I smiled at my son. “Good memory, Trey. Now, tell me what you found out about Red Fox. What are those meditation sessions exactly?”
Jeff chugged his juice and pulled a small plastic bag out of his pocket. It was filled with dark brown, shriveled nuggets attached to black stemlike threads. They looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite identify them.
“What’s in the bag?” I asked. “And what does it have to do with the co-op?”
“These are ’shrooms, ma’am.” Jeff held them up.
“’Shrooms?” I repeated, mystified at first, and then horrified. “You mean hallucinogenic mushrooms?”
“Yup. For two hundred bucks, you get this little bag and a session on how to use them safely.” He tossed the bag on the table. “I didn’t try them ’cause I know that’s not what you wanted me to do. I didn’t want to break the law, either. These things scare me. But I pretended to chew on some so Jasper wouldn’t catch on.”
Understanding that I’d sent Jeff into a truly compromising situation, I was overcome with a wave of guilt. Weakened, I sat down.
“Can you believe it, Mom?” Trey touched the plastic packet of mushrooms. “I’m helping them cultivate edible mushrooms for the grocery store, and all this time they’ve been growing these! ’Shrooms aren’t innocent like weed. They’re dangerous.”
My mouth went dry as the implication of their discovery sank in. I moved to the sink and poured a glass of water. “All drugs are dangerous, Trey.” I took a sip.
“Whatever.” Trey clearly wasn’t looking for a lecture. “Tell her what happened, Jeff.”
Jeff took out a sheet of paper. “Well, Jasper recited a bunch of rules before we could unzip our bags.” He read from the page.
Start with a small amount. Only take them if you don’t have anything important coming up for twenty-four hours. Trip in a relaxed environment with people you know and trust.
He snorted. “Like I trust Jasper! Anyway, you can read the rest yourself.” He handed me the list.
I scanned over the warnings about side effects, bad trips, and advice on only trusting mushrooms from a reliable source to ensure they are not poisonous. I noticed that there was absolutely no reference to the Red Fox Co-op anywhere on the sheet. Worriedly, I glanced at Jeff. “You really didn’t try them?”
“Honest, Ms. W. I pocketed the bag to bring to you and just started acting weird like everybody else there. They were bouncing around the room, laughing at everything. Jasper was the only one who stayed straight, but I did a pretty good job of fooling him, I think.” He shook his head. “Still, it was scary seeing what the ’shrooms were doing to the other kids. Turned them into total idiots.”
I reached over and briefly touched his hand. “I’m sorry to have put you through that. It was irresponsible of me to send you into a situation that could have caused you harm.” The culpability I felt over giving money to a young man to buy drugs was overwhelming. “I’m just glad you’re all right.”
He ran his fingers through his hair and shrugged. “Yeah, I’m good.” His cheeks flushed. “I’m kinda glad I saw what it was all about. Definitely turned me off ’shrooms.”
“Well, I suppose that’s one good thing to come out of this experience,” I said, picking up my purse from the counter. “And I owe you fifty dollars.” I handed him the money.
Jeff stuck the bills in his pocket. “Thanks.” He stood and reached for the bag of dried mushrooms, then pulled his hand back. “I guess you want to keep those, huh?”
I looked from him to Trey. “What do you boys think we should do with them?”
“I’m going to bring them to the police,” Trey said emphatically. “Jasper’s gone completely against the co-op’s philosophy with these, and he should be stopped.”
Panic lit Jeff’s eyes. “You won’t tell them that I bought them, will you?”
“Totally not. I’ll just say they were grown at Red Fox.” Trey glanced my way. “Okay, Mom?”
“I think that’s the best way to handle this, Trey. You can keep everyone else out of it.” I wondered what Sean would say if he knew I’d paid Jeff to investigate the meditation center. “You boys want to stay for supper?”
Jeff picked up his jacket. “Thanks, but no. My girlfriend is cooking me a meatloaf tonight. I gotta go.”
When Trey shut the door behind his friend, he eyed me worriedly. “Jasper really screwed up. I wonder how it’ll affect the co-op. And Iris.”