/Chapter 3/

"Can we all try to NOT walk in front of my game while Im fucking playing?" DeShaun snapped, punching Joeys leg as he walked by. He was fucking sick of this bullshit.

"Maybe if we tried entertaining our guests instead of playing the fuckin video game, rude ass bastard." Joey mumbled. That comment made DeShaun press the pause button on the controller and sit up straight, watching his friend walk into his kitchen.

"Man, I know your fuckin' pissed at Murry, but that doesnt mean you have to be a fucking asshole to everyone. No one else is complaining." Deshaun rolled his eyes and unpaused the game, as Joey waved a hand over his shoulder, dissmissing the comment.

"Staring inpetement?" Kim asked coldly, staring at Denise. Denise rolled her eyes.

"Dont flatter yourself, I was looking at Joey." Denise said, sighing. "Why are we even fighting?"

"Who cares?" Kim stood uncrossed her legs, and stood up, storming into the kitchen. She couldnt even answer that question, she didnt have a set reason. She was just annoyed by Denise, and didnt feel like dealing with her bullshit.

She walked in behind Joey, and watched him as he stood, looking out the back window over the sink. Her and Joey never really got along, she assumed it was because of Marshall and Murry. She had problems with both of them in the past, and Joey just never seemed to like her that much. It bothered her sometimes, she was only human. Doesnt it bother everyone when someone doesnt like you, and theres nothing you can do about it? Especially when your not even totally sure as to the reason WHY.

She could tell he was looking for something out back, she was betting it was Murry or Marshall. "Looking for someone?" Kim asked, leaning against the counter across the room.

Joey glanced over his shoulder and then back out the window. "Just wondering where Marshall and Murry are." He said quietly.

"Yeah, they have been gone a while huh?" Kim said, watching him. He nodded and turned around, resting a hand on the countertop behind him.

"Yeah. Almost an hour."

"Do you think something happened?" Kim asked, getting a bad feeling about Joey.

"No, I dont know..."

"I think they're fine. They went to the store." Kim reassured him. "Right?"

"Yeah... right."

"Where else would they be?" Kim asked, licking her lips and looking around. She was thirsty. She walked over to the cupboard where the cups were kept, and picked up a glass.

"I dont know... Its just stupid, nevermind." Joey shrugged, and started walking back into the livingroom.

"Joey, wait." Kim said, getting angry. Why the fuck wouldnt he even talk to her? About their best friends? "At least tell me why you hate me..."

"I dont HATE you..." Joey turned around, stopping in his tracks. Shit. What the fuck do you say when someone says that to you?

"Well you dont like me very much..." Kim said, eyeing him suspiciously. He looked really nervous all of a sudden. She never saw that in him before.

"Im just in a weird mood... Its nothing personal." He said quickly.

"Yeah well its not just tonight." She turned the water on and let it run for a minute, before putting the glass under it and filling it up. "I mean, Ill live you alone if you just want me to, but I just wanna know why. Dont you think thats at least fair?"

"Yeah," He looked down. "I mean, no, I... I dont hate you, Kim. I just dont like..." He bit his bottom lip and sighed. "I just worry about Murry."

"What?" Kim raised both eyebrows.

"Okay, look.� Joey looked up at the ceiling, then straight at Kim. �You hung out with her today, right?�

�Yeah...� She said, not following where this was going.

�Well... What did you guys do today?� Joey asked, not breaking the eye contact.

�Went to the park, smoked...� Kim didnt see why this was why he was worried about Murry. But of course, why would she? She smoked with Murry, not that much, couple times a week, that was normal. But she wasnt around Murry as much as he was. He didnt see her smoking 2 or 3 times a day.

�Yeah, smoked. What did she do before she came here?� Joey asked.

�I dont know, she was with Matt.� Kim looked at Joey strangely. What the fuck was he getting at? �Why? Whats the problem?�

�What do you think shes doing now?!� Joey raised his voice slightly, then quieted himself when he realized people in the livingroom could probably hear them, and continued. �Look... shes not at the store with Marshall,� Joey hissed. �How much do you wanna bet theyre smoking?�

Kim shook her head. They wouldnt go smoke without her... Right? Murry would have offered... She always offers. And Marshall... He would have asked if she wanted to go. That just wasnt like them. �No, c�mon. And even if they are...�

�Even if they are... What does it matter to me?� He finished the question for her. �Kim dont you fucking get it? I usually dont care, Denine smokes, DeShaun smokes, Marshall smokes, fuck it, I smoke sometimes too! But Murry... She smokes way to much. You dont get it, your not around as much as I am. Shes been high everytime we have seen each other the past week, or she has gotten high before or after it. Or fucking both. This morning, when I went to pick her up at her house, she was sitting in front of the tv watching Judge Judy, stoned! She left to go to the park with you, and got STONED. While I hung out with her today, she thought it would be a good idea if we all smoked. We didnt, Marshall and DeShaun were battling and the rest of us had shit for money. And I know shes dealing again. So fuck it... And now shes going to go ad smoke. And thats just not okay. 4 fucking times a day isnt normal, not when it happens everyday. She has a fucking problem. I sat back and watched it 3 years ago, the first time, and now its happening again, and I wont let it get as bad as it did.�

�Joey, shes fine. Shes just having a rough time right now...�

�With WHAT? What the fuck is so bad that she has to get stoned so many times a day to make up for it? Where is she getting the money from all of this? Dealing isnt making her that much money... She doesnt fucking have a job anymore,� He shook his head.

�Yeah, I know, but Kennys giving her advances, she pays him back, she sells for him, they have some deal.� Kim took a sip of her water. �She can do what she wants, what are you gonna do? Be up her ass constantly? Shes fine... She knows what she can handle, she knows how to take care of herself, she wont let herself get back like she was before... I know she wont.�

�I wish I could believe you Kim...� Joey said bitterly, turning and walking back into the livingroom. She sighed as she heard DeShaun start yelling again, god dammit, he picked the worst times to play that fuckin game...

�I wish I could believe me too.� She whispered, looking down at the floor.

Murry put her mouth to the pipe, and took a deep breath, inhaling the smoke. She drew the pipe from her mouth, and held her breath for as long as she could, letting the smoke circulate through her, and then blew it out threw her nose. It almost burned, everytime she blew it through her nose, but whatever. She didnt care. It felt good. Too good, sometimes. She held the pipe to Marshall, and he took it from her, and the lighter, and held it up to his face. The smoldering ashes in the bowl of the pipe smelled strongly of weed. Gee, he wondered why!

They had ended up going to the park about 4 blocks away from DeShauns, not that far. They had took a seat in the back, near the swings, just behind the playground, but not in the woods. It was secluded, especially at like 9 o clock at night... There was no kids around, no one they had to worry about. It wasnt really a big deal.

�You know what?� Murry said, sitting back on the mound of sand they chose to sit on to smoke. Marshall didnt answer, he had the pipe in his mouth, you cant talk and inhale at the same time, so she went on with her thought. �There was this one time, last month, me and Kenny were smoking in my garage... And like my dad started listening to some weird song upstairs. Some like, fucked up song, I dont remember what it was, but we were laughing, and it hurts to laugh when you smoke.�

Marshall drew in his breath, and shook his head, looking down at the ground as he handed the pipe back to Murry with the lighter. What the fuck was with that story? They had been here for almost 20 minutes, talking, about absolutely nothing, and smoking. Between the 2 of them, they had done like 2 bowl packs. �Theres like no more left,� He said, after he let his breath go. �You wanna head back?�

Murry shook her head and took a baggy out of her pocket. �Im not high yet.�

�Damn,� Marshall said, clearing his throat. His throat always burned after he smoked. What the fuck could he expect? How could she not be high yet? She had to be kidding... He was high, he was high after the first bowl pack. Apparently 2 bowl packs werent enough for her. He watched her carefully packing the weed with the bottom of the lighter, and then she rubbed the top of the lighter against her jeans quickly a few times, a trick to cool it down so that it didnt get to hot when you lit it.

�Want more?� She asked, licking her lips. Damn, her mouth was dry.

�Nah, Im good.� He said, as she shrugged and lifted the pipe to her lips, lighting the weed with the lighter and taking a deep breath as it glowed orange. �Shit, how the fuck can you not be high?� With the breaths she was inhaling he was amazed she wasnt permanently high. Especially with how much she smoked.

When she let her breath out, she coughed slightly. �I dont know, but its pissing me off. Its like, Im not high, and if I am, I wanna be more fucked up. Like right now its not enough to be the way I am... You know what Im saying?�

He didnt. He couldnt even begin to think about what the fuck that meant. What was she fucking talking about? He didnt even think her sentence made any sense, and if it did, he couldnt understand it, not right now, not when he was stoned like this.

�Uh, yeah.� He lied, looking around. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, and he smiled. He loved the feeling of being high. It used to freak him out at first, but after a while of smoking, and getting used to it, he was fine, he enjoyed it. Immensely. Marshall looked around, boredly. It was dark out, and not as chilly as it could be, but it was a comfortable temperature. He looked back at Murry as she took a hit off the pipe.

"Dont watch me smoke, Marshall," Murry said, giving him a dirty look.

"What? I cant look at you? Relax, damn." He smirked, shaking his head and looking down.

"You can look at me, but dont stare, it freaks me out." She said quickly, bringing the pipe to her lips again.

"Whatever," He shook his head and stood up, patting the back of his jeans as he did. "Im gonna sit on the swings, over there." He pointed to the swing set about 50 feet away, and started walking. She didnt seem to care, let him walk over there and continued smoking. He kicked at the sand, staring at the ground the whole time, before he looked up when he was about 5 feet away from the swings. Ahead of him was 4 boys, walking down the sidewalk of the park. He looked back down at the sand and kicked it up one more time, before he took a seat on the 3rd swing from the left, facing Murry. She was just sitting on the bench in the back of the park, you couldnt really see her that well, the glow of the lighter in front of her stood out more.

He started pumping his legs, and swinging higher and higher. It was really fuckin nice out, he decided, holding onto the chains on either side of him, and looking up at the sky. It was clear, and the stars were out, and they were pretty. It kind of made him wish Kim was here. She loved the stars, he remembered how they would come here sometimes, when it was warm out, and lay in the feild and look up at the sky and talk. He glanced at Murry, watching the guys walk down the path past her, not noticing them stop about 15 feet ahead of her to talk amongst themselves, and then they kept walking towards the street.

The smell of weed was evident in the air, there was no mistaking that. Or maybe it was because his clothes reeked of it, whatever it was, he could smell it strongly. It was probably a combination of both. He watched her for a minute, wishing she would hurry up and finish that bowl. It wasnt the smartest place to smoke, out in the open feild, what if someone drove by? Or walked by, or called the cops or something? It just made him kind of nervous. However, she had asked him if he preferred to go in the back, through the fence, into the woods and smoke. But Friday night and that place was like stoner hangout... He just didnt think that would be a good idea either. Going back there would be like TRYING to start a fight with someone, because people that were high did stupid shit. And they would definatly try to start a fight with one of them. And knowing Murry, she'd run her mouth off at them and they'd end up running or getting the shit beat out of them. He just didnt feel like it. Not tonight.

He was pretty high, swinging that is. He looked down at the ground while he swung backwards, and was almost dizzy. Swinging was fun to do when your high, he decided, laughing quietly to himself. What was funny about swinging, he had no idea. He watched the ground for a few minutes, longer than he had realized, and looked up quickly when he heard, "SHIT!"

It was Murry. He immediatly looked up at where she was, and saw her, now standing in front of the bench, with the four guys that had left the park not 5 minutes ago, surrounding her. He dragged his feet through the sand, and hopped off the swing quickly. What the fuck did she do now? He was gonna fuckin kill her when they got back to DeShauns.

"I told you, Rye," Murry shook her head. "End of next week, I got a deal coming through thursday. Ill get it to you Friday, okay?"

"No, its not okay, its been 2 fucking weeks. Did you give Kenny his money?" 'Rye' asked, narrowing his eyes at Murry.

Marshall had been walking quickly, and started running when he saw one of the guys grab her arm and pull her towards them.

"DID YOU?" Rye asked loudly, as Murry tried to fight off the grip he had on her arm.

"Let me go, fucker. Thats me and Kennys business, dont try to get into our shit, its not your problem." She wrenched her arm away from him, and watched Marshall run up behind Rye. "Marshall, its okay," She assured him. "These assholes were just leaving."

"Bitch," Rye whispered. "Im not leaving without my money."

"WELL I AINT GOT IT ON ME, STUPID!" She yelled, throwing her arms up. "What the fuck you want me to do? Pop you a fifty out my asshole?"

"Fuck YOU, you stupid bitch." One of the other guys stepped towards her and she stood up straighter, looking right into the guys eyes. Marshall watched her carefully. She was going to fuckin get herself and him killed one of these days. She had balls, he had to admit. He wouldnt get up in that guys face like that.

"What you gonna do, Markus?" She asked. He glared back at her, and reached into his pocket.

"Hey!" Marshall yelled, stepping forward. Markus pulled out a pocket knife and switched the blade out. "Man, put that shit away you dont have to-"

"Stay the fuck out of this, wigger," Markus turned to Marshall and raised the pocket knife. "You wanna fuck with us too?"

"Markus leave him alone," Murry sighed. "Go home, you guys need something better to do, seriously. Ill get you the money. AT THE END OF THE WEEK!" She emphasized, looking right at Rye.

"You fuckin better, or else Ill fuck you AND Kenny up. Find a new fucking source, you stupid cunt. You just lost your credit." Rye pointed at her, and started walking, jerking his head towards the street, and the other 3 guys followed, Markus holding the knife out again, at Murry. She raised an eyebrow and watched them walk away, and then looked at Marshall.

"Talk about bustin' your high up, eh?" She giggled.

"Murry," He shook his head, exasperated. "Your gonna fuckin' get us killed. Lets go."

"Marsh, theyre stupid assholes, theyre all talk. His knife is like the size of my thumb." She laughed and watched Marshall shake his head and start walking, and grabbed her pipe and lighter and bag of weed on the bench, and ran after him.

"Yeah," He agreed, as she caught up to him. "But that knife is bigger than the one you got." He said, shoving his hands in his pocket.

"But," She said, confused. "I dont have a knife..."

"Exactly." He said, pointedly. "You cant just go around fuckin' starting shit with people."

"But I-," She protested.

"No, your gonna fuck with the wrong person, I swear, one of these days your gonna get yourself killed." He sighed. He was so annoyed by her right now. This was not how he wanted the night to go. He just wanted to go to the park and smoke, not have her start a fight. Did she have to fight with everyone, all the fucking time? Its like she was trying to prove that she had guts, and she didnt have to. He knew her way to well. He knew she was tough but she just says stupid things. Couldnt she just shut up?

"Marshall, they came to start with me-" She shook her head. "I didnt say shit to them, they started with ME."

"Whatever, look, I dont fucking care. Dont ask me to come out here with you anymore. If you wanna smoke with me, we smoke in the garage, like we used to. None of this park shit." He stepped off the curb to cross the street, looking both ways while he was in the middle of the street, ironically.

She followed at his heels. "But thats where Kenny-"

"BUT IM NOT KENNY!" He said loudly. God, he was sick of Kenny. "You know what," He stopped on the other side of the road, and she almost walked into him. "Im not Kenny, I dont even LIKE Kenny, okay? Im sick of hearing about him, being compared to him. And its not only you, Kim fuckin' does it to. I hate Kenny, okay? So fuck him, dont fucking talk about him to me, I dont wanna fuckin' hear it. If you wanna be around him, good for you, but I dont like being compared to him. If this is where you and Kenny come to smoke, good, but I dont wanna be here. Got it?" His eyes were wide, he was pissed, she thought, biting her bottom lip.

She hated it when Marshall was mad. He said stupid things. Plus it took alot to piss him off, sometimes. Sometimes he had a short temper, othertimes he could stand more than the other guys could, so when she pissed him off she knew that she had really done something that is worth being pissed at.

"Yeah," She muttered. He turned and started walking towards DeShauns again, and she followed, slowly, sighing. "Are you jealous of him or something?"

"Why?" He asked, as if it was the stupidest question anyone had ever asked him. Although deep down, he sort of was, sometimes. Just because Kim ALWAYS had something to say about him, or when he wanted to hang out with Kim, she was out with Kenny. Mostly because she hung out with Denise like 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and Denise was dating Kenny, so they were together alot. Kenny wasnt the hot shit everyone thought he was. Kenny was a dickhead.

"You seem it sometimes," She said, walking faster to keep up with him.

"No, Im not." He said blankly, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. She read him well, he thought as they turned onto DeShauns street. "You know, when you do stupid shit like at the park, did you ever think that maybe THATS why Joey gets so mad at you? Hes worried your gonna pull some stupid shit and get yourself in trouble, and before tonight I at least thought you were smarter than to do that."

"Fuck you, so now Im stupid?" She asked, angrily as they walked around the back of DeShauns house.

"No, your smarter than what you do though, act your fucking mind capacity. Dont talk back to someone holding a knife to you, when you are unarmed. Its fucking STUPID, you dont know what hes going to do, he could have-" He stopped short when he saw Kim, sitting on the back porch, watching them, ciggarette in between her index and middle finger, elbows rested on her knees, sitting on the stairs.