She walked up the mountain trail with me, albeit a couple paces behind and less coordinated… weighed down by the “picnic” she insisted on bringing… damned if I was going to carry that shit. I reached the top and sat, looking over the expanses of san diego county that stretched westward, breathing deep the pungent spring that washes the hills in green, if only for a couple weeks . Inbetween long draws off of her CamelBack, she said:
“I’ve never worked so hard to sit in dirt in all my life! Why wouldn’t you stop for me or help me with our picnic? I hope PB&J is ok with you, I’m not really hungry right now, maybe you could eat my sandwich too? I just want some carrot sticks. Why aren’t you talking to me? Are you ok? Are you mad at me? You haven’t said anything for 20 minutes…”
She busied herself in the backpack, idly handing me sandwiches without looking up. I took one and chucked it like a hatchet off the side of the mountain, waited a couple beats, then grinned as I heard it pile into the cluster of Chapparal below.
She was up on her knees now, refusing to sit in the dirt. One hand feeding her mouth with carrots, the other hand at the ready with her camelback tube to wash it down. She looked ridiculous. Like if you stirred together a rabbit and a basketball cheerleader sitting just outside the baseline, being sure to not move for a free throw.
Vapid
Shallow
Grating
Confused
Looking at me like a puppy… A puppy with carrot in her teeth and a floppy hat on her head.
I wanted to bring her to this spot so she could appreciate the landscape, so she could take in and understand what made me tick a little better, and so I could bang her outdoors on a mountaintop and to hear her throws of ecstasy ring in echos off the rocks and trees.
I was disgusted. Bored. Annoyed.
None of what I had planned was going to take place and I still had a good two hour hike back down this motherfucking mountain with someone I didn’t want to talk to again, much less spend time with.
We walked.
She talked.
I grunted and mmmmmhmmm’d my way back to my truck.
Shuttled her home.
Got some legitimate food from a Mexican spot down the street from my house, made a decision to drop that girl.
Then there was this time I saw MAG-10 at a supplement store. I bought it, and found T-Nation by trying to find the right avenue to complain about the taste.
Man that shit was nasty. Remember? Of course you do.
How those two stories relate I have no clue. Just thought you’d like to know them both.