“Wait a minute wait a minute!” I waved my arms around in the air stumbling over my words. “That’s not….what about…..you guys said…..I…”
“What is he trying to say?” A.J. looked at Brian as he dragged the blonde wig onto his head.
“I dunno sounds like gibberish to me.” Brian replied slinging his backpack over his shoulder on the way to the door.
“Okay well if you don’t want me to tuck you in then I guess you’re on your own pal.” A.J. grabbed his backpack following Brian to the door.
“But….but…..but-“ I tried again.
“What is it Nick, you want some butter?” Brian laughed.
“You’re missing a button?” A.J. slapped Brian on the back pleased with their joke.
“But…..but..…but what about me?” I finally got out just as they reached the door. “I thought that I was going too?”
A.J. started laughing so hard he began to cough, Brian had to slap him on the back as he answered my question.
“Nick, buddy. We have a lot invested in this and we can’t afford to have you screw it up.”
“But who says I’m going to screw things up?”
“Who was the one who crashed the scooter into Lou’s car?” A.J. asked clearing his throat from his fit of laughter.
“Me.” I answered.
“And who was the one who dropped the water balloon on that old lady’s head when it was supposed to hit Kevin?” Brian chimed in.
“Me again.”
“And who was the one who locked Trent’s keys in the car after we stole it and took it for a joyride on the beach?”
“Okay, okay I get the point. But that was when I was much younger.”
“The water balloon thing was like four months ago.” A.J. snorted checking his watch. “Listen Rok we gotta get moving.” Then he raised his eyebrows at Brian, nodded towards me and raised his eyebrows again.
“Okay A.J. I get the hint. I’ll meet you on the corner in five minutes.” Both of them synchronized their watches like some super spies before A.J. ducked around the door closing it behind him.
“Bri-“
“Don’t start with me Nick.” Brian leaned against the wall opposite me, the single light overhead making him appear older then his nineteen years. “When the time is right I’ll let you in on the deal, but until then you need to shut your mouth and keep your eyes open. Do you understand?”
I nodded even thought I didn’t really understand what he was saying at all.
“So you’re not going to let me come along then?”
“Not tonight no.”
“Well what am I supposed to do while you’re gone?”
“I dunno Nick,” he smiled patting me on the shoulder as pushed away from the wall. “But I’m sure you’ll find something to do.”
And just like that he was gone.
Walking out the door without so much as a goodbye, leaving me standing in the doorway a puzzled look on my face.
* * *
I thought about going back to my room but I had a creepy feeling in my gut that I knew would keep me from getting any sleep. So walking back to Kevin’s room I knocked again on the door lightly and waited for someone to answer.
“Do you want to die?” Kevin asked pulling back the door a snarl on his face and what looked like two nasty hickeys on his neck.
“No.”
“Then quit knocking on my door and get your ass back to your room.”
“Okay I will but can I have my dog first?” He was gone for about thirty seconds before returning with my puppy in his arms.
“He snores.” Kevin said handing him over to me.
“Yeah well so do you.” I answered back just as he slammed the door in my face.
* * *
“Puppy, you need a name.” Sitting on a bench in the hotel lobby with my dog in my lap I was glad that there weren’t any fans around. Glancing around at the empty lobby as the clock in the corner chimed 1:00 a.m. I knew I was safe.
We noticed that most of them tended to drift away before midnight, the threats of their parents if they didn’t get home before their curfews weighing heavy on their brains.
One time we were hanging out with some fans backstage and A.J. was all tangled up with this girl on the couch in the corner. I tried not to listen as their lips smacked together in wet sloppy kisses, her giggles annoying the hell out of me just as I was about to beat Brian in a game of hangman. When suddenly out of the blue, I saw the girl zip by me in a full out run tugging her shirt over her head as she headed for the backstage doors. Turning Brian and I both looked at A.J. sprawled out on the sofa a puzzled look on his face as he shrugged and mumbled something about a “fucking curfew.”
“So what do you want your name to be?” The puppy was curled up his wet nose pressed into the palm of my hand as I stroked his back with my free hand. "I could call you Blondie but that sounds too girlie. What about Killer?” Pulling his face up I looked into his sleepy eyes and smiled. “Who are we kidding, you don’t look anymore like a Killer then I do?”
“Why don’t you call him Dirk?”
“Huh?” Looking up I smiled.
* * *
“So you’re staying in this hotel?” Eva made herself comfortable on the bench beside me promptly taking the puppy from me, cradling him in her arms like a baby when you fed them a bottle.
“Yeah. Hey what are you doing here? I didn’t think I would ever see you again?” Sitting back I kicked my legs out in front of me crossing one foot over the other.
“I knew we’d meet again. It is our destiny.”
“Huh?”
She laughed taking the baseball cap from my head and tossing it to the bench beside her.
“My hair.” I tried to grab for the hat but she pushed my hand away.
“I like to see your eyes.” She said matter of factly pushing my bangs from my face. “Whoa what happened to you?” She pointed to my swollen right eye.
“I got punched in the eye.”
“Yeah you did. That is going to be a nasty shiner in the morning.” Her fingers gently explored the area around my eye. “Did you put ice on it?”
I nodded enjoying the feeling of someone looking out for me.
“Well, you really should keep the ice on it if you want the swelling to go down. Hang on.” Standing up she walked across the lobby; my puppy still cradled in her arms as she stopped at the front desk.
A moment later she returned a bag of ice in hand that she tossed to me.
“Here you go slugger.” Sitting back down beside me her hip brushed mine as I pressed the ice to my eye.
“So tell me, does the other guy look worse then you?”
“Hmmmmm, well I poked him in the eye and kicked him in the head?”
“Yeah I guess that will do.” She nodded leaning back against the wall, my dog making himself comfortable on her narrow lap.
“So are you following me?” I asked leaning back beside her the ice feeling good on my throbbing eye. She laughed so loud the bellhop and two desk clerks glanced in our direction.
“Don’t flatter yourself!”
“Well it’s just that….well I mean c’mon.”
“C’mon what?” She turned to look at me her eyes sparkling.
“Well I mean am I supposed to believe that it is just pure coincidence that you happened to be in the diner this morning? And was it just pure coincidence that you followed me when I was chasing my friends? And that it is pure coincidence that you are sitting here now with me in the lobby of this hotel?”
“Do you even know what coincidence means?” She asked moving my hand with the bag of ice to inspect my eye.
“Yes I know what coincidence means?” Actually I wasn’t absolutely sure what it meant but I’d heard Kevin use it enough to know that I was on the right track.
Pulling the bag of ice from my hand she pressed it to my eye holding it tight over the spot where it throbbed the most.
“I hate to burst your bubble Nick but no, I’m not following you. And yes, all of the things you mentioned above are pure coincidence.”
“See, I told you I knew what coincidence meant.” I said with a grin.
Eva and I sat talking for awhile longer. I wanted to tell her I was a singer but for some reason I thought she would think I was lame so I decided not to mention it. Instead I told her that my Dad was a rocket scientist and I was in Germany with him on business designing rockets for NASA.
She just laughed and shook her head at me as she held the ice pack in place.
“You’re a dork.”
“Yeah, but a dork who designs rockets.” Rolling her big blue eyes she grabbed my hand and slapped the ice pack into my palm.
“So Mr. Rocket how long are you going to be at this hotel?”
“Um, I think for a few days.”
“Do you wanna do something tomorrow?” Looking at her watch she laughed. “Well today I guess.”
I shrugged glancing across the lobby as the big glass front doors to the hotel swung open.
“Well geez, don’t be so excited about it.” She said yawning, her eyes following in the direction I was looking.
“Hey aren’t those your weird friends?” Narrowing my eyes I nodded. Noticing that A.J. had one of Brian’s arms slung around his shoulder as he dragged him across the lobby in the direction of the elevators.
And from the way A.J. was glancing nervously over his shoulder, Brian hanging limp from his body, it was obvious that something had gone horribly wrong.