Adulthood

It was another Friday and Tac felt especially great. "I wanna go out tonight!" Tac told to himself with a confused look, "I have absolutely no money!" He burped and proceeded to impatiently call up his mom Rory to ask her for fifty bucks, while shaking from his energy drink.

"Mom, can you spare fifty until payday?"

She was able to send it. Tac shouted, "Yeeeahhhsss!" but his dad Randy was not so happy. He called Tac and gave him the MoneyGram code, attached to a little advice.

"Tac, get an extra job. Our bills are nothing compared to yours, so please understand this." This didn't stop Tac from staying excited that day. Tac and his posse headed off to Genie's Pub downtown near the wharf. They went in, and proceeded to ask for a round from a waitress in a pink swim top. His friends bought him a round. Tac didn't have to pay.

"Woohoo!" Tac thought to himself, "I seriously ain't buyin' it, though. What is it? Gas money? Gas station food? Is that what I do?" His friends silently nod at him with a raised brow in his adult life training scenario. Then it clicked. "They were raised by their fathers more! This man thing is where it's at with them," slightly palming his face. Tac told himself, "man stuff," and then wondered why he sucked at this. "Everything and nothing equates to my worth in their eyes probably," Tac continued, "but, that's gourmet."

Tac arrived at home, and without washing up, he got comfortable in his garage setup. He pressed the garage door opener to close the door and turned on his mini heater.

"What a great night," he mumbled in relative drunkenness. In the back of his mind, like a phantom tumor, the emergent visual gunk and denial settle in his presence on that weekend midnight.

"But, I love the world!" Tac thought with a mature face, "and love is everywhere, and I am a part."

Tac was now twenty four, living in an old, wooden beach side condo, two miles from the wharf. He loved life, but everything was so much more complicated than how it used to be. Bills, working as a low waged hardware store clerk, and keeping up with social life. It's wasn't the same.

Growing up, Tac spent so much time looking around for fun and ways to make him cooler, and almost no time on making himself the best he could be. This was the reason for Tac's mishaps and intensity. When he took the plunge to become a better person, along with a few of his friends, there was no turning back.

Tac wasn't totally unaware of what it was to be a good citizen, as his mom and dad were big helpers of the homeless, and filled substitute teacher roles and parent led activities, and always made sure their kids were ok. This was taken for granted until his late teens. He joined bad kids, drank and smoked weed, and got into fights every so often. Also, he knew how to fight, as his mom and dad enrolled him in Boxing and Karate at the local Boys & Girls Club when he was ten. Tac won several semi-pro youth fights, too, but this tough boy orientation was used for many detrimental activities, such as pursuing fun, drinking with the gang, and getting into trouble with his best friend Travis. All of this before he hit eighteen.

Around this time, Tac discovered the Law of Attraction. He became a more positive and less disturbed person. He learned about the local marina and fisheries sciences, engendered a love for people, spent much time working with local fisherman and boat mechanics, and boat owners, too. With this newfound knowledge and positive thinking, he made a name for himself near the harbor as a peaceful kid. He stayed nearby the harbor all his life.

All Tac knew was that he wanted something bigger. Tac tended to sum up the ways of the world. Often, also, Tac told the story best.

Tac's friend rattled him from his gaze toward the ocean as he sipped on his iced coffee.

"Lorraine, why is it that people don't just swim all the time? I think the world would be better if people swam more often," Tac elaborated after watching a bunch of kids swimming and playing.

"I don't know. I guess there is too much to do. Plus, swimming is sort of dirty. That's how I feel when I go to the beach," Lorraine explained.

"So does that mean you think I'm a stink?" Tac asked.

That is certainly what I'm saying, you stink head," Lorraine joked. "Yes Tac, I know what you mean. Then again, you like the ocean, and people like me, we like the mall!"

Tac replied in a cute way, "yeah to buy bathing suits to never wear ever!"

The next day, Tac looked down at the floor, groggy because his body needed water.

Tac only ate Fig Newton last night and had a few sips of Sprite since then. "What it is to be human," Tac thought as he walked outside. "7-11 is there, sort of bright and awesome looking in the morning." Tac walked in, but was confused at all the selections. He didn't have the greatest idea of what he should be putting in his body. He was still too young for that "gourmet" ethic.

He heard, "I want these," from a kid in the corner. Tac looked and thought, "Ooh, I sort of want that, too!" staring at M&M's. Tac went to work on a 7-11 egg muffin and worked a five hour shift.

Before getting off, a customer carted in a large package, complaining about a greenhouse she bought the other day. The lady went, "I paid $495 online and I thought it was glass. Instead, it came with a plastic mess!"

"The glass version is $995 and it says it on the website." Tac opened up the web browser for the store, www.BrookHarborHardware.com, and showed her the options on the order form.

The lady sighed, "Oh my, I didn't know that! Well, I really wanted the glass one. Can you just put the difference on the card?" and handed Tac her Mastercard. Tac finished up, and told the woman that the package would be dropped off by tomorrow. Tac leaned on the hardware table in a "happy to help" kind of way, and said to her," I'd want the glass one, too!"

Tac began thinking of his future before clocking out as he had class after work. Tac thought to himself, "Once I finish, no more hardware store or glass versus plastic! I'll be outta here!"

Pineridge Community College was just a short drive away; half a mile from his work. He arrives and finds a place to smoke a cigarette.

"Got a light," Tac is asked by a student. They stood near eachother until they both realize that Brook Harbor was just too busy for chit chat. They wandered away from eachother, and like flamingos, stared at the traffic.

Tac remembered, "Yesterday! I was to sign up for the library. There's just too much campus!" There were many students at the community college. Many people, but Hobbesian contracts kept everyone perfectly distant in academic harmony. A wonderful feeling could be felt in the air.

What to eat today was a chore for Tac. "Red meats are bad," he thought. His friend Jordan was hovering around their next class and offered him a pizza. A cheese and sausage one.

"If there is no red meat, I'll take it," Tac said.

His friend Jordan replied, "but you need meat. Unless you're one of those health buffs!"

He staggered a bit and replied, "You bet your ass I'm one of those!" However, in his proceeding silence, he sighed at his nutritional imbalances. "Peace is what I want! Food is whatever. It is a good day I seek," Tac hinted to himself. His friend knew this about him. Jordan replied with his distant look, "Well then take out the meat." Tac proceeded to pry the meat and eagerly consumed the pizza like a hungry animal.

Jordan left with a trail of thought about people like Tac. "Tac stays positive and reminds himself, 'even though our day is shallow and spiteful and our minds are preoccupied, there is a real humanity in the background.' Tac's problem is his diet! Too picky if you ask me. He is just too much his own character to make too large of changes in too short a time."

It was another day for Tac, and work and school kept him busy. Tac wanted more for himself. He worked as hard as he could, but he always felt the world was moving too fast for him. He would say this in a myriad of ways.