Sciences Participating with Arts & Culture in Education

Orchid

Illustrated by Lauren Pagotto

Editor’s note: Stream-of-consciousness in literature is a unique fictional device that depicts the continuous flow in a character’s mind–the flow of conscious thoughts and reactions–as that character senses and perceives and participates in the world around them.

“Orchid would ya quit hoggin the damn joint!”

Yeah I doubt you need any more of it by the look of it you’re totally gone that’s the problem people like you you take in a hit but not the way it’s supposed to go in it doesn’t even enter your lungs it lingers in your mouth for about three seconds til you think it looks like you’ve kept it in long enough then you blow it out like its nothin’ to you but it is to the rest of us it’s a damn waste of quality chronic even if it aint that great it’s a hell of a damn waste and my mama told me straight up the first time to never ever waste nothin’ not food not money and most importantly not chronic like this one kid I know he just buy the shit for everybody else to smoke cuz without it he aint got no friends no body to even talk to like every time I come around for a session he’ll come with some dumbass excuse like.

“Jerry the damn thing is out you bloody cock!”

See how don’t he not feel it in his lungs come on now that boy’s face is about all that’s appealin’ to me even his cock is just as dull as what he’s got inside that pretty little head of his talk about looks bein’ decievin’ and all that and you never really know til it damn well happens to you when you haven’t gotten any in about a couple of weeks and there aint nothin’ you want more and as you unzip those damn dirty jeans and slide your hand in just to grab somethin’ you can’t even believe existed in size talk about a damn tragedy like the time when I made a deal with the Devil himself that son of bitch promised me the finest chronic in town but he ran off after he got his damn blow job left me there with a bad taste in my mouth and nothin’ to help take my mind of the dirty bastard but you can’t think about those things forever cuz that shit’ll get to you and you won’t be able to enjoy nothin’ no more and these years they say are the best years of our lives so we better damn well enjoy it to the fullest and I mean I am enjoyin’ it but some people they piss me off yeah they rub me the wrong way tellin’ me I’m too young for this and that but what the hell do they know my own mama had me when she was fifteen years old just one year younger than I am and I’m on a good track compared to that not that she didn’t do a good job hell she did a great job raisin’ a kid on her own didn’t care what nobody thought grandma wanted my name to be less out there whatever that means but mama stuck by it thought it was a damn lovely name and I’ve gotten more than enough compliments on it than if I would have been named Sally or Anne or Sally-Anne God I hate them damn combined names like what makes you so damn special miss I have two names plus a third one in the middle but don’t expect much I’m just a tease yeah I’ve heard about that type and they always got more than one name I swear I heard stories but my oh my do I want to create a story of my own with Jake my God he looks damn good without a shirt on.

“Orchid baby what’s goin’ on?”

Oh I know what’s gonna go on. “Oh you know just sittin’ here enjoyin’ my years, you want a hit baby?”

“Well speakin’ of enjoyin’ I’ve got my own stash in the truck. If ya want we could go in there and smoke, less mosquitoes and all.”

Of course no one wants to be around bugs as long as I’ve been I think I’ve been bit a dozen times tonight damn mosquitoes I wonder if Jakey boy here paid for this hell of truck on his own I think I remember hearin’ his pops was loaded apparently he’s got half the town runnin’ drugs for him that would explain why Jake never runs out of chronic smells nice in here the seats aint too bad this should go pretty well it better but if it don’t I at least get to get high I don’t think Jakey’s the type to run off he been a gentleman to me ever since I met him I knew we would eventually hook up just by the way he looked at me two weeks ago a look I could recognize from a damn mile too well oh you’re damn well excited aint you good thing I wore my skirt good thing I shaved my legs.

“Baby you smell real nice.”

Yeah I heard that one before and truth is I do smell fine I’ve always loved that perfume mama always wears oh you’re rough tonight well I do like that in a man now you’re definitely better packaged than Jerry boy oh you feel nice yeah pull my hair just like that.

“Oh baby! Baby! Yes! Oh yes.”

A feel good feeling like that never knew how somethin’ could feel so good now I’m gonna finish you right now yeah you like that look at you you’re twitchin’ my God I am damn good yeah that’s it mmm oh my damn gotta go to the clinic tomorrow now that’s a downer but aint nothin’ a few hits can’t fix.