No More Fences Part 16

The next month went by quick for Pete.  His schoolwork was keeping him busy, and he had been hanging out down the road nearly every day after school and on the weekends.  He still hadn't had any luck finding a job, and Randy was getting really irritated by this.  The only thing keeping Pete safe, was the fact that his grades had made a dramatic improvement from his grades back home.  He was lucky to make a D in a class at his old school, but here he was holding down a steady B average.    Pete was also getting irritated by the fact that he couldn't find a job, because if he couldn't find a job, there was no way he could possibly have the money to enjoy his time there.  There was so much to do, so much that Pete had noticed while walking down the strip, day after day, endlessly searching for some form of employment.

  The first thing Pete noticed was The Slingshot.  It consisted of two large towers, joined together by what reminded Pete of two giant rubber bands, connected to a large spherical rollcage, with two seats, and what seemed like a hundred different safety straps.  Pete laughed to himself as he imagined himself, safe and secure in the seat, as the ball is hurled through the troposphere, when one of the rubber bands unexpectedly breaks.  "Thank god for seatbelts," Pete chuckled to himself, as he walked further down the strip.

  The next place that caught Pete's attention was a novelty shop, The Party Shack, where he could purchase anything from postcards to waterpipes.  There were T-shirts for nearly every band that Pete had grown up listening to.  Great artists, such as The Grateful Dead, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin played in the background, as the sweet smell of patchouli permeated the air.  There was an assortment of seashell necklaces and keychains next to the cash register, partially blocking Pete's view of a display case full of stinkbombs.  One pack of three for a dollar, Pete read the sign to himself, as he fished around in his pocket for some change, hoping he had enough.  Luckily, he had just enough, as he handed the cashier the handful of change, and wandered over to check out the pipes.

  There was a large variety of pipes, from one hitter bats, all the way up to some large hookahs with up to five hoses.  There were tall bongs, or waterpipes, as the sticker on the glass shelf requests you call them, since they are prohibited from selling them for anything other than tobacco use. "Yeah right," Pete laughed as he read the sticker.  There were also shorter waterpipes, even personal, pocketsized bongs, in many different colors and designs.  Pete felt like he was in heaven, especially when he turned and seen the crown jewel of the whole store, staring back at him from the other side of the counter.  It was a WWII style gas mask, attached with a hose to the chamber of a medium sized bong.  He wanted so much to have this, but it would be hard to hide from Randy, even if he did come up with the money to get it. 

  On the way home, he noticed a sign for a club he had seen on MTV, during the spring break festivities.  Club LaVela was right down the road, along with Spinnaker, two of the most popular clubs on the beach, and Pete wanted to check them out, but they were closed, so he decided to try back later, as he continued his walk.  When he got back to the house, he noticed a strange energy in the air.  Randy was sitting in his favorite armchair, holding his head, as if he had been crying.

  "What's going on?" Pete asked Gwen, who was sitting on the back porch, after Randy had failed to answer him the first three times he asked.  "Your Grandma died this afternoon," she told him, trying to break it to him easy.  She had been fighting breast cancer for many years, along with taking care of Pete's grandpa, who had died that summer after fighting his own cancer, so everyone expected her to go soon.  Many nights, when he was growing up, Pete remembered falling asleep in her lap, as they sat up late, eating pizza rolls and nachos, and watching reruns of Bonanza and old John Wayne movies.  She was never far from her cocktail glass, which was always full of scotch and coke.  She was a very stubborn woman, with a very good sense of humor, and Pete felt like he acquired alot of those qualities from her.  "You need to pack some clothes," Gwen continued, "We are leaving tomorrow for Indiana, her funeral is Tuesday, and we're coming back Sunday, so pack enough for a week," she instructed, as Pete escaped to his room, wishing to be left alone to cope with the news, which had just rocked his brain.  All of a sudden, there was a knock on his door, as Gwen opened it, handing the phone inside.  Pete listened, as a voice that he didn't recognize, spoke into the other end of the phone line.  "Are you still looking for a job?" The voice asked Pete, as he struggled to regain his composure.  He assured him that he did indeed want the job, but would have to wait until he got back from Indiana.  The voice had no problem with this, and asked Pete to call him, as soon as he made it back into town.