Final Project.... "Rehab"

             I stared in silence at the empty chair next to me.  Mr. Rockett was in the front of the classroom going over the latest event in his pathetic life.  Rehab, I’ve been here for at least three months, after my drug addiction of two years. I loved those two years, cherishing them close to my heart, knowing I'd never forget them. I fell in love, screwed everything up, and landed my ass in here.  In my three months here, I'd half-way recovered from my so-called 'illness', and also lost probably the best thing that had ever happened to me in my life.  This was it, my life in rehab.  Waking up every morning to the shrieking sound of my alarm, going to eat breakfast in a crowded cafeteria with psychotic, drug-addicted losers.  I didn't belong here.  Mr. Rockett took his chair next to me, as I strolled towards the podium, nervous as could be.  My story, my life, my personal thoughts.  Sharing wasn't something I liked to do, but if I wanted out of this place, it was a must.

            Eighteen years old and already had a list of felonies.  No regrets though, that's what he had taught me, because at one point, it was exactly what I had wanted.  I knew the some of the things I'd done weren't the brightest, and I knew that one day it'd come back to bite me, although, it seems as though it already had.  My parents wanted nothing to do with me; their disappointment rang in my ear.  “How could you do this to us?  What did we do wrong?”  My mother's voice was barely audible while she spoke to me through the wire cage in the car the arresting officer had put me in.  The pain in her bloodshot eyes was enough to tell me she was not proud of her child at that point.  So many events had led up to this.. It'd been building up for months, the anger, the drug and alcohol use.  I'm supposedly lucky that they didn't send me straight to jail, or straight to the psyche ward.  It had never occurred to me that my life could rip into a downward spiral so swiftly.

           "It all started with me getting my license.  The feeling of freedom, the ability to do whatever, I couldn’t get enough.  I started working at a fast food restaurant, the next town over, meeting the teens of the town, well the boys anyways.  They’d go through the drive-thru giving me attention I wasn’t use to exactly.  Immediately, they became some of my best friends.  They introduced me into a world I never thought possible, full of parties, alcohol, and marijuana.  I’d never tried anything like it before, the aroma of the marijuana would stick to my clothes, but my parents never said a word.

            February, two months into my downward spiral, and I was to the point of smoking weed every day, at least twice a day.  It was time for my usual fix, a blunt on a cruise.  I reached into my jacket and pulled out my cell phone, quickly dialing Aaron’s number.

            “Hey, where you at?” I asked knowing he’d be down.

            “Drew's, where you at?” Aaron answered; I could hear the smile in his voice as he mumbled each word.

            “On my way there, who’s all there? “  I prayed that he wouldn’t say anybody that I didn’t know,  my paranoid state hadn’t left me yet.

            “Just me, Alex, and Drew are you gonna come still?”  His voice sounded suspicious, as though worried I wouldn’t.

            “Ya, I’ll be there in like two minutes.  I’m on his road already.” I went ahead and closed my phone, digging the weed and ‘rillo’ out of my pocket.

            A few moments later I pulled into Drew’s driveway, careful not to slide into the mountain of snow that surrounded it.  School had been canceled due to the three feet of snow that lay on the once green grass. “Dude, hurry up, it's freezing outside!” Drew began walking faster, as Aaron and Alex started to stroll towards my car...  When they finally opened the door, I let out a sigh of relief.  I handed Aaron the weed and rillo, “You better pearl that shit.”

    “Always do”  Aaron smiled his signature smile, that made it impossible to be mad at him.

    “Ha, well, let’s get out of here.” I pulled out of the short driveway, careful to miss the mailbox on my way out.  “Where do you want me to go?”

    “Just drive up here, and then I’ll drive from the gas station.  I did as he said as he started on the task at hand.  “Crank up the music, we need to hot box, and roll like thugs. “Aaron looked at me with a serious expression, then busted out laughing. "Seriously though, give us some tunes."  I laughed as I turned up the volume and drove towards the gas station.

    We arrived a couple moments later, and Aaron switched me seats.  “I’ll take us out to the country.”

    “Just be careful, it’s really slick out.”  I said, having a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

    “I know, I know, I’ve been driving longer than you would think sweetheart.”  I glared at him, and raised my hand, as if to ‘pimp-slap’ him.  “Sorry!  I was just playing.  You can spark it if you want!”  I took the blunt from him and grabbed my lighter, knowing this was going to be fun.  “There’s enough left for about 3 more blunts, so there’s enough for all of us to spark.”



                “Dude, the roads are straight nasty!  I keep sliding!”  Aaron sounded a little worried, but he kept going.  “Think if I hit this at 50 we’ll make it through?” He turned his head towards Alex.

                “Nah, dude hit it at like 90, we’ll definitely make it through.”  Aaron put the pedal to the medal and started towards a road with at least three feet of snow on it.

                “Hey, give me a shot gun real quick!” Aaron screamed over the sound of the engine accelerating.  Aaron let off the gas, and the car came to a halt.  Alex held the lit end of the blunt between his teeth, surrounding it by his lips, and blew smoke at Aaron.  Aaron sucked in the smoke, and held it in until he turned around.  He proceeded to press the gas, as he exhaled..  The car wasn’t moving.  We were posted right there, and nobody knew where we were.

                “Dude, how are you going to get my car out of this?”

                “Call Cole, he’s got a Durango.”  Drew answered with a smile.

                “Alright, as long as you can get my car out, let’s light another.”  I handed the lighter to Aaron, and started to roll the blunt.

                “Hey, Cole, what you doing dude?”  Cole murmured a few more things into the phone and then shut it.

                “He’s just gotta find us, and then he’ll be here.  I’m not sure exactly where we are.”  Aaron smiled and I handed him the blunt.  Quickly, he sparked it, and passed it to Alex.

                “ Where is he?  It’d been about an hour, and I was getting anxious.

    At this point everyone had switched seats but me,  Drew was now in the front attempting to get my car out, while Aaron and Alex were in the back,

                “Like I said, nobody knows where we are.  He’s trying to find us.  That’s who I’m texting, but hey, if he’s going to pull us out, we need something to pull us out with.  Hand me that lighter so I can burn off your seat belt. “  Aaron looked at me and I handed him the lighter.  “After this, Alex and I are going to try and get your car out ourselves. Let me have your coat! I need something to shovel snow with too. “

              I took off my coat and handed it to him, “All I have is a math book, will that work?”
   
    "Ya,"  He proceeded to light my seat belt on fire, as I just stared and laughed.  When he finished setting it on fire, Aaron grabbed the book and Alex and him stepped out of my car to move snow.

            The next hour was spent with Aaron and Alex outside of my car, scooping away snow, while Drew and I  sat back and jammed to the radio.

            “It's way to cold out there, and Cole's on his way.  He's almost here.”  Aaron climbed into the backseat, attempting to keep warm.  “He's going to try and get you out, promise.”  Drew reached into my seat and pulled me into a huge hug.

    “You're one of my favorite hoodrats, Dylan.”  Drew squinted his eyes and gave me a half-smile.  “Even though you have a dude name, you're still my niggah.”  We tried for at least an hour to push my car out of the snow that held it captive.

    "It's not going to budge sweetheart," Cole smiled at me, "I can take you back into town, just climb in."
    "Well, I'm going to be in trouble anyways, so let's just smoke more I guess."  I smiled at Cole, knowing this wouldn't be the last time we crossed paths.
    "Let's go girl."  He smiled at me, and I took the passenger seat, blushing, knowing this was the one.
    "Hey, hit up Parrish, he'll have stuff."  Aaron spoke up, not wanting me to forget him.
    Ignoring him, Cole reached over to shake my hand, "I'm Cole, where are you from girl?"
    "I'm Dylan, and I'm from Vail, are you from here?"
    "Not really, I moved here in like third grade, but I'm from all over really, well around here anyways."  He smiled nervously as we pulled into Parrish's driveway.
    We cruised this blunt, and finally it was time for me to go home and face the music. I knew my parents were going to go on a trip, and probably find out that I was smoking weed, everyday.  Cole dropped everyone else off before he took me home, for this, I was actually glad.  I didn't need all these boys knowing where I lived.
    "Well, I guess it was nice to meet you Dyl.  You're pretty cool if you ask me.  I hope your mom doesn't kill you." He smiled as reached over to hug me.  Quickly, I hugged him back, and reached back to get my purse. 
    "It was nice to meet you too, Cole. Thanks for taking me home,  I owe you one."  I shut his door and walked up the steps to my home, this was it.
    I opened the door and looked at my mom, "Hey, uhm can we talk really quick?"
    "Sure, what's wrong?"  My mom looked a little bit concerned and paused her TV show.
    "My car is kind of stuck, but the thing is, I'm not sure how to get to it."  I tried to look her in the eyes, but my eyes were glued to the floor.
    "Honestly, you don't understand how angry I am right now.  Call your Aunt Renee and see if she can help you, because I'm really not in the mood to talk, you don't understand how angry I am right now." I could hear the fury in my Mom's voice as I pulled out my phone to call my Aunt.
    "Hello?" My Aunt's voice sounded relaxed, peaceful almost.
    "Hey, It's Dylan, uhm I need your help."
    "Are you okay, sweetie?  What happened?  Do you need the cops or anything?"  My Aunt's peaceful voice was now anxious, full of worry.
    "No, it's nothing like that.  I was just wondering if you knew someone who could help me get my car out.  It's a little bit stuck."  I tried to brush it off as if it wasn't a big deal, knowing, that at any moment my dad could get home and kill me.