Chapter 1

The dusty couch, the tired rocking chair, the smell of liquor and whatsoever is left of the living room after the hangover by Jason's grandmother Janet and her three overly aggressive yet lovely friends Martha, Judy and Margret. The four of them have been friends for over 40 years, although Janet and Margret had known one another longer before they met the other two at the local farmer's market in the 60s. one can refer to them as the three musketeers or in this case the four musketeers, some refer to them as "the good, the bad, the ugly and extremely aggressive". Jason walked in on them only to be welcomed by the strong smell of the night before liquor.

  "Early to bed early to rise is what they say but, in this case, late to bed and getting completely wasted at 11 in the morning is your usual routine", Jason said, alluding to his grandmother's heavenly snore. One by one they all woke up greeted by a mild headache and the brightness of the nearly afternoon sun, Martha, Judy and Margret each stood up to get back to their various houses before a missing persons alert is posted about them, not literally though they live in the small town of Knoxville and everyone knows that the four musketeers are always in one another's house, although most of the time they are in Janet's house so as to keep her company whenever Jason is not around and of course for some good ole liquor while reminiscing about the fun of the past and how they met their husbands.

   "Jason be fast and get ready for the mall", Janet hastily said, as they were preparing to go to the mall and get somethings for Jason's journey the next day and if time permits to also visit some relatives, Jason had won a scholarship from a big firm to go study arts and music at the University of California, and the last three months has been the slowest time in history for him as he has been waiting almost all his life to go to LA the city of Angels.

Jason and Janet arrived at Martha's house on their way from the mall and unsurprisingly Judy and Margaret were also there, they were ushered in with a warm welcome and as usual Janet didn't hesitate in joining the usual business of helping herself to a glass of liquor. They didn't bother to offer any to Jason with reasons that he is still very much naive and they also don't want to take him down the alcohol path against his freewill, they've always believed that Jason will and should start drinking at his own pace. The ladies didn't seem like their usual self, I guess they are going to miss Jason, who wouldn't miss him though? Everyone around Jason is going to miss him, they are going to miss his jokes, antics, and the fact that he is also helpful to everyone around him is also another reason to miss him.

  "Take these 100 bucks for the ladies and booze of course", Martha deafeningly said, while handling a hundred-dollar bill to Jason.

Martha has always been known as the aggressive and easily irritated one among the four ladies, one could easily notice the surprise on Jason's face when Martha handed the money to him as she had never gifted anything to him before, as a matter of fact, over his 10 years of knowing Martha this was the very first time she was giving Jason a gift either a monetary or material gift. One could say deep down over her liquor drunken sunken throat and her unusual dried hair there is a whole bunch of nice Martha ready to be explored.

  "Let's bow our heads in prayers for Jason", Judy muttered to the astonishment of everybody, Judy that has never been in church in the last millennium, the same Judy that could be mistaken for the devil's advocate, it seems Jason's journey is taking a heavy toll on even the least expected people.

  It was time to leave even though Jason wished he could have stayed a little longer, but they still have to make one final stop at Uncle Willy's house before heading home finally. Uncle Willy is Jason's dad cousin, he is a farmer who spends most of his time either tending to his plants and chickens or minding his business under a mango tree in his farmhouse while sipping a cold beer to the melodious tune of one of the greatest country music singer Blake Shelton. He was surprised at seeing Jason and Janet at his place as he is known for not having a lot of visitors, he and Jason aren't really close so the visit was a lengthy one. Before leaving uncle willy gave Jason what one will consider to be an advice, he whispered to him  "Never fight to prove you are a man and you also have to fight when you are a man". Jason was perplexed at his uncle statement, he can be under the influence of alcohol Jason thought. Soon after Jason and Janet bid uncle willy good bye as they head home and he promised to visit them before Jason departs to California.

At dawn the next day, Janet and Jason Toretto said what might likely be their last prayers together before friends and well-wishers trooped in one after the other. First it was Janet's friends Judy, Margret and Martha, followed by Uncle Willy as promised and few other neighbors. One would expect to see at least a friend of Jason but that was not the case, Jason is not someone to be considered as an introvert but he just has hitches in staying committed to long term relationships.

  Emotions are high, some at the verge of crying, Janet in the midst of all these was just recalling all the memories she has shared with Jason, raising him up as an infant and now seeing her little angel about to leave her side to a far distance for the first time in forever, Jason wasn't left out in the whole emotion saga too, even though he is happy that he is about to go explore outside his comfort zone he still couldn't help but feel sad that he is not going to see his "Gam Gam" as he fondly calls Janet in the next only god knows when.

Uncle Dwayne pulled up in a blue Honda shortly after most of the gathered well-wishers had dispersed, the only people remaining were Janet's friends and Uncle Willy. Uncle Dwayne is a long-distance uncle of Jason and he owns a restaurant in California as such he tasked himself of taking Jason to California and personally dropping him off in his new college. Initially he had wanted Jason to stay with him at his place but Jason managed to convince his grandmother to allow him move straight to his college dormitory.

    "Take care Jason and stay out of trouble", Janet whispered while trying to prevent rivers of tears from flowing down her cheeks.

"Yes grandma", he responded while he hurriedly rushed to wipe the tears off his grandma's face

"So long boy, the city of Angels might turn out to be the devil's hub so be careful out there", Uncle willy said while adjusting his cowboy's hat.

  "Yes sir", Jason nodded in affirmative.

  Janet's friends also took turns in bidding him goodbyes, as Jason approached Uncle Dwayne car, he stopped midway and rushed back to his grandmother for one last hug and he whispered in her ear "I will be back and I will be dammed sure to make you proud".