Biking

Walking out of the cinema having just checked all the movies in advance for tonight, I head home. On the way home, I give Sam a call “Hey Sam”, I speak as he picks up the phone. “Hey Tristan”, Sam replies. “Where are you now?”, I ask. “I just got to the parking lot of the mall, I was on my way to check out the cinema for any movies”, Sam replies. “Oh, don’t worry about that, I just finished doing that, I am on my way to the parking lot right now”, I interjected. “Cool, cool…you excited for the movie tonight?”, Sam asked. “Yes, dude, these past few days have been so boring, I’ve been alone ever since you, Oscar, and I went to Belmont Park on Thursday, getting out and hanging out with our class will be cool.”, I replied. “Yup, oh, hey, I see you now”, Sam replied as stepped out the exit, he waved his arms to signal me where he was, I responded by waving my arms as I saw him. As we greeted each other and hopped on our bikes, we headed to Oscar’s house to see if he is ready for tonight. “I have to go to the gas station quick, I need to get something”, Sam commented. “Okay, what exactly?”, I asked. “ Trust me, we will need it later.”, Sam replied. “Whatever, I will meet you at Oscar’s later then.”, I replied as Same turned left down the road to the gas station and I went straight to Oscar’s house.

As I rode down the hill to the nearest gas station, as I approached a red traffic light I was also stopped as I saw this boy standing in the middle of the road and right beside a tram railway. I was stopped because I was kind of creeped out by the way he simply just stared at me, he couldn’t be any older than 10 years old, wearing a crimson red shirt paired with forest green corduroy shorts and a cap which had the label “Think Golf”. He continued to just stare at me until a tram began approaching before the tram got to where he was standing he yelled out my name “Sam!!!”. As the tram ran by and shouldn’t pass him, he disappeared, just like they do in the movies, maybe he just hopped on while it was moving, and I didn’t see. Not paying much attention to it all, I continued down to the gas station a few blocks ahead as the traffic light turned green. When I arrived at the gas station, I went both into the convenience store and straight for the thing I came for and as many as I could get. I then got to the counter to pay for it all, the guy at the counter had a named tag which read “Eddie”, he gave me an astonished look as I handed all the items. “You sure look like you’re getting busy tonight, pal”, Eddie jokingly remarked. “Something like that”, I briefly replied with a smirk before stepping out of the convenience store and calling Oscar. “Hey, Oscar, I got them”, I spoke as he answered the phone. “Hey, Sam, did you get them, how many did you get?”, Oscar replied. “About twelve”, I replied. “That little, well, I guess it’s just going to have to do, is Tristan with you?”, Oscar asked. “No, he is on his way to your place actually, so am I know that I have the package.”, I replied. “Okay, I’ll see you soon, don’t tell Tristan. Bye”, Oscar replied. “Yea, sure of course. Bye.”, I replied before dropping the call.

After just getting off the phone with Sam, I quickly roll up the last remaining blunts before Tristan gets here. Stuff the blunts carefully into a pencil case and then in my duffel bag, among other things, and head out my room. As I get out the front door and outside the house, my younger sister wishes me goodbye “Bye, Oscar”, she says. “Bye”, I reply. Once I close the front door, Tristan makes his way to the sidewalk. I head towards him to greet him with our handshake. “Hey, Oscar, you ready for tonight, I just came from the cinema and seeing Sam at the mall and”, Tristan asks before I interrupted. “Yea, about that, what movies are they again…it doesn’t matter, I know a place where they have films you find anywhere else”, I commented. “Okay but aren’t all our classmate's meeting at the cinema though?”, Tristan asked. “Not anymore, I got a text an hour ago that Amanda found a film festival we could all crash since her Dad knows the manager.”, I replied. “Okay, s-sure, let’s do that instead.”, Tristan replied excitedly. “Okay, I haven’t even told you where or when yet, you just can’t wait to be near Amanda huh?”, I jokingly ask. “W-what, n-no, I just think it’s cool that there’s a film festival we get to attend.”, Tristan blushingly replied. “Yea, sure, 8, tonight, don’t be late, I’ve got to go sort out a few things before I join you there though, I’ll text you”, I reply as I get on my bike. “Cool, oh, Sam said he was on the way here, you want to wait for him?”, Tristan asked. “Yup, I am waiting for him here now”, I reply as I text Tristan the address. “Did you get it?”, I continued. “Uhm…yea, just got it.”, Tristan replies as he looks at his phone. “Cool, I also gave your girlfriend, Amanda’s number to call if you get lost”, I jokingly replied. “She’s not my girlfriend.”, Tristan again replied blushingly. “Whatever, you know you want to tap that.”, I commented. “It’s not like that.”, Tristan replied defensively. “Yea, I know”, I replied just as Sam pulled up by the driveway on his bike, and just like that, at that moment, we were united again.| “Hey, Sam”, Tristan said. “Change of plans, we aren’t going to the cinema anymore, Oscar heard that there’s a film festival we can go to.”, Tristan continued. “Yea, I know…”, Sam replied. “Oh, so I was just left in the dark then huh?”, Tristan asked “I also just found out now, so…”, Sam replied.

“Alright, we’re off now, we’ll see you later Tristan.”, I replied as Sam, and I got on our bikes. “Wait, could I not come with you guys, wherever it is you are going before we head to the festival?”, Tristan abruptly asked. “It’s a minor thing, it would be a waste of your time, you can go ahead and check out the venue in the meantime,” I replied to Tristan and Sam, and I left. After Sam and Oscar left, I decided to go and check out the venue that Oscar text me for tonight. Call it proactivity, boredom, or whatever, I just like being ahead of things. The location was not close but not far either, I began biking towards the destination, the opposite direction Sam and Oscar went. On my way there, it was a peaceful ride, no mishaps or anything, I got to the parking entrance in one piece and saw a green-brownish Jeep parked alone. Chaining my bike to a rack I found nearby I proceeded towards the entrance to the festival. As I got to the entrance, a guard about 6’2 ft stood calm and collected with his sunglasses, I didn’t think they would have guards so early around this place. Not paying him much mind, I decided to proceed to pass him until he stopped me dead in my tracks “Name and ticket?”, he said adroitly. I didn’t know what else to tell him except “Uhm, I’m with Amanda and her class…”, I replied. “Yea kid sure you are, how about you leave…while you can”, he said in a serious tone. “Look, I am part of Amanda’s class, she invited us all to a get-together to watch a movie and this is the address”, I replied to the guard while showing him the text Oscar gave me. “I am not going to tell you again, kid, get out now or…”, the guard replied before I interrupted, “Look, there she is, Amanda!”, I yelled out as I saw her walking with her friends behind the guard. “That’s it”, the guard briefly replied as he began to pick me up to throw me out. “Hey, wait stop!”, Amanda yelled as she charged towards us. “Marcus, this is Tristan, a friend from my class.”, she continued. “Oh sorry, Ms. Nguyen, my mistake”, the guard replied whilst putting me down.” “That’s what I was trying to tell you”, I replied annoyed. “May you please let him through?”, Amanda asked. “Oh course”, the guard replied as he let me pass him “You look after yourself, Tristan”, he said bluntly. “Hey, Amanda”, I said nervously as we walked towards the friends. “Hey, Tristan, sorry about that how are you, you’re a bit early”, Amanda replied. “Y-yea, I wanted to see the place ahead of time so I would get ahead of things.”, I replied. “Cool, forward thinker huh?”, Amanda asked. “Yea, you know me”, I replied as we both briefly laughed and got to Amanda’s friends. “Amanda, we have to go, everything isn’t set up yet for tonight.”, Vicky, one of Amanda’s friends commented. “Hey, Tristan”, Olivia, another friend seductively said as the other few girls in the group all laughed, and Amanda smiled. “Well, I will see you later, Tristan, maybe we could hang out sometime.”, Amanda said as she kissed my cheek before leaving and giggling with her friends. “Yea, bye”, I replied softly as I held my cheek in my hand.

Oscar and I left Tristan to himself, before I said anything to Oscar, I waited for Tristan to get on his bike and exit earshot as we cycled away. “Why did you lie to Tristan?”, I asked Oscar. “Cause, little Mr. Goody two-shoes, was never going to understand, look, I love the guy, but he’s not cut out for this, you know?”, Oscar replied. “The same warehouse as last time right?”, I asked. “Yes, and they are about to arrive, so we’d better pick up the pace.”, Oscar replied as we both pedaled faster. Once we got to the warehouse, we quickly got to the deal just in time. Just as we entered the warehouse, Carlos and his crew were waiting along with a rival gang I’d never seen before. “Boys, just in a nick of time, I trust you have what we agreed on?”, Carlos asked. “Yea, thanks again for meeting us Carlos, we have it all here.”, Tristan said as he pulled out bags of weed from his duffel bag. You see, Oscar and I was supply runners, middlemen who would supply drugs to different gangs per gathering. For the most part, these were peaceful gatherings, no weapons, no coil, just an in and out process. The money was okay, that’s why Oscar did it, I did it for the thrill despite how shy I would get around Carlos and other gang members. Everything was going as routine and it looked like we would be out of there and with Tristan soon, it was then I saw the boy again from outside a window, the boy who disappeared at the tram. Seeing him now was weird and creepy enough but what caught me off guard was that the rival member gang had the same “Think Golf” hats as the kid. I didn’t know what it was exactly but at the moment I got a really bad feeling about this whole deal, so much so that at that moment, I yelled at Oscar “GET DOWN”, just then a rival gang member took out a pistol from behind and aimed it at Carlos. The rest all happened in a rush, before we knew it, the whole warehouse filled up with the sounds of gunshots. Oscar and I quickly managed to sneak out of the same place we got in and sprinted away as far as we could, it felt like a straight 2 miles. Once we got a safe distance away, we took a minute to catch our breath. “Dude, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?”, Oscar yelled out whilst still trying to catch his breath. “I don’t know”, I replied out of breath. “How’d did you know something was about to happen?!”, Oscar asked. “I don’t know”, I replied confusedly. “W-we have to get out of here, lay low and—“, Oscar said before I interrupted, “What about Tristan?”. “What about Tristan dude, we’re fucked, we can’t be in public right now, those guys are going to find us and…”, Oscar panicky replied. “The boy”, I said briefly. “Wait?”, Oscar asked. “The boy, I saw him earlier today, he knew my name, he probably knows where we live to, we can’t go home.”, I replied. “Tristan, the festival, they must have security or something, maybe we could use that as protection”, I continued. “Shit, you’re right, alright, we have to get there first though, and I mean right now.”, Oscar replied as we began to get to the festival.

It was getting dark; I knew the movie at the festival was going to start soon so I made my way there. After meeting up with Amanda, I decided to go and watch a movie at the cinemas to kill time before the festival began. Once I arrived back at the festival and just in time, the movie began. I save spots for Sam and Oscar but had no idea what had happened to them since earlier today. I figured I would be sitting alone for tonight but instead decided to ask Amanda if she would be willing to sit with me since I had space, to my surprise she said yes. The movie was a short film from this new and upcoming filmmaker right out of UCLA. I was enjoying it, especially the small delight in a girl that I liked, sitting next to me. Well into the movie, I was wondering where Oscar and Sam were and just then my phone began to ring, I quickly got up and went somewhere quitter before answering. “Hello”, I said as I answered the call. “Hello, Tristan, it's Oscar, it that you?”, Oscar replied hastily. “Yea, it's me, where are you guys, you are missing the party and”, I said before I was interrupted by Tristan. “Shit, Sam, hurry up, duck!”, Oscar yelled over the phone as I heard a bang over the phone. “What was that what that a gunshot?”, I asked “Where are you guys, what’s going on?”, I continued. “Sam it’s not going to work, Tristan, listen to me, we are on our way to you, and you need to get out of there, now!” Oscar replied over the phone. “What are you talking about the festival just started,” I spoke. “Listen to me, that shit is about to be the wild west, you need to leave and now”, Oscar yelled as I heard another bang over the phone and at the time, a bang from my side. I went back to sit down next to Amanda and try and process everything that just happened. “Everything okay?”, Amanda asked. “Yea, I don’t know”, I replied confused. “What’s wrong?”, Amanda asked just as Oscar and Sam appeared out of thin air all sweaty and dirty and scared out of their minds. “Hi, lovebirds, Amanda do you mind if we borrow him for a second?”, Oscar asked in a kind tone. “Oh yea, I’ll just be with my friend, bye.”, Amanda said as she up and left for her friends. “Guys, what the hell, I was hanging out with Amanda and…”, I said before being interrupted “Stay down and shut up”, Sam replied as we laid down on the spot. “What did you guys do?”, I asked annoyed. “Nothing, they shot first.”, Oscar replied. “Who shot first, what’s going on?”, I asked worriedly. “Ugh, would you just shut up, they’re close and”, Tristan replied. “Who’s close?”, I asked. “We tried to lose them, but we left our bikes and the had a car and..”, Sam replied before I cut him off “What do you mean, let me guess, drugs, you guys were up to shit and it backfired didn’t it?”, I replied angrily. “This is why we didn’t bring you with, you would understand”, Oscar replied angrily. “Yes, I wouldn’t understand putting innocent people in danger at this festival to help criminals.”, I replied. “For some of us, that’s all the money there is to get something to eat, you spoon-fed spoiled bitch”, Oscar replied, and just then a gunshot blast could be heard from the parking lot entrance. Everyone got up and went into a panic as they upped and ran from their seats. The gunshot blast grew more frequent as we all ran as far away from them as we could.

Amidst the chaos, Tristan and Oscar were panicking through it all, and honestly so was I. Just then, I saw the boy again in the middle of it all and pointed him out to Oscar. “There he is again”, I said to Oscar. “I think he wants us to follow him”, I continued. “Wait didn’t you say he ratted you out, we can’t trust him.”, Oscar replied as Tristan ran towards him, and Oscar and I quickly followed, not know where the boy was taking us… to be continued.