pThe next night that Pickles had off of his shitty job, he came home early again. He found himself wanting to hang out with Donny more. Donny, who had introduced him to such good music. Donny, who was going to teach him to play guitar. Donny, who had taken him in when he had nowhere to go and turned his life around. He wanted to learn everything./p
pDonny wasn't there when he got back to the apartment, though, so Pickles sat down with a drink and fumbled around on Donny's guitar for a little while. When Donny did wander in, he had a couple of friends with him, and they all seemed to be high on something. It wasn't pot. Pickles knew what kind of high pot gave you./p
p"What did you guys take?" Pickles asked them casually after they'd been in for a few minutes. Donny knew he was cool with using and all, so there wasn't any reason to hide anything, right?/p
p"Why, kid? You wanna get fucked up?" Donny' friend asked, laughing at him./p
pFor some reason, that jackass' tone made him prickle up. "Yeah, I do," Pickles told him challengingly. This asshole better not treat him like a kid! He was a grown man, living on his own and everything!/p
p"You've been drinking, Pickles. Can't let you have what we're having today," Donny told him. Maybe Pickles was imagining it, but Donny's tone seemed almost... gentle?/p
pWas he... looking out for Pickles, or something?/p
pNobody had ever done that, so Pickles didn't really understand./p
p /p
pDonny and his friends left again shortly after that, and when Donny came back, he was alone, and Pickles was wasted./p
p"Why do you drink so much?" Donny asked him, once he had plopped down on the couch next to him./p
p"Being sober sucks," was the only explanation Pickles could offer./p