Get a group of guys into a car together with nothing but a long road ahead of them, and something magic happens. I imagined we were all feeling it. The air surrounding us thick with excitement. We were buzzing, desperate for an adventure. I grabbed my pack and walked towards the guys that were loading their gear into the trunk.
I looked at Ollie. As always he had a smile on his round face. Witty, with a tendency to get himself into all sorts of trouble, you could count on him to add a touch of lightness to every situation. He was short and a bit overweight. Definitely not the athlete of the bunch. I smirked as I saw him struggle lifting his pack. When he managed to fit his pack into the trunk he let out a deep sigh of relief.
Tierry was strong, serious, smart. The silent force of the group. The one I’d go to for advice. He had the quality that he never spoke more words than necessary, having an air of serenity to him, which I found comforting. He effortlessly tossed his pack from a couple of yards into the trunk, having it neatly land right next to Ollies. After seeing Ollies look of amazement on his face, he gave him a wink, walked passed him and stepped into the car. I grinned.
Already sitting shotgun was Joe, his bare feet were sticking out of the rolled-down window. Comfortably leaning back, he was scrolling through his phone, looking for an appropriate playlist for the long road ahead. Once you looked past Joe’s rough exterior of long dark hair, arms fully covered in tattoos, pierced ears and a look in his eyes that would scare most strangers off, you would find that he was the sweetest guy on the planet. Joe was the creative one. You you could always count on him to get us out of a funk. And into action.
I walked towards the car, fitted my bag in with the rest of the luggage and shut the trunk. I looked up at the sky. Not the faintest trace of a cloud in sight. It was a hot day. Really hot. It was forecast to stay like this for at least another week. The relentless summer-heat our constant companion, greedily robbing us of our energy. Stuck in the daily routines of the working man, it sometimes became hard to keep appreciating the ever-present summer weather. Good thing we were leaving…
“Everyone ready?” Asked Tierry, “To infinity, and beyond!”, Ollie replied cheerful, quoting Buzz Lightyear. Tierry got behind the wheel, and Ollie and I got in the backseat. As the engine was revving, Joe turned his head, and said: “lets add another beauty to the list of epic trips guys, we are going to holiday-the-shit-out-of-this-week”. Theatrically Joe slowly lowered his finger towards the screen of his phone which was connected to what we knew to be merciless loud sound-system. After hitting the shuffle button, a searing guitar intro, followed by Matt Helders drums blasted out the speakers. I felt a tingling sensation creeping up my spine. Of course we all knew this song. A short moment later when Alex Turners voice cut through the small space of the car, the four of us locked eyes and blared along;
“I’m a puppet on a string,
Tracy Island, time-traveling
Diamond, could’ve shaped heartaches,
come to find you, four in some velvet morning.”
Ollie banged the roof of the car in excitement. Joe lowered his sunglasses over his dark eyes and stuck his feet out the window again. As Tierry pulled away from the porch I looked outside. A final glance through our neighborhood. I was so ready to get out of this place. The repeating patterns of grocery shopping, sports, and get-togethers over the weekend had started to become suffocating. When Ollie rang me up a couple of weeks ago, suggesting the get-away I had jumped at the opportunity. The same evening Joe and Tierry were informed and a departure date was set. The following weekend we were discussing the details of the trip in our local bar. Joe took it upon him to arrange the accommodation, Tierry was Captain-Logistics and I would be in charge of supplies. What would Ollie do? “provide you with cheerful banter and the occasional practical joke” he suggested. Joe playfully threw a coaster towards his face. Ollie clumsily tried to dodge it, but was to slow and it hit him on the nose. We all laughed as I signaled the waitress to get us another round of beers. We agreed to leave Ollie out the planning-stage, better for all of us.
“How about I keep the location a secret, right up until we leave?” suggested Joe with a twinkle in his eyes. After a brief moment of silence, Tierry answered: “Fine by me”. Ollie was a bit more reluctant. “What do you mean ‘that’s fine by you’? I’d rather not spend my days burning up in some desert-shack surrounded by nothing but dust, having to drink warm beer and enjoying the only company of the occasional sweaty hairy biker passing along. Not to mention, I’ve got sensitive skin.”
“That’s cause the glare from your computer screen has burned-out all your pigment, you Day-Walker!” Joe laughed, “you play too much video-games.”
“Are you calling me a geek?” Ollie asked.
“YES!” The three of us replied simultaneously. “All right then”, Ollie crossed his arms. “As a geek, I feel it is my responsibility to tell you that there is no scientific evidence to support your statement that monitor illumination can actually cause biological cellular alteration in the form of degradation of pigment”
“‘Touché Einstein”, grinned Joe, taking a large swig from his beer. Tierry turned towards Ollie and spoke calmly: “Don’t worry, we will be exactly where we will need to be”.
“‘Cheers to that!” I said, and the four of us raised our glasses.
Tierry sped up on the highway and I lowered my sunglasses. I watched the landscape slowly change from familiar city sights into the rural back-country. ‘A fresh start‘ was the thought that kept running through my mind. With the music still playing, we all had gone quiet now. Each of us seemed zoned into their own worlds of thought. Quiet but in motion. For this moment, everything seemed fine. Some time passed when Joe looked over his shoulder. The cheeky twinkle in his eyes that contiguously sparked up everyone’s enthusiasm was back. “Four guys on the road, that’s really all you need, right?”
“All you need.” Tierry repeated solemnly. After which he turned up the volume again.
I guess what I’m trying to say is I need the deep end
Keep imagining meeting, wished away entire lifetimes
Unfair we’re not somewhere misbehaving for days
Great escape, lost track of time and space…
R U Mine? – Arctic Monkeys
Read up on following events in next episode: ‘Settling in‘.
