Sunday, November 28, 2004
Part 3 - Aftermath - 1.
Part 3. Aftermath
1.
Bill moaned and opened his eyes. Slowly, the world swam into focus. He tried to sit up, and was rewarded for his efforts with a shooting pain right behind his eyes. He put a hand up to his head, and was surprised to feel a nice fat egg on his forehead. He managed to sit up, and looked around. He was in a strange bedroom, probably one of the guest rooms on the second floor. But how had he gotten here. He shook his head and tried to remember the last thing that happened.
Oh yeah, he’d been fighting with Kevin when Gary and Doug got involved. He felt like an ass for blowing up at Doug like he had. But how had he gotten the lump? He couldn’t remember. He got up unsteadily, and noticed the bathroom off to the left. He suddenly felt woozy, and he got into the bathroom as quickly as he could, just in time to vomit a spectacular amount of liquid up and into the toilet.
He sat next to the toilet for a few minutes, head on the cool porcelain of the tub. He’d been sick before, but never like this. He wondered if he had a concussion. And what had happened to Kat? The last thing he’d seen of her, she was doing the weeping and gnashing of teeth thing, trying to get Charlie to forgive her. He slowly got up again and flushed the toilet. He rinsed his mouth out and looked at his face in the mirror.
Maybe Doug’s right. Maybe I am losing it. What a night. This was supposed to have been one of the greatest nights of his teenage existence, and what a wreck it had turned out to be. He walked over to the door and turned the knob. Nothing. He turned the knob again, then knocked on the door.
“Anyone out there?” He knocked again, then remembered the intercom system. He walked over and picked up the phone by the bedside, then pushed the button for the living room. The phone buzzed a few times, then someone picked it up.
“Bill? That you?”
“Audra? What’s going on? Why am I locked in this bedroom?”
“You calm now?”
“Yeah, I feel like a big asshole, and I’ve got an egg on my forehead the size of my fist. Someone want to come and let me out?”
“I’ll ask Gary.” She hung up the phone. Christ, what the hell did I do out there? A few minutes passed, and then he heard the click of the lock. The door opened, and Gary stepped into the room. He closed the door behind him.
“Jesus, you weren’t kidding.” He looked at the lump on Bill’s forehead. “How do you feel? Sick to your stomach? Dizzy?”
“I did,” said Bill, “but I’m feeling a lot better now.”
“Well, that’s good. You’ve probably got a mild concussion, but I wouldn’t worry about it. Listen, I’m sorry I had to lock you up here.”
“What did I do? Did I hurt someone?” He tried to think of what had happened after Doug and Gary came towards him, but it was a blur.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Gary eyed him warily. The last thing he needed was for Bill to flip out again while they were up here alone. He hadn’t been able to find Doug, though he didn’t really want to bother him anyway. The party had slowed to a quiet hush as the night had worn on, and a lot of people were sleeping or quietly enjoying themselves.
“Uh, well, I had a stupid argument with Doug, and I’m apparently no longer in Cerebus. Then I just flipped out and went after Kevin. I feel really terrible about that. The last thing I remember clearly is turning around to see you and Doug coming at me in some kind of half-assed football tackle attack.”
“Well, you did a pretty good number on Kevin’s nose and mouth. Plus you dropped Doug off the stage.”
“How’d I get this lump?”
“Promise you won’t be mad?”
“Gary. I feel like a complete and utter tool. I’m not going to be mad.”
“Jack heard the commotion and came to our rescue. He, well, he hit you over the head with one of the pool sticks from the game room. Hard. You dropped like a sack of potatoes.”
“Jesus. Dude, I am so sorry. I totally ruined your party.” Bill sat back down on the bed, and covered his face with his hands. He took a deep breath.
“Hardly. Every good party has to have a fight of some kind. Me and Audra just figured it was going to be you and Charlie going at it, though.”
“Oh, man, Charlie. I owe him a huge apology too. I let Kat use me because I’m a stupid jackass.” He felt about two inches tall.
“I wouldn’t worry about Charlie. What you did was probably the best thing that’s ever happened to him.” Gary slapped him on the back. “Look, why don’t you come downstairs and I’ll make you some coffee, then I’ll have Audra look at that lump. We’re cool, okay? Chalk it up to youthful indiscretion.”
“Oh, man. Everyone must think I’m some kind of dick.”
“Dude, chill. It’s a party. Things like this are supposed to happen.” Gary walked out of the room. Bill looked over, and noticed that his gear bag was sitting on the floor next to him. He pulled out a fresh shirt, then freshened up his deodorant. He got up and headed out the door.
Jack sat cross-legged on the floor in the next room down the hall from Bill’s. Keiko was dozing in the bed, but he hadn’t been able to sleep. Like Bill, he felt bad that things had gone as far as they had, but he was just trying to help his friends out. He was trying to meditate, but it was no use. He looked at Keiko, sleeping above the covers in a bathrobe and socks, and he felt a pang of lust. They’d already done it twice, and he wouldn’t mind a third go-around, but he needed to clear his mind first. He got up from the floor, and was headed to the bathroom, when she stirred.
“Jack? Come back to bed, huh? It’s late and I want you next to me.”
He walked back over to the bed and lay down next to her. But neither sleep nor inner peace came to him as he lay in the bed. All he kept seeing was the pool cue breaking over Bill’s head. This wasn’t what he’d spent all that time training for. What had come over him? He wasn’t some kind of barroom brawler, using whatever came to hand. He was a practicing martial artist. He was supposed to have discipline. But when he saw his friends in trouble, he hadn’t been able to help himself.
Maybe when I wake up, I’ll make things up with Bill, he thought as he dozed off.
Kim and Doug sat on the floor in the game room playing a game of Rummy 500 that had become Rummy 2000. A bottle of wine sat next to Kim, and they were slowly drinking it and discussing the day’s events. No one else was in the game room, but they still spoke quietly.
“I don’t know what came over him, Kim. He’s never been like that.” Doug and Bill had been in a few pitched battles in their time, but he’d never seen Bill lose his cool so completely as he had tonight.
“He’s had a rough night from all accounts, not that that excuses him. But, how would you feel if you got fired from your band, got caught screwing your friend’s girl, and got knocked out?”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” He picked up a card, looked at it, then dropped it onto the pile. “Jack really cracked the hell out of him.”
“Oh yeah.”
“What about Kat?”
“Oh, you know Kat. It’s always about her, about her needs, about her drama. Frankly, I hope Charlie’s out there with Colette. It serves her right.”
“That’s pretty harsh, don’t you think?”
“Look, she brought it on herself. Picking a fight with Charlie, luring Bill out to the boathouse. I asked her what she expected was going to happen.”
“Cheerleader Barbie strikes again.”
“You’re not kidding. Gary and Audra are having a field day with this. You know that they’ve been trying to get Charlie interested in Colette for a while now.”
“I had an idea, but I wasn’t sure. I just hope he doesn’t decide to come in and use Bill for a punching bag.”
“Listen. Don’t you worry about that. What you need to worry about is getting that tape shopped around to the labels in New York. It’s good.”
He hadn’t told her that Andrew Proctor had called him. “I’m doing what I can. The problem is that up here in New Haven, I’m not getting seen. I can only open for Miracle Legion so many times before it gets old.”
“Well, when you graduate, you’ll have the summer to go and try to get your foot in the door.” She picked up a card, and then put all her cards down. “I’m out.”
“Shit. Let’s see, uh... twenty-eight points. You win. I’m a beaten man.”
She picked up the cards and began to shuffle them. “Look, Doug, I know we’re not going to be together next year. You can be honest with me.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, Kim. I’m not going to Penn or Princeton, that’s for sure. I might get into NYU, I’m not sure. I’m willing to stick it out if you are. I don’t mind riding buses or trains.”
“I guess. I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, but we’ll see. We’ve got the summer, anyway, right?”
“Yup. We’ll be gigging a lot, but you’ll get whatever time I have left over.” He smiled at her. Provided I don’t get signed, that is. “Why don’t we go upstairs? I’m feeling a little frisky.”
“Why not? Nothing much going on now anyway, right?” Kim followed Doug out the door and they went up the front stairwell to the second floor bedroom that Gary’d marked out for him. There was no one in it, and they went in and closed the door, having just missed Bill, who’d headed down the back stairwell to the kitchen.
1.
Bill moaned and opened his eyes. Slowly, the world swam into focus. He tried to sit up, and was rewarded for his efforts with a shooting pain right behind his eyes. He put a hand up to his head, and was surprised to feel a nice fat egg on his forehead. He managed to sit up, and looked around. He was in a strange bedroom, probably one of the guest rooms on the second floor. But how had he gotten here. He shook his head and tried to remember the last thing that happened.
Oh yeah, he’d been fighting with Kevin when Gary and Doug got involved. He felt like an ass for blowing up at Doug like he had. But how had he gotten the lump? He couldn’t remember. He got up unsteadily, and noticed the bathroom off to the left. He suddenly felt woozy, and he got into the bathroom as quickly as he could, just in time to vomit a spectacular amount of liquid up and into the toilet.
He sat next to the toilet for a few minutes, head on the cool porcelain of the tub. He’d been sick before, but never like this. He wondered if he had a concussion. And what had happened to Kat? The last thing he’d seen of her, she was doing the weeping and gnashing of teeth thing, trying to get Charlie to forgive her. He slowly got up again and flushed the toilet. He rinsed his mouth out and looked at his face in the mirror.
Maybe Doug’s right. Maybe I am losing it. What a night. This was supposed to have been one of the greatest nights of his teenage existence, and what a wreck it had turned out to be. He walked over to the door and turned the knob. Nothing. He turned the knob again, then knocked on the door.
“Anyone out there?” He knocked again, then remembered the intercom system. He walked over and picked up the phone by the bedside, then pushed the button for the living room. The phone buzzed a few times, then someone picked it up.
“Bill? That you?”
“Audra? What’s going on? Why am I locked in this bedroom?”
“You calm now?”
“Yeah, I feel like a big asshole, and I’ve got an egg on my forehead the size of my fist. Someone want to come and let me out?”
“I’ll ask Gary.” She hung up the phone. Christ, what the hell did I do out there? A few minutes passed, and then he heard the click of the lock. The door opened, and Gary stepped into the room. He closed the door behind him.
“Jesus, you weren’t kidding.” He looked at the lump on Bill’s forehead. “How do you feel? Sick to your stomach? Dizzy?”
“I did,” said Bill, “but I’m feeling a lot better now.”
“Well, that’s good. You’ve probably got a mild concussion, but I wouldn’t worry about it. Listen, I’m sorry I had to lock you up here.”
“What did I do? Did I hurt someone?” He tried to think of what had happened after Doug and Gary came towards him, but it was a blur.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Gary eyed him warily. The last thing he needed was for Bill to flip out again while they were up here alone. He hadn’t been able to find Doug, though he didn’t really want to bother him anyway. The party had slowed to a quiet hush as the night had worn on, and a lot of people were sleeping or quietly enjoying themselves.
“Uh, well, I had a stupid argument with Doug, and I’m apparently no longer in Cerebus. Then I just flipped out and went after Kevin. I feel really terrible about that. The last thing I remember clearly is turning around to see you and Doug coming at me in some kind of half-assed football tackle attack.”
“Well, you did a pretty good number on Kevin’s nose and mouth. Plus you dropped Doug off the stage.”
“How’d I get this lump?”
“Promise you won’t be mad?”
“Gary. I feel like a complete and utter tool. I’m not going to be mad.”
“Jack heard the commotion and came to our rescue. He, well, he hit you over the head with one of the pool sticks from the game room. Hard. You dropped like a sack of potatoes.”
“Jesus. Dude, I am so sorry. I totally ruined your party.” Bill sat back down on the bed, and covered his face with his hands. He took a deep breath.
“Hardly. Every good party has to have a fight of some kind. Me and Audra just figured it was going to be you and Charlie going at it, though.”
“Oh, man, Charlie. I owe him a huge apology too. I let Kat use me because I’m a stupid jackass.” He felt about two inches tall.
“I wouldn’t worry about Charlie. What you did was probably the best thing that’s ever happened to him.” Gary slapped him on the back. “Look, why don’t you come downstairs and I’ll make you some coffee, then I’ll have Audra look at that lump. We’re cool, okay? Chalk it up to youthful indiscretion.”
“Oh, man. Everyone must think I’m some kind of dick.”
“Dude, chill. It’s a party. Things like this are supposed to happen.” Gary walked out of the room. Bill looked over, and noticed that his gear bag was sitting on the floor next to him. He pulled out a fresh shirt, then freshened up his deodorant. He got up and headed out the door.
Jack sat cross-legged on the floor in the next room down the hall from Bill’s. Keiko was dozing in the bed, but he hadn’t been able to sleep. Like Bill, he felt bad that things had gone as far as they had, but he was just trying to help his friends out. He was trying to meditate, but it was no use. He looked at Keiko, sleeping above the covers in a bathrobe and socks, and he felt a pang of lust. They’d already done it twice, and he wouldn’t mind a third go-around, but he needed to clear his mind first. He got up from the floor, and was headed to the bathroom, when she stirred.
“Jack? Come back to bed, huh? It’s late and I want you next to me.”
He walked back over to the bed and lay down next to her. But neither sleep nor inner peace came to him as he lay in the bed. All he kept seeing was the pool cue breaking over Bill’s head. This wasn’t what he’d spent all that time training for. What had come over him? He wasn’t some kind of barroom brawler, using whatever came to hand. He was a practicing martial artist. He was supposed to have discipline. But when he saw his friends in trouble, he hadn’t been able to help himself.
Maybe when I wake up, I’ll make things up with Bill, he thought as he dozed off.
Kim and Doug sat on the floor in the game room playing a game of Rummy 500 that had become Rummy 2000. A bottle of wine sat next to Kim, and they were slowly drinking it and discussing the day’s events. No one else was in the game room, but they still spoke quietly.
“I don’t know what came over him, Kim. He’s never been like that.” Doug and Bill had been in a few pitched battles in their time, but he’d never seen Bill lose his cool so completely as he had tonight.
“He’s had a rough night from all accounts, not that that excuses him. But, how would you feel if you got fired from your band, got caught screwing your friend’s girl, and got knocked out?”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” He picked up a card, looked at it, then dropped it onto the pile. “Jack really cracked the hell out of him.”
“Oh yeah.”
“What about Kat?”
“Oh, you know Kat. It’s always about her, about her needs, about her drama. Frankly, I hope Charlie’s out there with Colette. It serves her right.”
“That’s pretty harsh, don’t you think?”
“Look, she brought it on herself. Picking a fight with Charlie, luring Bill out to the boathouse. I asked her what she expected was going to happen.”
“Cheerleader Barbie strikes again.”
“You’re not kidding. Gary and Audra are having a field day with this. You know that they’ve been trying to get Charlie interested in Colette for a while now.”
“I had an idea, but I wasn’t sure. I just hope he doesn’t decide to come in and use Bill for a punching bag.”
“Listen. Don’t you worry about that. What you need to worry about is getting that tape shopped around to the labels in New York. It’s good.”
He hadn’t told her that Andrew Proctor had called him. “I’m doing what I can. The problem is that up here in New Haven, I’m not getting seen. I can only open for Miracle Legion so many times before it gets old.”
“Well, when you graduate, you’ll have the summer to go and try to get your foot in the door.” She picked up a card, and then put all her cards down. “I’m out.”
“Shit. Let’s see, uh... twenty-eight points. You win. I’m a beaten man.”
She picked up the cards and began to shuffle them. “Look, Doug, I know we’re not going to be together next year. You can be honest with me.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, Kim. I’m not going to Penn or Princeton, that’s for sure. I might get into NYU, I’m not sure. I’m willing to stick it out if you are. I don’t mind riding buses or trains.”
“I guess. I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, but we’ll see. We’ve got the summer, anyway, right?”
“Yup. We’ll be gigging a lot, but you’ll get whatever time I have left over.” He smiled at her. Provided I don’t get signed, that is. “Why don’t we go upstairs? I’m feeling a little frisky.”
“Why not? Nothing much going on now anyway, right?” Kim followed Doug out the door and they went up the front stairwell to the second floor bedroom that Gary’d marked out for him. There was no one in it, and they went in and closed the door, having just missed Bill, who’d headed down the back stairwell to the kitchen.
Interlude - 2004
Interlude - 2004
The tour bus pulled off of the highway onto the Route 34 connector. Doug Harris looked out at the shell of the New Haven Coliseum as they passed by. He’d gone to so many shows there, hell, he’d played hockey there. Now it was empty. He wondered if the Chapel Square Mall was still open as the bus merged onto Legion Avenue, headed for Westville.
The ride around Long Island had taken longer than expected, as they’d hit traffic in Stamford and again in Bridgeport. As a result, the afternoon shadows were just beginning to grow as the bus turned onto Yale Avenue by the Bowl and headed towards its final destination, Doug’s mother’s house. Doug was hit with another wave of nostalgia as they passed the Yale Bowl. He’d been a regular at Yale football games when he was a kid. He and his friends would climb over the back of the stands and wrestle around on the grass that grew over the skeleton of the field until the ushers came to try and chase them off. They just laughed and ran off to another part of the Bowl.
Kevin was asleep in a bunk towards the back, iPod strapped to his ears. Doug walked back and nudged him.
“Wha... Oh, hey man, what’s up?” Kevin yawned and stretched.
“We’re home.”
“Home’s L.A. man. We’re in purgatory.” Like Doug, Kevin hadn’t ventured back to New Haven in a long time. He’d bought an old home in Laurel Canyon that previously was owned by one of the Eagles, and he liked the West Coast lifestyle. He was only going to stay for the festivities, then it would be back to L.A. except for occasional visits to Bernadette.
“Hey, this is still our home, even if we’ve abandoned it for better things.” Doug reached up into the bulkhead over Kevin’s bunk and pulled out his travel bag. He then walked back and knocked on the rear cabin door.
“Bernadette?”
“Just a second.” He waited and then the door opened. Bernadette Adams, who was Doug’s backup singer and Kevin’s current flame, had been sleeping in what was normally Doug’s bunk. She walked back in and sat down on the small bunk as he stood in the doorway. “What’s up?”
“We’re here. So, when’s your first class?”
“Not for a couple of weeks. My parents are going to fly in and spend a couple of days with us.” Bernadette was going to be attending Yale in the fall.
“That’s cool. Tell them I said hello. I may not get a chance to see them.”
“Okay.” She already had an apartment set up in New Haven, courtesy of Doug’s management. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah. I’ll call you when I know what’s happening with the new record. But I want you to hit those books. Don’t be like me.” He then went back to his seat. Instinctively he looked over as they passed the Masters’. Did he see a curtain twitch, just like all those years ago? Ah, you’re just seeing things, he thought.
The bus pulled up in front of 320 Yale Avenue and stopped. The bus driver shut the engine off and got out to open the compartments below. Doug stretched, then grabbed his travel bag. He walked down to the front of the bus and was hit with a blast of humid August air as he got to the door. Laura O’Donnell was standing on the sidewalk.
“So, the prodigal son returns.”
“Hi, Mom.” He climbed down the steps and walked over to her. He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.
“Well, it’s still here.” She gestured at the house. “Not that you’ve been here in a long time.”
“Come on, Mom. Let’s not do this now. Where’s Uncle John?” He looked around. The lawn was still neatly manicured, and the house looked like it had been recently painted.
“He’s at work. He’ll be home soon.” She smiled at him. “Oh, I can’t be mad at you. It’s good to have you home, Doug.” She hugged him as Kevin stepped off the bus behind him.
“And Kevin, look at you. Doesn’t my son pay you enough so you can eat?”
“Hi, Missus O’D.”
“Please, you know you can call me Laura. How’ve you been, Kevin?”
“Oh, you know. Getting dragged all over civilization by the kid here’s fun, but it gets tiring.”
“Well, there’s a room in the house all made up for you. It’ll be nice to have people in the house. And this must be the famous Bernadette. Aren’t you a lovely little thing?”
Bernadette flushed. “Hi, ma’am. Nice to meet you.”
“Please. It’s Laura. Ma’am, that was my mother. So, you’re going to Yale, I hear? Well good luck.” Doug, who was now standing behind his mother, rolled his eyes comically. Bernadette stifled a laugh.
“Doug, dear, it’s so nice to have you home. I was just telling Carol Masters that the other day after you called.”
“How’s Carol? She still...”
“No, she’s not mad at you anymore. No one ever really was.”
“You know that’s not true.”
“Oh, Doug. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. That was a long time ago. Come on, let’s go inside. It’s too hot out here.” They went into the house. He went down the stairs to his basement lair, which was still as he’d left it fifteen years before. He dropped his bag onto the bed and sat down next to it. He could hear his mom upstairs giving Kevin the third degree. He smiled, and then his gaze fell upon a picture in a frame next to his pillow. He looked at it, and sighed. This was going to be a very strange couple of days.
The next morning, he awoke early. His knee twinged as he slowly eased out of the bed. He looked up at the stairs, and ruefully thought that he should have had his mom pull out the hide-a-bed instead. He walked over and sat down at the desk. He picked up an old notebook that was sitting there and opened it. He smiled as he looked at some old and terrible attempts to write that first song, the one that had pushed him out of the clubs and into the bedrooms of teenage girls around the country.
He was just about to attempt to climb the stairs to the first floor when his cell phone rang.
“Your dime.”
“Do you always answer the phone that way?” Gary Ablett was on the other end of the line, and he sounded way too cheery for this early in the day.
“Yeah. What’s up, bro?”
“Nothing. Just checking to see if you got in okay.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just dreading trying to climb the stairs to the first floor.”
“Oh. Sorry, man. Look, everyone else is here now. Jack got in late last night, and Charlie’s sleeping in a guest bedroom in the main house. And uh, you know Bill works for me.”
“Yeah. I knew that.” He picked up his cane from the floor. “Hey, uh, have you seen Kim lately?”
“Almost every week. She does my books at 24 Frames.”
Doug grimaced. Maybe he had seen the curtain twitch after all. “She aware of all of this?”
“Tough for her not to be. She’s in the wedding too, you know.”
Oh, shit. “Greaaaaat. That’s the last thing I wanted to hear. Darrell neglected to mention that.”
“I figured as much when he told me you were still going to be coming.”
Doug stood up, and tried to flex his knee. He grabbed his travel bag and rummaged around. He pulled out his cigarettes and a bottle of pills. “Listen, can I call you back in a little while? I’ve got to try to get up these stairs.”
“Yeah, man. Why don’t you come by the store?”
“Okay. Whitney Avenue in Spring Glen, right?” He hung up the phone, and slowly climbed the stairs. As he got to the top of the stairs, he noticed an envelope sitting on the top step. It had his name on it in plain script. He thought he recognized the handwriting. He walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, then wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead. Might as well open this and see if it’s what I think it is.
He unfolded a sheet of cream-colored stationary. At the top were the words “Masters and Masters, CPA” and Kim’s name was down at the bottom next to her father’s. Doug read the words with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Doug,
I know that you are coming home today. I suspect that I will even see the bus pass our house at some point during the day. As much as I want to hate you for all that has happened, I find that I can’t. I feel like I need to see you, to make you understand all the things that you took away from me, but I’m afraid that I’ll look at you and remember all the good things, like that night at Gary’s party, and the last fourteen years that I’ve spent hating you will be for naught. I tried to convince Darrell not to have you, but he insisted. It’s only fair that you’re involved anyway. And I was fine with it. Right up until I saw your picture in the supermarket on that terrible newspaper, and the old feelings came back again.
Maybe I’ll call you. Maybe we’ll see each other before the wedding.
K.
Doug put the sheet of paper down on the counter, then lit his first cigarette of the day. He wondered why Darrell hadn’t bothered to mention that Kim was in the wedding. More importantly, he wondered why he hadn’t guessed it either. Oh, well, he thought, I guess it’s time to pay the piper.
The tour bus pulled off of the highway onto the Route 34 connector. Doug Harris looked out at the shell of the New Haven Coliseum as they passed by. He’d gone to so many shows there, hell, he’d played hockey there. Now it was empty. He wondered if the Chapel Square Mall was still open as the bus merged onto Legion Avenue, headed for Westville.
The ride around Long Island had taken longer than expected, as they’d hit traffic in Stamford and again in Bridgeport. As a result, the afternoon shadows were just beginning to grow as the bus turned onto Yale Avenue by the Bowl and headed towards its final destination, Doug’s mother’s house. Doug was hit with another wave of nostalgia as they passed the Yale Bowl. He’d been a regular at Yale football games when he was a kid. He and his friends would climb over the back of the stands and wrestle around on the grass that grew over the skeleton of the field until the ushers came to try and chase them off. They just laughed and ran off to another part of the Bowl.
Kevin was asleep in a bunk towards the back, iPod strapped to his ears. Doug walked back and nudged him.
“Wha... Oh, hey man, what’s up?” Kevin yawned and stretched.
“We’re home.”
“Home’s L.A. man. We’re in purgatory.” Like Doug, Kevin hadn’t ventured back to New Haven in a long time. He’d bought an old home in Laurel Canyon that previously was owned by one of the Eagles, and he liked the West Coast lifestyle. He was only going to stay for the festivities, then it would be back to L.A. except for occasional visits to Bernadette.
“Hey, this is still our home, even if we’ve abandoned it for better things.” Doug reached up into the bulkhead over Kevin’s bunk and pulled out his travel bag. He then walked back and knocked on the rear cabin door.
“Bernadette?”
“Just a second.” He waited and then the door opened. Bernadette Adams, who was Doug’s backup singer and Kevin’s current flame, had been sleeping in what was normally Doug’s bunk. She walked back in and sat down on the small bunk as he stood in the doorway. “What’s up?”
“We’re here. So, when’s your first class?”
“Not for a couple of weeks. My parents are going to fly in and spend a couple of days with us.” Bernadette was going to be attending Yale in the fall.
“That’s cool. Tell them I said hello. I may not get a chance to see them.”
“Okay.” She already had an apartment set up in New Haven, courtesy of Doug’s management. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah. I’ll call you when I know what’s happening with the new record. But I want you to hit those books. Don’t be like me.” He then went back to his seat. Instinctively he looked over as they passed the Masters’. Did he see a curtain twitch, just like all those years ago? Ah, you’re just seeing things, he thought.
The bus pulled up in front of 320 Yale Avenue and stopped. The bus driver shut the engine off and got out to open the compartments below. Doug stretched, then grabbed his travel bag. He walked down to the front of the bus and was hit with a blast of humid August air as he got to the door. Laura O’Donnell was standing on the sidewalk.
“So, the prodigal son returns.”
“Hi, Mom.” He climbed down the steps and walked over to her. He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.
“Well, it’s still here.” She gestured at the house. “Not that you’ve been here in a long time.”
“Come on, Mom. Let’s not do this now. Where’s Uncle John?” He looked around. The lawn was still neatly manicured, and the house looked like it had been recently painted.
“He’s at work. He’ll be home soon.” She smiled at him. “Oh, I can’t be mad at you. It’s good to have you home, Doug.” She hugged him as Kevin stepped off the bus behind him.
“And Kevin, look at you. Doesn’t my son pay you enough so you can eat?”
“Hi, Missus O’D.”
“Please, you know you can call me Laura. How’ve you been, Kevin?”
“Oh, you know. Getting dragged all over civilization by the kid here’s fun, but it gets tiring.”
“Well, there’s a room in the house all made up for you. It’ll be nice to have people in the house. And this must be the famous Bernadette. Aren’t you a lovely little thing?”
Bernadette flushed. “Hi, ma’am. Nice to meet you.”
“Please. It’s Laura. Ma’am, that was my mother. So, you’re going to Yale, I hear? Well good luck.” Doug, who was now standing behind his mother, rolled his eyes comically. Bernadette stifled a laugh.
“Doug, dear, it’s so nice to have you home. I was just telling Carol Masters that the other day after you called.”
“How’s Carol? She still...”
“No, she’s not mad at you anymore. No one ever really was.”
“You know that’s not true.”
“Oh, Doug. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. That was a long time ago. Come on, let’s go inside. It’s too hot out here.” They went into the house. He went down the stairs to his basement lair, which was still as he’d left it fifteen years before. He dropped his bag onto the bed and sat down next to it. He could hear his mom upstairs giving Kevin the third degree. He smiled, and then his gaze fell upon a picture in a frame next to his pillow. He looked at it, and sighed. This was going to be a very strange couple of days.
The next morning, he awoke early. His knee twinged as he slowly eased out of the bed. He looked up at the stairs, and ruefully thought that he should have had his mom pull out the hide-a-bed instead. He walked over and sat down at the desk. He picked up an old notebook that was sitting there and opened it. He smiled as he looked at some old and terrible attempts to write that first song, the one that had pushed him out of the clubs and into the bedrooms of teenage girls around the country.
He was just about to attempt to climb the stairs to the first floor when his cell phone rang.
“Your dime.”
“Do you always answer the phone that way?” Gary Ablett was on the other end of the line, and he sounded way too cheery for this early in the day.
“Yeah. What’s up, bro?”
“Nothing. Just checking to see if you got in okay.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just dreading trying to climb the stairs to the first floor.”
“Oh. Sorry, man. Look, everyone else is here now. Jack got in late last night, and Charlie’s sleeping in a guest bedroom in the main house. And uh, you know Bill works for me.”
“Yeah. I knew that.” He picked up his cane from the floor. “Hey, uh, have you seen Kim lately?”
“Almost every week. She does my books at 24 Frames.”
Doug grimaced. Maybe he had seen the curtain twitch after all. “She aware of all of this?”
“Tough for her not to be. She’s in the wedding too, you know.”
Oh, shit. “Greaaaaat. That’s the last thing I wanted to hear. Darrell neglected to mention that.”
“I figured as much when he told me you were still going to be coming.”
Doug stood up, and tried to flex his knee. He grabbed his travel bag and rummaged around. He pulled out his cigarettes and a bottle of pills. “Listen, can I call you back in a little while? I’ve got to try to get up these stairs.”
“Yeah, man. Why don’t you come by the store?”
“Okay. Whitney Avenue in Spring Glen, right?” He hung up the phone, and slowly climbed the stairs. As he got to the top of the stairs, he noticed an envelope sitting on the top step. It had his name on it in plain script. He thought he recognized the handwriting. He walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, then wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead. Might as well open this and see if it’s what I think it is.
He unfolded a sheet of cream-colored stationary. At the top were the words “Masters and Masters, CPA” and Kim’s name was down at the bottom next to her father’s. Doug read the words with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Doug,
I know that you are coming home today. I suspect that I will even see the bus pass our house at some point during the day. As much as I want to hate you for all that has happened, I find that I can’t. I feel like I need to see you, to make you understand all the things that you took away from me, but I’m afraid that I’ll look at you and remember all the good things, like that night at Gary’s party, and the last fourteen years that I’ve spent hating you will be for naught. I tried to convince Darrell not to have you, but he insisted. It’s only fair that you’re involved anyway. And I was fine with it. Right up until I saw your picture in the supermarket on that terrible newspaper, and the old feelings came back again.
Maybe I’ll call you. Maybe we’ll see each other before the wedding.
K.
Doug put the sheet of paper down on the counter, then lit his first cigarette of the day. He wondered why Darrell hadn’t bothered to mention that Kim was in the wedding. More importantly, he wondered why he hadn’t guessed it either. Oh, well, he thought, I guess it’s time to pay the piper.
