“Now boarding flight 69 to London.” The group stood up at the intercom broadcast and got their bags ready. They looked outside the window and saw the massive plane that was connected to nearby jet bridge close by the lobby.
“Hehe, sixty nine,” said Spike, giggling at the number. The rest of them either also giggled or sighed in disappointment.
“Alright fuckers, lets go!” yelled Wahlburn, rushing towards the tunnel gate. The group all quickly followed in excitement. They were eventually greeted by the pilots, one of which being Quantico Baxter, and some flight attendants, one in which Tyrone took a liking to.
“Ay guuuurl,” he said, stopping by her and posting up. “how you doin’?”
As Clyde walked by them, he grabbed Tyrone and pulled him along with him. “No, Tyrone, you said you wouldn’t do this.”
The group made their way into the first class section, located right at the front part of the plane. They were all awestruck by how luxurious it looked.
“Alright, before we close out each other and start relaxing, I have our seating chart here,” said Patel. They quickly looked over it and placed their bags in the overhead storage of their assigned cabin and got comfortable in their seats.
“Hey, Sticky!” yelled Rivs, calling back towards him who was in the cabin directly behind him.
“Yeah?”
“Dawg they have TV’s! We can watch the basketball game!”
Sticky sat there silently for a quick second. “Oh fuck yes!” At this point, Rivs and Sticky were caught up in the pre-game program and wouldn’t be distracted for anything.
“Hey Wahlburn,” whispered Spike as quietly as he could. He looked around to see if they were somehow being watched, but as far as he could tell, they weren’t.
“What’s up?”
“Look what I got, dude.” Spike, again, looking around, unzipped his bag and revealed a small bag of weed.
“How the fuck-”
“Shhhh, just let it happen.”
Wahlburn laughed. “You’re one crazy motherfucker.”
“Yo homies,” said Tyrone to his friends, “I ain’t never been on a plane, what it like?”
“You take off,” began Patel, who was across the room from him, “which can feel weird. Then we get to altitude, which is smooth sailing until a usually not so smooth landing.”
“Aight dog.” The plane began takeoff, which startled Poncho, but what didn’t? Soon enough the plane was flying high.
"How long is this flight?" asked Fluffy, looking out his window to see the rising plane pierce the clouds.
"About 8 hours," stated Jeb. "So we’ll get there at about 4 am in that timezone."
“Yo Wahlburn,” whispered Spike, “that’s more than enough time to blaze up.”
Wahlburn nodded. “Cool shit, whip the bag out.”
Soon, the intercom made a crackle and the voice of Quantico filled the plane. “This is your pilot Quantico Baxter speaking, we are now on our way to London. This will take about uh, eight hours, and uh, we aren’t expecting any turbulence or bumps during our flight. Shortly our, uh, flight attendants will be around to, uh, hand out beverages and snacks.”
“Now fellas, this is your co-pilot speaking. We want to make sure you know that, uh, smoking is not allowed on the plane and that, uh, you remain seated when the seat belt symbol is lit. Thank you.” The intercom made another crackle then shut off.
“Oh shit, Wahlburn, put the bud away and clear out the smoke!” Spike started to flail his arms around to clear the smoke.
“How am I supposed to clear out the smoke?” asked Wahlburn nervously, also flailing his arms around. The rest of the group noticed the mumbling coming from Spike and Wahlburn’s seat. They also noticed smoke slowly rising up from their spot. Since seeing smoke from the two was very common, no one came to help them.
“Aw shit, the flight attendants are coming!” exclaimed Spike.
“Fuck fuck fuck fuck,” repeated Wahlburn, flailing around harder. The flight attendant for their aisle came across Wahlburn and Spike, noticing the coughing and smoke.
“Were you guys smoking?” asked the attendant. From what Wahlburn could tell, she looked around the same age as Wahlburn and his friends.
“Yeah we were smoking some...cigarettes, then we heard the pilots say we couldn’t so we put it out. That’s all.” Spike looked her right in the eyes to retain his fake serious look.
The attendant looked at the duo for a few moments before dropping the subject completely. “Alright, well just don't do it again. Can I get you anything?”
“We’ll just have a soda and chips,” said Wahlburn, hiding a sigh of relief. The flight attendant poured their drinks and gave them their snacks, then moved onto the next passenger.
“Damn, that was close,” said Spike to Wahlburn.
“Yeah, but what are we gonna do now, we can’t smoke up anymore.”
Spike grinned. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got an idea.”
The attendant made her way around the room asking if anyone wanted anything. Her first stop after Spike and Wahlburn was both Rivs and Sticky. Both of them were so focused on the game on TV that they ignored her. She made her way over to Fluffy J, who was busy watching two Spanish Fútbol teams go at it.
“GOL!!” he yelled when someone scored on a fastbreak. He looked over at the attendant, “was that goal not awesome?”
“Yeah...,” she replied. “Would you like anything?”
“Nah chica, yo estoy bueno.” He turned his attention back to the game. The attendant nodded and made her way up the aisle to Jeb. Jeb was looking at something on his phone.
“Excuse me sir, would you like anything?”
Jeb looked over and shook his head. “No, I’m good. I’m just a little bit mad that my job put me to work even though I said I was going to be on vacation.” He continued ranting about the PH while the attendant snuck away.
Once she reached Poncho’s cabin, she saw that he was watching some random infomercial on some new sanitizer. “Would you like me to get you anything?”
Poncho jumped as he heard her voice. “Gah!”
The attendant jumped back in shock at his reaction. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you got scared easily.”
“I do not get scared easily. You just took me for surprise is all...” Poncho began to eye up the attendant’s cart. “Hey, can I have some of those chips on there?”
“Sure,” she said handing him a bag, “would you like anything else?”
“Do you have any sanitizer?”
“Sanitizer?” She looked around the cart and searched for a mini-bottle of sanitizer. “I’m afraid we didn’t put any on this cart. I can go get you one real quick.”
“No, that’s okay,” said Poncho. “I got my own bottle.” He took out a mini-bottle of sanitizer from his hooded jacket. He squirted it onto his hooves and began to rub it around.
Confused, the attendant looked at him. “If you had some, why did you ask in the first place?”
“I just didn’t want to use mine yet. This bottle was for Amsterdam only, but...I guess I can use it now.” He kept rubbing his hooves while the attendant walked past his cabin. As she reached Tyrone’s seat, she began to giggle.
“What are you doing?” she said, laughing.
Tyrone was jamming out to a music video he was watching on his TV, while eating a chicken leg. “What? A manly stallion like me has his needs.”
“I can see that. Would you like anything on our cart?”
Tyrone looked at the assorted items on the cart and shook his head. He looked back at the attendant and smiled. “Unless you’re considered on the cart.”
The attendant giggled again, “I’m sorry sir, but I’m afraid I’m not.”
“Shieeet.” As the attendant walked away back through the aisle to get to the others, Tyrone poked his head out of his cabin to look at her walk away. “Daayum, gurl. Dat ass, doe!” As she continued walking away, she heard his comment and simply smiled.
Once she reached Wahlburn’s and Spike’s cabin, she noticed that they both were missing. She walked past it, onwards to the aisle to the left instead this time.
As she pulled up to Cannon’s cabin, she saw that he was laying down on his reclined seat looking sad.
“What’s wrong sir? Can I get you something?”
Cannon looked up. “It’s about damn time you got here. I want some drafts. Lots of them.”
“Are you sure you want ‘lots of them’?” asked the attendant.
“You don’t think I can handle my alcohol? Please.”
“Alright, I’ll get them.” The attendant walked away to get some fresh beer for Cannon. After a minute or two, she returned with three glasses of beer.
“Mmmm, beeeeer!” said Cannon excitedly. The attendant wished him well and turned around to the other side of the aisle to Clyde’s cabin.
Clyde was wearing headphones, with his left headphone off his ear. He had his computer on his small table beside his seat open on his music. He remained looking out the window, while casually bopping his head to the beats of the music.
“Excuse me,” said the attendant, knocking on the small cabin wall. This made Clyde turn around and face her. “I don’t want to bother you, but did you want something while I’m here?”
“I think I’m good for now, but can I ask you something.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“This plane gets long range online connection right? Like even if we were in the middle of the ocean?”
“Yes, well, it should at least. In the past, airlines never really liked the idea, as it messed up signals and whatnot. I think you should be fine now though. Why, do you have to send an email to someone for your job?”
Clyde laughed. “Oh no, I promised my girlfriend I would webchat with her everyday while we were both away.”
“Is that so? It seems like you both are very close and care deeply for each other.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t tell you a time in the past year and half that I haven’t thought about her constantly. She became my motivation to play basketball again after my injury. The only problem is that most of the ones in this room calls me a douche because of her, but at this point, I really don’t care.”
“Don’t worry about them,” said the attendant with a smile, “I’ll bet that they are all jealous of you. I wish you two the best.”
Clyde laughed again. “That’s what I’m saying. Thanks again.” He put on his headphones again and once more was lost in the musical harmonies in his head.
The attendant waved goodbye and made her way to the last of the members in the back corner of the room, Patel.
Patel was laying down watching some German Fußball team play on TV. He also had a notebook laying on him. Once he saw the flight attendant he looked up.
“Did you want anything sir?”
“A glass of water would be fine.”
As she poured him some water she looked at his notebook. From what she could tell was, on the notebook was a blocked schedule of some sorts. “What’s that for?” she asked.
“Oh, nothing. I’m just trying to plan our few days in Amsterdam accordingly. We want to experience as much as possible.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to bother you anymore, enjoy the rest of your flight this evening.” As she turned away, she took a few steps and looked back at Patel. “You know, it’s funny. All of you in this room are so different, that I don’t know how you are all friends.”
Patel looked out of the window. The sun was below the flat horizon which made the sky look a mixture of orange and purple. “I have no idea either. I guess that’s what makes it interesting. But, to answer you, I think we all have the same love/hate relationship with Poncho.” The attendant gave a laugh and took her cart back into the attendant chamber. Patel looked at the TV, which was now on a commercial break for halftime. “I might as well take a quick piss before I miss anything.”
Patel got up and walked down the short hallway to the bathrooms. He passed Clyde, who still had his headphones on, who gave him a quick “hey” nod, Cannon, who was busy with his third glass of beer, and Wahlburn’s and Spike’s cabin, which was empty. As he reached the bathroom door, he saw smoke coming out of the outline of the door.
“Oh for fucks sake!” yelled Patel, banging on the door. “Can’t you wait until we get off of the plane?” Patel then went straight to the door and kicked it open.
“You chicken fucker!” yelled Wahlburn as the door hit the wall.
Spike on the other hand had been too stoned to notice the pissed off Patel. ”Wooow, Patel you’re one crazy dude,” exclaimed Spike.
“I’m the crazy one?” asked Patel with a quick chuckle afterwards. “I’m not the one smoking weed in the bathroom on airplane.”
“Dude, I think you’re just salty,” said Wahlburn. “We wanted to try something.”
“Try what?”
“We wanted to join that secret club that involves airplanes,” said Spike, tumbling over and laughing on the bathroom floor.
“The Mile High Club?” asked Patel. “You do realise this isn’t that, right?”
“No, fuck that shit,” said Wahlburn. “We’re talking about the ‘Really High Club’. You know, since we’re already flying super high in the sky, why not get high off weed at the same time?” Wahlburn and Spike high-fived each other and began laughing again before falling down.
Patel shook his head. “You guys are so fucking stupid. Get out of the damn bathroom so I can piss.” Wahlburn and Spike crawled out of the bathroom while Patel slammed the door behind him. “God, fucking idiots! Save your damn weed for Amsterdam!”
After Patel finished his bathroom trip, he made his way back to Wahlburn and Spike. They were both passed out in their cabin. Patel quietly laughed at them and walked down the hallway towards his seat. He then looked over to his right to where Cannon was also passed out with three empty glasses around him.
As Patel walked by Clyde’s cabin, he looked over and saw that this time he had his head near the window looking at the vast sky. He could see a small tear roll down his cheek.
“What the hell are you doing?” asked Patel. Clyde ignored him due to the headphones on both ears. Soon, Clyde reached out and touched the window, having more tears than before. Patel, who didn’t want to bust out laughing, walked into his cabin and just stared at him to notice him.
After a few seconds, Clyde turned around. Instead of looking shocked, he pulled off his headphones and stared back. “Did you want anything?”
“Yeah,” said Patel. “What the fuck was that?”
“What was what?”
“The whole crying thing and reaching out towards the sky. Did she just break up with you on a plane? That’s hilarious!”
“What? No!” Clyde picked up his headphones again and handed them to Patel. “I always wanted to listen to this song while flying on a plane. It’s crazy how the lyrics sound when you are actually in the sky.”
Patel took his headphones and listened to the song. After realizing what it was,he threw them off. “Really, “I Believe I Can Fly?!”
“Dude, it’s a good song. You can definitely get hyped up after listening to it.”
Patel sighed. “What happened to you man?”
“What do you mean what happened to me? I haven’t changed at all.”
“Whatever you say mate. You turned soft, you know, doing real pussy shit.” Patel turned around to walk out. “You know, there has to be a motive for you to come with us, I just don’t know what it is.” Clyde shrugged.
“Attention flyers,” said Quantico through the intercom, “we are here to educate you during your flight to London with our random European trivia!”
“Now ladies and fellas,” began the co-pilot Hill, “did you know that Amsterdam is sometimes called the ‘City of Diamonds’ due to the city’s large diamond industry?”
“And that has been your uh, random European trivia for the rest of the night. Uh, Enjoy your rest and we’ll see you when you wake up we will be arriving.” Quantico turned off the intercom channel, which made the loud crackle.
Patel stood there for a while to grasp what he just heard. “Oh my sweet Moon,” said Patel as he turned around back towards Clyde. “I know why you came here. You knew the nickname of this city all along.”
Clyde gave a slight smile, but remained calm. “Of course I knew. Rarity always wanted me to take her here, but we never got around to it. I decided that I could buy her jewelry while I was here.”
Patel looked at him thoroughly and shook his head. “So, you’re pulling the ‘douchebag’ move again.”
“No, it makes sense why I’m doing that because while you’re having a ‘blast’ at the Red-Light Districts, I’ll be going around the museums and shops because that’s a lot more fun.”
“Come on mate, you can’t go to Amsterdam without doing a little legal weed in public?”
“Well, it looks like I’ll be that guy.” Clyde put on his headphones again while searching for a sports station. Patel went back to his cabin.
“Fine,” said Patel to himself. “Amsterdam will be fun no matter what happens. Fuck Clyde and his bad vibes.” After a few more silent rants to himself, he fell asleep.