by T Gephart
Dinner was a typical Burns Christmas Affair. Laughter carried through the house as copious amounts of food were piled onto our plate. Dad told the same corny jokes, Bob retold stories of our childhood, Kelsey tried to wrangle Savannah and Mom insisted we all save room for dessert. It was organized mayhem but it then again; it always was when we got together.
Lexi seemed relaxed and happy. I knew there was something simmering beneath that was eating at her, but I wasn’t going to push it. I just wanted her to have a Christmas like it was supposed to be, surrounded by love and happiness.
After dinner we helped Mom clear the table, though she shooed us out of the kitchen when we tried to help with dishes. She was an old school Southern Belle and there was no way she would allow a guest in her house to assist any further. It was Southern Hospitality 101.
Presents and countless eggnogs followed before we finally settled into the warmth of the living room. Lexi’s eyelids drooped, fighting fatigue, as Dad recounted more stories of his football glory days while Savannah slept soundly in his lap.
“Hey Dad, might need to call it a night.” Kel smiled as she gently tried to lift Savannah into her arms, her pregnant belly hindering her.
“Let me carry her out,” I offered, sliding Savannah’s tiny body out of Kelsey’s arms and into mine.
Bob grabbed the diaper bags and presents as he said goodbye to our parents, turning to Lexi and offering her a hug before stepping out the door. “Was nice meeting you, Lexi.”
“It was lovely meeting you too,” Lexi smiled and took her turn in saying goodbye to Bob and Kelsey, “You have a beautiful family.”
We waved goodbye as the taillights of their Buick Regal disappeared into the darkness. Mom and Dad yawned “Good nights” as they went upstairs to bed, while Lexi and I moved back to the sofa.
She instinctively curled her arms around me as we sat watching mindless television. “Thank you Matt, this is without a doubt the best Christmas I’ve ever had.” Lexi yawned.
“I’m glad you are here and got to spend this day with us. My parents adore you.” I gently kissed the top of her head.
“At least someone’s do.” Lexi laughed but there was an innate sadness to her voice.
“It’s their loss Lexi, really it is.” I smoothed the curls away from her face as her eyes closed.
“I’m glad we never slept together, Matt. I would have hated to leave you like the rest of them.” Lexi’s voice was barely a whisper.
“Someday Lexi you’re going to find someone who you’re not going to want to leave. Love has a way of changing us. You are going to find that, regardless of whether you want it or not.” I watched her breathing level out as I held her in my arms.
“Not me …” was all she could manage before she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 10 - Troy
Author’s Note: A few weeks have passed since Christmas and Lexi is starting to feel somewhat like her normal self. None of the other band members have guessed that Lexi and Alex have “history” which makes it easier for them to develop relationships with her. Troy thinks of Lexi as he would a younger sister.
“Ok, so you tap the high-hat with this hand,” I stood behind Lexi on the kit, “And this hand is for the snare.” Her arms were tense as I tried to help her keep time. “You need to relax a bit, we have even got to the base pedal yet.”
“Ugghhhhh. This is bullshit. I can’t make my hands do what I want them to.” She stared at the Vater sticks between her fingers.
“Can’t use that excuse, Lexi,” Jason laughed, “Pretty sure Dan’s already tried and it didn’t stand up in court.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my hands, fart-knocker!” Dan smiled, “I say if she wants to learn some rhythm, I’m better off teaching her.” Dan raised an eyebrow suggestively.
“I don’t think so Dan,” Lexi smiled, “you seem better at playing with yourself than with others.”
Jase high-fived Lexi while I laughed my ass off. Dan shrugged, not getting the joke and went back to sit in front of his amp.
It amazed me how well Lexi fit in, it’s like she’d always been one of us. We were a pretty tight-knit group and James was super protective about who he let into the circle. I didn’t really get involved in the politics of it, just put me on stage and let me hit things… hard! Other than that I didn’t give a shit about who was doing what. James and Alex ran the business end, it’s the way it had always been and that was a-ok with the rest of us. Hell, it got us from five nobodies in Yonkers to playing fucking Madison Square Garden, not to mention Wembley Stadium.
With Lexi, it was different. I know there was the whole gratitude element when she saved Mike’s life but it was more than that. She belonged with us. We trusted her and every single one of us would take a bullet for her. She was our sister- our well dressed, wicked smart, trash-talking, bossy, demanding sister. Though Dan was still trying to work his way into her panties, I think even he’d finally made his peace with the fact he was punching WAY above his weight with her.
Lexi, like the rest of us, had a place in this crazy ass family. Sure Alex and Lexi fought constantly, but secretly I think they both enjoyed it. Alex never had a girl tell him to go fuck himself; they were usually too busy trying to get him into bed so it was a novelty to have someone who didn’t take his shit. As for Lexi, she gave as good as she got. She didn’t cut and run or cry when shit went down and I tell you, I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of her when she was pissed off. She could get to Defcon 5 and hand you your ass by the time you even realized you’d fucked up.
“You want to give it one more try?” I bit my lip knowing how frustrated our impromptu drum lesson was making her.
“Fine,” She rolled her eyes sarcastically.
“It really isn’t that hard Lex, just take a deep breath and loosen up a bit.” I gave her arms a shake and once again started counting.
“That’s what she said!” laughed Jase as he played some random shit on the keys.
James walked in from the main house into his studio. He had been on the phone with the record label and preferred to take calls away from the possibility of suggestive lewd comments made by Dan.
“What time is Alex getting here?” James asked as he strode into the studio, “Hey Lexi. The sticks look good on you.”
“Yeah, Yeah. I think I’ll stick to my day job,” Lexi huffed as she tried once more to follow the simple rudiment I was trying to teach her.
On cue, Alex strolled in from the side door with guitar case in his hand and Marcy glued to his side. I never really got the whole Alex/Marcy thing but hey I wasn’t going to rock the boat.
“Hey, starting without me?” Alex pulled off his shades and laid down his axe. “Lexi, looking to diversify?”
“Sure,” Lexi played with the stick in her hand and a big smile spread across her lips. “Lenny Kravitz had a female drummer and she was bad-ass.”
“Indeed she was,” Alex laughed, ignoring a frustrated Marcy by his side. “Though I’m fairly sure all the positions in his band have been filled.”
“Yeah, well he hasn’t met me yet! Just need a few more lessons with Troy and I’ll nail the audition! Might have to find someone else to field calls about your love life,” Lexi laughed.
I gave Lexi a sideways glance, hoping she was kidding. Not to be an ass or anything but she could barely keep time. As much as I loved her, Lexi was rhythmically challenged (not that I would actually say it out loud, I liked my balls right where they were thank you very much.)
“Ummm, are we talking about a different Lexi? ‘Cause you suck,” Dan blurted out, big stupid grin on his face.
Holy Shit, did he really just say that? Dan, you need to wise-up buddy, cause to quote Top Gun, “Your ego is writing cheques your body can’t cash.” I winced as I prepared for Lexi’s return fire.
“Well then maybe we should start our own band Dan,” Lexi calmly responded, “at least then you will be playing with someone of your own calibre. Although I’d doub
t you’d want to compete with me off stage. Based on your finger work, I’d say I would have a better chance at pleasing the groupies.” She didn’t flinch as she met his eye.
Jase and I did our best not to laugh but resistance was futile. When it came to putting Dan in his place, Lexi held the freaking Academy award and she did it so effortlessly, the poor guy was left wondering what the fuck just happened.
“What the fuck, Lexi?!” Dan stuttered (see I told you!) as he tried to formulate a come back.
“The Fuck,” Lexi raised herself from behind the kit and sauntered over to Dan, “is as much as you think I suck, I’ll always be smarter than you.” Her cool composure was making him twitchy.
“Ok, if you two are done kicking sand in each other other’s faces?” James piped in eyeballing Lexi and Dan, “Maybe we can get a track or two laid down before lunch.”
“I’m done,” smiled Lexi as she handed me my sticks and walked over to Alex. “Marcy,” she greeted her coolly as she strode past her and took a seat on sofa.
“Lexi, such a pleasure to see you again.” Marcy was doing her best to seem unrattled but she couldn’t help but be nervous around Lexi.
Not even a week ago the two of them had gotten into a heated “discussion” after Marcy made the rookie mistake of referring to Lexi as cute. Of all the descriptive words in the goddamn English dictionary Marcy had to choose “Cute.” Lexi is a lot of things, but “cute” is not one of them and if you want to push her buttons, the sure fire way to do that is insinuate that she is decorative. I’m not sure whether Marcy was just trying to piss Lexi off or she was just as big an airhead as we thought she was, either way, shit was going down in a BIG way. Alex had tried half-heartedly to try and diffuse the sitch even though he knew it was bad, bad juju. In the end he could do nothing but watch, as his girlfriend got taken down by a smarter, savvier and let’s face it, wittier opponent. Of course for the rest of us it had been highly amusing, Dan offered to fill a blow up kiddie pool with Jell-o to see them duke it out. (Classic Dan) I think even Alex thought it was funny on the down low.
Marcy got teary and ended up dragging Alex out with her, who no doubt spent the evening stroking her ego and probably not getting laid. Poor Bastard. Lexi seemed unaffected by it but did try and smooth over shit with Alex. I don’t think she felt bad but I think it was more out of respect for the band that she made peace with it. Alex was cool, laughed it off, even admitting there were no surprises there. Lexi had a mouth on her and sometimes you were going to be the windscreen; but more often than not, you were the bug.
Lexi gave Marcy a little nod but remained silent, I’m guessing she was sticking to the old saying “if you can’t say something nice, shut the fuck up” or however the saying went. I had to hand it to Lex, she was giving diplomacy a red-hot go despite the fact she clearly couldn’t stand Marcy. She didn’t even look up, just went about her business, PRing or whatever and let us do our thing.
Alex set up his gear and started tuning his Strat while Marcy stood beside him already looking bored. I don’t know why she even bothered coming, she always seemed bored in the studio. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as Marcy slid her hands down the front of Alex’s pants. Lex obviously caught that manoeuvre too as she gave the “Is this bitch serious?” look.
Why was I getting the feeling today’s sesh was going to be anything BUT productive?! It’s not like I hated Marcy, I just didn’t know her and by the looks of things that wasn’t changing anytime soon. She had no interest in any of us except for maybe James. Not that I gave a shit but it fucked up the vibe when we were hanging out and she was there. Even if she lost the sour bitch ‘tude, I couldn’t even imagine a scenario where she’d fit in to our world. Still, Alex seemed pretty committed to her and he hadn’t had a girlfriend in a while. It’s not like he is fucking hard up for choice so obviously there was something about her we couldn’t see, or she sucked cock like a fucking Dyson. Either way, he was our brother and that meant we kept our pie holes shut.
Jase stopped twinkling the ivories and sidled up next to me. “A hundred bucks says she pulls the whiny bitch routine before we hit the second chorus,” Jase snickered in my ear.
“I’ll see you and raise you fifty.” Dan piped in from behind us, joining our impromptu circle. “Except I say she doesn’t even make it through the first chorus,” Dan beamed.
“Make it two hundred,” I smirked. Might as well make it interesting, “She won’t make it past the bridge!”
“You guys done with the PTA meeting over there?” James laughed looking at us in our huddle.
“Just going over some audibles, James. In case shit sounds tired,” I tipped my chin and shot James a wink.
“Two- fifty,” Lexi whispered from behind us, “She doesn’t make it to the end of the first verse.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief.
“Holy shit Lex! You’ve got to quit the ninja routine. You can’t sneak up on a man like that.” Dan jumped, gasping slightly.
Lexi laughed, “Money where your mouth is boys, the Balenciaga dress I want isn’t going to buy itself.”
“Done,” we all agreed as we resumed our positions and got ready. Lexi sauntered off back to her seat on the sofa looking smug.
Alex and Dan worked the opening intro while I kept the backbeat. Jase joined us on the keys. James hit the mic as we made our way through the first verse. I smiled over at Lexi who was still looking confident.
“Alex!” Marcy interrupted, waving her hands to get his attention, “Baby, how long is this going to take? My ears are starting to hurt.” She pouted as she moved in beside him.
“Babe, we just started,” Alex stared at her in disbelief.
James stop mid verse (the First verse) as Dan and Jase shook their heads in frustration. Damn it, another minute and I would have taken it!
Lexi smiled as she continued to play with her phone, her satisfied grin rubbing salt in the wound. Dan, Jase and I were going to be funding a new addition to her wardrobe. There goes two fifty bones! FUCK!
Chapter 11 - Troy
Author’s Note: This chapter happens at Bungalow 8 Nightclub in New York when Troy, Dan & Jason are on a night out. The boys are exposed to Lexi’s questionable dating choices, which they are unaware is a coping mechanism for getting over Alex.
The bass thumped loudly while the strobe lights pulsed. Bodies gyrated up against each other in the semi darkness, as a sea of heads bobbed in waves of non-conformity. I was a bar kind of guy and these pretentious clubs Dan kept dragging us to were getting old. Imported beer and not a dartboard in sight, this was so not my scene.
Dan was my oldest friend; we’d known each other since elementary school and despite us trading insults daily, he was also my best friend. There was no one I trusted more to watch my back and over the years, he’d proven that to me, time and time again. I knew it was for this reason that despite my aversion to trendy, crowded and expensive nightclubs, I came when my buddy asked me to ride shotgun.
Dan was still on the floor, lapping up the attention from enthusiastic admirers while Jase and I hung in the VIP section, running up his tab.
“Want to get out of town for a few days?” I played with the label of my over priced Italian beer.
“Nah, dude. It’s my niece’s birthday tomorrow and then I plan on heading down to PA and hooking up with Erin. I can’t bail until Friday at the earliest.” Jase shot me an apologetic look. “You got an itch?”
“Yeah, need to hit the road for a few days. Thinking of heading upstate.” I lifted the long neck to my lips and drained the last of it.
“You going to ask Dan? It’s not like he has any solid plans.” Jase smiled as he flagged over a waitress.
“Ha, true. I’ll go by myself if I have to, just need to decompress.” It was my way of hitting the reset button. I loved leaving it all behind and disappearing for a few days. It kept me grounded.
“Hey, is that Lexi?” Jase pointed over into the distance.
I looked over to the far s
ide of the club, not really sure how Jase could make out if the person he was pointing to was female let alone Lexi. As I strained to see through darkness to the mass of bodies, I made out her figure and that unmistakable mass of hair. It was Lexi.
“Woah! Is she with some guy?” I pointed to the guy who had his hands all over her ass.
“Fuck! I didn’t realize she dated. I thought she was more your praying mantis type. Ate her mate after she was done,” Jase laughed.
“Who ate what?” Dan shouted from behind us, “What are we looking at?”
“Lexi,” Jase clarified as he gestured to where we had been staring.
“Lexi? As in our Lexi?” Dan asked as he took a closer look.
“Yes, our Lexi, Dickwad,” Jase slapped Dan’s shoulder to punctuate.
“Who the fuck is she with?” Dan shot back indignantly.
“Guessing it’s either her date or a blind guy judging by the fact his hands are getting busy all over her.” I laughed.
“I’m not down with this dude! Some fucking random douche trying to get into her panties.” Dan became increasingly agitated.
“You’d rather it be a familiar douche, like yourself?” I laughed surprised by Dan’s jealousy.
“Yes ass-wipe!” Dan whipped around, “That ass is probably looking for a quick fuck, he doesn’t respect her. This shit is not going down on my watch.” Dan made a move to leave the VIP area.
“Wait! Hold the fuck up!” I grabbed him by the arm, “Did the word RESPECT just fly out of your mouth?” Holy crap, I think he was serious.