Katherine+R

LINKS: (MEMOIR IS ON THIS PAGE DIRECTLY:scroll down to read)poetry My Very Own Short Story media type="custom" key="3417708"

What a perfect day, as the summer comes to an end. I drove down with my boyfriend to Chadwick beach, separately from my parents, whom had intentions of staying over our family-friends house. It is not often that I’d be excited to go spend the day as that awkward aged guest, too old to hang with my preteen sisters and their friends, and too young and bored by the adults rigid conversations about politics, where they merely just speak in loud agreement while harshly bashing supporters of opposing parties. I typically, when in this situation, find myself hanging out with Adelina, the five year old sister. Though we’re the farthest apart in age of the ‘kids,’ we’re always in that same ‘awkward aged’ situation. So, ‘opposites attract’, ‘two of a kind’, your pick, me and Adelina demonstrate both. However, today was not that awkward aged day. Today, was August 21st, and it was destined to be fun. I brought Tyler, my boyfriend, along because today was going to be exhilarating. Today was going to be too thrilling to share with a 5 year old. The excitement is all because a few weeks prior I had gotten my jet ski license. The process of earning this was another one of those ‘awkward aged’ situations. Thank God, my dad was with me for it, otherwise I would believe my recolectance of the class were all fictional stories I made up in my mind while I allowed my mind to wonder during the 3 hour classes. But no, because my dad was there I have reassurance that my analyzing of guido boy and his mom, mr. blows his nose so grossly that a maggot would squirm, and studded bracelet-perverted t-shirt- dude, were all infact, accurate. So after two uncomfortable nights with an abundance of strangers in this office building I passed the test, and now I was stoked to put my license to use, not that it’s common to be pulled over by the coast guard. Yeah, I can see it already, “Pull over young lady, we are the boat police” mhm, not happening. However, our family friends with two preteen, and a 5 year old daughter, these adults are at ‘awkward parenting age.’ They’re in what I consider the over protective decade. My parents? Psh, “fourth child, and oh God, two more, syndrome” Basically, come home alive and all is well, we go by the “don’t ask don’t tell” that way we avoid awkwardness in my home. So basically, they were only letting me drive their jetski’s if I had a license, and hell, it’s pretty cool to say I have a jet ski license. Plus, it’s the perfect truth for the two truths and a lie game I knew we’d play as an ice breaker when we return back to school. We spent the whole day basking in the sun and cruising the waters. It was exciting, jerking around on jet ski’s and tossing into currents on tubes. The perfect summer remedy to exhaustion, the whole day was innocent fun. Once the sun began to lower over the water it was time for Tyler and I to take our showers, eat dinner, and head on home because well, who are we going to hang out with there now? After gracious thankyou’s Tyler and I headed out, hopping onto route 18 to head home. Route 18, how coincidental because Marlboro, amongst many, is one of the exits off of route 18. This was all relevant because our good friend Tim who had lived on Tyler’s street all their lives had moved to Marlboro a week before hand. Tim’s ‘real’ house, or in correct terms, previous home, was one we would always just walk right in. On any given day he’s who we would hang out with to do whatever, even if it meant driving around pointlessly or just sitting at the kitchen island eating carrots. Essentially we all kept each other busy during the summer, but Tim just moved and it’s weird not seeing him nearly every day, and well, what is he possibly doing with out us, a big new house, definitely no new friends. Alright, we’re persuaded, let’s visit him. We arrive at Tim’s and walk up to the front door and ring the doorbell. This action was so unfamiliar to us, and against the night sky the whole procedure including the massive double oak doors opening all reminded me off the Adams family. “duhnuhnuh *snap*snap” “Hey! It’s us!” We go into Tim’s house and just sit around with no idea of what to do with ourselves… //“what would we do if we were home?”// “Let’s go for a drive,” Tim suggests blandly. “Where to? I don’t even know where we possibly are right now.” Tyler responds “I don’t know, do you want to get ice cream I guess.” “Why don’t you go to that little town in freehold, try to check it out.” Tim’s dad chimes in from the adjacent room. “I guess, is stuff still open?” Tim thinks out loud as he looks at the clock. “Do you want to do that?” He looks at Tyler and I. “Yeah, I want ice cream.” I say “Alright Tim, you know what that means bring home some ice cream for me and Kyle.” Tim’s dad chimes in again. We’re driving into Freehold with some of Weezy’s poetic stylings pumping through the speakers. I’m riding in the back seat of Tim’s tinted out escape, all because I lost the battle for shotgun this time. Stupid Tyler caught me off guard while I was putting my shoes on and ran out of the house to see Tim’s car before me. Whatever, it’s kind of calming back here. Much better anyways than his old explorer with everything from Halloween masks to pottery and Clementine peels everywhere, and the seats headrests always missing. Yep, this wasn’t so bad. “Watch nothing be opened and we drove here for nothing.” Tim said. “Yeah, seriously, what a waste of time that would be.” Tyler speaks over the music even though I can barely hear him in my dark back seat. However, these concerns were dismissed as we approached Freehold and there was traffic at 9:30 at night. It was peculiar but then seeing the street lit so luminously by more than the average street lights, we knew something exciting was going on. Tim lowered the music and laughed gregariously as saying “whaaa?” But even with his volume set on zero we still felt a base pulsating through our bodies. I turn to my right and see a bunch of people dancing to some Latina james. Tim found a parallel parking spot and snagged it. We gout out and on our way walking to the ice cream store we saw kids that were probably in 8th grade. They were walking with that ‘we’re so cool for haning out without our parents sweargger.’ “I can’t tell if I feel more like I’m at a Crossroads dance or at Regal.” Tyler said. “Look at everyone, these girls were so excited for tonight, got all dressed up, matching their friends, probably took mad myspace pictures” I said, “ and here I am in a friggen oversized swearshits and lax shorts with my hair thrown up.” I was amused, rather than upset by my fashion foex pau. The ice cream store was packed but we waited and got all different flavors so we could pick and brag who made the better choice. However, as we were eating at the table outside the ice cream shop in the bank parking lot to the right is a red Ferrari. People are standing alongside it talking. Tyler and Tim decide they’re going to go over ands see what it’s all about. “Katie, you stay here and watch out ice cream” Tim half joked, but I was okay with just sitting and eating my ice cream anyways. Yet they were over there for longer than I expected and I found myself in that awkward situation. //Come on!! I avoided awkwardness all day and here we go. Actually who am I kidding, from the second we got into Freehold it hasn’t been anything but awakward honestly what is going on here?!// I refused to pull the fake texting move, and I was mesmerized through my people watching, but I couldn’t make it obvious that I was staring. So I just ate my ice cream alone with my awkwardly small spoon, it was like a sample spoon! This tall guy of African American skin tone began walking from my right side past my table. I looked up as I saw the object moving in the corner of my eye, and I gave one of those forced closed mouth smiles, you know, the ones that look anything but friendly, //ugh now he thinks I’m a jerk, or racist.// I look back down focusing on my ice cream. I look up, but Jeez! His swaggers so slow he hasn’t passed my table yet I give another forced smile where my cheeks right nearly 3 times in attempt to make it more smile like, or at least a little bit friendlier this time. “Whaddup” he gives me a head nod. “I like your shirt” I say innocently. Damn it, I always do that, I panic and don’t know what to say and fish out the first compliment that comes to mind. He smiles, “Thanks!” He’s truly happy, we’re boys now! Wow. And he continues his swagger and I just look to my right with my left elbow on the table and my hand supporting my head. //What is taking them so long?// Finally the walk back over. “Katie,” Tyler says, “That guy he rents out his Ferrari. That guy was about to drop 3,000 on it for 24 hours.” I laugh, their enthusiasm and this ‘deal’ going down amidst this crazy festival is all so funny. “What if he just never returned it?!” Tim cracks up, “Just drove to Colorado, change the color, license plate? Then he’d have gotten a Ferrari for 3,000 bucks!” He’s dying at the thought. We sit at the table a while longer as I watch them eat their melted ice cream. Then when they’re done, and we’ve exhausted all topics we could possibly talk about sitting down, we decide to head out, and so we throw our stuff out and cross the street. As we are walking in the direction of Tim’s car we stop. “a lamborghiniiii” I say. Sitting alongside the curb is this deep night racer blue Lamborghini. Doors closed, People standing around it. However, no adults, the people around it we’re within our age group. So we do as we always do, make friends, but not in a serious manner. “Whose car is this?” Tim asks, “Is this your car?” He asks this Chinese kid smoking a cigarette. “Nah, I wish” He says. “I used to drive a Mercedes, then I crashed that. So my dad he got me another one and I totaled that.” He quickly opens up and begins to tell us his car history. “What that’s crazy” we say in disbelief. “So what do you drive now?” Ty asks. “My dads Mercedes but he doesn’t want me to incase I crash it. His is like 200 grand” “What that’s nuts” Tim says, “So whose car is this?” “It’s my dads” This girl standing next to me says. She has a peculiar face. A rounded nose, and a beauty mark to the upper right of her lip. She’s dressed in clothes that are clearly expensive casual wear, and she has a huge purse on her shoulder. “You ever drive it?” Tyler asks her. She gives a disgusted look, “No, I’m 16”. “So don’t you have your permit?” Tim asks “Yeah, but I don’t want to drive this” she says. “oh, so what are you going to drive?” “I’m getting a hummer.” Ohhh! Wow, we are all surprised. But then I’m more surprised, of course trying to act casual, when she turns to me and says. “You smoke” “nah” I say. “really?!” She’s more surprised that I don’t smoke than I was surprised that this 16 year old would be asking me if I smoke. She then takes a swig of a water bottle and passes it. Definitely not water. “Yeah, I totaled my first car, it was a Mercedes, so then my dad got me a new Mercedes and I totaled that. So then he was letting me drive his car and I got into an accident with that and he was pisssssed” The Chinese kid randomly tell us. “What that’s crazy!” Tim says “Yeah I love being rich” he replies back. Tim, Tyler and I all make eye contact knowing that we are each thinking “//what did he just say”//. We are also getting that feeling that it is probably time for us to head out. The first move was Tim and Tyler moving up from the street onto the sidewalk. As they approach me though the girl gets close in front of Tim. “You do drug’s don’t you?” we all laugh. We know that Tim has not touched a drug in his life. Bahaha! These kids look at us, confused as to why we are laughing. They are so confused, or just lost, about everything. “I can tell you do drugs look at your hair, you smoke weed? You’re such a druggie.” She continues to judge Tim. “Yeah dude, right here in the car” The Chinese kid begins to say as he runs his hand along the bottom side of the door, “we got O.” He then looks up over the car. “Opium?” Tyler asks “yeahhh” He replies with pride. “Oh I learned about that in history this year!” I say, due to how weirded out I was in this situation. Just like my complimenting problem. I just spit out the first thing that comes to mind. Ughhh. “We want to show it to you, but her dad, he’s in that restaurant eating dinner over there. He doesn’t want anyone touching this car.” Ashes from these kid’s cigarettes are falling onto the trunk. He looks up over the car again, looking at the restaurant. “My dads in the mafia” she says to me with her cigarette in between her finger’s, just outside of her mouth. “Oh I say” “I’m not kidding.” I knew she wasn’t kidding. “no I believe you” “He’s in the Russian mafia” she speaks over me. Why is she telling me this? Meantime, this kid from the posse of boges smoker’s walks in and says, “Yo, want me to go across the street and stay on the phone with you to let you know if he’s looking?” All of these kids, they’re so anxious, to let us see this opium. The Chinese kid thinks hard and heavy. We don’t really care for this long procedure so we just ask where they get this from. “You ever done heroine?” //What? That doesn’t answer anything. No, no we never have done heroine. What the fuck?// “check it out” He sticks out his arms. Huge bulges in each elbow. “Yeah I got into shooting up when I was like 15, went to rehab, getting back into it.” “You do it?” Tim looks to the girl, me and Tyler can tell he’s joking. He asked her assuming she wouldn’t do heroine, and that her response, one being similar to ours, would lighten the mood. “Yeah, my dad taught me.” //What?! This is unreal.// “You guys really don’t do drugs?” the Chinese boy looks at us as if we aren’t human. “Nah I mean, the only thing we really see in our school is weed. Everyone smokes weed there. There’s the occasional coke doer. “Oh, pshh”. He thinks weed’s pussy shit. “Where you guys from” He’s expecting an answer like Saturn, or perhaps Mars, that’s a little closer to planet Earth. “South Brunswick.” We tell him, as if it didn’t say it on my sweatshirt already. “You’re from freehold?” “Freehold? Psh!” He laughs, we’re nearly embarrassed, clearly a mistake for us to ask that they’re from freehold. “We ain’t from Freehold, Freehold is for poor people. Dudes we from Marlboro!” Emphasis on the Marlboro. Oh. Okay. “Where you go to school?” 16 year old heroine girl asks. “South Brunswick.” Duh. The sweatshirt, the hometown. Whatever, no point in understanding their logic. “You from there too” She asks Tim specifically. “I mean I was, but I’m going to college.” “Damn, you’re going to college?” They all have this dropped jaw expression. We all have a puzzled expression as a reaction to their surprise. “Oh what college you going to?” “Rutgers” Tim says, not with more hesitation as to whether they’d even know what Rutgers is at this point. “Damn you’re smart” She says and turns away. We knew it was time for us to go. We left, and I worried they’d watch to see what car we got in, or remember details of our lives. I worried for these moments because what we had just experienced is nothing our parents prepare us for in life. It’s one of those situations our parents prepare us to not get into, they teach us to not be around strangers and definitely ones like that. However, I stopped worrying when I realized, they probably won’t even remember us, or what we talked about by morning. They won’t because their life is set, they know they have Daddy’s money now, and Daddy’s business down the line. So they don’t take to learning experiences. And I realized, they are like this because their parents didn’t teach them when they were young, as our parents did. It was no longer scary because of what we were experiencing, but rather what they were experiencing. I think they were dumber than anyone I’ve ever met, And it was this conversation with them that really made me appreciate where I came from, and the way my family raised me. Because honestly, what do they have to show, besides their heroine scars?
 * They’re Into Heavier Things Than Marlboro’s **