"I don’t really know." She lied.
"Liars go to hell, you know that, Catholic girl." He teased. He had been raised outside of any church, which is another reason Adia did not approve. Their grandmother was a stickler for religion.
"Probably better than you do, heathen." She returned his volley. "Things are just changing a bit too rapidly."
"Getting a bit too intense?"
"No, the intensity is kinda backing off a bit. That’s what’s got me scared I guess." She admitted after making sure that Laurel and Stan were a good distance ahead of them. Her lover seemed enthralled in conversation with her walking partner.
"Interesting. Are you planning on riding out the storm then?"
"I honestly don’t know." She lied again. Nicole had already made her decision. She just did not want to tell anyone yet.
"That’s not good. You need to decide before it gets too late."
"Are y’all trying to lose us?" Laurel called back. She and Stan stopped to allow the others to catch up.
"Well, we were trying, but apparently not hard enough." Nicole teased.
"Can’t get rid of me that easily, Hotshot." Laurel grinned. "I have my own key to the Warehouse, remember?"
"Yes I do. Now, do we all go in the store?" Nicole asked. They only had to cross the street. The music store was directly in front of them.
"C’mon. You can help me choose a bass." Laurel cajoled.
"Yeah, I’d like to see what all they have. I’ve never been in here before." Michael looked at the storefront with obvious interest.
"It really is a neat place." Stan commented. "I should go in and see what to send Jessie for her birthday." All the Heberts played instruments, though most played the piano. Jessie, Stan and Nicole were different. Nicole still practiced the violin, Stan had long ago quit playing the trombone, and Jessica played the flute.
"After you." Michael held the door for the others.
"Thanks." Nicole smiled at her brother. Laurel and Stan were already inside drooling over the music equipment.
"May I help you?" The paunchy older man asked as he waddled over to the bassist.
"I’m just browsing really." Laurel was drooling over an acoustic guitar. It was black with green roses painted on the front and sides. She refused to look at the price. She knew it was way out of her price range.
"For anything in particular?" She rolled her eyes. She hated pushy salesmen.
"Basses. I was looking for a new bass."
"Ah, do you play or is this for a present?"
"I play." She swallowed a groan. She also hated it when salespeople asked her if it was for someone else as if she could not play the bass.
"Need a lefty or a righty?" The man asked.
"Either. It doesn’t matter."
"Really? Forgive me, miss, but I doubt that." He scoffed as he stopped in front of the bass section.
"Allow me to show you. Do you have an amp set up?" Laurel loved a challenge, especially when the object was to prove someone wrong.
"Certainly." The man seemed smug. "Choose one of each and meet me over there." He pointed to a section of the store dedicated to testing the equipment.
"Not a problem." She grinned wickedly. She took her time looking over the selections. She chose a beautiful black left handed bass and a v-shaped headless bass in dark green for right-handers. She carried both by the neck over to the area the salesman had indicated.
As she plugged in the right-handed bass, she was treated to a trip down memory lane. Laurel was born left handed, though her teachers and parents had attempted to force her to use her right hand she had refused. Her first bass, the one she still played during practice and concerts, was built for a right-handed player. Somehow, she and Jon managed to reconfigure the antique bass for left handed use. Her parents had gotten her another bass as a bribe for good grades when she was in high school. It was also a right-handed bass. As a result, she could play either way. She could actually write with either hand as well. Though she chose to use her left hand more often, she did keep the other in shape. It saved her a lot of trouble when she had broken her arm several years ago.
"Now this should be a treat." Stan waved Michael and the others over to watch the show.
"It might be." Laurel commented as she rolled her wrists to warm them. She was not as proficient with her right hand as she was with her left, but she was better than average.
Slowly, she started with a few scales before playing a well known bass line. It was easy but impressive nonetheless. The salesman did not seem impressed, but the customers and her friends were. She began playing an original piece that she had composed with her brother. It was hard to play right handed, but it impressed the salesman.
"Now the other?" She asked. He nodded as she plugged the other bass into the amplifier.
If Laurel could be viewed as an average bass player when she played with her right hand, she was anything but average when using her left. Again she started with simple scales before moving to recognizable bass lines. Finally, she played a new composition inspired by a bad movie Sheryl made them watch two months ago. It was funk, and required her to literally almost slap the strings in parts. Laurel became so engrossed in her playing; she did not notice the crowd forming around her. She followed the song to its end and was startled out of her trance by a round of applause.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my sister-in-law." Michael shouted. "Way to go Laurel."
"Wooohoooo." Stan shouted. The only one that did not say anything was Nicole. The photographer did not look happy, though she sported a forced smile.
"Well, young lady. Seems you proved me wrong. How long have you been playing bass?"
"Playing? That was my first time." Laurel could not resist the smartass remark. "Seriously, I’ve been playing since I was fourteen, so eight years."
"Were you wanting to buy one?" He seemed more eager now that she had shown him what she could do with one.
"No thanks." She handed them back to him. "The action is a little slow on the black one. Are we ready?" She looked over at her friends and her lover.
"When you are." Michael was smirking. She guessed that he overheard the conversation that prompted the display.
"That was pure evil." Nicole commented as they left the store.
"Evil? That was great." Stan practically cheered.
"Did you find something for Jessie?" Laurel directed the conversation to a different topic. Nicole still seemed tense, and the bassist instinctively knew it had to do with the display.
"Nope. That fat bastard didn’t even ask if I wanted to look at anything. I’ll send her a gift certificate from one of those stores online." He answered.
"I guess that will work." Nicole shrugged. "I’m sure she could use books or something."
"There’s always movies and CD’s too." Michael suggested. "Now, shall we to the other interesting part of our day?"
"Yeah I haven’t been to the Aquarium since it opened." Nicole sounded a bit more cheerful. Laurel hoped it was not crowded. She planned on finally getting her lover to talk.
"Me either. I heard they have albino alligators." Stan even sounded cheerful. "I can’t wait to see one of those."
"I’ve never seen a real alligator." Michael’s admission did not surprise them. It would be hard to see a live alligator loose in southern California.
"We had one living behind our house once. Jon and I named it Cain." Laurel smiled at the memory. "Of course our mother was a little less than thrilled, but our dad loved it. He even told us what to feed it. It would come right up to the docks when it was meal time."
"What happened to it?" Stan asked.
"Wildlife services and the Park Rangers relocated it when it got too big to keep. They actually put Cain in the Park and as far as I know, he’s still there."
"Did you ever go see him?" Nicole asked.
"Yeah, we’d ride our bikes down there until that got old. I went to pay my respects occasionally in high school. It was a great place to ch
ill when I needed to be alone. I haven’t been there since I graduated high school." The last time she had been there had actually been the night of Jon’s funeral. She stayed almost the entire night talking to an alligator.
"I used to do that with the River." Stan commented. "It’s great at night watching the lights reflect off the water. I guess everyone has a place like that."
"Mine was surfing." Once again Michael’s answer did not surprise them. "There’s something about being alone on the surf that appeals to me. What about you Nicky?"
"The park down the road from Grandma’s. There’s this big tree there near the golf course but away from the walking track. It was a great safe haven." The photographer answered as they approached the ticket window at the Aquarium. They were all pleased that there was not a line.
"I know that tree. Great big oak?" Stan asked. At Nicole’s nod he continued. "I got my first kiss under that tree. Do we wanna see the IMAX too?"
"I don’t care." Laurel shrugged. The advertising posters did not look that appealing.
"We can come back and do that later if we want to." Michael did not look thrilled either.
"Yeah, I’m not interested either." Nicole had lapsed back into what Laurel termed a ‘not mood’. The photographer gave no evidence of being happy or sad; she was just there.
"Two adults please." Laurel handed the woman behind the glass money for two tickets.
"Just the Aquarium?" The woman asked. The bassist belatedly realized that they also sold tickets for the River Zoo Cruise, the IMAX, the Aquarium and combinations of all three.
"Yes please." She took a map of the building and a pamphlet as well as both tickets. "Thank you. Here ya go." She handed a ticket to Nicole as Stan stepped up to the window.
"Thanks. We ready?" The photographer asked as her brother and cousin joined them. Michael used a different ticket window, and finished about the same time Laurel did.
"Yep. Lay on McGruff." Stan held the double doors open for them.
"That’s Macduff." Laurel corrected.
"Whatever."
***
Nicole stood under the glass dome watching the scuba divers feed the fish. The glass dome was the entrance to the main part of the Aquarium. It stretched over and around one entire room, allowing an under-the-sea panorama of fish, coral, and other assorted marine life. The photographer smiled gently as a small stingray floated from the bottom of the tank to where the scuba diver waited. The ray’s white belly and mouth was easily visible, and Nicole thought for a moment that the creature was smiling at her. It was an amusing sight.
"This is great." Michael walked over and stood beside her. Laurel and Stan were on the other side of the room watching Angelfish compete for food. "It is a lot different from this perspective than what I see when I eat surf."
"Yeah. Look, that big stingray is showing off." She pointed to a larger ray. It was swimming in circles around the scuba diver. Its fins were rippling with the current it was creating as it waited for the smaller rays to depart.
"They’re kinda cute like this, but I wouldn’t wanna meet one up close." Her brother commented.
"Neither would I." Nicole agreed. She remembered tales of people that caught a stingray and got stabbed for their troubles. "Shall we to the next part?" She asked as the scuba divers began floating to the surface. Feeding time was over and so was the show.
"Yeah. This place really is great." He was still in awe.
They rounded up Stan and Laurel before exiting the domed room and entering the next part. The next room was a circular one. It had several glass tanks inside the walls, each with species found within the Gulf of Mexico. They took their time walking around, making sure that they saw each tank. They almost had the run of the Aquarium since not many other people were there. It was strange for a Saturday, but they did not want to question fate. Of course, it was lunchtime, and most of the tourists would either be eating or walking around before the real heat settled in for the day.
The little group followed the signs to the escalators and discovered the crowd. The second story contained the Amazon River exhibit and the famed white alligators. They stayed there for almost half an hour watching the owls, alligators and piranha. Unfortunately, they missed feeding time for this floor as it was at the same time as the main tank’s feeding time.
"Hey Stan, ready to move along?" Nicole asked. He was enraptured with the piranha. The photographer did not think he noticed anything else in the room.
"Yeah. Where do you think I can get some of these?"
"You want one?" She asked. She knew her cousin was strange, but she would never have guessed he would want to own such dangerous fish.
"Several. I want several. Imagine how cool that would be." He finally tore his gaze away from the simulated river and looked at her. "They would scare people faster than my snake does."
"Stan, when was the last time I told you that you are one twisted individual?" She asked. "You can’t own piranha. It’s highly illegal."
"Yeah, and?"
"Come on." She pulled him by the arm over to where Laurel and Michael were waiting. The two of them had been discussing the alligators. Nicole was certain she was the only person that saw the entire exhibit. "Move along, move along." She waved them to the next part.
It was easier for the four of them to make it through the Artic exhibit. Though the Polar Bears and penguins were interesting, the room was kept a bit too cold for comfort. It was the sea otters next door that caught their attention. The otters had been rescued in California and brought to New Orleans. After they healed, it was decided that they had grown too tame to release back into the wild. The trainer was with the otters and made each one perform tricks before feeding them. Even Laurel and Stan, the two more ‘macho’ members of their group, were charmed by the otters’ antics. They watched the show until the trainer ended the session.
"What’s next?" Stan asked as the crowd around the otter tank dispersed.
"Says here sharks." Laurel took the map from her pocket and examined it.
"Great." This was the part Nicole was dreading. She hated sharks. "Do we want to eat first?" She could smell the fast food from where she was standing.
"I thought we could go somewhere for lunch a bit more upscale than flat burgers and preheated pizza." Michael looked over at the food section.
"Sounds good to me. Let’s go see the sharks." Stan bounced on his toes.
"Yeah." Laurel grinned. Nicole groaned. She was discovering that her lover and her cousin had more in common than anyone would have expected.
They walked past the food court section and gift shop to the shark tank. The tank was really an exhibit of sharks found within the Gulf of Mexico. Nicole thought that was what scared her. These sharks were local. The tank was designed to show two levels. They would see the bottom level as they left the Aquarium. A replica of an oilrig with real barnacles provided the setting. The walls surrounding the tank were actually painted to show how the Gulf appeared at dusk. The room was dark and most of the light came from the tank and the oilrig. It was no wonder that the photographer found the display eerie.
She stood watching one of the large hammerheads glide around the outside of the tank. For a moment she felt like that: ugly, alone and searching for a different way. Before Laurel’s display of talent in the music store, she was ready to disregard her plan. After seeing what her lover could do on the bass, Nicole decided to stick to it. She could not deprive her lover of the opportunity, or the music community of such a great talent. She could also see a joy in the bassist that she never saw anywhere else. Laurel glowed when there was a bass in her hands.
"You ok?" Laurel used the opportunity to slip her arm around the photographer’s waist.
"Yeah. Sharks just kinda flip me out a little." Nicole searched the room, but no one else was there. The four of them were alone with the sharks.
"Ah, a victim of the Jaws generation."
"Yeah. Phil made us watch that one night when he was babysit
ting. I had nightmares for weeks after that my bed was a boat and sharks were circling it."
"That’s understandable. I know a lot of people that movie terrified."
"It didn’t scare you did it?" She already knew the answer. Not much scared the bassist. It was one thing she admired about her lover.
"Nope. You wanna know what scared me from my fascination of sharks?" The bassist asked.
"Sure."
"When I was fourteen, my father took us all out deep sea fishing. We left right after dawn that morning. It was my parents, Jon, a few of Jon’s friends and me. We parked first off one the islands that separate the Mississippi Sound from the Gulf of Mexico. We were going to catch baitfish there. Anyway, Jon’s friend Dude, I don’t remember his real name, hooked something. This ‘something’ pulled a thirty-foot boot fifteen feet across the water contrary to the anchor line, bent Dude’s pole past a ninety-degree angle, and broke fifty pound test. We never did figure out what it was, but we named it a demon fish. I’ve always thought it was a hammerhead."
"Wow. What did y’all do?"
"Nothing we could do. The line broke; we caught more fish and later went out to the rigs. However, we did not go swimming as we had planned." Laurel smiled. "It makes for a great story."
"That would have scared me to death." Nicole suppressed a shiver.
"So, what’s wrong?" Laurel changed the subject. She had one hand in her pocket and the other wrapped around the photographer’s waist.
"Nothing. I just still don’t feel well." Nicole kept her eyes straight ahead. She knew that even in the dim light, Laurel would see through her.
"You know, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you for a while now." The bassist sounded a bit nervous. "If I were to…if we were to…would you maybe?"
"Can we talk about this when we get home?" Nicole stopped the bassist before Laurel could form a sentence. The photographer instinctively knew what her lover wanted to say. She did not know if she would have the strength to say no if she let Laurel ask the question.
"Yeah. We can wait and talk about it later." The bassist sounded crestfallen. She eased her arm from Nicole’s waist and turned to find the others.
All That Jazz Page 5
