Noah Aitel

Old Times

The bass pounded from behind, shaking me to my core, as the music blasted out of the small car stereo.  The crowded car was speeding down the street, swerving to avoid other cars and pedestrians.  As we ran a red light and hit a hard right onto Shattuck, Keith leaned out the window and yelled to a group of people on the street.  All my friends were there, the seven of us crowded into a five person car, head banging to impossibly loud metal and yelling out the windows as the car sped down the street, cutting off other cars in a daredevil manner usually reserved for stunt drivers in action movies.  And the real recklessness hadn't even begun.

A green Honda, blasting hip-hop and nearly as full of people as our car, pulled up next to us at a red light we had deigned to stop at.

"Dude, they’re makin' fun of us, look!" said Alex, pointing to where one of the guys in the car was jokingly head banging in an attempt to make the girl next to him laugh.

"Fuckin' posers," Greg said, flipping them off.  "I'm sick of people dissing rock...  Hey, you want any more of this popcorn?"  He asked, holding up the bag.

"Naw, man.  Why?" Alex replied.

"Should I throw it at them?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, man, throw it, throw it." Alex responded.

The popcorn bag flew in a graceful arc, seeming to move in slow motion as it glided through the air, then crashed onto the Honda's window, sending kernels everywhere.

"Floor it, dude!"  Greg shouted to our driver, Sam.

Our car sped forward along the open road, rocketing a block before anyone looked behind us.

"Oh shit, dude!  They're following us!" Alex yelled.

I craned my head around and looked out the back window.  In the other lane, getting closer by the second, was the green Honda, heads sticking out the windows and yelling.  Our car sped on, the driver oblivious to the problem, deafened by the music still blasting through the car at top volume.

The Honda appeared next to us and we heard shouts and taunts from the passengers.  They then sped up and swerved in front of us, attempting to block our escape as we reached the corner.  Sam swerved around them, hitting a hard left onto the cross street.  For a second, it seemed as if we had escaped, but looking behind us, we saw the Honda turn the corner and speed after us.

We sped down the next block and cut through a gas station-past several police cars, who miraculously seemed to not notice us-and onto the next street, driving as fast as we could back towards Shattuck.  We turned back onto it, thinking for the second time that we had escaped.

“Dude, maybe we should turn off the music.” Greg shouted.

“But it’s perfect chase scene music,” Keith responded, turning it off nonetheless.

“They can probably hear it from a block away, which is why it’s so easy for them to follow us,” said Alex, glancing over his shoulder.

And sure enough, as I looked back, I saw the green Honda on our tail.  Again, they sped up and tried to pass us, and as we turned onto a one way street, they made it.  Only this time, one of the passengers leaned out the window and swung a tire iron, narrowly missing my window as the car sped past.

“Holy shit, they almost hit the window!” I shouted.

“Dude, we’re fucked.” Keith responded.

“Stop the car and let me talk to them,” Brian yelled to Sam.  “I think I can convince them to stop before someone gets killed.”

“Are you insane?” Joseph responded.  “You think they’ll just stop because you tell them too?  Don’t be an idiot, they’re trying to impress their girlfriends, and they’re gonna do it by kicking our asses.”

“Just let me try to calm them down,” Brian pleaded, a note of fear in his voice.

“Stop being stupid, they’re not gonna listen,” Joseph replied.

Again, they got in front of us and tried to slow us down, but right at that moment we saw our chance.  They had just passed by a blocked-off street, and before they could stop us, we had turned onto it and passed over the low barrier with a sickening scraping noise.

We sped down two blocks, turned right, and then turned into the long driveway leading to Alex’s house, hidden from the street by overhanging trees.  We screeched to a halt, and jumped out of the car, ran inside and slammed the door before collapsing on the floor, exhausted and scared.

“Oh my god man, that was crazy.” Keith said, calming himself down with deep breaths.

Meanwhile, Sam was in the middle of a heated argument with Alex and Greg about whose fault it was and who was going to pay for any repairs his car would need.

“He told me to throw it,” Greg protested.

“I was just joking, I didn’t think he’d actually do it,” Alex replied.

“As soon as I find out what the damage was, one of you is going to get it fixed.  I don’t care who, as long as it gets paid for.  And I’m never driving you guys again.”

***

I hurried along the four dark blocks to Alex's house, wondering what was going on.  I had just gotten a phone call telling me to meet him there, for something important.  I got there in a few minutes to find Alex and Greg outside, sitting on the bench below the large tree in front of his house.

"What's up?" I asked.

"We'll tell you in a minute, we're just waiting for Keith." Alex replied.

            We waited in silence for a few minutes, then saw a dark figure walking up the sidewalk.

            "Hey, what's up Keith?" Greg called out, rising to greet him.

            Keith approached, nodded to us, then asked, "So what's this about?"

            "Ok, so now that everyone's here, I thought we could talk about Joseph," Alex answered, standing as he started his speech.  "Now, as Noah and Greg know already, and you might too, Joseph has changed a lot recently.  He's been being an asshole to all of us, and I think it's time we do something about it."

            "Wait, he hasn't actually done anything to me, you know," I interrupted.  "And I'm not really sure what's been going on with him and you guys."

            "Well it started with how he was treating Greg, just because Greg was messing with him about him going out with Keith's ex, and then he's always kinda treating Brian badly, making fun of him and stuff.  So I told him it wasn't cool and we got into an argument, and now he's pissed at me, but I don't even care since I never really liked him in the first place."

            "So what are we supposed to do about it?  Just stop being his friend when he hasn't done anything to us?"  Keith asked.

            "But he's done something to your friends and that affects you.  You've got to make a choice and deal with it." Alex replied.

            The conversation continued for nearly an hour, Alex and Greg insulting Joseph and talking about all the bad things he had done, while Keith tried to explain things from Joseph’s side-arguing that he hadn’t really done anything wrong.  I remained nearly silent, letting the argument run its course-trying to stay in the middle to avoid turning anyone against me.

            Then there was a long silence, as everyone thought their own thoughts-making choices and decisions in their minds.  I realized I how little I had said, and, looking back on it now, I wonder how things would have been different if I'd made my opinion heard.  I had known Joseph for over 3 years, longer than I had known any of the others.  I knew he was a good guy, but there was no denying he had done some things wrong, and would probably never be friends with Greg or Alex again.  I don’t know if I could have changed their minds about him, and I’ll never know, because all I did was watch and let things unfold in front of me.

            "Ok, how about this.  For now, we'll all just kinda ignore Joseph, not hang out with him, and see what he does.  If he just ignores us, it means he doesn't really care, but if he starts to get desperate, maybe he'll realize he's got to change." said Keith after the long pause.

            We all nodded, figuring it was the best course of action at the moment.

            "But Keith," said Greg. "Some day, Joseph's gonna do somethin' that makes you realize he's been an asshole all along, and that you can't trust him anymore.  And when that day comes, you'll see we were right."

            "Whatever." said Keith, his expression flickering briefly to doubt before becoming impassive once more.

            The night seemed colder as I made my way back home.

***

            Over the next few months, Joseph became more distant.  We no longer called him when we hung out, so my contact with him became more limited; I saw him at school sometimes, but rarely outside of it.  This was his choice too, as he spent most of his free time with his girlfriend, and seemed to ignore the fact that we never saw him anymore.  It continued this way, the distance between us and him growing greater every day.

            This was, in part, fueled by the knowledge that he was moving soon, to spend six months in the mid-west with his mother and stepfather.  I think everyone thought it would be easier if we never saw him anyway.  Then it wouldn’t be as much of a change when he was gone.  This, combined with a genuine dislike from some of us, and ambivalence from others, contributed to our decision to stay away from him.

            But somehow, this changed everything else.  Everyone grew more distant from each other, for a variety of reasons: work, school, relationships.  I tried to get everyone together many times, but it always failed.  I spent far too many long, boring nights alone or with a single friend, waiting for a phone call, only to receive one at midnight apologizing and saying we’d do something tomorrow, or next weekend, but we never did.

            When Joseph finally left, no one really noticed; things went on as they had.  I barely saw Keith anymore; he was engrossed in a new relationship and always seemed to be unavailable, and Brian was busy with work.  I ended up spending a lot of time with Alex and Greg, wishing things were how they used to be, with our whole group doing ridiculous, crazy, and above all, fun, things every night.

***

            In mid-April, Alex told me that his dad had kicked him out, and he had two weeks to pack his stuff, withdraw from all his classes, and move back east-where he would live with his long-distance girlfriend until further notice.  I was surprised by the news, to say the least, but, at the same time, I had almost been expecting it based on his terrible relationship with his father, and his constant desire to see his far-off girlfriend.  And just like that, he was gone.

            After Alex moved, things became dull for a while.  I barely saw any of my former group of friends, instead passing the time with others, forgetting about all the good times I had had with them.  I saw Keith and Greg a few times over the summer, but it was too much effort to find a time they weren’t busy.  Joseph came back at some point, but I didn’t really see him much.

            But after the summer, Keith, Greg, and I got back together, and started hanging out again regularly.  One afternoon while I was with Keith, he turned to me.

            “So Joseph and I have stopped hating each other, we decided it was stupid.” He said.

            “Yeah, it was, wasn’t it,” I responded, wondering to myself why it had taken this long for him to realize that.

            “I mean, we both realized we’ve been idiots, and that we shouldn’t fight over stuff like that anymore.”

            “Yeah, I’ve been hanging out with him sometimes; he comes by Berkeley High occasionally.  He’s gotten better.”

            “Yeah.  Remember old times-all that crazy shit we used to do?” He said with a sigh.

            “Wonder if it’ll ever be like that again.”

            “Maybe someday... you never know.”