Johnny, leaning forward in his seat, focused on the road ahead. He said, “You’re right, thank goodness it’s not a cross country meet, or a scholastic bowl meet, or anything like that.”
David took a look outside at the corn and soybeans passing by on the sides of the road, illuminated in the headlights. It was cloudy. David didn’t know if the moon was full, new, or anything in between. It didn’t matter to him, either.
Johnny turned the music up on the car radio.
David said, “But if we get lost going to something like that, it’s not something fun we’re missing.”
“We’ll get there eventually,” Johnny said.
“Where’d we go wrong, anyways?”
“I think it was that my 7’s look like 1’s. So you said to get off at exit twenty-seven.”
“I read it how I thought it was read, geez.”
“No, it’s fine. No worries. We’ve turned around already.”
“Seriously? I mean, we’ve missed out on half an hour. That doesn’t bug you?”
Johnny said, “Yeah, it wish we got there on time, but it doesn’t help anything to worry about it.”
“I still feel pretty bad about it,” insisted David.
“Don’t worry about it.”
The tires hummed while rolling on the concrete at sixty-five until Johnny saw the exit sign. The humming faded away as he turned off on exit twenty-one. Johnny asked “Left or right here?”
David looked at the sheet. “It says… to the right. Then the next turn is Elmwood Lane. It’s in about ten miles.”
“Sounds good,” Johnny sighed. “Hey, I’ve got something kinda big to talk about. You know about four weeks ago, when I had that wisdom teeth operation?”
David smirked. “Yeah, you would not shut up about it and your medicine. I doubt anyone could forget that this soon.”
Johnny chuckled. “Well, right about that time, this cat started following me around.”
“Did you name it?” David remarked.
“No, I tried a few, but she liked none of them.”
“Hah, that’s funny that a cat just started following you around.”
“It’s not like she had a choice, I was hallucinating.”
David put his head in his hands and chuckled, but he said, “Sorry, I shouldn’t be laughing.”
“No, go right ahead. I can’t believe it myself sometimes. I start to think, ‘Was I crazy? Did I imagine it all?’ ” Johnny paused. “That’s not the right question; I was crazy and I did imagine it all. Oh, goodness.”
“What happened?” asked David.
“It started the night after they gave me the painkillers. I had been falling asleep while listening to music, and I do that a lot, but my iPod had run out of power and I was just lying there and thinking – it seems so long ago now. I was in that half-asleep stage where I knew where I was, but I didn’t have any logic; I’d link nonsense with nothing and ramble on and on. I remember thinking that Jimi Hendrix should meet up with John Mayer and write an album about Roman mythology.
“But I started thinking about art, and what that’s supposed to be, and then I saw what looked like a cat, but it was blue, and asked her what she thought on my current topic. We talked for, say, about an hour. I enjoyed it a lot, honestly. It was like talking to a good friend who really knew me.”
“Wow. I don’t know what to say. That’s a pretty big deal.”
David looked backwards as they passed a street. “Johnny, did you know you just blew past that stop sign?”
Johnny took a breath. “Shoot, shoot-shoot-shoot, I shouldn’t be explaining this while I’m driving. I can’t do both at the same time.”
“Do you want me to drive? I’ve got my license with me,” David offered.
“I think that might work.”
Johnny looked for a place to pull over and switch drivers, but continued talking.
“After I woke up that morning, I felt pretty sad that she wasn’t there. I realized I was dreaming then, but I still missed that cat. And to my surprise, she was there – a bit fuzzy, I guess, like a melting idea, a bit streaky or blurry when she moved. She followed me to school, and I held doors open for her and stuff. Of course, I was worried to some extent about the fact I was hallucinating, but the cat was so nice and it felt so good to talk to her. I was lost in my head then; I was wandering in my own thoughts. I felt small, like I wasn’t the size of my body, like I really was deeper inside and I only had influence on what I did, not full control. When she talked to me, though, it was like a separate world; it was as if I was in another partition of my mind. Everything else seemed to quiet when she spoke.”
Johnny drove into the parking lot and parked the car. They both got out, then switched sides.
David passed the directions to the party as he quipped, “At least you can read your own handwriting this time.”
Johnny laughed. “We aren’t too far from getting there. I wonder if they’d be worried about us.”
“Come on, really? They’d miss us that much? Yeah, we’ll get there and I’ll get a hug from every single person who showed up because they all thought we died. I don’t even like hugs.”
“I’d enjoy it if that happened. I’ve felt like crap ever since that cat left. I mean, it’s like I met someone I really got along with. I guess that makes sense, considering it probably was entirely a figment of my imagination. But it felt real, and I really missed her when she was gone. I still miss her. I talked to her so much. To have someone who knows you so well… she was my real companion for that short time, she was someone who I shared my darkest secrets with and laughed with, and then she was gone. She was there for three days. Three. Days. That was all.
“Man, I feel like an idiot. I had a crush on a freaking cat. A cat that was a figment of my imagination. Go stick me in the loony bin right now, I’m sure it’s not too far from wherever I happen to be. And why do I go and tell this all to you, it just makes it all worse. What am I doing? What am I doing thinking I could have driven all the way here? Whatever it is, whatever’s happening to me, it’s not healthy.
Johnny closed his eyes, rested his head over the top of the headrest, and tried to take deep breaths.
David turned onto Elmwood Lane. He asked Johnny, “Hey, what’s their address? What should I be looking for?”
Johnny only wiped his eyes and put his head in his hands. He started muttering.
David looked at Johnny and realized he should find out himself. He scanned the sheet of directions for the answer and then returned it to its place.
Johnny’s voice became audible. “…healthy, it’s not healthy, it’s not healthy. Oh, to hell with it all, take me away now. I dream about a pretty kitty and then I whine about it when she disappears. How come I care about this pretty kitty, but I can’t have that same care about my friends. It’s not healthy. It’s an full and total tragedy.”
Johnny interlocked his fingers around his neck and cried.
The cornstalks passed by in the headlights.
“You care about us.”
The car turned into the gravel driveway.
David looked at Johnny. “You care about us.”
He stepped out of the driver’s seat and shut the door with a thuwmp.
Johnny clicked the door open, stepped out and took a deep breath. He caught sight of a shade or a smear of glowing blue not too far off – a reachable distance. David watched Johnny stare off into the bushes for a time.
Johnny turned away and followed David into the house, where he knew his friends would be waiting.
Gender:
Points: 1910
Reviews: 12