Haunted

by Merrill, R. L.

  “I’m a huge fan. Me and my buddies from the base saw you play two years ago before we deployed to Iraq. What a great show!”

  Devon and Star thanked him and asked about his military service. Jonathan shared that he’d already served two tours in Iraq and now he was back stateside for the time being. He made it through relatively unscathed, physically at least. But the last time we met he shared with me some of the not-so-visible scars. He was still having night terrors at that point but was getting counseling on base and was able to do his job.

  Devon was playing guitar again and Star and Mackenzie had disappeared behind her privacy curtain. Sabrina walked over to check out what I was working on before she took off for the day.

  “That’s going to be a great tattoo, Jonathan.”

  He smiled in appreciation. “Thank you. Jaylene has done most of my tattoos. Been waiting to come back and see her again.”

  Sabrina bent down to whisper in my ear. “If I’m not mistaken, I think Mackenzie is piercing that poor boy back there.”

  I giggled and peered over at the curtain. I could hear them talking softly and laughing. I looked at Devon and he was shaking his head, looking in the same direction. Sabrina gave a wave and shouted her goodbye to Mackenzie before heading out the front door. Then we heard Star shouting.

  “Ow, shit, honey! That fucking smarts!”

  I heard Mackenzie’s voice down low and then the unmistakable sounds of smooching.

  “Hey Kenz? I don’t think that’s sanitary to be doing back there.”

  She pulled back the curtain just a bit. “It’s sanitary! He’s fine.”

  I distinctly heard him say, “I’ll be fine when you’re done. Ow!” More smoochy sounds and grunts of pain. “Sugar Honey Iced Tea! That hurts like a bitch!”

  Devon looked back at me with his eyebrow raised. “You want to make sure she’s not impairing your drummer?”

  He shook his head. “Uh uh. If I look I might be scarred for life. He’s my best friend, but I don’t need to see what she’s piercing right now.”

  “I heard that, fucker,” Star hollered and I heard Mackenzie giggling and more kissing.

  I went back to working on Jonathan, anxious all of a sudden to be done working so I might be able to do some smooching of my own.

  “You’re just about done here, Jonathan. Let me just put in the last bit of shading.”

  It had taken me just under two hours and it looked pretty damn good. He was smiling from ear to ear.

  “Thanks so much, Jaylene, for fitting me in. I really wanted to get this done at the beginning of my leave. I’m meeting up with buddies later on Bourbon Street. We decided to spend the weekend here.”

  We shared with Jonathan our local knowledge of where to go and where to avoid and he appreciated the advice. After I cleaned him up and let him take a look he was very pleased with his new ink. I wrapped his arm and gave him the instructions. He pulled me into a hug before he left. Then he sheepishly looked over at Devon and cleared his throat.

  “Hey man, if it isn’t too weird, could I have your autograph?”

  Devon told him no problem and I showed him where some of my shop postcards were. He signed one for Jonathan and one for one of his buddies.

  Jonathan shook his hand and thanked him. “Hey, you take care of this lovely lady, now. She’s the best.”

  Devon smiled back and looked over at me. “She is that. Enjoy your tattoo.”

  Jonathan nodded. “I’ll probably see you in six months or so! Hey, let me know if you’re ever in Texas, I’ll come see you!”

  I waved at him as he left and turned to look back at the state of my shop.

  Devon was still playing softly in the corner and he seemed so comfortable it made me feel all warm and squishy inside. I was getting a lot of that feeling around him and it was nice.

  Mackenzie pulled back the curtain and out came Star with two very angry looking nipples now pierced with silver hoops.

  “What the hell did you do to him,” I asked Mackenzie.

  She was beaming and he was smiling right back at her. “He wanted them. I just did my thing. You know how it is.” She winked at me and I felt my cheeks redden.

  Star frowned at me and sputtered, “You!? Really?”

  I shrugged. “I can’t turn down a dare, Star. Ever.”

  He laughed at that and Devon just shook his head. He stood up and took a pained glance at his friend’s chest.

  “You really should have considered that these could be an occupational hazard.”

  Star frowned. “What, these? Nah. I won’t catch them on anything.”

  I laughed thinking about how crazy he was when he was drumming. “Well, you might want to make sure you keep your shirt on, just in case.” I laughed and Mackenzie agreed with me.

  “I think that’s a great idea, honey. If you rip one of these out you will not be a happy man.”

  I’m sure she had no problem with him keeping his shirt on around all those screaming women.

  “Alright, time to close up?” I was locking the door and Mackenzie was shutting down the computer.

  “It is definitely time! I’ve got dinner to make for you guys.”

  We all headed upstairs and into Mackenzie’s flat. She and Star got busy with the dinner preparations and she handed Devon and I each a bottle of water and shooed us into the living room.

  We flopped down on the couch together and he took a hold of my hands and started massaging them. I let my head fall back on the couch. “Hmmmmm, that feels so nice. Thank you, but you don’t have to do that.”

  He smiled. “Sure I do. You worked hard today. I can’t believe how much you got done on those two and you barely seem tired at all.”

  I laughed. “I’m a little tired, but it was worth it. I’m glad I got to fit them in.”

  He worked his way up one forearm and then the other, working the tension out of each of my fingers, and then he spun me around so he could work on my shoulders.

  “If you keep that up I’m going to be Jell-O in your hands.”

  He leaned close to my neck and whispered, “That’s what I’m aiming for, chère.”

  I turned to face him and he kissed me softly, so sweet. I pulled back and turned to face him. “I really liked having you in my shop today. Was it too boring?”

  He smiled and shook his head, bringing my hands up and kissing each one. “Not boring at all. Number one, I’m rarely bored. Number two, I was watching you. That’s all the entertainment I need and Number three, it was relaxing. No one bothering me, no one bossing me around. It was awesome.”

  I thought about the pressure he’d been under and thought perhaps this kind of a day was exactly what he needed. He was looking down at me with a serious expression on his face.

  “What’s wrong, baby?” He smiled faintly.

  “Nothing’s wrong. But remember last night when I told you I had things to tell you?” I nodded and braced myself for whatever it was that had him so serious.

  “I do. What is it?”

  He held my hands in his and looked down at them when he talked. “I talked with Marcus yesterday, as we planned. We agreed to a truce. He apologized for how he treated you and plans to make amends. I agreed to his terms as well.”

  I frowned and scooted a little closer to him. “What are his terms?”

  He blew out a breath and shook his head. “He and Sherry found us a new producer, a guy we’d been wanting to work with for a while named Scott Cross. He’s agreed to produce our album, but the only way we can work with him is if we head back to L.A. in a week.” He looked up hesitantly.

  “Ok. You said this was probably going to happen. How do you feel about going back?”

  A pained expression crossed his face. “The same. I don’t want to fucking go there, but it’s what’s best for the band. The good news, or bad news, whichever way you look at it, is that Scott is intense. He works his bands hard and usually have an album recorded quickly. That means we’ll be done sooner, but it me
ans practically 24-7 in the studio. And since we’re not where we should be, this next week is going to mean crunch time.”

  I nodded and put my arms around his neck, forcing him to look at me. “Are you going to be ok with this? I hate the idea of you being stressed while trying to do this.”

  He smiled weakly. “I’ll be fine. I guess. But dammit, I thought I’d have more time...” He trailed off. He looked so worried.

  “Devon, what is it?”

  He searched my eyes. “I don’t want to be away from you,” he said in a broken voice.

  I wrapped my arms around him, crawling onto his lap. “I know baby, I don’t want that either. But we knew this was coming, right?”

  That didn’t appease him at all. He took my arms from around him and grabbed for my hands. “I’m coming back though, you know that, right? I’m coming back as soon as we’re done. This isn’t it.”

  Oh, gods. He was worried about me.

  My eyes welled up and I shook my head. “Of course you’re coming back. We’ll be fine! I don’t want you to worry about us. You’re going to have enough on your plate dealing with Marcus. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be here. I’ll be here waiting for you, ok?”

  He closed his eyes, squeezed them shut and a tear escaped. That was all it took for me. Tears spilled over my cheeks, but I was smiling. Somehow I was able to have a good feeling about things even though it hurt to think about being away from him. When he opened his eyes and saw me smiling, he smiled tentatively.

  “You promise? I don’t want to go thinking you’re convinced we’re done. I won’t.”

  I shook my head. “I’m your home, remember? You told me last night what I needed to hear. I’m home for you so I’m not going anywhere. Can’t have you being homeless anymore.” I wiped at my tears and he grabbed for me, his mouth finding mine and kissing me again like that starved man. I kissed him back with as much emotion and before too long we were both out of breath, crying and laughing with happiness.

  When Mackenzie and Star found us they just stood there speechless. “Ok, who’s pregnant?”

  My eyes jerked up to them in shock and they both laughed.

  “What is that supposed to mean,” I sputtered.

  Mackenzie huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “You tell me. You guys are in here crying and laughing all over each other. That usually means someone is knocked up.” I threw a pillow at her and she threw up her hands. “I’m just saying! Dinner’s ready, you sick fucks.”

  We both laughed and took a moment to collect ourselves. I held his face in my hands. “Are you ok, baby?”

  He nodded. “I think I am. For the first time in a long time, I feel ok. It’s going to suck, but I’ll be on the phone with you every spare second, and the minute we’re done, I’m on a plane back to you.”

  I smiled and kissed him softly. “Good. Now let’s go eat.”

  We spent the rest of the evening eating and laughing with our friends, sharing a delicious dinner and conversation. About ten o’clock, Mackenzie started nibbling on Star’s ear and we knew it was time for us to go next door.

  “Hey, dude. I was going to take Jaylene out tomorrow, you cool here or you want me to drop you somewhere?”

  Mackenzie hopped onto Star’s lap and wrapped her arms around him, possessively. “He’s going nowhere. I’ve got plans for him.”

  Star groaned and said, “I like your plans, honey.”

  They started kissing so we said our goodbyes, which were waved off, and almost made it out before their clothes started coming off.

  When we got inside my place and Devon shut the door behind him we just stood and looked at each other for a long time.

  “So,” I said to break the silence.

  He grinned back at me. “So.”

  He walked towards me and wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling me into his chest. My head tilted back to look up at him and he kissed my forehead.

  “So,” I whispered. “We have a little over twenty four hours ‘til we have to go back.”

  He nodded and started nibbling my neck, my knees started to give way. “Yes, we do. I’m taking you somewhere tomorrow, but tonight I just want to relax with you. Just hang out. So what do you do when you're just hanging out?”

  "You mean what do I do when I'm not working? Hmmm...typically, after a long day like today I might turn on some tunes, take a hot bath, paint my toenails...maybe read or watch a movie. I got news for you, that's the extent of an exciting evening for me. Occasionally Mackenzie and I will go listen to music somewhere, but that's it. I'm really boring.”

  He was looking down at me with the dreamiest expression. “That sounds perfect! Can we do that?”

  I laughed. “Which part?”

  He shrugged. “All of it?”

  "I would love to. But first, since I was a poor hostess last night, let me give you a quick tour.”

  He grinned as I took his hand for what would likely be a short tour. He looked around as we walked, admiring my dishes and selection of flatware. He commented on my color scheme for the living room.

  "If you're going to tease, you can forget that spot I promised you for your toothbrush.”

  He smirked and kissed me on the back of the neck, momentarily distracting me from being irritated by his comments. “I'm not teasing! I love your place, I do. It's just giving me a little more insight into you.”

  I frowned at him. “What can you tell about me that you didn't already know?”

  He looked around. “Well, for instance, I can tell that you at least have some affinity for purple since there seems to be a lot of it.”

  I had a purple rug and throw pillows in the living room and the bathroom was done in lavender.

  "Ok, I guess besides black it's my next favorite. What else?”

  He walked over to look at some pictures on my wall.

  "You like birds?”

  I chuckled. “My father took those. It was his hobby, photography. Mostly wild birds.” He glanced at me to check my reaction. I smiled weakly. “Keep going. I never knew my place was so reflective of me.”

  He laughed gently. He looked over the book titles on my shelves. They were equally covered by psychology texts and vampire literature.

  "I take it Anne Rice may have had something to do with your move here?”

  I blushed. “I love her writing. I read Interview With The Vampire when I was a junior in high school and then proceeded to devour the rest of her work. Guess I have a thing for the supernatural.”

  He looked at my tattoos of the classic monsters and said, "I kind of figured that! Your place is just like you, comfortable, fun and sexy.”

  I burst out laughing. He had my iPod off the dock and turned it on my blues playlist.

  "Sexy? How is my place sexy?”

  He walked slowly towards me. “It smells like you, like vanilla and sugar. So sweet, it lingers, you know?” He drew his finger along the neckline of my shirt. “Everything is soft from your sheets, to your towels, to the fabric on your couch…you do that intentionally, don't you?”

  I shrugged. “I kind of shop by touch.”

  His voice dropped down an octave. “See, even the way you shop is sexy.”

  I giggled and he took my hand and brushed his lips over my knuckles and fingertips.

  "You're just making that up.”

  He shook his head and walked me towards the bathroom. “Nope. You even buy sexy candles for your bathroom.”

  I looked in and noticed he'd set out the candles I bought on my shopping trip with Star. He took out his lighter and lit a row of them then looked appraisingly at my tub.

  "One of the selling points for me with this place was that even though the flats were dinky, the bathrooms were large and included these massive claw foot tubs.”

  He nodded and turned my cheek up to kiss it gently. “It does look massive. Big enough for both of us.”

  I smiled knowingly up at him. He grasped the hem of my tank and pulled it over my head
and did the same with his shirt. He easily unclasped my bra and let it drop.

  "I guess we should test that theory. Are you ready to start relaxing?”

  We removed the rest of each other’s clothes and he grabbed a hair band from my stash. He motioned for me to turn around and he oh so gently pulled my hair up into a half pulled ponytail. He turned the water on and got the temp just right. I stepped next to him and held out a bottle of lemon oil.

  "This ok?”

  He looked up at me and that devastating smile was back. I squirted in a couple of drops and then he stepped in and held out his hand to me. I took it and we lowered into the tub, my back to his chest.

  We sat in silence for the longest time, just enjoying the feel of the water and the proximity of each other's body. He was breathing steadily behind me. I turned around to peek at him and his head was resting on the back of the tub, his eyes closed.

  "This is a great playlist," he said, keeping his eyes closed. “Didn't know you liked the blues, too.”

  I kissed his chin and he wrapped his arms around me for a squeeze. “I've really gotten into it more since I came here. I guess the Metal is sometimes about being angry for me and I'm not so angry anymore. I heard Tab Benoit after I moved here and then Dr. John. I spent some time looking into their influences and just loved it. It's relaxing for me after a day at the shop.”

  He smiled his half smile, and I traced my fingers along his chest, feeling him sigh beneath me. “I've played with Tab before. He's amazing.”

  "Really," I asked and he murmured, "Mmmm hmmm. He lived in Houma at one point. My daddy knew him. Every once in a while he'd come to town and play at a club and when I was 14, I guess, my daddy took me with him to see him play. He invited folks up to play with him and my daddy made me go. It was unnerving, to say the least, but I'll never forget it. I learned to play slide watching him.”

  "That's so cool. I wondered when you started playing.”

  "About the time I got my first boner.” Shocked, I splashed him and he grabbed onto me tighter. “What? It was! I was like 11 years old. I went to my daddy because I thought something was wrong. He shook his head, handed me his guitar and said, 'Son, that ain't gonna bring you nothin’ but heartache. Learn to play this, it'll help with the pain.' I had no fucking clue what he meant for a long time, but the first time I got one around a girl I knew what he meant. For the longest time girls were nothing but trouble. Playing guitar kept me occupied so I wouldn't dwell on unproductive feelings.”