EPISODE 7. CARLOS

Episode 7.
CARLOS


My new and only friend was freaking out. Not that it wasn’t undeserved under the circumstance, but still, he was doing the whole “throw your hands up in the air and scream about an alien invasion” kind of freak out.

So…I sat on top of a car cushion and listened.

It felt good to get off of my feet. Walking over the debris really cut them up. Still though, I was glad to see that the alien doohicky thing did what I thought it did.

Meanwhile, this guy was going to town trying to tell me what had happened to him.

I couldn’t understand more than a word or two. He was moving his fingers in the air and stamping his feet, pantomiming that he was playing guitar, then he did a dance with a pretend someone. I think he was fishing at one point. He kept moving his arm like he was. I don’t know. There were some other parts that I didn’t get. The kneeling like he was proposing to someone, and pointing his fingers to his temple like a gun. But, eventually he came to the aliens, and digging himself out of rubble to find all of this.

He got on his hands and knees and started drawing pictures in the dirt to try and explain, but I they didn’t help me very much.

He looked over at me, saying something to help me understand. I just shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t get it. The picture was a bunch of wavy lines coming from what I thought was a guitar.

He was gesturing forcefully.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Sorry bro…I don’t get it.”

He gave up and sat back. Then he dropped his head and shoulders. He seemed to let it all go with that. He chuckled a few times and then looked up at me and put his hand on the center of his chest.

“Carlos. Carlos Ortega.”

I told him my name.

We shook hands.

He sat quietly for a bit taking in how I was dressed. He kept eyeing the rifle on my bag and the alien gun on the side of my backpack.

Carlos nodded his head and reached into his backpack, pulling out two bottles of Beck’s beer. He handed me one of them. I popped it open and we clicked the tops together before taking a sip.

I liked Becks. They were good beers. I never liked drinking as much as I liked smoking though. I always found myself throwing up and hugging the toilet for hours after a night of drinking. But smoking…well, that worked for me.

I took another long sip and came up with an idea. I slapped my hands together and let out a huge laugh. Carlos just stared at me.

“Carlos…” I said. “You’re brilliant.”