He laughed. “No, he can handle a grill, some but he is banned from our kitchen and probably Katie keeps him away there, too.” He shook his head and then we were just standing there.
“Listen, if you...”
“Hey, do you want...”
We both spoke at the same time and laughed nervously. I said, “I’m sorry, I was just going to say if you have things to do, don’t mind me. Just tell me where’s off limits and I can certainly entertain myself.”
“No place is off limits, but I’m sure you don’t want to walk into bathrooms or bedrooms without knocking first or you might get an unpleasant surprise.”
I laughed out loud at that. “No doubt! I will take that under advisement. I do tend to forget about that after living alone for so long.”
He nodded. “I forgot, no brothers and sisters. That must have been weird. My sister learned early on not to barge in on us. The guys were over a lot when they were younger and she caught us in many embarrassing situations.” There was that sadness again. “I was just going to go out back, want to join me?”
“Sure,” I said and then I tried to lighten up the conversation. “What kind of embarrassing? Like barn animals embarrassing? Hormonal-teenage-boy kind of embarrassing?” It worked! I got him to crack a smile.
“There was the time she caught us watching porn in the garage. She screamed at us about how awful it was, we shouldn’t be doing it. But she was most angry that we were watching crappy porn that had horrible actors in it. Like we were actually paying attention to the acting. When Marcus told her that she smacked him upside the head and threatened to tell on us. She was 18 at the time and I guess I was 15, and the other guys were 14. Man that was horrible.”
“And did you learn anything from that experience?”
He shrugged. “To watch better porn? Not do it when my sister was around? We were teenage boys, what were we supposed to do?”
I couldn’t tell if he was being serious, he spent so much of his time being serious.
“I don’t know! You could have gone out and found girlfriends instead of sitting around in a garage watching bad porn.”
He burst out laughing at that and the sound was music to my ears.
“No girls would have come close to letting us touch them back then. We were total nerds. We couldn’t even talk to girls. Well, except Marcus. He had the confidence, even if he didn’t have anything to back it up.” There was a twinge of bitterness in his tone.” Anyway, we just took all that pent up angst and poured it into our music I guess.”
I spoke as nonchalantly as I could muster. “It seems to have paid off for you.”
He scoffed. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t exactly say that.”
Was he really going to play this one off? We stepped out the back door into a quaint courtyard with a fountain in back and benches all around. The high wall in back blocked the view from neighbors so we were safe. I sat down on a bench in the corner near the fountain and continued my line of questioning.
“Really? No girls hanging out backstage? Groupies in your tour bus?”
He snorted. He chose the bench next to mine and took a seat. “Maybe, but those weren’t exactly the kind of girls I’d have picked. Some of the other guys might have been a little less choosy. I’m not naming names.”
His lips twitched a bit like he was trying not to laugh. Pity. He was even more beautiful when he laughed. But I needed to stop thinking like that right now. If he’d just lost a wife, there’s no telling what shape he was in emotionally and having a woman flirt with him would probably make him extremely uncomfortable.
He lit up a cigarette and took in a long drag. He looked at me apologetically. “Is this going to bother you?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s fine.”
He took another long drag and closed his eyes. “I quit for a long time. Maggie hated it. But after everything that happened, well...I guess we all fall back on our comforts.”
I didn’t know what was safe to ask him about her, I was assuming that was a pet name for Margaret? I decided a little disclosure of my own might make him feel better.
“I smoked on and off when I was younger. I quit when I learned I had asthma around 20 years old. After my father died a year and a half ago I took it back up for a while. Until I moved here, I guess. Fresh start and everything.” I gave him a sad smile.
“I’m sorry about your father, Jaylene. It’s rough. Mine died so long ago, but I still remember how awful I felt after.”
“Thanks. It’s still weird, but being here has made it much easier to get perspective on it. How old were you when your father died?”
He took one last drag on the cigarette and put it out in a large urn. He took out a pack of mint gum from his pocket and offered a piece to me, which I gladly took. He unwrapped one and popped it in his mouth.
“I was sixteen when he died. He used to fish in the gulf so we’d have fresh-caught options at our restaurant. He was out when a storm came in and didn’t make it back. My mom ran the restaurant while he was away fishing and they had a couple of other employees, but after he died I went to work there in my spare time. My sister was moved out by then so it was just me and Mama until I went to college.”
“Where did you study?” I was learning more about him in this conversation than at any time previously and I wanted him to continue unraveling his mysteries.
“I had a music scholarship to Tulane, but I left after three semesters. Mama was sick a lot and needed me, although she was pissed that I gave up school. Guess she’s always been trying to get rid of me and thought that was her best chance.” He snickered, but it sounded like he really felt that way.
“Devon, I can’t believe your mother was trying to get rid of you to get rid of you. Is it possible she just wanted bigger things for you?”
He shrugged and looked down at his feet. “Yeah, I know that’s it. I hated disappointing her. Besides, she didn’t really have much choice but for me to come back. And that’s how things happened with the boys anyway. If I wouldn’t have come home I guess there’d be no Maggie’s Bones.” Somehow he didn’t sound pleased about that.
“So you came back home and started up with the boys then? I thought y’all were from New Orleans?”
He shook his head. “Nah, we grew up in Houma. We spent as much time bumming around Uncle Daryl’s as he’d let us. He snuck us into bars when we were younger, and then after we put the band together, he got us a few gigs. Then Marcus decided we needed to go to L.A. Daryl promised me he’d help Mama out with the restaurant, so we left. The rest is fucked up history, I guess.” He stood up and started pacing a little.
“But Devon, you guys have truly made the world a better place! Without Maggie’s Bones you’d have no masterpiece like ‘Mystikal Stick’.” I deadpanned, “I’m not sure what the world would do without such an ‘Ode to my magic cock’ kind of song.”
He gave me a sly smile, which I would have to categorize as my favorite smile so far. It was evil and sexy and it gave me a shiver. “So you have been listening. Is that one of your personal favorites, or do you prefer something like ‘Sin On My Face’.”
I clapped both hands over my mouth to keep from laughing hysterically. He laughed too, thankfully. “Hmmm, I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that one. Is that one of your early tunes?”
“Those would be off of our debut, yes. I’d like to think we’ve grown since then, so to speak. Now we just play songs about dysfunctional relationships and sexual predators.” That pissed off look was back. I liked playful Devon so much more.
“You don’t seem happy about that. Are you missing the early Bones material?”
He shook his head. “I’m not really missing any of it, to be honest. I’m kind of done playing this shit. I mean, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, even if we had to sing songs about magic cocks, but we’re a little old for that now. Or at least I am.” He paused and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m ready to do something a little more serious with my music
I guess.”
This was quite an admission. It explained a lot about what was going on between him and Marcus. “I take it Marcus doesn’t feel the same?”
He looked over to me and nodded. “Yeah. He wants more of the same. He’s always just wanted the big time.”
He lit up another cigarette, obviously getting more upset. It was good for him to be talking but I hated to see him upset like this.
“And you want more? I gotta say, I really liked what you were playing earlier. I worried whether I should say anything, like maybe I should stay impartial but...Well, I can’t. There was a lot of soul to what you played.”
He froze and I thought I caught a sparkle in his eye. When he spoke again, it was in such a quiet voice I barely heard him. “You liked that?”
I nodded and he smiled. He started pacing again, slower this time, keeping his eyes on me.
“It was really powerful, it had feeling. I’m no music critic or expert or anything. I just know what I like and what I don’t.” I was afraid I was overstepping my bounds, but I wanted to be honest with him as he’d been so open with me.
“But you liked it, really?”
Why was he unsure?
“Yes, Devon. It was really, really good. But the important question is, did you like it?” He paused in his pacing.
“Yeah, I did. It felt good.”
I smiled up at him. He walked over to me and stopped in front of me. I had to crane my neck to look up at him, which he noticed so he crouched down in front of me.
“Look, Jaylene. I’m really glad you are here. I want to work things out with these guys. I love them like brothers. But I just don’t know if there’s anything here for me anymore.”
I had a feeling he might feel that way just based on the little I’d observed them so far. “What about the album and the label?”
He shrugged and looked down at his hands. “I’ll meet my obligations. After that, I don’t know.” He looked up at me, his eyes imploring. “I haven’t told them what I’m feeling yet so if you don’t mind, uh...”
I touched his shoulder. “I understand. It’s not my place to say anything to them. You will tell them when you are ready.”
I tried to give him an encouraging smile. His eyes were so blue they were almost glowing in the fading afternoon light. I took my hand back and he grabbed for it, holding it in his for a minute before letting it go. He stood up and smiled down at me.
“I’m glad you’re here, Jaylene. I’ll see you at dinner?”
I nodded to him and waved. I watched him retreating through the door, slightly ducking his head. My hand tingled where he’d touched me. I smiled to myself. I was really glad I was here, too.
Dinner was spaghetti, meatballs, garlic bread and salad and was served buffet-style on the back counter in the hall. We all took seats in front of the bar. It was a nice, antique-looking, solid wood bar that had aged well. The rest of the building varied between work in progress to work not even started. I assumed the owners were in the process of restoring it. The guys had saved me a seat in the middle of the bar between Mage and Marcus. Devon sat at the end, eyeing them with a smirk.
“So why is this building empty? What is this place?”
Mage wiped his mouth daintily with a napkin and said, “The current owners rented it to us with an option to buy. It seems after Katrina, he was unable to continue with his renovations and plans to open a Burlesque club.”
“We were thinking after our next tour of opening up one ourselves. What do you think, Jaylene?” Marcus was looking at me intently, waiting for a reaction.
“It’s a beautiful old building. I guess Burlesque could be cool, if it’s done in good taste and the club is nice.” I gave him a challenging look, waiting to see if he was going to push it further.
But Mage came to my rescue. “There are stories of paranormal activity in the building. Ghosts and spirits, that kind of thing. I still think Club Haunt has a nice ring to it.”
I heard the other guys giggle.
Jade elbowed Mage in the side. “Dude, you are obsessed! I’m telling you the only thing going bump in the night around here is Star sleepwalking to the bathroom.”
Star said indignantly, “I do not sleepwalk! It was only once and we’d just watched a scary movie.”
“What happened,” I asked. I couldn’t resist one of their silly stories. Star groaned and put his head down on the bar.
Jade took over the narrative. “We’d just watched The Grudge for the hundredth time and Mage got up to take a leak in the wee hours of the morn. He found this dumbass curled up in the tub in his boxers. Said he didn’t know how he got there.”
I giggled. Poor Star!
“That’s ok, Star. Often people sleepwalk after a traumatic experience. It has to do with the body’s subconscious and how it tries to help us deal with trauma.”
Jade shuddered. “Shit, the real trauma would have been if I found him in there naked.”
They all laughed and I tried to console Star. “Like you guys have never been caught with your pants down.”
I looked over at Devon, who promptly spit out his milk and grabbed frantically for a napkin.
The guys looked between Marcus and us, and Marcus said, “What did you tell her, D?” Devon took another bite of his spaghetti and ignored Marcus. “Did you break the Bro Code? Damn, dude! How could you? After all we’ve been through?” He started mock sobbing. The other guys were shaking their heads.
Devon recovered and shot back, “What? It’s not like I told her about the time you and Bernadette got caught on my daddy's boat because you forgot to check that you were tied up and drifted out into the Gulf.”
“Yeah, and you guys left your clothes on the dock,” added Jade and the guys all started laughing.
“Ok, funny guy,” Marcus turned on Jade. “What about the time I caught you in Mama’s underwear drawer?”
Jade blushed and said, “That was for Mardi Gras and you know it, asshole!”
He threw a bread crust at Marcus that just barely missed me. Marcus grabbed an ice cube out of his tea glass and chucked it back.
Star leaned into Jade and said, “Dude, what about the time Marcus sang that Michael Bolton song at the talent show in middle school.”
Ok, that one got me laughing and got another ice cube thrown by Marcus.
“I won, didn’t I? Y’all were just jealous you didn’t have the balls to get up there.”
Mage and Devon kept shaking their heads, trying to stay out of the path of Marcus’ ice cubes.
“What song did you sing, Marcus?”
He lifted his chin and smoothed back his hair. “I covered his version of How Am I Supposed To Live Without You. It was a huge success.”
The other guys were laughing hard.
“He even had the long mullet to go with it.” Jade was holding his sides and gasping for breath.
“My hair was awesome! I didn’t hear any of the girls complaining.” He was trying awfully hard to remain untouched by their razzing.
“Yeah, I’m sure it kept Bernadette warm out there on Uncle David’s boat.”
At that Marcus kicked back his stool and Jade took off running. They were chasing each other while the other guys continued to roar with laughter. Jade got up the stairs and continued to taunt him from the gangway, warbling out lines to the Bolton tune.
I couldn’t stop laughing either. It was fun watching them act like boys and give each other a hard time. I never had that kind of relationship with anyone until I met Mackenzie and I was still new to it. It had taken me a long time to not get upset when she’d tease me. It was different in the tattoo shops I’d worked in. There was hazing and pranking and that kind of thing, but this was true brotherly love I was witnessing here, and it was strong despite their current dilemma.
“So what’s on the agenda for tonight,” I asked Mage and Devon.
They shrugged. “I think there’s an Evil Dead marathon on tonight. You game?”
I beamed at Jade
for the suggestion. “I LOVE those movies! Although, you can really do without the first one. Evil Dead 2 is the best.”
Mage was looking at me in wonder.
“You actually like horror movies?” He put his arm around my shoulders and said, “Guys, can we keep her? I mean, she likes Evil Dead! That’s like perfection!” He dropped his arm and I patted him on the shoulder.
“You have to give me up in 16 more days I’m afraid, or Mackenzie will make Ash’s girlfriend look harmless.”
They all laughed at that, except Star.
“What’s her story, Jaylene? She got a beau?”
I knew he’d taken a liking to her. I raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t think I can answer that unless I know your intentions, young man.”
He smiled sheepishly. “She’s awful pretty. I like all that pink hair she’s got going on and those legs...I, ah, I mean she’s pretty talented with a needle. Shit. I mean shoot.”
It was so charming how they tried not to cuss around me.
“She does not have a boyfriend, Star, but she does have a line of guys who would like to take her out. She doesn’t just go off with any guy with a cute smile. So while you do have a cute smile, you have to have more going for you than that. Are you gainfully employed?”
The other guys laughed at that. “Depends on your definition of gainful,” said Marcus, who was dragging a red-faced Jade through the room in a headlock.
“You know, like in a respectable profession.” I crossed my arms and tapped my foot at him.
“Would you call a professional musician respectable?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “A musician! A person who travels around wooing women in every city, using his music to lower unsuspecting women’s inhibitions? I think not! What other skills do you have?”
He was seriously trying to come up with something. “Uh, I’m good with my hands? Ah, that didn’t sound right. I mean I can fix cars and shit, I mean stuff. I restored a 1965 Camaro with my uncles when I was a teenager and not hanging around with these knuckleheads.”
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