Nostalgia (Peter)

“We as a people can go an entire lifetime without knowing our own destinies….” -Bad_Karma

“Dear god boy. I feel bad for you.” I looked up to see Billie analyzing me. Her head was resting into one of her hands, while the other was wrapped around her cup. Her eyes were now marbled. She could barely keep her eyes open. “You tired?” I chuckled. She rolled her eyes and proceeded to lift her cup. I watched as she knocked back what was left or what she thought was left. She eyed the cup as she gave it a little twirl to confirm that it was empty, and then groaned in despair as her fears were realized. “iM OuT oF HabiScUS TeA,” she croaked as she slumped over the tabled. I laughed.

“Go get another one if it was that goo-,” Billie cut me off by throwing her hand in my face. “gO GeT AnoTHeR OnE If iT wAs tHaT GooOOOD!” she mocked. I was laughing again; however, this time I was gripping my sides. Dear god, here it comes. “I wish you would have the balls to finish that sentence! Listen here-,” she snatched up the empty cup and starts shaking in violently, “Ill. Be. DAMNED…. if I sit here and throw my fuckin’ life away paying for this shit. Did you see how much this shit was?” I watched as she slammed her cup down quietly and points to menu hanging in the middle of the store. “$7.99 for a small cup of this Extraterrestrial ass tea. ITSNOTEVENTHATGOOD!!!” Billie was now leaning across the table with her debit card in her hand. “If I didn’t know these people I woulda lost my damn mind. Swiping my damn card to pay for this tea was probably the hardest things I’ve ever done and I’ve went thru military boot camp.” At this point I was screaming with laughter. My sides tender and my cheeks strained from exhaustion.

“Oh shit,” I choked as I tried to contain my laughing. My back sensed the pressure of being stared at as some of the other customers eyed us. I ignored them. “Now that I think about it,” I thought aloud, “When do you go back?” Billie was in the Navy and right now she was on Block Leave. Block Leave was usually only give during the Holidays or before and after deployment. It was still dead in the middle of Fall, meaning that she was about to be deployed. To where, I had no idea, nor did I want to. As long as she came back, that’s all that mattered.

Billie brushed her hair out of her eyes and looked at her cup. “Thursday of next week,” she muttered as she danced her finger across the dome of her cup. She was nervous. I could tell easily just by how zoned out she was. She was deep in thought. I looked down at my cup. I scratch my head as I finger the lip of my half empty cup. “She’s really going to be gone for a while huh,” I thought. As I pondered that thought, I took into consideration how glued I was to Billie[l1] . “Now that I think about it, I really can’t accomplish shit with out you around,” I thought aloud. She looked at me and smirked. It was true. I was 17. Billie was 4 years older than me and she was basically the older sister I never had. When she went to boot camp for those 8 weeks, I think I damn near lost my mind. I was a walking natural disaster waiting to happen. Hell, I think everything I did in between that time frame I fucked up in some way, form, or fashion. Goes to show how much I needed her around. “Now your going to be gone for even longer.” I thought to myself. I pick up my cup and down the rest of my drink. It was a sweet tea with a butt load of sugar. I slammed my cup down gently as Billie stared at me. “Well,” I started, “Let’s make it the most memorable week of your life before you go.” She smiled and got up from her seat. She grabbed her empty cup and pushed her seat into the table. “Yeah well,” her eyes wandered around the room and then back at me, “let me get some shut eye first, yeah?”

She walked towards a nearby trash can and discarded her scraps into the bin. I got up and did the exact same, and then followed her up into the kitchen of the shop. The beautiful aroma of kitchen nearly overwhelmed my nostrils as we were greeted by the smell of freshly baked smoked hickory ham. “Dear god,” I thought aloud, “I think I’m drooling.” Billie looked at me and sucked the air from between her lips. “Shut the hell up,” she rolled her eyes and continued walking. We make our way outside were the smells only intensified. I could literally taste the air as the we got closer to the source. We rounded a corner as we entered a large, vented room. The room was, indeed, a smoke house and the source of the aroma that left both of us nearly speechless. We went through the door and we immediately greeted by a plethora of scents and aromas. Ham. Turkey. Sausage. “Brisket?” we both said in unison. At this moment, I could tell both of us were salivating at this point. “Sadly, that’s not done.” The deep voice of a man could be heard from behind us. We both glanced at each other and turned around and were greeted by Brandon. Brandon was a large man with grey hair and green eyes. He was well built for his age. His arms were sleeveless, so all of his muscles were laid to bare. He was, indeed, sculpted like a rock. He was wearing a greasy plain white t-shirt, camo cargo pants, combat boots, and a large black leather apron. In his hands, he carried something wrapped in aluminum foil. “Whatcha got there?” I asked. He looked at the foil and back at us. “Oh these? These are them ribs yall like. I saw that Billie was back in town and thought I might fix you two some.” I looked and watched in real time as Billie’s face slowly lit up. “Sorry kiddo,” he scratched his head, “I haven’t started on them yet.”

“Aww. Bummer,” Billie said slightly disappointed. “Its cool. We appreciate the thought, though,” I chimed in. Brandon shuffled in his place. “Yeah, well I meant to cook’em this mornin’, but I got sidetracked. They should be done later on this night. They’ll be in the icebox when you two get back from your little festival.”

“Thank you!!” we both said is unison. I haven’t had ribs from here in a minute. Just thinking about them flooded my mouth with saliva. I gulped down the moisture and rubbed my arm. Brandon rarely made ribs, but when he did, I could swear they were the best in the area. They were hickory smoked, seasoned just right, and slightly spicy with a hint of sweetness just the way we liked them. Brandon walked past us and into the smokehouse. We watched as he placed the ribs on a rack and turn toward us. “I forgot. Did you two come out here for something?” he asked curiously. “Oh,” Billie jumped as she snapped her fingers, “I was wondering if I could borrow the guest room upstairs. I’m a little too tired to drive home and I don’t trust dumbass here to drive me home in my car.” Brandon laughed and took out one of his keys from apron. “Of course. Anything for you two. Stay as long as you like.” He said. “Yesss!” Billie shouted as she pranced up to Brandon and grabbed the key. “Thanks again!” We both said. He simple waved us off and closed the door to the smokehouse. We made our way back into the kitchen and up the stairs. “For someone so tired, she’s moving hella fast,” I thought to myself. We made it all the way upstairs and we were met by a long corridor. We knew which room the guest room was. The door on the left and the only room on that side of the restaurant was the guest room. Billie sped walked the door and unlocked it. Slowly, she opened the door. A sense of nostalgia swept over both of us as we observed the room. “Dear god,” Billie whispered as we peered into the room, “I haven’t been in here in years.” The room was exactly as we had left it as kids. It was a beautiful mess. The room was large, almost as large as the small dining area downstairs. There was a couple of small bookshelves in the back-left corner. There was an office in the middle of the room with a desk lamp and a large globe. A couple of toys were still scattered on the floor. There were drawing all over the wall and all over the desk. The bed was the only thing that seemed touched. The bed lay next to a window that beamed the afternoon sun in the façade of the dark room. The bed was made. It had a dark blue comforter with white pillows and sheets.

I watched as Billie dashed towards the bed and flopped onto it. I trailed behind her and sat on the edge of the bed, resting my head on the near the window. I watched as Billie nuzzled her head into the pillow. Her red hair laid sporadically on pillow. “This is nice Pete,” she mumbled quietly. I didn’t respond to her. I was too busy looking at the artwork plastered on the walls. They were so ugly, yet so beautiful. “I guess we can chill in here, for a few hours before the “festival” starts,” she mumbled again. All I could do was shake my head. “Wake me up in 4 hours.” She said. Her voice was now a whisper she was almost gone. “Okay.” I whispered. The room went silent. All that was heard, was Billie’s soft breathing. It was rhythmical and entrancing. I studied the room some more. The room that seemed to have never changed. I caught myself staring at one the toys. A purple triceratops. MY purple triceratops. Memories flooded my brain. Good memories. Happy memories. I smiled as nostalgia rocked me to sleep and I was swallowed by a wave of darkness.

[l1]