A New Life (River Phoenix)

Curiosity And The Cat

"Did you hear the news?" My father asked everyone as I approached the living room.

"What news?" I wondered.

My mom sent me a light smirk as my father continued talking.

"Carmen has a boyfriend." He said.

All eyes laid upon me as I rolled mine.

"Why is everyone always acting like I can't handle a relationship?" I complained, sitting next to Piper.

"Because you're an idiot." She told me, nudging my shoulder.

Few laughs came from around the room as my mom stood up.

"I forgot, what's his name again?" My mom asked, clearly joking.

Piper raised her eyebrows at me.

"Ha, have fun with this one." She teased as she waited for my response.

"Why does any of this matter? Let's eat, I'm starving." I lied.

My cousin laughed and threw her hands in the air.

"Oh, come on! What's his name? Is he cute?" She asked, capturing the attention of the rest of my family.

Is he cute? Ha, if she only knew.

"Just tell us the name." My aunt complained.

"Yeah, come on, Carmen. Tell them the name." Piper said, locking her eyes with me.

"I'll fight you." I joked to her.

"Fine, I'll tell them the name," Piper started, standing up and brushing off her sweatpants.

She sent me one final smirk before clearing her throat.

"The name is River Phoenix." She announced.

The eyes of my relatives lit up.

"You're fucking kidding." My uncle insisted, sitting up straight in his seat.

"You can't be serious." My grandmother chimed in.

I didn't answer. No way they'll believe me.

"As serious as a heart attack," Piper started. "I know what you're all thinking, 'no way, she's not even that special', but it's true."

I hit Piper's back jokingly, making her laugh.

"Yeah, okay. Now that we've all concluded I'm as dull as an unsharpened pencil, can we eat or something?" I wondered, trying to change the subject.

My dad laughed and played along, entering the kitchen.

-

After answering a million and one questions about River, an hour long session of 'don't let the balloon touch the ground', and more food than I'd eaten the past year, I headed back to bed.

At 12:00, the phone rang. Because I was the only person awake, I had to answer.

Thank God I did. It was River.

"Hello?" I said.

"If it isn't my lovely girlfriend." He said, his voice sounding strange.

"As lovely as can be." I joked back.

"I really, really miss you." He whined.

"I miss you too." I insisted.

Suddenly, he burst out into an uncontrollable laughter. Not at me, at something else.

"Man, this sure is a good time. The movie is going to be magnificent." He said certainly.

"I'm excited to see it." I told him.

He laughed through the phone and spoke up.

"We're all staying at Gus's house; no one wants to go to a hotel. It's fun, actually. I wrote my friend a check for 10 grand and he lost it! Can you believe it? I mean, I told him to check the refrigerator and he asked me, 'who would put a check for 10 grand in the fridge?' and I was like, 'who would lose 10 grand?'" He said, rambling on and on.

It was clear to me now that he was under some sort of influence. His voice was quick and his words seemed sloppy.

"How are you feeling?" I questioned.

"I'm feeling like I can do anything in the world, Carmen. And how are you feeling?" He shot back.

Sick.

"Alright." I answered. "I'll be here for a few more days and then I'm coming home."

"I'm coming home next week!" He yelled. "We're going to take a break from filming for a while. Not sure why, though. But I'll be home for a couple of days."

Thank God.

"Oh, good. That's awesome. I can't wait to see you." I told him.

"And you as well! I'm going to hangout for a while, so I'll talk to you soon. I love you darling." He insisted.

"I love you too." I replied.

-

The next 3 days went by without a word from River.

Eventually the time came to return home, and for some odd reason, I couldn't help but feel excited.

I said my goodbyes to my family and headed back to the airport with Piper.

We didn't sleep a wink the entire flight; all I could do was tell her about River's strange behavior.

"You know, the entire movie is based around street hustlers and drug use," she informed me. "Flea said there's a lot of drugs on that set. And I'm not talking about pot either, I mean the real thing. Cocaine, heroine, pills, all that." She told me.

"River's so curious." I stated.

"He's extremely curious. He's too curious for his own good. That might be an issue." She answered honestly.

I felt my heart drop. This was the last thing I needed. Amongst many things, it was the last thing I wanted.

"Hey, we got this," Piper said, noticing my doubtful expression. "Everything is going to be fine."

She paused for a second, looking for truth in her own words.

"It always is." She insisted, but then rethought. "But you know what they say: sometimes curiosity kills the cat."