Adam's Day (part 2)

​

As she began the familiar lecture that began with the incident from last year

and ended with her in tears from getting so upset Adam shut the words out and gazed at her.

She was a very pretty girl, with high cheekbones and eyes like those Precious Moments

figurines. She was always dressed with a modest fashion; never too slutty or covered in

makeup but still held an attractiveness to her wardrobe that most girls couldn’t seem to pull

off. She genuinely loved him too and didn’t try to hide it. That’s why she would get so upset

like this, because she cared way too much.

​

He began to focus back in on what she was saying and Adam heard her

voice begin to raise emotionally as she was going off on how unhealthy meth was for you,

emotionally, mentally, and physically. Adam shushed her harshly, “Do you want me to get

evicted? Keep your voice down. The neighbors probably heard you.”

​

Hillary began to tear up on cue and ran to Adam to embrace him. She

squeezed hard and pressed her face firmly into his chest as she became desperate, “I don’t

want to lose you to this honey. I want you to be healthy. I want us to be healthy. I want us to

be happy!”

​

As she said this guilt ripped through Adam’s chest. He didn’t want to face

these emotions or this situation right now. She had just arrived and he already felt the need

to run. With shame thick in his throat he mumbled, “I have to go. I told Sal I would hang out

with him today.” He gently pulled away from her hug and went to put on his boots and his

jacket.

​

Hillary sat on the bed heavily and it sounded like another spring popped.

Hillary had nearly regained control of herself when she said, “You need a new mattress or at

least one of those foam pads to put over it.” Hillary faltered before catching Adam’s eyes and

said, “I know what you do with Sal.”

​

Adam averted her glance and looked down to finish tying his boots and for a

second his heart jumped before he said, “No you don’t. You just think you do.”

"Right. Whatever. Adam, I’m not going to put up with this forever. I’ll wait here for you. When

will you be done?”

​

Now standing at the door, Adam allowed his neck to go limp, aimed the top

of his head towards the floor, and shrugged, “I won’t be long, two hours, maybe three. I love

you honey.”

“I love you too.”

​

Adam couldn’t get down the flight of stairs fast enough; being on the third

floor had its disadvantages. On the way down Adam lit up a cigarette as he rushed past a sign

posted up on one of the walls that stated: “THIS IS A NO SMOKING BUILDING”. Adam wasn’t

too concerned about it though, there were only five apartments in the complex and only the

old man with the cats didn’t smoke. Plus, when he had signed the lease, it had said that they

weren’t allowed to have pets so screw that old husk. When he got just outside the apartment

complex he slid on a patch of ice but caught himself before falling. “Jesus,” he muttered as he

looked around to see if anyone had seen his balancing act. While bundling himself up in his

jacket to fight the freezing wind he walked a little more carefully the rest of the way to his car

parked on the street. The car started up right away; the engine was still in good shape despite

the body being dented and scratched. His dad had given him the car as a reward for being the

first of his kids to graduate high school and it was nearly new then but when Adam learned

how to drive in a North Dakota winter with a manual transmission he made a few mistakes

that showed in the myriad of dents and scratches that covered it now, especially the front

bumper; the entire bottom half had been snapped off after a collision with a snowbank. It

adds character. Or something.

​

Rolling the window down just a crack to blow the smoke of his cigarette out

Adam navigated his way to Salvador’s place through the icy roads of Grand Forks. As he drove

he thought about Hillary getting upset again. He really did want to quit everything, clean up,

and live a simple life but it wasn’t that simple. Sal had said on multiple times that his only

goal in life was to “get fucked up and go on adventures”. Adam found it difficult to talk to Sal

about cleaning up without sounding like Hillary which would make him a hypocrite for always

tuning her out.

​

He felt another pang of guilt when he thought about her telling him that she

knew what he did with Sal. Sure, she knew that they got high together, she was right about

that, but there was so much more. When he was with Sal it really was an adventure. They

would go exploring the country roads during a blizzard just for the challenge of it.

Spontaneous trips to Fargo or Minneapolis (to pick up drugs, sneak into a club, or just walk

the streets and cause havoc without having to worry about running into someone you knew)

were never out of the question either. Plus the sex was great. Adam was sure Hillary had no

idea about the sex.

​

He got to Sal’s trailer and slid to a stop on more ice on the street. He cursed

the winter to himself as he ran up to the door and knocked. Sal never rushed to answer the

door and the cold was ripping through his coat so he knocked again immediately this time with

a lot more urgency. The extra effort did not transmit to Sal who still took about three minutes

to finally answer the door and let Adam in from the cold. “Fuckin a,” Adam growled at Sal,

“About time. It’s colder than hell out there.”

​

Sal smiled at this, and Adam remembered how much he loved that smile. Sal

had beautiful tanned skin thanks to his Hispanic mother that made his teeth seem to radiate

out from his mouth when he smiled. His hair was black, curly, and long with a bang that

always seemed to bounce over his left eye, though today it was a little more unkempt than

usual. He was shirtless even though it was winter and his trailer really wasn’t that warm and

his torso was toned without being buff and thin without being scrawny. To Adam he had the

most perfect body he could think of, judging his own disproportionate features in comparison.

“Starting the day off with a paradox are we?” Sal’s grin showed his appreciation for the joke,

and though Adam didn't find it quite as funny, he always smiled when Sal did. Sal's teeth were

straight but not quite perfect; he was the lucky one who never felt the tightening of teeth in

the crevices of your jaw for what is a perpetual eternity in the mind of a preteen. He noticed

the flawed teeth, the slightest overlap of the left incisor onto the right, and genuinely smiled,

locking eyes with Sal before the rambling of his mind slowed enough for him to respond,

“Starting the day off? Did you just wake up? It’s three in the afternoon,” Adam took his coat

off and threw it into the corner of the living room on top of Sal’s pile of winter wear. He didn’t

take off his boots.

​

“Morning is in the eye of the beholder! The day has just begun for me so this

is my morning. On that note, I haven’t smoked yet, care to join me?” Sal began walking to his

bedroom without waiting for a response; he knew it wasn’t necessary. Adam followed him into

the bedroom and found a seat on a five gallon bucket that held paint once and was flipped

upside so to be recycled as a chair. They began the familiar ritual of melting up shards of

meth and inhaling the fumes while continuing whatever discussion they had stumbled into.

Today it was a matter of whether morning was a static event that occurred whether or not you

were aware of it or if it was based on personal perception. They ended up agreeing that time

itself was a man-made concept, or at the very least only applicable to the time it takes a

rock/massive gas collection to orbit around another rock/massive gas collection. If time was

not able to be defined they would allow nihilistic thoughts to rule.

"If something cannot be consistently and universally defined then it cannot be," was the final

consensus, until Sal found a logical fallacy and the cycle began again.

​

Those debates are what drew them together back in high school, each finding

in the other someone of intellectual equality that could play a devil’s advocate regardless of

personal belief. The friendship turned into something more intimate after the first year but

Adam wanted to keep that part of his life quiet as he still struggled to understand who and

what he was. Sal was more confident and while he did not broadcast his sexuality he didn’t

hide it from anyone except Hillary. Adam was jealous of that and it made him desire Sal even

more.


`Adam noticed something on Sal’s arm that made him nauseous. “Is that a fucking track

mark?” Adam’s voice nearly cracked with his shock at the sight, “I thought we agreed that we

would never shoot this shit!”
(Continued)