House of Scales

Chapter 4: Gone with the night

The car gave a little bounce when one of the wheels hit the roadside. The passengers in the vehicle complained with some insults while the driver apologised.

"What was that? Did you want to park at her porch?"

"Easy there, jerks, it was only one wheel," spat the driver.

Lying on the windows, the two passengers in the back were comfortably settled and somewhat bored waiting for the last member of the group. To try and cheer them up, the driver turned on the radio and let the bass notes of Animal I Have Become fill the car. More at ease, the two boys began to follow the rhythm and drum their fingers on the armrest to the notes of the guitar.

"That's better," someone said on the back. "Maybe we got time for the whole album."

"Okay then, Yago, if you'd rather walk," the driver sneered, flipping the bird.

"We could have waited there," the boy behind the passenger seat said. "But we had to wait for Lady Tardiness."

"She isn't usually late," the driver complained.

"Jonathan, dude, we arrived late to pick her up, and she's still not here."

"She said she was just dressing up," he excused her while reaching for one of the beers in the backseat.

"You always put that excuse yourself when you're late," the other boy interrupted.

"Oh, Derek, please," he mimicked his accent while turning the volume of the radio, so not to listen to them. "The best things you have to wait for them."

"Well, about best things you have to wait for," Yago sighed with his face glued to the glass. "We're finally four."

Jonathan rushed off his seat and out of the car. The other boys looked at each other and began to laugh. The boy, attentive, jumped quickly over the fence of the house and threw himself into the arms of the girl who was now hanging around his neck in a passionate kiss. After raising the small figure of the girl in the air, he accompanied her to the vehicle and opened the door. The music inside caused the girl to jump up and down, but she entered gracefully as the boy slammed the door involuntarily.

"He's already closed it for good, the brute," joked Derek.

"Evening, Diya, you didn't take long today," Yago said to the girl.

"You do understand me, sweetheart. We girls have to spend time on our hair when we have it long," she answered affectionately and blew a kiss to him. "A shame you don't have much time of that. I hope your boyfriend doesn't mind when you end like a bowling ball."

Jonathan got into the car while his partner and Yago's boyfriend were laughing their heads off. He started in a hurry and without making much noise, lest the girl's parents, very strict, should realise that she had gone out without their permission.

"You really playing that?" Yago complained when Diya put a CD in the car stereo.

"Haven't you heard them yet?" she asked, turning around and showing him the album.

Derek caught it, bringing it to the window so the light from the streetlights could illuminate it. The cover was in black and white, and the word riot was written in an orange tone everywhere in different ways.

"Track 4 it is, then," Derek suggested giving back the CD.

"But—"

"She brings the green, she picks the music, buddy," Jonathan said, looking back at his grumpy friend.

They started to go through a very severely lit road that went up the mountain. Yago crossed his arms, sulking, as the rhythm of Misery Business accompanied them on the way. They continued quietly to the road that led to the water tank and, once they were away from society, they parked in the dirt rest before the road bend. Soon they have immersed in seasoning the cigarettes they had with the spice Diya had brought.