"Lakky! Beer!" An arm reached through the mass of people and pressed a plastic cup into her hand. She could not locate the owner. Band members, managers, deejays and groupies were everywhere.
The beer tasted a bit odd. She passed it off as a difference in water. She hated drinking draft beer for that reason. She could always taste the subtle differences in the water used from brewing beer. Regardless, it was wet and she was thirsty.
The crowd shifted in its ebb and flow causing a space to appear before her. She was finally able to see her friends. Larry and BJ were standing in one corner talking. BJ was resolutely ignoring the panting females gazing at him longingly. He was trying to keep his promise to Sam. She had made up with him on the condition that he behaved. Larry on the other hand seemed to ignore the rest of the room. The bottle of water in his hand was testament to his inner strength. Laurel admired that. He was resolved to remain sober at all times, no matter the consequences. She was touched that he would brave the temptations of the party for her. It was a small gesture in the grand scheme of things, but it seemed larger in the moment.
"Hey, what's up?" Laurel yelled. The music was almost deafening. Fortunately the CD playing was not by one of the bands they toured with. Laurel might have gone postal otherwise.
"Did you get done what you needed to do?" Larry shouted.
"Yeah. Are all parties like this?" She asked. It was the first real party she had attended on this tour. She attended three during the other tour.
"The ones I remember are." He answered. "There are a lot I don't remember of course."
"I think we all have those." BJ agreed.
"I know I do." Laurel commented. "So what usually happens at these things?"
"It varies. Usually everyone just stands around drinking until they pair off with groupies or one another. Occasionally people fight, but it's not that often. I will warn you, Terry has set a hotel room on fire before."
"That can't be good." She laughed.
"They toured with us before they got popular. It took them longer than it took you guys. Apparently the stage was set right for your band." He did not sound as if he resented them. "I've seen it happen a few times."
"It is kinda amazing how it happened. It's all been so fast." BJ commented.
"That it has. I feel so old already." Laurel laughed. "It's like I'm twenty-three going on fifty."
"That's a common thing around here. You're either going on fifty or perpetually seventeen." Larry told them. "As soon as you feel like you're really fifty, it's time to get out."
"You think so?" She asked. She was approaching that point.
"Yep. Otherwise you crack or revert. We've gone through two drummers for that reason. Not everyone is cut out for life on the road."
"I think it's time for another beer." BJ commented. "Conversation is getting too deep."
"I agree. This is a party, and you're supposed to be having fun." Larry smiled.
"Ladies, gentlemen, groupies, roadies and everyone else. May I have your attention please?" Terry called out as he entered the ballroom. Jenna was on his arm. "This is a special party. Lakky, front and center."
"What's going on?" She asked as the crowd parted around her.
"I have no idea. We'll go with you." Larry offered his arm. BJ did as well. She accepted both. She felt like a child dwarfed between them.
"Thanks." She fought down the urge to skip between them. It seemed out of place.
"Today is not only Halloween, it's also Lakky's birthday. I know, it explains a lot." Terry paused as the gathering laughed. Laurel did not think it was funny. "We've got a special treat this evening. I've been watching lots of old movies, and had a little help with this idea. Bring out the cake."
"Oh my." Laurel was astonished. Several men pushed a large cake into the room. Her name was spelled out in the icing. Candles were placed all around it.
"This is exactly what you're thinking. Blow out the candles and claim your present." Terry grinned. "Go on."
"Ok." Laurel slowly approached the cake. She knew as soon as a cue was given, someone would jump out of the cake. For one wild moment, she wondered if Nicole were in the cake. She shook the thought from her head. Though it would be a dream come true, it was not the photographer's style. She could never see Nicole, who was very claustrophobic, letting herself be placed in a cake.
"Come on Lakky, blow them out." Jenna encouraged.
"Alright." She drew in a deep breath. It was not that easy. She was still recovering from her recent bout with the flu. However, after two tries, she was able to blow out the candles. As soon as she did so, the surprise popped out of the cake. It was a stripper.
The stripper was tall, with long dark brown hair and green eyes. She danced around the ballroom after placing Laurel on a chair. One by one, pieces of her clothing were ripped away. Most landed on the bassist. Laurel could not have moved had she wanted to, she was held to the chair by Terry's hands on her shoulders. The stripper soon added to the bassist's misery. It was Laurel's first lap dance. She understood the attraction then.
"Happy birthday, Lakky." Terry led the group in a round of the traditional birthday song. "Drink up then unwrap your present." He handed her a glass of green liquid. "It's a bullfrog."
"So I can smell." The liquor in the drink was strong. She could tell by the smell. "Why are you being so nice?"
"You're on tour with us. Jenna's become a friend, which makes the band a friend. We like to keep our friends happy. Besides, maybe a good fuck will loosen you up a bit."
"Thanks, I think." She rolled her eyes. The drink was stronger than she thought. Already she felt a slight buzz.
"Lucky you." BJ elbowed her. "I don't think there's a straight man or lesbian who wouldn't want what you got for a present."
"She is nicely put together." Laurel agreed. She grabbed another drink from a tray passed around the crowd.
"Should I stay in Steve's room tonight?" He asked as the stripper returned.
"Are you ready for the rest of your present?" She asked.
"Um. Sure." Laurel had no intention of having sex with the stripper, but she did not want to refuse in front of the others. She did not want Terry to be offended. It was a nice gesture, in strange way.
They made a rather quite exit. Laurel was grateful. She did not want the added embarrassment of applause. The stripper almost refused to take no for an answer. Only Laurel's determination kept the young woman from trying to make the first move. Laurel had to assure her that the bassist would never tell anyone what really happened. With the reassurance, the stripper left her at the door.
It was an interesting birthday. As she drifted off to sleep, she wished it had been better. She dreamed of dinner in New Orleans, and a lap dance by a certain photographer. The dreams were better than her present reality.
***
"You have a message. The nurse took this while I was vacuuming." Melba pushed the paper toward her.
"Ok." Nicole read it. "Oh shit."
"What's up?" Stan asked. "Oh shit." He swore as Nicole handed him the message to read.
"Quit cursing and tell me what it says." Melba told them.
"Our beloved great Aunt Louise is coming for a visit." Nicole sat down on a chair at the table. "Worse is her daughter, the lovely and not so talented Gertrude, is bringing her here. They want to stay at the house for a while. They'll be here." She took the note back from Stan. "In an hour."
"Dear Lord." The housekeeper exclaimed. "I need to double check everything. I don't have a uniform or anything."
"Chill, Melba, chill." Nicole interrupted the housekeeper's panic attack. "Don't worry about a uniform or making this house more spotless. I don't care if you sit in the middle of the forayer wearing cut offs, a tank top and eating a corn dog. This is not their house, and we're not responsible for meeting their perspectives of what life is supposed to be like."
"That's a dangerous attitude, Nicole." Melba told her.
"This is my grandmother's house, not Loui
se's. We run things according to Adia's desires. If my aunt has a problem with it, she can take Prozac and get over it."
"I like that attitude." Stan cheered.
"You might want to call your mom." She advised her cousin. "Tell her to come over as soon as possible. I'll use the phone in the study and page Phil."
"What are we going to do about that?" Stan asked. Their great aunt did not know the true nature of Jay and Phil's relationship.
"That's up to Jay and Phil. I personally don't care if the old biddy finds out. She's horrible enough already. She'd just be glad to get one more thing to bitch about." Nicole rubbed her temples. "Melba, can I please have a glass of tea and some Tylenol?"
"Of course, dear, here." The housekeeper handed her a bottle of Tylenol. A glass of tea soon joined it.
"Thank you. I'll go page Phil." She took the tea with her.
"Mom will be here in a few minutes. She's glad you took a stance to keep things normal, but she doesn't think it's going to be a pleasant visit." Stan told her when she reentered the kitchen.
"It never is."
"Not with that one." Melba agreed. "I hate to speak ill of someone else's family, but Ms. Louise is not a pleasant person. I better start lunch. What were you two doing up so early anyway?"
"We went Christmas shopping." Nicole explained.
"I wanted help getting something for mom, and we decide to beat the crowds by going this morning." Stan told her. "I like having all my shopping done before Thanksgiving. We always get swamped at the store the day after turkey. Oh, one of the portraits you took has received an offer, Nicole."
"Yeah?" Her Uncle had claimed a print of the riverboat to display behind his counter. Why he wanted it, she did not know. She knew it was not because Denny was proud of her.
"Seriously. I talked to the guy. I told him I'd have to talk to you first, but he loved it. He wants to buy it." He reached into his wallet. "He gave me his card. I thought if you were interested, I could call him and he could meet us at the store."
"That could be very profitable, Nicole. You can make a good living selling your prints." Melba commented.
"Yeah, I guess." Nicole looked at the card. "He's just a business man, why would he want it?"
"Maybe he thinks you're talented. He went on and on about how well the composition of the shot was." He told them. "Should I call him?"
"I don't know. Did you tell Denny about it?" She thought she understood the reasoning now behind her uncle's request. He wanted to broker her art, bypassing his sister's art gallery.
"Nope. Are you kidding me? Denny wanted the print to sell it and keep the money." Stan confirmed her assumption. "Leave it to me. I'll set things up between the two of you directly. Won't even charge you a fee."
"Thanks, cuz." She smiled. "I might do that. I certainly could use the extra cash to buy gifts with and stuff."
"That's what I'm here for. Besides, you're a great photojournalist, but you rock at artistic shots. You should be able to capitalize on that."
"You really think so?"
"I know I do." Melba agreed. "That picture you took of the Warehouse was your granddaddy's favorite." It still hung in his study.
"Did I beat them here?" Kay asked from the door. "I guess so. No one seems too tense. What's my aunt doing coming down here now anyway?" She asked as she entered.
"That's easy. Her sister's dying and she wants to know who's in the will." Stan voiced Nicole's thoughts.
"Stanley Allen, that's not nice to say. It may be true, but it's not nice." Kay scolded her son. "Nicole, I heard Denney claimed a print of yours. I guess he doesn't want to display it at the gallery?"
"I don't really know what he wants with it." Nicole shrugged. She did not wish to speak ill of her uncle in front of his sister. "Some one did offer to buy it though."
"Are you going to let him sell it?"
"No, Mom. Nicole and I are going to cut Denney out of it entirely. I spoke with the guy who wants a copy. I'm going to set him and Nicky up to meet. If she wants to sell it, she can run him another one." Stan looked at her. "You did run that yourself didn't you?"
"Yes I did. I turned one of the old pantries into a dark room." She explained to her aunt. "I can run several more before I run out of paper and chemicals."
"Good. I was going to wait until after the New Year, but Denney beat me to it. I thought we could have a showing of your work." Kay beamed. "It's so well done. We don't have to sell it; I just want people to look at what my niece has done. Your father would be so proud."
"Thank you." She felt the blush creep its way to her face. "That should be them now. Melba, you go tell grandmother. I guess we'll greet our guest."
There were several words Nicole could think of to describe her great aunt. The one that sprang easiest to her mind was formidable. Crabby, insane, self righteous, and bigoted closely followed it. Relatively speaking, Adia was as tame as a kitten compared to her younger sister. Gertrude was a pale reflection of her mother, but one who was still a force to be reckoned with. Nicole was not looking forward to a lengthy visit. In her mind, lengthy was anywhere over five minutes when it came to Louise and Gertrude.
"So those animals finally let her out of the hospital, did they?" Louise asked as she entered the house. "I hate hospitals. Would have come down to see her if she wouldn't have been in there so long."
"Yes ma'am. Grandmother is in her room." Nicole took in the cigarette in the long holder. "There's no smoking back there, Aunt Louise. Grandmother has oxygen tanks." She had not had a cigarette since her visit to the gynecologist. She really wanted one. "Would you like to see your rooms first?" Nicole wisely had Melba ready the two rooms as far from the photographer's own as possible. It was easy to do in a house that large. Nicole's room was upstairs. Her aunt and cousin would stay downstairs.
"As long as they're not upstairs. I don't know what critters you have loose in your attic, but they kept me up all night the last time I was here." Louise stated.
"No ma'am, they're on the ground floor." Nicole assured her.
"Let me take your jacket, Aunt Louise." Stan's disgust was shown on his face as he helped the old lady take off her velour jacket.
"Melba went to inform Mother of your visit." Kay spoke up. "She'll be out in a moment to show you your rooms and ready lunch."
"That's great. Gertrude and I did not stop for lunch. There's not a decent place to eat between here and home." The three rolled their eyes. They knew that was untrue.
"Mother, shouldn't we sit down? You don't want to tire yourself out." Gertrude finally said something.
"Yes, we can rest in the living room." Nicole thought for a moment. "The parlor would be better, I think." They had not moved the furniture back in the living room. It was still as it was on Halloween night. "Stan and I can see to your luggage."
"Yes. Is it out in the car?" Stan asked. He sounded relieved to be out of their presence. Louise wore too much perfume, and Nicole knew it played havoc with his allergies.
"Yes. Here are my keys." Gertrude handed Stan a large ring filled with keys. "It's the middle one."
"We'll take them to your rooms." Nicole preceded her cousin outside. "Dear god, how are we going to get through this?"
"We? I don't live here, remember?" He searched for the middle key. "It's in the middle. Jesus, there's like seventy keys on here. I feel like a bellboy."
"Yeah, well, at least we're out here." She waited patiently by the trunk. "That cigarette is driving me crazy."
"I can imagine. You're doing well with not smoking, though aren't you?"
"Yep. Went cold turkey the day the doctor told me." She watched as he opened the trunk. "At least we can tell which belongs to whom."
"How do you figure that?"
"Louise's has her initials on it." She pointed at the handle. "Damn. They packed for a really extended stay." The suitcase she grabbed was heavy.
"This one might be lighter." Stan traded suitcases with her. "Yeah, this one is heavier."
&nb
sp; "This isn't much lighter." Nicole could barely lift it. She was glad it had wheels. "It's back to the battle front."
"Do we have to go back in?" Stan whined.
"I'm afraid so. Where's Jessie? She should be sunk in misery too." Nicole thought it was more than fair. Stan's sister always seemed to miss the more irritating sides of family life.
"That's what I'd like to know. Guess we'll find out next week."
"What's next week?" Nicole could not remember.
"Thanksgiving."
"And those two will be here? Great. This is just great." She wheeled the suitcase to the porch. "I guess it's too late to move back to Hattiesburg?"
"I'm afraid so. Let's go face the mob." Stan opened the door.
"I'm right behind you."
Chapter Twenty Nine
Laurel and BJ walked through the deserted hallway. It seemed as if the other residents at the hotel were sleeping. The bassist could not wait to join them. She was exhausted. The band had gone for coffee at Harold's request to discuss their performance. At least it was a good meeting. He seemed pleased with the way they were progressing. Laurel was not the only one moving on stage anymore. Steve finally unglued his feet from the wood and moved. To make the news a bit better, Harold reprimanded Jenna for being the only wooden musician on tour. It was a happy memory she planned on cherishing as she went to sleep.
"Oh my god, there's blue gecko's bassist." The voice sounded familiar. The bassist turned to see a sight she never thought she would behold again. Sharon Jenkins was striding down the hallway in her direction.
"What the fuck do you want?" Laurel's voice was more animal than human. She practically growled the words.
"I was in the area. Thought I'd drop by and say hi." The smile on Sharon's face faltered.
"You said hi. Now leave."
"Now that's not the way you greet an old friend, Laurie." Laurel turned around at the name. She had not been called that in years. Not since the night after the car accident.
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