I Laced Your Shit, Bro

The weather had been beyond bitterly freezing for that week. There were a few things that were on young Trent McKinley’s mind that week, also. Coincidentally, Trent’s mind was growing colder as the days passed slowly through the winter. They say that good people have quite the sense of right and wrong, while bad people hardly know about either. This was certainly the case with Trent. The white was becoming darker while the black was becoming lighter. They would soon meet somewhere in the middle. On a cold day nearing the middle of January, the school bell rang, signaling freedom for young Trent from the confines of high school. As Trent was walking from his last class through the halls to his locker, he was approached by one of his good friends Jacob.

            Hey Trent, I was wondering something…” said Jacob.

            “Oh, well, what is it?” he replied.

            “Well, it’s Friday today, and I was wondering if you wanted to come to Nathan’s party tonight. His parents are going to be gone all weekend. There’s going to be plenty of alcohol and weed to smoke and everything. There should be a lot of girls going too; I’m pretty fucking excited to tell the truth, everyone is. Do you want to go?”

            Trent, displaying a fair amount of reticence as usual, paused for quite some time. Finally, he broke the silence.

            “Look Jacob. It sounds pretty goddamn fun and everything; don’t get me wrong. But I just haven’t been in the mood lately for all that sort of garbage you guys like getting yourselves into. Spending all weekend getting fucked up isn’t really how I want to spend my life. Alright?”

            “Fine, be that way. But just for old time’s sake, why don’tcha come just this once. One more time. Seriously, be a pal. Besides, me, Troy, and Justyn all need a ride,” said Jacob.

            “Is that why you want me to go; because you need someone to haul you and your bastard friends around? My car isn’t a fucking taxi and you guys are hardly friends to begin with.”

            “Alright, alright, calm your ass down. If you don’t want to go, that’s fine. But I’m telling you right now; you’re missing out.”

            “Sonuvabitch, I’ll go. Christ,” said Trent becoming more agitated by the minute. He mostly decided to go just to end the conversation.

            “That’s what I like to hear, Trent! Expect a call from me around nine or so and me and the guys will be ready. Maybe we’ll have a blunt or something ready for a pre-party smoke.”

            “Sounds great…” said Trent sarcastically.

            Jacob walked off and Trent reached his locker. He was quite furious at this point. He had been trying to break away from his group of so-called friends for months now. It seemed the more he tried to push them away the more they tried to run his life. Trent was currently failing two of his subjects in school, mostly due to his drug use. He was making the effort to change, but failing miserably every time he was faced with temptation.

            Trent opened his locker, stuffed the books he needed for the weekend in his backpack, and slung the backpack over his shoulders. He began to march through the hallways to the door that leads out into the parking lot when he spotted Brittany Jaeger chatting with her boyfriend, Travis, at the edge of the door. Trent had a massive crush on Brittany; he had ever since they became friends in middle school. But she had always been “too good” for him according to everyone’s opinion. It was infuriating. He hated her friends, he hated her boyfriend, and was beginning to develop ambivalent feelings toward Brittany for taking less and less notice of him as the high school years passed.

            One of Trent’s many proclivities was to assume that people were plotting against him. However, what never occurred to him was how irrational the plots were. He believed people planned on ways to humiliate him in front of everyone. He started to believe that Brittany and her boyfriend may be on to something that he was unaware of. His incessant paranoia seemed to have no end and was akin to a festering wound inside his mind growing worse and worse.

            He took his eyes off Brittany in an instant as he saw her boyfriend starting to look in his direction. He was nearing the doors to the school and was preparing himself for the bitterly cold winter wind that was blowing outside. He opened the door and immediately felt the icy wind bite at his face and hands. The sidewalk was slick from a previous ice storm and he had to make an extra effort to keep his balance.

            “Stupid fucking winter…” muttered Trent under his breath. He sincerely loathed winter.

            He reached his car and tried starting it up. It sputtered a little bit as he egged it on whispering “come on, come on.” Eventually, his car pulled through and it started up. He backed out of his parking space and started on his drive home. He hooked up his mp3 player to the speakers and began to play his typical death metal that he enjoyed so much. His friends enjoyed rap music mostly, but not him. He liked his music to sound like it was straight from Hell.

            He drove the twenty blocks or so that it took to reach his house. He pulled up into the driveway and turned off his car. While walking towards the steps to his house a horribly cold blast of icy wind blew causing Trent to curse at the weather. While walking up the steps his right foot hit a very slippery portion of the step and he slipped forward slamming his shins on the edge of the next step.

            “Shit…..goddamnit,” he said becoming even more furious.

            He opened the door to the house to find his step mom Nancy whipping up some food in the kitchen. Trent and Nancy despised one another with a deep-seated hatred. They couldn’t even stand to be in the same room with one another. When Nancy saw Trent come into the house she slammed one of the cupboards. That just made Trent even angrier, making him slam the door to his room when he reached it. Upon entering his room, Trent just plopped down on his bed. He was exhausted from a week’s worth of school. He didn’t feel like going to that party tonight. He didn’t feel like seeing anyone. He was tired of everyone. He was tired of life.
            Before taking a nap Trent got up and went to his dresser. He pulled out the bottom drawer and took out his Browning Hi-Power 9mm pistol. He gave it the eye; carefully looking it over for a few moments. Then he jokingly aimed it at his temple and squeezed his eyes shut like he was about to kill himself. Then he pretended to pull the trigger and threw his head to the side while saying “bang”. Then he looked up at the ceiling and said to God, “I know that’s not what you want there God. You know when I’m only kidding.” He put the gun back then threw himself back down on the bed for a good nap.

            Before long, Trent was awoken by a voice shouting from upstairs.

            “Trent! Phone!” shouted his stepmom as if she was angry with him for something.
            He opened his eyes, and without saying anything, walked upstairs and picked up the phone off of the floor where his step mom had left it.

            “Hello?”

            “Trent, what’s up man? It’s Jacob.”

            “Nothing. Just sleeping. What do you want?”

            “The party man! Did you forget you idiot? Nathan’s party?”

            “Yeah, that’s right. I’ll get ready and I’ll come pick you and everyone else up.”

            “What time?”

            Trent looked at the clock. It was around eight thirty.

            “Give me ‘til nine and I’ll be there.”

            “Alright,” replied Jacob and hung up the phone.

            “…..fuck….” sighed Trent as he tossed the phone onto his bed. He did not want to go to this party.

            Trent changed his clothes, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and splashed some cold water on his face to wake himself up. He put on his big, warm winter coat. And just as he was about to head outside, he looked over at his dresser. “Just in case something goes down,” he thought to himself. He walked over to his dresser, pulled out his gun, and slipped it into his pants.

            He walked back out into the winter weather in a somewhat better mood. He felt slightly refreshed from his nap, but still wasn’t in the best of spirits. He still felt a fair amount of the stereotypical teenage angst swell up within himself. However, with Trent all things were black and white. Whenever something was a certain way, it was that way to that extreme. When he was filled with angst, he was filled to the rim. He either is all the way or not at all.

            He got into his car and started it up with a little less difficulty than the time before. He drove to Jacob’s house first. When he arrived at his house he honked his horn and waited for a few moments until Jacob came out of his house.

            “What the hell is up Trent? Are you ready for this?”

            “I guess so. Have you talked to anyone else?”

            “Yeah. Justyn’s ready, so we should go there next. I also talked to Troy and he said he would be ready in a minute. He said he had something for you.”

            “What is it?”

            “Hell if I know, man,” he said. “But let’s get going, quick.”

            They drove away.

            “Goddamnit it’s cold! Do we have to listen to this devil music shit all the time in your car Trent?” stammered Jacob.

            “It’s my car you piece of shit. My car, my music.”

            “You’re a weird kid, you know it?”

            “I guess.”

            They eventually pulled up to Justyn’s house. Of all people, Trent despised Justyn the most. He honked his horn and Justyn eventually came out and hurried into the car. The car was beginning to warm up by now.

            “Damn you guys, it’s fucking freezing out there!” said Justyn as he slammed his door. “So how’s my favorite fucking faggot doing?” Justyn reached up to the front seat from behind and slapped Trent on each side of his face a few times.

            “Cut it out, wouldja. What’s your problem?”
            “I ain’t got a problem. Shit.”

            They drove away from Justyn’s and then headed to Troy’s house. Just as they did before, they parked outside, honked the horn, and waited. Before long, Troy came out of the house carrying a few sodas. Troy hopped into the car with everyone else.

            “Hey Trent, you want a soda man?”

            “Sure, I guess,” he said.

            Troy handed him a bottle of Mountain Dew that already had a few sips taken out of it.

            “Did you drink some of this?” he asked.

            “Yeah, just a little. I was fuckin’ thirsty, man,” he said.

            “Alright,” Trent said and laughed a very dry laugh. He then took a few swigs from the bottle. Also, Troy seemed to have forgotten to mention, perhaps intentionally, that he had dissolved a sugar cube laced with L.S.D. into the bottle several minutes before hand.

            They started driving away when Troy then pulled out a blunt for them to smoke. He lit it up and began to pass it around the car. Eventually it came to Trent.

            “Guys, I’ve decided that tonight is going to be my last night doing the party thing, alright? So after tonight, don’t call me, invite me anywhere, or anything. I just don’t give a shit. I need to focus on school or I’m screwed, okay.”

            Trent hit the blunt a few times and then passed it.

            “You say that all the goddamn time. I doubt it’s any different tonight. But if that’s what you want, whatever,” said Troy.

            “You guys just don’t understand. I can’t keep doing this. I have to get my life straightened out, so tonight is it. Just forget about me, alright?”

            They continued to drive in silence for some time. Trent was feeling quite the buzz from the blunt they had smoked. After some time, they then pulled into Nathan’s driveway. He immediately noticed Brittany’s boyfriend’s car there. He could feel the gun pressing against his stomach.

            They all piled out of the car and went up to the house. Jacob rang the door bell and eventually Nathan came to the door. The truth about Nathan was that he really wasn’t the partying type. However, people had heard that his parents were leaving town and they kind of talked him into the whole ordeal. Nathan wasn’t too thrilled about the idea either like Trent, but he went along with it.

            There were so many people at the party that everybody started to go their own separate way. Mainly they each noticed a particular attractive girl and focused their attention on having sex with her by the end of the night; a chore they would have to start on early in the night. Trent, feeling the vertigo of the marijuana he smoked on the way there wandered about the place. He really didn’t know that many people there so he simply walked about pretending as if he was taking care of some sort of business. He did this for about a half hour or so.

            Then he went to watch everyone do body shots off of girls in the kitchen and then went to watch people do keg stands in the den. He would have liked to have had a nice seat in the hot tub but that was only for “special guests” (people wearing wrist bands who had supplied the alcohol for the party by stealing bottles and paying for the keg with a fake I.D.).

            Then it started to happen. Trent blacked out for awhile. He was still conscious, but was somehow unaware of what he was doing; as if he was in some sort of surreal dream. Eventually he came out of it. He was sitting on the couch in the den when his mind finally returned to his body. His first thoughts were “where am I and what am I doing?” He looked around and everything appeared to be a little bit brighter. The outlines of objects were jumping around and changing colors and everything appeared to be a little bit less solid. Things appeared ephemeral and shapeless. Things were strange. He didn’t know what was going on. He was in a somewhat mild state of terror for a short period of time.

            He then began to pass into a phase where everything he thought about would instantly spark a higher, more profound thought. His mind was ceaselessly linking one thought with this or that in what seemed to be an endless chain of understanding. However, his thoughts quickly took a turn for the worst. He became paranoid by all the people who were there; he felt they were all analyzing his every move. He became depressed, and then angry, and then worried, and then felt such a strange combination of emotions that there is really no way he could explain it. He needed to know what was happening.

            “Oh my God, what’s happening,” he said very loudly.

            A kid he knew named Ryan looked over at him.

            “What?” asked Ryan.

            “I’m tripping balls. Holy shit. I’ve got to go.”

            Ryan just stared at him bewildered. He had no idea what he was talking about. Trent got up from the couch and walked through the mass of people, disoriented and confused, trying to find Jacob, Troy, and Justyn. One of them had to explain to him what was happening. He didn’t know if the world was supposed to be swirling around him at such a ridiculous pace and changing colors the way it was. He was in a truly awful state of mind.

            Eventually Trent found his way downstairs. People kept trying to say “Hello” to him but he would either say “I’m tripping I can’t talk” in a voice that could only be half-way made out or he would completely ignore them. When he went downstairs he began to check all the rooms. Nathan was apparently furious at everyone for smoking marijuana down there.

            “I’m going to be in so much trouble! My parents are going to smell that shit! Knock it off, wouldja?” shouted Nathan.

            Everyone only laughed at Nathan. The party was too out of control at this point. The house was beyond packed and everyone had to shout over all the noise of the drunkenness.

            “Nathan! Have you seen Jacob or Troy?” said Trent. “Seriously, I can’t find them.”

            “Dude, you don’t look so good…” said Nathan.

            “Yeah, but have you seen them?”

            “Uh, I think Troy is in one of these rooms down here,” he said with a questionable tone of voice.

            “Okay.”

            Trent continued to wander around bewildered until he eventually found Troy talking to some girl downstairs in one of the bedrooms.

            “Troy! Holy shit! What’s happening? Everything is crazy looking and shaking around. I don’t know what the hell is going on. You gotta help me man!” shouted Trent.    

            Troy laughed uproariously when he took a good look at Trent then said, “You’re just trippin’, I laced your shit, bro.”

            “You what?”

            “Your soda, man. I put some shit in there for ya’ that I thought you might like.”

            “What? What the fuck, man? What the Hell did you put in there?”

            “Don’t worry about it. If you can’t take it, just go lay down on the couch or something.”

            “What’s wrong with him?” said the girl.

            “Nothing, he’s just fucked up,” said Troy to the girl while turning to Trent. “Now get out of here and give me and her some space.”

            Trent walked back upstairs and went back to the den to lie down on the couch. Luckily there were only a few people in there at the time. He had a seat and slouched down and closed his eyes. He had never felt this way before in his entire life. He didn’t know what to do except just remain motionless. Pretty soon Brittany and a few of her gal pals came in and had a seat on the couches.

            Trent, hearing their chatter, opened his eyes. He was beyond intoxicated at this point in time and had no control over what he was saying or doing. When he opened his eyes, he just happened to see Brittany sitting on the couch next to him along with a few of her girlfriends. He sat up and looked around.

            “Are you alright there, Trent?” said Sarah, one of the girls.

            He ignored her and turned to Brittany.

            “Brittany! I’m so happy to see you,” said Trent.

            “….okay…” she said, looking over.

            “I need to tell you this. I’ve always thought you were the most beautiful girl in the whole world. I mean it. I really mean it,” said Trent in a barely discernable voice. All she could really make out was “beautiful girl”.

            “Oh, well that’s nice,” she said turning towards Sarah.

            “What’s wrong with him?” Sarah said.

            “I don’t know, I think he’s just really, really drunk. Maybe high, hell if I know what kinda drugs he does these days,” Brittany said.

            Then Trent tried to put his arms around Brittany and just let his head fall lifeless into her lap. Suddenly, he vomited everywhere; all over her jeans and the floor.

            “Ewwwwww!” shouted Brittany. “Get off of me you creep!”

            Travis then heard his girlfriend scream from the other room and came running in the den to see Trent trying to regain his composure while Brittany was jumping up and down trying to be calmed down by her friends.

            “He puked on me! I can’t believe it! He puked on me!”

            Trent stood up still feeling delirious and was met by the furious face of Brittany’s boyfriend Travis who was quite a bit taller and stronger than Trent.

            “What the fuck is your problem you little faggot?” shouted Travis.

            “You’re a faggot you piece of shit. You think you can just steal Brittany from me? She was my friend before she even knew you. Who the fuck do you think you are? Just because you’re some big basketball guy you think you can do whatever the fuck you want. You’re a piece of shit, you know that?” shouted Trent at the top of his lungs.

            Travis became red in the face and absolutely furious. He lunged forward and punched Trent square in the face. Trent fell back into the couch. He then felt under his jacket for his 9mm pistol. He grabbed a hold of it and pulled it out and pointed it at Travis. Brittany screamed and Travis reacted by putting his hands up in the air.

            “Look man, it’s cool, just chill out,” said Travis. “I’m sorry man, it’s cool. Just put the gun down and I’ll help you up.”

            “No, it’s not cool,” said Trent rather quietly.

            Trent shot him twice. Once in the chest and once in the head. He fell down to the ground in a pool of blood. Then he turned and looked at Brittany who was screaming “Oh my God! Oh my God” in terror with her hands over her mouth. Everyone else was screaming as well. Brittany then looked over at Trent.

            “Good bye,” he said and pressed the barrel against his temple and pulled the trigger.