Three Days to Glory
rriving from New York, James landed at Gatwick International
Airport in London around 2:45 PM in the middle of the summer.
Awaiting the arrival of his never punctual friend, James decided to stroll around the airport. What he saw reminded him of the U.S., but instead of the usual dollar symbol, he saw a funky looking l-like shape.
�Pounds�, he thought to himself. He remembered that foreign countries had foreign money from his travels to other countries, namely Egypt and Canada.
�How many pounds are in a dollar?�, he thought to himself. �Aw crap! And Simon told me the conversions. God damn it! I should know this.�
Luckily, just then Simon, the non-punctual friend finally showed up. With a whole bunch of people James didn�t know, Simon slowly walked over to James. The first thing James realized was the smell of smoke on Simon.
�Are you still smoking?� James asked Simon.
�Why, are they bad for you?� responded Simon as he put the colorless white cigarette into his mouth.
�I think I told you that about 20 times in sophomore year alone.� James sarcastically responded.
�You always did bitch about that, didn�t you?�
James and Simon had known each other since 7th grade at Pencey, their high school in the states. Ever since seventh grade algebra, James and Simon were good friends in fact�best friends. They were for the most part, inseparable. Sophomore year, they discovered a brave new territory, at least for them. Cigs and beverages as they called them, known to most people as cigarettes and liquor (usually beer, but on occasion, the good stuff). Simon decided to go to college in the UK, and because James had only been there once, the summer after sophomore year, he decided to seek further education in the States. Now that they had graduated, it was time to get �all bient�. Living in Simon�s place in London, they began an eternal quest to sleep all day, and party all night. It was what they had been waiting for since that summer after sophomore year.
�So�how�s it going?� asked James, trying to start one of his usual meaningless conversations.
�Damn, that�s still your opening line for those empty conversations of yours? I can�t be damned to answer that. Ask something different.� said Simon laughing at the repetitive nature of James.
�OK, that failed, how about this? Who played��
�NO, no damn James Bond trivia!� again laughing, this time at the ease with which he could read James� mind to predict what he was going to say. Even though they hadn�t seen each other since summer right before senior year of college (the BIG year), Simon still remembered the Bond phase that James had gone through during sophomore year.
�I wasn�t going to ask about Bond trivia, I was going to see if you �Wankers� see the Farley movies. I didn�t know if you guys had any idea about what a good movie is. Which is namely, anything not British.� snapped James trying again to outwit his mop-headed British chum.
�You do realize, you are in a British airport, surrounded by a bunch of British people who are still pissed about that revolution you guys pulled.�
�Are you threatening me?� asked James in his best Beavis voice.
�Can we go? I�m tired as hell, and I got a bad headache.� said Simon as he was walking out the terminal door lighting another of those B&H cigarettes he always wanted James� older brother Tom to get.
�No, not Marlboro, get Benson & Hedges� James thought. Guess they really didn�t need Tom�s help buying stuff for them anymore.
They walked out to Simon�s car, and when James saw it he said, �What, did you get this piece of junk for free?�
�Actually, yes, I did.� Simon responded matter-of-factly.
�Remember that yard of ale glass we had in Berkeley Heights, well I downed one of those and won this car.�
�Jesus, sounds like an Irish game show, throw in potatoes and you got �The Mick is Right�� responded James, scoffing at his Irish background.
�Just get in the God damned car!� said Simon with a hint of vexation in his voice. �I�m sick of your whining.�
James and Simon drove in one car, followed by Simon�s �posse." The old, beat up, tattered, beige car smelt as if it had been hot boxed every day at least twice. James concluded that the car was hot boxed daily, not just from his sense of smell, but also because there was bong resin on the seats.
�What do you call this waste of resources, hot box on wheels?� asked James.
�What are you talking about?� said Simon, pretending not to know or pay any attention.
�Well other then the smell of hash, the enormous bong water stain and the existence of resin on the dash lead me to believe I am in the world�s ugliest bong.� said James illustrating his point very concisely.
�While I was in here I may have smoked a spleef or two�or three�or ten� said Simon with a laugh.
�BIENT!� yelled James, referring to the old expression severely overused by James and Simon which they had stolen from Tom back while they were at Winston.
�Goff� responded Simon trying to bring back the days of the expressions that meant nothing, but still sounded really cool.
After a drive filled with retrospection and recollection that brought back the friendly edge to the duo, Simon felt it was necessary to break out a spleef, or joint as they�re known to Americans. James lit it up, puffed a bit, and exhaled what he called �weed that�s got to be from America." He could tell it was from the States not only because he considered himself and expert but because he saw an American flag on the bag. The duo arrived at Simon�s apartment after 3:30 PM, only to see that there was nothing to do there. They left the apartment and headed to Hastings to visit the infamous Hastings Pier Rave. The rave was full of hundreds of people, most of who were stoned from the various stimulants and hallucinogens floating around. The music kicking in the background provided a perfect place to start their mission.
�Break out the non-medicinal drugs� demanded James, saying how he was tired and felt like getting �bient�.
The Rave was the soon to be headquarters of this operation, a place where drugs could be done in the open, and if you were seen (a small chance existed that you would) you could easily blend in with the rest of the usual Brits who got wasted at least once a day. James� only problem was that he didn�t have an English accent like his counterpart Simon. Because Simon lived in the UK for four years, he had regained the British accent he was born with.
�This sucks� said James, sick of the crappy British excuse for techno. �Let�s get the hell out of here!�
Simon quickly responded with, �We�re not leaving, and stop whining, I�m frigging sick of it!�
�I�m getting out of here, this blows!� uttered James while turning to leave the Rave. Then he saw the most beautiful blonde he had ever seen in his life. Blond hair, blue eyes, at least 5�9�, and a great body. James quickly turned around and asked Simon if he knew who the girl was.
�Yeah, that�s Liz. She lives across from me, back in London.�
�Jesus Christ, she�s incredible!� James said, trying to be heard over the music that seemed to get louder, but seemed to grow on him. �How old is she?�
�I don�t know, twenty, twenty-one. Why, what does it matter?�
�It doesn�t I just wanted to know.�
Simon could sense the attraction between Liz and his good friend, because when they met eyes, something seemed to change in James� eyes. Something that was in his own eyes once before. The only difference being that Simon�s change was during a period of sophomoric inebriation from his favorite drink, Tequila Slammers (a.k.a. Body Shots). The drink was this: lick (salt on your hand), drink (tequila), suck (a lemon), followed by scream (a brief time to let out any expletives that were necessary to overcome the strongly acidic taste). Presently, James� situation seemed to be different. True, he had smoked a little weed, actually, a lot of weed, and downed half-a-case, but he still was thinking moderately logical. He began to walk over towards Liz, and upon his arrival in her presence, he decided to skip the usual �meaningless� approach and move up to a higher level of conversation. He was going to have a meaning.
�Hey what�s up?� he said, with a trace of fear in his voice.
�Not much. Just hanging out, ya know.�
�Dear God!� James thought to himself, she is American. �There is a God after all.�
�I�m James.�
�Hello James, I�m Liz.�
�So, I�ve heard you live back in London.�
�Yup. I moved here last year.�
The conversation went on for about twenty minutes before Simon decided to join in the conversation.
�Hey what�s up Liz?� he asked, trying to be as polite as possible. �I see you met my good friend James.�
�Oh. So this is the one you�ve been telling me about.� she replied with just a small hint of excitement in her voice. She turned to James and said, �I�ve heard many good things about you...want to go get a drink?�
James, never one to pass up a chance with a woman, or a drink decided it would be in his best interests to escort Liz to the bar. He turned to Simon, and gave a swift nod, unnoticeable to anybody but the pair of friends. After the new couple left for the bar, Simon continued to do whatever drugs he could find, even paying about $13 for a newly constructed, but very nice blunt. Devouring the entire 6 inches of pure hemp into his lungs, Simon decided it was time to begin drinking. Walking up to the bar, he realized that James and Liz were not there, but instead now they were dancing around the world�s largest indoor rave. So, Simon asked the tender to grab him some Tequila, salt, and pieces of lemon.
James and Liz danced around the dance floor for about 30 minutes, and during that time Simon had half as many Slammers. When James saw his severely wasted friend he decided, with regret, that it was time to leave. He asked Liz if they could get a ride home, because most of Simon�s friends had already left (probably due to the fact that it was around 5 in the morning). She agreed, and the trio piled into her car, which was about 10 steps up from Simon�s car. For every thousand Simon�s car was worth, Liz�s was at least 5. The three hour drive gave Simon enough time to catch up on some sleep that he desperately needed, and gave Liz and James some time to talk. They talked about school in America, life in America, and just life in general. James had definitely found the person with whom he connected. Not only was he a stranger in a semi-strange land, but now he had found someone that made him seem not so strange. The rapid change in the tempo of the night seemed to effect James more than the jet-lag. Probably because he had found an American in London. Rare, like himself, but better to talk with because you could understand what they were saying. After the grueling four hour drive back from Hastings, they arrived on Church Lane and proceeded into Simon�s apartment. James carried Simon in, who had about 10 drinks too many. After James and Simon made it in the apartment, James left Simon to sleep and walked down the five flights of stairs back to the street. There he found Liz waiting for him. She was standing with the key to her apartment which was across the street. Seeing a possible situation developing, James decided to pull the �sophisticated gentleman�s� approach. Usually this approach fails in America, but since it was a new country, he decided to give it a shot. �Well, Simon�s pretty messed up. I think I should see whats going on with him.� Then he paused, the tough part was here. �So I�ll see you later, right?� James was hoping and praying that this was the correct and accurate way to deal with the situation.
�Yes. I am in apartment 4D on the fourth floor. So long for now James� she said as she casually strolled towards her apartment while still looking at James.
After seeing Liz get back into her apartment, he went up into Simon�s place, and swiftly proceeded to fall asleep.
The second day of the adventure in England began like any normal day for two mildly hung-over twenty year olds. Water, Advil and a cigarette. The water for the dehydration, Advil for headache, and the cigarette for the hell of it.
�Pass me one of those faggot cigarettes you smoke Simon� James said with a hint of a �nic-fit� coming over him. �I think it�s about time for one.�
As Simon threw the cigarette over to James he said, �Let�s go eat, I�m hungry.�
After lighting up the suprisingly fresh cigarette, James responded, �You realize I could�ve had a good time last night if it weren�t for your uncontrollable drinking habits. Do you know how much you had to drink? You had more than Liz and I combined, then doubled. That�s about three cases of Coors.�
Getting anxious about eating Simon said, �Listen, if you want whats-her-name, by all means, go right ahead. As for the drinking, just think back to freshman year when you and Cools (James� best friend since nursery school) got pretty wasted and if I remember correctly, I think�oh yeah�you were in fact caught because you were hung over. So, we could talk about this, or we could go get breakfast�well actually, it�s lunch now. Boy meets world, can we go?�
The duo went down the stairs, got to the door, and when they opened it they saw Liz walking across the street over towards their apartment.
�Hey guys, what�s up?� she asked.
�Not much Liz, you?� responded Simon.
�Oh, I was just coming over to see if James wanted to go get something to eat.�
�Well, actually James and I were going to got out, so��
�Join us!� James interjected before Simon could finish his sentence.
�Really?� she asked. �Simon, is that okay with you?�
Simon looked to James, and realized he still owed him a favor from the whole �Susan Hughes� incident at chemistry summer school.
�Yeah, thats fine�� he mumbled.
It seemed to James that Simon was usually the one with the girlfriend while they were back at Winston. But after leaving the States, his magic seemed to vanish. Of all the time he had been in England, he didn�t see Simon once talking to a girl (other than Liz).
�Maybe I�m the Casanova of the two of us now� James thought to himself. �How odd would that be?� James thought back to the middle of sophomore year when he and Simon went down to Cools� house and Simon met Jordan. That was Simon�s heyday. Now it is James� time.
The couple and Simon walked down Church Lane and found the local version of what James believed to be a diner. One of those places where breakfast was served all day except during the morning. The trio sat down in the booth in the way back of the restaurant and immediately a conversation sprung up about movies. Simon, feeling this was a good time to warn Liz said, �Don�t get on the subject of James Bond movies. I guarantee, you�ll regret it.�
Liz somewhat shocked by this statement told James and Simon that she was also a James Bond movie freak. After hearing this, Simon promptly got up and left the restaurant. About five minutes after he left, Liz began to think up questions about James Bond movies, such as, �Who played James Bond in Dr. No�, and other various extremely easy questions. This got on James� nerve to the point where he said, �Liz, I gotta go catch up with Simon. I�ll talk to you later.�
James headed back to Simon�s place, and there he found Simon on the phone with Jordan in America. As it turns out, Jordan was supposed to come out three days after James arrived. But Simon was getting kind of upset, so he called Jordan. Taking an example from his friend, James called up his girlfriend in the States, Susan. The girl he had met in chemistry class, then didn�t talk to for about 3 years until he met up with her when he got to Georgetown. During Susan�s senior year (both Susan and Jordan were a year older then Simon and James), Susan and James had talked about marriage. James was still in school when he decided he had to go to England before he could decide anything. He was hoping it would give him time to think things out about the future, and on the second day of his adventure, he realized what the answer was. After talking to Susan for about twenty minutes, he paused and said, �Susan, I�ve decided about the whole marriage thing�yes. Can you get to England by tomorrow?�
A short, but meaningful pause followed. James had just thrown the rest of his life into two sentences, and he hoped, more than anything in the world, that all would go well.
Susan responded, �Oh James, I�m so sorry, I�ve met someone else. I�m sorry.� And then she hung up the phone.
After hearing these words, James� heart dropped. His entire life was just completely thrown into shambles by that simple answer. He went to where he was sleeping in Simon�s place, laid down, and had a good chat with God. Although Simon didn�t know what had happened, he could instantly tell that something was wrong. He didn�t know that James had called Susan, he didn�t know the bad news, and James wasn�t really up for telling him. James had laid down at noon and finally got up around 11:30. Throughout the entire half-day meditation, not one word was said. Simon had stayed around for most of the time, but at 10:30, he left. Then James stood up, and instantly felt the bottom of his life drop out from underneath him. Twice he had lost the girl of his dreams. He lost his future. He lost his motivation in life.
Simon returned at midnight to see James standing on the outside stairs of his apartment. He was looking directly up at Orion, a constellation he had felt was watching him since freshman year at Winston. When Simon walked over to him, he said, �James, you all right?�.
The only thing that came into James� head was, �Yeah, life goes on.�
It reminded him of a line from an old Sublime song called Santeria: �That love, make it go�my soul will have to wait.�
James realized he was no longer back in the days when �hooking up� was what he was all about. Back in the days when going over to Cools� house meant being with girls. Back in the days when Simon was hooking up as James would watch TV or go out and smoke a butt. Now, a twenty-first century man, he was different. He knew something was absent. He went inside and went to sleep. That night, July 2nd, 2004, was the longest night in his life. Not the day before his eighteenth birthday, or his twenty-first.
Tonight. After seeing something so great go so wrong, he changed forever. He wasn�t sure if it was good or bad. He just knew something happened. The change would stay with him and haunt him for a while before he would be able to adjust to the change. He had relied on Susan for most of his early adult life. Now she was absent from his life permanently. It was time for a new perspective on life. Now, he was single, unchained from his commitments, a new man. A new leaf had turned over, and underneath it was the fruit of 22 years of hard-learned lessons.
This event also led to his decision to return to the States. So, he called the Gatwick International Airport and reserved himself a ticket for the next flight out of England. The �red-eye� flight left at 2:30 AM English time, and landed at 2:30 AM Eastern Standard Time. The new day of James� new life had not yet begun, but it was quickly approaching.
When James arrived at the Newark International Airport, he decided to give Cools a call for two reasons. First, he wanted to see what happened in the two day absence, and second, he needed a ride home. The last 2:30AM call he could remember between the two of them was the time in sophomore year when Cools had to call James to tell him that he and Sally were going out. James thought to himself, �I don�t even remember picking up the phone, but Cools said that I picked it up, and then just hung up.�
Luckily for James, Cools had not yet fallen asleep.
�Cools!� James yelled. �Could you come and pick me up from Newark Airport, I need to get home.�
The normally paranoid Cools responded, �Jesus, was two days too long to be away? All right, I�m on the way.� There was a quick pause, followed by Cools asking �Which terminal?�
�Terminal C5, where else?� James snapped back.
�Be there in about 45 minutes. See ya.�
So this was how his return tour to the States would begin. A forty-five minute wait which would eat away at least half of his cigarettes. While he was waiting, James had a lot of time to think to himself. �So, this is how it is going to be. New life, same country, old habits� he said as he threw the just-lit cigarette to the ground. �You know, I don�t like it much the old way.� Like Morgan Freeman said in the �Shawshank Redemption�: �Get busy living, or get busy dying.�
Cools came about an hour later, due mainly to traffic. James got right into the car, and Cools began the drive back to safe and sound suburbia. On arrival at Cools� house, he saw that it had changed. Namely, Cools was the only one living there. His parents divorced during freshman year, and now, his mother moved in with one of her friends named Paul. Now, the house was all Cools�. They got back to the house at around 4:30 and were asleep by 5:30. During James� sleep he had a dream�more like a premonition. Susan was in it, as were Cools and Simon. The dream started of with Susan apologizing, and then he saw the two of them getting married. Cools and Simon were in their own separate areas of the dream, with Cools being in the white, heavenly section of the dream, and Simon in the red, diabolic section.
James awoke and realized that this meant he was home, where everything would be okay, and hopefully he and Susan would reconcile.
He realized he had taken a journey. Though it was short, it changed him. The English �druggie rave� scene had given him a strong will against the use of any form of drugs. Liz had showed him he could only truly love Susan, and no other woman. The entire event with Susan and the bad news showed him never to rely too heavily upon something, and to not take it for granted. And finally this dream had showed him that this was where he was Home, like the Deep Blue Something song, �where my friends are, even when I�m not�. Later that day, he called Susan and after hours of talking, all was forgiven. As it turns out, the reason for the bad news was that she was drunk and had been flirting with some guy she barely knew. This truly did upset James, but he was happy to have her back. The date for the wedding was set for July 2nd, 2005 in memory of the date that changed his life.
He knew this date, no matter what year, or what else happened in his life, would be the most important, and he intended to mark it somehow. His best man was Cools, and Simon wasn�t invited. The journey had changed him for the better he decided. He was a good person, slightly unusual, but on the whole, he realized, it could only get better.
