Hitchhikers

Early Beginnings

"Charles, will you get down here already!" My Dad yells in a demanding way. "Coming!" I answer. As I rush downstairs I see my family already sat down at the kitchen table, my Mom and Dad at the top, my older and younger sister next to them. All of them staring at me. 

I apologize for being late and sit down at my usual spot at the table. My family completely ignores me and start talking about both of my sister's days. I sit there and eat my salad with italian dressing in peace. As always, my Dad tries his best to include me in the conversation. I guess that's nice of him, but I'm not really in the mood to talk. "How was school?" he asks, while pouring me a glass of water. I look at him  unfazed and answer "It's summer break. I was here the whole time." My Dad's a little confused at times, but he's got the spirit. "Oh yeah, right. I'm sorry" he embarrassingly responds. The akwardness is in the air, but I'm used to it, so it doesn't really bother me. I disappear into my thoughts.

I'm in need of a change up in my life. In this summer break, I had a lot of time to think about what I want to do in my life and I'm still not quite sure. I haven't really experienced that much. What I do know that I need to get out of here someday, but I don't even know where to start.

After Dinner I head straight back up to my room and leap into my bed. I check my phone. I've got a missed call from Jason. "Ugh, what's he up to again." I sigh and call him back. He picks up after two rings. "Yo." Jason shouts. "Hey, what's up. You good?" He hesitates for a bit, before answering me. "Uh, not really. Parents kicked me out again." "God, what's it this time?" I ask him. His parents found a bunch of weed and a tiny bag filled with Cocaine, imported from Columbia, that he planned to sell to some locals.

His Parents are very strict. Both Teachers. His Dad in high school, his mother in kindergarten. Very highly respected in the community. Jason had a brother, Steven, who was seven years older than him. Steven was the golden boy in the family. Always had good grades, popular, handsome, athletic. The type of guy you'd randomly meet in some bar and could easily talk with for hours, even though you just met. He went on to go to med school and become a doctor at a children's hospital, before in his second year of working there, got hit by a drunk driver while returning home from his night shift. Frontal collision. Both Dead.

The Drunk Driver, a guy in his 60s, died instantly. Word has it, that his wife of fourty years left him for a 19 year old filipino. After finding the note, his wife had left him, he went to the liquor store and bought every whisky and rum available and drank himself into a coma, while still on the weel. At full speed he crossed four lanes, before hitting Steven. According to the police report they found two five pound bricks on the floor of the driver seat, that he probably used to hold down the gas pedal.

Steven's car caught on fire, resulting in him getting burned alive. A horrible way to go out. He was only 27 years old.

The worst part was, that the wife of the Drunk Driver didn't actually leave him for some young filipino. She wanted to pull a harmless prank on him for their wedding anniversary and prepared two notes. The one with the prank, where at the end she wrote "Just Joking. Now open the second one. XO Liv." What a miserable attempt to prank their husband. I have no idea what she wrote in the second note, but as we all know he never even read that far into the first one, so didn't even bother to open the second. After The police questioned his wife, she got arrested and faced prison, until the judge dropped the charges.

Jason's a tough guy, but I know that he wasn't the same after what happened to his dear brother - I mean who would. It appears to me, that his parents let their anger out on Jason, cause he could never meet their expectations in the way that Steven could. After what happened, Jason dropped out of school, got involved in drugs and hung around the wrong groups of people. Fortunately for him, he had me. I got him out of his rut and got him a job at a construction site for a project of my father's firm.

I knew he was still involved in drug dealing on the side, although I thought that it was only weed. Cocaine is a new one for me. "How do you even get your hands on Columbian Cocaine?" I ask him straightforward. Jason dismisses my question and asks me if he can stay at my place. He sounds desperate. "You know my parents are not necessarily a big fan of yours after what happened at the job...". "Yeah, I can imagine." he sighs. As he answers, my eyes wander from the ceiling to the wall, where my world map is hung up. I have a few places marked with a thick red pen. Just some locations that I want to visit in my lifetime. "Jason, you still there?" "Yeah." He answers instantly. My eyes light up as I ask Jason "You ever been to New York?".