My Midsummer Night's Dream

Well, fuck me.

Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream was about a night of discoveries, of couplings and of romance. Last night, I had my own midsummer night's dream. I made discoveries of a different kind well into the night. Like till 3 am.

The Boy and The Exchange wanted to have friends over. Last night was the only night they could do it. No more than ten friends they said. I agreed to make myself scarce and let him have the house till I came home for the evening. But I had a headache all afternoon. Then it started to rain hard. So I stayed in. I rented two movies and watched them on my laptop in my room.

Through my headset, I could hear faint sounds of The Boy and his friends out front talking. They weren't laughing loudly, shouting or screaming. But they were drinking beer and some smoking cigarettes. Most of these kids are 18, one even 19. I wasn't going to make a fuss.

When my first movie ended, I realized all was quiet out front. I thought The Boy's friends had left as it was after midnight. I went downstairs. I met Ryn in the living room. She asked if I knew what had just happened. She explained.

About 30 minutes ago, The Boy had moved everyone out back because he didn't want their voices to wake up the neighbours. Then a neighbour knocked on the door to ask if a Mazda 3 parked down the street belonged to anyone in the house. It belonged to The Boy's friend, Rie.

The neighbour had heard a window breaking, came out of his house, and saw an older man riding away from the car on his bicycle. He checked the car and saw that a brick had been thrown in to smash the car window. He phoned the police.

The police was already examining the car when I went outside. Rie said her iPod had been taken from her car. She had left it where it was visible. That was the only thing that was missing. The vandal had not noticed her father's very expensive digital camera under the seat.

During the kerfuffle that ensued, some of the kids stood out front and smoked. Our next door neighbour came home and offered me a cigarette. That's when The Boy came out and saw me. He raised his eyebrows and went back into the house.

A few minutes later, The Exchange came out, took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit a cigarette. Then he saw me and went into a guilty fit. He cornered me to explain. I said I needed no explanation. He said he needed me to understand. He's a social smoker, not an addict. It was very important to him that I not think less of him because he smoked occasionally. I was smirking to myself. Really, do I know any social or occasional smokers?

Then another kid, Ani, gave me his life story. He's turned himself around, he said. He belonged to a gang, dealt drugs, had been arrested for assault, and been in jail. But he's clean now, he said. He's changed his life around because of the love of a good woman. They are no longer together but she had a lasting impact on him. Also, the loyalty of the gang mind is still there. If The Boy or any of his friends were in trouble, he would protect them.

"You're lucky," he said, "The Boy is such a good guy. He's so anti-smoking and anti-drugs. But he's fun to be with. Me, sometimes I feel like I've seen too much and lived too much. I've experienced more than some people in a life time. But now I am beautiful. Look at this face and smile." Ani is 18. He's in the same year at school as The Boy. He's going to university to do computer science in September.

I put away all the empty beer bottles. I said, "The police might come in when they finish dusting Rie's car. I don't want them to associate the break-in with beer in this house. The officers out there are young and inexperienced." The kids understood what I meant and helped pick up the empties.

Then Rie's car alarm went off. While taking photographs and fingerprints in her car, the police set off her car alarm, not once, but twice, at 2 am. After the second time, Rie unlocked her car and offered them her car keys. See, inexperienced they are.

Later, Ani said to The Exchange, "Ryn needs you outside. Know what I mean?" He rubbed his hands together. The Exchange went outside. I said, "I don't know what that means. Is Ryn okay?"

"She's fine. She just wanted to be with The Exchange."

"They're dating?"

"Yes."

Huh?

The last time The Boy and I walked back into the house together, I put my arm around him. I said, "This night was like our Midsummer Night's Dream. It was our night of discovery of many things."

He said, "Thanks for being so cool about everything."

When the police left at 3 am, some of the the kids left, some went back into the house. They made food, watched TV, played guitar and sang. Not loud and ruckus noise. Just pleasant, relaxing choral singing. They sang till who knows when before they fell asleep.

Here's what I have learned from this experience.

1. Young people and alcohol don't mix. I know alcohol was unrelated to the car break-in. But it's like bad karma. You have young people, you have alcohol, bad things happen. It's a law of nature.

2. The Boy has really interesting friends who are responsible, good kids.

3. Good for The Boy to be strong of character and ethics to not smoke or do drugs when his friends do and he has access to people with these substances.

4. The Exchange feels stressed, pressured, and angry about needing to choose a direction in his life when he isn't ready. Yet, he feels the need to please. He is an adorable but conflicted soul. Hence why he adores The Boy. "He is so happy all the time," said The Exchange.

5. In a way I can't explain, The Boy and I bonded.