thought you said you got 5 tabs,” Raymond said. “Where’s the other one?”
Larry smiled sheepishly. “Man, I dropped mine 15 minutes ago.”
“How is it?”
“I’m starting to get that tingling feeling, so I know it’s coming down.”
“I want a Brandy Alexander,” Carmela said. “I’m going back inside.” She left them, walked back into the club and over to the busy bar area. It took her a while to get the lady bartender’s attention, but she finally got her drink and sat down on a just vacated stool.
She took a few sips, then turned and watched the frenetic dance floor. Most were doing the new dance Van McCoy’s song made popular called ‘The Hustle’. Although Carmela never learned the dance, she loved watching others do the wonderful steps and turns. To her, it was like watching a graceful ballet.
After a few minutes, she saw Larry and a chubby girl in a black dress getting down to the hot jam, ‘You Should Be Dancing’ by The Bee Gees. Larry was shaking, twisting and moving his body in ways she never knew were possible. Wow, she thought, if that mescaline is causing him to dance like that, it must really be some kinda high. Larry seemed to be in another world and oblivious to his surroundings. He shook his body down to the floor and then back up again without skipping the beat. Carmela watched him; mesmerized by his hypnotizing moves.
She finished her drink and was about to order another one when the thought hit her: maybe I should try that mescaline? Larry sure looks like he’s having fun. That pink pill looked so tiny; it doesn’t look like it would hurt me or anything. Austin said it was a mellow high with no crash, so it’ll probably just give me a nice buzz.
Carmela had never tried anything stronger than weed, and then only once. But there was something about this being the end of the summer and the last real time to have fun that caused her to throw caution to the side and override her natural instincts. She went over to Larry after the record finished.
“You wanna dance?” He asked her.
She shook her head. “Not now.” Then she pulled him down and whispered in his ear. “Let me try one of those pink pills.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Yeah…I am.”
Larry hesitated, looking around for Austin. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Don’t be silly,” she said dryly. “I’m a big girl.”
Then the DJ played ‘Dirty Lowdown’ by Boz Scaggs and the crowd screamed with delight. The chubby girl in the black dress pulled Larry back towards the dance floor. Before leaving, he reached into his pocket and gave Carmela the tin foil packet. “Just take a half a tab,” he said over his shoulder.
Carmela went into the ladies room and entered the second stall, opposite the sinks. She sat down, opened up the foil, and stared at the two tiny pink pills. She realized she didn’t have anything to cut one of them in half, so she figured she’d go ahead and drop a whole one.
She picked one up and was amazed that something so little could have such of an effect on the functions of the human brain. “Hmmmmm,” she whispered. “Should I really take this thing? Do I really need this to have a better time?”
Little did she know Austin was frantically searching for her after hearing from Larry that he had given her the pills. Knowing Carmela had never experienced the powerful effects of hallucinating drugs, he was terrified of the consequence of what might happen. He also knew that if anything did happened to her, he would be blamed.
He saw Carmela come out of the ladies room and was momentarily relieved. He quickly went over to her. “Did you take anything?”
She nodded. “Yeah…one.”
Austin panicked. Though he was beginning to feel the extra-sensory effects of the mescaline he took, he was also feeling the heightened horror of how Carmela would handle the trip she would begin to take in a matter of minutes. “Are you crazy, Carmela? Don’t you realize what you just did?”
She smiled. “Oh that little pill shouldn’t be that bad.”
“Okay…listen to me. I want you stay with me the rest of the night. The key is to stay happy and cool during a trip. Let’s dance for a while.” He knew as long as she danced and partied, she probably would be okay. He was worried about later on when the drug would start to wear off and how she would handle the “coming down”. I can’t think about that now, he told himself. I’ve got to keep her moving.
The D.J. played ‘Love Machine’ by The Miracles and they started dancing. Austin watched Carmela’s eyes to see if there was any noticeable change in her outward demeanor. So far, all looked fine. Carmela was dancing up a storm and seemed to be having a great time.
About 20 minutes later, it happened.
Silver Convention’s ‘Fly Robin Fly’ was jamming and Austin noticed that Carmela seemed entranced by the movement of her arms; like she was watching something strange.
“Hey, Carmela,” he yelled to her over the music. “What’s up?”
“It looks like I have 10 arms at once,” she told him. “When I move them around to dance I can actually see the time it’s taking them to go from one point in the air to another. It’s unreal.”
“Okay, that’s a normal reaction. Everything that you’re doing and seeing is at a really heightened perception in your mind, right now.”
She laughed. “It’s actually super cool looking. Like everything’s happening in slow motion.”
“That’s exactly right,” He replied. “It is!”
“And I really love those strings—the violins. I can feel them all through my body.” She did an exaggerated shimmy-shake down to the floor with her body and as she came back up sang out, “fly, robin’, fly…up up to the sky!” Then she started laughing hysterically.
“Easy, Carmela,” Austin cried out. “Just take it easy.”
But Carmela ignored him and began dancing with the guy behind her; mimicking his movements. The girl he was dancing with threw her a hateful glance and pulled him away. Then Carmela began moving as though she were a ballet dancer. She tried to stand on her toes several times, but kept falling back on her heels. After doing this for about 30 seconds, she turned back around to dance with Austin again. “Fly, robin, fly…fly, robin, fly, up up to the sky!”
Some of the dancers started staring at her, and Austin knew he had to do something before she made a scene. He figured another drink might calm her down. He grabbed her arm and led her to an empty chair near the bar. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Carmela watched him leave, then looked around and saw a young couple at the table next to her. Suddenly, their conversation became crystal clear and she listened intently to what they were saying.
“Marriage is a big step,” she heard the girl say. “I don’t know if I’m ready, Mike.”
The guy, Mike, took her hand in his. “Listen to me, honey. I love you. I want us to be in each other’s lives for always.”
“I know that. But I’m only twenty years old. I feel I have so much more to accomplish in my life…like my life is still just beginning….”
Then their voices faded and other people around the table’s conversations jumped in—each one loud and clear: first singularly, then all at once. She tried to tune them out by covering her ears, but it was impossible to escape the voices. They were all seeping into her brain and causing her to be disoriented. She shot up out of her seat and ran to the club’s entrance.
Austin watched her dart out of the door and ran after her. “Carmela! Wait!” As he reached the entrance, he saw her run through the parking lot and head into the woods. “Oh, my God! Carmela! Carmela! Stop!”
Larry and Raymond, seeing what happened, rushed out to the entrance and they all ran into the woods together to find her.
“Oh, man,” Raymond said. “This ain’t cool at all.”
“Why the hell did you give her the mesc, Larry?” Austin asked angrily? “You should’ve known this could happen?”
Larry shook his head. ‘Don’t put the blame on me, man. It’s not my fault s
he bit off more than she could chew.”
“But she never tripped before,” Raymond said. “You should’ve at least waited till you saw Austin to see if he thought it was cool. She’s his date, man.”
Being that they were all feeling the effects of the drug themselves, they each went through a different reality of being in the woods.
“Damn! It’s pitch black out here,” Austin shouted. “I can’t see a thing.”
Raymond said, “it feels like I’m in a jungle.”
Then Larry added, “I don’t like being out here, guys. I’m hearing some really strange noises and it’s freaking me out.”
A raccoon darted into a bush next to them and they all jumped. “Listen, guys!” Austin said loudly. “Even though we’re all freaked out out here, we got to find Carmela. We got to!”
“She could be anywhere,” Larry said.
“Maybe she’s on her way back home,” added Raymond.
Austin shook his head. “I doubt that. She—”
Suddenly, they became aware of someone singing in the distance. They looked at each other with terrified expressions, because they knew by the sound of the voice, the person singing was in their own other world. The sounds coming at them had an ethereal, childlike quality of soulful happiness. Slowly, and with growing trepidation, they made their way to the origin of the voice. What they saw, was a sight they would never forget for as long as they lived. They stood in complete shock and awe as they watched a naked Carmela dancing around in a grassy clearing, and waving