by Jesse Jordan
“Stay home for tonight, Joey. The hotel's in Santa Monica, within walking distance of the apartment. But... can you meet me there tomorrow morning at eight? I'd like to make sure I have plenty of time, and if my father shows up, I'd like a little bit of support.”
I grin, nodding. “Just remember, I got my ass kicked in the fight I told you about.”
Andrea laughs, her tears disappearing from her voice in the relief of our humor. “Then bring Teresa. I bet she can take on a whole platoon of Marines no problem.”
We both laugh, Andrea's tapering off to an intense silence. “Joey, thank you. I... even more than this, I need you. Not for the hand up, even if I had the apartment and everything else, I still need you. You... well, this isn't something I want to say over the phone, so I'll tell you later, okay?”
“Okay,” I reply, my throat suddenly thick. “I understand, and... I think I feel the same way. I'll see you in the morning.”
Andrea and I hang up, and Mama comes in, putting her hand on my shoulder. “Joey, whatever that was... you are a good man.”
“I learned from the best, Mama. But I need to make a few more phone calls. Bringing Andrea here... the rest of the band needs to know. And I think maybe, I need their help.”
“That is what friends and family are for, hijo. Besides, it will be nice to talk with Rocky, I miss having a proper Spanish speaker to talk things over with,” Mama teases lightly, patting my shoulder. “And Bella would be nice to have over, too.”
“What about James?”
Mama chuckles and turns around to go back to the kitchen. “I'll get my step stool.”
Chapter 11
Andrea
It feels weird, looking around the apartment. So many of the things inside are still here. The plates, the silverware, the couch, even the television are all just sitting like I'm stepping out for a long weekend trip to Catalina or going out to Vegas or something, not leaving forever.
Joey comes out of the bedroom, a large military style duffel over his shoulder. When he showed up this morning, he had two of them in the back of his Buick, insisting that I pack them up. “There's no reason you should let Darren get a single thing from you that you can use. Besides, I happen to think you're hot as hell in everything I've seen. I'd like to see some more of it, too.”
I'll probably have to dry clean all the stuff I shoved in the bags to get out the wrinkles, but it feels good, and I'm touched when I see the faded marker on the side. Rivera, T L it says, and I realize that this bag belonged to Joey's father, carefully kept and taken care of for I don't know how many years. The marker's visible now on the side of the bag over Joey's shoulder, and he comes over, putting and arm around my shoulders. “You okay?”
I nod, giving him a squeeze. “Yeah. Just feels strange, walking out like this. And I'll admit, I'm a little scared. For most of my life, roughing it meant going to only a three-star hotel.”
“I can understand that. When Papa died and we moved to Los Angeles, I was scared too. I think it's normal to be scared when we're looking toward a future that we're not too certain what's going to happen,” Joey says softly. He squeezes my shoulder, and I turn to him, kissing him again. I've lost count of the number of kisses we've shared over the past three and a half hours, but each one is special, each one thrilling and reassuring. “To be honest, I'm a little scared right now.”
“Bravery is going on even when you're scared,” I paraphrase, giving him a quick kiss. “And with you Joey, I feel very brave.”
“Good, because we've still got three hours to kill off,” Joey says with a chuckle. “Don't ask me what or why, Ian made me promise this morning while I was eating breakfast, and he didn't give me any details. He said if we come home before three in the afternoon, he's going to beat my ass. So, I figure he's got some sort of party arranged or something. But I made him a promise, so how about we go find a movie or just go hang out on the beach again?”
I nod, my mood lifting. Still, it's weird looking at my keyring, the keys all serving as reminders of the ways my father paid for my lifestyle and just leave it on the counter, closing the door behind me. The angry, juvenile part of me wants to just leave the door open or to wreck things. I bet the flat panel LCD TV would make one hell of a crash when it hits the parking lot. I remind myself though, that's what Chad would do, and I'm not Chad.
We end up going to the beach, but with it being November now, it's getting too cold to really enjoy, although it does make the sand more or less abandoned. “So, what did Angel do for Halloween?”
Joey laughs, pulling out his phone to show me. Angel, in a total homage to his uncle, went as a rock guitarist, right down to the lipstick and eyeliner. He even had a little guitar, maybe foam and plastic, I'm not sure. “Wow. He's the coolest looking four-year-old trick or treater in existence. Don't tell me you wore stage gear too?”
Joey shakes his head and swipes left, pulling up a photo of him with the other guys from the band dressed up as horror characters. Joey's dressed as Michael Meyers, Rocky's got a good Pinhead look going, while the giant Jason Voorhies in the back must be Ian. “Jesus, I haven't met him yet, but he's huge. If Ian wants to stop being a rock drummer, I think he'd have a good future just as a horror character. You know, he's tall enough to play Darth Vader for the next Star Wars flick.”
“Ian's going to like you saying that, he loves those movies. We decided to take Angel and everyone to a neighborhood party up in Simi where Rocky lives. In return, we're going to be pulling off one amazing Christmas spread,” Joey says, putting his phone back in his pocket and taking my hand again. “Angel had a blast, too. It was good.”
“What about Thanksgiving?” I ask. “I've always loved that.”
Joey grins and kisses my hand as we start walking again. “Plan is for Rocky and Cora to get married then. That'll give them the marriage, a week for the honeymoon, then all the rest of December to chill out, do some practicing before we start up the tour on January tenth in Atlanta.”
“A Thanksgiving wedding. Sounds interesting, any guesses as to what the banquet's going to be?” I joke, and Joey laughs. “Or are you cooking for the whole thing?”
“No way, beautiful. They're not going overboard, but with my family, Ian and his family, and of course Rocky's parents, Cora's parents, and I think they invited some of their high school friends too, and a few folks from the record company. Maybe fifty people total. Well, fifty-one now. That is if you'll be my date for the wedding?”
I squeeze Joey's waist again, giggling. “Of course. It gives me a chance to catch the bouquet, right?”
Joey laughs but doesn't object to the implied meaning, and we keep walking, turning back when we get close enough to see the Venice Beach pier. There's a lot to do there, enough to take up three hours by itself, but I'm feeling too excited, I want to see what's being planned. I can see it in Joey's body language as well as we drive into Thousand Oaks. I don't feel weird at all as Joey pulls off the freeway and makes the turns towards his house, and once again I'm overcome with just a sense of fate moving me where it wants to.
That is, I feel calm until we pull up in front of Joey's house, and we see two trucks parked out front, one of them festooned with all the stuff that, along with the sign, tells us it belongs to a general contractor. “What the... Joey, what's this?”
“I don't know. Come on, let's find out,” Joey says softly with confusion in his voice, parking street side behind an SUV. We go around the trucks, both of us stopping short when we see what's going on. The door's open, but the inside of the place looks like anything but a garage. Four men are working intently, two of them putting up insulation while another two work on nailing wallboard over the studs. Another worker is running wire it looks like to an overhead ceiling fan, and I can see near the wall cases of track lighting ready to go too. “Guys?”
The two men working on the wallboard turn around, and I immediately recognize Rocky Blake and Ian Ivory, I probably should have picked Ian out just from his height. He
is huge, his tousled mop top bringing him down from scary to just intimidating until he smiles, and he just looks like a huge, nice guy. Rocky, on the other hand, comes over, grinning his famous grin, looking us over. “Well, well, we'd hoped to get this done before you guys got here. Hi, Rocky Blake.”
Rocky offers his hand and we shake while Joey goes up to Ian, staring up into his friend's eyes for a moment before the two embrace, trading thunderous slaps on the back as Joey realizes what Ian's surprise was. Rocky watches for a moment before leaning in to whisper in my ear. “I was a little surprised too, but that's how Ian operates. We'd have probably have been done with the modifications, except the contractors showed up late. Then again, what do you expect when Ian just called them last night?”
“Why?” I ask, half amazed. “You guys... you're...”
“We're brothers,” Rocky says softly, giving me another one of his trademarked smiles. “And Joey likes you, a lot. So, if our brother needs help, we help him. Besides, he doesn't ask that often, he helps us at least three times as often as we help him.”
“Thank you,” I answer thickly, surprised when Rocky puts an arm around my shoulders and squeezes. He's not taking advantage, he's not trying to hit on me, he's just saying... welcome to the family. It feels good, and I feel close to being moved to tears when he lets go. “Uh, where's everyone else?”
“Oh, don't think that they're being lazy. Maria, Bella, and Angel are out shopping for a bed and that sort of stuff while Teresa and Cora are packing up Joey's stuff to move out here. If we can get a move on, we'll have his new temporary room all laid out by the time dinner's ready. We're doing the traditional Fragments moving meal,” Rocky says, raising his voice a little. “Right, Ian?”
“Damn right. Triple meat medley pizzas with extra bacon!” the huge man calls back, coming over. He looks me in the eye, stern at first, to the point that I'm starting to get nervous before he grins broadly, nodding. “Yeah. You'll do just fine for Joey. Come on, Rock, we've got work to do.”
Ian turns, but not before giving me another smile. Rocky chuckles and points to the house. “Go on, let Ian, Joey and me do the whole grunt work thing. We can divvy up the pizza later. Besides if you hurry, you might find Joey's old stash of Playboys.”
“Rocky!” Joey yells, horrified, but I can't help it, I laugh as I run towards the front door, leaving Joey torn between helping his friends and trying to figure out if Rocky's set a trap for him. Just as I go inside, I hear Joey turn back to the work in the garage, yelling. “Rocky, if you...”
I find Cora and Teresa in one of the bedrooms, clearly Joey's by the looks of the stuff in the closet. Teresa looks up as she takes clothes out of the dresser, smiling when she sees me. “Welcome, Andrea.”
Cora's just as beautiful as the pictures I've seen of her, and I'm surprised when she comes over and hugs me, actually picking me up off the ground an inch or two. She's strong for a pregnant woman, even in her petite body. “So, you're the one, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
Cora, whose hair is pulled back in high twin strawberry blond ponytails, grins as she sets me down. “You'll find out for yourself when the time comes. Come on, we've still got a long afternoon in front of us, the boys still need to wrap up before we put together the bed. Whenever it gets here.”
It's midnight before Rocky scoops up his daughter and everyone leaves, the work finally complete. We'd finished by toasting the whole thing with tall bottles of beer, Cora skipping since she's driving as well as pregnant, and Ian's going to stay overnight with them at their home. Maria and Teresa go to their bedrooms soon afterward, and I sit with Joey in his new 'apartment,' the walls still bare and the creases still clear in the brand new king sized sheets. “Where did she find this, anyway?”
“Knowing Maria, she probably went nuts over at Bed, Bath & Beyond. She loves that place, seriously. One of my biggest joys was the first time I got a good-sized royalty check and I took her and Angel over there to let Maria pick out a brand new bathroom set. I don't know if I'd have gone with the brown headboard though, I like black, but it's okay. Maria's happy, so I'm happy.”
“You've made me happy too,” I reply, sitting down next to him on the bed. “Joey, this is amazing. And I promise I'll pay you back for every cent of what you guys put out for this rush job somehow. Even if it takes years.”
Joey shakes his head, taking my face in his hands and stroking his thumbs over my cheekbones. “You'll do no such thing, Andrea. This was a gift. First from Ian, then from me. And you're going to keep accepting these gifts, no return or repayment or obligation required. I'm not your father, there are no strings attached in this offer. You are welcome to stay here as long as you want, my room is now your room. Not borrowed, not lent. It's yours.”
I blink, tears in my eyes, and I nod before yawning, exhausted by an afternoon and evening of hard labor. “Joey, thank you. Can I be honest?”
“You can say whatever you want to me, isn't that what being boyfriend and girlfriend is all about? I'll be honest first though, I was worried there for a few days that you didn't want that anymore.”
“I do, more than anything. And right now, what I want is to kiss you and see if this bed is as good for making love as it looks like to me. But I'm not sure if I can stay awake that long, and it'd feel weird to me to wake up tomorrow knowing that your mother might walk in on us.”
“We'll figure it out,” Joey says with a small chuckle. “Because I want to make love with you, too. But you're right, we'd fall asleep afterward, and I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with Mama walking in on us, either. For now, though, good night, Andrea. Buenas noches.”
“Good night, Joey. Buenas noches.”
His words help me fall asleep, but honestly, I think the main reason I can rest so quickly and so easily is that Teresa, probably in a case of forgetfulness but maybe not, didn't change the sheets on Joey's old bed. His pillow, the blankets, they all smell just like him, and I close my eyes enveloped in the warm glow of his essence, and the warm embrace of his blanket.
I do think I'm going to get rid of the rock poster on the wall.
I wake up to a nearly silent house. Other than the hum of the fridge in the kitchen I can't hear anything, but I feel comfortable, stretching languidly before I roll out of bed and head down the hall to the kitchen area. On the fridge, I find a note written in feminine script, the words touching me.
Good morning my new sister (Do you mind if I
call you that?). Joey has recording with the guys,
and Mama and I have a babysitting job to do.
Sorry, we couldn't be here when you woke up, but
enjoy the rest. We'll be home probably around
six thirty, Joey might be back earlier, you know how
musicians are. There are leftovers in the fridge for
lunch and the Wi-Fi password is FragMEnt27984,
make sure you watch your caps! I look forward to
getting more time to talk with you this evening. By
the way, Joey snuck a kiss in on your cheek before
he left, but you were out too much to do much
more than stir. It was cute.
Love
Maria
It's cute, it's innocent, and at the same time, it moves me to happy tears. I open the fridge to see exactly what Maria promised, a Tupperware with what look like two burritos inside. I close the door and think about what I want to do. I have freedom, I have a warm place to sleep and a family that is already willing to accept me with open arms. Ironically, I've never had less stress on me, but inside I feel a fire. I want to contribute, to give to these people as much as they've given to me.
It's not the money. It’s about the feeling, the effort that everyone just gave. As if I'd asked for them to lend me a pen, not their lives and their house. Ian never said much last night, but he worked tirelessly, outworking the contractors, not missing a single beat. Rocky was the leader, coordinating the guys and making sure that they worked we
ll together, while Joey was moving all the time, providing the little touches that made sure everything went well. It was Joey who made sure that the switch cover plate was in place for the lights, and he was the one who double checked that the garage door was down and locked securely. It's a great setup. When Joey wants, they can lift the garage door still, but when it's down you can't really tell the difference from inside compared to the other walls.
No, I have to give to them as much as they gave to me. I just need to figure out how to do it, because right now I'm not sure how I'm going to even heat up lunch, I don't see a microwave anywhere.
Sighing, I go into the living room, I'll figure out lunch later. I glance at the TV, but I've spent too much time over the past ten days watching daytime crap shows, especially after I turned in my resignation. There wasn't much else to do in the hotel room after all. Instead, I leave the living room and go back to the bedroom, fetching my laptop. I connect to the home Wi-Fi to access my personal e-mail and I'm pleasantly surprised when I see I've got a short, to the point e-mail from Harry Bethlehem. Gimme a call. H.
Why not? Harry was always a good guy, and if he's asked me to give him a call, I'll give him a call. I dial his number, kicking back on the comfortable couch while the phone rings.
“Hello?” Harry says when he picks up, probably not recognizing the number. “Harry Bethlehem.”
“How's the baddest urban reporter from the mean streets of Utah doing?” I ask, feeling better just hearing his voice. “It's your favorite newbie.”
“Hey 'Dre!” Harry says, laughing. “Wow, I'd thought maybe you'd dropped off the face of the planet. You didn't pick up your phone for three days, and I wasn't sure if you were going to answer that e-mail or not. How're you doing, girl?”
“Much better than I was just two days ago, Harry. How're things around the office?”
Harry sighs, his mood darkening. “Honestly? Be glad you called me when I'm out of the office on a story. Right now, even mentioning the name Andrea Coates anywhere in the building is likely to get you crucified.”
