"Oh man, I'm so bored!" Shouted Reese as he slammed the tv remote down on the coffee table and got up from the couch. "Mom and dad are gone the whole weekend for their anniversary, Dewey's with grandma, Francis is finally home, and we still can't think of anything to do!"
"Chill out, Reese." said Malcolm. "It's only Friday, they've been gone for like an hour."
Reesed groaned. "Come on, Francis. You must have some ideas." He sat back down on the couch next to his brothers. Him and Reese looked at Francis for an answer to their problem.
"Well...I do have one." Francis smirked and looked off into the distance.
Malcolm's eyes lit up with excitement, "What is it?"
"Ooh, are we gonna build another giant slingshot? I want revenge on the Krelboynes." Reese revealed a maniacal smile and laughed to himself.
"No, nothing like that. But I don't know. I'm not sure if you guys are old enough." Francis said.
"Of course we are! I got my first chest hair last week!" Argued Reese.
Francis laughed at his brother's innocence. "Well, I guess I was your age when I started."
He began to walk towards the garage, the two boys followed him, swelling up with excitement. As soon as they entered the garage, Francis began rummaging through old boxes. The garage was full of junk. Malcolm inspected what appeared to be some kind of radio equipment.
"Just tell us what it is, Francis!" Reese was growing impatient.
"Hold on, I'm looking for it. I hid it really well before I left."
Francis pushed aside several large boxes to reveal a dusty old coffee can. The can had been secured shut with what appeared to be almost an entire roll of masking tape. He smiled to himself, "Oh man, it's been awhile."
Malcolm and Reese squatted next to Francis. They looked over his shoulder as he held up the coffee can and admired it.
"You guys ever smoke pot before?" Francis did not wait for a response as he began to exit the garage. Reese followed him with excitement, but Malcolm was not so impressed.
"Are you fucking serious, Francis? We can't get high."
"Shut up, Malcolm!" Snapped Reese.
"Hold on, I got this," said Francis, motioning to Reese. "Listen, Malcolm, it's just a little bud. It's not a big deal."
"Do you have any idea what mom would do to us if she found out we did drugs? She'd kill us!"
"But we're not gonna get caught. They're gone for the whole weekend. And the smell will be gone within an hour. Besides, if we do get caught mom and dad will blame it all on me. It's my weed."
Malcolm rolled his eyes and sighed. He had always been taught that drugs were bad, but marijuana didn't seem too harmful, and Malcolm had trouble saying no to his older brother. "Fine, whatever. But there better not be any other drugs in there."
Francis smiled and pat Malcolm on the shoulder. "There we go, sport." Malcolm gave Francis a half-hearted smile and followed him into the house.
The Wilkerson house was as messy as usual; unwashed dishes and utensils sat forgotten on various surfaces while the carpet was covered in stains and crumbs to the point where one might think it was just the design. However Malcolm, Reese, and Francis felt comfortable in the chaos.
The three rebellious brothers sat down on their living room couch. Francis pulled a black military knife out of his sweatpants pocket. He cut the tape from the coffee can and lifted the lid to reveal a half ounce of bud in a ziploc bag as well as a small metal pipe and a pack of joint papers.
"Sweet!" Exclaimed Reese.
"Wow, Francis. How did you keep this in the house without anyone finding it?" Asked Malcolm curiously.
"Well the house always being a mess doesn't hurt." Francis began to pack the pipe with weed as he spoke, "Hey would one of you go get a lighter and some candles?"
Reese and Malcolm both quickly turned to stare one another down. Even the smallest inconvenience, like getting off the couch, turned the boys into rivals. They stared at each other for a few moments until Malcolm spoke, "Fine. I'll do it." He groaned as he stood up and went to search for what Francis wanted.
"Man I can't believe you didn't hook us up before." said Reese
"Sorry kiddo," Began Francis as he finished packing the bowl. "But you know how crazy things have gotten since I moved out. I never had a chance."
"It's whatever, at least we get to do it now." Reese normally wasn't so positive, but on this day he was feeling good. His parents were gone for the whole weekend, and he got to hangout with Francis. He hadn't had much bonding time with his brother since military school and it was weird not having him around.
Malcolm entered the living room with a white lighter in one hand and two candles he had taken from his parents' room in the other. He put the candles down on the coffee table and handed the lighter to Francis.
"Alright boys, let me show you how to do this." Said Francis with a sense of ascendency. "I've got the bowl packed, now i'm gonna light it while I inhale. Once I have enough smoke, I'll hold it in for 7 seconds and then exhale."
"Sounds easy enough." said Malcolm. Reese was silent as he watched with fascination.
Francis wrapped his lips around the metal pipe and inhaled deeply while he lit the weed. Malcolm and Reese watched Francis with admiration as he exhaled a large cloud of smoke.
"It smells like that dead skunk we made Dewey lick." said Reese, causing his brothers to laugh.
"Alright who's next?" asked Francis.
Malcolm and Reese looked at each other. Malcolm was still nervous. Reese and Francis had gotten caught smoking cigarettes before, but Malcolm had no experience smoking at all.
"I'll go." said Reese. Francis handed him the pipe and lighter. He put the phallic device up to his lips and started to inhale. Reese was known for having a high pain tolerance, and even as his lungs burned on his first hit, he kept inhaling deeper and deeper.
Francis' eyes widened as he watched Reese smoke. He was proud of his brother, and amused by his eagerness. After several seconds of holding it in, he began to exhale. Reese had taken a very large hit, and an immense cloud spread across the living room. He was coughing profusely and his eyes began to water.
"Nice, you're a natural." Joked Francis.
Still coughing, Reese spoke,"Thanks, Francis. That hurt like Hell though."
Reese's reaction did not make Malcolm feel any more calm about his situation. His hands were sweaty and he could feel himself begin to shake. But Malcolm could not let his brothers know about his anxiety, so when Reese handed him the pipe, he accepted it without hesitation.
Malcolm attempted to follow the same motions as his brothers. He lit the bowl as steadily as he could and inhaled slowly. The smoke was harsh and felt unnatural in his body. He almost immediately coughed it out.
Reese, already beginning to come up, laughed at his brother's failure. Francis chuckled as well, but he was still sober.
Malcolm became frustrated. He was not used to his brother's being better at something than him, especially Reese. It was time to prove them wrong. Malcolm took a deep breath and tried again. He did just as Francis showed him. Malcolm ignored the burn of the smoke as it entered his lungs and took a hit of the pipe.
Francis, Malcolm and Reese passed the pipe around a few more times. Reese got high very quickly. He relaxed onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling. There appeared to be patterns etched into it. Beautiful patterns of orange that spread out from the darkest point.
Francis noticed Reese's interest in the ceiling. "What are you looking at, Reese?"
"The patterns...it's like art. Who painted that?"
Francis laughed, "Reese….that's an orange soda stain."
"Oh…." said Reese, looking confused.
Malcolm exhaled his 7th hit. "What the hell Francis? I'm totally not high."
"I don't know, man. You've smoked a lot. Just chill out for awhile and we'll see what happens." Francis turned on the TV.