Song: “Candy
Everybody Wants” by 10,000 Maniacs from MTV
Unplugged
(Picture from http://www.sodahead.com)
Francine danced around the room to Top 40 radio, brown curls
bouncing in rhythm to the leaps. She was brimming with excitement, with
anticipation of her new life. Tomorrow was the big party, her first as
Claudia’s roommate. She had heard such great things about these parties. They
were already legendary. She had longed to be part of them. And now, as a
junior, she was playing co-host? Dreams do come true.
Claudia came in as Francine attempted a skate-less triple
axle, a sneaky smile briefly creasing her mouth. She joined in briefly, leaping
and kicking high, as she made her way across the living room. Francine was
hardly the kind of girl Claudia normally would call friend but as roommates
went, she was pretty perfect. Quiet, anxious to belong, just goofy enough to be
a good time without being annoying.
As the song changed, Claudia flopped heavily in the large
leather recliner her father had gifted them after he had bought a newer version
for himself, tossing a bag onto the couch just in front of her roommate.
Francine, unable to resist her natural curiosity,
immediately dove in to peek.
“These are drugs!” the brunette shouted, her voice cracking
under the strain of her own surprise, outrage, and disappointment. Her thin
arms shook as she held the large freezer bag filled with white powder aloft.
She waved it back and forth as one might wave a banner on the battlefield after
victory had been assured. Her eyes were gigantic, ten sizes larger than usual,
and brimming with panicked tears.
“They are,” her roommate offhandedly confirmed, not moving
from her place on the chair.
“You told me...you told me you were going out…for CANDY!”
Francine yelped.
This was true. Claudia had abruptly rose from their couch,
two or so hours before, and declared she had to go downtown to pick up “some
candy for tomorrow’s party.” Francine, the newest member of the suite, had
agreed readily. She had a sweet teeth and a bowl of candy was as good as
anything to dive into when the party inevitably left her feeling very isolated
and anxious. She didn’t quite understand why her roommate would choose to go
all the way downtown for something that was available at the convenience store
a mere 60 yard walk from their parking lot.
“Candy is a euphemism for drugs,” Claudia replied, either
ignoring her roommate’s state of panic or somehow completely ignoring it,
“Usually cocaine.”
“What? No it is not! Candy just means…sugary good things!”
“Your articulate argument aside, it also means drugs. Which
was, of course, how I was using it. When I told you I needed to buy candy, I
was actually telling you I needed to buy drugs. Which I then bought. Because I
am someone who completes their goals.”
Francine was floored by her roommate’s casual attitude
towards what was easily the largest bag of drugs she had ever seen, be it on TV
or in person. Truth be told, Francine had never seen drugs in real life, be
they contained in bags or other devices intended for storage.
“But why?” she managed after a few more minutes spent frozen
in place, bag o’ drugs clutched between her fingers.
“Because people have long sought to distract themselves from
the meaningless nature of life through the consumption of mind altering
substances while listening to music with thick, heavy beats.”
Both went quiet then, trying, in stubbornness, to maintain
the silence the longest.
Francine broke first, asking in a low whisper while
maintaining her gaze on the floor, “So…not even a bag of Sour Patch Kids?”
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