The Rock Chamber Boys : The Complete Series

by Daisy Allen

I’m not as amused. “Is she always like this?” I ask Jez, throwing my hands up.

  He shrugs, “Pretty much.”

  “Then, no! I don’t fucking want her on the tour with us! She’ll ruin everything!” I yell, much louder than I mean to, and everyone falls quiet.

  Jez frowns at me, his mouth falling open.

  There’s a deep, red blush rushing up Anca’s face and her eyes glisten. She turns and runs out of the room, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.

  I curse under my breath and wonder whether I should wait to hear the abuse from the group or just chase after her now.

  “What the hell? Dude. That was really uncool. Why would you say that?” Sebastian demands, shaking his head.

  “I’m sorry! I told you guys we need to discuss it, but you wouldn’t listen.”

  “But you didn’t have to be so fucking rude.”

  “Ugh, I know. She just… ugh she was just all…” I grind my fist into my palm, like rubbing salt into a wound.

  “Dude, she was probably just trying to fit in, she didn’t say anything worse than the shit we fling at each other every day.” Jez jumps in, defending his sister.

  “I know, I’m sorry I overreacted. But we still need to talk, guys. I don’t… I just don’t want her in the group.”

  “So, talk.” Even Dennis sounds upset with me.

  Cadence shakes her head and waves her hand, stopping the conversation. “No. Someone should go after her.”

  Everyone’s eyes turn to me. Wide. Judging.

  “Me?”

  “Yes, Dickwaffle, you’re the one who made her cry.” Jez glares at me.

  “What if I do it again?”

  “Here’s some advice, don’t.”

  “Fine!” I surrender. “But don’t blame me if-…”

  “GO!” They all yell at me.

  “I’m fucking going!” I shout back at them as I stomp out of the room, hoping I won’t be able to find her.

  No such luck.

  She’s half way to the elevator when I enter the hallway. I take a deep breath. This is going to be more fun than a prostate exam by a cactus.

  “Anca, stop.” I call out.

  She doesn’t, she just runs faster. Of course. What is wrong with this maddening woman?

  I take off on a run towards her. “Anca! Come on, I’m sorry! Can we talk?”

  “No!” she yells without turning around, still refusing to stop.

  I quicken my pace and gain on her, reaching out to touch her shoulder when I catch up to her. She shoves my hand away and spins around, her eyes wide and wild, like a cat on the caught in a trap.

  “Don’t fucking touch me,” she hisses.

  “Whoa. Sorry.” I step back, my hands up. I give her a moment to calm down. “Hey, um, I’m sorry about what I said. I was out of line and I didn’t mean it.”

  “Of course, you did,” she responds immediately. “You don’t want me to go on tour with you guys. Do you?”

  I feel myself about to lie, but I don’t. What’s the point? So, I tell her the truth. “No. I’m sorry. I don’t.”

  She nods, slowly, turning a thought over in her head. “At least you’re honest. But why?” Her eyes lock on me in that hypnotizing way that she does, and her voice wavers as she asks, “Am I not good enough to play with your band?”

  Fuck, no. How could she think that?

  “God, no, Anca. No, that’s not the reason. If anything you’re too good.”

  “Shut up. I was just giving you credit for at least being honest with me.” She pulls her gaze from mine, and it gives me a moment of relief.

  I reach out and touch her on the wrist, before I can stop myself. “No, listen to me. I am being honest. You’re seriously amazing. I’ve never heard anyone play the harp like you. Like you were born to do it.” She looks at me with a small smile for the first time in all the times we’ve butt heads. But I know it won’t last. I pull my hands back. “Look. I just… I don’t know if I trust you. What do you want? Why would you want to play with us? You could be a star in your own right.”

  She waves my words away, her cheeks flushing red. She really doesn’t believe me.

  “I don’t know why you think you can’t trust me.”

  “Well, let’s start with… why didn’t you tell me that we’ve met before? Last night, at the bar when I first came up to you? Why did you pretend we were strangers?”

  Her eyes narrow, like she’s running through it all in her head again. And hating me all over again. “Ah. So that’s what this is really about. Look, I thought you did recognize me, I thought that’s why you were coming over to my table. And then when it was clear you didn’t… I was, I was really embarrassed. So, I guess I was just covering my embarrassment by being a bitch.”

  And now I’m being the jerk. “I’m sorry, I really did not recognize you. You just… you just don’t look the same at all. You were such a cute kid.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Oh, thanks, now I’m a horrendous hag?”

  “NO! I mean… fuck. Why do you always twist my words around?”

  “Why are your words always so offensive?” She challenges me.

  “Because you’re always trying to get a rise out of me.”

  “Oh, trust me, there’s no part of me that wants to get any part of you to rise.”

  “Arghhh!” I shout, my hands coming up to hold my head.

  She just shrugs and walks over to the elevator and jabs at the down button over and over.

  “See? That’s just… that’s exactly why I don’t want you to come along.” I sigh.

  “Which part, the part where I reject your masculinity, or because I’m an horrendous hag part?”

  “Arggghh!” I shout again. “What is wrong with you? Why would you even JOKE about being a hag, when you’re so fucking stop-men-in-their-tracks stunning?!” I slam my fist against the wall. “Ow! Shit!”

  She looks startled and backs further away from me.

  “Sorry. You just… you make me so mad.”

  “Sorry. Look. I didn’t know this before, but, I really want to come play with you guys. You’re…” she rolls her eyes and I know she’s about to say something she doesn’t want to. “You guys are amazing, and I, ugh, I hate admitting this, but I really enjoyed playing with you before. So, when you said you didn’t want me to come. I was just really disappointed. Am. Am disappointed.”

  “I’m sorry. I just feel like you’re constantly trying to wind me up. You can understand why I wouldn’t want that when I’m trying to perform. This whole thing… the band, with the guys, we work because we trust each other implicitly, that we’ve got each other’s backs. If there was anything that disturbed that, it would all come crumbling down. The way you and I are bickering all the time – can you see why it might be a total disaster?”

  “I do, and I’m sorry that it’s been that way. I guess we just rub each other the wrong way,” she shrugs.

  For a moment the words “rub” and “each other” flash in my brain and I bite the inside of my cheek to ignore it. Focus, Marius. She’s Jez’s sister. No rub.

  Oblivious to my inner thoughts, she’s silent for a few seconds and sighs. “Sorry I’ve been such a bitch. I guess I’ll tell Jez that it’s a no go.”

  And suddenly the thought of her not being around trumps all the annoyance of the last 24 hours. Before I can stop myself, I hear myself saying, “No. Don’t. Look. We got off on the wrong foot. Why don’t we… why don’t we try to get through some rehearsals and in a few days if it doesn’t work out, we’ll decide then.”

  The look on her face tells me I’ve done the right thing. “Really?”

  I shrug, “Yeah, I’ll try not to be too much of an insensitive asshole.”

  She lets out a short laugh, “And I’ll try not to be such a sensitive witch.”

  I feel my eyebrows raise at the word. “Witch?”

  “Yeah, I… er, I may have been called that before in my past.”

  “Oh. You don’t say. I can’t
imagine that…” Her eyes narrow trying to read my tone and I force myself to smile.

  “You fu-…” she starts and then clamps her mouth shut and I can see, our pact to behave is going to take some effort on both our parts. She forces herself to smile and I can’t help but grin at how much it must be killing her.

  “Come on, let’s go back, before they’re done conspiring how to kick me out of the band and get you to replace me.”

  She hesitates, then rocks forward on her feet and walks past me. I follow behind her just as she flips her hair and there’s a waft of her scent.

  Vanilla.

  Vanilla cotton candy and liquid silk.

  Chapter Seven

  Anca

  “You guys should do that song as a duet,” Cadence tells me, as we’re freshening up, getting ready to go out for her farewell dinner.

  “Oh, um, no. I’m sure the songs they already have will work great. The ones you’ve been playing.”

  “Come on. If you have ideas, don’t be afraid to tell them. They’ll resist at first, but I’ve been there. They’ve been playing as a band for 12 years. Hearing different opinion, and from a girl, can make them a little…” she makes a look that wouldn’t look out of place on Munch’s The Scream painting.”

  “You… you suggested songs?”

  “Hell, yeah. And you should too. If they like it, great. If they don’t, screw ‘em and play it anyway. Make them learn to like it,” she says matter-of-factly and I think I might be a little in love with her. She’s so confident and assured. No one would know she’s not the famous one in her relationship.

  “Something tells me they would not appreciate this conversation.” Especially that buffoon, I think, before I bite my tongue, reminding myself that we’re on a truce.

  “I bet they didn’t think they’d like monogamy either.” She gives me an exaggerated wink and wiggles her engagement ring at me. “Oh great, Emily’s here.” Cadence waves to a stunning, petite brunette who has just walked through the door with Brad. I remember Jez telling me that they’re recently engaged. “Come meet her, she’s the other Rock Chamber Boys permanent groupie.”

  I watch as Cadence skips over to Emily and pulls her into a huge hug.

  “Hey Ball!” Cadence yells.

  “Hey Chain!” Emily replies and they give each other dramatic air kisses before dissolving into giggles.

  “Anca! Come here!” I make my way over, a little intimidated by how striking Emily is. But as soon as I go over there she gives me a big smile.

  “Hi Anca, it’s so nice to meet you! This is Ben,” she gestures to the little boy hugging Brad’s leg.

  “Well, hello, Ben.” I kneel down and ruffle his hair. He stares at me for a moment, unblinking. I squirm a little, under his scrutiny. He’s so little but he has such an intense gaze. Then he breaks into a huge smile and asks, “What’s your favourite ice cream flavour?”

  “O-oh. Um, I love anything that has chocolate chips in it.”

  His eyes grow wide before he responds. “Me tooooo. It’s my absolute favorite.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Brad says, as I stand up. “He’ll eat anything if it’s got the words ‘ice cream’ in it.”

  We all laugh and head down the hall way to Jez and Marius’ room where we’d agreed to meet up. After our discussion earlier, Marius and I came back and told everyone we’d sorted out our differences and that if the others agreed, he and I were ready to start rehearsals for the tour.

  Jez didn’t seem as happy as I thought he’d be considering it was his idea in the first place, but hey, that’s Jez. If he always made sense he might not have even chosen the career he has, considering what we went through in our childhood. The thought instantly darkens my mood and I try to push the thoughts away, tuning back in to the conversation.

  “What’s everyone discussing?” I whisper to Jez.

  “We’re having the same argument we have every bloody night.”

  “Where to go for dinner.” They all chime in, as if rehearsed.

  I can’t help but laugh. They continue arguing for a few more minutes before I interject with an idea. “Ok, how ‘bout this. I’m going to pick a number between 1 and 50 and whoever chooses the closest number, gets to pick the restaurant.”

  They all pick their numbers and I can’t help but inwardly giggle as I realize who’s won.

  “And the number I picked was number 1! And the winner, who picked number 2 is…. BEN!”

  “Hey, no fair, he only knows like 5 numbers, he had a smaller pool to choose from.” Marius pouts.

  “So, Ben, where are we going?” I ask him.

  He jumps up and down with excitement as he yells, “BEST. PLACE. EVER!!!”

  ***

  “Your shoe size, ma’am?” The guy at the counter asks me and hands me my bowling ball.

  “It’s um… an 11,” I whisper.

  “A what?” Marius snorts, shaking his head disbelievingly, and then looks down at my feet.

  “Shush!” I hiss, dropping my handbag down to sit on my toes, trying to hide them from his eyes.

  “Oh my god! Are you secretly harboring the Hulk’s feet?” He says, his eyes lit up, as he pushes my bag away.

  “No! Go away, don’t make me throw this bowling ball at your head.”

  “Miss, that’s against the rules,” the guy at the counter says, dead pan, handing over my stripy red and white bowling shoes and points to a sign on the wall.

  Marius squints at it. “No Throwing Bowling Balls At Other People,” he reads slowly. “Huh. So it does. So, I’m safe.”

  I pout, playing along, appreciating his efforts to bury the hatchet between us.

  “Hey, over here.” Jez waves to us and we wander over to him. We sit down and kick off our shoes, replacing them with the dubious looking and smelling rentals.

  “Hey Bozo, nice going with the restaurant choice game,” my brother tells me rolling his eyes. “I love getting dressed to the nines to end up at a bowling alley.”

  I shrug, sticking my foot in the shoe, cringing at the thought of who’s foot was in it before mine. “Maybe it’ll teach you guys to stop fighting over something so trivial next time. Then you could be fussing over some unpronounceable French liver dish instead of enjoying the delicious real food they serve here.”

  “Dinnerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr is served!” A voice announces behind us, and we turn to see Brad with a tray filled five storeys high with fries and hot dogs and burgers and sodas.

  “YUMMM!” Ben yells, clapping as his mother hands him a cup of fries. “Thanks, Auntie Anca!”

  My heart warms seeing how happy Ben is and I reach over and steal a fry from his cup. I watch him, waiting for him to throw a tantrum or tell his mom but he just grins and holds it out to me offering me another one.

  “Dude. Is Ben the most mature one here?”

  Everyone laughs. Apparently, they’ve heard this before.

  “He keeps us in line, doncha Benny boy?” Brad says, ruffling his hair, the love in his eyes for the little boy so sincere I feel a twinge somewhere I think my uterus should be.

  “So, how are we gonna do this?” Sebastian gets up, shaking his foot as if he’s hoping the shoe will fly off.

  “Well, eight of us, how ‘bout two teams?” I suggest.

  “Yay! Can I be captain?” Ben jumps up.

  “Of course!” Sebastian says. “Who do you want to be Captain of the other team?”

  “Hmmm Aunt Anca, cos she let me pick the restaurant.”

  “Aww, thanks, Benny. Okay, you go first!”

  “Okay… I pick… Uncle Brad!” He shouts and jumps onto Brad’s lap.

  “Well, that was a waste of 12 hours of labour,” Emily grumbles.

  “Your turn, Auntie Anca.”

  “Okay, let me see. I pick Sebastian!”

  “Cool, why me?” He asks as he wanders over to join me.

  “Um, ‘cos it looks like you might’ve been picked last for teams in high school, and I didn’t want to give yo
u traumatic flashbacks!”

  “I’d be offended. If it weren’t true.” Seb hangs his head.

  “Okay, Benny, you’re up again.”

  “Okay… I pick…Uncle Jez.”

  “Right on, buddy! We are gonna crush ‘em.” Jez holds up his hand for a high five.

  “It’s not too late for adoption, you know?” Emily says, tapping on her son’s shoulder to get his attention, which he ignores, giving his full attention to his dwindling bucket of fries..

  “Okay, my turn and… Emily, it is!”

  “Hooray!!” She yells and we fist bump, barely making contact and almost punching each other in the face.

  “Aw, Mommy, I was going to pick you next.” Ben says, looking sad.

  “Well, next time you should pick me earlier. Okay, now hurry up, your turn, Uncle Marius or Auntie Cadence.”

  “I pick…”

  “No need to say it, buddy, I got your back,’ Marius cuts in and jumps over to stand by Ben.

  “…Auntie Cadence!” Ben announces.

  “Wha?” Marius stops in his tracks, shocked.

  “Sorry, Uncle Marius, but she makes the best jam sandwiches. She puts lots of ice cream in them”

  “But jam sandwiches don’t have ice cream in them.”

  “And that’s why you’re the last person to be picked for a team,” Cadence taunts Marius and pushes him back over to my side.

  “Aunt Anca, it’s your turn!” Ben declares gleefully.

  “Yeah, thanks. Not much of a choice, is it?” I pretend sneer and look Marius up and down, trying not to let a grin break out.

  “Hey. I’m a master at this “balling” thing. I am gonna. Win. This. You’ll ALL be eating your words.” He grabs a ball and walks up to the lane,” Now, what are those white things at the end of the catwalk?”

  ***

  It turns out, Marius is actually quite good.

  So good, in fact, that about half way in, he’s way ahead of anyone else and has about the same amount of points as the rest of us on the team combined.

  I, on the other hand, have contributed about 2% of the total score.

  And they’re not letting me forget it.

  “Aaaaand…she’s up. Godzilla’s foot stand-in, taking her position on the lane. Will she or won’t she… actually get the ball halfway down the lane, is what betters are putting their money down on.” Marius stands behind me, invisible microphone in his hand, adding infuriating commentary.