After what seemed like an eternity, AJ cleared his throat to signal that he wanted to say something. Nick was on his knees, leaned into the refrigerator, and said from inside it, "I see ya, AJ."
AJ looked down, kicking at some invisible object, and cleared his throat again. Before he could actually talk, though, Nick pulled out of the refrigerator and asked, "What is up with you, man? Why do you say that shit to me?" He was serious, and it eliminated any hopes that AJ had for a quick apology.
AJ shrugged and answered, contritely. "I was joking. I like to pick on you, man. I didn't mean it."
"Well, it's not funny. After awhile it....it hurts, AJ." Nick's voice cracked when he said "hurts" and AJ thought for a fleeting moment that he was going to cry.
"I'm sorry, Nick." He crouched down beside Nick and put his hand on his back. "I didn't mean for it to go so far. I really was just joking."
"Yeah, well, it's not funny.....not like that. I mean, that's all I hear from people: 'You've gained so much weight' / 'I remember when you were just a skinny little thing' . I get it from my family, I get it from my fans, but I never thought I'd get it from YOU." Nick's words were broken and his lip was quivering, revealing the heavy emotion he was trying so hard to hide.
AJ now felt horrible for what he'd done to his friend, all for the sake of a laugh. "I'm sorry, man," he whispered. "I wasn't serious, Nick. I really wasn't. I thought you knew I was joking."
"Maybe the first couple of times.....but after the fifth or sixth time, you start to wonder, you know?" Nick looked at AJ and it made AJ feel even worse when he saw the tears welled up in his eyes. Nick hung his head as a tear rolled down his cheek, trying to hide it. He wiped it with his sleeve and looked back up at AJ. "Am I fat, AJ?"
AJ sighed and stood up, not knowing exactly the right words to say. Nick stood up as well, and AJ looked him over, trying not to be too obvious about it. He thought for a moment before replying. "You're not fat," he said, pausing and putting his hand on his chin, "You're just a BIG guy, Nick, that's all."
Nick shook his head in disagreement, upset with AJ's answer. "I just want you to be straight up with me, man. I mean, what's the difference between big and fat? It all sounds the same to me."
"No, no, no," AJ said waving his index finger at Nick. "BIG is like Kevin Nash, you know, the wrestler." AJ did a muscle pose to emphasize his point. Nick nodded and rolled his eyes as AJ continued. "FAT, is like.....well, you know......FAT." He held his arms out and puffed out his cheeks to stress how fat, fat was. "Plus, if you were REALLY fat, I wouldn't CALL you fat. I only call you fat to dig at you cos everyone ELSE calls you fat."
"Oh," Nick said laughing, slightly, though still upset. "THAT makes me feel so much BETTER, AJ."
"Wait, that's not what I meant to say." AJ was fumbling for words. "What I meant to say, is, I only call you fat to tease you because of everyone else....."
"...who calls me fat." Nick finished, impatiently.
"No-o-o-o--o-o, you're putting words in my mouth," argued AJ.
Nick was tired of the runaround that AJ was giving him. He glared at him as if he was his enemy. "It's what you wanted to say, AJ. I just finished it before you could lie your way out of it. I mean, why would people call me fat if I wasn't fat?"
AJ laughed, despite the glare. "I don't know. Probably for the same reason they call you good lookin'. "
It took awhile for AJ's casual cut-down to register, but when Nick finally caught it, he broke into a smile and gave AJ a shove. "Fuck you."
"Aaah!! Aaaah!!" AJ said. "Don't be pickin' up my foul language. Your halo is drooping, little bro."
"Who you callin' little?" asked Nick, with a look of attitude.
"Well, I didn't wanna hurt your FEELINGS or anything," said AJ, hitting him on the shoulder playfully before walking to the back door and peeking outside. "You know," he said mischievously, relieved that the incident was finally over, "I wonder how long they'll stand outside if we don't go get 'em....."
Nick snickered and peered out at them, too. "Probably a long time.....what are they doing?" Kevin, Howie, Brian and Angela were standing over by Kenneth's car.
"Oh my GOD, you guys," said Angela frantically. "What am I going to tell Kenneth? He is going to be freakin' PISSED."
Kevin stifled a laugh as best as he could, but Brian couldn't help but laugh out loud, and once he'd done it, Howie joined in.
Angela put her hands on her hips and glared at them, trying not to laugh. "I'm SERIOUS. He is going to shit right down his leg when he sees this." There was no hiding the huge dent in the hood of Kenneth's car. It wasn't the sort of weight-shifting dent you could just pop out from the other side with a little pressure. It was full-fledged and it bowed in the entire center of the hood very noticeably.
"Well, they say a picture says a thousand words...." said Kevin, waving the disposable camera. "I have Nick's SECOND criminal act captured on camera, again -- vandalism."
"No!" Angela said quickly, giggling at the thought of it. "We'll have to make something up."
"Yeah," said Brian, "after all the crap Nick gave him about his Durango: 'NO dents, NO dings and NO scratches'....."
"Oh my Go-o-o-d, he is gonna freak," said Angela, walking away from the car.
"I can't think of anything to explain THAT," said Brian. They all started laughing again, despite the seriousness of the situation at hand. Kevin opened the driver side door and sat down to release the hood latch, but the hood didn't budge. He popped his head out of the car. "Doesn't the latch work?"
"It DID.....Oh my God, the hood won't open," Angela said, throwing her arms in the air out of exasperation.
Kevin got out of the car. "Just chill out. Let me try to pop it, first." He walked around front and pounded the front tip of the hood with his fist. Nothing happened. "Okay," he said, "So the hood won't open." He leaned on the hood and hung his head, laughing. He stood up with tears in his eyes and said, "Woooo! Well, hot diggity, AJ WAS right."
"Kevin!" Brian warned, pointing at him. "Don't go there. You know darned well that anyone can dent a hood from jumping on it."
Kevin laughed at Brian's defensiveness. "Well, I'm sorry, Brian, but I hate to tell ya, if I had the choice of either AJ or Nick jumping on the hood of my Toyota, I'm telling you RIGHT NOW, it sure the hell wouldn't be NICK. Look at that!!" Brian tried to stand his ground on the issue, but he couldn't keep a straight face while looking at the dent.
"Hey, you GUYS! Here they come!" said Howie, whispering loudly. "Hide the dent!"
In between puffs on his Marlboro light, AJ called out to them. "You see, Nick knew I was joking!"
Nick was following behind him making funny faces while mouthing the words "Yeah, right."
"What the hell you guys doin' standing around? Nick's practically got that fridge cleaned out," said AJ as he tried to look around Howie. He knew something was up, but he couldn't figure it out.
"Just catchin' a cool breeze, man," said Howie, slapping a handshake on AJ.
"Wassup?" Nick asked Brian.
"Oh," Brian said coolly. "We were just waiting to see if AJ would live. Nice to see you've got a heart of mercy, Nick."
"Heart of mercy, my ass," said Nick, laughing. "AJ was crying. I couldn't hit him."
AJ was DYING to set the record straight, but he bit his tongue. He'd caused Nick enough grief. Instead, he looked at Nick and narrowed his eyes, while taking a drag of his cigarette to let him know that he could "take it."
Nick smiled back at him defiantly, then turned back to Brian. His jaw dropped when he caught a glance of the car hood. "Oh, my GOD! Did I do THAT?" He shoved Brian out of the way.
AJ turned around and saw the dent. He walked away from Howie, throwing his arms in the air. "I AIN'T sayin' ANYTHING! NOTHING! NADA!"
"What are you gonna do, Angela?" Nick asked.
"Excuse me, BRUCE LEE, but I didn't DO IT," she said firmly, irritated that he was shunning all responsibility. "You're good looking, but you're not THAT (pointing at the dent) good looking."
"See what I mean about the 'good lookin' thang, Nick?" inserted AJ. "It's all a lie!"
Nick didn't care that AJ had insulted him again. All he'd heard was "You're good looking" from Angela. He was flattered that she'd said it in front of everyone, just when he needed it most. He walked over to her and looked at her suavely. "Don't worry, babeh, Nicky'll make it all right."
"Whatever," she said, rolling her eyes and heading for the house. She was embarrassed by the sexual innuendo she'd read into that statement.
Nick jogged after her, leaving the others behind, and put his arm around her. "So you think I'm good looking..." they could hear him say.
"Thank God for Angela," Brian said, smiling.
AJ raised his eyebrows up. "Yeah, look like ANGIE gonna make it all right, you know what I'm sayin'?"
"Gawd, AJ," said Howie. "You're such a perv!"
They headed back for the house slowly, watching Nick and Angela walking together ahead of them.
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Fifteen
Story Index
