Valley of Fire

I'm on my 6th bottle of merlot and fifth shot of prescribed cough syrup with plenty of room for more. Given the events of the past weekend my tolerance has been beyond build up. As much as I would relish in erasing the memories of the last few days I couldn't just yet. I needed to write it all down and have it documented while it is still fresh in my mind and while I'm only slightly intoxicated to the point of taking these events lightly.I know once the narcotic and alcoholic euphoria wear off; shame, embarrassment and regret will make themselves right at home. Once I am sober and aware it will be a completely different story. By that point I may lose my nerve and all of this would have definitely have been for nothing. Should anyone but me actually read this tale of fantastic reality it will surely be catalogued as either ludicrous fiction, a very long naughty limerick, or a case study of my psycho-social-sociopathic behavior. The preceding story is an account of my past 48 hours in Las Vegas. It was a cousins trip, a way for us to reconnect after a long quarantine bound year. The plan was simple; gamble, drink and have a great time. What on earth was I thinking?

The start of the new year was looking extremely promising. I had somehow managed to secure a position as a freelance writer at LMM.Inc Network to supplement my income and start inching my way out of debt. The assignment was an audition of sorts, a dozen or so people who all went out for the same position I applied for were going to be given the chance to secure two positions in the company. The gig was simple, we were all given journals and a stipend and recorded the weekend. I was not quite sure how that secured employment but I could only assume that the wilder the better, naturally I thought a weekend with the cousins would be just the thing to give me an edge over the competition.

4am: Wake up. Get dressed. Load the car. Throw back a couple of uppers before grabbing the keys and driving to the gas station. I fought to retain control over myself, the pills I took were kicking in very well. Looking at the gas nozzle that had suddenly taken on a phallic shape and was fucking the shit out of my poor little Versa, while she just stood there like a submissive bitch with her ass up in the air aching to please her man. Giving my head a couple of good hard shakes in efforts to calm down, and ride the wave. It was now that I came to realize it would have been a better option to have had breakfast before leaving the house.

Once the tank was full I drove over to pick up one of my cousins and then she and I headed towards the meeting spot where the rest of the group would be. I am a stickler for punctuality and detest waiting for long periods of time so I was hoping most if not all of them would be there by the time we arrived.

4:45am: We arrived with no other cars in sight. Simmering my short temper, I rationalized with myself that I should not be surprised. It was a guaranteed struggle to synchronize the mobility of a large group of people.

5:05am: I could not continue to sit there and just idle in front of my aunt's house at the crack of dawn waiting for her son to decide to grace us with his presence. I called his cell and rushed him out of the house before I decided to leave without him. Two other cars pulled up alongside mine as I was hanging up the phone. There would be ten of us going in total. Two in my car, three in another and five in the SUV. As my cousin Sid was finally walking out of his house, with more luggage than any of the girls going, the rest of us were packing beers and bottles into the coolers in the SUV. Quite the spectacle watching all 10 of them pack their own brand of alcoholic destruction into 3 different coolers. It resembled a gang bang of Patron, Jack, Jim, and Johnny. Partner that with the uppers and downers I had stashed away in my travel bag. Taking a quick mental inventory of what we were taking I could only hope it would be enough to carry me through the weekend.

6:10am: Praise Jesus we were finally on our way. The SUV swerved about an hour into the drive and I knew they were all drinking in there. A part of me was jealous I could not be in there carousing with them. It was nerve wracking attempting to maintain a sober facade with my cousin Carla next to me. She was incredibly straightlaced and a notorious rule follower. Only two months apart and for the life of me I could never figure out how we could possibly be related. It's no surprise that an hour later, all those passengers had full bladders and were in desperate need of a bathroom.

8:45am: We stopped at a gas station near the big thermometer and alien jerky. Everyone unloaded and made it to tend to their needs. Being there I decided I may as well go to the bathroom as well. Once inside, I discovered the line of females waiting and that was when my urge kicked in and the dance ensued. I took to looking around at my surroundings to distract myself from the urge. To my right one of my cousins was getting quite cozy with his brother's girlfriend to the point of being nearly inappropriate. In the past few months he had changed his diet and lost a significant amount of weight and it was becoming more so noticeable with all the attention he was beginning to receive a lot of attention from women. Not wanting to have to lie about what I saw, I looked further to watch yet another cousin getting quite comfortable with some handsome stranger in line. Not the first time I questioned my relatives sexuality, I noticed the familiarity he carried on with this stranger was one of those that frequented Grinder with expertise and ease. Whether it was truly happening or my narcotic state causing me to hallucinate, because I could see him gazing at this attractive stranger with clear intent. Running his fingers up and down the other man's shirt buttons coyley. I suddenly felt intrusive and allowed my gaze to travel again, only to shake my head watching two cousins at the register, refusing to pay the ten cents for the bag and over stuffed every pocket on them with all the snacks they bought for the remainder of the trip.

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on things that were not related to my weak bladder or my drug induced state. I felt a hurried rush of wind and heard footsteps to go along with it. This caused me to open my eyes to see a woman with a terrible bleach blonde dye job make her way passed all of us in line. This was the moment I experienced a burst of sober energy. This woman explained to the person at the front of the line a list of reasons why she needed to go next. As luck would have it the woman at the front of the line must have been a saint because she allowed her to take her place much to the extreme hostility to the rest of us in line. At this point I was not too sure how much more I could take before my actions involved violence as my bladder started to scream and our timeline in reaching the bright lights and big city of Las Vegas.

To be continued...