My first funny memory involves one of my friends and a road trip to Great America. Along this highway that leads to the theme park, is a field full of windmills. Literally hundreds of them. It's a big energy producer for that area. Well my very interesting and naive friend asked my mom, "Is this where they make bread?" BREAD? Why on earth would she think a windmill made bread of all things?? The laughter was immense and I could just envision these little conveyor belts coming off the windmills with nicely cooked loaves of bread on them. But seriously, what was she smoking? We were like eleven, so probably nothing. But still! God she was funny.
This same friend and I took a trip to Disneyland with my family and we had our own hotel room. We plastered the walls with posters of singers we liked, and we decided to leave notes for the maids all over the room. It was her bright idea to steal Sweet and Low packets from the restaurant and then pour them on the table and make lines and lay a rolled up dollar bill next to them, with a note that read, "Please don't clean up our drugs." We thought it was super funny, but I'm sure if my mom knew what we did she would have stopped us. But the maids did not touch our 'cocaine' lines. Nor did they call police or hotel security. I think they were either too afraid to lose their jobs, or just didn't give a shit since they probably have seen literally everything when you clean hotel rooms.
Another friend, used to steal liquor from our parents and drink it at her house when her dad was asleep in his chair. He would also line up beers on a little table next to him, but would always pass out before they were gone, so we took the rest and drank them and when he asked where they went, we said he drank them and just forgot. He fell for it every single time. And then me and the friend would walk with our backpacks full of empty bottles and cans and bury them under a tree we nicknamed, "The Tree of Our Sins". We promised that one day we'd dig it all up and see the evidence of our youthful fun, but I lost touch with her and they built a house where the tree used to stand. So now someone lives over the roots of our Tree of Sin.
This next friend was absolutely crazy, which is what made them so fun. There are way too many stories to tell about them, so I'll just go for my absolute favorite. One time we went on a 'date' except we had no cars or anything and we just walked everywhere. But they promised me a night of fun, and we had crushes on each other, but neither of us would admit it at the time. But the night started out with us eating Vietnamese food, which I told the person I hated. And yet, they insisted. Then we were offered a bottle of wine with dinner, which we immediately said yes to. We were 15! But sadly the server came back about five minutes later, sans wine, and asked for our ID's. To which, my friend said, "Oh is there an age limit on drinking in this country? In my country we let five year olds have wine!" And he said this was a fake Iranian accent (which he often did to mimic his father, who was from Iran) I couldn't stop giggling. But no wine for us. Drat!
After a dinner that I didn't eat really, we went to Jack in the Box for dessert. An apple pie. Then we proceeded to walk to a video store to get a DVD. In the process some hicks in a pickup truck decided to hurl insults at us, which made my friend flip them off and call them fuckers. So they turned around and came after us, and he grabbed my hand and we ran and ran until we jumped down a hill and rolled forever to the bottom where we landed in a boggy swamp. The hicks got out of the truck, yelled at us and spit down the hill at us, but we were too far down. And already covered in swamp sludge. But they left anyway. We were safe. Just disgusting. But we still went to the video store like that and I said, "I'll watch anything except a horror film or zombies!" So he picks, 'Night of the Living Dead'. It's so nice how he listened to me, isn't it? I think he just loved to torment me. But that was our one and only 'date'. I won't ever forget it! Or him.
Another friend I had, we used to have so much fun being bad together. We were 14 and we stole her parents minivan and drove it to Taco Bell. We thought we were such badasses. But she had a pet bunny that freaked me out because it would always try and bite me. And she was also obsessed with Tom Cruise and literally had pictures of him on her ceiling. It was a frightening sleepover experience to wake up to his face staring blankly at me. But I remember she had really nice shampoo and her very own bathroom. I was so jealous. But once when I was in the shower, she was putting her contacts in and she dropped one and I literally had to get out naked and grab a towel and help her find it. It was hilarious. Last time I saw her, she was driving a convertible Porsche she got for her 16th birthday. Spoiled! We drove SO fast in that thing, I don't know how we didn't die or get a ticket. She was my wild and crazy companion until she moved away.
This one friend I had, he had a motorbike, and he used to take me on the back of that thing when we were only 14 and he'd go over these dirt jumps and through the woods with it. I was terrified and so exhilarated at the same time. I trusted his skill, even though he'd never been taught to ride really. He just got on it and hit the throttle. It's amazing I didn't end up dead or paralyzed or something, but damn he was fun. I spent almost every day with him and another friend for an entire summer, yet I cannot even remember his name now. Isn't that so weird? I see his face, but I don't know his name. I just remember the yellow dirtbike and his devious smile as he told me to hop on. And my other friend refused, but I threw caution to the wind. I'll never forget those crazy nights and that insane summer.
Do any of you have friends you remember fondly, but somehow lost touch with them? People move, and people drift and a lot of times, you just never see them again. Some friendships last forever, and then some just last for a summer, like the last one. But I haven't forgotten any of these people. I wonder if they've forgotten about me? Sometimes I wonder if I ever cross their minds, the way they do mine? We should all walk down memory lane once in awhile. It's fun. And I miss those people who helped shaped who I am, even if they don't remember me. My memory is long. I never forget. I miss you all wherever you are...
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