“Adrian,” Micky said, grabbing her as she flew by him, “slow down, you’re going to burn out.”
“I’m sorry, Micky, it’s just that you meeting my step-father is just not something I was expecting having to deal with any time soon,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I’m just not sure I’m ready for this,” Adriana finished, straightening Micky’s tie for him.
“It’s going to be just fine,” Micky said with a shrug. “What could possibly go wrong?”
“Well, for one thing, I’ve never gotten along with my step-dad. I mean, I’ve lived with him for more than half my life and we never could reach a common ground. Plus, I know he’s going to recognize you. He used to watch the Monkees when he was a kid. Third, when he finds out we’ve been living together he’s going to think we’ve been…ya know, sleeping together. And no matter how hard I try to make him see that we haven’t, he won’t believe me. He always thinks the worst about people,” Adriana rambled.
Suddenly she stopped and leaned her head on Micky’s shoulder. “Oh Micky,” she sighed, “what am I going to do?”
“You’re going to do just fine,” he reassured her, turning to button his shirt cuffs in the mirror.
“How am I going to explain this to him? Mom wasn’t a problem at all, Gerald is a whole other story,” she continued on.
“I’ve got it,” Adriana said, coming up behind Micky and grabbing him around the waist. “What the heck, let’s do it! Let’s get married! Tonight! We’ll elope to Las Vegas! We’ll live in Vegas! I don’t care. Let’s just get out of here right now!”
Micky whirled around to face her, putting his arms around her waist. “Now, as appealing as it sounds to marry you tonight,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows, “you know we can’t do that, Adrian. What about all that talk yesterday?”
“Ugh, you’re right,” Adriana said, leaning against his chest and taking a deep breath, “I just get so stressed out with things like this. I tend to ramble and get really unpractical at times like these.”
“That’s cool,” Micky said with a laugh, “I’m pretty unpractical all the time. That’s why I’m here.”
Adriana pulled back from Micky for a moment, “Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, I really could call my Mom and tell her we have other plans or something. That sounds more practical.”
“We can do it,” Micky answered. “If your step-dad can’t see everything that I see in you, then he’s at a loss.”
“And, it’s my gain,” ,” he continued, kissing her lightly.
“Oh, my,” Adriana said as she pulled the van into the driveway of Gerald and her mother’s small, but beautiful home in a suburb nearly two hours from where Adriana lived.
Parking the car behind Gerald’s black Riviera, Adriana shut off the engine and looked over at Micky.
“You look about as ghost white as you were on day I first saw you on the beach,” Micky said to Adriana, putting his hand reassuringly over her cold, shaking one. “It’s going to be okay. Besides, who can resist the old Dolenz charm?”
“Oh,” Adriana said, startled, “you can’t go in there saying you’re Micky Dolenz!”
“Riight,” he said.
“I told you earlier, both of them have the potential to know who you are,” she said. “Remember your fake name, Rege.”
“Adriana,” came Ann’s voice from the side of the van, “Everything’s almost ready. It’s great you came!”
“Hi, Mom,” Adriana said, opening the door and stepping out of the car. Micky opened the passenger’s side door and joined Adriana at her side.
After hugging her mother, she began, “Mom, is he in an okay mood tonight?”
“Well, he’s alright,” Ann said with a sad smile. “He’s been watching some kind of baseball show and that seems to have him in a good mood for the time being.”
“Good to know,” Adriana said, looking over at Micky.
“You know,” Ann said, leading Micky and Adriana up the sidewalk to the front stairs, “I swear I’ve seen you somewhere before, Reginald.”
“No,” both Adriana and Micky shouted, louder than they had intended.
“Okay,” Ann said, raising an eyebrow, then shrugging her shoulders, “come on in.”
“So,” Gerald began after they had all taken a seat in the living room, “how long have you two been seeing each other?”
Micky nearly dropped his glass of tea when Gerald finally spoke to him. He could see why Adriana was so worried about coming here. Gerald was a very bitter man. He wasn’t much taller than Micky, with a graying beard and dark brown hair. Glasses hid his green eyes, and his mouth seemed to be set in a constant straight line. He conveyed an air of power and control. Micky knew that this was not a man he wanted to hang around with very long.
“Uh,” Adriana started, “well, about two…”
“…months!” Adriana said at the same time Micky said, “…days!”
“Well,” Gerald said, “which is it? Two months or two days? Either way, it’s a paltry amount of time to be living with someone.”
“Well, sir, you see…” Micky began.
“Don’t ‘well sir’ me,” Gerald returned, “I can tell you right now that I don’t like you. I don’t like your attitude and I don’t like your look. I can also tell right now that you’re a smart allelic. Are you a smart allelic, Reginald?”
“Huh,” Micky asked, already a bit frightened, “no, no sir. I mean, no. No I’m not. Not a smart allelic at all. I’m not even a dumb allelic.”
This prompted a laugh from Ann’s side of the room.
Gerald turned and gave a quick look to Ann, who shrugged and turned back to the picture book she had brought out earlier.
“You think I don’t know your type,” Gerald said. “You low-life types that trick young girls into moving in with them and do God knows what…”
“I am not sleeping with him,” Adriana said flatly.
“You expect me to believe that? I know what it’s like to be your age,” Gerald grumbled.
“Do you,” Adriana said quietly, sarcastically.
“What was that,” Gerald asked.
“Gerald,” Ann warned, closing the book and giving him a glare.
“It’s true, anyway,” Gerald continued, getting out of his chair and standing in front of the couch where Micky and Adriana were seated. “I know all about your types. You do whatever you want with her. Maybe you’ll even get her to marry you and then milk her for all she’s got and leave her pregnant and poor with no where else to go but back to Mommy. This is by far the stupidest, most unpractical thing you’ve ever done, Adriana! If you think for one second I’m going to support you and some bastard child, Adriana, you’ve got another thing coming!”
Adriana stood up to her full 5’10 height and shouted at the top of her lungs, “I AM NOT SLEEPING WITH HIM!”
Micky stood up beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. “She’s right Mr. Apperson. We don’t sleep together. I respect her wishes. I know we haven’t known each other all that long, but when you know, you know.”
“Bull,” Gerald shouted in Micky’s face, “I don’t believe a word you're saying. I bet you’ve already violated her.”
Adriana could feel Micky shift his position, she’d never seen him get angry before. His face began to redden and his normally wide, welcoming brown eyes were seen only through slits. Micky grabbed her hand and said, “Look, I know you don’t know me, but I can tell you one thing. Nothing is going to happen to her as long as I’m around.”
“Yeah,” Gerald said, looking at Adriana, who starred at the floor feeling like she did when she was reprimanded as a child, “well, you just go ahead and do what you want, but, don’t you dare show up on my doorstep after this jerk leaves you broke.”
“Gerald,” Ann began, approaching the three, “stop jumping to conclusions. Please!”
“No,” Gerald said, “I won’t allow this kind of crap to continue around here. As long as she’s got some guy living with her, ignoring all of the things we taught her, than I don’t have a daughter!.”
Adriana couldn’t take it anymore.
“You’re right,” she exclaimed, “I’m not your daughter! Don’t you EVER call me that again! I’ve been doing pretty darn well these past few years and I can handle the rest of my life without having you screaming at me. I don’t ever want to see you again!”
Adriana shook with anger and frustration. Micky turned to look at her. Her normally fair skin had turned nearly crimson from the outburst, and her green eyes glazed over with unshed tears.
This was it. Adriana had never in her life stood up to her stepfather. For every blow to her emotions he gave her throughout her life, she had taken it and held it deep inside, affecting her more than she could say.
“Get out of my house,” Gerald said, gritting his teeth and turning away.
Ann looked at her daughter and Micky.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, wringing her hands as they walked to the door.
“I love you Mom,” Adriana said, hugging her mother outside the door as she choked back tears.
“I love you too,” Ann said, smoothing her daughter’s hair.
“Come with us,” Micky said, hearing the sound of dishes breaking inside the house.
“Ah, I can’t,” Ann said, taking a deep breath. “This is my home, my life. I chose it and no matter how much things could be different, they're not.”
They all turned once more as they heard Gerald holler for Ann.
“I’d better get in there,” Ann said, glancing at the two before opening the door.
“He’s not going to hurt her is he,” Micky asked as they waved to Ann before she went inside.
“No,” Adriana said, shaking her head as she watched her mother leave, “that’s the thing. This is her life. He only hurt me.”
Micky put an arm around Adriana’s shoulders as they walked back to the van.
“You want me to drive,” he asked as she pulled the keys from her purse.
Adriana nodded and got into the passenger seat.
“Can you hang on for a second,” she asked, producing a piece of paper and a pen from the glove box.
“Sure,” Micky said, turning the engine and waiting.
Adriana wrote for a few moments and then opened the door to get out.
“I’ll be right back,” she said, folding the paper and walking back to the front door of the house.
When she returned to the van, Adriana felt her knees collapse under her as she sat down once more in the passenger side.
“What was that all about,” Micky asked, putting the van into drive and pulling out of the driveway and unto the road.
Adriana took a deep breath and sniffled, “Can you give me just a minute,” she asked softly, looking out the window.
“That jerk,” Micky said to himself as he drove, “I can’t believe he did that to her. Adriana’s right, we never should have came. How many times has she let him mess with her mind like that? No wonder she’s so indecisive and afraid of so much. He’s mentally abusive. I don’t see how Ann can stand it. Gosh, if I wasn’t a gentleman, I would have punched him out for making her cry.”
“Making her cry,” he thought as he looked over at Adriana who had turned her head toward the window and was quietly weeping into a tissue.
Micky saw a rest stop along the highway and pulled over.
“What, what are you doing,” Adriana asked in a shaky voice.
Micky sighed and turned off the engine.
“Adrian,” he began, “I know what you mean about your step-father. He is not a good man. I really like your Mom, though. She should be given a medal for putting up with him.”
“I know,” Adriana said through her tears, “she’s always been so great. Even in the really bad times. You know, I was never happier in my life when they moved and let me take over the rent of the condo. I really miss my Mom, but I was so glad to get away from him. He always had a way of making me feel about two inches tall. He’s so set in his ways, never believing anybody but himself. I’ve spent most of my life trying to make him happy, win his approval. I’ve never been able to do it. I feel like a total zero.”
“Don’t you say that,” Micky said in a demanding tone. “You are not a zero. Don’t let him make you think that way.”
The tears began to flow again as the evening’s events began to replay itself in Adriana’s mind.
“I’m so tired of crying,” she sobbed. “It’s weak. He always told me that. Sometimes I can’t help it.”
Micky unbuckled his seat belt and moved closer to Adriana. “Hey,” he said softly, putting his arms around her, “if you gotta cry. Go ahead. I won’t hold it against you.”
Adriana sighed a shaky sigh and put her head on his shoulder. Micky smoothed her hair back and felt her shoulders rise and fall as she let the tears come. He held her for quite awhile, quietly reassuring her that it was okay that late December night. Micky could tell it was something that she hadn’t done in awhile. Or she had never had anybody let her do it.
“Let me tell you one thing,” he said, tilting her tear streaked face up to him when the tears began to die down. “I’m not going to let anybody hurt you anymore.”
Adriana looked at Micky and inwardly wished she could believe him, but it would be a very long time before she could totally trust. She did know one thing. Only she had the power to change her life. And tonight was just one more reason why she should do what she had been thinking about doing since the day before.
“What was that you wrote on that paper and took up to the house,” Micky asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I was just telling my Mom,” Adriana said, a soft smiling breaking though her tears, “that I’ve decided to move to California for awhile.”
“Really,” Micky asked. “California? Are you sure? I mean, I just got here. I was thinking I might like to try the skiing again, maybe some of that Wisconsin cheese…”
“Micky,” Adriana said, trying to interrupt his rambling.
“…check out a football game or two,” he continued, “and all those museums we didn’t get to see the last time we were in Chicago. Wow, it would take a lot of work to move all your stuff to California…”
“Micky,” she said louder, putting a hand on his arm. “I meant your California.”
“Oh wow,” Micky exclaimed, “are you sure? You said you weren’t sure before, but you really want to go to 1966 now?”
“Yeah,” Adriana said, wiping her eyes and smiling fully, “my boyfriend needs his friends, and well, I could use a new frame of mind.”
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