Chapter 1
I step onto the bus and scan my fare card, the driver looks at me with a friendly smile and thanks me. I smile and nod at him and make my way to my usual seat in the very back of the bus. It’s been a pretty relaxed day at work, though with that being said I’m still exhausted.
My name is Jonah Tuck; I live in Portland, Oregon just outside the Pearl district downtown.
I look outside the window at the night life going by, streaks of light illuminating the reflection of my large frame and my light auburn hair and beard in the window.
Just then my phone chimes in my earbuds, interrupting the podcast I was listening to. I reach in my pocket to retrieve my phone, the screen turning on as I hold it in my hands. The message notification is from my best friend, Zane. He’s a few years older than me at 32, we’ve been friends since my early 20’s. Zane is bisexual though we’ve never messed around before. I have to admit that I do have a slight crush on him though I have never told him about it. I read his message and reply:
Zane: Yo! You have any plans tonight?
Me: Not much, just on the bus heading home from work. Gonna stop by the dispensary. What’s up?
Zane: Ah cool! Wanna chill this evening?
Me: I’m down! Swing by my place and I can smoke ya up!
Zane: Sweet, sounds great.
Me: I should be home in about 45 minutes. Feel free to drop by whenever.
Zane: Alright, see ya soon!
Me: Later!
I look up from my phone, and quickly realize my stop is next, I quickly pull the chord and the “Stop Requested” sign lights up with the usual chime. The driver slows down to the stop as I get up and head to the back door. The green light turns on to signal the door is ready, I touch the door and it opens quickly and I thank the driver as I step onto the sidewalk.
The dispensary is only a few blocks from the bus stop, and then after that it’s just a few blocks to my apartment building. I start walking towards the dispensary, it takes about 10 minutes to get there. The sign above the door reads: Blunt Force, and a neon green cross hangs in the window. I open the door and walk into the lobby where the door man sits behind a glass window like you would find in a bank. I walk up to the window, pull out my wallet, grab my ID, and put in to the slot at the bottom of the window.
“Hey there, welcome to Blunt Force.” The door man says as he checks my ID. He slides it back through the slot and hits the buzzer to unlock the door to my left. “Thanks!” I say as I take my ID back and put it in my wallet. I open the door and walk into the main store. Glass cases line the walls with various glass pipes, bongs and various other smoking accessories. The far wall in lined with shelves filled with large jars of different strains of weed.
The bud tender manning the store is standing near the register in front on the shelves of jars. He sees me walk in and cheerfully exclaims “Welcome to Blunt Force! How can I help you?”
The bud tender is a very handsome guy, about 6 foot, large build, he has short dark brown, curly hair and a well groomed mid length beard. He has a very charming smile on his face that seems to inviting you in for a warm hug.
“Yeah, I’d like some top shelf stuff, I prefer Indica or an Indica dominant hybrid.” I reply as I walk closer to him. “Yeah, I think I have something perfect for you.” He says as he turns around to grab a jar off of a high shelf. As he turns back around with the jar, I notice his name tag reads “Max”.
“Alright, what I have here is called Blue Cookies. Give it a whiff, tell me what you think!” Max says giving be a mischievous smirk. He opens the lid of the jar and holds it out for me to smell. I lean in, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose as to not have them fall off. The buds in the jar are a frosty green color with a blue tint. I take a whiff of the fragrance, it’s slightly sweet almost fruity.
“I’ll take some!” I say in excitement, “It’s smells amazing!” Max gives me a smirk again, “Sounds great! How much you want?” He asks. “How much for an eighth?” I ask. “For you? 20 bucks.” Max replies, almost flirtatiously. “Sounds great!” I reply giving him a wink. “You got it.” Max says as he gets ready to weight out an eighth for me. He grabs a container from under the counter and measures the weed out. He rings up the total, I hand him a twenty dollar bill, and he prints out the receipt. He takes the receipt and writes something on it and then folds it up and hands it to me along with the jar of weed in a paper bag.
“Here you are, have a good night. Hope you enjoy the blue cookies!” Max exclaims. I reply “Thanks so much! Have a good night!” With a smile and walk out of the store into the lobby.
The door guy waves and then I head out of the main door. I step out onto the street, curiousity getting the better of me I unfold the receipt. On the too he has written, “You’re cute! Call me some time.” With a smiley face and his phone number written below. My face instantly lights up with a huge smile and I can feel the warmth of blushing in my cheeks.
I turn to the right and start walking towards my apartment building with excitement, not only for Mad giving me his number, but also for my evening with Zane. I get out my phone and text Zane that I’m almost home and he can come over anytime. “I’ve got some cool news when you get here!” I add last minute. I resume my podcast and start walking, it takes about 10 minutes to get to my apartments. It’s a pretty chill evening, usually when I’m walking home I get stopped at some point by a homeless person asking for change or something like that, but tonight, no one bothered me.
I walk in the main door of the building and over to the elevator and push the button to go up, after a couple minutes, the elevator rings and the doors slide open, I get in and push the button for the 4th floor. The doors close again and the elevator starts moving upward. After no time at all the elevator stops and the doors open again. I step out and walk towards the left to my apartment. I’m in number 402, so it doesn’t take very long. I unlock the door and walk inside turning on the lights, and I take my jacket off and hang it up on the coat rack by the door. I place the paper bag on the coffee table in front of the couch and head to my room briefly, grabbing my bong, lighter and grinder from my night stand and head back out to the living room. I have scarcely enough time to get everything in place on the coffee table when there is a knock on the door.
