All It Takes - A Long Busride

Ch. 12

Benji awoke to the smell of food. He sat up and saw Joel and Paul sitting at the small table eating spaghetti. He got up and went over to them, “What time is it?” he asked rubbing his eyes and his hands through his crazy hair. Joel pointed with a mouth full of pasta to the cell phone on the table. Benji looked at it and said aloud, “3 o’clock? Dang we slept for a long time.” Paul wiped his mouth, “Yeah we came back and saw you two asleep so we went and got some food. There’s enough here for all of us.” He said holding out the bag to Benji. Benji smiled, “I’ll wake up Lil Billy.” Benji went over to the couch and leaned over the back, knowing Joel and Paul couldn’t see and weren’t paying attention. He smiled at cute sleeping Billy and rubbed his arm. Billy opened his eyes and smiled then opened his mouth to speak. Benji put his finger to his lips and smiled, “Joel and Paul brought us food.” Billy smiled and sat up. Benji turned around and sat down at the table followed by Billy. They talked about the next venue and how they had to drive for the next day straight through the desert. That sucked for four grown men cramped on a little bus- with no privacy. They packed up their stuff and took everything to the bus then went and bought pounds of junk food to eat on the long trip.

They left the comfort of the hotel and traded it for a smelly bus with a tricky air conditioning system. Sounds like fun huh? It was bearable for about the first hour and a half then it started to get hot. The bunks were too hot to lie in, the back room was too confining, leaving just the front lounge. Paul was sitting at the small table with his head down on the smooth surface and a warming unopened beer can on his neck- it was cold at one time now he was just too lazy to put it back. Joel had changed into a wifebeater and was lying on the carpeted aisle floor- eyes closed and hand toying with a half empty water bottle at his side. Billy was on the couch- dickies shorts rolled up exposing his thighs and arms spread out just enough to not touch his body or any surface. Benji was across from him on the opposite side of the bus. He was staring blankly at the ceiling, sweat clinging his shirt to his back. He was the lucky one that got to sit on the side of the bus that the afternoon sun was shining though- tinted windows doing nothing to stop the heat. The music had been turned off- it seemed to make the air thicker. No one talked, no one moved. It was understood that if one moved it would cause even more heat.

The heat was getting unbearable for Benji. He sat up and groaned, “I’m sorry but this shirt is coming off.” He discarded the shirt and felt instant coolness.

Joel lifted the water to his lips then pulled it away. He lifted his head and laughed lightly as he discarded the contents of the bottle onto his chest. He let out an audible sigh of coolness.

Nobody seemed to care about the half naked band member but Billy stole a peek at Benji and smiled to himself. He closed his eyes and played a scene through his head. He imagined him and Benji rolling around outside in a cold Maryland winter. He imagined Benji running an icy hand down his chest and shivered. He could just hear Benji saying his name. “Billy?” Oh it was Benji saying his name. He lifted his head to meet Benji’s eyes and smiled a little wondering how long he was off in space land.

Benji smiled and stood up, “Move over- the sun is shining on me.” Billy groaned as he picked himself up and scooted over allowing Benji to sit next to him. Benji plopped down and found a cool spot. He laid his head back and after a few silent minutes he picked it up again, “Billy, your legs are so white!”

Billy laughed, “You’re not exactly tan either!” He closed his eyes again and continued his daydream of he and Benji in the snow. He felt Benji run a finger down his sweaty bicep and shivered again.

“Why do you have Goosebumps?” Benji said.

Billy shook his head and opened his eyes. He blushed and looked at Benji, “I was dreaming of being somewhere cold.”

Paul spoke up without picking his head up off the table, “Please tell us. I wanna be cold.”

Billy smiled to himself remembering to leave out the part about it being he and Benji. “Well I was dreaming about being back home during winter. Ahh ya know when we’re home I hate the cold but when we’re away I miss it. Wait how much do you want to know about what I was dreaming?”

Joel spoke up, “All as long as it’s cold- not hot.”

Billy laughed, “Well what we were doing was hot. Anyways I dreamed that we walk outside down a little path through the woods. There’s a light snow falling. And we’re naked.”

Joel held up his hand, “Wait- ewww naked Lil Billy!”

Benji laughed, “Just say the other person was naked.” He looked over at Billy and smiled knowing the other person was himself.

Billy smiled back, “Okay so the other person was naked. And it’s really cold outside. The ice is crunching under our feet and we walk hand in hand. We come to a wide-open clearing. There is nobody around for miles. We lay down in the snow. The cold is against our backs and more snow is falling on top of us. Hahaha I think we all can continue our own dreams.” Billy said getting way too turned on to be sitting there in front of his friends. The three others sighed and the bus grew quiet again. After about 15 minutes of Benji sitting there next to Billy he lightly tapped Billy on the hand. Billy opened his eyes and looked over at Benji. Benji looked to see Paul still sitting there with his head down and Joel drifting off to sleep. He smiled at Billy and pointed to his lap. Billy gaped and laughed lightly as Benji tried to hide the result of his daydream under his belt.

Two hours later the bus pulled into a 7-11 out in the middle of nowhere. They four men happily jumped off the bus and walked into the store. Benji, still shirtless, walked up to the first cold glass case he found and stood in the cold air until he received dirty looks from the cashier. Joel and Paul had an idea. They found the old cooler in the storage compartment of the bus and bought six bags of ice filling it up. They set it in the center of the front lounge and shut the door tight hoping it would somewhat cool the interior. Everyone emerged 20 minutes later with enormous cold drinks and returned to the bus.

They settled down in exactly the same spots as before and the ice idea worked somewhat. It cooled the area a little bit. Everyone mostly used the ice directly on their skin. Paul retreated to his bunk as the sun began to set and the bus cooled down slightly. Benji picked up his guitar then put it down complaining that it was too hot to move his arms. Billy took Joel’s spot on the floor and begged Joel to put a handful of ice on his back. He lay there until all the ice melted drumming his fingers on the floor. Joel found a box of picks and lazily tossed them one after another into a cup on the side of the sink. Getting up only to retrieve them and start over again. Benji read a magazine sitting on the floor near the cooler of melting ice- Billy just on the other side.

Joel got bored after about an hour of his little pick game. “I guess all I have left to do is sleep. Goodnight.” He disappeared into the bunkroom and shut the door behind him.

They waited to hear all movement stop before they moved. Billy rolled onto his stomach and looked up at Benji. Benji was looking at him and evil smile tugging at his full lips. Billy smiled back and crooked an eyebrow at Benji. Benji slowly stood up and grabbed his cup that had held his drink. He stepped over Billy to the sink and rinsed it out then filled it with ice from the cooler. Benji leaned down to whisper in Billy’s ear, “You check and see if Paul is asleep and I’ll check Joel- then we’ll go watch some TV.” Benji winked as Billy smiled and got up off the floor. Benji signaled to be quiet and Billy nodded. Billy lightly pulled the curtain of Paul’s bunk back enough to see him sleeping with his mouth open and drool on his pillow. Benji peered in Joel’s bunk and smiled as he saw him snoring loudly with his headphones on and music still blaring loudly. Billy nodded to Benji and opened the door to the back lounge. Benji followed him in and locked the door behind them.

Billy turned around and grinned evilly at Benji. Benji smiled back and wrapped his arms around Billy kissing him hard and hungrily. Billy took his shirt off, “It’s so hot.” Benji nodded and turned on the TV to an infomercial. He turned back to Billy and kissed him again before pulling away. He whispered, “We can play tomorrow- its too hot.” Billy nodded then picked up the cup of ice. Benji grinned, “But play with ice yes.”

An hour and a cup of ice later Benji kissed Billy. “I’m tired.” Billy nodded yawning, “Me too. I think it’s the heat.” Benji nodded and kissed Billy one last time before he opened the door. He smiled at Billy and crawled into his bunk and Billy into his. Billy looked over at Benji, “Sweet dreams.” Benji smiled and nodded, “You too.”

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