Sully Burden
Chrissy L.
Jake C.
Selina H.
Officer Williams
?????
Radio

.:.2:15 A.M.:.

What more do you have to look upon than memories?

I remember it like it was just yesterday, even though the real time of it was...God, so long ago...

It was the last night I would probably see her for a while. Hell, it was the last any of us would probably see her. After the morning came, after her trying to get ready in time not to be late, after the grueling hour or so long in a closed hearing, she would be sent off to Catoosa County Jail and later, maybe a few months after, be sent to a woman's correctional facility, the total time ending up to be months. Months that would prove to be way too much for any of us to bear.

Especially me.

What was I to do without this girl in my life? I was young, I know...but you just know it when...when you need someone like this. It's just that gut feeling. We started what would be our last night late, much later than it should have been. It wasn't anybody's fault; she needed to spend time with her mom before leaving for so long. That's understood. But it wasn't enough time to get all our feelings out before she left, so I, and everyone else, kept every feeling inside to make it easier upon us and especially on her: Chrissy.

She called me later than I wanted: around 7:30. I called up the rest of the group, gathered them together, then met Chrissy about a half hour after her first call downtown so we could do whatever. When we pulled up next to her near-broken-down Camaro, the look upon her face told us all how she was feeling.

Horrible.

It wasn't normal to see this girl like this. Chrissy was of a unique breed. We all often had arguments trying to compare this girl with someone else we knew because it was way too hard. Impossible to do because there wasn't anyone like her in this world, nor would there ever be. It was Chrissy. That was the joy that made hanging out with her a blast, and dating her much more of a relationship.

She piled into my truck with the rest of the crew and lit up the joint she had stashed in her purse and waited on since early this morning when she woke up to go shopping with her mom. I drove towards the safest smoking road I knew of, and since I was so young, I knew of these places like they were advertised in the phone book. It wasn't long until we found the road I was thinking of, and the night began.

"You're not leaving us tomorrow."
"How can you say that? I'm on probation. When you f*ck up on probation there isn't much else to say."
"You know those feelings that I get."
"Yeah, this motherfucker gets these feeling. Like, if he thinks the police are going to be anywhere near, he knows it before it happens."
"Didn't you have that feeling that night of the kegger?"
"After you talked to Kris..."
"Yeah. I did."
"You get feelings? Are you sure about these feelings?" (Taking a hit)
"They haven't failed me once. I have a feeling, Chrissy, that after tomorrow in court, I will be talking to you after school and doing the same thing we are right now. We aren't gonna lose you so easily..."

But I was lying. Everything I said about those peculiar feelings were right and actually have happened, but I wasn't getting a feeling for Chrissy, but I wasn't getting one of those horrible feelings either. I just, for some reason, felt so sad. I couldn't take it.

"Well, let's just forget about tomorrow tonight, and have some fun."
"That's what I'm sayin'.." (After taking a hit, handing to Sully)

We drove around for what it felt like a few hours, smoking and talking about the past year and how much fun we had had since then. Someone called up on Selina's phone and told us to come to the Drink and get wasted with them since it was Chrissy's last night, so we did that after smoking some more.

We walked into that place with our heads high, even though we all still had that feeling of loss on our hearts. I was hurting more than anybody. I sat over in the couch most of the time, watching the girls dance and talking and taking shot after shot with her. There were a few times that I totally forgot about tomorrow, but was quickly reminded after somebody coming up to hug Chrissy and saying that they were going to miss her for seven months.

We partied the night away. It wasn't until that place closed, 2:30 A.M., when we left, and we were all so extremely drunk that nothing was on our mind except another bottle of Bud Light or Corona. I didn't even know what I was doing. I would have never gotten into the driver's seat of my truck and attempted to drive on the roads if I knew how drunk I was, but for some reason I didn't care about anything. I even popped a few pills I found in my truck as soon as I got in to captivate my evening. We piled in the truck, pulled out of the club, and began to head home.

~~~~

"This is unit 23, I've been sittin' out here by the Drink for a while and I think I'm about to be in pursuit of a drunk driver. License plate number GAF, 203. I'm gonna follow them for a bit."

~~~~

"Man, hand me that damn bottle. I have too much blood in my alcohol content..."

My God, what was I doing? I knew there was a cop behind me, I could see the sirens on top every time I stopped (or tried to) at the red lights. Why was I carelessly waving a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka in the air like it was water?

Oh God...the blue lights.

We all shut up. Looked at each other with half-closed and bloodshot eyes, smelling like we went swimming in a pool of liqour. I pulled over slowly, hoping he wouldn't come close enough to smell my breath. What was I going to do?

I heard his door shut. He was out of the car. Oh God, there he was.

*Knock*Knock*Knock*

"Could you open your window, please?"

I rolled the window down.

"Was I, um...speeding, officer?"
"No." (Pulling out pistol) "You werent."

~~~~

"Unit number twenty-three, what is your status? UNIT NUMBER TWENTY-THREE, CAN YOU READ? Sarg', I think we need to send in back up."
"No," (heavy breathing) "I'm fine."
"What is your status?"
"You remember those drunk kids I was followin'? I thought unit sixty-five was on their case, but it turns up he was too late."
"Why?"
"These kids have been shot to death..."

..:To Be Continued:..

Copyright Burden/XWF Entertainment 2004