“Get up, dick.” Lucy kicked at his thigh, and he quickly obeyed. “Spread ‘em.”

I was still trembling, but I stood up. Walker quickly went to my side, putting his hand on my shoulder to make sure I was okay. “You attract all kinds of trouble, don’t you?” Walker shook his head in relief, adding, “I like that.”

“Oh, look here!” Lucy had searched the man, who was pressing his palms against the brick wall. “Ain’t this some shit? Mary Jane, at least five grams. I think I’ll call the police.” Lucy was being sarcastic, already she was putting the Ziploc bag of contraband in her back pocket.

“No! Please—shit!” The man looked ready to cry—he wasn’t much of a hardened criminal. In fact, he looked younger than us—around sixteen. “I can’t go to jail!”

“Let him go,” I shrugged it off, feeling nauseous. “I… I’m going to—” I leaned over the side and vomited, the alcohol and the explosion of stress was too much for my body to handle.

“Shit, I’ll take Mary to bed.” Walker shrugged it off. “Lucy, you and Vern handle this guy.”

“No problem.” Lucy handed Vern the knife and cracked her knuckles.

“Wait—what are you guys going to do?” I stumbled up the stairs as we headed to our suite. “And… what do you mean handle?”

“Mary, you’re naïve for your age.” Walker tried to kiss me on the cheek, but lost his footing and ended up sucking on my neck for a brief moment. It caused a numbed tingling across my body, but I quickly brushed it aside. Walker continued as he unlocked our door, “Getting mugged is like getting a period. It sucks like hell—but we all get it one time in our life. And we’re going to teach that kid not to fuck up his life. Lucy will give him the four-one-one. Trust me, it’s more rehabilitating to get an ass whooping than a few months in jail.”

“You’re drunk,” I slurred, taking my shoes off as I slumped onto the bed. My brain was too fogged at the time to realize there was only one bed.

“No, you’re drunk,” Walker teased as he pushed me gently on my back. He leaned over and added, “And you smell like puke. Brush your teeth.”

“You smell like you just rolled around in sewage,” I replied, laughing and mocking him. “Take a shower.”

“How about I brush your teeth and you wash my body,” Walker snickered, getting up and smelling his armpit and wincing in disgust. “Yuck, I do smell like shit.”

“You know—” I paused as I went up to my feet and leaned against him. “You’re a good friend. And you’re kind of cute too.”

“Just cute?” Walker pouted, falling back on a wall while placing his hands steadily on my hips. “You hurt my feelings all the time, you know that, Mary?”

“I know. And you’re trying so hard to be nice to me. I love it. And you. What would I do without you?” I leaned over, feeling a burning desire to just take his clothes off. Call me a whore, call me an alcoholic, or just call me a desperate girl who wanted to just act on a sudden impulse. It didn’t matter, because all I wanted was to kiss Walker.

And I could tell that he was probably feeling the same tangle of emotions I was. He looked down at my lips, his green eyes darkened with a hint of lust. “We’re too drunk… we shouldn’t be doing any of this.”

“Why?” I winced as I looked down ashamed.

“It’s not you—it’s just I don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret.”

“How could I do anything I’d regret?” I shook my head and quickly stole a kiss from him, closing my eyes and tasting his chapped lips. He smelled of beer but I felt enveloped in perfume. It was definitely the alcohol that made me see that scene as wonderful. And it felt so good to just escape it all. A tidal wave of emotions was drowning me, and I began to rant and ramble. “I think you’ve been there for me all through thick and thin. And I liked you before that bastard Ben. Sure, you used me as a rebound but you said I could use you too. Only I don’t want to use you like that, because I think I really do like you. So give it a chance, huh?” It wasn’t the best way to tell him exactly how I felt about everything, but it was done. I buried my face against his chest and breathed in his body odor. And to me it smelled just fine. “Just promise you won’t go off and take my emotions and tear them apart like he did.”

Surprisingly, I wasn’t crying or sobbing. I was over the initial loss of Burgess. I just wanted someone to hold me; to tell me that everything was going to be all right.

And as though he was psychic, Walker wrapped his arms around me, rubbing the back of my head. “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be all right.”