Haunted

by Merrill, R. L.

  I got out of the shower and took my time putting on my lotion, putting up my hair and adding a little makeup. It was warm, so I opted for my second halter and a long swishy skirt. Devon had left me feeling pretty and the skirt continued that feeling. Thank you, Mackenzie, for forcing that shopping trip on me!

  When I came out of the room, I heard voices and a radio playing downstairs. Sherry was sitting at the bar with a cup of coffee and a bagel. My stomach grumbled so I figured I should grab something to eat too.

  “Good morning, Sherry. Let me grab something to eat and I’ll join you.”

  She smiled and winked at me over the rim of her cup. I guess we both had reason to feel good this morning. I just hoped what Devon said was true, that Marcus was mostly talk when it came to his “manwhore” ways.

  As I passed the weight room, I could hear the treadmill running and weights clanging. I had to pinch myself to resist the urge to peek inside. I did not need to see Devon working out. I could even hear singing...I could hear Devon singing! He must have been singing along to an iPod, although I couldn’t make out the words. I heaved a huge sigh and slipped into the kitchen.

  With a glass of orange juice and a chocolate muffin in hand, I floated back out to the bar. Jade and Mage were working on their guitars and Star was writing something down on the table by the pictures. That was what we really needed to do today. Time to get on topic. A shower was running upstairs, which had to be Marcus. Sherry looked casual in a pair of yoga pants and halter that tied behind her neck. She had no makeup on. She didn’t need any with her amazing features.

  “I trust you slept well,” she said to me.

  I raised an eyebrow at her, “About as good as you I’d suspect.”

  She shook her head. “I tell you what girl, they know how to make their men down here in Louisiana, for sure.”

  I giggled. “You’ll hear no complaints from me.” I didn’t know how comfortable I could get with her but I had to know.

  “So, Marcus? Really?”

  She took another sip of her coffee and rolled her eyes in a sinful way. “He may act like he’s all that around other people, but he definitely puts the toy in boy toy. We have an understanding. He entertains me and we have fun together. The minute I’m not entertained, I’m done.”

  “I can admire that stance, I suppose. He just really lays it on sometimes and I hate to think that it works for him.”

  She scoffed. “You think I’d let him get away with that? Please! He knows better. He also knows I’m not interested in anything other than fun so he doesn’t have to pretend to be anything he’s not. In our business, it’s hard to find people you can trust. When you do, it’s nice to keep them around, for business and pleasure. It’s mutually beneficial since we are looking for the same things.”

  That statement didn’t sit well with me when I thought about Devon. She must have sensed that. “That’s probably why Devon has never been happy with the business side of the business. He’s a true artist, that’s rare. And the rare ones are worth investing in.”

  I smiled guiltily at her. “He’s definitely worth it. And thanks for taking his bed.”

  She laughed out loud. “It paid off for both of us!”

  We clinked glasses and laughed until we realized the guys were listening to us.

  “I think it’s dangerous to let those two sit together, Mage. Look at how much damage Jaylene did with a paintball gun! Imagine if there were two of them.”

  Sherry let out a maniacal laugh that had me a little afraid of her. “Better watch out, Jade. You have to sleep sometime.”

  His eyes got big and he looked at Mage and Star who were laughing at him.

  Sherry turned to me and whispered conspiratorially, “He’s so easy to get, isn’t he?”

  I nodded. “But he’s so sweet, I’ve been trying to take it easy on him ever since I freaked him out before tattooing him.”

  “Oh, you already tattooed him? Jade let me see!”

  He walked over to her and showed her the back of his calf. It was healing nicely. There was just a little bit of flaking from the ink.

  “That’s cool. but what is that?”

  I forgot she didn’t know what Evil Dead was all about. “That, Miss Jordan, is from Evil Dead 2. Jade, how is it that your manager hasn’t seen the masterpiece?”

  He narrowed his eyes at her and put his hands on his hips. He was so freaking cute I could barely stand it. “Yeah, Sherry, how come you’ve never seen it?” He shook his head and continued. “Anyway, this lovely lady is Linda, Ash’s now departed girlfriend, dancing headless for him. You like?”

  She was frowning at it, obviously not sure what to make of it. “The tattoo looks very well done. Wait, does that say ‘Swallow your Soul?’ Really?”

  We all giggled. I shrugged at her and threw up my hands.

  She smacked herself in the forehead. “You guys are strange.”

  The door to the weight room opened and my eyes involuntarily looked to see Devon emerging dressed only in a pair of basketball shorts, dripping with sweat. He was pulling a towel around his neck when his eyes found me. Damn him and that devastating smile!

  “Dude, hurry and hit the showers, we got work to do,” shouted Mage.

  Devon lifted his chin at him and walked over to me. He pinned me against the bar and reached around me, for my orange juice. He took a big drink, slammed the glass down and with his other hand he picked up my muffin and took a bite out of it. He winked and then ran up the steps to his room. A minute later, we heard the shower on and he was singing loudly.

  Every eye in the house, including Marcus’ who had just joined Sherry, was turned on me. Ignoring the fact that I was probably ten shades of crimson, I picked up my glass, gave them a small smile and raised it before taking a drink and turning back to the bar.

  “Alright then, that’s new,” said Mage. He shook his head and went back to his bass.

  Jade was looking at me completely bewildered but then it was like a light bulb went on and he said, “Ohhh.” Then he smiled approvingly at me and went back to playing his guitar.

  Gods, this was embarrassing! I couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off my face. Until Marcus spoke.

  “See? I knew she’d be a good investment.”

  I turned on him, pissed that he was about to ruin my good mood. “Marcus! You are much more fun when you aren’t being an ass. Why do you have to make everything sound so vulgar?”

  His smile fell. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by that- Ow!”

  Sherry knocked him back off his barstool and he barely caught himself before falling on his ass.

  “I know you didn’t just call this lovely lady an investment. Boy, do you have any idea how completely disrespectful that was?”

  He looked genuinely confused. “What? I just meant I knew having her here would be good for us. Him especially. That’s all I was saying.” He was rubbing his ass like maybe his fall wasn’t without trauma.

  “Well, next time don’t insinuate a woman has monetary value when it comes to something like this. You kiss your mama with that mouth?”

  He looked shocked but then his smart-assed smile was back and he whispered loudly in her ear, “I kissed your mouth and I’m pretty sure you liked it.”

  She smacked him in the chest but she was smiling.

  Still annoyed, I went back to finishing my breakfast. One of these days, he and I were going to have it out and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

  A few minutes later Devon was back to shouts of, “It’s about time, pretty boy,” from the other guys. Then they were playing with an energy I had yet to hear from them. They spent the rest of the day playing and fine-tuning the songs they had. Jade and Mage played them something new that they jumped all over. Sherry had some work to do on her laptop so I just worked on some sketches and listened to them.

  Sherry and I pulled out sandwich fixings a couple hours later. They came over as a herd, devoured what was there, and went right back to playing.

 
; Around 6:00 Daryl showed up with some barbeque so they decided to call it quits for the day. He motioned me over and gave me a hug.

  “How’s things going?”

  My stupid smile must have given something away because when I said, “Good! They're getting a lot accomplished I think,” he just smiled knowingly.

  “Uh huh, dat all dat’s getting done around here?”

  I smacked his arm. “Don’t be rude! No wonder Marcus has such a potty mouth.”

  At this, he frowned and put on that scary face that most people ran from. “What dat dumbass do? Do I need to have a talk with him?”

  I shook my head and placed a calming hand on his chest. “No, Daryl. He’s not done anything. He just has an uncouth way of putting things sometimes. Don't worry. Sherry already knocked him on his ass today.”

  He smirked but didn’t seem appeased. “Nevertheless, that boy needs a good ass kicking like you heard about. I don’t give a shit if he grew up without a father, he knows better than to talk to a lady like that.”

  I frowned. “What happened to his father?”

  His eyes darkened. “My sister picked a pansy-ass motherfucker with no qualms about leaving her high and dry with two young boys when he found something a little less domestic. Marcus was probably about eight or nine I suppose, Jade less than a year younger. I did what I could to teach dem to be good men but I was having my own troubles around dat time. I might not have been the best influence. Dey was close to David, Devon’s daddy. When he died dey was on dey own. Marcus is a little too much like his daddy for my liking.”

  I forgot sometimes just how much life Daryl had lived and that it wasn’t always warm and fuzzy like it was now with his beautiful family.

  “I understand your frustration, Daryl. But there comes a time when everyone has to answer for their own behavior. I just hope that when his reckoning comes it’s not in the form of a two by four upside the head. Or worse.”

  Daryl smiled at me appreciatively. “Jaylene, you ain’t bigger dan a minute, but you a spitfire. I love dat about you. And I ain’t the only one.”

  At that moment Devon joined us shaking hands and doing the bro hug with his uncle. Then he turned to me and kissed me on the cheek tenderly. I smiled up at him and his eyes were full of such happiness it made me want to cry.

  Daryl cleared his throat. “You two enjoy the food and I’ll see you later. Oh, and Jaylene? I checked in on Kenzie Kitten today and other than being a little lonely without you, things was good. She told me on the QT dat Troy was doing good work and already talking about his next gig so you ain’t got to worry about him moving in for the long term.”

  I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Daryl. That makes me feel better. But I’m sad for Mackenzie. I don’t want her to be lonely.”

  Devon pulled me into him and said, “Why don’t we invite her over tonight? We can play games or something, give her a chance to, ah, mingle.” He looked over at Star who was scribbling something down again. I was curious as to what he was writing.

  “I think that would make someone very happy.”

  He winked at me and said, “Why don’t you go call her, chère.”

  I hugged Daryl goodbye, taking a moment to look up at the two of them. “You know, I never felt like a small person, but around the two of you, I feel downright petite.”

  Daryl laughed and said, “That’s cuz you are, sugar. You’re perfect, now get up there and call Kenzie and tell her to get her pretty little self over here before she gets teary and ruins that makeup of hers.”

  I rolled my eyes and reached up on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. “Thanks Daryl. I’ll be right back.”

  The two of them watched me walk up the stairs. I glanced down and saw Daryl put his arm around Devon and talk seriously with him. Devon was smiling. It made my heart race.

  When I got up to my room, I sat down on the edge of the bed for a minute to catch my breath. It was a week ago today that the guys came into my shop. Only eight days and already my life felt so different. I’d been so preoccupied with the band and their needs and my feelings for Devon that it felt like it had been more like a month! I still had a week and a half to go and I wondered just what it was going to be like. I sighed and looked back at the mess of sheets and blankets we’d made this morning. I felt my face get hot, along with other things, and I really hoped that he’d be back with me tonight. And if I wasn’t kidding myself, I hoped for every night after that as well. The fact that we fell asleep staring into each other’s eyes the night before was so precious to me. It made me feel that much more for him.

  I shook myself and grabbed for my phone. She picked up on the third ring. “You’ve reached the winter of my discontent, care to leave a message?”

  “Kenz, it’s me! You’re long lost gal pal! Why so down in the dumps, dollface?”

  She sighed. “Oh, because I miss you and it’s no fun working with a boy. Well, at least not the boy I’m working with. He took over the stereo and keeps playing that Death Metal stuff that I hate so much. I miss your Metal even, that’s how much I hate his stuff!” Her little whiny voice was music to my ears.

  “Well, cheer up and get your fine little behind over here. The guys’ manager Sherry is here, Daryl just brought barbeque, and we’re thinking of playing some games tonight.”

  “Really? I can come play? Oh, that sounds like fun! What should I wear? Wait a minute, why am I asking you that question? Wait. What are you wearing?”

  I sighed, kind of pleased she asked. “I’ve got on that black flowy halter I got at Sabrina’s and a brownish long flowy skirt.”

  “Hmmm, I’m impressed! How did you do your hair?”

  I told her I’d piled it up. She asked about my makeup, I assured her I had on the bare minimum.

  She sounded pleased. “Sounds like someone found some motivation. Tell me, Jay, have you let that boy touch your feminine side.”

  I could only giggle and that was enough of an admission for her.

  “You DID! You go girl! Was it great? Is he a good kisser? Oh, is he good with his hands.”

  Now she knew I wasn’t going to give her details, but I knew she couldn’t help herself.

  “It was wonderful, Kenzie, and frighteningly enough, I seem to have fallen for him. Like completely, crashed and burned with no hope of recovery.”

  She was quiet for a minute. “He better be good to you, that’s all I have to say. That and it’s about time. I’m so happy for you.”

  I thanked her, feeling better that I could admit it to my BFF. She said she had to finish up at the shop and that she’d be over around 8:30.

  I went back downstairs and looked over at the pictures the guys had put up. They’d written a little story to go with each one.

  Star chose the picture of him with Maggie for the dance. Underneath he wrote, “Thanks for the date, Maggie, and the lessons on being a good man.”

  Wow, ok. I wondered just what happened with those two.

  Mage chose a picture of Maggie and him holding up a human skull between them. They were looking at each other with intense facial expressions, like two boxers getting ready to face off. Mage had a wand with feathers and chicken bones and beads hanging off it in his other hand. Maggie was wearing a sparkly, low cut robe with glittery makeup on. Under the picture Mage wrote,

  “The best All Hallows’ Eve ever. Maggie came with me to a gathering at the Lafayette #1 and we got to see some of the masters at work. Thank you Maggie for always listening to my crazy talk.”

  So Maggie had a wild side. It seemed like there was nothing she wouldn’t do for them, or with them for that matter. I was glad someone had listened to Mage’s talk and taken him seriously.

  Jade’s picture was of him and Marcus looking pretty roughed up, sitting on a couch with ice packs on their heads. They were pissed. His note said,

  “Maggie always covered for us, no matter what stupid shit Marcus got us into. In this case, we beat the crap out of each other after Marcus aske
d out my best girl, effectively stealing her from me. When mom found us all bloody and scraped up, she told her we'd fought off some guys that were giving her a bad time. She bought it and left us alone.”

  Why did that story not surprise me? But man, they looked awful! They must have really beaten each other up. I couldn’t imagine brothers doing that much damage to each other.

  Marcus posted a picture of he and the band with Maggie holding up their gold record shaking hands with some executives from the label I assumed. The guys were all decked out in what were probably the clothes they would perform in. Marcus was even wearing eyeliner, which made him look more dramatic for sure. Devon had on his shades and was wearing a simple tight black t-shirt, black jeans and a belt with a huge skull buckle. Great look for him.

  Marcus wrote,

  “Maggie was our biggest supporter. Without her we would still be a bunch of fuck-ups from Houma. God bless her and keep her safe.”

  Devon still hadn’t posted one. In all fairness, he hadn’t had much time to peruse the pictures, and he had written his song.

  More pieces of the Maggie puzzle: a sister who was the glue that held them all together, a devoted cousin who ran interference and brought out the artists in them, a trusted friend who would go to the ends of the earth for you, and a woman who taught a boy to become a man. Now, how to bring this all together in one drawing?

  I stood there looking at the pictures for a long time. She was very beautiful, in all of the pictures she was gorgeous, no matter what look she was sporting at that time. She had a blinding smile that changed her whole face. I could see so clearly why they were lost without her. They needed to learn from each other how to make things work. They had to depend on each other and learn to trust people like Sherry, who had their best interests at heart even if they weren’t family.