The Deal (ON HOLD)

Chapter 5: Free Smoke

The feeling of warmth and comfort fills my body as we continue to hug. He places his cheek on top of my head and hugs me tighter. With him being a foot taller than me, my head lays against his chest. After a few minutes, he lets go.

"What was that for?" I look up at him.

"I just know what it's like to lose someone you care about. Like you said, the pain never goes away, you just learn to live with it."

"Yeah," I walk over to the couch, "everyday there's something new that I want to tell him, but I can't."

"I know the feeling."

"Ok, enough with all the sadness for today," I grab the TV remote, "let's find something to watch."

"What time is your mom coming home?"

"Probably a little after 10 tonight," I scroll through Netflix and pick Shameless.

"That's late. Doesn't she go in at like 8 in the morning?"

"Yeah, mostly. Most nights she is off by eight, but tonight she had to be there for a surgery."

"She's a doctor?"

"No, she's a surgery nurse."

"Ohh, ok, cool," Axel nods his head, "have you ever smoked weed?"

"What?" I turn to look at him.

"Have you ever smoked weed?"

"No..." I say, making it sound like a question.

"Would you like too?"

"I don't know."

"If you don't want to, you don't have to."

"I have thought about it a few times."

"I don't want you to think I'm pressuring you."

"I know you're not," I say as I think, "ok, let's do it."

Axel picks up his bookbag and rustles through it. Finally he stops, pulling out a clear plastic bag and a packet that has a white owl on it.

"So, this is loud," he turns to me, "it's stronger than mid and gets you high quicker."

"Ok," I nod my head, "we better go to the backyard. I doubt my mom would appreciate me smoking in the house."

"Would your mother appreciate you smoking at all?" Axel gets up from the couch.

"Most likely not," I laugh, "I'll be right back, I'm going to go get my speaker."

"Ok."

I walk down the hall and into my bedroom. I grab my blue Bluetooth speaker and walk back to the living room. I walk into the kitchen and out of our sliding door. Axel follows closely behind me and shuts the door. We walk over to the patio chairs and Axel pulls out a circular container. He puts some weed into it and begins to twist.

"What's that?" I ask, curious.

"It's a grinder. It helps to break down the weed faster."

"Oh ok," I nod my head.

As he continues to deal with the weed, I turn on my Bluetooth speaker. I go into Spotify and hit my 'Liked' playlist. Soon the backyard fills with sounds of Vedo's wonderful voice as he sings his song 'You Got It'.

"Who's this?" Axel looks up from his lap.

"Vedo. He's one of my favorite artists."

Axel nods his head and gets back to the weed. Soon, he has a blunt in his hand. He takes a lighter out of his pocket and lights it. Axel takes a few hits from the blunt.

"Now," he inhales some of the smoke, "Since it is your first time smoking," he releases the smoke that he was holding in his mouth. "You're going to cough alot."

"Is that a good thing?"

"It does make you higher. And remember to inhale. Alot of people be smoking and not inhaling," he hands me the blunt.

I take the blunt from him and bring it to my lips. I take a small drag from it and nothing happens. I bring the blunt to my lips again and take a bigger drag. I finally feel some smoke and I inhale it. I exhale and before I know it, I am in a coughing fit.

"Oh fuck," I manage to say in between my coughs.

"Yeah, that's some good shit. Just give it a few minuets and the coughing will subside."

The coughing slows down and I take another hit before passing the blunt to him. For the next few minutes, we just sit on the patio, smoking and vibing to the different music that plays.

"Have you ever wondered what colorblind people see when they look at a rainbow?" I say looking at the picture of a rainbow on my phone.

"Yoo, I have never thought about that. You smart,"Axel looks at me.

"I know," I say.

"Have you ever-" Axel begins.

Some how, without meaning to, I get lost in thought. Axel continues to talk, but his voice continues to fade until I can no longer hear him. I look up at the sun and admire it. Soon, the thoughts of sunflowers fill my head.

"Seeds," I say.

"What?" Axel looks at me crazy, "Harmony are you ok?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about the sun, and that got me to thinking about sunflowers. And then that gotme to thinking about sunflower seeds."

"Ohh, ok," Axel nods his head, "are you hungry?"

"Yeah, food sounds good as hell right now."

"How about some pizza?"

"Ouu, yes," I smile just thinking about pizza, "order from Ricky's."

"Ok," Axel puls out his phone, "what kind do you want?"

"Let's get a large with pepperoni and sausage."

"That sounds good."

"Get some hot wings too."

"Good idea. Do we need anything to drink?"

"Naw, we got some inside," I say getting an idea.

I get up from my chair and walk inside the house. I walk over to the pantry and walk inside. I grab a box of fruit snacks and go back to the patio.

"The food will be here in like twenty minutes," Axel says.

"Would you like some fruit snacks?"

"Hell yeah."

I get back into my chair and take out two packs of fruit snacks before handing him the box. I begin to eat my fruit snacks and once again get lost in thought. Instantly, I startbusting out laughing.

"Yoo, what's funny?" Axel starts chuckling.

"I was just thinking about some Nzuri's brother said to her," I continue to laugh.

"What did he say?"

"He said," I pause laughing even harder, "he said," I once again pause to laugh. "He said, he doesnt know why her head is so big because she doesnt have a brain in it."

After I finally get it out, Axel begins to crack up to. We continue to have a laughing match as we ride out our high. Soon the pizza comes and we go inside and eat. After we are finished eating, Axel rolls up another blunt and we smoke again. Axel leaves not too long afterwards and I head to my room, where I change into a big tshirt and have the best sleep I've ever had.