by Jesse Jordan
“Sorry James, Andrea didn't tell me about that, maybe she's surprised about it too. Is everything okay with that?” I answer, not wanting James to know the problems I'm having. Not yet, it's not his business yet.
“Yeah, it was just a publicity piece anyway, I have a few other ideas. I was thinking, what about setting up a website for you guys? Or I guess a better way to put it would be to update what you guys have.”
I must be more tired than I thought, we have a website? “Uh.... huh? Pretend I just got done doing an hour of weightlifting and my brain is only operating at half speed, James. Because it is.”
James laughs, and I can imagine him wherever he is, shaking his head and leaning back in his chair. “Joey, the label's had a website up for you since back in the Oceanside days. Up until recently though, it's been your pretty basic site. But if we're reaching out to the public to show you guys as real people, maybe we need to pimp that ride.”
“Yo, dawg, I heard you like websites....” I joke, understanding. “Just make sure whatever's done uses my good pictures.”
“I don't know, I liked that Seattle picture. You were an interesting shade of red,” James jokes. “Anyway, that's just an off the top of my head idea, I'm going to spend the rest of the day seeing what else my crazy ass can cook up. Wanna do a Christmas special?”
“Only if we get to do it with the guys from Star Wars.”
“Yeah, like that went over so well last time. When's your next studio session, anyway?”
“Tomorrow, Cora had a prenatal appointment today and Ian just wanted to chill. I'm taking care of some family biz today too, got the hours to burn.”
James hums, understanding. “All right dude. Take care of the family, and I'll see you tomorrow. And don't overdo the weightlifting, all right? You got height and youth on me, I gotta have an edge with the ladies somehow.”
“Thought you had one in your jeans,” I joke back, and James laughs.
“Yeah, but that's not something I can just walk around in public showing off. Even if this is rock, there are just some things a publicist can't get away with. Check ya later.”
“Hey Joey, got a minute?” Cora asks as we wrap up the recording. Ian left an hour ago, his drums down to the point that I can just listen in over my headphones while Cora gets my guitar track down.
I take off my guitar, putting it away in its case, making sure everything is in good shape. The D string is looking a little worn, I'll change it out when I get home. “Sure, Cora. How was the appointment yesterday, anyhow?”
“I'm not telling you if it’s a boy or a girl yet, Joey,” Cora teases. “But the baby is just fine, and I am too. I wanted to ask you about your playing.”
“Was there a problem with it?” I ask, worried. “I thought it was okay today.”
“No, it was great, sweetie, the thing is.... well, you just played angry today. You did last time too, ever since James told you about that asshole Chad. Is that still bothering you?”
I look down at my guitar, closing the case. I don't like not telling Cora the truth. Since last Monday, I haven't been able to get Andrea off my mind. It's been almost ten days now, and I'm worried that she's never going to call again. I know that when she told me she wanted to go incommunicado for a while and I agreed, thinking it was for the best. I thought I was strong enough to deal with the pain, with the potential loss. But in the days since then, I find myself more and more shaken by the loss. I'm checking my phone almost constantly trying to will it to ring, to see if Andrea's sent me a text message or given me a call. It's gotten worse since her week of 'suspension' from work has passed, and still no word. I'm not sleeping well, my dreams are disturbing me, and trying to wear myself out with workouts isn't helping, I'm just starting to put on muscle.
Even Mama and Maria are noticing that something's not right with me, and that hurts even more. I burned dinner yesterday, perhaps the first time I've done that in at least three years. While I haven't snapped at Angel or Maria when they've asked me for help with things, I'm just not into it the way that I used to be. Now Cora's saying I'm playing angrily, but I don't know what to say. That I'm heartbroken, that I want to break the promise I made to Andrea to respect her space, that I want to go to the Coates Media building and do a little bit of yelling and ass-kicking myself? I can't say that, I'll come off as loco as Chad Bronson.
“It's been a week of frustration, Cora. That's all. I thought the gym could take care of it. I'm sorry if I'm making your job harder.”
Cora rubs my back, her eyes full of concern. “It's nothing like that, Joey. If anything, considering the song we were working on today, a little bit of anger made it harder, gave it a good sound. But you're my brother, my family. I'm worried about you. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here.”
I turn and give Cora a hug, kissing the top of her head. “Rocky is the luckiest man on the planet, you know that? Seriously, I love you, Cora. Thank you.”
Cora hugs me back, then looks me over. “You get some rest, okay? And I'm serious if you need to talk, give me or Rocky a call. I know there are guy things that maybe's easier to talk with him about, I don't fault you guys for that. Okay?”
I nod, bumping fists with her again. “For sure. I'll see you tomorrow.”
Cora's support helps as I get home, and I see that Maria and Angel are gone, while Mama's working in the kitchen. “Hey, Mama, what's going on? Where's Maria and Angel?”
“One of Maria's babysitting clients is a karate teacher, and he offered to teach Angel together with his kids for free. Maria thought it'd be a good way for Angel to get some energy out and make some new friends. He so wants to be like you, but he's too young to get into the gym. As for me... well, you've been distracted, hijo. I thought I'd take care of dinner, let you have some peace and quiet. You seem like you need it.”
“Mama...” I start to protest, but my phone rings, and I pull it out, seeing that it's a number that I don't know. “Hold on Mama. Hello?”
“Joey... it's me. I'm sorry. I tried so hard to be strong, but I need your help.”
I can hear it in Andrea's voice, she's worried, she's scared, and immediately all my fear drops away, or at least changes to fear about what is going on with her. Mama's knife pauses, but she goes back to chopping onions, even though I know she's listening as I turn and lean against the counter to listen to Andrea. “Andrea, whatever you need, I'm here.”
“Joey, I quit my job, and my father kicked me out of my apartment. I've got to get the last of my stuff out by tomorrow, and I don't know what else to do.”
“Okay, that's okay. I'll help however I can. Where are you staying now?”
There's a pause at the other end, and I can hear Andrea's embarrassment when she answers. “I'm in a motel, but I'm not sure how much longer. My credit card is almost maxed out now, and I'm not sure what to do. I've never been in this situation before.”
“What's the hotel?” I ask, and I can see out of the corner of my eye Mama's knife pausing again. “Andrea, where are you going to stay after that?”
“She will stay here,” Mama says quietly, in that sort of way she has that says everything is decided, all discussion is finished. “Your girlfriend needs a home?”
“Hold on, Andrea. Mama wants to hear, and I'm going to put you on speaker.” I set my phone down on the counter and turn on the speaker, hoping Andrea doesn't hang up. “Okay, so Mama asked if you need a home.”
“Mrs. Rivera, I know that you're kind, but...”
“But nothing, Andrea. You need a place to stay, yes?”
“Yes. I was telling Joey, I quit my job and my father has kicked me out of my apartment. I've even lost my car.”
“Then you have a house, and a car, and a place to stay. I will let you work out the details with Joey while I finish cooking dinner. Would you like to join us?”
I can hear Andrea crying and laughing at the same time, and I can understand, Mama's onions must be strong today, I'm tearing up myself. “Mrs. Rivera, thank you
. I've already paid for my dinner tonight, but... well, maybe tomorrow?”
“Good. In the meantime, Joey, go have a talk with your girlfriend. You and I can discuss your keeping secrets afterward.”
I pick up my phone and give Mama a kiss on the cheek, going outside into the early evening coolness. “Andrea, tell me what's going on?”
“I just couldn't do it, Joey. He wanted to control me, to make me choose between my life under his control or you and freedom. I chose freedom. So, I resigned from the Pulse and smashed my old phone after I programmed in the important numbers into this one and called him telling him about my decision. I blocked my father and started packing. When he came by, I didn't let him up, but that's only good until tomorrow. He sent registered mail, I'm evicted as of tomorrow at noon.”
“Okay. Then we'll get to work early. How much stuff is it?” I ask, not even worried. I can handle this, and as long as Andrea wants to be with me, I can have the strength. “Ten boxes, fifteen?”
“Just two suitcases and five boxes,” Andrea replies. “I decided... Joey, I want to leave all of it behind right now. The fancy clothes, the trust fund stuff, all of that. But I'm not strong enough, and I don't know what to do. Joey, I'm sorry I waited so long to call, I didn't want to make it seem like I'm asking for a handout, but I just didn't know what else to do.”
“You did the right thing, Andrea. I told you before, whatever you need, I'll move heaven and earth to get for you. You're special, and I'm not going to let you spend another night in a hotel. Now, which hotel?”
“Stay home for tonight, Joey. The hotel's in Santa Monica, within walking distance of the apartment. But... can you meet me there tomorrow morning at eight? I'd like to make sure I have plenty of time, and if my father shows up, I'd like a little bit of support.”
I grin, nodding. “Just remember, I got my ass kicked in the fight I told you about.”
Andrea laughs, her tears disappearing from her voice in the relief of our humor. “Then bring Teresa. I bet she can take on a whole platoon of Marines no problem.”
We both laugh, Andrea's tapering off to an intense silence. “Joey, thank you. I... even more than this, I need you. Not for the hand up, even if I had the apartment and everything else, I still need you. You... well, this isn't something I want to say over the phone, so I'll tell you later, okay?”
“Okay,” I reply, my throat suddenly thick. “I understand, and... I think I feel the same way. I'll see you in the morning.”
Andrea and I hang up, and Mama comes in, putting her hand on my shoulder. “Joey, whatever that was... you are a good man.”
“I learned from the best, Mama. But I need to make a few more phone calls. Bringing Andrea here... the rest of the band needs to know. And I think maybe, I need their help.”
“That is what friends and family are for, hijo. Besides, it will be nice to talk with Rocky, I miss having a proper Spanish speaker to talk things over with,” Mama teases lightly, patting my shoulder. “And Bella would be nice to have over, too.”
“What about James?”
Mama chuckles and turns around to go back to the kitchen. “I'll get my step stool.”
Andrea
It feels weird, looking around the apartment. So many of the things inside are still here. The plates, the silverware, the couch, even the television are all just sitting like I'm stepping out for a long weekend trip to Catalina or going out to Vegas or something, not leaving forever.
Joey comes out of the bedroom, a large military style duffel over his shoulder. When he showed up this morning, he had two of them in the back of his Buick, insisting that I pack them up. “There's no reason you should let Darren get a single thing from you that you can use. Besides, I happen to think you're hot as hell in everything I've seen. I'd like to see some more of it, too.”
I'll probably have to dry clean all the stuff I shoved in the bags to get out the wrinkles, but it feels good, and I'm touched when I see the faded marker on the side. Rivera, T L it says, and I realize that this bag belonged to Joey's father, carefully kept and taken care of for I don't know how many years. The marker's visible now on the side of the bag over Joey's shoulder, and he comes over, putting and arm around my shoulders. “You okay?”
I nod, giving him a squeeze. “Yeah. Just feels strange, walking out like this. And I'll admit, I'm a little scared. For most of my life, roughing it meant going to only a three-star hotel.”
“I can understand that. When Papa died and we moved to Los Angeles, I was scared too. I think it's normal to be scared when we're looking toward a future that we're not too certain what's going to happen,” Joey says softly. He squeezes my shoulder, and I turn to him, kissing him again. I've lost count of the number of kisses we've shared over the past three and a half hours, but each one is special, each one thrilling and reassuring. “To be honest, I'm a little scared right now.”
“Bravery is going on even when you're scared,” I paraphrase, giving him a quick kiss. “And with you Joey, I feel very brave.”
“Good, because we've still got three hours to kill off,” Joey says with a chuckle. “Don't ask me what or why, Ian made me promise this morning while I was eating breakfast, and he didn't give me any details. He said if we come home before three in the afternoon, he's going to beat my ass. So, I figure he's got some sort of party arranged or something. But I made him a promise, so how about we go find a movie or just go hang out on the beach again?”
I nod, my mood lifting. Still, it's weird looking at my keyring, the keys all serving as reminders of the ways my father paid for my lifestyle and just leave it on the counter, closing the door behind me. The angry, juvenile part of me wants to just leave the door open or to wreck things. I bet the flat panel LCD TV would make one hell of a crash when it hits the parking lot. I remind myself though, that's what Chad would do, and I'm not Chad.
We end up going to the beach, but with it being November now, it's getting too cold to really enjoy, although it does make the sand more or less abandoned. “So, what did Angel do for Halloween?”
Joey laughs, pulling out his phone to show me. Angel, in a total homage to his uncle, went as a rock guitarist, right down to the lipstick and eyeliner. He even had a little guitar, maybe foam and plastic, I'm not sure. “Wow. He's the coolest looking four-year-old trick or treater in existence. Don't tell me you wore stage gear too?”
Joey shakes his head and swipes left, pulling up a photo of him with the other guys from the band dressed up as horror characters. Joey's dressed as Michael Meyers, Rocky's got a good Pinhead look going, while the giant Jason Voorhies in the back must be Ian. “Jesus, I haven't met him yet, but he's huge. If Ian wants to stop being a rock drummer, I think he'd have a good future just as a horror character. You know, he's tall enough to play Darth Vader for the next Star Wars flick.”
“Ian's going to like you saying that, he loves those movies. We decided to take Angel and everyone to a neighborhood party up in Simi where Rocky lives. In return, we're going to be pulling off one amazing Christmas spread,” Joey says, putting his phone back in his pocket and taking my hand again. “Angel had a blast, too. It was good.”
“What about Thanksgiving?” I ask. “I've always loved that.”
Joey grins and kisses my hand as we start walking again. “Plan is for Rocky and Cora to get married then. That'll give them the marriage, a week for the honeymoon, then all the rest of December to chill out, do some practicing before we start up the tour on January tenth in Atlanta.”
“A Thanksgiving wedding. Sounds interesting, any guesses as to what the banquet's going to be?” I joke, and Joey laughs. “Or are you cooking for the whole thing?”
“No way, beautiful. They're not going overboard, but with my family, Ian and his family, and of course Rocky's parents, Cora's parents, and I think they invited some of their high school friends too, and a few folks from the record company. Maybe fifty people total. Well, fifty-one now. That is if you'll be my date for the wedding?”
&n
bsp; I squeeze Joey's waist again, giggling. “Of course. It gives me a chance to catch the bouquet, right?”
Joey laughs but doesn't object to the implied meaning, and we keep walking, turning back when we get close enough to see the Venice Beach pier. There's a lot to do there, enough to take up three hours by itself, but I'm feeling too excited, I want to see what's being planned. I can see it in Joey's body language as well as we drive into Thousand Oaks. I don't feel weird at all as Joey pulls off the freeway and makes the turns towards his house, and once again I'm overcome with just a sense of fate moving me where it wants to.
That is, I feel calm until we pull up in front of Joey's house, and we see two trucks parked out front, one of them festooned with all the stuff that, along with the sign, tells us it belongs to a general contractor. “What the... Joey, what's this?”
“I don't know. Come on, let's find out,” Joey says softly with confusion in his voice, parking street side behind an SUV. We go around the trucks, both of us stopping short when we see what's going on. The door's open, but the inside of the place looks like anything but a garage. Four men are working intently, two of them putting up insulation while another two work on nailing wallboard over the studs. Another worker is running wire it looks like to an overhead ceiling fan, and I can see near the wall cases of track lighting ready to go too. “Guys?”
The two men working on the wallboard turn around, and I immediately recognize Rocky Blake and Ian Ivory, I probably should have picked Ian out just from his height. He is huge, his tousled mop top bringing him down from scary to just intimidating until he smiles, and he just looks like a huge, nice guy. Rocky, on the other hand, comes over, grinning his famous grin, looking us over. “Well, well, we'd hoped to get this done before you guys got here. Hi, Rocky Blake.”
Rocky offers his hand and we shake while Joey goes up to Ian, staring up into his friend's eyes for a moment before the two embrace, trading thunderous slaps on the back as Joey realizes what Ian's surprise was. Rocky watches for a moment before leaning in to whisper in my ear. “I was a little surprised too, but that's how Ian operates. We'd have probably have been done with the modifications, except the contractors showed up late. Then again, what do you expect when Ian just called them last night?”