Aidan... Paro?
Aidan... Mark??
Aidan...Petey???
[wrong again...]How the fuck did you get here?
* * *
I sit back & I watch & I watch & I watch... I'm happy for Paro. He's the Universe champion. I'm happy for Paro. He's on top of the mountain now. I'm happy for Paro. He's the man. I'm happy for Paro?
* * *
I ain't felt this good since I don't know when
And I might not feel this good again
it's friday night, beautiful weather
lets all get drunk together
- Afroman
* * *
*I feel good. Real good. I feel like I haven't felt in awhile. Since... since I was the man. Since I was the one holding that Universe title that Paroxysm now wears so proudly. It's his time, not mine. He treats her so much belter than I did. Oh, shore, I put some really nice stickers on there. Nice slickers. Beautiful stickers. Ca$h crab stickers. Letting the world know that was my title. Emphasis on was. And I had my chance to win her back, but Balakay was a bit too much for me. But not for Him... not for Him.*
* * *
"Adam, you want to talk about what you've done, about where you've been. Well, that's nice, isn't it? Lemme tell you where I've been," l shield my eyes and lookup, all he way up, and point, "I've been up here, at the top. And I held that title. And I carefully put stickers on that title. Stickers! What stickers do you have? Huh? I got Ca$h Crab stickers," I toss a Ca$h Crab sticker into the air," I got MaddCa$h stickers," I tossa MaddCa$h sticker," I got ParoCa$h stickers AND Ca$hysm stickers because I'm not sure which one sounds better,' I toss both stickers in the air. "I've got more stickers, but I'm not ready to show them off To the world just yet."
"And you. You have 'the Fall of Adam! Now tell me Adam, now that the spring of Adam has passed, it's back there, way in the distance, & now that we've just cleared the summer of Adam, do you expect this to be a long fall or a brief fall? A mild fall or a bitter fall? Well let ol' Aidan play weather man for you.
"You see, we're coming off an El Nino, which means things are going to be a bit warmer than usual, but that is all about to come to an end. Yeah, E N D, end. And when it does end, things will be fierce, the winds will pick up, the storm clouds will swirl - just like a soft serve ice cream machine - but these clouds won't be a delicious treat, Oh no! No, they'll be providing the end of Adam. And while I may or may not, but possibly might because you never know with ol' Aidan Ca$h, I might be the shepherd guiding Mr. El Nino out of town, and regardless of whether or not I'll be wearing my shepherds outfit at Injection, I will certainly be initiating the start of the Winter of Adam."
* * *
* He walks around so proud, holding on to His universe Title. He's all smiles everywhere we go. Every city, every town, every rest stop trucks top, backstop, pit stop, shortstop, stop stop, all of them stops he's all smiles. Till that one where we run into Her. And He's frozen. Why is she here, He wonders. Why know, He ponders. His smile fades before returning, same but different. His smile isn't really his smile now. It's a smile that he saw somewhere or heard of from someone else, but it shore ain't His smile that He's smiling now. He walks over to Her to say hi. I can tell that she knows it's not His real smile, but she doesn't let Him know. And I don't either.*
* * *
I sit back with this pack of zigzags and this bag of this weed it gives me the shit needed to be the most meanest wrestler on this earth... Well, maybe not the meanest. No, definitely not the meanest. The most creative? No, forget I ever said that - delete delete delete!
* * *
"Aidan... Aidan... AIDAN!"
"Fuck... what - what day is it?"
"September."
"shit."
"I know. It's time for us to ditch the desert," Paroxysm exclaimed.
"Man, I was just gettin comfy here, Eazy Peazy!"
"Don't give me that bullshit - you used my comfort zone against me to justify selling all my things and moving us out where, without even consulting me."
"Ah yes, it's one of life's great ironies that our own biggest issues are the faults we most easily identify in others," I said as I leaned back in my folding cat chair and stretched my arms behind my head. Paro quickly came and tipped me and my chair over.
"Ouch! What was that for?"
"That was because you aren't doing shit & we gots ta be outta this desert in 36 hours."
"Ahh that's plenty of time for Ol' Aidan Ca$h!" I said as I grabbed the pint of Jameson that was in my pocket and I take
a big dumb swig. I put the Jameson away and slowly get to my feet.
"No, it ain't," Mark chimed in.
"Jesus man, where did you come from?!"
"Over by my yurt, I was finishing up packing, just like you need to."
"Look- the way I see it, I packed all of Paro's staff for our trip out here, it's only fair that he packs all my stuff for this mode," I no sooner finish saying that before Paroxysm has charged me & starts pummeling me with lefts & rights. I try
to defend myself but instead I reach for the Jameson. I manage to unscrew the top & shove it in his face, pacifying Paroxysm with the peaceful power of whisky. I manage to wiggle free, get back to my feet, & dust myself off, again.
"Thanks for the help, mark," I say sarcastically.
"Anytime AC."
I stare in disbelief as Paro chugs the remainder of the pint of Jameson - my Jameson - which was half full when I handed it to him.
"Scoff!" sez I.
"Aidan, that's still not how that works," Paro replies as he tosses the empty pint off to the side.
I turn to mark & see that I'm going to get no sympathy from him. Undeterred, I reach into my other pocket, pull out another pint of Jameson, pull the top, & pull a nip for myself. And by nip, I mean l chug.
"Look, Aidan," Mark begins in his 'hey let's all be reasonable adults, even thought it's clear we aren't reasonable adults' voice, "the sooner we get done packing up here, the sooner we can do ALL the drugs."
"Well fuck my stars, why didn't you just say that in the first place?" I toss the pint to Mark, light up a cigarette, & start busting ass getting all this shit packed up.
* * *