Jason - 1. Part 1 and Part 2

Part 1

The outside felt like cold ice pins were poking into my face and ice cubes parked on my earlobes. The darkness of this night surrounded us like bees on a hive. The only light that was present had come from the street lights scattered across the park. The smell of skunk wafted through the air, but it was just the pot my buddy Jace brought. My friends here were hungry for its temporary escape. I prefer company, especially on a Friday night, so I sat on one of the benches we shoveled the snow off of and zoned out, taking a whiff of the fumes that hovered around. I decided against smoking...I get hella paranoid.

Holding the joint loosely between her two fingers, Isabel took a long drag next to her boyfriend Felix and spoke in her best “high-society” voice. “You’ve got some good weed here, Mr. Wong.” Isabel said. “You have yet to disappoint.” She had poise, legs crossed, her short, wavy brunette hair put into a bun as she sucked in the joint like she was showcasing the best pot in town. Her cinnamon colored skin contrasted with her light yellow winter coat with fake fur on the collar.

Standing, Jace put his gloved hand to his belly, covered up in a forest green winter coat, and gave a bow, his spiked up black hair pointing towards Isabel. “Spoken like a true stoner, Isabel darling,” he said, playfully mocking Isabel. Isabel chuckled as she handed the joint off to Leroy, who sat on the bench beside her. He looked as though hadn’t used the stuff before and turned to us as if needing help.

“Umm, so I just suck it here,” the greenhorn asked with such innocence.

“Yes Leroy, just suck it and hold it in real long.” Jace said being somewhat helpful, but also covertly sexual. “It’s an art: Let it fill you up and take you for a ride.”

“...Alright, just don’t tell my dad, okay?” Leroy pleaded, referring to his hot-headed father, Coach Dean, who worked at the school. I wonder what it must’ve been like to be the coach’s son and have no aptitude for sports. Evident by Leroy’s pale white skin, it seemed as though he never spent a day outdoors. He held the joint for dear life and sucked it inside. He blew too quick, letting out nothing but air. “Umm, did I do it right?”

Finally deciding to speak, boyfriend of the year Felix coolly responded. “No. Try again.”

“Chill, bro.” Jace said, speaking like a hybrid between yoga guru and hippie. “Nature’s sweet nectar will bless your lips in due time.” Felix nodded in annoyance.

“Okay,” Leroy said timidly, “I’ll do it again,”. Different from before, Leroy sucked it in from his diaphragm and every nook and cranny of his lungs must’ve been filled with the stuff.

Jace moved toward me, then whispered, “What is with this ungrateful shit,” referring to Felix. “This isn’t even his weed!” I looked to Isabel, who noticed us huddled together and probably knew Jace was trash talking Felix.

I said, “You might have to get used to this. Isabel said she wants Felix to be more included during our hang outs.”

“Then we’ll include him in the food bill later!” Jace spoke loud enough for Isabel to hear and she gave him the stink eye. Jace threw up his hands as if to say, “No offense to your shitty boyfriend.”

“Settle down, babe,” Isabel said, patting Felix’s thigh. “Your turn is coming soon.” Felix didn’t verbally respond, but simply placed his hand on hers and looked in her eyes. I felt like I was looking at a cheesy romance. Is this what love is supposed to be like? Stuck in a relationship with some jerk who thought wearing a leather coat in the winter made him cool? I turned to Leroy who exhaled a third time and started coughing up a storm.

“Poor thing,” Isabel cried. “Felix, give him a cough drop.”

Felix was hiding his chuckles, laughing at Leroy’s predicament. “Babe, he’ll be fine. Tell me when he takes a real drag.” Isabel exhaled in frustration as Leroy kept coughing up a storm.

“Here, I’ll take the joint,” I said, holding my hand out for Leroy. “Jace, can you-”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jace went through his bag and pulled out a water bottle that surprisingly hadn’t froze. He handed the bottle to Leroy. “It’s okay man, the first time is always the roughest.” I often pondered why Jace got progressively more sexual the higher he gets. Fortunately, his subtle innuendo was going right over Leroy’s head. I handed the joint off to Jace as Leroy took a gulp of the water. Jace smoked and shot out the smoke like a chimney up in the air. He was getting so baked, he’ll probably offer long winded sentences about nothing in the next 10 minutes.

“You doing alright?” Isabel asked Leroy. Before Leroy answered, he started hacking again. Felix looked like his head would explode, holding in his giggles.

“I-I’m good,” he said, “this is...kinda fun.” I looked at Leroy, somewhat puzzled. Who was he kidding?

“Wanna try some more? Jace has plenty.”

Leroy cleared his throat. “Sure yeah, I can handle it,” he said in a tone much deeper than his usual voice.

Jace handed Leroy back the joint. “Take it nice and slow if you need…” Leroy brought it to his lips, sucked it in, and blew with grace. “Thatta boy.”

“Careful,” mama bear Isabel chimed in, “don’t want him to get sick.”

Felix wavved his hand dismissively. “A little puff ain’t hurt nobody. He’s fine.” I wondered what these two would be like as parents.

“Hey….hey, hey,” Jace kept repeating himself, probably too baked right now to function. “Ya’ll…you two just need to…like, be mellow with it, you know? Just….relaaaax.” As Jace finished his stoner’s dialogue, Leroy began coughing up a storm. Felix was back to laughing.

Jace looked at Leroy with glazed eyes and a goofy smile. “Damn, must’ve been a good hit…”

“You got this bud,” I said, putting out my hand again. “Here, hand me the joint.” Leroy kept choking as he passed the joint to me. I handed it off to Felix, who, with no hesitation, went right to smoking the joint as if this were his daily routine. “Everybody coughs when they have this stuff, but it’ll go away soon. Take this cough drop cuz you might get a sore throat.”

“That’s right, Jason,” Jace said, “See…see ya’ll need to listen to…this man right here. That’s why I love you, Jason. You got us like...Obama got Michelle.” While I wasn’t sure about comparing my relationship with these guys to the president and first lady, I appreciated the reference. Leroy looked up at me as he downed some water and gave me a thumbs-up, his eyes half open.

“I think I’m good everyone,” Leroy proclaimed as if he achieved victory.

“Good for you,” Isabel congratulated him. We all gave him a round of applause. Felix rolled his eyes.

Part 2

The waiter, a gentleman with a deep, southern drawl grabbed the attention of our table and asked, “What would ya’ll like to order?” We stopped by this late-hour café called Destiny. On a Friday night, the patrons are usually drunk, the waiting time is relatively low, and the staff here are saints. Take our waiter for example, who has to interpret the mind of a pothead who was well past his limit. That pot head would be Jace, sitting next to me in our booth.

Jace eyed the menu with a dazed look in his eyes. “Ahhhhhh….shoot. I’m…I’m sorry bro. I… I didn’t make up my mind yet. I honestly…didn’t even really look at the menu, you know? I’m…I’m so sorry.”

The waiter eyed the rest of us. “Should I come back-”

“No, no, no, no, you…stay right here. If you leave…we’ll have to wait longer for our food. I’ll just…take the pancakes.” Leroy, sitting across from me, was dying, his face looking like a bottle of Pepto Bismol. Isabel, sitting next to him, passionately nodded her head, blinking slowly without taking her eyes off Jace as if he said some profound thing that deepened her connection to his soul. Felix sat on the edge of his seat, simply directing his attention at everything around him...but us.

“Alright, pancakes for the gentleman. Anything else?”

Putting on her most classy voice, Isabel said, “I’ll have the drip coffee, no cream, three packets of sweet n’ low, and a nice, buttery croissant, if you please?” Wait, since when did Isabel drink coffee? And what is she doing drinking it at ten o’clock at night?!

Leroy, not maintaining any form of composure, cackled. “I’ll…hahaha, I’m sorry, this is so hard.” He held the menu up to his face like he was hiding overbearing shame. “I’ll have what Jace is having…hahaha!”

“You won’t be disappointed, my friend,” Jace said, giving him a wink.

The waiter said, “Sounds good, and what about you two gentlemen,” directing the question to Felix and I.

“A blueberry muffin and orange juice would be cool,” I said.

Felix put his arm around Isabel, looking at her directly. “Me and the lady can share that veggie omelet you all have,” Then he turned to the waiter. “You’re doing good for yourself, man. Keep up the good work.”

The waiter smirked. “Thank you, I’ll be sure to...” Keeping from laughing at our faces, the waiter headed toward the kitchen passing the dark brown wood tables, blood red cushions, and orange, fluorescent lights that beamed above the tables. The sounds of smooth jazz played across the cafe while the smell of coffee and bacon was wafted around.

Felix said, “It’s so nice in here,” as he looked around. “Look at the lights.” Jace and Leroy craned their heads to the ceiling, but when I looked at Felix, it didn’t seem as if his attention was focused on the lights at all. Instead, his eyes were directed at the oil canvases that decorated the restaurant’s walls.

Isabel massaged Felix’s arm, whispering to him, “Too much to smoke, honey?” She coddled him like he fell and scraped his knee on the sidewalk. I could throw up.

Jace announced, “So…everyone knows how to eat at classy places like this, right?” Isabel nodded in the affirmative. Leroy’s eyes widened, like he was being made privy to some well kept secret. Felix looked bored silly as his half open, bloodshot eyes stared holes into Jace. “Let me demonstrate: remove the silverware from your napkins, and place the napkins onto your laps, see?” He showed us how to do each movement, everyone staring at his demonstration. Did they pop some E in the bathroom while I wasn’t looking? “Now ya’ll try it.” Leroy picked up his napkin wrapped utensils and started using his hand to move it around like it was flying, making airplane sounds. Felix stared at his napkin and utensil set as if he thought it would levitate onto his lap.

Isabel played along. “I appreciate your teaching of the lower folk, Jace,” she said as she straightened her napkin on her lap. “It’s hard to find sophisticated individuals like ourselves.” As Felix’s eyes drifted back to the oil paintings on the walls, I was reminded of a talk with my creative writing professor this morning. “Arts programs are just a dying breed these days,” he lamented. I couldn’t help but wonder what everyone’s thoughts were about that.

“They say the creative writing program is ending this year,” I said. Jace’s laughing at Leroy stopped suddenly. His index finger that pointed to Leroy dropped sluggishly. Isabel frowned as she looked attentively towards me, Felix’s eyes following hers. The only sound at the table was Leroy’s helicopter sounds as he flew his utensils around. He stopped once he became aware of the silence.

“Bro,” Jace said, nodding his head in disbelief, “you’re kidding?”

“How do you know?” Isabel inquired. “Who told you? Mr. Tyler?” I nodded affirmatively. Isabel bit her lips. “...What other programs did he mention?”

“I didn’t hear of any others…” Isabel and Jace, while somewhat relieved, had somber looks on their faces.

Isabel sighed. “Oh Jason.”

“I wonder sometimes,” I said, “do you think art really matters anymore? If it’s so damn important, why do they keep taking them away? What will happen after we leave? Next thing you’ll know it’ll be your photography classes, Isabel, or Jace’s drama classes. Maybe next the painting classes. It’s like they don’t care.”

Jace looked down at the table. “I don’t know what I’d do if they took away drama. They could, shudder, make it into an after school program!”

“And that doesn’t take into account that we could have jobs or little brothers and sisters to take care of,” Isabel said. She nodded. “It’s too bad, Jason.” The drunken chatter around us filled in the silence. A woman in front of our table hollered with laughter, throwing up her hands up in joy while a man on the table across from us complained about his food. What was he expecting, Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles?

“...So what?” Leroy asked. Excluding Felix, the three of us looked at Leroy. “I mean really, so what you guys? I honestly could care less for art classes and all that junk. Dad says there ain’t nothing to gain from art. It’s just pictures on a wall and stupid novels we read in class. We don’t need art in schools. You can just draw and write or whatever at home. What’s the point?”

“The point is, why should we?” Isabel responded. “If I want to take my photography classes at school instead of home, what concern is that of yours?”

“It’s a waste of time! What is photography class going to do? Teach you how to take pictures of the flowers on the schoolyard? And Jason” - he said looking directly at me - “I mean, come on man, I’ve read your writing. You don’t need a stupid art class to learn how to do that. That’s what English classes are for. Honestly, who needs them?”

Jace leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed. “And to think I shared my joint with you.” Isabel seemed done with the conversation then and Jace had frustration and betrayal written on his face. Before I could open my mouth to respond -

“Whaddya think, Felix? You into that sissy shit?”

Jace’s face contorted. When Isabel and Jace looked ready to tell this dude off, Felix said, “Shoot, I do art myself.” Did I hear this dude correctly? I had to pinch my arm. “I love painting. Been doin it since I was a little kid. I wouldn’t go to Greenville High no more if I couldn’t do it.” Jace eyed Felix suspiciously while Leroy looked to be shifting nervously in his seat.

Isabel smiled proudly and rubbed Felix’s back as she looked straight at Leroy. “You know that mural we have on campus?” Leroy nodded. “Arguably, the best defining aspect of our campus, though the administration won’t admit it. It is a painted image of Cesar Chavez, an important figure in mine’s and Felix’s history as Mexican people, as well as all of yours. There is his face with fields of brown and green painted in the background, and the workers whom he marched alongside of for rights and liberation.

“Administrators love to show it off to incoming students and industry officials while slashing art programs year after year. They also fail to mention that one of Greenville’s own had been it’s creator. That creator would be Felix.” I don’t think I was alone as I looked at Felix, jaw dropped. Jace was picking his up off the floor.

“Wait,” Jace said, “that was you?”

Felix shrugged with a smirk on his face. “Took me a few weekends. They didn’t want me missing class time. If I can get a weekend outside the house, I’m all for it.” Leroy didn’t speak. Jace’s face looked like he couldn’t believe it. Felix turned to Leroy then. “I saw Coach looking at my work the other day too. Heard em’ say ‘it ain’t too bad.’ Said it must’ve been drawn by some amateur off the streets.” Felix brought his arms to the table and leaned forward, looking straight at Leroy. “Make sure to tell Daddy Dean that ‘amateur off the street’ is me.” Stunned in his seat, Leroy’s skin was flushed as his eyes looked at all four of us before directing them to the window. Safe to say his high is gone.

“Here’s everyone’s food and drinks.” Much to Leroy’s relief, the waiter returned with our meals. Jace stared down his pancakes and began to slowly devour them, paying no mind to our earlier conversation. Felix took his arms off the table, looking at Isabel who seemed so pleased with him. For someone whom I never cared for, Felix blew me away. This dude has let us know how indifferent he was towards us at almost every turn, and yet, his very soul was tapped, igniting a fire within him that I’ve never seen before. For once, I actually saw Felix, and I saw the eyes of every other high school student. The ones who say, without reservation, that art is their love, and that is one thing they have that makes school worth going to.