Big Daddy SEAL

by Mickey Miller

“Wait so what happened? You didn’t have to go?” Molly lifted her head to look at me, confusion in her eyes.

  “That’s what we all thought. Dad was so convinced that the problem went away that he never even told me I was adopted. Then my seventeenth birthday rolls around and Nick’s wife shows up, contract in hand.”

  “What?” Molly’s jaw dropped.

  ‘Yeah. Dad tried to pay her off. He tried everything to get out of it. This lady wouldn’t budge; she threatened to call the cops and the media. Mom had been gone for a year by then, so Dad ultimately left the choice up to me.” My voice went quiet, before I could bolster the strength to continue.

  “I’m sorry, Molly. I didn’t want to leave you, but I couldn’t let this random person destroy what was left of my mother. Mom made one mistake in her life and I couldn’t let that overshadow every good thing she’d ever done.”

  Molly was silent for a painfully long amount of time. I felt nauseous. The thought of it all crumbling apart with Molly again was too much to bear.

  “It’s alright, Luke.” Molly said, saving me from a fucking heart attack. “I forgave you today for everything that happened, not just some of it. What was this woman like?”

  “Horrible. She somehow blamed my family for destroying her husband and wanted to take that anger out on someone. I was fed and clothed and treated well enough, but I was basically her slave for five years. When I got out I heard you’d gotten married…”

  “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

  “I couldn’t. That was part of the contract; no one could talk about the deal.”

  “Jesus…” Molly hugged me as tightly as she could without mashing my bandaged. “I’m sorry you went through that and I’m glad you’re back.”

  My heart soared. I couldn’t love another person half as much as I loved Molly.

  It had been one hell of a day. I went from the outrage of learning Molly was back with Jason, to fighting for my life, to winning her, to now…. My adrenaline was peaked and my soul had never felt lighter.

  We laid there for an hour and all I could think of was, “How long would things stay this good?”

  Forever, I realized.

  Our relationship would change and evolve over time. We’d grow old, and experience the rest of our lives together. It would be this good in different ways forever.

  Molly kissed me again, then rolled off the bed to start the shower. I turned on the TV for background noise and was about to join her when I heard the news.

  “Several members of the band Deconstructed are in the hospital this evening after a serious car crash. Police say drugs may have been a factor—” The TV droned on.

  Oh shit, I thought. The Deconstructed were supposed to play Gloria’s store this Friday. There was no way that was going to happen now. Richard didn’t tell me any numbers, but he did say that having them play there would be make or break Black Rocket Records.

  “You coming, Elmo?” Molly called playfully from the bathroom.

  “Go on without me,” I told Molly. I hated myself for turning her down, especially when she was wet and naked, but now my brother needed me. Considering how much he helped me make this happen, I at least had to try to return the favor. “I have to make a few calls.”

  Richard

  Twenty Six

  “So, like, is the show really canceled?” A passing teenager idly asked Gloria, who was standing on a stepladder, busily tapping liquidation sale signs to the exterior of Black Rocket Records.

  Gloria exhaled with annoyed frustration, then resumed her work. “Yup.”

  All merch, all records, F-ing everything is half off, read the signs she was hanging. Beneath that read, Tonight’s show is canceled.

  “Oh…” The kid wandered off, not looking where he was going.

  I grabbed the surprised boy by the shoulders to stop him from walking directly into me, then turned him and let him go. Without a word of protest the hopelessly aloof teen ambled away.

  I stood behind her for a moment, watching her. It was hotter than any late morning should be allowed to be. Gloria wore a gray tank top, a black baseball cap, sunglasses and a skirt. Her shiny metal studs caught the light and accentuated her fair jaw line and milky features.

  I was instantly reminded how much I was attracted to her.

  “Your signs have a typo,” I said. “It says tonight’s show is canceled.”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake…” Gloria muttered, letting her forehead rest against the window. “You see the news, pal?” Finally she turned to face the source of her newest pain-in-the-ass. Seeing that it was me, her eyes flared excitedly for the briefest of moments, then immediately narrowed.

  “What do you want, Richard?”

  “I came to watch the show.”

  “The Deconstructed are in the hospital. How have you not heard the news?” Gloria turned out her palms dejectedly, then let her arms fall to her side.

  It pained me to see the hurt in her face. Behind her tough girl act, I could tell that she was crushed. Her business meant the world to her, and now because some idiot musicians overdid it on drugs, she had to suffer for it.

  “I didn’t come for that show.” I waved to the stretch limo parked across the street.

  My brother exited the vehicle, followed by four other men in dark shades who kept their heads down like those always on guard for paparazzi. I could only imagine the groveling, threats and favors that were called in for Lucas to make this work, but somehow he did it.

  Lucas did what every rock magazine in the country thought was impossible.

  There was a stunned look on Gloria’s face as each of the men said hi to her when they got close enough. Gloria took off her glasses as if the dark layer of plastic was lying to her.

  “Hey, guys, this is Gloria Grant, owner of Black Rocket Records,” Lucas said. He then turned to Gloria, a smirk splitting his face. “Gloria, this is John, Oscar, Isaac and Robbie—”

  “Gunmetal Tears…” Gloria blurted, then realized that was probably rude. She shook each band embers hand in turn. “Shit. Hi. Sorry. It’s nice to meet you! What are you doing here?”

  “We’re no Deconstructed,” Lucas shrugged, then winked. “But I’m pretty sure we can still draw a crowd. We’d like to play that empty stage tonight, if you don’t mind.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? Yeah, of course!” Gloria pointed inside with shaking hands. “Make yourselves at home, there’s an office in the back you can hang out in if you want some privacy.”

  Lucas thanked her, then led his band mates inside.

  “How…” Gloria looked at me, her rain clouds eyes sparkling. On the step ladder she was nearly as tall as I was. She wasn’t starstruck. It’s what the band symbolized that made her hands shake. They were the last minute out-of-nowhere life saving that might keep her business afloat.

  I smiled and said nothing. My words were stripped away by the beauty. If I could only see one thing for the rest of my life I’d want it to be her face in this moment. I had never seen her so happy and relieved.

  It made me want to devote myself to making her wear that look for the rest of her life.

  “I thought they hated each other,” Gloria sniffed away her surging emotions. “After the thing in Berlin…”

  “No, turns out they only hated Lucas. I don’t think they’re getting back together or anything, but they’re at least taking a night off from being angry at my brother.”

  “Oh my God,” Gloria carefully wiped the tears that threatened to ruin her black mascara. A renewed look of worry marred her perfect features. “The show... I canceled all the advertising. How the fuck are people going to know? Fuck!”

  I placed a foot on her stepladder to keep from toppling over as she suddenly jerked her phone from the waistband of her skirt. I quickly grabbed her hand, steadying it.

  “Breathe,” I said. “I’ve taken care of everything. You just say the word and every news outlet; blogger and radio show in the area—if not the country—will hear
about Gunmetal Tears one night only reunion show at Black Rocket Records.”

  “Why?” Gloria asked with hard, upturned eyes; this was all so tough for her to believe. I could see her difficult upbringing in those wounded eyes. It made my soul ache. “You don’t even know me. Why do any of this?”

  A million replies flooded into my head, but the only thing I could say was the most honest. “I don’t know… Because you’re worth it. And because I was a fool to ever give you up in the first place.”

  Gloria crushed me in a hug I thought and hoped would last forever. She whispered, “Thank you,” and began to cry.

  “I’m sorry I’m not better at this. I’ve—” I hesitated. I felt stupid and vulnerable. I was always prepared, I mastered everything I set my mind to, but when it came to Gloria I felt like a fumbling teenager; awkward and drunk off emotion. Then forced myself to continue, I needed to say it as much for myself as for her. “I’ve never been in love before now.”

  “Stop making me cry, you jerk!” Gloria’s chest heaved with laughter and sobs.

  We stayed embraced like that until we became brave enough to finally look at each. I’d never been so overwhelmed by emotion. I could feel that my eyes and nose were red. The remnants of smudged black rivers ran down her pearly cheeks. We were an utter mess, but at least it was honest.

  On the sidewalk, late morning on a Friday, Gloria and I laid our souls bare to one another.

  The band was inspecting the stage and fooling around when we came inside. A few customers hovered nearby wondering if they were who they thought they were.

  “Not bad, big brother.” Lucas took one look at both of us and smiled from ear to ear. “Crazy, stupid love looks good on you.” Then he turned to Gloria, “Once you pull the stick out of his ass, he’s actually a pretty decent guy.”

  “Yeah, I’m beginning to see that.” Gloria smiled at me in all her punk rock glory. “Where’s Molly? I feel like she had a hand in all this somehow.”

  “You’re probably right. My girl is crafty like that…” Lucas’s eyes narrowed in feigned suspicion for a moment. “She’ll be swinging by when school closes so you’ll get to ask her yourself later.”

  One of his band mates called Lucas over to the stage. Before he left, Lucas shot me another look and a nod; the gesture said good job, man.

  “What happened to ruthless Barbie?” Gloria asked when we were relatively alone.

  “Who cares,” I said, frankly. It didn’t matter what happened to her, I got the only girl I wanted. I then put my arm around Gloria, leading her to the office. “C’mon, we’ve got a concert to promote.”

  Richard

  Twenty Seven

  The rest of the afternoon had gone seamlessly.

  I had days to line everything up. My assistant and I went through all the preliminaries ahead of time. We’d prepaid for the ad spaces, had the all the promotional copy written up, had the band members record the various sound bites that radio shows would use.

  I wanted everything to be as easy as possible if Gloria said yes.

  Gloria didn’t really have much to do aside from talking Judy down from a metaphoric ledge. Judy had learned the hard way that it was very important to make informed decisions and not just jump into things half cocked.

  Gloria was right. Judy had a long way to go, but it seemed like she understood what was at stake now. Judy decided to take more of a backseat in Black Rocket’s decision making process and even debated on enrolling in some small business management classes.

  Then the fans came.

  Word of mouth seemed to spread faster than the advertising, because people arrived in droves. It was a good thing that all the liquidation signs were taken down, because they weren’t at all necessary. Inventory flew off the racks prior to the show starting. Gloria had to separate lines for cash and card.

  Molly showed up just in time to be conscripted into helping ring people out. I wasn’t spared either, I was given the cash-only line and a quick retail crash course. Even with the added cashiers, we still couldn’t keep up with demand.

  Well over half their total inventory sold out in hours, merchandise couldn’t be brought out of storage fast enough.

  An additional detail cop had to be hired last minute to deal with the massive amount of foot traffic and lines that stretched down the block. Everyone wanted to see this once in a lifetime reunion show; and after a while people were getting turned away due to reaching the building’s capacity.

  People lost their minds when Lucas took the stage to thank everyone for coming out. He was fully at home up there. His shirt was off and his long hair unleashed, my brother was the quintessential rock star. With his bulging muscles and electric guitar he looked more like a warrior than a musician. It was no wonder fans fell at his feet.

  All things considered, it was amazing how well-adjusted he turned out where so many others had cracked under that kind of public scrutiny.

  “Is this what you hoped for with the other band?” I asked Gloria loudly over the cheers of the rest of the band being brought out and introduced. The registers were all closed, the inventory was partitioned off and watched by private security; for all intents and purposes Black Rocket Records became a nightclub.

  “This is way better!” Gloria yelled excitedly, cheering along with the crowd. I loved seeing her this happy. She’d lost the cap and the shades hours ago, freeing her to jump around without dropping or losing anything.

  Her shock of black hair whipped back and forth as Gunmetal Tears played their first song. I liked Lucas’s band, but I was transfixed by Gloria. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she started dancing. Her arms pumped, her ass and tits bounced, she sang along; Gloria exuded an aura of being absolutely carefree.

  This was what was in store for me, I realized, watching her. It was all so strange and different. Her lifestyle lacked that safe sense of rigidity I’d grown accustomed to. For a moment it was frightening, as most radically new experiences tend to be.

  “Dance with me!” Gloria jumped into my arms and kissed away all my anxiety.

  With her by my side I felt indomitable, like I could handle anything the world could throw at me. I’d always been confident and cocksure, but this was…something more.

  I couldn’t put my finger on it.

  Gloria and I danced poorly and clumsily and we didn’t care, the whole point was just to move together. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had this much fun with a girl outside of the bedroom.

  When was the last time I even danced?

  The song ended and I kissed her. I lost myself so fully in her pomegranate-flavored lips that I didn’t hear Lucas calling for me. The spotlight had to fall on us for me to get yanked back down to the planet.

  “Get up here, Richard,” Lucas demanded.

  I was hesitant, but only because I wanted to stay with Gloria. Gloria wasn’t having it, shoved me toward the stage to face whatever was coming my way. The crowd parted for me and Lucas lent a hand for me to climb up on stage.

  I thought I’d be giving some sort of speech, thanking everyone for coming out tonight and praising Gloria’s store; instead of all that Robbie, the bassist, handed me his instrument. After Lucas introduced me, I protested that I didn’t know any Gunmetal songs.

  “But I know you know some Deconstructed songs. Looks like we finally made it to that talent show, huh?” Lucas smiled mischievously, slapped me on the back, then went right into the opening of one song I was pretty sure I remembered.

  I was rusty as hell, but I got through it. I glanced up at Gloria whenever I could, she feigned swooning and I instantly relaxed. I wasn’t playing for the hundreds of people in and out front of the store; I was playing only for her.

  Lucas played guitar and sang, even doing the back-to-back with me during one of the instrumental parts. The whole thing was an intoxicating experience and before I knew it I was strumming out the last few chords.

  “Richard King, everyone!” Lucas called out, inciting the crowd
to roar. I hopped off the stage and made my way back to Gloria, people patted me on the back and fist bumped me along the way.

  Doing that made me understand my brother more. The screaming crowd, the noise, the lights, the satisfaction that came with doing everything right made me see why he’d chosen that path. I used to think it was frivolous, but experiencing it first hand was thrilling. It wasn’t something I’d ever pursue, but I loved watching Gloria’s face light up during the performance.

  “I do alright?” I asked Gloria after a big greeting kiss.

  “You were great!” She yelled over the crowd as Oscar, the drummer, did a solo. “Let’s go to the office.”

  I paused with Gloria at the door of her office when Lucas got back on the mic. It looked like he had something important to say.

  “Before we get back to Gunmetal’s greatest hits, I want to do something special. I’d been working on this one fucking song for months now and I couldn’t figure out the ending up until recently. You mind if I play it?” The crowed screamed excitedly, which was as close of a go ahead as he was going to get. “I’m still working on the title, so for now we’ll just call it… Molly’s Song.”

  No shit… Good for you, little brother.

  Gloria pulled me into the office and closed and locked the door behind us. We were behind the speaker stacks so the music wasn’t as deafening. The office was big enough to house her and Judy’s desks, a few extra chairs and some overflow cases of inventory.

  “You know my parents met in this very building. I guess it used to be a diner back in the day,” I said, really liking the irony. It was hard not to imagine what life would be like with Gloria. There was a beautiful chaos that came with the thought of being with her.

  “You’re not going to ask to marry me are you?” Gloria shot me sly grin as she closed the blinds.

  “That would be crazy.” I carefully avoided the question.

  “Good. Because I’m crazy enough to do something stupid,” like say yes, her eyes said. Gloria walked over, tearing off her tank top and bra.