Because I have to turn it in, in 17 horas.
Aydar me por favor.
It was Johnny's last day at our high school. He wasn't popular or a jock, just Johnny. I had him in my P.E. class during 4th period. Everyday he would bring me a bottled water and sometimes a note from his mom to excuse us from participating. Mr. Galliger didn't care much, all he ever did was sit by the pool and read Sports Illustrated. This day in particular was different. When Johnny walked to my locker, he wasn't baring a water bottle, or a note of any kind, just a bag of marijuana, rolling papers and a lighter.
"Do you wanna come? It's really strong. My cousin brought it from California. Supposably that's where all the good dope is. That's why there are so many hippies."
A few people from our class were already situated under the bleachers smoking a pack of Marlboro Reds when Johnny and I arrived. When he pulled out the bag of hash the kids around us started searching their pockets for money.
"Don't worry, it's on me."
"Thanks man," said Bernie, the fat kid that was hard to hate.
Johnny took the first hit and passed it clockwise. I wasn't much of a pot person, I stuck with my Camel 99's. Johnny was the first to break the silence.
"You know, this is the exact place where I first got high."
I nodded, slightly uninterested.
"Today is the last day of my life. Nevada is going to be a new life. Nobody will call me Johnny, I won't have brown hair and brown eyes, I won't make bad grades and I won't get high. My mom is sending me to a boarding school. She want's change, I'll give her change. I won't be Johnny anymore and it's all on her hands. Honestly, she has no idea what's in store for her."
I had never heard him be so blunt, I guess that was the drugs talking.
"I wonder what kind of burnout's I'll run into at St. Mary's Reform School. I'll bet they're all worse than me. Here in Florida is where I belong. It's my calling."
Nobody talked, we just soaked in his words.
Eventually the joint came back to Johnny and he kept it. I stared at him inhaling and exhaling. Contently I smiled at him and he smiled back.
"You know Nina, I've always had a lot of respect for you."
"Me?" I said.
"Yes, you. Your not like most girls your age."
"Yeah... because I'm like one of the boys."
"Even so, I'm going to miss you."
I frowned and lit up another cigarette. One of the guys sitting in the circle, Kenji, peeped in the conversation.
"Yeah I agree with Johnny."
"Kenji, we've gone to school together since 1st grade. You've picked on me all through my life until this year. What makes me different now that Johnny has respect for me?"
He was silent. Johnny broke in.
"She's right, Kenji."
And that's all that was said.
Nobody was keeping track of the time, the smoke formed shapes and the words spoken floated through them. On cloud 9 everybody was celebrating the death of Johnny. His character and his soul were among us for the moment but we didn't know how long that could last.
"When I was seven, my dad left my mom. She swears thats why I am who I am. Because I've been deprived of a fatherly figure, whatever that's supposed to mean. I don't know why she thinks St. Mary's is going to help. Even the name is girly. It sounds like it should be an all girls school. Not a place where a bunch of fuck ups go for a last resort. I don't consider myself a fuck up. Not one bit."
Johnny was being honest. He wasn't a fuck up, he really was intelligent. He stood out to me now most of all. To open up to a crowd full of people who have been only acquaintances your whole life is only something Johnny would do.
The more smoked he inhaled the more stories came out.
"Did you guys know that one time I almost died? My cousin and I had been swimming in the ocean by his house during the summer. Right before we had gone in the water, we had dropped some acid. Not good acid. The scary acid you get off the street. When I dove in the mermaids starting seducing me and I believed I had gills. I swam and swam and swam. Deeper and deeper and deeper. Before the sharks could get ahold of me for stealing their mermaid girlfriends I woke up three days later in the hospital with an IV jabbed in my wrist. My mom has never looked at me the same since."
"Johnny, you would never get laid by a mermaid, what were you thinking?" Kenji said.
"I wasn't. All I wanted was her because I knew after that moment I would never see her again, it was almost unbearable. I didn't care about the shark boyfriends or even the fact I didn't have gills but the rest of the world did. I could have stayed there in harmony forever."
His perception of reality was that of a 10 year olds. A mature 10 year old. One who liked to know things about the world and what's beyond it.
The sound of the final bell rang faintly from a football field away. We all said our goodbyes. I walked Johnny to his car, checking to make sure he was okay enough to get himself back home. He embraced me tightly and told me to be true to myself. He then handed me a picture of us in 5th grade.
"God Jon. We were so different, yet so the same."
"I know. I could never forget this town Nina. These people, they're supposed to be my life. We've been stuck together in this town since birth, all of us. We're like a puzzle. We all fit in together to make one big picture. To have my mom ship me off to boarding school is so life threatening. Even the air I breathe will be different."
I took out another cigarette and lit it.
"Yeah because you won't have me around."
He chuckled and nostalgia was in his eyes.
"Goodbye Johnny. I hope your new self doesn't forget about your old self."
"Thank you Nina. Have a nice life."
I watched him drive away. He was the first piece of the puzzle to go missing and nobody could forget that. And when I fell asleep that night I dreamed of being a mermaid.