When Wesson’s cousin Russell arrived, we were finally ready to leave town. There was only one problem. Standing outside in the driveway, Wes and I were loading our bags into his cousin’s car. As we started to get in ourselves, I noticed Russell’s station wagon was in worse condition than the high school’s locker room. While the outside was intact enough, the inside was no better than a frat house after party.
“Dude, it’s only until we get to the festival,” Wes argued with me.
“Wes, the floors are sticky as hell, the mirrors are hanging on by a thread, and it smells like a bull’s jockstrap,” I joked but held an air of seriousness
“It’s two days,” he said.
I hated we couldn’t take a plane, but neither of us had that kind of money. Not to mention, with my luck, I was bound to cause some sort of accident.
“That’s a long time,” I said.
“When we make it, I’ll owe you one,” he added.
Before I could say anything else, Wes and I cut the conversation short because Russell walked outside from the house.
“We ready to go?” Russell asked as he got in the driver’s seat.
Russell was a lot bigger and buffer than Wes. Standing side by side, Wes looked like the before picture of a “how to bulk up” workout regimen while Russell looked like the after. With more fur and more prominent horns, Russell seemed to lean into his goat side more than his human side. At least he wore a jacket like Wes rather than going all-out nude.
Wes got in the front passenger seat, leaving me to be the last to get in. Reluctantly, I opened the car door and stepped in.
“Yeah, we’re ready,” I said as I shut the door.
Times like those made me wish I could have worn shoes.
Day 1
I left town with my best friend and his cousin, who had just been in trouble with the law a few months prior. I’m sure my dad would not have approved. He would have hated the car we left town in before even getting to the matter of who was driving it. So much for being the good kid he raised me to be, but what was the harm as long as things went according to plan? I was beginning to sound like my mother, but I had to justify my actions to myself somehow. Honestly, it wasn’t hard to justify after a while, especially since dad wasn’t around to talk me out of it. None the less, all I had to hope for was a smooth trip to STR. If we made it without blowing up, driving off a cliff, or running from the cops, that would have been good enough.
The trip from Montana to New Mexico was a 20-hour drive. Of course, we had to take a few pit stops and rest at night, but we should have made it in two days.
On the road, I forced myself to ignore the constant sensation of something slick under my feet. The scent of sweat was heavy, and the summer heat made it dense enough to taste with every breath I took. I could tell I was bringing down the mood in the car. It was too quiet. Even with the music going, I could tell my constantly having to shift or adjust in the backseat was making everyone uncomfortable. I tried to get my mind off the discomfort as best I could by breaking the silence.
“So, Wes told me you’ve been to STR before?” I asked Russell after an hour and a half of painful silence.
The weight on everyone suddenly grew lighter. I said I’d try to give Russell a chance. I said I’d try to relax. I said a lot of things because I wanted to trust my friend’s judgment.
I… had to try.
“Yeah, little man, I’ve been three times now,” Russell said with a grin I saw in the rearview mirror.
“What’s it like?” I asked.
“It’s always different. Last year, they held it on this island in the middle of the Pacific, and the year before that it was up in the mountains. It’s never in the same place twice, so you never know what to expect,” Russell explained.
“Thanks for coming with us, by the way. I know we asked at the last minute,” Wes said
“You’re good cuz, not like I had anything better to do,” Russell chuckled.
“What do you do anyway?” I asked.
“What’s up?” Russell asked before I made myself clear.
“Wes told me you travel a lot. Do you do that for like a job or something?” I asked.
“Oh! Naw, little man, I’m on a spiritual quest,” he said.
“A quest?” Wes and I both questioned.
“To find the world’s best ass,” Russell joked.
“Dude,” Wes exclaimed, like he was embarrassed for me.
“I’m fucking with you. Yeah, it’s a part of my job, or it was until I was fired. Now I travel because I can.”
There was an off sound that came from the vehicle. I’m sure we all heard it because it cut the conversation short.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Probably a rabbit under a wheel or something ...no offense,” Russell said.
“None taken, but that didn’t sound like something under a wheel,” I added.
“It’s an old car, makes all sorts of sounds. I’m sure it’s nothing,” he said dismissively.
We drove for about 7 to 8 hours straight before finally stopping at a motel for the night. Russell seemed to be right. There were plenty of those noises throughout the ride, but we made it to a rest stop with little issue.
My legs were stiff as we got out of the car. We all did a bit of an impromptu stretch before Russell left Wes and me to get a room.
“What I tell you, not too bad, right?” Wes questioned, looking for my approval.
“Dude, I have your cousin’s jiz under my feet,” I said, but stopped myself before saying more. With a sigh, I pulled myself back enough to add, “But I guess it could be worse.”
Wes tugged me under his arm, happy to see I’d loosened up. We walked around the lot for a while, getting air in our legs while we waited for Russell to come back.
“Pitch, man, I’m glad you came with me over some job,” Wes said.
“Yeah,” I said, knowing technically I hadn’t decided anything.
“I mean it. You don’t get how cool you are.”
“I didn’t realize getting into life-threatening accidents was cool.”
“Dude, you can hear stuff from miles away.”
“I can hear through cheap walls,” I corrected.
“You can go invisible.”
“Only when I’m completely naked,” I added.
“And you’re a rabbit,” he said as if it were the best part.
“Half rabbit, unless most of the rabbits you know are 5 feet tall and walk upright,” I joked.
Wesson was incredibly optimistic, second only to my dad, but I never saw myself as remarkable. Or nothing special in the right way. Having a few extra skills never felt like enough to make up for being the kid who cursed himself. Maybe, had it not been for my bad luck, I could have lived with my new form. It came with a few perks. It would have been shallow to say no one wanted a hybrid, especially when my best friend was one. But when people saw me, they could visibly see the mistake I had made.
I wasn’t a hybrid like Wesson. I was a half-breed, a mistake.
It didn’t matter if rabbits were cool or I had powers, not when people saw the long ears and fur. I knew what people saw.
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“You know you’re the only person I know from school who hasn’t tried to fuck me,” he added casually.
“Wow, that’s... that’s... Wes,” I stumbled, but with his arm still around my shoulder, I didn’t pull away.
“And you’re smart as hell. You’re always willing to help me and the assholes from school who treat you like crap. You’re like top tier,” he said.
Things were getting extra cheesy, but part of me didn’t mind the compliments. Coming from a stand-up guy like Wes, the words had weight to them.
“Am I cutting into something? I’d say get a room, but I just paid for ours,” Russell said, surprising us enough for Wes to let me fall away from under his arm.
It was a little awkward how he suddenly let me go, almost like he’d done something wrong he needed to hide. He quickly helped me back up to my feet, though.
We spent the rest of the night in our motel room. That awkward tension between Wes and I had made a comeback, but I was growing used to it. Wes was more open and comfortable about things than I was. His family, after all, were essentially nudists. Knowing he was a more “casual” person than I made it easier to avoid looking too far into when he broke boundaries. For him, those boundaries I avoided probably never existed. Wes was one of, if not my best friend. If we couldn’t be blunt or unfiltered with one another, even about the awkward stuff, then who could I be loose with?
In a way, his ability to say whatever was on his mind, without worrying whether I’d think it gay or too much, made me question if I worried too much about filtering myself. Wes came out to me only a day ago, and he did it so smoothly I almost couldn’t believe it happened. I, on the other hand, never shared anything like that with anyone. Not my mom, Dad, BJ, or Wes.
To be fair, I couldn’t say whether I was into guys.
Don’t get me wrong, I always knew I liked girls. But had I ever asked myself if I was interested in anything else? My sexuality was never as big an issue as being a rabbit. Even then, I never shared how my transformation made me depressed. The stress and terror of always almost being killed by freak accidents was something I had convinced most people were minor, but it was crippling some days. I was lucky that my dad saw it sometimes, but not always.
I hid a lot of things from my friends and family and never knew why. It could have been my ego or my shame, but I was nowhere near as open and comfortable as my friend. I’d have been lucky to be more like Wesson.
After splitting myself in two using my mother's spell, I hadn't experienced any depression or anxiety. Maybe the spell had trimmed my bad parts. Maybe being around Wes kept me happy enough to avoid my negative thoughts. Come to think of it; I hadn’t been in a single freak accident ever since my split either.
Day 2
Slowly, the next morning came. With no alarms set, the daylight woke us. After showering and eating breakfast from a vending machine, we all got in the station wagon, ready to hit the road again. Unfortunately, I had been right about those noises we heard the previous day. My dad worked two jobs. One was as a manager at a fast-food place, and the other was as a mechanic. He didn’t always bring his work home, but he did enough for me to know a little about cars.
Russell’s car wouldn’t start.
“Don’t worry, you guys. Happens all the time,” Russell said, trying to reassure us of the situation.
“So, what are we going to do?” Wes asked.
“Wait it out,” Russell said.
“But what are we waiting for?” I questioned.
“When this sort of thing happens, it’s best to give it some time; usually a few hours is enough for it to work itself out,” he said.
“That’s not how cars work,” I argued.
“That’s how mine works,” Russell remarked with confidence.
It was Russell’s car. In a world full of magic, who was I to say a vehicle couldn’t magically fix itself?
Day 3
That car was not going to fix itself magically. We killed an entire day waiting and trying the engine over and over again with no luck.
“Why don’t we call a mechanic or something?” I asked.
“Do you have mechanic money?” Russell remarked rhetorically.
“No,” I said.
“Neither do I, little man,” he said.
My dad could have helped us. I’m sure if I called him, he could have talked me through fixing whatever was wrong, but then he’d have been pissed that I left town without telling him. Then he would have been pissed I split myself in half with a spell I got from mom.
I almost thought the car trouble was my fault. It had been days since my last freak accident, so I was due for something extra bad. Whenever my luck was to blame, my life was usually at stake. Car trouble was less than life-threatening, so as far as I could tell, I wasn’t responsible.
“Maybe I can fix it,” I suggested.
Having my dad’s help would have made it easier, but I believed I had enough second-hand skills to try fixing the problem.
“What do you know about cars?” Russell asked.
“My dad is a mechanic.”
“I thought your dad was a fry cook?” Wes asked.
“He’s a manager at ‘The Drive Through’ and a mechanic,” I corrected.
“Try whatever you want, little man. I’m gonna be across the street,” Russell said before leaving us.
It’s like he didn’t care.
“Is it safe for your cousin to be drinking?” I asked Wes as I noticed Russell walking straight for a bar.
“Relax, satyrs like us can hold our liquor,” Wes said.
That wasn’t what I meant, but I didn’t want to push the issue.
“Do you really think you can fix the car?” Wes asked as I popped the hood.
“Well, there’s no smoke, so that’s good,” I said.
I knew a little, but I didn’t know enough. While I was able to distinguish between different parts, I was clueless as to which one was the problem. Wes kept me company while I played grease monkey, but I’m sure after a while he could tell I wasn’t getting anywhere. Eventually, I had to call it. The car had won, and I lost. I shut the hood.
“Ok, so Plan B,” Wes suggested optimistically.
“What Plan B?” I asked.
“I don’t know. There must be something else we can do. Why don’t you call your dad?”
“I can’t,” I said.
“If he’s a mechanic, shouldn’t he know what to do?” Wes added.
“My phone is wrecked, remember, I can’t call anyone,” I said, trying to deflect.
“Do you know his number? You can use my phone,” he said.
He took his phone out of his jacket pocket and tried to hand it to me.
“I think I’m close to fixing it. I just need a little more time,” I said.
“But if your dad can help?”
I walked around to get into the driver’s seat. Russell left the keys, so I figured why not try starting the engine again?
“I just need a little more...” I said before turning the key, and like magic, the car came back to life when I said, “time.”
Dumbfounded, I must have looked just as perplexed as I felt.
“Did I do that?” I asked myself.
“Dude, you fixed it,” Wes cheered, and I was relieved to see him put his phone away.
But I hadn’t done anything. Literally, the only thing I did was look around the inside of the car. I didn’t change, move, or fix anything.
“Let’s go get my cousin,” Wes celebrated while pulling me out of the car to head across the street.
I was still in shock and disbelief. How did I fix the car?
By that time, it was dark out. Russell must have spent at least a good 3 or 4 hours at that bar, “The Splint.” Wes and I both noticed something was off as we approached the front entrance. There were a bunch of people knocked out, lying around the door.
“What the fuck?” I asked, out of confusion and concern.
We had to kick and nudge people out of the way just to get the door open. Once inside, it was like traversing a minefield. There were more bodies lying around, broken glass, and the sound of off-key live music playing in the background.
“Fuck,” Wes said, as we both caught sight of Russell standing at the bar ordering another drink with his knuckles bloodied and raw.
His fur was blood-soaked in so many spots there was no question of what went down.
It was a bad time to make a joke, but I couldn’t help myself.
“What happened to satyrs like you can hold your liquor?” I said.
Wes knew the severity of the situation as well as I did, but we laughed just the same.
“We need to go,” Wes suggested.
“Definitely,” I agreed before we walked over to Russell.
“Hey cuz, little man, what brings you to the splint?” Russell said between taking sips of his drink.
“We got the car running,” I explained.
“Shit! How’d you do that?” he said, slurring his words.
The bartender poured his drinks out of fear. From the looks of it, Russell got into one hell of a bar fight and won hands down. The longer we stood there, the clearer something became.
“We need to go,” Wes said.
People were moaning in agony, which meant two things. The first being that no one was dead, and the second being that people were beginning to wake up.
“Let’s stay another night,” Russell begged.
“Russ, we need to go,” Wes pleaded.
“Can you drive?” I asked Wes as we pulled Russell away from the bar.
It took all of our strength to get Russell to move. Drunk or not, he was a big guy.
“No, can you?” Wesson answered.
We got outside with relative ease if I didn’t mention how heavy Russell was and how many times he tried to reach for another drink. By the time we started crossing the street, people were getting up.
“You guys, we can stay one more night. Just one more,” Russell mumbled.
“We’re leaving,” Wes said to his cousin as we stuffed him in the backseat of the station wagon like an adult toddler.
I could feel the numbers growing behind us like zombies. Wes and I got in the front and it was on me to drive. I started to pull out of the parking lot but quickly found that the car was being surrounded.
“Shit!” I said as I turned on the headlights and saw the crowd of broken bar-goers blocking the way.
“Just drive!” Wes Shouted at me.
“But what if I hit something?”
“Dude, Drive!” Wes argued louder as hands started hitting the car and trying to open the doors.
I drove off as quickly as I could, and I’m sure I ran over several people’s feet. All the while, Russell was in the back laughing his ass off, drinking from a bottle of beer I didn’t remember him grabbing.
The adrenaline coursed through me for a while before I finally mellowed out. I must have been speeding for a long time before I realized the danger was well behind us. Wes and I both laughed as we heard the sound of Russell snoring in the backseat.
I couldn’t be pissed or even exaggerate anger. I’d been through too many life or death situations for that night to get to me. Wes laughed because we got through it, but I laughed because my suspicions and fears had been confirmed. I knew having Russell as our third would only go one way. It didn’t matter in the end, however. Either way, we were stuck with him.
“So, he didn’t have mechanic money? But drunk bar fight money?” I joked.
“Dude, I think you ran a red light,” Wes said, still laughing so much I couldn’t help but grin.
“It’s my first-time driving. First time driving without my dad.”
“Well, you’re better at it than me.”
Day 4
We drove nonstop. Even after Russell sobered up, neither Wes nor I were willing to let him take the wheel. We didn't blame him for getting drunk and causing a bar fight, but afterwards, he became the third wheel to our duo.
We made it to the edge of the STR festival by day’s end, though there wasn’t much to see.
Fairies safeguarded the venue's perimeter with a magical dome. If it wasn't for fairy dust resembling glitter, the dome would have been completely invisible. The outer ring was easy to see thanks to the rainbow shimmering dust. No one was actively being kept out, even with the presence of fairy guards. The only way in, the only way through the dome, was with a festival ticket.
Had we tried to drive into it without our tickets, the station wagon would have crashed.
But we drove through the bubble easily.
As we got to the other side, everything hidden behind the dome became visible to us. In just a moment, the empty desert space transformed into a packed and overwhelming sight.