Pothead Poltergeists
Waiting Day
Well, maybe they were supposed to be practicing, but there was nothing for me to do about it.
So I simply stretched my back with me arms up in the air. My neck cracked kind of loudly though I didn’t mean to do that – though it felt kind of good in the morning – and I sat straight up next to Mike. No one else around. I look up at the clock that tells me its late morning. The boys must be in school. I’ve sort of lost track of time, but I believe this must be a week day. I should probably be in school now too come to think of it. But sitting next to Mike Dirnt on a couch watching the Raiders in their kickass black and silver uniforms is so much better.
Mike has plenty of room, if you don’t count the space on the couch that I’m taking up, because he doesn’t know about that, but he pretends to be annoyed with Tre for taking over the rest of the goddamn couch anyway and starts throwing tortilla chips at him with his free arm. I start laughing when Tre retaliates by trying to catch them in his mouth.
Really, it’s Billie Joe who’s the one that’s squished and is putting up with Tre’s feet in his lap! So Tre gives Mike the finger; Mike tells Tre to shove it up his ass; leaving Tre nothing else to say but, “Maybe I will!”
I slap my hand over my mouth to stop the burst of laughter as I roll over on the couch. Billie’s half laughing at them and I think half laughing at me as I try not to hit Mike in my corner of the couch, and I hear him shouting at Tre to stop kicking him.
It’s still considered morning, so they eventually stop that, and they settle down like good boys as the Breakfast Monkey would have wanted.
Man, you just look at these three. All slumped over next to each other – or really on each other. Makes you realize where the stories come from. Makes me want to be part of it so badly. So I poke Mike in the arm.
He involuntarily bats at a bug where I poked him without eyes leaving the screen. Guess he can still feel me. I wasn’t sure. Bummer. But I want to be part of the group and watch TV. Or maybe just go back to sleep. So I lean over the pillow between us and sort of kind of just lean my head carefully up against his shoulder.
Mike shifts a little bit in his seat, but doesn’t seem to notice that much. So I blink at the screen and close my eyes. Just sitting there. Nothing could have been nicer.
~~~
I saw them all through the glass of the window again. Mike giving Billie Joe a hug and a pat on the back. Billie saying, “Sorry we didn’t get anything done today.”
And Mike, “No, we needed that! We’ll see you tomorrow. I have some new stuff to show you guys!”
What he really meant was, Billie needed the day off. Not just from what happened yesterday. It’s family things too. Family is hard to keep up with sometimes. All the time.
Tre ran out and gave Billie another hug good bye. “Found my keys!” he said all excitedly.
Billie laughed, “Good! Where were they?”
“In my pocket the whole time! Dammit.”
Yeah, I had helped with that. He’d actually left them in the refrigerator a few hours ago. Must have been looking for a beer. There wasn’t any. But he was never going to find them in a place like that, so I stuck ‘em in his back pocket. And believe me, that was quite a game! You just have to love Tre.
So as Mike and Tre were piling into their own cars and driving away, I mossied on out and sat down on the porch. Billie turned around and saw me. He walked over too.
“Thanks for helping with the keys,” he smiled “Sorry if today was kind of boring. Yesterday was just a little crazy.”
“No, I love the days where I just get to sit around and do nothing. It’s been really nice here.” He sat down beside me on the porch tiles. Really, we were just waiting for Adrienne to get home. She’d taken Joey and Jake out shopping after school for what they hated more than anything in the world – clothes shopping. They had worn every pair of pants they owned down to the threads. I’d noticed.
“Good. Hey, what’s your life like?”
I was a little taken aback, “Mine before?” He’d never really asked, and I didn’t want to talk about it in the least before too.
“Yeah.”
“Like any other teenagers. I wasn’t doing so well for awhile in there. I’ll get it under control sooner or later though.”
“I know what ya mean.”
I just sat and breathed there too for a minute or so. But then I got up the courage to say, “Billie, something hurts.”
“What like… what do you mean?” he said curiously.
“I guess I feel sort of sick. I think I have to go back. I’m still alive back home. I think I have to leave soon.” I said it all slowly, but I think I was right. I don’t know how or why, but it seemed like the right thing to do. I don’t want to go, but I don’t think I have a choice anymore.
So I simply stretched my back with me arms up in the air. My neck cracked kind of loudly though I didn’t mean to do that – though it felt kind of good in the morning – and I sat straight up next to Mike. No one else around. I look up at the clock that tells me its late morning. The boys must be in school. I’ve sort of lost track of time, but I believe this must be a week day. I should probably be in school now too come to think of it. But sitting next to Mike Dirnt on a couch watching the Raiders in their kickass black and silver uniforms is so much better.
Mike has plenty of room, if you don’t count the space on the couch that I’m taking up, because he doesn’t know about that, but he pretends to be annoyed with Tre for taking over the rest of the goddamn couch anyway and starts throwing tortilla chips at him with his free arm. I start laughing when Tre retaliates by trying to catch them in his mouth.
Really, it’s Billie Joe who’s the one that’s squished and is putting up with Tre’s feet in his lap! So Tre gives Mike the finger; Mike tells Tre to shove it up his ass; leaving Tre nothing else to say but, “Maybe I will!”
I slap my hand over my mouth to stop the burst of laughter as I roll over on the couch. Billie’s half laughing at them and I think half laughing at me as I try not to hit Mike in my corner of the couch, and I hear him shouting at Tre to stop kicking him.
It’s still considered morning, so they eventually stop that, and they settle down like good boys as the Breakfast Monkey would have wanted.
Man, you just look at these three. All slumped over next to each other – or really on each other. Makes you realize where the stories come from. Makes me want to be part of it so badly. So I poke Mike in the arm.
He involuntarily bats at a bug where I poked him without eyes leaving the screen. Guess he can still feel me. I wasn’t sure. Bummer. But I want to be part of the group and watch TV. Or maybe just go back to sleep. So I lean over the pillow between us and sort of kind of just lean my head carefully up against his shoulder.
Mike shifts a little bit in his seat, but doesn’t seem to notice that much. So I blink at the screen and close my eyes. Just sitting there. Nothing could have been nicer.
~~~
I saw them all through the glass of the window again. Mike giving Billie Joe a hug and a pat on the back. Billie saying, “Sorry we didn’t get anything done today.”
And Mike, “No, we needed that! We’ll see you tomorrow. I have some new stuff to show you guys!”
What he really meant was, Billie needed the day off. Not just from what happened yesterday. It’s family things too. Family is hard to keep up with sometimes. All the time.
Tre ran out and gave Billie another hug good bye. “Found my keys!” he said all excitedly.
Billie laughed, “Good! Where were they?”
“In my pocket the whole time! Dammit.”
Yeah, I had helped with that. He’d actually left them in the refrigerator a few hours ago. Must have been looking for a beer. There wasn’t any. But he was never going to find them in a place like that, so I stuck ‘em in his back pocket. And believe me, that was quite a game! You just have to love Tre.
So as Mike and Tre were piling into their own cars and driving away, I mossied on out and sat down on the porch. Billie turned around and saw me. He walked over too.
“Thanks for helping with the keys,” he smiled “Sorry if today was kind of boring. Yesterday was just a little crazy.”
“No, I love the days where I just get to sit around and do nothing. It’s been really nice here.” He sat down beside me on the porch tiles. Really, we were just waiting for Adrienne to get home. She’d taken Joey and Jake out shopping after school for what they hated more than anything in the world – clothes shopping. They had worn every pair of pants they owned down to the threads. I’d noticed.
“Good. Hey, what’s your life like?”
I was a little taken aback, “Mine before?” He’d never really asked, and I didn’t want to talk about it in the least before too.
“Yeah.”
“Like any other teenagers. I wasn’t doing so well for awhile in there. I’ll get it under control sooner or later though.”
“I know what ya mean.”
I just sat and breathed there too for a minute or so. But then I got up the courage to say, “Billie, something hurts.”
“What like… what do you mean?” he said curiously.
“I guess I feel sort of sick. I think I have to go back. I’m still alive back home. I think I have to leave soon.” I said it all slowly, but I think I was right. I don’t know how or why, but it seemed like the right thing to do. I don’t want to go, but I don’t think I have a choice anymore.