Page 2 of Kayden: The Past
2
High School - Mindy
My high schoolyears started with a bang. I had my first drink before the start of my freshman year. My friends and I stole a bottle of Black Bull Whiskey from my parents and sat behind the garage, gulping it down as quickly as possible. It was dusk, and lightning bugs were dotting the air in the large, wooded backyard. We sat in a circle, passing the bottle around, taking swigs, and trying not to cough from the burning in our throats.
The taste was strong, but the feeling it gave me was unforgettable. The light-headed, loopy feeling that was followed by uncontrollable laughter is a memory that will be burned in my mind forever. Our fun was interrupted by my mother’s voice. “Kayden Michaels, get in here, now.”
Everyone scattered, running back to their homes and leaving me to take the fall. I grabbed the bottle off the ground and walked toward the garbage cans, hoping to discard the evidence. As my hand touched the lid, my mother’s fingers closed over my hand.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked.
I stood there for a moment stuttering, trying to come up with a good excuse. My mind went blank as I looked in her eyes. She caught me red-handed,without a viable excuse or plausible deniability. I gave her an innocent smile. “I’m sorry, Mom.” I had nothing else to say.
“Did you take that from the house?”
“I didn’t think you’d notice,” I said without thinking.
Her face grew red, and the anger oozed from her skin like perspiration. “In the house, now,” she spat. My feet felt heavy, and my head swam with all of the ways I’d be punished. “Throw the bottle out first.”
I did as told, knowing I would have to be smarter in the future.
That night, I was lectured for hours and hours. When my father came home, all hell broke loose. I got the belt that night, along with being grounded for two weeks. Thankfully, I had a month left before school started and still plenty of time to have some fun and experience new things.
I bided my time and planned with my friends over the phone for the remaining days of summer vacation. I had a large group of friends, boys who had my back, except for that moment my mom came screaming out of the house. We grew up in the same neighborhood spread out across a couple streets, and we were as thick as thieves. We built forts together as children, and now, our creativity was becoming a little more…delinquent. My boys were Ron, Scott, Freddie, and Tiny. There were more, but we were the core five. The five who were inseparable through grade school, but life changes, and friends often fade away.
Scott was my best friend. He and I used to have sleepovers when we were kids. We loved Batman and all things superhero related, but our interests changed as we grew. Scott’s sister, Mindy, was hot as fuck. I used to go over there just to catch a glimpse of her, but she was a rotten bitch. She hated Scott and by association, me. She always treated us like shit, but she still gave me a boner.
They planned a party for my release from the Michaels’ Prison Facility. Scott’s parents were going to be out of town, and luckily for us, it coincided with my freedom. The party wasn’t really for me, but I liked that they waited until the end of my solitary confinement to throw the damn thing. I would have climbed the fucking walls knowing they were partying their asses off while I sat in my bedroom and played Pong.
I put on my best pair of Z. Cavariccis with a black silk shirt and misted myself with Drakkar. I checked my hair, making sure every strand was perfect. My brown hair was short in the front and long in the back. Mullets were hot—who the fuck ever picked that hairstyle should be fucking shot. My face, thankfully, was pimple-free, unlike some of the kids at school. My eyes were always my best feature—they were jade green but changed depending on my clothes. The black shirt I picked helped my eyes stand out against my tanned skin.
“Where you going, Kayden?” I heard my father say from the living room as my hand touched the doorknob.
“The guys and I are going roller skating. It’s a late skate,” I replied, closing my eyes and waiting for a response. I needed a reason why I was dressed up. Going to hang with the boys or play sports wouldn’t match my clothing. We always went to the rink, and I knew my father wouldn’t question me any further.
“Midnight, Kayden. Don’t be, late or you’ll get another week.” I knew it was pointless to argue.
“Okay,” I said as I opened the door and closed it behind me. I felt like I’d broken free from a long-term jail sentence. Two weeks in the scheme of life is nothing, but when you’ve only lived about six hundred weeks total—it’s an eternity.
I inhaled the warm, sticky air, pulling it into my lungs, and I felt the gentle breeze on my skin. The weather would be changing soon, and the Ohio winter would grip us, causing everyone to go into hibernation.
The gang assembled on the street corner, waiting for me. Scotty lived a couple of streets over, and we traveled on foot together through the fields and cut through the backyards. The light of his house came into view through the trees, and the music was a whisper in the air as we drew closer. We moved quicker, not wanting to waste another minute.
I reached the door first, and it moved slightly with each beat of the bass. The sound of“Walk This Way” blared as I opened the front door and stepped inside. There were people everywhere, filling the stairway and all the rooms. We squeezed through the crowd to find Scott.
He was in the kitchen, filling cups from a keg and handing them out with a smile on his face. We wrestled together in middle school and spent the summer working out together to get ready for the upcoming season.
Scott spotted us across the room. “Come on over here, guys. Grab a drink,” he said.
We grabbed full red plastic cups and made our way into the living room. There were so many girls that I didn’t know where to look first. I bumped into Mindy when I wasn’t paying attention, spilling my drink on her top. She shrieked when the cold liquid soaked her shirt, outlining her breasts.
“Damn, I’m so sorry, Mindy,” I said.
“Jackass,” she said as she walked away. She may have called me a jackass, but at least she acknowledged my existence.
The rest of the night I spent flirting with other girls and made out with one, but I pictured Mindy in my mind the entire time.
I didn’t drink too much. I couldn’t afford more time in the MPF. I left the party in time to return home by midnight and avoid any grilling or the possibility that the smell of beer on my breath would be discovered by my dad.
