image by Yuri Rodrigues
“There we go, Berlin” observed Pete. They scanned their tickets and passports and went through to baggage check which was relatively empty, luckily. “Ok we got the gate, this way” instructed Pete. They passed through duty free, shops and eateries and got to their gate in plenty of time. They had about a half hour before boarding call so they looked for a bar. They found one not a hundred yards from their gate. “Yeah a gargle will sort me right out, I’ll get something to eat in Berlin, ya pay too much for shit food in airports anyways” asserted Jonathan. “Yeah that’s a plan. I couldn’t eat this morning because of the flight. I’ll get a couple into me and hopefully go asleep on the plane; I didn’t sleep great last night even after a doob and hot whiskey.” “Really you’re that bad now?” “Yeah it’s been getting worse every time I fly!” They got to the bar Jonathan ordered a pint bottle of Magners, Pete asked what IPAs they had. “Are ya fuckin serious?” was the reply from the barman. “Just give me a double vodka and orange juice then” said Pete. They paid and sat down “What IPAs have ya got? Really we’re in an airport!” said Jonathan mockingly. “What people who appreciate a good beer don’t fly?” retorted Pete. “It’s an airport ya get bog standard stuff at exorbitant prices all hours of the day, it is what it is. I thought you just wanted to get a gargle in to ya anyway?” “I know but it’s just the little things ya know. First world problems!” said Pete jokingly. “Ha yeah I know. Well cheers” and as he poured his bottle in to his glass he continued “to forgetting the little things and the so called big things and leaving this fuckin’ planet for a couple of days!” “Sweet” agreed Pete as they clinked their glasses in toast and drank.
As Jonathan felt the effervescence of his cider followed by the faint taste of apples quenching his thirst and settling the vibrations in his head he felt a wanton desire to go back to the point of abyss. To go to the cliff of society and stick his fingers up at them and blow smoke in their faces for how wrong they were living and how they had no right to make him feel guilty even though they still did. Then he thought about his toast and when he got to the abyss they wouldn’t matter for he wouldn’t be able to recognise them from such lofty heights! They put they’re glasses down. Pete had finished his entirely, Jonathan’s glass was half empty. “That hit the spot” said Pete. “Too right! We’ll grab another one in a sec yeah?” “Hundred per cent!” “Where did your fear of flying come from? I thought you were mad to go to Asia and living in Europe and flying back home and shit!” asked Jonathan. “I honestly have no real idea. It was before this flight one time I can’t even remember which one and this fear came over me. I don’t even know what the fear is exactly, maybe it’s the fact I’m in a metal tube flying through the air but I don’t even think that’s it” answered Pete. This came as a surprise to Jonathan as Pete was usually very reasonable and level headed. He first met Pete in school. They became friends through mutual school buddies. Then in their last years of school they had classes together and surprisingly they became close friends but at a distance; it was almost as if they didn’t have the common sense to realise that they could be friends outside of school. They didn’t even have each other’s phone numbers! But the distances between their houses and adolescent social cliques concussed those thoughts even before they had a chance to form. The next time they met was strange as they hadn’t seen or even been in touch with each other for a couple of years but it was as if they had just seen each other earlier that day. They were in the same pub with different sets of friends (friends which neither is close with any more) and only noticed each other after a considerable amount of time had passed, Pete shouted over to Jonathan as he came back from the toilet. They hugged but that was the only indicator that showed they hadn’t seen each other in a while. There were no awkward pauses or contrived sentences uttered only of politeness. Their conversation flowed about what they’d been up to, their same sense of humour prevailing and they’re elation to share and get each other views on things. That meeting was all too brief but they did get each phone numbers and said they’d text soon. Pete had also moved in to a house five minutes from Jonathan. Then they went back to their friends, Jonathan irrepressibly happy for his world had opened up again and seemed as big and wondrous as it did before adulthood had slowly began to suffocate him. They started to meet up. At first just to smoke a j and shoot the shit at a street corner then Pete and his house mates threw a party, Holly and Jonathan attended, had a fantastic time but Holly left her car keys there so the next day after Jonathan dropped her to work then he popped back to Pete’s to get the keys which were put in a lost and found amazingly, then they hung out, had a few of the remaining beers from the night before, smoked a couple of j’s which sorted both their hangovers and talked about music, movies, books, relationships, the future and when it got late and Jonathan had to leave it was too soon. They then began to meet up more regularly. They would chill out in Pete’s house smoke j’s, swap music and books, look up weird and cool shit on the internet, make plans, give out about life, head to gigs, head out with each other’s friends, in fact people would take the piss out of the them because they would say “Pete said this or that is good” or “Jonathan said this or that is cool” far too often. They started to jam; Jonathan wasn’t going to let life get in the way of his guitar anymore. They began to skim board a bit more and also took up surfing and went on regular trips with their friends but their enthusiasm dwindled so Pete and Jonathan had to take it down a notch due to vehicular and monetary issues which annoyed them both because any trips they brought their friends on they swore they had the best time and returned visibly happier and more enthusiastic about life but weren’t too interested to go again for reasons both known and unknown.
So before they noticed it they spent more time with each other and enjoyed each other’s company more so than their friends whose unambitious, stagnant life bored them to frustration. Also unfortunately for Jonathan; Holly fell in to this trap and the time he spent with her became almost like waiting for a train to arrive, a train that would take them on the most exciting journey their love once promised. But it never arrived. She became like the rest; full of rules, dress codes and expectations. When Jonathan realised this he lost interest in her as spending time with her became a chore and without seeing it Pete, promises of stimulating unexpected adventures and football, until that dried up due to injuries over the years, became his primary interests. He tried to take her with him in his new direction but it was too late. This disinterest in Holly led her to the bed of another. Jonathan for the first time was proved right. All people are lazy and horrible.
Pete is supremely intelligent. Gifted with common sense and also intellectually brilliant. Jonathan would often ask his advice, which Pete would always oblige judgement free. Even on subjects which Pete had no experience with because he would still be able to grasp Jonathan’s aspect of the dilemma. For instance when Jonathan was stuck with a problem over what football team to play for; Pete had never played for a football team but Pete thought when Jonathan played for Beggsboro, which he had played for a few years, it was as if he was going through the motions but when he went back to St. Kevin’s under his old manager his enthusiasm for the game was unbounded like it was when he was a teenager. So Jonathan went with back to St. Kevin’s and spent every Tuesday and Thursday and whatever day the weekend game was on in blissful escapism. Jonathan would seek Pete’s advice on a range of issues such as relationships, career, boobs, drugs, travel and numerous other things. Although Pete always advised, he didn’t patronise Jonathan with answers instead they would form discussions leaving Jonathan to form his own conclusions; conclusions he couldn’t seem to reach on his own. These conversations restored Jonathan’s self-worth and self-confidence if only minutely and for the briefest of moments. Jonathan knew Pete didn’t do this on purpose which made his feelings all the more genuine. Jonathan wished they stayed in contact after school because maybe with Pete’s presence he would have had the confidence to attend university and would have found fulfilment and wouldn’t be stuck in his current existential nightmare. All this heaviness and wisdom was only a percentage of Pete. The most fascinating thing about him was there was never a dull moment! An original thought, a unique turn of phrase or a witty observation endless in there supply and remarkable in there hilarity and relevance were churned out effortlessly by him. A quick chat on a dull Wednesday would spark blazed out conversations leading to plans or forming of new ideas that would put life back in to existence!
A quiet pint on a Monday would lead to adventures and strange places both metaphysically and physically. Interesting pubs and clubs that were there all along but had been walked by due to a wrong mood but at that time they were the right places to be in. A comfortable place to roll and smoke doobs washed down with great beer, adventurers from other times and places sharing experiences and joining them on their travels. Consuming of various quantities of alcohol that grew more frequent and stronger in volume as the evening progressed. Conversations that cracked all of life’s mysteries and cured all of society’s ills, if these words could only be tapped in to again when not under the influence of such heavy circumstance. All points made as clearly as being in a room of magic mirrors being flooded with dry ice to the unfortunates that were on a different plain but were as clear as the bluest sky to those in the haze. Girls in New Balance rolling their own cigarettes that were as worthy as pin up as Marilyn Monroe. Sublime and elevating music by bands and DJs that don’t belong to the industries conformities but only to themselves and their art. Boozed and drugged out wanderings and dance moves as they shifted to and through these dens and the labyrinthine, cobblestoned alleys of Dublin like surfers paddling the line-up. After nights that turned to mornings the need for spicy foods to keep it reasonably level for hazy and hallucinogenic cycle’s home.
Adventures that would be worthy of a fresh retelling amongst the right company at the right time. Adventures that would be dipped back in to when a song that was part of the soundtrack of that moment was played. Adventures that would be looked back on with a wistful smile and give hope to dull months with a hope that life could be as thrilling as that again.
