Muggs' NaNoWriMo novella.

3.

2004-11-29T22:19:00.000-05:00

3.

Kat lay on a couch in Gary’s study. She’d been laying there alone in the darkness for what seemed like hours. What the hell had she been thinking? Didn’t she love Charlie? Why couldn’t she be more stable like Kim? Kim and Doug had a perfectly happy relationship that didn’t need stupid drama to keep it going. They were in love, and Kat envied that.

A few more minutes passed as she lay there. She noticed the first glow of morning through the window, and thought maybe she should get up and go find him. Maybe if she apologized and groveled, he’d take her back. Then she’d stop with the open relationship nonsense, and try to be more like Kim.

“Oh, who are you kidding,” she said to herself in the gloom, “there’s no way he’s going to take you back, the way you treated him.”

Her voice echoed back to her in the darkness, and she started to cry again. She was still crying when the door to the study opened. Charlie peered into the near darkness. “Gary?”

“Charlie, is that you?”

“Oh, uh, hey, Kat.”

“Can we talk?” She stood up and noticed that Colette was standing with him in the doorway. “If you don’t want to...”

Colette whispered something in Charlie’s ear. “Okay,” he said to Colette, then turned back to Kat. “No. I think we should.” Colette disappeared from the door, and Charlie walked slowly into the room through the darkness. He came over and sat in an easy chair, and turned a small desk lamp on. Her makeup had run again, and she was a bit of a mess.

“Look, Kat...” He gave her some tissues out of his pocket, and she wiped her eyes.

“No, let me talk.” She sat across from him. “I, uh, I don’t know what the hell I’ve been thinking, Charlie. You’ve been so good to me and all I’ve done is treat you like a servant or something. All the time we’ve been together, especially since the start of the school year this year, I’ve been taking you for granted, like someone I could fall back on. That was wrong, and I know it.

“But seeing you tonight, acting the way you did towards me, something terrible kicked in. I felt like I needed to get back at you somehow. All this time that I’ve been going around with other guys, it was always guys you didn’t know. That way I figured you wouldn’t be pissed at me if you caught me. That was foolish of me, too. I realize that now. I was just thinking about myself all that time.

“But for me to get Bill involved in all of this, that was terrible of me. I was just taking advantage of the attraction that I’ve always know he had for me. The way he looked at me tonight, I felt so right. I never got that from you, because I never gave you the chance to feel that way. I realize that now. I’ve been such a fool, Charlie.” She started to cry again.

“Look, Kat. Everything’s okay. I’m sorry it all came to this.”

“But it’s not okay. I’ve treated you so terribly, and when you said that you were going to go out for the draft, something just snapped inside of me. I had this crazy idea that we were going to be together forever, you know. I’d planned it all out. College, you getting drafted, getting a big house, having kids.”

“Well, I...”

“I know, it was stupid of me.”

“No. I thought about that a few times too. But we’re just kids, you know? What do we really know?”

“I guess. But at the same time as I wanted all of that, I wanted to be wild, you know? I’m not as smart as Kim, and people look at the hair and the boobs and they just think I’m some dumb cheerleader. And they’re right, you know? So I felt like I needed to be a little outrageous, so people wouldn’t think bad about me.”

“Kat, no one thinks bad things about you. Not even me. Hell, you’re probably just as popular as I am, even if we’re not together.”

“You hate me. I know you do.”

“No, why would I hate you?”

“Because I treated you like shit and made your life miserable. Can you forgive me?”

Charlie moved over to the couch next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. “Of course I forgive you. But you and me, we’re over. I still have some feelings for you, but I think maybe the best thing for the two of us is to let this go.”

“Oh, Charlie. I guess I understand. I had some half-assed idea that I could get you back. Obviously, I was wrong about that.” She took a deep breath. If she was going to ask the question, it had better be now. “You’re with her, now?”

“Yeah. Colette and I should have been together a while now. I think we both knew that.” He leaned back on the couch. “Look, we’re still friends, okay. I know that isn’t what you want, but we’ve been through a lot together, and I’m not a complete asshole.”

“I appreciate that, Charlie. And I’m sorry that I made a complete and utter disaster out of the party for you.”

He stood up. “Hey, listen, you didn’t mess anything up. It’s a party. Crazy things are bound to happen. Look at what happened to Bill tonight.”

“Oh, god, Bill. He must really hate me.”

“Why don’t you go and talk to him? I’m sure he’ll be okay with it. He could use a friend right about now.”

“Thanks, Charlie.” She got up and hugged him. As he pulled away, she turned and kissed him one last time. She was glad that he didn’t turn away, but it didn’t feel the same anyway. “I really am sorry about everything. You deserve to be happy with Colette.”

They broke apart slowly. Charlie smiled at her, and then he was gone. Her heart ached, but she understood that it wasn’t meant to be. She sat back down on the couch for a while, then she decided that she should go and find Bill.

Doug yawned and rolled over. Kim was snoring away next to him, and he smiled. This had been the thing that he was looking forward to as much as playing for the crowd. They’d had sex before this, but it had been rushed, secretive, an act to be completed with swiftness so as not to disturb parents below or above. Not that that was necessarily bad. Sneaking about, there was a certain raw animality about it. But their lovemaking tonight had been relaxed and almost maddening in its pace. They’d spent a lot of time exploring each other’s bodies, finding more out about each other in a few hours than they’d found out in three years together. He’d craved the intimacy that they hadn’t had yet, and now he was sated, and feeling pretty good.

He sat up in bed, feeling the need for a cigarette. He wondered if anyone were awake downstairs. He got out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, then went to find his smokes. He assumed he’d left them down in his guitar case, so he pulled the cover up over Kim, then walked out of the bedroom. He slowly made his way downstairs, stepping over kids sleeping in the hallway. When he got down to the foyer, he noticed that the snow had stopped, and the sun was trying to poke through the low clouds on the horizon. A few people were still awake, or maybe awake again. He walked into the great room, and was surprised to see Bill there, sitting on the lip of the stage and playing his bass softly.

“Hey, man,” he said as he walked up, “what’s up?”

Bill stopped playing. He hadn’t noticed Doug come walking up. “I’ll go, man. Just let me take my bass.”

“No. You don’t have to go.” He walked over to the side of the stage and picked up his guitar case, which was covered in stickers from local bands. He opened it and rummaged around until he found a pack of Marlboro Lights and his lighter, then closed the case. He sat down next to Bill. “You’re not going to freak out again, are you?”

“No, Doug. We’re cool.” Bill picked out a few chords on his bass. “I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry I screwed up your show. I was just...”

“I know, man. You were having a good time. There’s no law against that.”

“I know. I just couldn’t help it. Between the pot and Kat taking advantage of me, I totally lost control of myself.”

“It’s okay. But you gotta understand something.” Doug got up and stood in front of Bill. “I’m not playing for fun anymore. Last night’s show was the last time we fuck around any more. I hired Kevin for a reason, and it wasn’t just to back me up when I’m singing. He’s a professional, and that’s what I’m looking for.”

“I can be that way.”

“I’m sorry, Bill, but I don’t think you can. If that tape gets into the hands of someone who wants me, I need to know that I can count on you. And I don’t really think I can.”

“That’s pretty harsh, man.”

“Look. You and I, we’re friends. But someone needs to slap you in the head. You’re a talented musician, and you’ve got a gift that someone can use. But if you don’t believe in my material, then I don’t need you. There are a bunch of bands out there that could use you, though.”

“I guess so, Doug.” He stood up, and Doug noticed how big the lump on his head was. “I just figured that we could work things out, you know.”

“I’m sorry, Bill, but it has to be this way. We’ve had a good run, you know. A lot of good shows together. But I need to make this change, if I’m going to get to that next level. Kevin can help me get there.”

“Get where?” Kevin was leaning on the doorframe, watching the two of them.

“Hey, Kev. I was just explaining how things are to Bill.”

Bill looked over at Kevin. He had a bandage on his nose, and a ugly bruise on his cheek. “Kevin, listen, I’m sorry, man. I feel like an asshole.”

Kevin walked over to them. “Don’t worry about it. I’d probably react about the same if I’d gotten booted out of The Pull-Tabs.” He walked over and examined his guitar. It didn’t look broken. He picked it up and strummed a few chords. “Cool. I thought I’d fallen on this.”

Doug took a drag on his cigarette. “Look, Bill. If you still want to play with us today, you can. But this is it, you know. There’s no turning back now.”

“I guess I knew that all along. I always figured we’d be kicking around the circuit forever.”

“I can’t go on like that. I need to do something else. This tape,” he patted his pocket, “is the key to that. I’ve already heard from Andrew Proctor...”

“That hack? He probably just wants to take your songs and give them to that Tim Hammer kid. He’s even more of a pussy then the New Kids.”

“Well, he’s interested. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a foot in the door. Kevin and I are planning to spend some time down in Manhattan this summer trying to get a better shot. Proctor said he was interested once I got out of school.”

Bill was surprised. He hadn’t expected any of this. He figured Doug would shop around the tape, nothing would happen, and they’d be back playing The Moon and Tuxedo Junction and The Sting just like every other year. He stuck his hand out. “Well, good luck to you, I guess. I wouldn’t throw my lot in with that guy, but hey, more power to you.”

Doug shook his hand. He felt a lot better about everything now. “Look, I’m going to go and see if I can find some breakfast. We’re not going to play for a while. It’s too early anyway. Why don’t you go and get some rest? Both of you.” He got up and headed for the kitchen.

2.

2004-11-29T22:15:00.000-05:00

2.

Charlie snapped awake around three A.M. Colette stirred for a moment, then went back to sleep as he sat up in bed. Despite only having an hour or so of sleep, he felt very awake. He pulled on his robe, and walked out to the living room quietly, so as not to disturb Colette. He switched on the TV, but couldn’t find anything worth watching, so he turned it off.

For the first time in a long time, he felt good. He finally felt as though he didn’t have to prove anything to anyone. Colette didn’t care whether or not he won a state championship, or went number one in the NHL draft. She just wanted to be with him, and that was a wonderful feeling. He hadn’t felt this good since, well, since his mom had still been alive. All these years later, he still missed her every day. She would have liked Colette, he thought. She liked the Masters girls, though that was in the days before he was dating Kat. Back then he still thought that girls were a distraction. He sat in the dark for a few minutes, remembering the old days. Then he decided that he was going to go for a swim. As he stood up, the intercom buzzer rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Charlie! Did I wake you?”

“Gary. No. I was awake.” He sat back on the couch. Gary was always so energetic, even at ten after three in the morning. “Have you even slept, as if I have to ask?”

“So?”

“So what? You want me to tell tales out of school or what?”

“Just a yes or no answer will suffice.”

“Yes.”

“Rockin’. I knew it. Listen, man, you guys coming back over anytime soon? The storm’s just about over, or so says the Weather Channel.”

Charlie ran his fingers through his hair. “Not right now. Colette’s sleeping, and I was thinking about taking a swim.”

“Okay, well, you should come back over here soon. You’ve missed quite a lot.”

“Trust me, bro, whatever I missed pales in comparison to what I got instead.”

“All right. Audra says congrats, by the way.”

“Tell her I said thank you. You should get some sleep, by the way.”

“Sleep’s for wimps. Besides, we’re on vacation this week, and the house is mine anyway. Come back soon.”

“Okay. I will.” He hung up the intercom. He decided to take the swim after all. He walked out through the slider and took off his robe. He dove naked into the pool and glided to the far wall. He kept the pool temperature warm and it felt good against his naked body as he began to swim laps across the length of the pool. As he came back across the pool, he saw Colette making her way towards him. He swam over to the wall by the door to his apartment. She bent down and kissed him.

“Come on in, the water’s great. It’s nice and warm.”

“That’s okay, Charlie. I just was wondering where you’d gotten off to.”

“Well, I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep. Gary called. Apparently we’ve missed some excitement.”

“Oh yes. I didn’t have a chance to tell you.” She related the story of the fight to Charlie. He laughed as she told him about Jack’s solution to the problem of berserk Bill. He’d have to remember that one for the “Champions” campaign.

“That’s insane. I hope everything’s okay.”

“Well, when Bill wakes up, he’s going to have a heck of a headache.”

“I guess so. Sure you don’t want to come in?”

“No one else will come out here?”

“No. Just you and me.”

“Okay, I guess.” She took off her robe, and dove into the pool naked also. She was a good swimmer, and they splashed around and played like a couple of kids for half an hour or so. Before long though, they were kissing again, and then Charlie was pulling her towards him, and they were making love as though they’d been doing it a thousand times instead of two. Soon after they got out, they were making their way through the dying moonlight back to the main house. Charlie stopped in the middle of the path and looked up. He loved to look at the skies, particularly in the winter months when the air was crisp.

“What are you looking for?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just nice that the stars are out after all this terrible weather. I’ve always been fascinated by the night sky. I think it’s because we’re away from New Haven. You can see a lot more on a good dark night.”

“I didn’t know that you were into astronomy.”

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

“I could say the same for you.” He picked up some snow and made a snowball, then chucked it at her.

“Only one thing matters right now,” she said, “and that’s that I love you, Charlie Ferris. Nothing else in the world could possibly be important to me.”

He took her arm and together they continued on their way to the house.

Bill was sitting in the kitchen holding a ice bag on his forehead when the door opened and Charlie and Colette stepped through it. Instinctively he shifted back, expecting Charlie to come at him. As Charlie took off his jacket, he noticed Bill for the first time.

“Hey, Big Bill. What’s up?”

“Uh, nothing. Listen, I want to talk to you.”

“Can I assume that the ice pack is hiding the damage that Jack did to you?”

“You heard about that already, huh?”

“Yeah. Colette told me what happened.” Charlie came over and sat down at the counter opposite Bill. He noticed the pot of coffee and poured himself a cup, then offered to refill Bill’s.

“No, I’m good. Hey, look. I feel really terrible about everything that’s happened this evening.” Bill watched as Charlie dumped about four spoons’ worth of sugar into his coffee. “I don’t expect you to believe me when I say that I got rooked by Kat.”

“Actually, Bill, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had. Honestly, all this nonsense has turned out to be a good thing for me, so I’m not pissed at you. I probably never really was, except for the initial shock of finding the two of you together.” He looked at Bill. “Dude, you’ve really had a hell of a night tonight, or so it would seem. The last thing you need is any more abuse. You won’t get it from me.”

“Thanks, man. I appreciate that. So we’re cool?”

“Yeah, we’re cool. Just don’t get any ideas about Colette.” They laughed together. Bill felt good, the best he’d felt all night. Charlie got up from the counter, carrying his cup of coffee. “Let’s go find the caffeine twins, Colette.”

They left the room, and Bill sipped the coffee in front of him. He was relieved that Charlie wasn’t pissed at him also. Now he had to try and salvage his relationship with Doug. He didn’t think there was much hope in that. He’d really tried to get into the new music, but he just felt like it was wrong, somehow. That it wasn’t him, and more importantly, that it wasn’t Doug. Ah, shit, kid, you don’t know what he wants anyway, he thought as he sat and looked out the window. I don’t think HE knows what he wants.

Part 3 - Aftermath - 1.

2004-11-28T21:04:00.000-05:00

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.

Interlude - 2004

2004-11-28T20:59:00.000-05:00

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.

8.

2004-11-27T23:19:00.000-05:00

8.

The storm picked up speed again later in the evening, and before too long, the sets of footprints to and from the poolhouse were obliterated. Colette stood at the back door, debating about whether or not she should make the effort to plow her way out to the pool house. Charlie was obviously out there, as he’d been absent from the party for a good two hours now. She’d witnessed the brief pitched battle between Bill and the others, and seen Kat drowning some apparent sorrows in a bottle of wine, but Charlie hadn’t reappeared.

Audra walked over and stood next to her. “Look. It’s not that hard. I’ll give you a flashlight, and you can just bull your way over there.”

“I don’t know, Audra.” She was more worried that he was okay than anything else. He wouldn’t answer the intercom, and they were too far away to see if there were lights on. “I just don’t want to barge in on him.”

“Look, Colette. There’s no more beating around the bush. If you love him, if you might even think that you love him, this is the time to find out.” Audra hugged her. “It’s the right thing to do. Believe me.”

She smiled at Colette, then went rummaging through the kitchen drawers. Gary came in carrying a pail of empty cans and bottles. “Whatcha lookin’ for, Aud?”

“Flashlight. Colette’s going over to the pool house.”

“Oh.” He put the pail down and looked out the window. “She’ll need this, I think.” He opened a cabinet under the sink and pulled out a large spotlight. “It’s ten thousand candle power. You could land a helicopter in the back yard with this. As a matter of fact...”

She took the flashlight from him and pointed it out the door. The beam cut through the snow for about a hundred yards. “This will do.”

“Hey, be careful out there. And bring the boy back. He’s missing all the good stuff that’s going on.”

“Okay.” She stepped out the back door and switched on the flashlight. She could just about make out the impressions in the snow where the previous footprints had been as she slowly crossed the back yard. The snow and wind buffeted her as she approached the pool house. There was only one light on that she could see, but it was only a glow in the fogged-over windows of the pool area. She walked up to the door and tried the knob. It was unlocked, and she turned the handle and stepped into the humid pool area. As she pulled her parka off, she looked around. Charlie was not out here.

As she walked over to the sliding door, she could hear music playing somewhat softly through the door. She approached the door, and knocked. “Charlie? Are you okay?”

He opened the door. She was surprised to see that his eyes were red, as though he’d been crying. “Hey. Wondered when you’d come looking for me.” He stepped aside to let her walk into the apartment. In the six months she’d been living with Charlie and the Abletts, it was the first time she’d ever been past the sliding door.

“I called a few times on the intercom, but...”

“I didn’t feel like talking to anyone. I figured it was probably Kat anyway, trying to convince me that this has all been a terrible mistake.” He plopped down on the couch, then moved a stack of books so she could sit down next to him. Somewhere in the room, a stereo played softly, Todd Rundgren singing old Motown songs. “Look, I...”

“No. I have something to say to you.” She stopped for a moment. He was right there, and yet she found the words so hard. “All this time, I’ve been lying to myself.”

“Colette..”

“No, let me get this out. Ever since I came over here, you’ve acted like a perfect gentleman towards me. I couldn’t figure it out. Most of the guys at Holy Mother would give anything to get into my pants. But not you.” She smiled at him. “You always treated me like one of the guys. Like someone who you wanted around, and not just because I was pretty.”

“Well, that’s because I did want you around.”

“I know. And I watched you with her. I watched the lightness that the two of you had. And I wanted that. But I’ve been such a fool. I should have done this a long time ago.”

“Done what?”

“This.” She leaned over and kissed him lightly, gingerly on the lips. He tasted strawberries. She pulled away, and he immediately wished she hadn’t. “I love you, Charlie. I have since I laid eyes on you. I was just too afraid of what it might mean for you if I said that.” A tear ran down her cheek. He brushed it away.

“I’m sorry, Colette. I’m sorry I was too much a fool to realize.” He looked into her eyes. “I love you, too. I’ve been a fool also. I let Kat string me along for so long.”

“It’s all right, Charlie. They say everything happens for a reason, yes? Maybe this was all meant to happen.”

“You’re probably right.” He stood up. “Do you want something to drink? I only have soda and water, but it’s cold.”

“Yes, I’ll take some water.” He walked over to the kitchen, which was separated from the living room by a half wall. She got up and gingerly stepped over a pile of audio and videotapes to the entertainment center. There were two framed photos side by side on a shelf above the TV. One was of a dark-haired woman of about thirty-five. She had a UConn sweatshirt on, and she sat on the front steps of a house. The other picture was of a nine or ten year old Charlie in a pee-wee hockey uniform, holding a trophy. He was cute even then, she thought. She looked over the books in the bookcase. Most were pulp novels of various genres, but she noticed a few interesting titles salted in among the trash. “On The Road”, “Naked Lunch”, and “Tropic Of Cancer” shared a shelf with a complete paperback run of the novels of Stephen King, and there was a book about coping with the death of a parent. She was about to pull that one out when he came back with her water and a can of Coke Classic.

“Like my books? Most of them are Burke’s, but I’ve added my own personal touches to his collection.”

“I was actually looking at these pictures.”

“Oh. Well, that’s me, back when we still lived in Quebec City. I was nine. I led the league in goals that year. That other one is my mom.” He sighed a little. “That photo was taken two weeks before she died.”

“I’m sorry, Charlie. Gary told me about it.”

“How much? Did he tell you how the old man was really looking for me? That my mom was just collateral damage?” He sat down hard on the couch, tears flowing. “That bastard took her away from me.”

“Oh, Charlie...”

“The worst part? Take a look in that book over there.” He pointed to a stack of photo albums next to the entertainment center. Colette walked over and picked the top one up. She opened it to the first page. A man and a woman, smiling at the camera, the woman holding a bundled-up baby. The woman was Charlie’s mother, but the man’s face staring back at her, could have been Charlie.

“Charlie...”

“Oh, it’s all some kind of cosmic joke on me, you know. The fact that I have to get up every morning and look in the mirror, and know that I might as well be his twin. That I have to look in the mirror and see the man who killed my mother.” He just stared ahead as she came over to him, sobbing. She pulled him to her and they kissed hungrily.

“Charlie, let me take the pain away.” She started to unbutton her shirt.

“Not here.” He got up and they walked hand in hand into the bedroom. He closed the door behind them. The room was clean and orderly, just the opposite of the cluttered living room. He pulled the blanket back from the bed, and they sat down. Colette smiled at him.

“I’ve waited too long for this,” she said.

“No more words,” he replied, and kissed her. In a moment they were entwined on the bed. Clothes shed, they joined as one in the gloom of the bedroom, and then nothing else mattered.

7.

2004-11-27T17:57:00.000-05:00

7.

Kim was sitting at the kitchen table. She’d come out here to get some peace and quiet, as the band was still jamming away in the living room. She didn’t mind not having Doug around her during these things, because she knew that he was enjoying himself and she didn’t want to be a wet blanket. Besides, she was engrossed in an Inspector Morse novel that she’d liberated from Gary’s study, and this was the best place for her to read.

She was surprised when Bill came through the kitchen door, cursing and stamping his feet. She’d assumed he was playing with the band. This was an interesting development. It got even more interesting a couple of minutes later when Kat came in the back door. She’d been crying.

“Hey, Kat, everything okay?”

“No, everything is most definitely not okay.” Kat related the tale of what had gone on in over the course of the evening as best she could, breaking up when she got to the part about Charlie walking in on them.

“What did you expect to happen? You’ve been playing with fire since the start of the school year.” Kim disapproved of what Kat was doing behind Charlie’s back. She liked Charlie a lot. If it weren’t for Doug, she’d probably have taken a shot at Charlie herself. But that was neither here nor there, she thought as Kat dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

“Well, I thought maybe he’d fight for my honor or something.”

“Jesus Christ, Kat, you were screwing one of his best friends. It wasn’t like Bill was attacking you. Besides, Bill didn’t look to happy when he came through the door, and I’d say it’s only gonna get worse for him.” Doug was in a bad enough mood when it came to Bill as it was, and this would probably send him over the line. He and Charlie were tight, almost as tight as Gary was with Charlie. And now that the season was over, well...

“...but he didn’t have to treat me so terribly.”

“Well, maybe you deserved it.”

“Oh, thanks a lot. You’re my sister, you’re supposed to be on my side.”

Kim shook her head. “Not when you’re acting like some bubble-headed fashion model from the tabloids.” She loved Kat, of course, but what could you say in a situation like this? It wasn’t like she was going to pat her on the back and say “good job”. She got up and went over to the sink. She ran some warm water into a kitchen towel, and then came back over to Kat. Kat took the towel and rubbed the mascara off her face with it.

“Well, I’ve made a good mess of things, haven’t I?”

“If it were anyone but Bill, I would have said no. But this isn’t going to go away easily. Why don’t you go and have another drink? Normally, I wouldn’t suggest it, but I think you need one.”

Kat got up. “Maybe you’re right. You’re always right.” She left the room. Kim was about to dive back into her book when Audra came into the kitchen.

“Hey, chickie, what’s up? I just passed your twin in the hall. She looked upset.” Kim told Audra what had happened. Audra just smiled and said thanks, then headed back out of the kitchen. Kim shrugged and went back to her book. Must be the weather, she thought to herself. People around here are acting seriously weird.

Bill walked back into the great room just as the band was finishing their jam set. He saw Kevin playing his bass, and even before Doug saw him, he knew the writing was on the wall. He walked up to the stage.

“The great man decides to join us again,” Doug said sarcastically.

“Hey. I’m sorry. I just sort of got sidetracked.”

“Yeah, sidetracked.” Doug stepped on one of his pedals, then turned and set his guitar down. Kevin sheepishly removed his strap from Bill’s bass. “Look, we need to talk anyway.” Doug turned back to the band. “We’ll take a forty-five minute break, and then we’re going to come back and play the new stuff. Jack, thanks. That was an awesome jam.”

Jack smiled as he rejoined Keiko. “Thanks, man. I’m just happy you wanted me to play.” She whispered something in his ear, and then they headed off towards the second floor.

“Walk with me, Bill.” Doug hopped down off the stage. They headed across the hall to where the bar was set up. “Look, I know you don’t like the direction I want to go in.”

“It’s not that.”

“Yes it is. I’m no longer interested in playing covers for drunks who couldn’t care less what’s being played as long as there’s beer to be had.” He picked through a tub filled with ice and pulled out a bottle of Poland Springs water.

“Well, that’s fine. I just don’t think that sappy songs about how much you love your girlfriend are going to go over too well.”

Doug sipped the bottle of water. He’d worked up quite a sweat while jamming, and the water felt good. “Well, if that’s the way you feel...”

“That’s the way I feel.”

“Then I guess I’ve got no other recourse then to say this. You’re fired, Bill.” He drained the rest of the bottle. “Look, we’re friends, right? We’ve known each other a long time.”

“Doug...”

“Hear me out. You’re a talented bassist. Your fingers are good, your playing is sound, not too technical, not too loose. You do a hell of a job laying out a good bottom end. But you’re getting sloppy. You’re a pothead, Bill. Whether you know it or not. And it’s beginning to affect you. And if it affects you, then it affects me. I can’t have that.” He pulled out another bottle. “I’m sorry it’s got to be this way. But if you don’t want to play the new material, and more to the point, if you don’t believe in the new material, then I don’t need you around anymore.”

“I’m not just going to walk away, Doug. This is my band too, you know.”

“I don’t think so. What have you brought to the table the last few months? Slipping performance and a tendency to only be showy when it suits you. I need a bassist I can count on to be rock solid, and play what I ask. You’re not that guy anymore, Bill.”

“But...” Bill was getting more agitated.

“Look, I want to keep you in the band, I do. But the combination of your sloppy play, your distaste for the new material, and now your apparent decision that getting laid is more important then playing music, well, that doesn’t give me much of a choice. Kevin can do a good job of stepping in while I look for a permanent replacement. You and me, we’re done.” With that, Doug turned and started to walk away.

“Don’t you walk away from me, you little cocksucker. You can’t just dismiss me like that.” He grabbed Doug’s shirt and spun him around.

“You gonna hit me, man? Big man, aren’t you. You’re a foot taller them me easy, and you’re gonna hit me in front of all these people.” Doug laughed in Bill’s face as he realized that a crowd had gathered at the edge of the living room. He dropped the fist that he’d cocked and stormed off. Gary walked over to him.

“Well, that’s one way to defuse a situation.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s over yet,” Doug said as they heard yelling from across the hall. They pushed their way over through the crowd to see Bill standing over Kevin, who was dazed and bleeding from the mouth. They ran up as Bill turned around. Gary went low and tried to chop Bill down, while Doug aimed for Bill’s midsection. Kim, who’d heard the commotion, screamed, then fainted as Bill tossed Doug off of the small stage. He bounced to the floor, and went to stand up. As he did, though he noticed a flash go by him and the next thing he knew, Bill was out cold on the floor, Jack standing over him with a broken pool cue.

“I think I hit him harder then I should have.” Jack dropped the pool cue. He’d only intended to dissuade Bill from any further attack on Kevin, but he’d swung from the heels.

“That’s okay, Jack. I think it wass the best thing you could have done.” Gary stood up and went over to Doug. “Okay, Doug?”

“Nothing a stiff shot wouldn’t cure.” He noticed Audra and Kim sitting on the floor in the hallway. Audra was fanning Kim. “Kim? Honey?” He went over to them and knelt down, caressing her face.

“She’s okay, Doug. She fainted when Bill tossed you aside.” Audra smiled at him. “That was something. You and Gary been working on that dog and pony act a while?”

Doug snorted. “Football. Best way to stop Bill is to...”

“Chop the bitch down!” Gary finished for him. He had helped Kevin to his feet. Kevin walked over and kicked the unconscious Bill in the ribs. “Hey, let’s get you some ice, Kevin.”

Audra watched Gary and Kevin head off, then turned back to Doug. “All this and we haven’t even heard the songs that Bill was so pissed off about. What are they? Are they some kind of evil New Kids On The Block type stuff or something?”

Kim opened her eyes. “What happened? Where’s Doug?”

“Right here, baby, right here.” He hugged her tight to him, then smiled. “They’re not really New Kids songs, Audra. They’re just not, well, rocking enough for Bill. But they’re probably going to get me a record deal.”

“When do I get to hear them?”

“Well, we’ll have to see how Kevin’s feeling. Then we’ll have to drag Bill off to somewhere where he’s not going to bother anyone until he cools off.” He pulled Kat up to her feet. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m better now.”

“Where the hell is Charlie anyway? He should have been here for this.”

6.

2004-11-27T00:49:00.000-05:00

6.

Gary and Charlie sat on opposite sides of a chess board in the game room. Down the hall, the band was playing an extended jam on a prog rock theme that Charlie didn’t recognize. Colette was lying on the couch next to him, her head on a pillow on his lap. She was dozing lightly. Audra was sitting next to Charlie, and she listened as he related the argument he’d had with Kat out on the porch.

“Well, that explains a lot,” she said.

“Oh?” Charlie picked up his knight, and took out one of Gary’s bishops with it. Gary frowned, and stared harder at the board.

“Yeah. She came storming into the living room about half an hour ago, grabbed Bill and took off with him somewhere.”

“Realllly.” Gary picked up a piece and moved it. Charlie moved his own piece. “Check,” he said. “So Kat’s gone off with Bill. They’re probably doing one of two things, then. Maybe both.”

Audra sat back and considered this. She’d been friends with Kat a while, and knew that she wasn’t above using her charms to get what she wanted, and well, Bill wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. “So if I’m Kat, where do I go to cheat on my boyfriend without him catching me? Especially when there’s no way of getting out of here any time soon?”

Gary moved his queen and looked up at Charlie. “Checkmate”

“What? How?”

“If you move there, you’re dead. If you move there, you’re dead. I’ve got you.” He sat back on the couch, and folded his arms behind his head.. “If it were me, I’d go out to the pool house.” He looked at Audra. “Not that I’d ever consider that, mind you.”

She hit him in the head with a pillow. “You’d better not. I’ll scratch any girl’s eyes out that looks at you.”

“Okay,” Charlie said. “So what do you think I should do?”

“Well,” Audra said, “the way I see it, you’ve got three options. Option one, you do nothing. Just let this run its course, and then Monday, you decide it didn’t happen and everything’s the way it was.”

“I think I’ve already killed that option.”

Audra chuckled. “I’d say so. Option two, you go out to the pool house, find that nothing’s happening, and maybe you feel guilty. This way leads back to her, also.”

“If I’m going to go out there, it isn’t going to be for nothing.”

“Option three, you go out there, catch her in the act, make a great big bloody fool of yourself, and then you’re free to do what you want.” She leaned over the chessboard. “Look, Charlie, I’m not going to beat around the fucking bush here. It’s obvious you’ve already made your choice, whether or not you even know it.”

He sat back and thought about it. Audra was right, and all he had to do was look at the beautiful girl sleeping peacefully against him to realize it. But he didn’t know what he wanted to do. He knew that he didn’t really want to find Kat in flagrante delicto, as it were, with Bill, but at the same time he felt like he had to know.

“Look, man. You can sleep on it if you want, but I’d just go out there and lay it all on the line. You’ve never been one to shy away from a problem. I wouldn’t expect you to start now.” Gary set up the chessboard again. “We can play another game, if you want.”

“No.” He shifted his weight slightly, sliding out from Colette. Audra put a pillow under her head, and she moved a little, but didn’t wake up. “I think I need to go find out whether or not I’m a jackass.” He walked towards the door.

“You want me to come with you, Charlie?” Gary started to get up.

“No, this is something I need to do on my own.” He walked out of the room. Audra and Gary watched him go, then Gary stood up.

“Let him go, Gary. It’s not going to do any good for the both of you to be out there. Besides, you’ve still got a houseful of guests.”

“Ahhhh, you’re right, I guess. Maybe I’ll go back and see what’s going on with the bands.”

Charlie walked out into the snow. The snow had stopped completely for the moment. The full moon appeared through a hole in the cloud cover, illuminating the back yard in its ghostly pale glow. He looked down as he stepped off the porch. Two sets of footprints headed off in the snow from the porch, straight towards the pool house. Just as I thought.

He trudged across the back yard, pausing briefly to look back at the house. He could see some illumination from the front of the house, but most of the back rooms were dark. As he turned to go on to the pool house, the moon disappeared back behind a cloud, and the yard was dark again. He could see a small glow coming from the pool house, but Kat had been smart not to turn all the lights on.

“What am I doing out here?” he said to nobody as he approached the pool house. “I could be inside, enjoying the warmth, getting drunk. But no, I had to come trudging out here to see if I’m a schmuck.”

He reached the pool house door and stopped. He noticed that the snow had been brushed off the small utility box where the spare key was. He hadn’t even realized that Kat knew there was a spare key, let alone where it was. He dug into his parka, and pulled out his own keys. Quietly, he slid the key into the lock, then slowly opened the door. As he slipped into the pool area, he could hear Kat moaning loudly. They were at the far end of the pool, sitting in the shallow end. Kat was straddling Bill, writhing about. Bill had his eyes closed. Charlie walked over to the edge of the pool.

“Well, this is a fine how do you do,” he said. Kat yelped and jumped off Bill. She quickly moved to hide behind him.

“Ch-Charlie,” Bill stammered, “it’s not what it looks like.”

“I don’t know, Bill, it looks like you’re fucking my girlfriend. That’s what it looks like from this end of the pool.” He started walking down towards the shallow end of the pool. Bill got out and grabbed a towel from a table near the steps. He put his hands out, palms up.

“Hey, man. We’re cool, okay?”

“I don’t think so. But I’m also not stupid enough to try and fight you, even if you’re only wearing a towel.” He picked up the pile of clothes on the ground, and tossed them towards the two of them. “I tell you what. You’re welcome to her. I think that she and I are done anyway, wouldn’t you say, dear?”

Kat cowered behind Bill. This wasn’t what she’d wanted, not at all. “Charlie, I...”

“Oh, no. There’s nothing to say anymore.” He laughed. “You know why I went out for the draft, Kat? Because I didn’t want you holding my leash for the rest of my life.” He turned on his heel, and walked towards the apartment door.

“Charlie, wait. I’m sorry.”

“That’s not going to work this time. You know, all this time, I should have realized that you were just stringing me along. You never let me go all the way, but I come out here to find you fucking one of my best friends just about at the drop of a hat. How the fuck am I supposed to deal with that?” He walked over to the sliding door. “Put your clothes on and go back to the party. You and me, we’re finished. Bill, I have a feeling that you and Doug may be finished too.” He stepped through the sliding door and slammed it closed as Kat broke down and started to cry. Bill tried to put his arm around her, but she just pushed him away.

“Fine,” he said. If Charlie was right, he was going to have to find a way to soothe Doug. He put his clothes on, wondering if he’d completely tossed everything in his life into the toilet, and then headed back over to the party. All of this just so you could get your rocks off, he thought as he walked back through the snow, which had started to come down again.

Kat sat by the pool crying. Charlie opened the sliding door again and stepped out onto the top step. “Still here? Where’d your new pet go?”

She looked at him. “I bet this makes you real happy, Charlie. I bet you’re happy that you’re finally done with me.”

He sat down on the steps. “You’ve got to be kidding. I didn’t want any of this. I figured that you and me, we’d just quietly go our separate ways at the end of the year. I figured I’d get drafted and head off to some little Canadian town, or the midwest, and you’d go off to school, and that would be the end of it.”

“I never wanted any of this.”

“Didn’t you? As I recall, the open relationship thing was your idea. How many of my friends have you slept with? How many of the people that walk down the hall, slapping me on the back and treating me like the biggest jackass in the world, have you spread those cheerleader legs for?”

“Does it matter, Charlie? How do you think I felt, being less important then a frozen piece of plastic?”

“Then why string me along? Or did I come a little to close to the truth out on the back porch?”

“You want me to say it, Charlie? Fine. I’m shallow. I’m all about my appearance as it relates towards everyone around me. I can’t be like Kim. I’m not smart, just pretty. So why else would I gravitate towards the most popular guy in my social circle.” She started pulling on her clothes, not looking at him now. “And it was fine, at first. But when I realized that I was always going to be second to that damn game, I decided to do something about it. But I did the wrong thing, didn’t I?”

He regarded her as she finished putting her clothes on. “Bingo. Rather than cutting me loose and going after someone else, Scott Mitchell, for example, you decided to just screw around on me figuring, (correctly, by the way) that I wouldn’t notice. It helped that you never let me go all the way.”

“That wasn’t me. That was you.”

“Oh please. Give me a break. You always got me going, then shut me down. Many a night has been spent in that room dealing with a case of blue balls, sweetie. You just didn’t want me to figure out that you weren’t a virgin anymore.” He stood up to go back into the apartment. “Make sure you close the door behind you.” He walked back through the sliding door.

5.

2004-11-26T23:45:00.000-05:00

5.

“You don’t know how to play that, do you?”

“Watch me.” Jack sat down at the Roland synthesizer that Cerebus’ regular keyboard player had been setting up. It was just after seven, and Jack was feeling pretty good. He had a rare buzz going, he’d hit it off like gangbusters with Keiko, and now he wanted to show off a little bit.

“Joe, you don’t mind if I mess around a little bit, do you?” He turned on the keyboard, and plinked a few keys. He didn’t like the sound coming out. “Hey, uh, how do you change this to a more traditional piano sound?”

Joe Baxter, the keyboard player, leaned over and pushed a couple of buttons. “Try it now.”

“Thanks.” Jack played a couple of notes, and smiled. “That’s more like it.” A few people had gathered around, but the only person he was interested in playing to was sitting right in front of the small stage Doug had put up. She gave him a warm smile back, and then he started playing “Take Five”. His father had insisted that he take the piano lessons as a counterpoint to his martial arts. He’d been okay at the piano, not as good as kendo, but he liked jazz, so he could play a number of different songs. Doug had asked him to join Cerebus, but he’d declined. A jazz keyboardist was not what Doug needed, and he certainly wasn’t going to join just to play the intro to “The Final Countdown” every night. As he continued to play, the lights in the ballroom suddenly went out. A few of the girls screamed, and everyone started talking at once.

Gary walked into the hallway between the two rooms. “Okay, everyone, no need to panic. I assumed this was going to happen.” He looked at his watch. “I’m surprised it took as long as it did, in fact. Don’t worry. Everything should be back to normal in a few seconds.” As he said that, a large chugging sound could be heard starting up from somewhere near the back of the house.
Thirty seconds later, the lights came back on, and a cheer came up from the living room.

Jack looked at the piano, then decided not to play any more. He was going to step away when Joe said, “Hey, man. Keep playing. You’re pretty good.”

“Uh, okay, I guess.” Jack sat back down and started to play another Brubeck tune. Soon, Mike the drummer and Kevin were playing along with him. As they finished “Blue Rondo A La Turk”, Jack playing the sax part on the keyboard, Doug walked back into the room.

“See, this is why I wanted you in the band. You’re a great piano player.”

“Well, it’s my little secret. I just wanted to have some fun.”

“It was damn good, man. Damn good.” He slapped Jack on the back, and then headed over to pick up his guitar. “Why don’t you stay and play some more stuff with us?”

“I don’t know, man. I don’t know most of your songs.”

“Hey, I know what we can play. I know you like Goblin. Let’s jam on some Goblin tracks.”

Jack looked over at Keiko. He wanted to go and sit back down with her, but she was watching him and smiling, so he decided to go with it. “Okay, Doug.”

Doug strapped on his Stratocaster, then looked around. “Where the hell is Bill? Anyone seen him?”

Kevin shrugged. “Last I knew, he was talking to Charlie’s girlfriend. They seemed
pretty engrossed in conversation.”

“Oh,” Doug said, “well, that’s interesting.” He was pissed, but he didn’t say anything. But Kevin could tell by the way he kicked at his pedal board to switch his guitar back to a live feed. This was not good.

“Look, I can play bass also. We’re just gonna jam anyway, right?” He picked up Bill’s bass. It was heavier then his guitar, but he figured he could handle it. He took Bill’s purple strap off, and snapped his own strap onto the bass.

“Yeah, I guess so.” He strummed a few chords, then turned around. “ Jack, anytime you’re ready.”

“All right. We’ll start with the theme from “Suspiria”. Kevin, you can just watch the keyboard changes.”

“It’s okay, man. I know that one. It’s got the ELP break in the middle, right?”

“Yeah.” Jack sat down, and looked out at the room. The small group of the partygoers had grown while they were jamming out the jazz tunes, and now there were a lot of people watching. He’d never played for a crowd before, and he was a little nervous. It wasn’t like playing hockey. There, he was nearly anonymous behind a mask. But here, everyone could see you, and would know if you fucked up. He looked down at Keiko, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the band. She gave him a little wave, and winked at him. He decided he was just going to play to her, and forget about everyone else. He started to play the intro to “Suspiria”, and the crowd applauded.

Bill sat in the living room. He was waiting to go and play again, and he was considering heading off to fire one up before he did. As he watched Sportscenter on the large television, Kat came storming into the room. He saw her coming and smiled at her, hoping she wasn’t pissed at him. She stood in front of him, and as she talked to him, he couldn’t help but look down her t-shirt.

“Hey, you still got anything on you?”

“Of course. You wanna smoke up again?”

“Yeah.”

They headed back up to the second floor(again not noticing Audra watching them go), and shortly, they were passing a joint of nice Humboldt County special back and forth while Kat vented her rage at Charlie to Bill. She kept going on about how much of a bastard he was, and how she’d been used. He just sat there soaking it all in. All this time, he’d assumed that he didn’t have a shot with her, and all that it had taken to change her mind was Charlie’s aloofness and a couple of joints.

“And the worst part, Bill, is that all this time, he never went all the way with me.”

Bill coughed as he was taking a toke on the joint. “You’re kidding. The studboy’s a virgin?”

“Yup. Far as I know, anyway. If he’s been laying pipe with anyone, it certainly hasn’t been with me. All this time been together, the most we’ve done is fool around. He’ll get me going, and then he stops. I think he’s afraid that I’ll get knocked up or something.”

Thank you, Jesus, he thought. “Uh, well, did you want to?”

“Well, I did. I still do. I’m not a virgin, if that’s what you’re getting at. But I haven’t gotten any in quite a while.” She took the joint back and took another hit. She was aware of the hungry lust in Bill’s eyes, but she didn’t mind. It was nice to see someone looking at her like that. She wondered if he’d always been looking at her that way. She’d known him since the Golden Boys had started playing together at Holy Mother, but she’d never really noticed his interest before. He was just one of the boys. Part of her open relationship with Charlie was that she didn’t mess around with “the boys.”

“So, what are you going to do about it?” He put her hand on her knee. She took it and guided it up, inside her skirt.

“The question is, what are you going to do about it, big Bill?” He pulled her towards him and kissed her hard, pushing his tongue into her mouth. “Not here, Bill. I know where we can go.” They got up and left the study, and quietly crept down the back stairwell. As they reached the first floor landing, Bill could hear the band playing Brubeck. He wondered if he should go back, but then he looked at Kat, thought about what might be about to happen, and followed her to the back door. They quickly got into their jackets, and then stepped out onto the back porch. Bill hoped they hadn’t been noticed, but he was only thinking about one thing really, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

The snow had slowed almost to nothing. Bill marveled at how peaceful and quiet it was out here in the woods, though in his stoned state, he felt like he could hear every last flake of snow hit the ground. They began to slowly trek across the back yard towards the pool house. Kat didn’t have a key to Charlie’s apartment, but she did know where the spare key for the pool area was. There was a good foot and a half of snow on the ground, and so it was slow going, but eventually, they reached the pool house. Kat brushed off a small box attached to the side of the doorframe, and pulled out the key. She opened the door, and they stepped into the warmth of the pool area. He reached over to turn on the lights, but she stopped him. Instead, she only switched on one light in the area near the sliding door to Charlie’s apartment.

“Better safe than sorry,” she said. As soon as she closed the door again, Kat was on him, kissing him and pulling at his shirt. They undressed as quickly as they could, tossing their clothes in a heap on the floor. Bill looked at Kat as she pulled off her panties. She really was beautiful, and he couldn’t imagine why Charlie would ever want to dump her, or for that matter, why he hadn’t taken every opportunity to get into just the exact position that Bill was in right now. He stripped off his boxers, then stood self-consciously for a minute by the poolside.

“You really are gorgeous, Kat. I’ve always thought so.”

“You’re not so bad yourself, Bill. Let’s go for a swim.”

They jumped into the pool. Bill was a strong swimmer, and he pushed his long body through the water towards the shallow end. He splashed water at Kat as she swam up to him. She pulled him over to her and embraced him, pressing her naked body to him. “I want you, Bill. Right now.”

4.

2004-11-25T23:24:00.000-05:00

4.

Doug picked up his guitar and strummed a couple of chords. The band had assembled in the great room except for Bill. Colin was going to go and look for him, but Gary stopped him, and Gary went off instead. Doug shrugged, and turned to look at his amplifier. Most of the partygoers had gathered to watch the show, and he was ready to play. Next to him, Kevin stood waiting.

A couple of minutes passed, and Gary returned, Bill loping along behind him. His eyes were red, but he seemed okay.

“About time, bro. We were wondering if you were going to join us.”

Bill picked up his bass, and as he walked by Doug, the stench of marijuana was heavy. “Don’t worry about me, man. Everything’s cool.” He plugged in and turned around. “What are we doing first?”

Doug rolled his eyes. “What do we always do first?”

“Oh, right. Sorry. I thought we were playing the pussy set first.”

Kevin stepped between them. “Now is not the time for this. People are watching.” He turned to Mike the drummer. “All right, Mike, let’s go. Count us off.”

“One two three four!” The band launched into its first number of the show, Poison’s “Talk Dirty To Me”. Doug gradually forgot about being mad at Bill as the first set progressed. The partygoers danced and yelled and sang along, and the first set went really well. It was all covers, a standard Cerebus live set. They played for forty-five minutes, finishing with a ripsnorting version of “Roadrunner” with Kevin singing lead.

“Okay, everyone, we’re gonna take a little break to get some beer, and, uh, use the facilities. Next set will begin around seven.” It was quarter after six now, and Doug wanted to see Holy Mother on the six o’clock news. Kim came up as he was putting down his guitar.

“Hey.” She put her arms around him and kissed him.

“Hey yourself. How’d we sound?”

“Loud. But good. A little ragged at the start. I think Bill’s baked. The bass was a little off.”

“Yeah, but I don’t care. Everybody liked it.” He smiled at her. “The real test comes in the second set.”

“Are you going to play the songs that you wrote with Kevin?”

“Yeah. I think they’ll go over pretty well.” They walked across the hall to the living room, where a crowd had gathered around the television set. On it, the announcers were talking about the storm, which still hadn’t moved much at all. New Haven already had a foot on the ground, and some areas of northern Connecticut were already around eighteen inches. Then they cut to a commercial, and Doug and Kim sat down on the couch next to Kat. Jack and his new friend were sitting on the floor by the couch, engrossed in a game of chess. Gary, Audra and Colette were sitting on the opposite couch, and Gary and Colette were having an animated conversation in French. Kim caught snatches of what they were saying, but they were talking too fast for her. She nudged Doug and whispered something in his ear though as they waited for the sports report. Doug looked around the room, and didn’t see Charlie anywhere. He wondered about that right up until the report started.

The announcer came back from commerical, and after running down the cancellations of sports events (including all the other divisional finals after theirs and the Whaler game scheduled for that evening), they’d started the report.

Announcer: “Well, you might ask, what did happen in Connecticut sports today? Well, before the snows came, there was a showdown of Division One superpowers in high school hockey at the Civic Center. Here’s Dave Gilmore with the report.”

The TV showed the outside of the Civic Center, snow blowing behind the reporter. “Well, The Golden Boys braved the weather outside, and the Jesuit defense inside, to post a come from behind victory.” The announcer continued talking as a few highlights of the game spooled by. The partygoers applauded as Jack made a save, then cheered as Charlie scored the winning goal. “I had a chance to speak with the victorious Charlie Ferris.”

“Yeah, I felt pretty good out there, you know. I couldn’t gave done it without my boys, though. You know, we’ve had a pretty good run, three titles in three years.”

“Where do you go from here?”

“Well, that’s a good question, Dave. I’ve had some, uh, some interest from the NHL, but I’m also weighing my options with colleges.”

“We’d heard some talk that you were considering going out for the draft.”

“Well, that’s true. I’ve decided to test the waters and throw my name into the hat. The worst thing that happens is that I don’t get drafted, and then I go off to school. Boston University has been after me, as has Minnesota. But I’m definitely interested in the idea of going straight to the pros.”

Kat broke into a scowl while Charlie was talking about the draft. She balled her hands into fists, but held her temper. As the report ended, the partygoers broke into a “Golden Boys” chant again, and started applauding. Kat got up and stormed out of the room. Doug looked at Gary, but he just shrugged.

Charlie sat out on the back porch. He’d cleared off two chairs, and now he sat with his feet up on the railing. An unopened bottle of Guinness sat on the deck next to him, and he rolled a cigar around in his fingers. He was waiting on Kat. Sure enough, she came through the door as he was lighting up the cigar, a nice Cuban that he’d liberated from Burke’s ‘secret’ stash.

“So, how’d I look on the tube?”

Kat was pissed. “Why didn’t you tell me you were still considering the draft?” She ignored the chair, and stood right in front of him. “I thought we’d decided that you were going to go to Boston University and wait on the draft.”

He took a long drag on the cigar, then blew a smoke ring. Without looking up at her, he replied, “WE didn’t decide anything. As I told Dave, I’m still considering my options. Look at it this way. I want to play in the NHL. If I go to college, play, and get hurt, then potentially, I lose my opportunity.”

“But...”

“Look at it this way. If I go pro, I spend a year or two in Rochester, or Oshawa, or even playing down at the Coliseum for the Nighthawks. Then I go up. Worst case scenario, I get injured in the pros, have to retire, and then I go back to school. At least then I’ll have gotten my shot.” He looked up at her in the gloom of the dim light from the kitchen windows. “Why the sudden interest in my choice, anyway? I thought you didn’t care as long as I was a good boy and didn’t get you into any trouble.”

“You unbelievable bastard.”

He opened the bottle of Guinness. “Count on it. Your reputation is not as important as my future. Or hadn’t you considered that?”

She turned to leave, then stopped. “Is this you talking, or the booze?”

“I’m sober. This is only the second beer I’ve had all night, unlike you. I’ve been thinking a lot about my old man recently. This is what he wanted for me, you know. My life is moving at a pretty fast pace right now. It’s time for me to grab a hold and see where the ride takes me.” He sipped the bottle. “Besides, what do you care if I get blitzed? You’ve got a nice head start on me, and it’s not like we’re going anywhere anyway.”

“Look, I just want you to be careful with your choice... and your partying.”

He laughed. “Don’t worry, Mom, I can handle both.”

She leaned in towards him. “You know something, Charlie? Until today, I thought you were a nice, handsome guy with God-given talents. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen the real Charlie Ferris.”

He took another puff on the cigar, not looking at her. “Nice guy with talent? You and I both know that my having talent has nothing to do with why you’ve stayed with me. I figure you like being belle of the ball, you know, the girlfriend of the most popular guy in school.”

“You bastard!” Kat hauled off and slapped him across the face, hard. He didn’t even flinch. He turned to look at her, red marks spreading across his cheek, and she looked away from his cold stare. Neither of them noticed Colette, who had come out onto the back porch when she heard Charlie talking. She backed into the shadows so neither of them would see her.

“I probably deserved that, but you’ve been stringing me along for two years. I was a primo catch, wasn’t I?” He sipped the Guinness again. “Remember this, Kat. It’s my balls, my knees, my life we’re talking about here. All you have to do in life is show up and look pretty, and you’ll get stuff handed to you on a silver platter.”

“Really fucking rough, Charlie. I guess I was wrong about you all along.”

“Well, then that makes two of us. I was obviously wrong when I thought you loved me, not the idea of me. Apparently I’ve been kidding myself all this time.”

“I guess so.” She burst into tears and stormed off, headed back towards the party. Charlie just sat in the chair, puffing on the cigar and staring out at the snow. Colette just stared at him. She felt horrible for him, and for eavesdropping on the conversation. She was going to quietly sidle back into the house, when he took the cigar out of his mouth.

“You can come out now, Colette. I know you’re there.”

She stepped from the shadows. She had stolen Gary’s Holy Mother varsity jacket and she walked over towards him. He was overcome by an aching desire to stand up and take her in his arms, right then and there, but he remained in his seat. If anything was going to happen, it would be in its own right time. She plopped down in the chair next to him, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, contemplating the silent white back yard. He suddenly laughed, and turned towards her.

“It’s funny. All this time, I thought I knew how things were between us. Turns out I was just one big naive idiot.”

“Naive? Perhaps it was not you that was naive, but her.”

He raised his eyebrows. “How do you mean?”

“Well, you are Mr. Popular Hockey Star, yes?”

“Yeah, I suppose you could say that.”

“Well, maybe she’s expecting bigger things out of you then you yourself are expecting.”

Charlie stubbed out the cigar, then blew another smoke ring. “I guess. We’ve always had what you might call an open relationship. Maybe I just took her for granted for too long.”

“Open?”

“Meaning that if I wanted to go out with another girl, I could. Just as long as I knew who I was ultimately coming back to. But after we won the state title again last year, she started becoming more interested in keeping me to herself.”

He stood up and walked towards the end of the porch. Colette picked up the bottle of Guinness and took a swig. “Ugh. How can you drink this stuff?” She spat the remainder out. “Maybe what the two of you need is some time completely off from each other. It might do you both some good.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. The last two, maybe three months, I’ve been so wrapped up in the season and the whole college application thing that we haven’t spent much time together.”

“And how has that been?”

“Actually, it hasn’t been all that bad. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t even really thought about it that way until just now. After all, I start my day with practice at four, then six hours of school, then back to the rink, then home for schoolwork. That kind of schedule, you tend to miss things. I haven’t seen much of anyone outside the team other then you and Gary, and that’s only because we all live here. Pretty sad, huh?”

“Well, which do you prefer? The rigors of high school social life, or the celibate life of hockey?”

“Lately, I prefer the celibacy.” He turned back and looked out at the snow. He could just about make out the pool house across the back yard. “I know that sounds bad, but it just seems so much easier than dealing with all of this nonsense. She drives me crazy sometimes. She makes me feel like I have to do everything right just to keep her from walking away.”

Colette was surprised. This was hardly the Charlie she thought she knew. All the time she’d been living in the Ablett house, she’d been attracted to his easygoing charm, and enthralled by his quiet nature. She’d had no idea that all this was building up inside him. “I didn’t realize that you felt this way.”

“No one does. Sometimes I don’t either. But more often than not, I do. Sometimes I wish I were like Gary. He doesn’t have a thing to worry about. Burke and Joanna aren’t around all that much, but when they are, they’re the perfect parents. And he and Audra are perfect together. It’s like a picture of perfect geek love, those two.”

“I can’t believe that! You want to be more like Gary? But he wants to be you! He thinks you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. He worships the ice you skate on.”

Charlie laughed loud and long. “He does, huh? Well, he’s wrong. He’s got everything going for him. He’s gonna be a multi-millionaire before he’s 25, and without any help from Burke, either. He’s a smart, smart kid. All I am is a glorified hockey goon orphan.”

“I think that there’s more to you then meets the eye.”

“Well, maybe you’re right, and maybe I’m freezing my ass off out here. Let’s go back inside.” He offered her his hand, and she took it. Together, they walked back to join the party.

3.

2004-11-24T21:47:00.000-05:00

3.

Kevin Maurer plugged his guitar into the pedal board and played a few chords. His short black hair glistened with sweat, as he’d had to wrestle his amp in from his car. He’d missed last night’s soundcheck, and now he was catching up. He looked out across the great room towards the mixing board where Doug stood with Colin Morse, Cerebus’ soundman. He played a few more, but nothing came out of the monitor.

“Keep playing, Kev!” Doug shouted across the room. Kevin put his foot on the monitor and started playing the lead guitar line from Jonathan Richman’s “Roadrunner”. Unlike Bill, he was happy to play whatever music Doug wanted to, though he was more partial to punk and new wave than to the kind of music that Cerebus was playing now. But like Bill, he liked being a gigging artist, and he was saving up the money from his gigs to get himself a better amplifier. After about thirty seconds of playing, the monitor at his feet came to life, and Doug put his thumbs up.

“Let me hear a mic check. Sing the song.”

Kevin stepped back in front of his mike, and headed back to the start of the song. Behind him, Mike, the band’s drummer started to play also.

“One two three four five six
Roadrunner roadrunner
Going faster miles an hour
Gonna ride by the Stop-n-Shop
With the radio on”

Kevin sang about half the song, then Doug came back over to the band. He picked up his guitar and joined in without a hitch. They finished the song as people started walking towards the great room, drawn in by the music. Doug looked up, then walked over to his microphone. "Hi guys, we’re not quite ready to go yet. If you wanna watch us make terrible noises, you can, but we’ll be starting,” he looked at his watch, “in about half an hour.” He turned around and waved Mike off. Mike trailed off as Kevin put down his guitar.

“How you feelin’, Kev?”

“Oh, pretty well, Doug. I’m ready to play.”

“That’s cool. We’re gonna do a lot of material, but you won’t have to play the whole thing. I promised Bill he could sing a couple of songs, and we’re gonna be doing the usual Cerebus set. You can take a break during Bill's stuff.”

“Cool.” Doug walked away as Kevin walked back to his beat-up Fender amplifier. He fiddled with a couple of the knobs, then turned it off to give it a rest for a little while before they played. He supposed he should get something to eat. He walked out towards the buffet room into a sea of unfamiliar faces. Kevin was older than everyone here. Gary had joked with him that if the cops showed up, he’d probably be the one to get arrested for contributing to the delinquency of minors. Even if he was their age, his parents hadn’t believed that a parochial education was necessary for their son to get ahead, so he’d gone to Wilbur Cross High in New Haven. He’d met Doug the year before, when their bands had played a gig together at The Moon, a club in New Haven.

Kevin had been impressed with the skills that Doug seemed to have, even when his band was playing straight (and not very good) covers of British and Hair Metal bands. He’d approached Doug after the show, and found out that Doug was looking for a guitarist to work with on some new songs. They were far removed from the sort of thing that Cerebus was playing, and Kevin had been intrigued. His band, a straight ahead bar-rock outfit called The Pull-Tabs, certainly wasn’t going anywhere, and he’d quit them and joined Cerebus. Immediately, they’d started getting better bookings, because Kevin’s playing improved Doug’s, and the rest of the band started to work harder to keep up.

Bill had resented Kevin’s presence in the band, but he stayed on because Doug still liked him, and the money had gotten better. But the last few months, Bill’s playing had deteriorated a bit. Kevin had suggested that Doug get rid of him, but Doug resisted. Bill had good nights still. But he’d reacted negatively to the new songs that Doug had written, so Doug had to pay a session guy to sit in on the demo recording session. That had strained Doug’s relationship with Bill, or so Kevin thought, and now that hockey season was over, he figured it would only be a matter of time before Bill was gone.

He didn’t really like being the catalyst of change, but he felt like it had to happen. He was pretty sure that Doug was the real deal, and the songs, especially “Just The Way”, were really well written. There was an open market for a band that could do those kind of songs, he thought as he scooped a helping of potato salad onto his plate and then made himself a sandwich. The late 80's were a wasteland of hair metal and teenybopper pop songs, but there was plenty of room for a rock band that played mild, up-tempo power pop. If nothing else, they could squeeze their way into the charts through the colleges. There were plenty of marginal acts on college radio, such as the Pixies and the Replacements, who were starting to get major airplay on mainstream radio. What they were doing could be a comfortable fit in the midst of that, Kevin figured. He spooned a heap of potato salad onto his plate and then made himself a ham sandwich. As he walked over to a table in the back of the living room, he passed Audra and Gary coming down the stairs.

“Hi, Kevin,” Audra said as they passed, “having a good time?”

“Oh yeah. Everything’s great. Thanks for having me.”

“Hey, any friend of Doug’s is a friend of ours.” They stopped. “Seen Charlie, by any chance?”

“Uh, no. I was in the ballroom soundchecking.”

“Oh, was that you singing?” Gary smiled. “That was pretty good. I love Jonathan Richman.”

“Thanks.” Gary and Audra headed off in different directions, and Kevin went back to the living room. The TV was now showing a re-run of “The A-Team” and a few people were watching it. There were some other people playing cards, and a few girls were sitting on the floor talking. Kevin felt guilty checking them out, so he looked out the window. The snow was still going, or so he assumed. It was practically a whiteout out there. He sat down in a chair and began to eat his potato salad.

Charlie turned out to be in the first floor game room, where a few kids were gathered around playing Champions. Gary laughed. All the booze and food and fun you could get your hands on, and these kids were role-playing. Gary walked into the room and was surprised even more to see that Charlie was playing the game also.

He rolled two six sided die and waited for the gamemaster to tell him what had happened.

“It’s a hit,” said the GM. “Roll 6D6 for the damage.”

Charlie pulled out four neon green dice from a velvet bag that had, until recently, held a fifth of Crown Royal. He shook the dice and rolled a twenty-one.

“Oh, dude, you pasted him,” one of the other kids, who Gary didn’t recognize, said.

“Indeed, you did. You watch as he flies about twenty feet straight back and crashes into a brick wall, killing him.”

“Nice!” The first kid slapped Charlie’s back.

“Okay. The two remaining Viper agents turn tail and take off before you can do anything else. You and the others head back towards your headquarters. Another mission finished.” He closed the module book and looked up at them. “Okay, Rich, five experience points. Next time, raise an alarm BEFORE you go charging into the room. Jay, seven points. Would have been more if you’d made that first roll. Charlie. Fifteen points for your good rolls, but I’m taking five back because you keep killing people. You gotta pull it back.”

Charlie nodded. “I’m still getting used to these rules. I’m used to D&D, where anything goes.”

“Well, this isn’t D&D. Criticals are less important, and playing to your skills is.” The GM packed up his stuff. “Maybe we’ll play again later. I want to see Doug’s band. Okay if I leave this stuff here, Gary?”

“Sure. It is a game room, after all.”

“Yeah. Hey, maybe tonight you could run a little Middle Earth campaign.”

Gary thought about it. “We’ll see. There’s lots of time for everything. Go, mingle, enjoy the party.”

The kid laughed. “Please. Let’s get real here.” He walked off to join his buddies, and Gary and Charlie were alone.

“When did you start playing “Champions”?” Gary thought Charlie had given up on role-playing games after Gary’s last Middle Earth campaign, a massively planned out affair, had died. It had been inadvertently torpedoed by Dave Carloni, one of Gary’s regular players, who’d insisted that he was right in killing a certain wizard instead of trusting him. The problem was that the entire campaign hinged on the wizard’s survival, and Charlie’s character hadn’t been able to make a healing roll to get the campaign back on track. As a result, Gary had stopped playing altogether. He hadn’t even looked at his books in two months, instead focusing on the crude game he was developing on the Amiga that he had in his room.

“Just after you stopped running Middle Earth.” Charlie liked playing RPGs. He liked the idea of playing a game where he wasn’t completely in control of the situation, and where he had to rely more on his brains then his natural physical abilities. “Joe runs a good game, and he’s really into comic books, so it’s like your campaigns. He’s not just about going by what the module says to do.”

“Look, I didn’t come in here to talk about games.” Gary sat down on the leather couch across from Charlie. “I came here to talk to you about Kat and Colette.”

Charlie laughed. “What’s happened? Did Kat finally go ballistic?”

“No. Me and Audra were just trying to figure out what’s going on. Kat and Bill Ryan are off somewhere in the house right now. Did you say something to her?”

“No. She probably got mad because I ended up in here instead of bringing her back the drink that she wanted. You know how she gets.”

“Okay. We were wondering if something was going on.” Gary watched Charlie as he sipped a bottle of Guinness.

“Well, there is, but there isn’t.” Charlie leaned back on the couch. “You know, I wouldn’t be bothered if Bill took off with her to bang her brains out or something. It’s not like she was getting it from me.”

Gary, who had been taking a swallow of his Coke, coughed and nearly dropped it on the floor. “Wait. Say that again.”

“I said, I wouldn’t...”

“No, the last part.”

Charlie chortled. “Gary, old buddy, you may think that you’re a geek, but you’re more of a man that I am, if you want to measure it by that sort of thing.”

“Hold the phone. You’re a virgin?”

“Don’t say it too loud. I’ve got a reputation. But yes, Kat and I have never gone all the way. It’s not for lack of trying. We just, I don’t know...” He crossed his arms behind his head. Kat was attractive, that went without saying. But she’d resisted the few attempts he’d made to move their relationship past groping and the occasional hand job, and he’d stopped trying just around the time that the season started. He found it easier to deal with her if he knew that he wasn’t going to be getting any no matter what he did. “We haven’t really worked it out, you know?”

Gary was shocked. Here was the most popular guy in school, a kid that everybody assumed was a man among boys, and he hadn’t even popped his cherry yet. Gary and Audra, by comparison, might as well have been porn stars. “So, are you done with her?”

“I don’t know, man. It depends on whether she’s done with me. Like I said, after the news tonight, it may not matter.”

“What about Colette?”

“Well, that’s the big question, isn’t it?”

“Look, me and Audra, we think that you shouldn’t be wasting your time with Kat anymore anyway. She treats you like she owns you, and you deserve better than that.” Gary took another sip of his Coke. “Colette...”

“Colette is leaving in another two months, or hadn’t you remembered that?”

“Well, yeah, but...”

“Look, Gary. I appreciate what you guys are trying to do here, I really do. But I don’t want to get involved with Colette just to break her heart. It’s not like I’m going to follow her back to Paris like some lovesick puppy. She deserves better than that also.” He got up from the sofa. “Look, I just want to enjoy this party. If Kat wants to go and screw somebody else, I’m not gonna get all broken up about it. Good for them, says I.”

Gary watched him walk out of the game room. He knew that Charlie wasn’t really fine, but he was right. What could he and Audra really do about it?

Audra was trying to do something about it at the same time that Gary was talking to Charlie. She’d come upon Colette in the kitchen. Colette had shifted seats to the glassed in breakfast nook off the main kitchen, and “Pride and Prejudice” lay abandoned on the kitchen counter.

“Hey, what’s up?” Audra came over and sat down next to Colette.

“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking, that’s all.”

“Hey, you know there’s a party going on out there, don’t you?”

Colette smiled. “You know I’m not much for parties. Besides, I don’t really want to see anyone right now.”

“You mean you don’t want to see Charlie right now.”

“No! I mean, no, that’s not it.”

“Wait. What’s going on here? Did something happen between you and Charlie?”

Colette looked out at the snow. “Maybe. I don’t know. He kissed me.”

Audra was surprised. Things were progressing faster then she and Gary had even thought. “When?”

“Just a little while ago. He came in, just like you did, trying to get me to come out to the party.” Colette related the story of their kitchen encounter. Audra laughed.

“That doesn’t sound like our Charlie at all. Maybe Gary was right,” she said. “This is perfect.”

“It is?”

“Yeah. Look. Charlie and Kat are on the outs, you know. This is the perfect opportunity to get the two of you together.”

“But I don’t...”

“Look, don’t you worry about a thing. Things will work themself out soon enough, I think.” Audra patted her on the knee. “Hey, why don’t you come and join the party? Cerebus will be playing in a few minutes, and I don’t want you to be hanging out here like some kind of stick in the mud.”

“Okay. I guess a little fun couldn’t hurt, right?”

2.

2004-11-24T19:30:00.000-05:00

2.

Colette was sitting in the kitchen when Charlie came bursting through the door. She hadn’t been moping, not really, but she was feeling somewhat out of place at the party. She really didn’t know a lot of the kids that were here, and the people she did know were occupied with other things. So she’d gotten herself a piece of the sweet potato pie that someone had brought, and she was sitting at the center island in the kitchen reading “Pride and Prejudice”. Charlie had a Guinness in his hand.

“Hey! What are you doing in here? Why aren’t you out enjoying the party?” He walked over to the counter and took the book away from her. “Pride and Prejudice? Come on. Vacation just started. You don’t need to read this until next weekend.”

“No, Charlie, it’s okay. Really. You enjoy your party.” She tried to take the book away, but he took off towards the other end of the kitchen. She ran after him, and caught up to him as he reached the door to the butler’s pantry. She grabbed him, but as she did, she slipped, and they both tumbled onto the linoleum floor. Colette ended up on top of Charlie, and the two of them were face to face.

“You okay?” He looked at her eyes. She had beautiful green eyes, he thought. A guy could drown in them. He’d never really looked at her until yesterday, and that had been a shame.

“Yeah. I just lost my footing there for a second.” She started to get up.

“No, wait. I wanna say something to you. He sat up on the floor, and leaned back against the door to the pantry. She sat back down next to him on the floor. He sipped at his Guinness. “Look. About last night...”

“Shh. Don’t say anything. I know that you like me. It’s not hard to figure out. But I’m not Kat, and I’m not some kind of vixen. I’m not going to go and spoil things for you.” She didn’t look at him, instead just staring out across the kitchen. It was quiet there, though they could hear some of the revelry just through the other side of the door. “Last night was last night. I was feeling pretty good, and I wanted to kiss you, and that was it.”

“I know you’re not a vixen, and I’m not a bastard. Kat and I, we’re not really seeing eye to eye right now, you know, and it’s not going to get any better. Particularly if she sees the news report this evening, which I’m sure will happen.” He patted her leg. “You’re a good friend, Colette. These last few months have been great, and my French is certainly not suffering from it.”

“I’ve enjoyed it also.”

He stood up. “Look, what I’m trying to say is this. I like you. A lot, you know? But I’m sort of hung up here. I don’t know what to do.”

She got up and took his hand in hers. It was warm and firm, and she squeezed it lightly. “Trust your heart, Charlie. It’ll never take you down the wrong road.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” They stood there a moment, not saying anything. Charlie was about to open his mouth again when she dropped his hand and smiled.

“Don’t worry about me, Charlie. I’m sure whatever you’re going to do, it will be the right thing.” She took the book out of his hand and walked back over to the counter. “Go back to the party before she misses you. I don’t want to get you in trouble.” She sat down, back to him. He stood there for a second, then walked up to her. He turned her stool around and looked her in the eyes. Then he leaned down and kissed her full on the mouth. She was surprised, then happy, then confused. As he broke away, she looked up at him. “Charlie...”

“I, uh...” He stood up, half surprised that he’d done it himself. “Now you know how I feel, I hope.” He walked over to the kitchen door. “We’ll, uh, we’ll talk later.” With that, he was gone, leaving her sitting at the counter, mouth still agape. She turned back to look at the storm still raging outside, and considered her own storm of emotions raging inside.

Back in the living room, Kat was sitting on the couch, watching MTV with a few of the girls. She’d gotten a nice buzz going, and she was checking out some of the guys that were at the party. Charlie had been a bit of a wet blanket when she came over and took the remote out of his hand, but he’d been nice enough to ask if she wanted another drink before storming off to God knows where. Things had changed a lot for them in the three years they’d been dating.

They’d met in grade school, though at first there wasn’t any attraction. Charlie was just the odd kid with the French accent who hung around with Gary Ablett. He and Doug Harris became good friends, and when Doug started to get serious with Kim, Charlie had become a steady presence in the Masters house. He and Doug would play all manner of sports with the girls’ older brother Darrell. She’d only taken an interest in him when the first signs of puberty kicked in and Charlie started getting lean and handsome. Doug and Kim had suggested that she go out with him as a double date just after they’d started going out, and they hit it off like gangbusters. She figured that it probably helped that she’d started hitting puberty pretty hard also, and had developed a fairly womanly body quickly.

Their relationship hadn’t been rocky until the last few months. Charlie had started getting distant, a little at a time. She didn’t like it, because while she thought she loved him, she was also conscious of her status in the twin worlds of Holy Mother and St. Brigid’s. Being a cheerleader kept her floating a bit higher in the pool, but the fact that she was dating the number one hockey player in the state and the most popular guy at Holy Mother meant that she was top girl in the social order.

Kim had accused her of being shallow on more then one occasion, and she knew that she really couldn’t dispute the claim, as much as it hurt. But she wasn’t the egghead that Kim was, and she saw Charlie as her ticket out of New Haven. He was going to be a huge superstar, and she was going to go along for the ride. So when he started seeming less interested, she’d turned up the charm in an attempt to keep him around. It had worked intermittently, but as the end of the season approached, he’d become even more distant. She wondered if being around that French girl was causing the ripples. She made up her mind to talk to Audra about it. If anyone knew what was going on, she would. Bill Ryan came in and sat down at the far end of the couch. Kat liked him. He was a party animal, and always knew how to have a good time.

“Hey, Kat. How’s it goin?”

“Oh, fine, Bill. How about you?”

“You know. Same old thing. How’s that beer treating you?”

“Okay, why?”

He pulled a rolled up bag out of his pocket. He flipped it open to show her a half dozen joints inside. “You wanna go blaze one up with me? I got some really good stuff for the party, and I don’t have to play for a while yet.”

She thought about it. Getting baked seemed like a good idea. Charlie wouldn’t like it, but at this point, she didn’t think she cared. Besides, it was nice to have a guy who was actually interested in her directly. “Sure, that’d be cool.”

He offered her his hand, and they got up together. She knew of a few safe and quiet places in the house where they could go and smoke up. They headed off to the second floor, headed towards Gary’s library, where she figured no one would be. As they headed down the hall towards the library, though, they didn’t notice Gary and Audra coming out of his bedroom behind them. Gary was about to say something, when Audra nudged him and pulled him back into the bedroom quietly.

“Did you see that?” Gary was surprised, but not shocked. He’d always known that Bill was hot for Kat.

“I didn’t see anything yet,” said Audra, “but it’s something to keep in mind.” She’d been talking a lot to Colette, and she wasn’t any fan of Kat Masters. She knew that Colette wanted Charlie, and in her mind, she’d been working on a way to get them together for a couple of weeks now. This was a bonus, though. It was a golden opportunity, she thought as she poked her head back into the hallway. The coast was clear, so she and Gary headed back down to the party.

Part 2: Storm and Party - 1.

2004-11-23T23:33:00.000-05:00

Part 2: Storm and Party

1.

By the time Gary pulled the Land Rover off of the Amity Road exit, the Wilbur Cross had become virtually unpassable. Just after the exit, the Wilbur Cross was a slow incline up through Woodbridge towards Orange, but the hill was completely covered in snow, and as Gary pulled into the exit lane, he could see several cars sitting at the bottom of the hill not moving, and nothing but white up the hill. As he circled around the ramp, two DOT plow trucks went by on the on-ramp, presumably headed to plow the hill. Good luck, he thought.

Route 69 wasn’t much better, but the Land Rover had four wheel drive, and Gary wasn’t the type of idiot driver who thought that four wheel drive meant four wheel stop also. They slowly crawled up 69. Not many people were out on the road, which was a good thing. He hoped that people had shown up. He looked in the rearview mirror at Doug, who was sitting with his arms crossed, staring out the window. He hoped Doug wasn’t mad at him. He hadn’t meant anything by wanting to hear the tape, and he certainly hadn’t meant to piss off Bill, who was glowering behind Doug in the rear seat. Jack was sitting next to Doug, eyes closed.. Gary assumed that Jack was asleep, but just as he thought that, Jack opened his eyes and looked back at him in the mirror. Charlie was asleep in the seat next to him. He assumed that Charlie hadn’t slept much last night, and so he was catching up on it. Charlie snored lightly.

Finally, he reached the turnoff for Pinewoods, and as he did so, he noticed a car pulled over next to the entrance. He pulled into the driveway and opened his window. Kevin Maurer stood next to his car, which was stuck in a small snowbank next to the driveway.

“Hey dude, are you okay?”

“Hey, Gary. Yeah. I’m fine. I just misjudged the turn. Can you guys give me a hand?”

“Sure.” Gary nudged Charlie awake, and the five of them got out and pushed Kevin’s car, a Plymouth Volare that was even older then Doug’s car, out of the snowbank and back into the entrance to Pinewoods. The snow was over ankle deep now, and they hopped back into their cars and headed up the road towards the main house slowly. Kevin pulled into the long driveway in front of the house, and parked behind several other cars that were now covered in snow. As he got out, he noticed that there were quite a number of cars in the driveway. Gary pulled the Land Rover around the back of the house into the three-car garage that was attached to the house. They got out as he closed the garage door.

“That was some ride, huh, guys?” Gary stomped his boots as he got out of the car.

“It wasn’t so bad,” Charlie said. He’d slept almost the whole way, so as far as he was concerned, it was a good ride. “I’m now ready to party. Let’s see if anyone showed up.”

They walked up the staircase to the door leading into the house. The lights were on in the kitchen, but no one was out there.

“Hello?” Gary called. “Where is everybody?”

They walked through the kitchen and out into the main hall on the first floor. Charlie rounded the corner into the living room, and at least a hundred kids were standing there.
They burst into a round of applause, and then a “Golden Boys” chant as the others filed into the room behind them. Audra and Kat came out of the midst of the crowd, carrying bottles of Champagne. Kat came up and hugged Charlie and planted a sloppy kiss on him as the crowd whooped it up. Kim was behind her, and Doug picked her up and swung her around. Charlie popped a bottle as he noticed that there was plastic on the floors and on the furniture. He proceded to shake the bottle with his thumb on the top, then sprayed Kat and himself with the bottle before taking a swig from it. Then he took the second bottle and sprayed Doug and Kim with it. After a few minutes of merriment and a good dousing, Charlie put his hands up in the air.

Everyone quieted down as he took another bottle and opened it, then poured glasses for himself and the others. “A toast. To absent friends. Not that it looks like many of you didn’t make it.” He laughed. “And to the end of an era.”

Gary raised his glass. “To the Golden Boys and three championships in three years.” He clinked his glass against Charlie’s, and everyone drank, then applauded again.

Audra stepped up to the front of the living room. “Okay, everybody. The guys have to go and get changed now, so we’ve set up the first of the food over in the dining room. There’s also plenty of stuff to drink, both hard and soft. But remember, if you’re gonna drink, you have to drop your keys in the jar.” She paused for a second. “Not that anyone’s going anywhere tonight.”

Most of the people headed off towards the dining room, and the guys headed up to the second floor to clean up and change. Audra and Dan Ostrowsky cleaned up the plastic and Champagne toast debris, while Colette took Kim and Kat down to her bathroom on the second floor to clean up. Gary took the guys up to the third floor. He figured that since he was with them, it wouldn’t be such a big deal.

Bill took one look at the master bathroom on the third floor and let out a low whistle. In the center of the room was a large Jacuzzi tub, about twice the size of a normal bathtub. It was trimmed in gold, as was the door of the shower stall that was set into one wall. There was a toilet and a bidet in the far corner, and next to the toilet, there was a small rack with about a half dozen magazines in it. “My dad spends a lot of time in here,” said Gary as he tossed Bill a towel.

“I guess so. Shit, I would too. This bathroom’s bigger then my bedroom.”

Bill hadn’t gotten much of a drenching, so he just stuck his head underneath the shower faucet for a few seconds, and then left the room to towel off. Charlie stripped off his wet clothes unselfconsciously and stepped into the shower stall. Gary took the clothes and threw them into a laundry basket. He’d been prepared for this, and he already had a set of new clothes for Charlie sitting on the couch in Burke’s study.

Down the hall, Doug was singing as he showered in the half bath in the guest room. He had assumed something like the Champagne bath was going to happen, so he’d had Kim bring him an extra change of clothes also. He felt pretty good, and he was ready to go downstairs and show everyone that he wasn’t just a good Bon Jovi imitator. This was his chance, too. He didn’t care what Bill thought of the demo. If he was that torqued off about it, he could go and find another cover band to go and play in. If there was one thing that the New Haven music scene was good for, it was cover bands. Doug hadn’t even wanted to be a cover artist at first, but he realized it would be easier to get gigs that way. But now, he was ready to break out of that mold. He’d actually lied to Bill and the guys. He’d already shopped the tape around in the city and gotten a callback on it.

Andrew Proctor had called him personally. He’d been surprised when he got home from school the day before the semi-final and found the message on his answering machine. Proctor was a shrewd operator, and Doug was a bit wary of him. His charges all made tons of money very quickly, but their careers also went supernova just as quickly. That wasn’t what Doug was after. Proctor had seemed very interested, and Doug had been nice, but cautious, in their conversation. When Proctor found out that he was still in high school, he’d told Doug to hold off on doing anything until he graduated in June, because he didn’t want to interfere with Doug’s classes. Doug had thought that somewhat odd, seeing as Proctor’s two biggest clients at the moment weren’t much older then he was, but he’d agreed. Besides, he didn’t have enough material for a full album anyway, and three months would probably give him enough time to put something together.

He turned off the shower and stepped out. He looked at himself in the mirror over the sink. One of the seeming requirements of being in Andrew Proctor’s stable of artists was that you had to have a certain teen idol look about you. He wondered if a gawky, red-haired kid with a slightly off-center nose fit the profile. He certainly didn’t look like a member of the New Kids On The Block, that was for sure. And he couldn’t dance, either. But something about him must be attractive, because he’d managed to land Kim. Plus there were always half a dozen girls hanging around after Cerebus played their shows, wanting to buy him drinks or give him a ride home. He never took them up on it though. Taking drinks from anyone at all at most of the gigs they played would have been detrimental to their gigging, because most of the places they played didn’t know(or care) that Doug and Bill were well under 21. And he wasn’t about to take a ride home with some strange girl, even if she did just want to get into his pants. New Haven was a fairly small town, after all, and the rumor mill around the clubs was vicious. The last think he needed at this point in his relationship with Kim was to get busted just because he wanted a blowjob from a groupie.

He put on a robe and headed into the guest bedroom. Jack was sitting crosslegged on the floor, eyes closed, meditating. “Your turn, bro.”

Outside, the storm raged on. By two thirty, five hours after the storm had started in earnest, seven inches of snow covered the ground. In New Haven, the public works department cut their plowing to main arteries only, and entire neighborhood areas were cut off. The temperatures remained just below freezing, and ice started forming on power and phone lines. Soon after the last car arrived in the driveway, the DOT passed the entrance to Pinewoods and plowed a foot of hard packed snow into it. For all intents and purposes, Pinewoods would be cut off from the outside world at least until Gary figured out what had happened and called in his private contractor to clean out the driveway. Of course, Gary had no intention of doing that today. After all, there was partying to be done.

Shortly after three o’clock, the party began in earnest, as the Golden Boys came down from their cleanup and joined the others. Charlie plopped down on the couch in the living room, where someone had turned on the Rangers/Flyers game. Gary and Audra disappeared from sight for a few minutes. Doug and Bill headed out to the great room, where Cerebus’ equipment was set up. Jack headed straight for the food. He was starving, having not eaten anything since his rice and juice breakfast. He loaded up a plate with cold cuts and chips, and headed off into a quiet corner to eat.

He was happy to have the quiet corner to himself. He’d seriously considered not coming to the party, finding some way to politely blow it off. But he knew that Charlie wanted him to be here, and you didn’t really blow Charlie off very easily. Ah well, it was probably better than sitting around the house watching the snow fall while his parents tried their hardest to ignore each other’s existence. He dug hungrily into his roast beef sandwich. He was just about finished when he noticed the girl sitting across from him. She was watching him intently. She was also gorgeous, and Asian. She had long dark hair cascading down her shoulders, and lovely pale blue eyes. His radar immediately perked up. He smiled, and she smiled back at him. Guess it WAS a good idea that I came to the party after all, he thought as she came over and sat down next to him.

“Hi,” she said, “I’m Keiko.”

“Mmph-mmph.” Good one, Jack. “Sorry, it’s been since this morning since I ate. I’m Jack.Shanahan.”

“I know who you are. I saw you at the game today. You seemed to give a very Zen performance out there.”

“I don’t know about that. It’s hard to think about inner peace when you’ve got a frozen piece of plastic rocketing towards you at eighty miles an hour. So, where do you go to school? I know all the Asian girls at St. Brigid’s, and you’re not one of them.”

“Hopkins. But I know Kim Masters. All the Asian girls, huh?” Jack understood. Kim was trying to hook him up, and obviously Doug had told her of his preference for Asian girls. He didn’t mind though. He’d been without a girlfriend for a while, and Keiko was a definite prospect. What did he have to lose?

“Uh yeah.” Good going, jackass, that’s the way to get her interested. He backpedaled quickly. “Hopkins, huh? That’s cool. You must be pretty smart. I took the test for there, and just missed making it. But my mom and dad insisted I go to Catholic school, fat lot of good it did.” He put his hand on her knee, and she didn’t remove it. That was a good sign.

“Kim tells me you speak some Japanese.” She started talking to him in Japanese, and he put up his hand.

“Whoa, whoa, slow down. Mine’s good, but it’s not that good yet. I’m better on paper than I am in conversation.” He grinned at her. Yeah, it was gonna be a good party after all.

Interlude: 2004

2004-11-23T15:42:00.000-05:00

Interlude: 2004

Jack Shanahan and his girlfriend changed planes at Los Angeles International Airport. The flight from Narita had been a bumpy one, but not too horrible. They had to wait through a two and a half hour layover before their flight to Hartford, so they decided to have a bite to eat. They ended up choosing a faux British pub and walked up and sat at the bar. They ordered drinks and Jack pulled a battered address book out of his backpack.

“I should call Gary, let him know I’m coming in.”

“Who is Gary?” Mie asked. She didn’t really know much about Jack’s past, as he was loath to discuss his days in the States with her. She’d been with him about two years, and she’d come to understand that he was really almost as Japanese as she was, despite his white American good looks. As far as she knew, he’d given up his life in the U.S. to live in Japan.

“He’s a guy I used to go to school with. His dad’s an international player. Ablett Investments. But Gary’s a computer genius. You ever play “Realms Of Wonder”? Or “Nightfall In Middle Earth”? He created them when he was in college. Now he’s worth like, a billion dollars, and he runs a video store in the town next to the one we’re going to. He’s a bit uh, what’s the word...” Jack struggled for a second, trying to remember the Japanese for eccentric. “...henshin? Maybe kawarimono would be a better word.”

“Oh, I understand. He’s a bit unusual.”

“Yes. That would describe Gary.”

“Okay.” She took a paperback out of her purse and opened it as Jack took out his DoCoMo cell phone. He hoped it worked in the airport. He turned it on and saw that he had a nice fat signal. He was sure he’d end up paying through the nose for the call, but he dialed the number for Twenty-Four Frames that he’d copied off their web site anyway.

“Twenty-Four Frames, this is Brett speaking, how can I help you?”

“Uh, yeah, hi there, Brett. Is Gary Ablett around by any chance?”

“He’s in his office. Can I ask who’s calling?”

“Yeah. My name is Jack Shanahan. I’m calling...”

“Oh, yes, Mr. Shanahan. We all know who you are here. We’re terribly sorry for your loss.”

“Uh, thanks.”

“No problem. Let me transfer you upstairs.”

Jack was put on hold and sat waiting, listening to Ennio Morricone’s main title theme for “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” on the hold music. He was about to hang up when the phone clicked.

“Jack! How the hell are you?!? Wait. Forget I asked that question. Where the hell are you?”

Jack smiled despite himself. Same old Gary. “I’m sitting in a cheesy fake British pub at LAX, waiting for my flight to Hartford.”

“I should have had Dad send a plane over for you when your uncle called me and told me what happened. I’m terribly sorry about Anne. You know that we all loved your mom a lot. She was one of our best customers, you know.”

“No, actually, I didn’t. That’s nice to hear, man. Listen, have you seen the guys?”

“Yeah. Well, not with my own two eyes, not yet anyway. But they’re all coming down anyway. Bill works in the store with me, and Charlie and Doug were already coming into town. You know that Darrell Masters is finally getting hitched.”

“No. I hadn’t heard that.” Jack wasn’t a particularly big baseball fan, and U.S. baseball news in Japan was usually related to whichever Japanese export was having a big year in the majors.

“Yeah. Doug and Charlie are both in the wedding. Listen, give me your flight number, and I’ll call and make sure someone’s going to get you at the airport.”

“Someone from Uncle David’s law firm...”

“Don’t you worry about that. I’ll talk to David. He’s a good customer here also.”

Jack gave him the information. “Hey, it’s good talking to you, Gary. I feel guilty about not calling or anything.”

“Don’t worry about it. Anne always kept me up on what was going on with you in the land of Sailor Moon and naughty tentacles. Look. I’ll see you in a few hours, anyway. I don’t want to run up your cell phone bill anyway. I’m glad you called, man. I’ll see you later.” He hung up the phone, and Jack found himself glad that he’d called Gary. He turned back to the bar. The television over the bar was turned to VH1, and Jack was surprised to see Doug O’Donnell on the screen. He nudged Mie.

“See him? I went to school with him also. This is turning into a very weird day.”

“You went to school with Doug Harris? Doug Harris the rock star?”

“Well, yeah. But he was just plain old Doug O’Donnell in those days. He played a pretty mean guitar back then. Not at all like that guy up there on the screen.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“It’s like, you know when I’m playing in Tadanobu’s combo, right, I’m playing sort of quiet background lines, right, good rhythm lines. But when I play at home, or if I’m not playing jazz, I play with some force.” She nodded at him. “Well, when Doug was in high school, he was into being the next Eddie Van Halen. But now he’s more like Elton John or Eric Clapton. He got big because he subdued his desire to rock.”

“Oh. Will we get to meet him? I like his music very much.”

“Yeah. Gary said he was going to be in town already, so he’s going to be at my mom’s service.”

“That’s nice. Any other famous friends I ought to be aware of?”

“As a matter of fact...”

The Honda Accord pulled off of Route 69, and Charlie drove up the familiar pathway through the woods. Pinewoods hadn’t changed much in the years since Charlie had headed off to the world, and as his car rolled out from the tree-lined drive into the main driveway of the house, he noticed one thing. The poolhouse was still there, but now there was a cupola at the top of the roof. Charlie wondered what that was all about. He hadn’t been here in fourteen years. He drove the Accord up to the main house. A golden retriever came bounding out of nowhere up to the car as he stopped at the front door, barking happily.

“Hey, you’re a friendly fella,” he said as he got out of the car. He leaned down and offered the dog his hand to sniff. After a cursory sniff, the dog allowed Charlie to pet him and scratch behind his ears. The dog followed him up to the front door as he rang the doorbell.

“Hang on a second.” A female voice called through the open front door. He thought he recognized it, but he wasn’t sure. He was surprised when Audra Ablett opened the front door. He recognized her, but at the same time, she looked different. He supposed it was the chestnut brown hair color, or the fairly plain overalls and t-shirt she was wearing. “Charlie? Oh, my God! Gary told me you were coming by, but I didn’t expect you until later!”

She practically leapt through the door and hugged him. “Look at you,” she said, “You look good. Not as good as your rookie year, but still...”

“Hi, Audra. How’ve you been?”

“Oh, you know. I’m still the same old Audra.”

“Well, not quite.”

“Oh, the hair? Well, you know, we all have our phases. Besides, a respectable soccer mom and gallery owner can’t go around with purple hair these days.”

“So, where’s Gary?”

“Still at the store. When I talked to him an hour ago, he was still trying to get the girl from Baker and Taylor to finish his orders for the week.” She opened the door. “Come on in. I guarantee you won’t recognize the place.”

And he hadn’t really. Some of Pinewoods still looked the same as Audra guided him through the house, but she and Gary had changed a lot of things. The house was a lot lighter now, he thought. The old design was a cross between a great big farmhouse and a Victorian mansion, but Gary and Audra had turned it into a sparkling modern showplace, while still retaining some of the country style. They walked into the large living room. On one wall, a fifty-inch widescreen plasma TV was playing VH1 Classic. Next to it was a framed, blown-up magazine cover. On it, Gary was smiling and holding the box for Nightfall in Middle Earth. The cover read “Gary’s Latest Masterwork: “Nightfall” Comes For You”. On the wall opposite the TV, there were shelves covering the length of the wall. These were full of DVDs and VHS tapes. Most of the VHS tapes had homemade labels on them. Below the TV, there was a large entertainment center full of various video equipment, including three VCRs and two DVD players. Gary walked over and looked at the videotapes.

“He still has all this stuff?”

“Yup. He keeps everything. Even watches a lot of it. You know how little he used to sleep? Well, he’s still that way.”

“Jeez. I noticed something odd as I came in.”

“The poolhouse? That’s a mini-observatory up on the roof. He spends a lot of nighttime out there. He and Colette are out there all the time.”

“Colette, you mean...” Charlie hadn’t seen her in years, and he didn’t know if he could deal with it.

“No. Our daughter. She’s ten, and a budding genius just like her father, except that she’s into astronomy, not computers.”

“Oh. I forgot. It’s been a long drive. Silly me.” As he said this, Colette came bounding into the living room.

“I’m all finished with my... Oh, hello. Who’s this, Mommy?” She looked more like Audra then Gary, he thought. She had long brown hair pulled back into a pony tail, and a spread of freckles around her nose and cheeks.

Audra smiled. “This is your Uncle Charlie. He’s an old friend of Daddy and Mommy’s.”

“You’re the hockey player, right?” She walked over and picked up a picture from a table in the corner. “That’s you, isn’t it?” Charlie looked down at the photo. It had been taken in this very room, on a snowy night fifteen years before.

9.

2004-11-22T22:30:00.000-05:00

9.

The phone in the kitchen of Pinewoods rang. Audra Pendleton came running into the kitchen swearing. She’d forgotten to take the cordless with her when she’d gone into the bathroom and now she was running as fast as she could with her jeans around her ankles trying to get to the phone.

“Hello?” she answered, breathing heavily.

“Aud? That you?”

“Oh, hey, Gary.”

“What’s up? Did I interrupt something?” She could hear a lot of noise in the background.

“No. I was in the bathroom. I forgot the cordless.”

“Are you naked?” He laughed. “I could get home really fast!”

“No. Besides, Colette’s around somewhere. We’re just about ready. I just sent Dan Ostrowsky down to Amity to get a couple of things. Hopefully he won’t be too long, as it’s starting to get a little worse out there.” She looked out the kitchen window at the snow, which had intensified enough that she couldn’t easily make out the pool house across the yard. “Are you guys coming or what? Are we going to have a good party or a bad party?”

“Oh, it’s gonna be good. The Golden Boys are going out champions. I’m just waiting for the guys to come out of the locker room, and then we’ll be on our way. Besides, I’ve got the Land Rover anyway, so it’ll be no problem getting home. Kim and Kat should already be about halfway to the house, as they left about twenty five minutes ago.”

“Okay. Well, be careful out there. We’ll see you soon.” She hung up the phone.

“Hey, Audra, who was... whoops... sorry.” Colette giggled as Audra flushed and quickly pulled her jeans up.

“It was Gary. They won, so the party’s gonna be insane.” Audra was happy about that. She had been apprehensive when Gary had told her his idea for the big bash. Gary had been sure that they would win, though, and wouldn’t hear anything else. So he’d gone ahead and invited virtually the entire senior class, and theoretically, they were all going to be here in an hour or two. “How are we looking?”

“Well, the living room and great room are clean, and the area in front of Doug’s equipment is cleared. Burke’s office is locked up tight, and I put that big jar that Gary wanted on the table in the foyer. Now we just need more people to show up.” Colette walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of Diet Pepsi. She sat at the counter. “They are going to show up, aren’t they?”

“Who can tell? But Charlie does have a lot of pull with the other kids at school, and having Doug’s band playing here will probably draw in some others. I figure this’ll probably be the social highlight of the year.” As she finished speaking, the doorbell rang. “See, told ya.” She headed off to answer the door.

Gary hung up the phone. He turned around to look to see if they’d come out yet, but there were still a few reporters standing by the locker room door, so he sat down on the bench next to the phone and waited. A couple of minutes later, the door opened, and the Holy Mother players began emerging, bags in hand. Doug and Bill came out first and walked over towards Gary. Jack followed, and then Charlie came out, talking animatedly to an older man with a notepad. Doug and Bill were arguing.

“No. I’m not playing it.”

“Come on, Bill. We can’t just play the same ten songs for four hours.”

“Well, you can pick something else. I’m not playing a freaking mandolin.”

“Jesus Christ. I didn’t ask you to play a mandolin. I just want you to play bass on the song.”

“It’s not our kind of material. It’s like that stupid demo tape.”

Doug shook his head. “That stupid demo tape is going to get our careers moving. I don’t know about you, but I don’t intend to be playing covers in some crappy bar band fifteen years from now.”

“Tape, what tape?” Gary was surprised. This was the first he’d heard of it.

“I went to Trod Nossel a couple of weeks ago and cut a demo tape with Kevin and a couple of studio guys I know. I’m trying to get it circulated around the labels in New York.”

“What kind of music is it?”

“I’ll tell you what kind of music it is,” Bill said angrily, “it’s lame-ass pop crap. It;s nothing like what we play in Cerebus.”

“It’s MY music, Bill. I wrote it all myself. And yeah, it’s more pop-oriented. It’s also the way that the market is going nowadays. Hair metal’s only got another year or two left in it. And I don’t want to be stuck in the same rut when the tide shifts.”

“It’s bullshit. That’s what it is.” Bill was pissed. He hated the tape, and had refused to be involved in it. He wanted to play the music that they’d started out playing.

“Well, you don’t have to play it. I know a few people who’d like to be in a gigging band.”

“I didn’t say I was quitting.”

“Guys, guys, come on.” Gary stepped between them. “Hey, it’s a good day. You guys just won a state championship, and now we’re gonna go and have a good time. Why don’t you save all that for after the party.”

“You’re right, as always, Gary. I’m sorry.” Doug smiled, then offered his hand to Bill. “Friends?”

“Yeah, friends. But I want to sing “Ace Of Spades” tonight.”

Doug considered this for a second. “Okay, “Ace of Spades” in exchange for the other song.”

“Deal.” He shook Doug’s hand, then pulled him into a brotherly hug. Doug went with it, but Gary could see he wasn’t happy. Jack walked over and dropped his bag on the ground. They all stood around waiting for Charlie. Gary decided that he’d go and get the car. He told the others to drag Charlie away as soon as they could and grabbed the elevator down to the garage. As he pulled out of the garage, he narrowly avoided getting hit by a Department of Transportation plow, which was pushing the inch or so of snow off of Trumbull Street and laying down a thin spread of sand and rock salt. He drove around the block and pulled back up to the front entrance at Trumbull and Church. By the time he did so, Charlie and the others had emerged from the Civic Center. They came down and piled into the Land Rover, and Gary headed towards the highway.

“So, everything ready?” Charlie sat back in the front passenger seat, finally relaxing for the first time since he’d gotten up that morning.

“Should be. This storm’s getting worse, but Audra said that it wasn’t so bad down on the shore.” Gary pulled out from behind a Volvo traveling entirely too slow for what little snow was on the ground and merged onto Interstate 91, headed south towards New Haven. “Let me turn on the radio and see what’s going on.”

“...and the state of Connecticut is now under a blizzard warning. The Governor’s office has just issued the following statement: The State of Connecticut is officially closed. Please remain in your homes and do not use roads unless it is absolutely necessary. Please keep all side roads open for emergency vehicles and Department of Transportation plow trucks. I repeat, the State of Connecticut is closed. Here is the current forecast for the New Haven metropolitan area. Today, snow, heavy at times, with blowing winds in excess of thirty miles an hour. Accumulations of one to two feet of snow in the downtown New Haven area, with two feet or more expected the farther you go away from the coastline. Temperatures will remain just below freezing, and the storm center has stalled out over Connecticut and Long Island Sound. It is not expected to begin slowing until sometime tomorrow afternoon, by which time metro New Haven will have recieved twenty-four to thirty inches of snow, and any areas above the Merritt and Wilbur Cross Parkway line can expect to see thirty-six to forty inches of snow. Back to you, Bob.”

“Okay, thank you, Dr. Mel Goldstein of Storm Team 8. Well, we’ll keep it going for you here, and keep the classic hits of the 50's, 60's and 70's going on Big D, WDRC 103 FM. Here’s some wishful thinking for all you people stuck on the roads. The Loving Spoonful, “Summer in the City” at Big D 103.” Gary switched off the radio.

“Holy shit, guys. I hope I’ve got enough food for everyone.” Gary thought about it for a minute. He was glad that he’d gassed up the house’s generator the week before. “I guess I’m gonna be putting up a lot of people tonight.”

“That’s okay, man. It’s our night to howl! Owoooooo!” Charlie howled, and the others joined in. He felt pretty good.

“Hey, Doug. You have that tape on you? I want to hear it.” Gary reached his hand back.

“No man, it’s not ready yet. It’s still pretty rough. Besides, I don’t want to..”

“Nonsense. Hand it over.” Gary took the tape from Doug and popped it in the tape deck. They rode down the highway not speaking, just listening to Doug’s demo tape. Despite Doug’s protestations to the contrary, it was a fairly polished little piece of work. There were four songs, all of them mid-tempo pop numbers. Gary was surprised at what he heard. He liked it a lot more then the original songs that Cerebus performed, which were more along the lines of progressive rock/metal, sort of a combination of Iron Maiden and King Crimson. The standout of the bunch was “Just The Way”, which Gary thought wouldn’t be out of place on the radio in the midst of people like Richard Marx or Elton John.

When it was over, he popped it out and handed it back to Doug. “Dude, you’ve gotta get me a copy of that. It’s really good, Doug.”

“Yeah, man. I liked it a lot. Especially that “Just The Way” song. It sounded like Journey, but in a good way.” Charlie smiled. “You gotta play that one tonight. I think everyone will love it.”.

“Thanks, guys. It’s just okay. I’m pretty happy with it, but I don’t really know if it’s gonna help me get anywhere.” Doug sat back and looked out the window. He was aware of Bill’s eyes boring a hole in the back of his skull, but he didn’t care.

8.

2004-11-22T17:56:00.000-05:00

8.

Charlie skated out to the center circle to await the drop of the puck. He tried to remember the breathing exercises again, but he couldn’t. All he could think about was the last twenty minutes and winning the game. He shook his head as the ref skated over.

“All right, guys. This is it. I want the last twenty to go the same way the first forty have gone.” He blew his whistle and Charlie took a deep breath. As he dropped the puck, Charlie leapt forward and took the puck. He slapped it over to Doug, who skated forward and slapped it around the boards. Charlie skated down into the corner, chased by a Jesuit player. He got to the puck and sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the defenseman as he slammed into the boards. Charlie skated around him and passed it back to the top of the offensive zone, where Bill was waiting.

Bill took the pass and hovered along the blue line, all the while keeping the puck onside. Doug worked himself open and Bill passed the puck back towards him. But a Jesuit player got in the middle and took the puck away. The teams skated back down the ice, Jake Chambers chasing down the player before he got onside and forced him into an offsides call. The ref whistled the play dead. As he did so, one of the Jesuit players tripped Doug up with his stick. As Doug got up, he lunged towards the player, who was skating away. Bill grabbed him before he could get there.

“Come on, man. Don’t be like me. Just make him pay on the next trip down the ice.”

“Let go of me, man. He tripped me, that sonofabitch.”

“Let it go, Doug. Let it go.” Bill skated back to his position as Doug went to line up for the face off. Charlie was right. The last thing the team needed was a stupid penalty, and the last guy other then Charlie who should be drawing that penalty was Doug. The ref dropped the puck again, and off they went. Charlie lead the team down the ice, and after getting a nice feed from Doug, slapped one right through the five-hole to tie the score. They celebrated as the Prep crowd booed lustily.

“Great shot, bro, great shot!” Doug slapped his helmet as they skated back towards the bench.

“Yeah, but there’s too much time left in the game.” Charlie was right. There was still almost fifteen minutes left on the clock, and anything could happen in that time.

Anything turned out to be not much as the game neared the end of regulation. Charlie’s line got back into the game with about three minutes to go and the score still tied. They needed to do something, and fast, and as it turned out, something would happen just that fast. Charlie took a pass from Tommy Mack, Bill’s junior defensive linemate, and skated up ice. He knew that someone was following him, but he didn’t know who. As he looked to dump the puck off, he saw that it was Wilson. He dished off the puck to Doug and headed around behind the net. Wilson followed him, and the two of them tangled behind the net. As the ref turned to watch the play at hand, Charlie whacked Wilson’s leg with his stick. He was trying to draw Wilson into doing something stupid, and it worked. As Charlie skated out from behind the net, Wilson came up behind him and delivered a massive crosscheck to Charlie’s back, sending him sprawling towards the wall. He bumped the wall with his helmet, not hard enough to actually cause any injury, but enough to draw the whistle he was hoping for.

“Oh, come on, ref! He took a Goddamned dive.”

“Wilson, even a brick wall like Mr. Ryan over there would take a dive after getting checked as hard as you hit Ferris. Two minutes, number nine, crosscheck.”

“You bastard!” Wilson lunged towards Charlie, who had regained his feet and was strapping his helmet back onto his head. He managed to get through the linesman who tried to restrain him and took a swing at Charlie. His arm was stopped mid-swing by Bill, who swung him around and pushed him back.

“That’s it, damnit, that’s it! I’m taking back my game right now. Wilson, get the hell off my ice.” The ref skated over to the scorers’ box. “Number nine, Game Misconduct, unsportsmanlike conduct.”

Wilson went berserk, as did the Jesuits coach. He came out onto the ice and began arguing with the ref as both linesman restrained Wilson and pulled him off the ice towards the locker room. The Prep side of the arena began showering the ice with cups and other litter. Charlie just stood back and watched it all. This wasn’t quite what he had in mind, but it worked okay for him as well.

Doug skated by him. “Nice touch. Nothing like a little outside assistance to get by.” Charlie just laughed at him.

After a ten-minute delay while the Civic Center crew cleaned off the ice and a security detail fanned out to the stands to form a protective barrier between the Tiger and Jesuit fans, the game restarted. Immediately, the impact of Wilson’s ouster and the delay of the game was felt as Charlie and Doug took the faceoff right down into Prep’s end and Charlie blasted a slapper past the dazed Jesuit goalie to take the lead. A minute and a half later, with the Jesuit net empty so that they could have an extra skater, Bill managed to clear the puck the entire length of the ice and into the net to put a capper on it all. Twenty seconds later, the Jesuits were skating dejectedly off the ice as the Tigers celebrated in front of their bench. Charlie found himself at the bottom of a pile of sweaty Tiger players, all screaming and whooping it up. As the pile slowly lifted, he smiled to himself. Looks like you were able to motivate them after all, he thought to himself.

6 and 7.

2004-11-21T23:04:00.000-05:00

6.

At five minutes past ten A.M. on Saturday, February 11th, the Connecticut State Division One Hockey Final officially began with team introductions. The lower ring of the Civic Center was completely full, and a fair portion of the upper seats had been sold as well. The attendance would later be reported as nine thousand, one hundred and twelve, a record for the state finals, and nearly on the level of a good Whaler home game in those days.

Fairfield Prep skated out first. The Jesuits had only lost two games in the ‘88-89 season, one of which was to the Tigers in the early part of the season. They were riding a 12-game win streak into the final, second only to the Tigers for the season. Their fan section loudly cheered and waved around red towels as their team skated warmups.

Holy Mother came out second, and the Jesuit fans showered them with boos and abuse, but were quickly drowned out by the cheering Tiger fan section. Holy Mother was on a fifteen game win streak themselves, having only lost one game the whole year. That had been in December to West Haven High, when Charlie and Doug had both been out with stomach flu. The Tigers skated their warmups and headed to the bench. Charlie looked over and saw Kim and Gary, but not Kat. He shrugged, waved at them, and then headed out to center ice. As the national anthem played over the loudspeaker, he breathed slowly and deeply as Jack had taught him, pushing out the noise and distractions and zoning in on the only things that mattered.

The anthem ended, and the referee skated out to center ice. Charlie skated up to the center line. A hulking kid lined up across from him.

“Hello, Wilson. How’s your wrist?”

“Fine, Ferris. How’s the eye?” Charlie and Ed Wilson had tangled in the Jesuit/Tiger game back in January. Their encounter had started with a hard slash to Ed Wilson’s right wrist and had ended with Wilson attempting to punch Charlie’s ticket. Bill had gotten between them before Wilson had gotten off more then one punch, but Charlie came away with a nice shiner to show for it.

“Oh, fine. Ready to lose again?”

“I don’t think so, you pigfucker.”

The ref stepped between them. “I won’t have any of that stuff in my game, boys. Wilson, you watch your mouth. I expect a clean game from you both.”

Charlie laughed. “Well, you’ll have no problem from me. I’m not the cheap shot artist.”

“Cheap shot? Why you little...” The ref stepped in and pushed Wilson out of the circle.

“Get over there, Wilson. You! 6! Get over here.” He skated over, mothering Charlie under his breath, and lined up against Doug, who thought better of making any smart ass comments. Another Jesuit skater came over and stopped at the faceoff circle. Charlie didn’t have a history with this kid, so he kept his mouth shut. The ref turned and looked at him. “Look, Ferris, that’s what I’m talking about. You keep your mouth shut too and let’s have a clean game.”

“No problem, ref. Let’s go.” The ref blew his whistle. Charlie leaned in, and the crowd went silent for a moment, holding their collective breath. The ref dropped the puck and Charlie lunged forward, taking it off the stick of the Jesuit player. He skated down the ice and stopped at the blue line as Doug skated by him.

“Goddamnit, Doug, get back onside!”

Doug skated back as Charlie waited and held the puck. The Prep defense set up, trying to keep Charlie out of the offensive end and draw an offside call. He brushed by the defenseman and passed to Jake over in the right circle. Jake looked around, then lost the puck to a Jesuit who was bigger then him. They skated back down the ice and set up their own defense as the Jesuits came racing up ice. Jack looked straight on and watched the Jesuits pass the puck around the perimeter. Bill came over and skated around the goalmouth, waiting for the action.

WHACK! The first shot of the game came whistling in from about 30 feet, a slapper that bounced once in front of the goal. Jack swatted it away into the corner with his stick and Bill skated after it. He picked up speed as he approached the unlucky Jesuit skater who’d gone in to pick up the loose puck, and blasted him into the boards. The Jesuit didn’t go down, but unleashed a muffled “whoof” sound as he took the full impact of Bill’s hit. Bill passed the puck out towards Doug on the left point, but a Prep player deflected it towards his own player. The second Prep player wound up for a one-timer and whacked the puck back towards Jack. The puck sailed up and bounced off Jack’s helmet and into the stands. The ref blew his whistle and play stopped.

Charlie skated over to the bench with Doug. Their line was off for a minute or so, and they sat down on the bench together.

“Damn it, Doug. Keep your head in the game.”

“Don’t you worry about me, bro. Worry about Bill getting tossed. Did you see how hard he hit that kid?”

Charlie grimaced. Bill had laid it on a bit thick there. Luckily the ref wasn’t watching. He looked over at the seats. Kat had rejoined the others, and she blew him a kiss when he caught her eye. He smiled and turned back, just in time to see Jake narrowly miss scoring the first goal of the game. He and Doug got back up and waited for the whistle to go so they could go back in the game. The first period of the game was a back and forth affair, with neither team able to get into a groove. Charlie had three shots on goal, and another one that probably would have gone in except for a lucky deflection. Bill took another kid out cleanly before drawing a two minute roughing minor and a warning from the ref. And Jack was in some kind of zone, as he easily turned back eleven shots from the Jesuits. Between periods, Charlie was quiet in the locker room. No one dared go near him.

Charlie and Doug put the Tigers on the board early in the second period. The Jesuits had turned the puck over in the Tigers end as Charlie skated right through a two-man trap to steal the puck. He broke away down the ice, Doug following close behind. Once in the zone, Charlie rocketed a shot at the Jesuit goaltender that he’d have to cough up rather then smothering. He had, and Doug had skated up and casually flipped the puck over the stick of the Jesuit goaltender. The crowd went crazy, and the Tigers took a 1-0 lead. But the Jesuits came right back, taking advantage of a defensive lapse by Bill and smoking one past a screened Jack to tie the score.

“Fuck! Come on, Bill, stop screening me!” Jack slammed his stick on the ice as the ref took the puck out of the net and headed back to center ice. Jack would have had a shot at that one if Bill hadn’t been pushed right in front of him by a Jesuit player.

“Look, Yojimbo, I can’t help getting pushed.” But inside Bill was fuming at the fact that he’d let the other, smaller Jesuit player push him around so easily. He skated over to his position and waited for the drop. The ref dropped the puck, and the kid that had pushed him around came skating up ice with it. Bill came flying up towards him and blew into him, knocking him off his feet just as he passed the puck away. The kid dropped to the ice, and the linesman came skating up, blowing his whistle as he got in between Bill and the Jesuit.

“Number 5, five minute major, unsportsmanlike conduct!” The linesman skated over to the box.

“Oh, come on, ref! He took a dive!” Bill skated over and was about to continue to plead his case when Charlie skated over.

“Come on, ref. Five minutes?”

“Your skater deliberately hit the kid. I should be giving him a game misconduct and sending him to the showers. You of all people should know that the CIAC looks down on any of this sort of thing during the finals.” And indeed, Charlie did. In the ‘87 final, a West Haven player had crushed him into the railing of the bench with a vicious crosscheck that had sprung one of Charlie’s ribs. That kid had found himself escorted off the ice and out of the Blue Devil hockey program completely. Charlie had shaken off the injury and finished the game. The last thing he needed today though was for Bill to get tossed.

“Get in the box, you stupid bastard! What the hell are you thinking?!?” Charlie was livid. Now the Tigers would have to play five minutes shorthanded against a Jesuit team that was the best in the state on power play opportunities. He skated over to the circle as Bill took his seat in the box somewhat dejectedly. Two minutes later, Bill was skating over to the bench even more dejectedly as the Jesuits celebrated their second goal of the game. Charlie skated over to the bench and sat down. He didn’t even look at Bill.

7.

The Tigers filed into the locker room at the end of the second period silently. They sat on their stools, some wiping their heads with towels or drinking Gatorade. No one looked up or around. Charlie came in last and angrily stalked over to his locker. He ripped off his helmet and threw it down, then whirled around to face the room. No one looked at him as the sound of the helmet slamming down echoed in the room.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS DOING OUT THERE?!? Huh? Where the hell did the team that won all those games this year go? I looked around this period and I found myself wondering that.”

He walked around the room and stopped in front of Bill. “Bill. I know you like to prove to everyone that you’re a brick wall on skates, but this is not the time for PERSONAL FUCKING VENDETTAS! If some little Jesuit prick pushes you around, I’m not gonna tell you to not push back, but for Christ’s sake, don’t draw any more stupid fucking penalties. We can’t afford another five on four.” Bill continued to idly pick tape off his stick, but didn’t look Charlie in the eye.

“Jack. I got nothing to pick on you for. You’re standing on your head out there. Keep it up.” He slapped Jack on the back as he walked over and picked up a bottle of Gatorade from a cooler on the floor. “Now we’ve only got twenty minutes left here to do something. Think about that. Twenty minutes doesn’t sound like much, but it can be an eternity for those bastards if we come out flying here. Doug.” He looked over at Doug, who idly sipped a bottle of water. “Heads up, brother. I’m gonna be looking for you out there, and you need to be in the game.” Doug nodded.

He walked back into the center of the room. All eyes in the room were now on him, and he knew it. “Now, I can’t go out there and win this game by myself. And before anybody says it, yes, I know that there are scouts here.” He looked around at them. They were all staring at him. No one dared look anywhere else.

“If you think that’s the only reason that I want to win this game, then you can feel free to ask Coach to hold you out of the third period. Then you can go fuck yourself.” He dropped the bottle of Gatorade on the floor. “I came here to do what the New Haven Register, the Bridgeport Post, and that pompous ass on WELI radio say I couldn’t do this year. I hope they weren’t right.

“Two goals in twenty minutes. We can do it. We’ve done it all fucking year. No reason to believe we can’t do it again today. But we’re not doing it so far. You guys are letting them push you around. You’re playing like a bunch of pee-wee players out there.

“Twenty more minutes and we seniors are done with our careers. It would be nice to be able to leave this arena with another piece of hardware for Brother Ben’s trophy case. All I’m asking is that you leave whatever distractions are bothering you in here for twenty minutes and give everything you have out there. I’m going to be.

“Twenty more minutes, and then we can go party our good little Catholic butts off in Bethany. I don’t know about anyone else here, but I’m certainly hoping to get laid tonight.” A few players laughed, and then the room quieted again. “All right, everybody in.” The players all got up and gathered around Charlie.

“This is it. When that horn goes off in twenty minutes, I want to know that you all gave me your hardest effort and that nothing was left on the bench. Ten, fifteen, twenty years from now, when your kid asks you what kind of player you were, I want to know that you can say ‘I gave my all for the team.’ That’s all I ask.

“NOW LET’S GET OUT THERE AND SHOW THOSE FUCKING PREPPIE BASTARDS HOW WE DO THINGS IN WEST HAVEN!” The team roared and stormed back out to the ice again. Charlie picked up his helmet, and looked around the empty locker room for a minute. This really was it, wasn’t it?

Gary waited outside the locker room. His father was a season ticket holder for the Whale as well as a member of the Civic Center's board of directors, so Gary knew pretty much everyone who'd worked there for any length of time. As a result, he pretty much had the run of the place whenever he wanted. He’d listened as Charlie gave his pep talk, if it could be called such a thing, and then watched the team come out. He knew Charlie would still be in the room for another moment, so he poked his head through the door.

“Is it safe?” he called into the room.

“Yes, Gary, you can come in.” Charlie was re-lacing his skate as Gary stepped through the door. “I suspect you heard all that?”

Gary nodded. “I think everyone in Hartford County heard it.” He stood there and watched Charlie as he put on his helmet. “You okay?”

“I guess so. I just had one of those weird moments just now. I was thinking about my father. This was what he wanted, you know. The big game. The scouts. The attention.” They walked through the door together. “I just, you know, felt a little sad for the first time.”

“Look, man, don’t you worry about that. You’ve done all of this on your own. Now isn’t the time to be thinking about that bastard and what he did.” Gary stepped in front of Charlie and put his hands on Charlie’s shoulders. “You are the best Goddamned hockey player in this crummy little state. Hell, you’re the best player in New England. Don’t you forget that. Those Jesuits aren’t even on the same level as you. I believe in you, man. But you’ve got to believe in yourself.

“You’ve done a hell of a job of motivating those guys to win. Now I’m gonna say the same thing to you. All you need to do is go out there and win. Forget about your old man. Forget about Kat and Colette and all of that. Just go out there and get that trophy. Now, I just talked to Audra. Everything’s ready. A few people who were dumb enough to show up already have been put to work in the house prepping for the party.”

“Good. You didn’t think I was too hard on them, was I?”

Gary laughed. “Too hard? That speech would have made Patton wince.” He slapped Charlie on the back. “Look, bro. Just go out there and do what you came here to do. Don’t worry about stepping on any toes. When the game’s over, and you’re raising that trophy over your head, no one’s gonna care if you bitched ‘em out beforehand.” They reached the edge of the ice, and Gary smiled at Charlie. “Go out there and give ‘em hell. That’s an order, soldier.” He climbed up into the stands as Charlie skated out onto the ice, then stood and watched for a second as he skated over towards the circle. Then he headed back over to his seat, where Kim was talking to Doug over the glass separating the bench from the stands. He gave Doug a thumbs up and sat down as Kim came back to their seats.

“Where’s Kat gotten off to now?”

“Oh, you know how she is, Gary. She’s not really interested in all of this unless she’s the center of attention. Not much for the cheerleaders to do at a hockey game.” Kim sipped at a hot chocolate. “So what’s up with the purple-haired wonder?”

Gary grinned. “Oh, you know Audra. She’s having a blast getting this little shindig together. I told her that we’d be home in about two hours. She did tell me to be careful though. Apparently the snow’s starting to accumulate a bit.”

“Oh. I hope that doesn’t keep anyone away.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Free booze, no parents, run of the house? I wouldn’t expect too many no-shows.” Gary sat back in his seat and waited for the whistle.

5.

2004-11-21T01:20:00.000-05:00

5.

Kim stood at the corner of Trumbull and Asylum Streets in Hartford. It was 9:30 and Gary hadn’t shown up yet, and the game was in a half an hour. She had insisted on getting here early, and Kat was smoking a cigarette and grumbling about the cold. She saw people she knew heading inside, but Gary had their tickets, so they had to wait. It had begun to snow lightly, but it was still warm enough that it was only making the pavement wet. She watched the marquee for upcoming events and rubber her hands together.

“I’m freezing my ass off out here, Kim. Where the fuck is Gary?” Kat glared at her. “Why couldn’t we be waiting inside the mall? At least it’s warm in there.”

“Then go in, if you’re so goddamned cold. That’s what you get for wearing a miniskirt to a hockey game in February.” Kim looked down Trumbull Street and saw Gary walking in their direction. “Here he is anyway.”

Gary was carrying a bag with a banner and his Holy Mother hockey jersey and his face was painted bright green and yellow. He hopped off the curb at Asylum street and narrowly avoided getting run over by a Federal Express delivery truck. Once the coast was clear, he crossed the street and came up to Kim.

“That was close, huh? Hey, hot stuff, howzitgoin?” He handed Kim the bag with the banner in it and took off his jacket. He carefully put the jersey on, making sure not to rub off any of the makeup on his face. Kim noticed that it was still fairly wet. “How do I look?”

Before Kim had a chance to reply, Kat came up and punched Gary in the shoulder. “Jesus Christ, Gary, you think you could have been any later?”

“I’m sorry. I was fixing my makeup. Now I understand why you girls always take so damn much time in the bathroom.” He smiled. “I’ve been here for almost an hour, but I was just chilling in the car.”

The Civic Center was the home of the Hartford Whalers of the NHL as well as a fairly popular concert venue. Kim and Doug had, in fact, been there just a week earlier to see Eric Clapton. It was also the largest hockey arena in the state, and all of the Connecticut state hockey title games would be held here over the course of this day, to be followed in the evening by the Whale taking on the Minnesota North Stars. Were it not for the bash, Gary and Charlie probably would have been staying all day.

Gary handed Kim and Kat their tickets and the three of them headed into the arena. The security guards looked in Gary’s bag, probably to make sure he didn’t have anything to toss on the ice. The year before, someone had thrown a chain at Charlie as he headed down the ice on a breakaway. He’d deftly avoided the chain and scored a goal anyway. It had been disallowed because of the distraction, but it hadn’t mattered, as the Tigers had been up 4-1 at that point in the game anyway. Once through the security, they headed for their seats. Holy Mother’s bench was on the Asylum Street side of the arena, and Gary’s tickets were in section 102, right on the ice, next to the Tiger bench. Kat broke away from them and went to talk to some of her friends, and Gary and Kim went down and sat in their seats.

“So who’s at the house now?” Kim asked as Gary motioned to a vendor selling sodas.

“Audra and Colette are getting things together, though not for a while yet. I don’t anticipate anyone showing up until at least an hour or two after the game ends. You want a soda?”

“Sure.” Gary took two Cokes from the vendor, paid, and sat back down. Kim took the soda and sipped at it. “You want a buck for that?”

“Don’t worry about it.” He drank half his soda in one gulp. “So how’s Doug been the last few days? He was very quiet on the ride up, and he didn’t seem his usual self last night. He let Bill run the sound check at the house.”
Kim tried to smile. “I don’t know, Gary. He has good days and bad days. We’ll have three or four days where everything’s like it was when we first started going together, then something will set him off and he gets into a funk. Like the other night, when we were out.” She told him about the fire truck and the subsequent death of their evening. He nodded and patted her shoulder.

“I understand. You know, Charlie can be like that too. But he doesn’t really bottle his shit up. He goes out there,” Gary pointed out to the rink, “and leaves it all out there.”

“Well, Kat and Charlie are having problems too, or didn’t you know?”

“What’s to know?” He considered telling her about Charlie’s encounter with Colette and the draft, but decided against it. Kim was hardly loose-lipped, and she and Kat didn’t exactly see eye to eye, but he figured it was better not to be mentioned. “He comes home, he goes out to the rink, he comes home, he goes to sleep. I see him in school. I’m sure that everything will start resolving itself tonight anyway.” And how, Gary mentally added.

Charlie sat in the locker room and waited out the pre-game period. He hated this time most of all, because he just wanted to get out on the ice and play. Today, more then any other day, though, he hated this. Not just because it was the last time he’d be lacing up his skates in a Holy Mother uniform. He was a bit sad because this was the last time he’d go out to battle with his boys. He looked around the room at his team. It was his team, after all. Coach had seen the talent before Charlie was a freshman, and knew that he’d be best to build his next three years worth of teams around the kid with the funny accent and the spectacular talent on the ice.

Doug sat on the stool in front of his locker. He had a pair of headphones on and Charlie assumed he was listening to either King Crimson or John Coltrane to get himself up for the game. They’d played pee-wee hockey together when Charlie had first come down from Canada. Every kid at St. Andrew’s had taken the Holy Mother exam, as well as the Prep and Hopkins exams. Doug had passed fairly easily, but Randy and Laura O’Donnell weren’t exactly rolling in the money, and Holy Mother wasn’t cheap. But Coach knew that Doug and Charlie were winning linemates, and he’d found a scholarship for Doug so he could play for the Tigers. Unlike Charlie, though, he was thinking more about music and less about continuing his mediocre hockey career.

Charlie looked across the room. Now, Bill, he was sort of an odd case. At six-ten, most people would have assumed that he’d be playing basketball. But he’d only hit six-ten in the last eight or nine months. When he started playing defense for the Tigers in his second freshman year at the age of fourteen, he was six-two and weighed a sturdy two hundred and eighty pounds, most of which was muscle. He’d been a nickelback for the Tigers freshman football team as well, but he enjoyed the speed rush that came from hitting someone on the ice more then tackling someone, so he’d given up the gridiron. Now, though he was getting bored of it, and thinking more about riding Doug’s coattails to the Top Forty.

Next to Bill, Jack was stretching on the floor. If Bill was sort of an odd case, Jack took the cake. Charlie knew that Jack was into all his weird eastern stuff, but he also knew that Jack was playing hockey to make his parents happy. Or at least his mother, anyway. Jack had also been on the pee-wee team with Doug and Charlie, but he’d nearly abandoned the game in eighth grade for Kendo. Charlie had spent some time with Jack when he was learning the intial disciplines, and he’d convinced Jack to keep at it while still playing hockey. Charlie figured that if nothing else, it would help his stickwork, which had been somewhat of an issue when they were playing pee-wee. It had worked, and Jack had become as skilled with a goaltender’s stick as he was with the Kendo stick. Jack had also taught him how to swear in Japanese. He’d used this to his advantage on many occasions against referees who pissed him off. But now Jack was going to be going off to the west coast, and probably overseas after that.

Coach opened the door from his temporary office and walked into the center of the room, and everyone stopped what they were doing. Jack got up off the floor and sat back down on his stool, and Doug took off his headphones. Charlie assumed that Coach was going to give them a pep talk of some kind, and was more then a little surprised when he didn’t say anything at all. He just turned to Charlie and said “Come on up.”

The boys clapped as Charlie walked into the center of the room. He reddened a little. He was the captain after all, but he hadn’t planned a pep talk or anything like that. Behind him, Doug put his hands up, and everyone fell silent. Charlie looked at them all for a moment.

“Uh, I really don’t know what to say to you guys. I’ve been a Tiger for four years now, and I’ve been Captain for the last two, and they’ve been the best four years of my life.” He paused for a second, lost in the moment. This really was the end, wasn’t it? “Uh, some of you guys are still gonna be around next year, and a couple of you will still be here for another three. But for me, Bill, Jack, and Doug, this is the end of the line. I know that the Register doesn’t think we’re gonna win today, and that’s all fine and good. But I also know one thing.

“I know that this team, this year, is the best team that I’ve played with in the four years I’ve been a Tiger. No bullshit. And you young guys, you’re gonna hopefully be able to carry on without us next year. I know that the Joker’s ready to keep it going if nobody else is.” Doug reached over and ruffled Jake Chambers’s hair and got a poke with Jake’s stick for his trouble. Charlie laughed, then continued.

“I just want you guys to know, and you too, Coach, that I’ve loved every single minute of the four years that I’ve been a Holy Mother Tiger. And no matter where I end up in life, I’ll always carry these four years deep in my heart as some of the best moments of my life.” Charlie looked around at his boys.

“Now I want everyone to go out there knowing that no newspaper, no fan, no official, not even those Prep bastards on the other side of the ice can take away what we are. And what we are, boys, is champions. Even if we lose, we’re still the best damn hockey team in the state of Connecticut.” The locker room roared. “Everybody in.” They all crowded in around Charlie.

“Who are we?”

“HOLY MOTHER!”

“I said, WHO ARE WE?!?”

“CHAMPIONS!”

“That’s right! And what are we gonna do?”

“KICK PREPPIE ASS!” The entire team let out a war whoop and stormed out of the locker room, headed for the ice. Charlie watched them go, smiled, then started heading down the ramp after them.

4.

2004-11-18T22:45:00.000-05:00

4.

Jack got out of bed just before six A.M. on Saturday morning. He pulled on his light exercise robe and went and did his morning business, then headed back to his room. The house was quiet except for the hum of the furnace as Jack began his morning exercises. He stretched out his legs and arms, then stepped into the first stance of his regular Tai Chi regimen. He’d been practicing for about 4 years, and had gotten to a level where he could achieve a state of calm that would tend to run throughout the day. But this was no ordinary day, and Jack was in a strange mood. He felt like something wasn’t quite right, and he went back through his exercises a second time. This time, he felt the nerves melt away, and he guessed it was just nervousness about the game.

He walked downstairs, brought in the paper, and sat down to a bowl of rice and orange juice. He opened the paper to the sports section, and there they were on the front page again:

Last Hurrah For The Golden Boys?
Holy Mother vs. Fairfield Prep
Division 1 State Championship Today

The Register was picking Prep to win, figuring that Charlie’s luck was going to run out in his final game in a high school uniform. Fat chance of that happening, Jack thought as he shoveled the rice into his mouth. He wasn’t figuring on giving up anything to Prep today, particularly not if they tried to keep it close. He finished his rice and got up from the table. His house was quiet, but that wouldn’t last for long. His mom and dad were part of the Holy Mother Parents traveling support team, and they’d be up and getting ready before long. He was happy to have the support, though he knew that it was somewhat of a sham. The Shanahan marriage was on the rocks, and Jack was the only thing that was keeping it together. He supposed that would change before long. He’d be heading off to San Diego State in the fall, and he expected that he’d get a phone call from one of them not long after he left. Miles and Anne Shanahan had been sticking it out as a couple for Jack since he was around twelve.

That was when Anne Shanahan had come home early from the Holy Mother Holiday Bazaar to find Miles in bed. With another man. Jack hadn’t found out until about six months before, when he’d been snooping around in his father’s bureau and had found a gay porn magazine. He’d been brazen enough to come out and ask Miles about it, at which point Miles had broken down and confessed everything to his surprised, bemused son. Anne had gone ballistic when she found out, but had spoken to Uncle David, and quietly began divorce proceedings. With Jack in the know, she’d decided there was no point in continuing the lie. But Miles had been insistent in keeping up with the Parents group, so Anne put up with it grudgingly. They continued to come to games and cheer him on, but usually from seats far apart. He looked at his watch. It was half past six. Time to go and get Bill.

Bill Ryan was also up early, but it was because his old man had to get up early to go to the garage. Mark Ryan wasn’t a terrible father, but he wasn’t particularly sympathetic to any other members of his family when he got up on days when he had to go in early. He thumped down the stairs and found Bill in the kitchen, making coffee and toast.

“What are you up so early for?” Mark glared at Bill, not expecting to see anyone in the house up this goddamned early.

“Game today, Dad. State finals.” Bill handed him a mug that said “#1 Dad”. He didn’t note the irony as he did so. “Jack’s going to be coming to get me soon.”

“That crazy kid who thinks he’s Japanese?” Mark didn’t really care for any of Bill’s friends, but Jack in particular turned Mark’s stomach. “Well, be careful he doesn’t run you off the road.”

“We’re only going as far as Gary’s. Gary’s driving the rest of the way.” Mark grunted. He didn’t mind Gary, because Burke Ablett had thrown a lot of business at Mark’s garage, which was struggling along in the tough economy.

“Well, don’t stay out all night. Or at least call if you’re going to.” Mark got up and left, leaving his coffee half-finished. Bill got up and watched him go.

“Thanks for wishing me good luck, you fucking bastard,” he said under his breath as he put the mug in the sink. Not that he expected much, but it would have been nice. He walked back to the living room and picked up his gear bag, then headed outside to wait for Jack.

Gary woke up at around quarter of seven. He turned towards the alarm clock and slapped it off, then rolled back towards the lump next to him. He pulled the cover off of Audra Pendleton just enough to uncover her shoulder, then kissed it lightly.

“Hunh? Wha’time’s’it?” She rolled over and threw one arm over her eyes. “It’s gotta be too early for this.”

“It’s six-forty-five and I’ve gotta get up. I’ve got the gang coming.” He sat up at the edge of the bed.

“You’ve got time, don’t you?” She pulled the covers down further, exposing her small, perky breasts. She reached over to grab him, but he slid out of her grasp.

“No, Audra. I’ve gotta get up. Didn’t you get enough last night?”

“Do I ever? Maybe I’ll go see if Colette’s interested.” She tossed a teddy bear at him as he pulled on a pair of sweats.

“Please. We both know who she wants in this house and it isn’t you OR me.” He hopped back into the bed and kissed her. She took advantage, wrapping her legs around his torso. He laughed. “Come on, Aud. I gotta go. Really.”

She put on a pouty face, but then smiled. “Okay, I understand. But you better watch yourself tonight, Gary. You’re gonna get it.”

“I’m sure I will.” He walked out of the room and headed down to the kitchen. Charlie was already sitting at the kitchen table, eating a bagel and drinking Gatorade.

“Hey, uh, wipe your cheek.” Charlie tossed a roll of paper towels at him, and he wiped lipstick off his cheek. They sat and ate breakfast in silence, as they had the three previous Championship Saturday mornings. Charlie read the newspaper, and Gary made some notes on a list of things that still had to be picked up for the party. He was thinking about whether or not he had enough ice when Charlie said something that he didn’t hear all of.

“What?”

“I said, ‘Is Colette up yet?’”

Gary raised his eyebrows. “Not that I know of. Why do you ask?”

Charlie chewed on a piece of bagel. “How can I put this?”

“What? Spit it, boy.”

“Last night, when I got home from Price Club, Colette was out at the Fortress. She was swimming.”

“So?”

Charlie flipped the newspaper closed and put it down on the counter. “She was swimming in the altogether. And I saw her.”

Gary nearly fell off his chair laughing. “You’re kidding. You’ve got to be kidding. Did she see you?”

“No, but she did turn up the flirting engine a bit when I talked to her.” Charlie related the details of his conversation with Colette of the night before. Gary just shook his head and laughed.

“You want her, don’t you? Don’t lie to me, man. I know you better then that.”

“I don’t know what I want, Gar. I’m confused. She seems to want me, that’s for sure.”

“Well, you’ve got a choice. Either you exploit it, or you let it slide. Don’t forget, you are currently occupied.”

“There is that. But I feel like Kat’s not where I want to be. I don’t know. She’s been harping on me a lot lately about going off to school.”

“Well, she does seem to have planned out the next twenty years for the two of you.” Gary shrugged. “I assume that you’re being a good boy and laying down for the grand scheme.”

“Nope.” Charlie stood up from the table. “That’s why I didn’t tell her I’ve declared for the Draft.”

“You didn’t tell me, either. When did you decide this? What happened to winning the Beanpot and all that?”

“I don’t know, man. I’m not that great a student, and I need to go out and see if I can do this. I don’t want to go to college, get injured, and never know if I could have played on that level.”

Gary shook his head. He knew that he and Charlie would be going their separate ways after the school year ended, but he wasn’t expecting this. “I’m assuming that there’s an agent involved in this, right?”

“No. I just decided to do it myself.”

“Kat’s gonna be pissed.”

“You can’t tell her. Not yet, anyway. I need to be the one to tell her. But not today.” Charlie walked out of the kitchen, and Gary watched him go. Everyone figured Charlie and Kat would be headed off to Boston University after graduation. Wrong, he thought, Kat had been the one tossing that idea around. He sure as hell didn’t want to be around when that A-bomb went off, that was for sure. He liked Kat well enough, but she wasn’t someone to be crossed, that’s for sure. He figured that it was something in her perky cheerleader DNA, some kind of misfire or something. He’d seen her temper once, and that was enough for him. Charlie had gotten plastered at a party that Kat’s father had thrown and Dan Masters had kicked him out of the house, still drunk. Kat had dressed him down something fierce, using words that Gary hadn’t ever heard strung together, and he’d figured that they were done. Three days later, he’d seen her car out at the Fortress, and that idea had gone out the window. But she occasionally reminded Charlie of it, and Gary knew that it bothered him. He finished his juice and headed out to the living room, where Jack and Bill were waiting.

Doug turned the Aspen up Gary’s driveway. It was quarter of eight, and he was behind schedule. He hadn’t gotten up until ten after seven, and it had only been because Kim had called to wish him good luck. He’d mumbled a quick thank you and then leapt out of bed. A quick shower and change later and he was out the door. No one had been awake in the house, but that was okay with him. His mom had worked late the night before, and Uncle John was still out at work, so there was no one in the house but him. Days like this in particular, he missed his dad.

He would come up the stairs from the basement, carrying his stick bag and his gear. Dad would be just home from the firehouse. He’d be sitting in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper while NPR played on the radio by the stove. They’d sit together as Doug ate his cereal and toast, and Dad would talk about the shift, or some crazy thing that one of ‘da boys’ had done down at the station. Doug would smile and laugh and make fun of his dad whenever he could, but he’d always listen to all the stories, even the ones he’d heard before. Then his dad would pick up his stick bag, and they’d go out to the car, or Dad would wait with him for Gary or Charlie to come and pick him up for the game. Randy O’Donnell would sit on the front steps, light a cigarette, and enjoy the cold morning air while they waited.

The morning that Randy hadn’t come back had been the morning of the semi-final game the year before. Doug had gotten up at the usual time, but no Dad. No one had been in the house at all, and so he’d sat out on the stoop alone, fighting back the cold by himself. Three hours later, after he’d scored a goal in the Tigers’ 6-1 drubbing of Hamden High, the coach pulled him aside and told him what had happened. Gary had driven him back to New Haven, and down to Yale-New Haven Hospital. They had been too late, though. Randy O’Donnell had headed off to his final alarm around the start of the second period.

God, I miss him so much, Doug thought as he climbed into the Aspen. He flew out to Gary’s place, King Crimson blaring from the boom box sitting on the seat next to him. He was trying to get himself psyched up for the game, and “21st Century Schizoid Man” usually did it for him. He pulled up to the front door, parking behind Gary’s Land Rover. He took a deep breath, and then switched on the happy-go-lucky Doug persona. As he got out, pulling his hockey bag from the back seat, Gary and the others came out of the house.

“You’re late,” Charlie said.

“Sorry, I was plowing your mom.”

Charlie leapt off the porch onto Doug and the two of them rolled around in the snow, laughing and wrestling. Gary rolled his eyes and walked over to the Land Rover. Charlie and Doug were like a couple of puppies when they got together, always scrapping and barking and making a spectacle of themselves. Jack walked over and kicked Charlie.

“Can you guys stop humping each other so we can go win another state title?”

Charlie hopped up and pulled Doug up, slapping his back as he did so. “I feel pretty invincible today, Jack. How about you, Doug?”

“I’m just looking forward to the party.” Doug smiled at Charlie. “Of course I’m ready to kick some Preppie ass. When am I not?” They got into Gary’s Land Rover. Gary turned out of the driveway and headed for the highway, bound for the Hartford Civic Center and the game.

3(b)

2004-11-18T17:22:00.000-05:00

Charlie drove up the driveway towards the Ablett house. As he entered the clearing where the two-acre yard opened out from the woods, he noticed Doug and Bill’s cars up at the house. He didn’t really feel like seeing anyone at the moment, so he turned off the main drive and onto a small paved road that ran around the perimeter of the property. It ran up to a small building about 300 yards from the main house. This was the Abletts’ pool house, which also had a servants’ apartment attached to it. This was home for him. Burke had been happy to allow him his own space away from the house when he’d asked for it a few years ago, and Charlie had turned it into his “Fortress Of Solitude”, as Gary had dubbed it.

He went into his apartment, dropping his hockey bag in the mud room as he went. Joanna Ablett had decorated the apartment when the Abletts had moved in back in the 70's, and Charlie had kept the decor, more as a goof then anything else. Wall-to-wall shag carpeting ran through the living room and small dining area, and there was an beaten leather couch and easy chair in the same color. The one good thing that Joanna had done was installing a huge entertainment center/bookshelf unit on one wall of the living room. It had been stuffed with pulpy sci-fi and mystery paperbacks when Charlie moved in. He’d kept some, but replaced a lot of it with hockey cards and other memorabilia. On the wall next to the entertainment center, there was an autographed poster of Wayne Gretzky, who Charlie had met at a summer hockey camp two years before.

He was about to sit down to watch some Prep game films when he heard a noise coming from the pool area. Burke had turned an outdoor pool into an indoor when they’d moved in, but Charlie was usually the only one who used it. He walked over to the sliding door and pushed aside the curtain just enough to look through it. Someone was doing laps in his pool. Don’t be a dumbass, he thought, it’s not YOUR pool. He was about to drop the curtain and go back into his living room when the person swam up to the side and got out. Charlie was surprised when Colette climbed out of the pool and headed to get a towel. He was even more surprised to see that she was completely naked.

He stared for what seemed like an eternity, then backed off and dropped the curtain as she turned towards the sliding door. He backed into the living room, then made a loud noise as if he was just coming in the door. He walked back towards the sliding door. He pulled aside the curtain. Colette was dressed in jeans and a Holy Mother Athletic Department t-shirt(one of his), and was pulling on her boots.

“Hey.” He walked out onto the pool deck.

“Hey yourself.” She smiled at him. He wondered if she knew he was there. “I’m surprised you’re home. I figured you’d be at the rink until late.”

“No,” he replied, plopping down in a deck chair next to her, “I did what I had to this morning. I was at Price Club picking up a few more things for the party. Gary is nothing if not thorough. What the hell are we going to do with four hundred forks?”

She smiled. “So what’s on tap for tonight?”

“Game films, then early to bed. I need my rest for the game. Then tomorrow night, we howl at the moon.”

“Well, if I don’t see you before the game, this is for good luck.” She got up and kissed him on the cheek. He flushed, and she laughed a little. “You’ll do well tomorrow, I think. You’ve got that air of invincibility around you today.” She pulled her jacket on and headed out into the dark. Charlie watched her go, and then walked back into the living room. He sat down and put on the Prep game film, but his mind kept going back to Colette coming out of the water. He was attracted to her, and that was all fine and good, but he had to get his head back into the game. He shook his head and went back to the game films.

3(a.)

2004-11-10T23:51:00.000-05:00

3.

Gary Ablett stood in the foyer of his house as Doug and Bill carried equipment in. He’d been planning this party for almost four months, and he was glad that the day had finally come. Burke and Joanna Ablett went on a three-week vacation every February, and he’d watched and waved as the limo pulled down the driveway, headed for Tweed-New Haven Airport. Burke’s private Lear would be waiting there to fly them to Aruba, where the Abletts owned a beachfront house. Before he’d left, Burke had given Gary a few rules for the party, which Gary wouldn’t have any issues with.

No one goes up to the third floor. No one leaves in an ambulance. No one drives drunk under any circumstances. Beyond that, Burke trusted Gary and knew that nothing bad would happen. He didn’t know that Cerebus would be playing, but Doug had assured Gary that there’d be no sonic damage to the house.

“Besides,” Doug said as they walked between classes one afternoon, “any damage, you can just take care of it before the old man gets back.”

Now it was the day before, and Gary was running around, fussing over a number of last minute things. He wanted everything to be perfect, because this was his big chance to show that he wasn’t just a geek hanger-on, but one of the Golden Boys. Most of the seniors at Holy Mother tolerated him because he hung out with the Golden Boys and was the manager of the hockey team, but Gary was hardly high on the popularity ladder. He bristled at this, but he understood it.

Gary was short, and he was conscious of it. He was five-six and weighed about one-thirty on a good day. He wasn’t a true geek, or so he thought, as he wasn’t a Trekkie or a D&D’er. Those were the real geeks. He played sports with the guys, though not well, but he could hit a baseball pretty far. But his geekiness was measured by others at Holy Mother by his 102 grade average and the honor society, and by the room full of computers that he had in his second floor wing. He was the kid who blew the Bell curve, the kid who other kids always had to hear about, and he was sick of it. He just wanted to be one of the guys.

Charlie Ferris had always treated him as one of the guys. He supposed it had to do with the fact that Burke had taken pity on Charlie when his dad had popped his mom and himself, and taken him in. Charlie had become his adopted brother, but he never treated him like a brother. Charlie had gotten him his first date, and had taught him how to drive, and how to hit a hanging curve. In exchange, Gary had helped Charlie master English and kept him on the hockey team and out of detention more then a couple of times. They’d grown up together, and Gary supposed he’d miss that when they went their separate ways in the fall. Gary’d gotten early acceptance to Cal Tech, and he figured that Charlie was bound for the NHL. At least he’d still probably see Jack.

Then there was Audra. Gary had been working his senior American Government service project when he met Audra Pendleton. Audra was a purple-maned dynamo whose mother ran for a Connecticut state House of Representatives seat, and Gary had gone to work for her campaign. They had been sent out together to knock on doors and get out the vote, and by the time they got back to the headquarters, Gary was in love. In Audra, he’d found a kindred geek spirit. They played chess, argued about the merits of giant rubber-suited monster movies, and went to concerts in New Haven and Norwalk together. And best of all, her parents loved him. He suspected that the fact that he was as straight a kid as there was probably had a lot to do with it. The less they knew about what else me and Audra do together, the better, he thought.

He walked out onto the front porch and looked up. It was extremely dark out in the far reaches of the Bethany woods, and the sky was alive with stars. The weathermen were calling for snow tomorrow, maybe a couple of inches. Geoff Fox, the Channel 8 weather guy had been particularly sure that it was going to snow, but Gary didn’t trust his calls anymore, particularly since he’d called for an inch of snow a week before. Everyone had gone to school, and then had to hastily be dismissed as the forecast changed from an inch to a foot.

Doug stepped out through the door and stood beside him. “What’s up, Professor?”

“Nothing, man. I was just looking at the stars, and trying to gauge the weather.” Gary shivered. “I hope it doesn’t snow too much tomorrow.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Gary. Everyone is coming to your party. It’s gonna be something else.”

“I hope you’re right, man. I hope you’re right.”

“I know I am. Hey, can I use your phone? I gotta call Kim and see if I’m in the doghouse again.”

“Yeah, man. You know where it is.” Gary watched Doug walk off towards the great room and shook his head, then headed back inside himself.

Kim Masters was staring at a blank piece of paper when the phone in her room rang. She had a paper to write over the break, and she was trying to get started on it, but she couldn’t think of a thing to put down. She was thankful for the interruption and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.” Doug’s voice, rough and a little thick, on the other end.

“Hey, what’s up? Where are you?” She looked at the clock. It was a little before 7, and she figured he’d be home.

“Up at Gary’s. Me and Bill had to come and set up for tomorrow night. We won’t have time to do it tomorrow.” He paused for a second and then continued. “You still mad at me?”

“I should be asking you that question.” Kim and Doug had been sitting in McDonald’s eating dinner a few nights before when a fire truck drove by outside. Without thinking, Kim had asked if that was the truck Doug’s dad had been on. That set Doug off, and the rest of the night had been uncomfortable silences punctuated by shreds of conversation.

Doug’s father had been a New Haven city firefighter, and had passed away a little over a year ago. There had been a terrible fire on Legion Avenue, in the Hill section of New Haven. It was a 5-alarm blaze at an abandoned factory, and Engine 5, Randy’s company, had been second responders on the scene. Upon arrival, his team hooked into a hydrant, and started laying down a suppressing flow on the roof, which was fully involved. Randy, a lieutenant, had gone into the building with another firefighter to run another line. Inside, they’d gotten pinned in by a backdraft, and Randy hadn’t been able to escape when the second floor collapsed around him. The kid he went in with was able to knock back the flames, but by the time they got to Randy, he was gone.

“Hey, I’m fine. Don’t you worry about me.” She could hear an edge of emotion in his voice that betrayed the lie in his words. “You are coming to the game, tomorrow, right?”

“Of course. Why would I miss it?”

“Well, I figured you might be annoyed at me and not want to see us win the championship again.”

She laughed. “Oh, come on. How long have we been together? Have I missed any of your games yet? Or your shows?”

“That’s true. I’m just missing you a little, that’s all. Tomorrow things will be better. I promise.” He coughed. “I gotta go. Bill’s yelling for me.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“Hey, I love you too, kid. No matter what. Don’t worry about me, everything’s cool. You know how things are for me right now.”

“I do, really. I know how tough it is for you. Now go play with your little friends and don’t stay out all night.” She hung up the phone.

The last year had been tough on both of them. Doug wasn’t a particularly good student, and he’d been spending more time with his band then with his studies. He had some idea of getting a record deal and moving up in the music world, but that was a few years off, at least. Kim, on the other hand, was an excellent student and was waiting to hear from a few schools on her admission applications. She was hoping for Penn State, but had already been accepted at Emerson in Boston and Salve Regina in Newport. Doug had half-heartedly applied to Salve and a few other schools, but with a 1010 on his SAT’s and a B-minus average at Holy Mother, she wasn’t expecting him to get in anywhere. That had put a strain on their relationship. Then Doug’s dad had been killed, and Doug started to drink a little, and party a little more. She didn’t mind the partying, really, but sometimes he liked to get a little too loose for her tastes. Hanging with Bill Ryan didn’t help that either.

Doug had started Cerebus with Bill when they were still eighth graders, and they had slowly and steadily gotten better in the four years they’d been jamming together. But unlike Doug, Bill was a party-hard-all-the-timer who was always trying to get him to do ridiculous things. They’d nearly gotten suspended during sophomore year for posting flyers all over Westville announcing a big party at Gary’s house when his parents were away. Of course, they hadn’t told Gary that they were doing it, then laughed and laughed when everyone in the class showed up on Gary’s doorstep. She was pretty sure that Bill was also, at the minimum, a major pothead, and possibly into the harder stuff, though she wasn’t sure. As far as she knew, the most Doug was doing was drinking, and while not great, that was okay by her, compared to what Bill was up to. But since he and Bill were band mates, Kim tolerated him. Barely.

Kat stuck her head through the door. “Was that him?”

“Yes. He and Bill are up at Gary and Charlie’s getting set up for the party.”

“Did he say anything about Charlie?”

“I didn’t ask. He is YOUR boyfriend, after all.” Kim looked at the piece of paper sitting on the table. It was still blank, and wasn’t gettting any less blank while she sat here jawing with Cheerleader Barbie. “I have to get back to this, okay?”

“Fine. Sheesh. You’re no fun.” Kat flounced off and Kim turned back to the desk. But she just sat there, staring off into space and wondering if everything was really all right with Doug.

2.

2004-11-08T21:43:00.000-05:00

2.
Charlie sat on the stage uncomfortably. He hated these things with a passion, but he endured them because of two reasons. First, it got him out of class early. And second, Brother Benjamin Leary, S.J.C. was a rabid, rabid hockey fan. As a result, the hockey team had enjoyed a sort of renaissance in recent years, and was now considered on the same level as the football team. It helped that the Holy Mother Tigers hockey was on the verge of winning their third Connecticut state hockey title in as many years. The football team, on the other hand, had only managed a 6-4 record and hadn’t made the state playoffs. Therefore, Brother Ben had decided that a pep rally was in order for the Tigers. Fortunately, today was also a half day, so the pep rally wouldn’t be too long.

After sitting through a few interminable Pep Club sketches, he watched as the Holy Mother cheerleaders ran through their paces. They were mostly girls from St. Brigid’s in Hamden, though a few had squeaked through from Lauralton Hall. Charlie’s girlfriend was on the squad, though to him, that made it worse. Kat Masters loved being with Charlie, but he’d begun to suspect that she was more in love with the attention that came with being with the second most popular guy at Holy Mother then with him. Love, he thought, what the hell am I even thinking about that for? He was only seventeen, after all. But he’d begun to think more about that lately, and less about just getting his rocks off. He couldn’t see himself with Kat in ten years, after all. The way things had been going lately, he couldn’t see himself being with her for another ten days. Now, Doug, on the other hand, had picked the right Masters twin. He’d...

Doug nudged him, interrupting his reverie. “Hey, dumbass. Wake up. Leary just introduced you.”

Charlie grimaced. “Just woolgathering. Sorry.” He got up and walked over to the podium. “Sorry, Brother Ben. I was just, uh, working up some plays.”

“No problem, Charlie. Charlie Ferris, everyone!” The crowd of assembled students cheered. Charlie figured most of them were more happy for the break from classes also, but he smiled anyway.

“Hi, guys. Glad you all decided to come to this mandatory pep rally.” A few laughs, but not a killer. “Er, well, anyway. I just wanted to say thanks to Brother Ben for all his support of the team this year, and especially for that great banner over the gym door.” Applause, and a brief ‘Brother Ben’ chant. Charlie continued. “Listen, I know you guys are all itching to get out of here for vacation, me included. But I just wanted to let you all know that we’re gonna win this thing for you tomorrow.” He waited out a ‘Golden Boys’ chant. “You know us, that’s for sure. But for the freshmen and the alumni, here’s one last look. Bill Ryan, come on up!” Bill rolled his eyes, but got up anyway. “Jack, get up here. Jack Shanahan!” Jack, who had been feigning hiding behind Jake Chambers, joined them at the podium. “ And you all know my right-hand man here.” Doug came up to the mike and put his arm around Charlie’s shoulder. “Me and the meatball here, we’re gonna bring that trophy home again this year. Then it’s up to you, Chambers.” Jake Chambers looked around, and then shrugged. “Hey, we know you can do it, Joker. But we’ll be looking in on you.”

Doug took the microphone. “All kidding aside. We couldn’t have gotten where we are today if it weren’t for the support of all you guys, especially the seniors. Holy Mother isn’t a bunch of punk chumps. We’re the best in the state for a reason.” He looked out at the crowd of kids, teachers, and alumni gathered in the doorways at the other side of the gym. “Let’s pray.” The entire audience recited the “Our Father” and then Bill took the microphone and stepped out from behind the podium. Even in a blazer and tie, he cut an imposing figure, towering over the assembly from the stage.

Bill’s voice boomed through the gym. “Are we going to win this game?”

The crowd roared back. “Yeah!”

“I can’t hear you, I said, ARE WE GOING TO WIN THIS GAME?!?”

“YEAH!”

“Our Lady of Victory!”

“PRAY FOR US!”

Doug smiled as the audience cheered and began chanting “Golden Boys” again. There was the sound he craved. Unlike Charlie, he loved the pep rallies, the whole spectacle of it all. He’d managed to convince Brother Ben to let Cerebus play at one of the football pep rallies, which had been the largest group they’d played to, and it was phenomenal. Brother Ben slapped him on the back, then shook the others’ hands.

“You boys sure know how to get a crowd going,” he said. “Make sure you bring home that trophy.”

Kat sat on the front steps of the Holy Mother gym, waiting for Charlie to emerge. She was craving a cigarette, but there was no way that she was going to light up here. Not if she intended to remain a Holy Mother cheerleader and off of Sister Helen’s shit list. So she sat on the steps, drumming her perfectly groomed nails on her knees and chewing vigorously on a piece of strawberry Bubblicious. Come on, Charlie, she thought ruefully, I’m dying out here. But she knew that she had to wait out the process that was Charlie getting geared up for a game. He had to load his bag, get his jersey, light some candles, ogle the freshmen homoerotically. Well, maybe not that, but she’d gotten used to sitting around.

If you came upon Kat Masters sitting on the steps, you’d guess she was a cheerleader even if she weren’t wearing the Holy Mother uniform. She was a tall girl, with piercing blue eyes and long blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. She had perfect skin and long, perfectly manicured fingernails, and she was well-toned from a life spent shuttling between practices and cheerleading meets. In short, she looked like exactly the sort of girl you’d expect to see on the arm of someone like Charlie Ferris.

She and Charlie had been together for nearly two years now, but sometimes she didn’t really feel like she knew him. They were always together, and yet she felt like a piece was missing from the relationship. Gary hadn’t been any help. She got the feeling that he didn’t like her, and the feeling was mutual. Gary was just a geeky rich kid who Charlie was obligated to hang around with. And then there was the French girl. She was sure that Colette was after Charlie, and she worried that she had some competition there.

“Ready to go?” Charlie stood in front of her, a hockey bag in hand.

“It’s about time,” she snapped, “I didn’t think you were ever coming out.” She held out her hand, and Charlie pulled her up into an embrace. He kissed her lightly on the cheek.

“I love you too,” he said. They walked across the track to where Charlie’s car, a beat-up 1982 Dodge Colt, was parked. He tossed the bag into the back seat, then walked around and opened Kat’s door for her. He waited until she was in, then closed the door and got in on his side. They drove in silence for a few minutes.

“So, who’s going to be at this party tomorrow night?” Kim lit a Marlboro Light and rolled the window down. Charlie coughed, and then opened his window.

“Probably the entire class, if I know Doug. Officially, it’s the usual suspects, but with Cerebus playing, God only knows.”

“That’s cool, I guess. I assume the Purple-Haired Wonder is co-ordinating things?”

“Yes, Audra is running the show.” Charlie turned the car toward Westville. “How about Kim? Is she coming?”

“You said Doug’s playing, didn’t you? You think she’d miss a Cerebus show?”

“Good point.” They rode in silence again for a couple of minutes. Kat finished her cigarette and tossed it out the window. She didn’t like the silence, but she couldn’t think of a way to break them, and Charlie seemed to be in one of his moods. It’s probably the game, she thought as they headed toward her house. Charlie honked the horn and waved at Doug’s uncle John as they passed Doug’s house. He pulled the Colt into the driveway and got out without turning off the motor. He opened Kat’s door and helped her out.

“So I guess I’m on my own tonight?”

“It’s game night, “ he said as he pulled her bag from the back seat, “and you know how it is.” She rolled her eyes, then kissed him lightly, almost half-heartedly. If he noticed, it didn’t register on his face as he let her go.

“Call me, okay.”

“I’ll try. I’m going over to the rink, and then I’ll probably try to sack out early.” He walked her up to her front door, then walked back down the drive and got back into the Colt. She stood in the gray late afternoon chill and watched him drive off. As it began to snow lightly, she turned and walked into her house.

Bill turned the Olds into the long driveway of Gary’s house slowly, so as not to lose the trailer carrying their equipment. He and Doug had spent most of the afternoon loading the gear, and now would not be the time to have it careen off into the Bethany Woods. Behind him, Doug followed in his beat-up ‘78 Dodge Aspen. They were coming to set up Cerebus’ equipment for the show that they’d be doing during Gary’s party after the game. Bill had been looking forward to this weekend since Gary had suggested the idea back in January.

Gary had known in advance that the Connecticut state title game and his parents’ impending vacation would intersect, and he also knew that his parents wouldn’t care what happened in the house while he was gone. So he put a bug in Doug’s ear about the party, and soon most of the senior class were bugging their parents for permission to attend the party. Gary’s parents assured the few parents who’d had concerns that nothing untoward would go on at the party. Bill had just laughed at that when Doug had related the story to him.

“Yeah, nothing but drinking, rocking, and fucking,” he’d said to Doug. Bill’s parents hadn’t been one of the people calling. Of course, that’s because he hadn’t told them he was going anywhere after the game, other than to a paying Cerebus gig. Technically, he hadn’t lied, because Gary was paying them to play. And besides, his parents probably wouldn’t even notice if he were out all night anyway. They didn’t particularly notice him at all unless he was in trouble for something, or if he did something good in a game. Then his dad, who most times would just as soon kick him out of the house as look at him, would slap him on the back and ask if there had been a scout at the game.

Bill had to laugh at that idea. The only scouts that were coming to Holy Mother hockey games were coming to see the real Golden Boy, and that was Charlie Ferris. He didn’t really like Charlie all that much, but he had to admit that Charlie was probably the best all-around player that Bill had ever played with. He didn’t even know why he hated Charlie that much, and sometimes he wondered if he was just being jealous. After all, he did have the captaincy, and he was banging the head cheerleader.

Now Kat, there was the issue, he thought as he pulled up in front of Gary’s house. He had lusted after Kat Masters since Doug had introduced her to him in 7th grade. In those days, Charlie was just a big hockey geek whom no one really knew and who barely spoke English. Kat had been pleasant to Bill, but she seemed to tolerate him more then anything else, because he was friends with Doug, and Kat’s sister Kim was attached to Doug’s hip. So they’d dated a few times(if you can consider being driven to the movies by your parents a date), but nothing ever really came of it. Then Charlie had hit puberty with a vengeance, and Kat flipped over him like nobody’s business. Bill had become an afterthought. He’d thrown himself into hockey, figuring he’d find a way to show up Charlie, but had ended up becoming his main line of defense.

As a result, when Doug had suggested that they form a band, he’d jumped at the chance. Girls liked musicians, right? Especially guys in rock bands, right? Playing bass in Doug’s band, he’d found a new level of confidence, and he’d left the memory of Kat in the dust. Or so he liked to think. But the truth was a bit harder to take, especially after his own puberty issues had leapt to the fore.

Fuck all that, he thought as he got out of the Olds and lit a Camel, I’ve got work to do.

1989- Part 1 - Before The Storm - (Chapter 1)

2004-11-04T22:34:00.000-05:00

1.

Up until the second week of February, the winter of 1989 had been the warmest on record in Connecticut in nearly a century. As late as the week before Christmas, temperatures had been hovering in the upper 50's, and only a sudden cold front in the last week of January had brought on any snow. So it was with some surprise that Jack Shanahan found it flurrying when he stepped out his front door to take his morning run. He was wearing shorts despite the 34-degree weather, and a hooded Holy Mother Hockey sweatshirt, and he pulled the hood up over his head as he stood on the front porch of his house. It was about five A.M., and still pretty dark. He strapped on his Walkman and began to jog down the path to the street, Miles Davis jamming in his ears.
Jack normally began his morning with a light tai chi regimen and a few minutes of calisthenic stretching. Unlike Charlie, he didn’t feel he needed to be on the rink every single day. Instead he spent time meditating and keeping his legs limber. But seeing as tomorrow was the final day he would ever put on a set of goaltenders pads and skates (or so it seemed to him), he’d decided to go out and make sure he was ready to play. His run took him through the darkened streets of Westville, past the Catholic grade school where he’d first encountered Bill, and on towards the ice rink where Charlie and Doug would be getting in their final skate before the game tomorrow. He assumed that Gary would probably be there, running them through their paces like some kind of insane drill sergeant. That worked fine for them, but Jack wasn’t like that.

He jogged down the hill, through Westville Village and into Edgewood Park at West Rock. Gary’s father had bankrolled the revitalization of the Edgewood rink, and in exchange, Gary had the run of the place whenever he wanted. He could see the lights of the outdoor rink as he closed on the fence. Gary’s voice came over the breeze to him.

“Again!”

Jack imagined Charlie and Doug sprinting up ice, swinging around the goal, and skating back to the blue line. He was glad that he was a goalie, and not a regular player, because he wasn’t much of a skater. He brought a certain zen-like calmness to his game, but don’t ask him to skate too far up the ice at one time. That was for the big guys to do, like Bill Ryan. He tried to imagine the gargantuan Ryan diving to stop a shot, and chuckled under his breath. Taking kendo had sharpened his reflexes enough that he had a .940 goals against average and was taking a 40-game win streak into the championship game. But there’d be no windsprints for him.

Gary Ablett was standing on the ice, whistle in hand. He was tired from being up half the night working on plays for the game, and because Charlie had insisted on watching a videotape of Prep whipping Hamden in the semi-finals. He was glad that vacation started at the end of the day today, because after this weekend, he was going to need some rest. He watched Charlie and Doug roughhousing as they skated back to the line, and shook his head.

“You guys done playing with each other? Or should I let you have the ice to yourselves for a while?”

Charlie rolled his eyes. “Dude, don’t be so uptight. We’ve got this game by the balls, man. It’s a cakewalk.” He looked over to the fence. “Hey, Yojimbo, what’s happening?”

Gary looked over to see Jack coming through the gate at the end of the rink. Ever the diplomat, Charlie had dubbed Jack “Yojimbo” because of his apparent mania for all things Japanese. Gary often wondered why Jack even played hockey. Jack walked across the ice to them.
“Morning, boys. What’s going on?” Jack looked around. “Where’s Ryan?”

Gary chuckled. “Come on. I can’t get Bill out of bed for real practices, you think I’m gonna get him down here for extracurriculars?” Bill Ryan was a defenseman on the team, and his chief role was to intimidate opponents who might be thinking of hitting Charlie. Gary looked at his watch, then back at Jack. “It’s getting close to time anyway. Why don’t you two take a quick lap, and then we’ll get out of here. We do have school today, after all.”

“No problem, “ said Charlie, “see ya later, Yojimbo.” He took off down the ice, surprising Doug, who was half-dozing on his feet. Doug took off after him, and the two yelled good-natured insults at each other as they skated around the ice. Gary and Jack walked off towards the lobby of the rink together. When they got to the door, Gary turned to Jack.

“Are you ready for the game tomorrow?”

Jack scratched his chin. “As much as I’m going to be. You know how I approach these things.”

Gary nodded. “I know. Hey, you are coming to the house tomorrow after the game, aren’t you?” Gary was having a big party since his parents were going to be away.

“Probably. It depends on the weather.” Jack drove a rolling pile of junk, a 1978 Dodge Aspen that was slowly rotting away. He’d been having good luck with it with the warm winter, but he wasn’t looking forward to driving it out to Bethany, particularly if it snowed.

“Don’t worry about that. Just come back to the house with us after the game. You know I’ve always got room in the Jeep.”

“We’ll see, man. It depends on how the game goes.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Gary mused, “I don’t think Charlie intends to lose.”
Gary slapped Jack on the back, and then Jack jogged off. Gary watched him go, and then shook his head. Jack was an odd bird, that’s for sure. In the four years that they’d gone to Holy Mother together, Jack was the only guy on the hockey team that had never made the trip out to Gary’s house for the occasional team parties that Gary held. Not that he was insulted, mind you. A guy had every right to his privacy. But Jack was just, well, odd.

Charlie watched Gary and Jack walk off the ice as he lapped the back end of the rink and started skating back. Unlike the others, he took his early morning regimen very seriously. If Gary hadn’t been here, he’d probably have just skated laps and solo drills for an hour, then gone home and showered before school. Doug was good to have around for the practices most times, but today he just wanted to fuck around, and Charlie wasn’t having it. So he’d dusted Doug on the first couple of drills, trying to get him into it, but it hadn’t worked. He turned and skated backwards while taunting Doug.

“Come on, you puss, let’s go. Maybe I’ll have Coach replace you on the roster tomorrow with Chambers.”

Doug flipped him the bird, then dashed past him. “The day you replace me with some wet-behind-the-ears freshman is the day I let you hit it with my sister.” He skated towards the rink door, Charlie cursing up a storm behind him. Unlike Charlie, he had no ambitions towards anything greater then finishing out his career at Holy Mother with a letter in hockey and maybe a third state championship. He grabbed the wall, then nimbly sidestepped as Charlie skated up to hit him at the boards.

“Save that shit for tomorrow,” Gary yelled, “you’re going to need it.”

Charlie laughed, and then he and Doug walked off the ice and into the lobby of the rink. They changed out of their skates and then walked out towards the parking lot. Gary was already sitting in the Jeep, listening to NPR’s “Morning Edition”.

“You need a ride, Doug?”

“No thanks, Gary. I’ll just hoof it up the hill from here. No problem. See you guys in school.” Doug walked off and Charlie got into the passenger seat of the Cherokee. They drove off. Bob Edwards read the news in his quiet NPR tones, and Charlie dozed as they headed back to Bethany. He snapped awake when Gary nudged him.

“What, what? Jesus, man, don’t do that.”

“I asked you if you thought Doug was okay.” Gary turned off Route 63 and started down an unmarked country road. “He didn’t seem like he was that interested in practicing.”

“He’s fine. He and Kim were having issues, and he’s got his mind on that. Plus it’s that time of the year again.”

“Shit, I’d forgotten.” Gary turned the Cherokee into a long paved driveway that lead up to a huge manor house that sat on a hill overlooking most of Bethany. His parents weren’t home, so he parked the Cherokee right in front of the front door and shut the motor off. “I hope he doesn’t think I was giving him too much shit.”

“It’s fine. You know how he gets. He’ll probably write three songs about it before we get to the Mother today.” They went into the house together. “Look, I’m gonna take a quick shower in here okay. I don’t wanna walk all the way out to the Fortress.”

“No problem. Just watch out for Colette.” Colette was the French exchange student living with Gary’s family for the school year. Gary’s parents were away on vacation, and Gary had the run of the place(though he usually had the run of the place anyway.) Charlie went up the stairs to the second floor and headed towards the guest wing. He passed Colette’s room, noticing that her light wasn’t on yet, and walked down to the far guest room, which had a half bath with a stall shower. He stripped off his jersey and stepped into the stinging hot water.

Charlie Ferris was the most well known high school hockey player in the Northeast. His Holy Mother hockey team had won the state title two years in a row, and they were rolling their way towards another championship, which they would hopefully secure tomorrow. But he wasn’t a very complete person, he thought as he lathered up. French Canadian by birth, he’d moved to Connecticut with his mother when he was 10. They had left Quebec City to escape his father, an abusive “Hockey Dad” whose only interest was making sure his son was the greatest NHL player of all time. That his son just wanted to be a kid hadn’t occured to Jacques Ferris, and when Marie Ferris had bolted for the States with his meal ticket in tow, something snapped in Jacques’ head.

Charlie had been sitting in class at St. Andrew’s, half-listening to his teacher drone on about the Louisiana Purchase when they’d called him to the office. The principal was very grave, and tried to explain to Charlie that something terrible had happened to his mother, and his father was responsible. As it turned out, the old man had driven down from Quebec City, found his mom at her day job, and shot her with a .38, then turned the gun on himself. Thus, Charlie found himself an orphan.

He had been destined to return to Q.C., to people who he didn’t even know, when Gary’s parents stepped in. The Abletts were, well, damn rich, and Charlie and Gary were like brothers anyway. So the relatives in Q.C. were perfectly happy to let the Abletts adopt Gary(particularly after Burke Ablett sent a nice check their way), and Charlie moved out to Bethany. Ironically, after the old man did what he did, Charlie had become exactly what Jacques had wanted. Scouts had been at every game Holy Mother had played this year, and he expected more of the same tomorrow. And unlike Doug, Charlie was supremely motivated to win.

He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping the towel around his waist as he did. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was just a shade under 18, but he already had a certain chiseled look about him. He worked out a bit, but he attributed most of it to good French Canadian genetic stock. He brushed aside a few stray hairs. “I am a winner,” he said to his reflection, “I’m a complete man.”

“No arguments there.” The voice from the doorway startled Charlie. Colette D’Amberville stood in the doorway in a pink bathrobe and slippers. “Are you finished yet, or should I come back after the intermission?”

“No, I’m done. It’s all yours, cherie.” Charlie liked having Colette around the house, because it gave him an opportunity to use the French that he’d spoken as a child until moving to the States. He was attracted to her, but he didn’t dare act on it because he was in a relationship with another girl, and besides, he didn’t want to get into it with her since she’d be going back across the water in a few months. “I’ll see you downstairs,” he said as he walked by her towards the common room he shared with Gary. As he walked away, he could feel her eyes on his back, but he didn’t turn around.

Doug watched the Cherokee drive off. He turned to trudge on homeward. He kind of wished that he’d said yes to Gary, but he needed the time to himself. He also wished he’d stayed in bed, but there was something about the early morning air that made him feel more alive then he’d been lately. Things had been going fairly well with Kim until she’d made the mistake of asking him about Dad. That had set him into a funk, as he never felt very happy at this time of year.

Unlike Charlie, Doug had only lost one parent, but it weighed on him a lot heavier. Doug O’Donnell Sr. loomed large in the life of his only son, and the fact that he was gone had driven Doug into a shell that he’d had a hard time getting out of. The only times he felt truly alive these days were out on the ice, laying into some poor kid who didn’t know why the kid they called “The Unholy Mother” was picking on him, or when Doug was playing with his band. He turned the corner onto Yale Avenue, and started the trudge down the street to his house. He looked at his watch. Mom probably wouldn’t be up yet, which was good. The last couple of days, she and Doug hadn’t been able to be in the same room together. That was because Doug was the spitting image of his father when his father had been his age, and his mom couldn’t deal with it.

As he passed the Masters house, he noticed that the light was off in Kim’s room, but he saw a shadow disappear from the window as he looked up. That was just as well, he thought. They were going through a rough patch right now, and the last thing he wanted to do was get her going again. He loved Kim, but he didn’t really know what to do about it. He was still a kid after all, and he was starting to get a lot of attention from girls after the shows that his band, Cerebus, would play. That was problematic, because he loved her, but he wanted the things that any hormone-addled 17-year old guy wants. He was looking forward to Gary’s party, not only because the band was playing, but because it was a chance to get out of the house for a couple of days.

He walked up the front steps of the house as the sun was just beginning to rise over the trees at the edge of the park. No one was moving, or so it seemed, as he took off his shoes and jacket and tiptoed through the living room. His uncle John, who’d been living with the family since Dad had passed on, was sleeping on the couch in the living room, and Doug paused to pull the blanket up over him. He walked down the stairs to his basement room and quietly got changed.
He picked up his backpack and went back up to the kitchen. As he poured himself a glass of orange juice, his mom came into the kitchen.

“What are you doing up and dressed so early?” His mother turned on the coffeemaker and pulled a mug out of the dish drainer.

“Five A.M. practice. Gary wanted me to prod Charlie, so I got out of bed early.” He stuffed a piece of bagel into his mouth.

“Like he needs you to do that,” Laura O’Donnell said as she sat down at the kitchen table, “That kid’s a dynamo.”

“Yeah, well, you know Charlie.” He regarded his mother. She worked two jobs to support Doug and his younger sister, and he felt guilty about it. He knew that he should be working himself, rather then playing hockey and music, but he couldn’t keep his mind on anything except those two things. He was an unexceptional student and probably wouldn’t be going to college unless someone gave him a scholarship.

“Yeah, I know Charlie.” Laura got up and poured herself a cup of coffee. “You’re going to be gone all weekend, I take it?”

“Um, probably. Gary’s parents are out of town, and this is probably the final time we’ll really be together, you know?” Doug expected his mom to say that he couldn’t go, but she just shrugged her shoulders.

“I guess I understand. I was 17 once too, you know. Just don’t do anything stupid.”
Doug knew that “anything stupid” meant one of two things, the only two things that he’d ever get kicked out of the house for. Don’t get arrested, and don’t knock any girls up. The first was no problem, and unless things changed greatly in the next twenty-four hours, the second wouldn’t be an issue either.

“No problem, Mom. All is well.” He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll see you tonight when you get home.”

“I won’t be home until late, Doug. Carol Masters insists that I go out to some ridiculous 50's Sock Hop Singles Dance with her.” Laura tried to smile, but it didn’t quite work. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

“You’ll be fine, Mom. Don’t worry about it.” Doug picked up his backpack, and headed out to the front yard.

“Hey, man, what’s going on? You look cheery this morning.” Bill sat on the hood of his 1980 Olds Cutlass Supreme, smoking a cigarette. If someone told you that Bill Ryan was the best defenseman in Connecticut, you’d have to ask what they were smoking. He stood just a shade under six feet, ten inches tall, though four inches was hair. He was the tallest kid to ever play organized hockey in the state of Connecticut, and he used it to his advantage on the ice. The reputation that preceded him was one of a guy who’d tear your arms off as soon as look at you, mainly because he literally looked like a brick wall on skates. Of course, once you actually sat down and talked to him, he was quite a different story.

“You’d be cheery too if you’d been down in the park too, you lazy motherfucker.” Doug tossed his backpack into the back seat of the Brown Bomber and turned to Bill. “You ready for tomorrow?”

“Which part?” In addition to hockey, Bill played bass in Doug’s band. “I’m always ready to whip a little Preppie ass, and I’m as rehearsed as I’m gonna be on the set list. Just try not to toss me too many curves.” Bill sat down behind the wheel of the Olds, and they turned out of Doug’s driveway, headed for Holy Mother Academy. They rode in silence for a bit.

“Let me ask you something, Bill.”

“Hm?” Bill lit another cigarette as they waited for a light to change.

“Do you really think we have any chance of going anywhere?”

Bill snorted. “Dude. You’re kidding, right?” He blew a smoke ring and continued, “We’re just another local band who sprinkles an original song or two into a set consisting of the same dozen or so songs that everyone else plays. The only difference is that you’re a little more talented then most of the other kids out there.”

“I don’t know,” said Doug, “I just feel like I’m wasting my time somehow. I just want someone to listen to my music and go, ‘Hey, that’s really something’.”

“Man, that won’t happen if we continue playing Bon Jovi and Maiden covers.”

Doug nodded. “But I can’t book us if all we do is play King Crimson or Zappa-styled originals. No one wants to pay to hear that stuff these days. You do remember that $200 cash payment we made the last time we played over at the University Of No Hope, don’t you?”

“Here we go again with the commerce over art arguement. Look, I told you. We don’t have to noodle, we just need to get away from hair-bear metal. That’s all.” Bill tossed the cigarette out the window before turning into the driveway of Holy Mother. As they drove up, Doug noticed a banner hanging over the gym entrance door.

Good Luck Golden Boys
Kick Some Preppie Butt!

“Man, you know I hate that Golden Boy shit,” Bill said as he got out of the car. Doug had always assumed that that was because Bill tended to be considered an afterthought as far as the “Golden Boys” mantle was concerned. Any time Holy Mother made it onto the front page of the New Haven Register sports section, Charlie and Doug were usually front and center. The worst of it, though, the grand insult in Bill’s eyes, had come last year. The Register had named Charlie, Jack and Doug co-MVP’s in hockey for the year. And where was Bill? Second team. Never mind that, in Bill’s eyes, anyway, Charlie and Doug wouldn’t have had the kind of year they did if it weren’t for him.

“I know, Bill,” Doug said as he pulled on his backpack, “but it’s a big deal to the school, so deal with it.” They headed into the school.

4.

2004-11-03T15:10:00.000-05:00

4. Gary and Bill - 2004

It was a quiet morning at 24 Frames Video. A recording of Glenn Gould’s 1981 performance of the Goldberg Variations competed with the occasional thunk of a video or DVD being dropped through the outside slot. Gary Ablett sat behind the counter, absentmindedly chewing on a pencil as he studied the next month’s video order sheet. He was having difficulty concentrating because he couldn’t stop thinking about the guys. As he attempted to get his mind back on his work, he noticed that his clerk was staring at him.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just wondering if you wanted a side dish with that pencil.”

“Bite me.” Gary went back to his order, and Bill went back to surfing the ‘net on the computer terminal next to him. He and Gary were like the Mutt and Jeff team of 24 Frames. Bill was six-eight(though three inches of it were hair), and Gary barely passed five-seven on a good day. They had known each other since high school, and when Gary decided to cash in his dot-com options and bail on the corporate world, the first person he called to come work for him was Bill. Gary paid him well and gave him a flexible schedule so that he could pursue his musical career, such as it was.

“So, you coming to the show tonight?” Bill’s power trio was playing a show at The Space, a local venue run by friends of his.

“Which band is this, now?”

“Slow Deaf Child. The instrumental trio.” Bill had three bands going at the same time. In addition to playing bass in Slow Deaf Child, he sang in a 80's metal tribute band and also played keys and sang in a band that played weddings. Gary rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think so, man. Progressive noodling isn’t really my thing.” He stood up. “Besides, people are coming into town tonight, and David Shanahan’s elected me to be the guy to co-ordinate everything.”

“Who’s coming?” Bill hadn’t heard any of what was going on, other then that Jack’s mom had died.

“Well, Jack’s flying in from Tokyo, Charlie’s driving down from Portland, and, uh, Doug and Kevin are coming too.” Gary braced for the onslaught, but none came.

“The Golden Boys are back in town, huh? Well, ain’t that some shit.” Bill turned around to take the stuff out of the drop slot, and Gary left the counter to go back up to his office. As he did, the Bach was replaced by King Crimson, and Gary knew that Bill would be in a funk all day. Bill Ryan hated Doug Harris more then any other person on the planet except maybe for Kevin Maurer. It was all music related, of course. With Bill, everything was. Once in his office, Gary put another Bach CD on and closed the door.

A dot-com multi-millionaire at 22, Gary had opened 24 Frames five years before, annoyed that he couldn’t find the movies he wanted to at the local Schlockbuster. A year later, his little store had become the hip spot to be seen renting movies, as well as a refuge for local artists and musicians who wanted a flexible source of income and a place to network. The only rule he had in hiring employees was that they had to have at least a basic knowledge of cult films and a distaste for the Hollywood mainstream. He carried bootlegs(cleverly labeled as imports, and who was to know any better) and out-of-print movies that the chains wouldn’t touch, and enjoyed a healthy clientele as a result. He watched the market on the Bloomberg terminal in his office for a few minutes, then sat back in his chair.

It’s going to be an interesting couple of days, he thought as he cracked open a can of Coke. The Golden Boys, as Bill called them, hadn’t been together in the same room in over 15 years. It’ll be interesting to see how long we can stay in the same room now. He looked at the framed photo over the terminal and thought about old times.

3.

2004-11-01T23:33:00.000-05:00

3. Doug - 2004

He rolled over towards the left side of the bed and bumped something soft and warm. He rolled back the other way and opened his eyes. The clock on the bedside table read 5:15 A.M. The lump on the left side of the bead shifted slightly, said something unintelligible, and then rolled towards him. He looked at her face in the half-light of the room. She looked even younger in this light. What am I doing in bed with this girl? He thought about it for a minute, and then decided he would get up. As Doug swung his legs onto the floor of the hotel room, his right knee greeted him with an unpleasant twinge.

He ignored the cane despite the throb in his leg, and walked into the bathroom. He did his morning duty, then walked back out through the room, grabbing his smokes and cell as he went. He suddenly thought he should grab the cane. He turned back to the bed, where he regarded the sleeping form for a moment. Grabbing the cane from the bedside, he brushed aside the curtain and stepped out into the cool morning air. The balcony had a chair and a small table, and Doug sat down and lit a cigarette. As he looked out towards the first light of morning, he was reminded of a favorite song lyric.

“It is five A.M. and the sun has charred the other side of the world and come back to us,” he said to no one as he did some deep knee bends in order to try and work out the kinks in his leg, “and painted the smoke above our heads an imperial violet.” After 15 minutes his knee felt better, and he sat back down in the chair and lit another Camel. The Doug Harris and The Aardvarks 2004 summer tour had grinded to a finish last night, and Doug was tired. What had started out as a 10-date spring club tour had become a full 60-date summer tour after the accidental success of the Aardvarks’ most recent CD, but Doug hadn’t been ready for the rigors of a full tour. Not since Cleveland, anyway.

His cell phone rang, startling him awake. He looked at his watch, and realized that he’d been dozing in the chair for close to two hours.

“Your dime.”

“Doug? Hey, it’s Gary.” Gary Ablett was an old high school classmate, and Doug’s lifeline to his former life.

“Dude, what’s up? How’s things in the 203? Darrell still getting hitched?”

“Yeah, I’m not calling about that, though.”

Doug lit another smoke. “What’s up? Bill talking shit about me again?”

“No, it’s not that either. Listen. Jack’s mom got killed in a car accident yesterday. Have you talked to him recently?”

Doug grimaced and lit up another cigarette. “No, man, not since last year. He doesn’t really talk to me anyway. Not like Charlie. You probably should call him.” He regarded the view. “Listen, I’m right across the Sound anyway. I.’ll be in New Haven by the end of the day anyway. I was coming home for the wedding. Let me know if you need to get a hold of Jack, and I’ll see what I can do.” He hung up the cell phone and sat back in the chair again. He looked at his watch, and figured he would call Jack. No one picked up, and he listened to a message in Japanese which he assumed to be the equivalent of “Leave a message and I’ll call you back.” He hung up and then stood up.

The knee bends appeared to have been undone by dozing off in the chair, so he picked up his cane and walked back into the hotel room. The bed was empty, but the shower was running, so he sat down in the chair next to the bed and turned on SportsCenter. A few minutes later, the girl emerged from the bathroom with a towel on her head and nothing else. He looked away from the TV.

“Hi there,” she said, “I woke up and thought maybe you’d taken off on me.”

“Of course not,” he said, “I wouldn’t dream of leaving a girl in the lurch.” He frantically searched his scrambled brain for her name. Had he even learned it? “I’m a gentleman.”

“Truer words were never spoken. We came back up here last night and you immediately passed out on me.” She kneeled down next to him and took one of his hands and placed it on her breast. “Why don’t you turn off that TV and we’ll make up for lost time?”

Half an hour later, the girl slipped out of his hotel room and headed for the elevator. Doug watched her until she disappeared from sight, then headed back into the bathroom. As he turned on the shower, he looked at himself in the mirror. At 32, Douglas Harrison O’Donnell easily looked ten years older. The accident two years before had left a permanent scar on his face, a thin line running from his right eye almost to his ear. He had been cut open by the microphone stand which had preceded him to the turf at Jacob Field. Now it was a pink line on his face, noticeable to about ten feet away. He wore fake glasses made of window glass in order to cover up the scar in interviews, but soon he’d probably need real glasses.

He lifted his right leg onto the vanity and examined his knee. The doctors had said it probably would have healed perfectly if he hadn’t landed directly on it. Instead, he’d done a massive amount of damage to the ligaments in his knee as well as tearing up the muscles in his calf. Six months in a wheelchair and another three in therapy later, he could walk a decent distance without the cane, but he had to have a cortisone shot in the knee before show. Afterwards, it was two hours off his feet and a large ice pack on the knee. He stripped off his boxers and stepped into the shower. He directed the stream at his knee and sighed. Twenty minutes later, he turned off the water and stepped out.

He dressed and picked up the pack of Camels, but then thought better of it and tossed them into his backpack. He took a deep breath, and noticed the scent of her perfume in the air. He hadn’t intended to bring her back to his room. She was very pretty though, and very persistent. She’d also been the exception to the rule, as he’d been trying to stay away from the groupies on this tour. Being a pop star had both advantages and disadvantages, he mused as he cleaned up his junk in the room. He was, after all, able to travel first class, stay in excellent hotels, and take limos to exclusive restaurants. Of course, he also was recognized everywhere he went, rarely had a moment of peace, and generally spent six to eight months a year on the road. Most of his downtime on tour was spent rambling around hotels and green rooms in arenas.

Waaaah, his old high school band mate Bill would have said. You’ve still got more then most pop stars of your type should have. Bill would be right, of course. After ten years in the business, Doug Harris still meant something. You couldn’t say that about some of the bands who shared chart space over the years with him. As he tossed the last of his stuff into the backpack, there was a knock at his door.

“Hey, Phil says get your ass in gear. The bus is leaving.” Doug’s guitarist, Kevin Maurer, stood outside the door. Doug took one last look around, and then left the room. He and Kevin walked down the hall to the elevator.

“Did we have a good time last night, boss?” Kevin smiled. He and Bernadette, Doug’s backup singer, had watched as the groupie worked her magic on the half-drunk Doug.

“I passed out.” Doug leaned on the cane as they waited for the elevator. “And my knee’s killing me this morning.”

“That’s my boy.” They rode the elevator to the lobby. As they crossed the lobby, a few girls whispered and pointed, but no one actually came up to them as they headed out to the bus. Calling it a bus wasn’t really correct, as it was more of a giant RV. Standing out by the bus was a stocky gray-haired man with a bushy mustache.

“Glad you could join us, your eminence.” Phil Kaufman, Doug’s road manager took his suitcase and tossed it into the storage compartment. They boarded the bus, and left the parking lot, headed for New Haven.

Prologue: 1 and 2

2004-11-01T15:36:00.001-05:00

Prologue
1. Charlie - 2004

It was still dark when he left his place. The only rink time Charlie Ferris could get, even in August, was at 5:00 A.M. The best way he could get time for himself was to go to the local rink near his house and skate anonymously on one end of the ice while a peewee hockey team practiced on the other end. He realized that if he lived anywhere other then Portland, he’d probably be able to get time at a less ungodly hour, but it felt right, somehow. As a teenager, he’d practiced as early as 4:00 A.M., and it had made him more driven, more willing to push his body to the limit in order to win games.

He was a free agent, and a 33-year-old free agent, at that, and so he wanted to keep himself up. Normally, he would be getting himself ready to go into camp, but the Player’s Association and the owners had thrown a monkey wrench into that idea. But he wasn’t really willing to fly to Europe, as several of his teammates had done, and he wasn’t about to sign an AHL deal and go get his ass whipped by kids half his age.

Maybe it was time to pack it in. He woke up some mornings with arthritic pain in his shoulder and back from a career of banging boards and taking crushing hits for his paychecks, and there were days when he didn’t get out of bed at all. That had chased her away, he thought as he put his bag into the trunk of the 2001 Honda Accord that he’d bought with his last signing bonus. The Accord was about all he had left from the old days, as his ex-wife had taken his house and a good chunk of his salary when she went. Thankfully, he’d trusted Gary to hide away a lot of his money in real estate and investments, so that he wasn’t too bad off.

He drove down the road to the ice rink, the local AM news station droning away as he considered his options. He’d had a fairly full career, winning one Stanley Cup as a hired gun, and leading the league in goals one year and assists the next. He wasn’t a Hall of Fame lock, but he’d had enough of a successful career to ensure that he’d probably have a second career afterwards as a coach or announcer. Provided there was another season, of course. The looming lockout/strike/whatever had put a serious crimp in his plans for the year. So workouts and sitting on his investments, it was.

When he pulled up to the rink, he was the only person in the parking lot. He checked his watch to make sure that he wasn’t too early, then went up to the door. No one was anywhere to be seen, and just as he was about to get back in the Accord and drive away, he noticed an envelope sticking out of the door. As he pulled it out, he noticed it was addressed to him.

Charlie - Please do me a solid and open the rink.
I have to go out of town tonight, and won’t be
back until around eight or nine. Jeremy will be in by
six, but I didn’t want you to miss your ice time.

The note was signed “K”. Karl Harper was a retired minor league referee who ran the local peewee league as well as the rink. Karl and Charlie were casual drinking buddies, and Charlie usually had the run of the place in exchange for a couple of rounds at the Moosehead. Charlie shrugged and walked back to his car to get his bag. He went to the locker room, changed into his workout uniform but not his pads, and then went to the ice. He skated a few laps, then set up the targets as the peewee players began to hit the ice. He shot pucks for about 20 minutes, then skated over and chatted with the peewee coach for a bit. By that time, Jeremy, Karl’s son, had arrived to start opening the rink for real.

After a shower and a quick cup of coffee with Jeremy, Charlie left the rink and headed back to his apartment. He plopped on the couch, resigning himself to another day of nothing going on, when the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Charlie? Charlie Ferris?”

Charlie didn’t really recognize the voice on the other end. “Who’s asking?”

“Charlie, this is David Shanahan. I was calling because I was wondering if you might know how I could get in touch with Jack.”

Charlie rolled his eyes. Jack Shanahan was an old high school teammate of his who had bolted the country for Japan after college. David was his uncle, a high-powered attorney in the town where they’d grown up. He thought about just saying no and hanging up, but something about David’s tone of voice got the better of him. David sounded as though someone had died.

“I might have a number where you could try to get him, Mr. Shanahan. What’s going on?”

“Jack’s mother was killed in a car accident yesterday, Charlie. Any information you could give me would be very helpful.”

“Anne’s dead? Oh God. Yeah, I’ve got a number for Jack, Mr. Shanahan, let me find it.” He dug around his cluttered desk until he unearthed a beaten Filofax. He found the card with Jack’s Tokyo address and phone number and gave it to David. “I was actually already going to be in New Haven this week, you know. Darrell Masters is getting hitched the day after the funeral.”

“Yes, I know. I talked to Gary Ablett, who gave me your number as well as the number of that ridiculous musician friend of yours. Now I won’t have to call him, thank God. Gary said that you’d all be in town, but he didn’t have any idea about Jack.”

“Well, none of us have seen him since graduation. His heart was never really here anyway.”

“Indeed. Well, thank you anyway, Charlie. I hope your labor situation resolves itself soon.” Charlie hung up the phone and sat stunned for a minute. He’d always liked Jack’s mom. She seemed very down to earth, a lot like his mom had been. Without realizing it, he wiped a tear away from his eye.

2. Jack - 2004.

A solitary figure stepped off the express train and began trudging down the platform toward his home. It was about 5:00 A.M. Tokyo time, and Jack Shanahan was thankful that he didn’t have a class today, as he was bone tired. He’d made the mistake of agreeing to sit in with a friend’s combo in Shibuya, a good ride down the line from Kami-Itabashi, but he’d ended up playing until almost three A.M. Two hours later, he was trudging his way back to his studio apartment to pass out for about four hours.

He walked up to his small apartment building and climbed the stairs to his third floor studio. Unlike a lot of gaijin he knew, Jack was happy to live in a small, near-closet-sized apartment that he paid about 45,000 yen a month for. He opened the door to his apartment, picking up the small sheaf of mail on his entryway floor, and took his shoes off and placed them on the mat. He put on his slippers and walked through the kitchen into his living room. He paged through his mail quickly, pulling out the mail that belonged to Craig, the new ESL teacher who lived two buildings away. (He and Craig, the only two gaijin in the immediate neighborhood, tended to get each other’s mail.) Craig had only been in the neighborhood a month, so Jack figured he’d be seeing Craig’s mail for a while.

Jack had gotten used to strange occurrences like that in Japan. Being a gaijin, even when you didn’t think of yourself as one anymore, led to a number of strange things. People moving away from you on trains. Not being allowed into many bars(though he’d stopped being offended by that a long time ago.) And of course, most of the girls he met thought he was some kind of low level yakuza functionary. But he loved Japan anyway. He had ever since he was a kid. Part of him thought that it had as much to do with the Godzilla movies and Japanese animation that he’d been watching since he was little, but a part of him had always felt out of place in the States.

At ten, he badgered his mother to let him take kendo lessons. At twelve, he was learning to speak Japanese, and by the time he finished high school, he’d become fluent enough to make a nice semi-illegal living subtitling anime tapes imported from Japan for a friend of his. He went across country to San Diego State University upon the recommendation of a bootlegger friend. Upon graduation, he flew across the ocean. He spent the first two years teaching English as a Second Language courses to bored high school students, then found himself as a Coordinator for International Relations in the Japan English Teachers program. He sat behind a desk all day, spoke almost nothing but Japanese, and made a nice living for almost three years, before being recruited to his present job, teaching English courses at a university in Shibuya. He was fairly frugal with his yen, mostly buying food and manga, and taking the trains or riding his bicycle everywhere. He’d long stopped frequenting the expat bars and clubs where “short-timers” came to gripe about how little Japan was like the U.S. He found himself a nice Japanese girl who didn’t mind being seen with him, a jazz combo who needed a pianist, and had picked this little hole in the wall in which to hide himself. Life was good, he thought as he stripped off his shirt and lay down on his futon. He thought about calling Mie but he figured she’d just get mad at him for staying out so late. He was just about asleep when his phone rang.

“Mosh-moshi?” he asked sleepily.

“Uh, hello?” The voice on the end was American, East Coast accented. In his sleepy haze, Jack didn’t recognize the voice.

“Do you realize what time it is? This had better be good.”

“It’s 3:00 P.M. Eastern time, which makes it about 5:00 A.M. tomorrow morning. Is this Jack?”

Jack, now a little more awake, stared at the phone. “Uncle David?”

“Jack, you need to come home. Your mother has been killed.”

“WHAT?!?” Jack, now bolt upright, began shaking. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry to have to break this to you this way, Jack, but your mother was killed in a car accident yesterday. How soon can you be on a plane?”

Jack sat and listened to Uncle David in a daze. Five hours later, he and Mie were sitting in business class on a JAL flight headed for Los Angeles. There they would change planes and fly from L.A. to Bradley International in Hartford, where someone would be waiting to drive them to New Haven. New Haven, he thought as he sipped a cold Kirin and tried not to think about the hard couple of days ahead, I never thought I’d see New Haven again any time soon.

Inspiration, move me brightly...

2004-10-30T23:41:00.000-04:00

An invocation of the muse:

"Let my inspiration flow
in token lines suggesting rhythm
that will not forsake me
till my tale is told and done"
- R. Hunter

And a piece of advice:

"The key, Mr. Muggleton, is to remain calm at all times."
- Bro. William Farrell, S.J.C.

T-minus 24 hours and 19 minutes and counting...

Brief character sketches of the female leads.

2004-10-26T23:57:00.000-04:00

These are the four female leads. There will be two more female characters that drive some of the plot, but they're more involved in the 2004 portion, so they'll be listed with the supporting characters.

The Girls:
Kat Masters -
1989 - Charlie’s girlfriend. Shallow, manipulative, loves Charlie but loves being the girlfriend of the most popular guy in school more
2004 - Not sure of her role yet, she’s the wild card here.

Kim Masters -
1989 - Doug’s girlfriend - loving, supportive, in short, all the things that her twin sister is not.
2004 - Independent career woman who’s carrying a torch for Doug at the same time as never really forgiving him for disappearing.

Audra Pendleton -
1989 - Gary’s girlfriend, percieved by most as a beard for Gary. Purple-haired punkette artist.
2004 - Happily married to Gary, owns a gallery in New Haven.

Colette D’Amberville
1989 - French exchange student who is staying with the Abletts also. Bill is fascinated with her, but she secretly wants Charlie.
2004 - Also a wild card.

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Good luck to Dismal and ViolentPie from DV, who have suggested that they might join the hysteria also and try to take the NaNoWriMo challenge.

Working Title and the first group of VERY basic character sketches.

2004-10-23T23:32:00.000-04:00

I have decided on a working title, which is The Golden Boys. It refers to the four main hockey-playing characters and Gary, the fifth main male character.

I looked at a previous piece of work I did, and it came out to about 22,000 words(in 12-point single-spaced type, it was 45 pages.) I'm feeling more confident about being able to do this now.

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Main Characters in “Golden Boys”.

The Golden Boys:
Charlie Ferris -
1989 - Captain of the Holy Mother H.S. hockey team. French Canadian by birth, he has lived with Gary Ablett and his family since he was 12. A top hockey prospect, he has to decide whether or not to go pro or to college.
2004- Professional hockey player facing the prospect of not having a job any more due to the hockey strike and his advancing age. Returns to New Haven for the wedding of Darrell Masters.

Gary Ablett -
1989 - Geeky sidekick of Charlie who is the team’s manager. Parents are impossibly Walton family rich, but Gary is down to earth and uncomfortable with all the money. He is a big media buff and an early adopter of technology.
2004 - “Geek chic” owner of 24 Frames Video and a retired ex-dotcom multi-millionaire who also manages Charlie’s financial interests.

Doug “Harris” O’Donnell -
1989 - Right wing for the team, Charlie’s friendly rival in everything. Plays hockey to make his father happy, but really wants to be a rock star.
2004 - Bitter, just about has-been pop(not rock) star who is returning to New Haven for the wedding and also to play a “retirement” concert.

Jack Shanahan -
1989 - The semi-outcast of the group, goaltender for the team. He is fascinated with all things Japanese. Speaks fluent Japanese, self taught.
2004 - Living in Tokyo, teaching English as a Second Language courses and playing piano in a jazz combo. Comes home for the funeral of his mother.

Bill Ryan -
1989 - Defenseman. Doug’s best friend. Plays bass in his band, Cerebus. Easygoing, more interested in entertaining himself and his friends then in much else, yet smarter then everyone except Gary.
2004 - Still playing bass in his own band, playing local gigs. No longer on speaking terms with Doug due to a semi-imagined slight.

Bare bones of the plot.

2004-10-22T16:43:00.000-04:00

1989: After winning the Connecticut state high school hockey championship, five friends face up to their vastly different futures over the course of a tumultuous weekend house party.

2004: The five re-unite after 15 years for a wedding and a funeral, and deal with all that's gone under the bridge since.

Yes, it's derivitive. I see it as a cross between That Championship Season and The Big Chill, but updated to reflect the Generation X'ers. And people who've read my unpublished stuff will recognize certain elements of other unfinished stuff that will be reworked into here.

Next up at some point in the next few days will be character sketches and maybe a prologue which won't count for the word count, as I find myself itching to start.

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A quick shoutout goes to all my friends and family as well as the denizens of ITVR and DV, who have gone out of their way to support me in this insane endeavor and send me encouraging e-mails and message board posts, as well (in one case) as pimping me on their blog.

First post.

2004-10-21T21:34:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my new blog. This is an experiment to see if I can write a 50,000 word novel in a month. If you click on the NaNoWriMo link on the side there, you'll be taken to the site of this wacky group of people who want to help you write the Great American Train Wreck Of A Novel.

The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. Can I do it? Maybe. Probably not. But I'm going to make the effort, nonetheless.

A note about the comments pages. I have restricted the comments to members of Blogger only to keep the dissonance down. If you want to comment, send me an e-mail at the address in my profile, or else visit my regular blog here.

Between now and Monday, November 1, I will probably post some character sketches and maybe a bare bones outline of the story.