by Viva Fox
“I…couldn’t.” Bianca lowered her head. “I mean…my mom tried singing and it was really hard on our family and I….”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Kevin put his hand on her arm. “I’m not asking you to give up your entire life for it, just a few notes. Come on, what else do you know? I could play it, and you could join us?”
“What about…’I’m All Right.’” She hadn’t heard that song in ages. She didn’t know if anyone still knew it. But Keith apparently did. He picked right up, playing the cords. Bianca laughed, but gave him the next line.
“Well it’s been a long time glad to see your face…”
Keith was laughing as he stopped playing. He turned his sparkling green eyes up to her.
“See? You’ve got this. Give it a try. Maybe…one song…when my band gets here?” He was looking at her optimistically. Bianca nodded reluctantly.
“Ok. One song. My choice.” Keith looked pleased.
“In that case, I can’t wait to hear what it is.”
******
The song she chose was Reba McEntire’s “Fancy.” It was one of those songs that had always been on her potential karaoke list. So tonight, in front of a mostly empty hipster joint, she sang it.
“Here’s your one chance, Fancy. Don’t let me down.”
When she finished, the audience actually looked interested. She immediately hopped down from the tiny stage.
“Keith!” One of the club’s manager’s Dave was approaching them. “She’s a good fit for you, you should keep her.”
“Oh no way.” Bianca waved him off. “It was a one-time deal.” But Keith was already on the floor beside her, wrapping one arm around her waist.
“You know Dave,” he grinned between the two of them, “I’ve been thinking that exact same thing.”
The night escalated quickly. One song turned into two, and then three. Suddenly, Bianca was looking up at Gianna in the middle of the crowd.
After the song ended, she jumped down from the stage. Dodging through people, she finally made it over to Gianna’s side.
“Hey!”
“Hey yourself!” Gianna looked around. “Look at you. This crowd loves you.” Bianca blushed.
“It just kind of happened.” Suddenly it dawned on her. “What are you doing here? You’re not twenty-one!”
“It’s called a fake ID, ok?” Gianna muttered. Bianca held her tongue, not wanting to go into over-protective big sister mode.
“Heyyyy Bianca!” Keith was suddenly wrapped around her again. Gianna looked impressed. “Is this your sister?”
“It is, actually.” Bianca looked over her shoulder at him. “Gianna, this is Keith. Keith, Gianna.”
“Nice to meet you.” Keith offered her his hand. “Your sister’s got talent.”
“I always knew it.” Gianna smiled in a fashion that made Bianca think she was thinking of something else. Her talents always had been a rivalry between them.
“I should…go.” Bianca looked at Gianna.
“Don’t let me stop you.” Gianna stepped back. “I can get a drink and….”
“No it’s cool, I’ll go with you.” Bianca reluctantly detached herself from Keith’s arm. “Hey, thanks for tonight. It was fun.”
“I hope you’ll be back.” Keith told her honestly. “You’re too good to lose.”
“She’ll be back.” Gianna winked. Bianca turned to say one more good night to find Keith face to face with her. She smiled softly. Keith leaned over, pressing his lips against her cheek.
“Bye, Bianca. It was good seeing you.”
As soon as they were in the car, Gianna looked over at her.
“You didn’t have to leave because of me.”
“And have Mom find out I let you stay in a club after they’d gone twenty-one and over with a fake ID?” Bianca buckled her seat belt. “Hardly.”
“Please,” Gianna scoffed as she put the car into gear, “Mom would think it was funny.”
She probably would. Bianca could not deny that. She wondered if her mother had always been such a terrible parent or if she only realized it now.
“What I want to talk about,” Gianna was driving them towards home, “is that boy Keith.”
“What about him?” Bianca was feeling her face get hot. “We don’t need to talk about this.”
“Sure we do. He’s hot, and he likes you.”
“He doesn’t-.”
“I didn’t see him pulling other girls up to sing with his band. Or wrapping his arms around them. Or kissing them good night.” Gianna batted her eyes.
“Cute.” Bianca rolled her own. They drove in silence for a few more streets.
“B,” Gianna glanced over at her, “do you remember the accident?”
Bianca hadn’t really thought about that. She remembered the moments before it. She remembered the chattering between them. Emma was turning around to talk to her. Brian was grumbling at them both to keep still because of the weather.
“A…bit.” She shrugged. “But not clearly.” Now it was her turn. “Gianna, what happened to Dad?”
Gianna turned her Volkswagen into the driveway. She pressed the button on the garage door opener. She watched it open in the darkness.
“He shot himself.”
“Where?” Bianca murmured. Gianna pulled the car into the garage. She sat for a moment before cutting off the engine.
“In the garage. At our house.”
“No one talks about it.” Bianca looked at Gianna in the yellow garage light.
“Mom found him.” Gianna murmured. “She was upset.”
“Obviously.” Bianca couldn’t imagine what that must have been like. Her father had been such a sweet, loving man. To know that he could have hurt himself. “Was Dad depressed?”
“He was upset…” Gianna shrugged. “But it didn’t seem too bad, you know? I mean we were all upset.”
Bianca didn’t understand. She couldn’t imagine how much pain her family had been in from an accident. She had to ask what she was thinking, even though she didn’t want to say it.
“Did anyone…” She paused to gather her thoughts. “Did anyone think that it…might not have been suicide?”
Beside her, Gianna turned in her seat to look at her. With her other hand, she reached for the door handle.
“Who would want to kill Dad?”
Bianca had a suspicion, but she didn’t want to say it. Actually, she didn’t have to. The other car pulled into the driveway and then into the garage. Kevin waved to them. Sighing, Bianca got out of the car.
“Where were you girls?” Kevin asked. Patti came around to stand beside him. His arm immediately went around her.
“Out at Ray’s.” Gianna moved to Bianca’s side. “B was singing.”
“Really?” Patti looked surprised. Kevin looked a bit turned off. “Bianca, you know I always said-.”
“I know what you always said.” Bianca smiled. “I’m pretty tired. I think I’m going to bed.” She headed into house. Something was uncomfortable. She didn’t know what, or why, but something was already wrong.
******
Keith had become an escape for her. Keith was not her family who looked at her weird, or didn’t want to talk about things that had happened while she was in a coma. Keith wanted her to sing, and she did.
She’d started spending more time with him. It became less about the band and more about the two of them. Every now and then, they grabbed food when he walked away from Ray’s. He never questioned why she didn’t drive. Bianca appreciated that.
One evening, Keith’s band had played the set which would be the last before it turned twenty-one and over. His band was staying for the show. Keith wanted to leave.
“You want to go somewhere quieter?” He was packing up his guitar.
“Such as?” She had a feeling what he was suggesting. He finished putting the guitar away, slinging the case over his shoulder.
“I don’t live far. We could order a pizza, chat for a bit.” They did a lot o
f chatting, but it was usually on rushed time. As much as she thought that this might not be her best idea, she did want to be alone with him.
“Drop me off after?”
“Absolutely.” He took her hand. She smiled, and willingly gave in. She decided right then and there that she didn’t care what the rest of the night brought.
He did live close-only a few blocks away. It was a small apartment on top of a store. He unlocked the door, ushering her in. While it looked like a guy lived there, it was surprisingly neat.
“So, where do you want pizza from?” Bianca laughed.
“My grandma was born and raised in Italy. It doesn’t matter to me because you’ll never find a pizza to compare to Grandma’s.”
“That’s entirely fair.” Keith dug through the menus. “How about the basic pepperoni from a mediocre place?”
“That sounds…incredibly acceptable.” Bianca sat down at the kitchen table.
Keith ordered the pizza. The two made small talk until it arrived, and then set the pizza on the table between them. They picked at opposite sides of it.
“Why are you such a mystery?” Keith finally asked her. “Why type of background do you not want me finding out?”
He was smiling, but Bianca knew that his words were serious. He’d been trying to get information out of her, and now he wanted it. She could not fault that.
“Well….” She said softly. “Do you really want to know?” Keith abandoned his food.
“Bianca, talk to me. I look at you and I see this look like you’re hiding from something…from someone.” Bianca hesitated, and then spoke.
“I was in a coma until four months ago.” Keith hadn’t been expecting that. He pulled back, looking surprised.
“No way.”
“Way.” Bianca rested her elbows on the table, her chin in one hand. “One night, my friends and I went to the local college basketball game. It was snowing. But we’re from New York, that doesn’t keep us in, right? Anyway, he-his name was Brian-hit ice and the car skidded. It went off the road, crashed and flipped. My friends in the front seat were killed. I survived, but with a head injury no one thought I’d recover from.”
Keith was staring at her in amazement. Bianca wondered if he believed her. If he didn’t, she’d understand.
“That’s amazing.”
“It’s not-.”
“No, Bianca, really. You have an amazing survival story. I don’t know why they aren’t putting you all over the news.”
“I’d hate that.” Bianca shuddered at the very thought of such a thing. “Anyway, when I woke up from that coma I found out that I was now twenty-one, my father had supposedly killed himself, my older sister vanished, and my mom had shacked up with a guy that she used to be in a band with.”
For a moment, she thought that Keith’s jaw was literally going to hit the table. He just stared at her.
“You must be….”
“Kidding? Please, I wish that I was.” Bianca sighed. “Sadly, this is entirely true. This is my dysfunctional life now. I used to be normal-I swear.”
“I think you’re still normal.” Keith rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “How could you not be normal?”
“I don’t drink, I don’t drive.” Bianca pulled her hand from his so that she could shrug. “I don’t drink because I’m afraid of the risk on my body. I don’t drive because I’m not allowed to have clearance yet.”
“That’s not what makes you normal.” Keith pulled her hand back to his. “What makes you normal is that you come out there, and you get up on that stage and sing with us. You’re amazing, Bianca. Truly.”
She smiled. No one had called her amazing. Not in all of this. People murmured about being a miracle, but Bianca felt overlooked despite the fact that it was her own life.
“Thanks.” She murmured.
For a second, the two of them only looked at one another. Bianca wasn’t entirely certain which one of them moved first, but suddenly they were kissing. It was her first kiss in years. She didn’t think she’d been kissed since November of her freshman year at college.
Things were suddenly getting serious. She hadn’t done anything like this in so long, and she was a bit out of practice. Even then, she hadn’t done it much.
“Wait,” she whispered as she pulled back.
“What?” Keith stroked her hair. “Don’t you want to…?”
“I do.” She did. She wanted to feel normal. She couldn’t think of anything that would make her feel more normal than this. “But I haven’t done this in a while…” That was obvious.
“It’s ok, Bianca.” Keith pressed a kiss to her cheek. “We’ll go slow.”
He pulled her back to him. His kiss slowed down a bit. That relaxed her some. She was able to wrap her arms around his neck. Keith’s hands reached up to caress her breasts.
“How far have you gone?” He pulled back to whisper.
“I’ve done this…. Once.” Bianca murmured softly. Keith smiled.
“Ok then. I promise to be better than him.” His lips moved back onto hers. He kissed her slowly for a long moment. But Bianca needed more, had to have more.
“Don’t take it too slow.” She pulled back. “I need you. I need to feel normal.”
That seemed to be all he needed to hear. He pressed his lips back to hers while he tugged her shirt up. Bianca pulled back, tossing it aside.
Keith got up. He took her hand, leading her into the bedroom. Bianca sat down on the edge of the bed before she unhooked her bra. That had always been another of her best features-her breasts. Apparently he thought so too.
Keith’s hands moved up to cover them. He squeezed them while he kissed her. Bianca groaned into his mouth. It had been so incredibly long that anyone had done this. She hadn’t even realized that she’d missed it. But judging by her body’s reaction, she had.
Keith pushed her to lay back on the bed. He crawled on top of her. Bianca pulled at his shirt until he drew back long enough to take it off. He tossed it aside before he returned to press his chest to hers. Bianca thought that she could kiss him forever.
His fingers were working her jeans free. He pushed them down, easing them off of her hips. Bianca was momentarily nervous. She hadn’t wasted her time becoming one of those girls who bought pretty underwear. She’s grabbed the five for twenty at Target and made it work. But now a boy was actually seeing them.
Keith didn’t seem to mind. He slipped his hand under the waist band. Bianca whimpered a bit as his fingers brushed over her. Then they were passing through the wetness that had pooled there. Bianca cried out entirely. All the time, his mouth was sucking on her throat.
Slowly his middle finger rubbed a circle on her clit. Bianca’s head fell back. Her eyes stared dimly across the room as she focused on his actions.
Keith’s finger left the nerves and pushed inside of her. When he received no cries of protest, his index finger followed. Bianca spread her legs wider for him, driving her hips up to his fingers.
“That’s so good.” She whispered, turning her head to his.
“Mmhmm.” Keith met her lips. His fingers sped up while his thumb returned to her clit. Bianca thought she wouldn’t be able to take the pleasure.
“Keith I…” She wanted it so badly. This was the closest to human she’d felt in months.
“Come for me.” Keith pressed kisses to her throat. “Come for me, Bianca.”
She did. Her body came unraveled at his words. The pleasure was intense. She was sure that none of the college boys she’d fumbled with had ever made her feel this good.
She was still recovering as Keith settled down onto the bed beside her. Bianca finally mustered a smile to him.
“That was…”
“I’m glad.” He kissed her again. Her fingers were already moving to the front of his jeans. His hand came up to cover them. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” Bianca nodded in affirmation. She wanted him…needed him more now than she had in the first place.
Keith did not waste time. At her encouragement, he got off of the bed to remove his pants. After he shed the boxers beneath, he moved back to cover her. Bianca waited, feeling him fumbling to position himself at her entrance.
She sighed as he pushed into her. He felt good-so good. Hearing no words of argument, he began to move inside of her. Bianca brought her hands up to grip his shoulders. Her legs wrapped around his waist, holding him tightly to her.
His pace was growing more urgent. She was growing close for the second time.
“Yes…” She whispered into his ear. “Just like that.” Keith needed no encouragement. He angled his hips, pushing deeper into her. Bianca whimpered, crying out his name as she came for the second time.
She heard Keith’s hiss of breath, and then he stilled over her. She heard what might have been a faint whimper as he came after her.
“Thank you,” she whispered against his shoulder.
“No thank you.” He breathed. “You’re incredible.” He pulled out of her, settling himself onto the bed beside her. “I didn’t ask you over here just to…”
“It’s ok.” Bianca looked over at him. “I wouldn’t mind if you did.” Keith laughed softly. His arm draped over her waist.
“Look, about your singing...you’re really good…like beyond Ray’s good.” He met her eyes. “You should really think about that.”
Bianca considered what he was saying. It was nice…to have something that could be hers finally. And hell, she was good. She knew that.
“I appreciate that, but…” She trailed off. “I just don’t know. I mean, I saw what pursuing a music career did to my family. I don’t know if I could ever do that to my children. I mean, it would mean giving up so much…”
“It doesn’t have to.” Keith tilted her face up to his. “You have to know that.”
“But my mom,” Bianca licked her lips, “my mom was always so good at leaving us.”
“I appreciate that,” Keith told her gently. “But maybe…your mom made mistakes.”
“Enough of a mistake for my dad to kill himself.” Bianca answered bitterly.
“How did it happen?” Keith’s hand played over her cheek gently.