"Ok Tay, I'll be over after my mom gets home from aerobics to watch Calsey," Dan Bower hurriedly told Taylor Hanson, his friend and jammin' buddy.
"Alright, later. Remember, be here by 1:00," Taylor reminded Dan.
"Hey, is it alright if I bring Johnny? He's...," Dan stopped speaking after his slow brain realized Taylor had already hung up.
The Hanson brothers were out in their fairly large garage, making the music that would one day make them famous, when they heard pounding on their homade studio door. Zac lept off his drum stool practically knocking the whole drum set over to quickly answer the door before it swung wide open and knocked over his precious cymbals.
"Hey hey hey, right on time, eh?" Dan's voice quickly echoed off the walls.
"Yeah yeah, now hurry up, we gotta get playin'. If we don't practice, you KNOW what'll happen." Isaac responded as he shooed him over to his bass guitar.
"Who's THAT," Zac wondered out loud, staring at a slender boy that appeared to be about Taylor's age. He was standing in the doorway and looked to be about 5'5". His short brown hair was cut in the same way the three oldest Hanson brothers used to be before they decided to grow it long, in a bowl cut. His mysterious dark green eyes and furrowing brow made him seem almost...creepy. Then, he sort of nudged himself forward shyly. It was then that Zac saw his clothes. "He looks NORMAL, not creepy," Zac told himself.
"Isaac, Taylor, and Zachary Hanson," Dan said pointing to each one of the brothers as he said their name. "This is Johnny. He moved here a little while ago and...and... I decided to make a new friend." Dan finished his introductions and started to hook up the wires for his instrument.
"Hi Johnny, nice to meet you. Where'd you move from?" Zac asked, always curious.
"A really small town called Nowhere's Ville," Johnny answered his question.
"Seriously?" Isaac inquired.
"There's a town called Nowhere's Ville?" Cool!" Taylor questioned just as his older brother did.
"Well guys, enough questions, we can all bug Johnny later. What song first Tay?" Isaac looked over at Taylor anxiously.
"Let's work on Thinking Of You," Taylor's words were almost drowned out by Zac's terribly loud banging on the drums.
"You'll have to excuse him, he drinks sugar by the gallons," Isaac leaned over to Johnny, whispering so only he could hear.
Johnny got a kick out of that. As the guys started jammin' away, Johnny surveyed the garage. "Someone in the family is an artist," he thought. The garage was actually their studio as shown by the sign hanging on the back wall, centered almost perfectly way at the top, which had the words written on it, 'Official Studio'. On every single one of the white walls were cartoons after cartoons. There were little musclemen and then there were what looked like 'bad guys' plopped all over the wall. The were done very carefully, and very colorfully. The studio actually looked like a studio, too. The instruments, which looked a little expensive, sent a glare to Johnny from the big, wide windows centered on each side of the studio sign, as he sat there listening to 'Thinking Of You', a song he thought was called 'MMMBop' and a suprisingly slow one titled 'With You In Your Dreams'. Zac's huge drumset was placed in a cute little corner right near the door. Isaac was in the middle of the garage, paying very close attention to his guitar, while Taylor was on the right side of him, playing his keyboards. Johnny took notice of how Taylor's right leg kept bouncing up and down.
When they finished their last song, Johnny clapped really loudly and whistled one of those really loud, you know, those whistles. This made Taylor look down and blush, and his face even broke out of its seriousness into a smile.
"Thank you man! Thanks for being such a GREAT audience!" Zac screamed into his mike. Isaac was holding his guitar too close to the mike as Zac said this which caused a screeching noise. Everyone covered their ears quickly, hoping the sound would go away. Finally Isaac realized this, and broke out into a guilty smile, pulling the plug on the blameworthy instrument.
"That was loud," Isaac didn't know how to apologize so he settled for his Beavis imitation.
"Really, I didn't notice," Taylor slyly remarked. He always seemed to get in that sneaky comment that drove everyone nuts.
"It's 4:00 guys, I think that's enough practice for today," Isaac read Taylor's mind as he said this.
"Hey Ike, since we're done, can we take Johnny inside to meet mom and dad?" Zac asked his older brother.
"Yeah, let's go. That is, if Johnny wants to," Ike replied looking directly at Johnny.
"Yeah, but I can only stay for a little while," Johnny followed them out the garage the same way he entered it. Then they went around a whole bunch of rocks and bushes and made their way to the front door, which seemed to be locked.
"I really wish Avie and Jessie would stop playing that game," Isaac muttered under his breath. He rang the doorbell and a women who looked to be about 40, with long blond hair answered the door.
"I guess Avie must of locked the door again," she said in her, 'I wish it would end' voice. "Taylor, who's your friend?"
"Mom, this is Johnny and he's from Nowhere's Ville!" Zac replied before Taylor could get a word out.
"Nice to meet you Johnny. I'm Mrs. Hanson, as you might have guessed, but you can call me Diana," Diana told him extending her hand.
"Good to meet you Diana," Johnny responded, now feeling more comfortable.
"C'mon Johnny, I'll show you my cartoons!" Zac exclaimed while running up the stairs faster than the speed of light. Everyone quickly followed behind, giving each other the 'here we go again' look.
Johnny put the pieces of the puzzle together and realized it was Zac who painted in their studio. Zac showed him proudly all of the musclemen he and "Tay" drew. "Wow," Johnny thought, "They can play music AND draw." "Pretty talented family."
Zac gave Johnny the royal tour of the brown house, including the basketball hoop and half pipe out back. About an hour later, Johnny knew the Hanson's house as well as they did.
"Last stop, Jessica and Avery's room," Zac mimicked a tour guide. As they entered the room in single file, Johnny spotted a little boy playing small, homade drums, next to two older girls, both with blond hair.
"Johnny, meet Jessica, Avery." Each girl waved as Zac said their name. "And this little guy over here, that's Mackenzie, but we call him Mackie." Zac said pointing to his younger brother who was banging on the drums, keeping a pretty steady beat.
Johnny looked down at his watch, "Well, I better get going, I don't wanna be late."
"Late for what?" Taylor wanted to know.
"Oh, ah, nothing. I just gotta go, " Johnny spoke a little more quickly while glancing at his watch every five seconds. Everyone left the room wondering what was going on, walked down the long hall, around the corner, and down the stairs.
"Come back and be our audience again!!" Zac yelled as Johnny headed out the door. He then hopped back into the living room where everyone else had stationed themselves.
Taylor sat on the couch next to Isaac half-listening to everyone's conversation. He thought about how odd Johnny was. He didn't talk much, but he was really inviting when he did. He wondered where his parents were to pick him up, since he walked home. "I'm gonna call him tomorrow," Taylor thought as he looked down at the little fragment of paper Johnny had scribbled his phone number on.
"Not home guys!!" Taylor yelled to Zac and Ike, who were located in their bedroom room, opposite the one Taylor was trying to get ahold of Johnny from.
"I wonder where he is, it's the weekend," Zac said to nobody in particular. The three brothers sat in absolute quiet on the floor of the bright, sunny room, as bare as it was, building a lego castle that was growing huge at a rapid pace.
"I'll get it," came the voice of Avie, startling everyone, even though her voice came from downstairs.
"Hmmm...," Taylor examined the lego. "Hey Johnny, I didn't hear you come in." Johnny was studying the lego contraption trying to figure out exactly what it was.
"That's alright, I just came over to see if you guys were practicing again," Johnny spoke up politely.
"Hey Johnny, wanna help us build the fortress?" Zac asked him, still keeping his focus on the little building blocks.
"Yeah, if you help us finish, we can start our practice early, I s'pose," Isaac hinted.
"Yeah, sure, what are those little things you are using there though?" he felt stupid about asking.
"What? LEGOS?!!" Zac asked alittle too loudly, right into Taylor's ear.
"Ouch, cut it out, Zac!!!" Taylor belted out, this time, right back into Zac's ear.
"You mean you've never heard of legos?" Isaac raised an eyebrow.
"I guess not."
Breaking the ackward silence, Zac conjoled, "Well, what are you waiting for, get down here and help us!"
About a half an hour later, the four boys stood up and circled the humongous castle, eyeing every little block of its giant 5 foot height.
"Wow, we've created a masterpiece!" Zac exclaimed. That cracked everyone up and out of their seriousness.
Chapter Three
"...It makes the world go 'round and 'round and / Where's the love / Just give it up / It makes the world go 'round and 'round and 'round." The three brothers sang in perfect harmony. Johnny just couldn't get enough of their music. There was something about it that made him feel, well, happy. An emotion Johnny doesn't experience that often.
"What'd ya think of our new song, Johnny? It's a new one, but it's one of our favorites, if you can pick a favorite out of, like, 200 songs." Isaac questioned happily.
"It was cool, very catchy. Gonna be as big a hit as that one, M M M Bop!" Johnny announced pronouncing each 'M' individually. Taylor and Zac looked at each other and burst out laughing. Johnny blushed a light shade of pink and tensed up.
"What?" he asked feeling kinda foolish.
"Well, ah, it's actually called MMMBop! But don't worry, a lot of people get confused," Taylor informed him.
"Oh...Oops, sorry," Johnny giggled, letting out his breath. They finished their practice with 'Thinking of You,' 'Where's the Love,' 'Man From Milwaukee,' and 'With You In Your Dreams,' Johnny applauding each song. Then the guys went back into their house, through the same door they entered last time, Johnny remembered. They sat down on soft, cushiony chairs around a long, wooden table, while Zac stood at the refrigerator naming off the beverages that were in there.
"OK, we have water, lemonade, Dr. Pepper, Mugs Rootbeer, and JELLO!!!" Zac listed off all his favorite drinks, and, being as wacko as he is, added in Jello.
"Mugs," Taylor shouted out.
"Dr. Pepper," came Isaac's voice.
"Uh, lemonade is fine," Johnny spoke up.
"Good, that leaves the Jello for ME!" Zac yelled, not paying attention to the bowl of Jello he was holding, spilling the wobbly red stuff all over the clean, wooden floor.
"Good one Animal," came Isaac's sarcastic voice. Taylor laughed, suddenly spitting out his mouthful of rootbeer, making an even BIGGER mess.
"Ughhh, what am I gonna do with you two," Walker Hanson jokingly glared at Zac and Taylor as he entered the kitchen, almost stepping in the pile of Jello. Johnny couldn't help but laugh.
"You guys, why don't you just go out and rollerblade why I clean this mess up," Walker told the four guys as he grabbed a purple towel and bent down to clean up the mess.
"Hey Johnny, can we go over to your house?" Zac asked Johnny while trying to fit his size 8 foot into the blue and black, very much used rollerblades.
"Well, uh, my, um...my parents aren't home, and they don't like me to have friends over when they aren't there." Johnny stuttered on practically every word.
"Oh...ok, let us know when they come home, then, ok? We wanna see YOUR room," Zac sounded alittle disappointed, but then cheered up when he saw Taylor fall on his butt, while going a bit too fast down the halfpipe, backwards. "Ha ha! Let ME show you how it's done!" Zac screamed, now making his way over to where Taylor was. Taylor had offered Johnny some rollerblades, but Johnny didn't know how, so he sat there for about an hour, watching them, then left without telling anyone.
"Where did Johnny go?" Taylor asked, now taking a break with the rest of his rootbeer.
"He must of gotten bored. It seems like all he wants do is listen to us play anyway, so he probably left 'cause he doesn't know how to blade," Isaac told Taylor, now sitting next to him on the edge of the ramp.
"No doubt. Well, he told me that he's gonna come back everyday to hear us play, so I'm sure we'll see him tomorrow, " Taylor was now heading back inside, Isaac and Zac close behind.
"Johnny, can I get you anything while you wait," Walker asked, coming back into the room, digging into a drawer full of business stuff.
"No, I'm fine, thanks for askin'," Johnny responded with a smile. He sat there on the soft, blue floor and waited for the three blond brothers, while trying out some video games. In about 45 minutes' time, Johnny managed to figure them out, and was becoming pretty good at them. He then heard muffled noises and people walking around above him. Johnny followed the sound, hoping his new friends were home. He went up the plushy, white stairs and almost hit his head on a tall, skinny lamp sticking out from the wall when he turned the corner to go up into the living room. Sure enough, there they were. Taylor was sitting on the couch, searching through the bags frantically. Zac, on the other hand, was calmly sitting at the other end of the leather sofa, one eyebrow raised. Watching Taylor with excitement, he looked at Isaac, winked, and closed his mouth, trying not to make his grin so noticable.
"Taylor, what on earth is the matter with you?" Diana entered the house, tossing her keys into the small tray near the door.
"Uh, mom, the, uh, um, uh...hmmm...you know the that extra $50 you gave me?...it's sorta gone..." was all Taylor could get out. Johnny watched all this from the door opposite the one Diana was leaning against in amazement.
"Hahahahahaha, I can't take it anymore," Zac burst out laughing, while Isaac held it in, hoping Zac wouldn't expose him, too.
"Take what......Zac, you didn't!" Taylor's eyes grew big, and his face turned red.
"Sorry, but I couldn't resist," Zac, still laughing, admitted to his brother. With that, a wrestling match broke out, both Hansons on the floor, laughing like crazy.
"Come on you guys, cut it out. You have a guest," Diana told her boys as she noticed Johnny across the room with a not so happy look on his face.
"Oh, hi Johnny!" Isaac greeted his friend.
"What's wrong? You look like I bit Taylor's ear off," Zac couldn't be serious if he tried.
"Nothing. I just wanted to see if you guys wanted to do something," Johnny still didn't smile.
"Oh, sure. We gotta put our clothes upstairs, first though, alright? Come on you dorks, let's hurry up so Johnny doesn't have to wait any longer," Isaac started up the stairs, still getting his laughs out.
"Coming, father," Taylor yelled sarcastically, now getting off of Zac. They went upstairs and started putting the new clothes in the large closet.
"Hey, cool shirt!" Johnny exclaimed with wide eyes, walking over next to Taylor to admire the shirt hanging in the closet.
"You like that? Try it on...if it fits, it's yours," Taylor was glad to get rid of it. As Johnny took his long-sleeved, plain yellow shirt off to try the new one on, Zac, who was laying on the bed waiting, saw bruises.
"Johnny. What happened?!" Zac asked, a little suspicious.
"Oh, I...that happened when...you see..." Johnny took a deep breath, "...it was my fault. I didn't come home on time. It's ok, it doesn't hurt," Johnny got the guts to tell them, each one with a worried look on their face. That worried look got worse.
"What? You didn't come home on time? I don't understand. Did your father..." Isaac, now becoming a little angry, was cut off by Johnny.
"Yes, but he didn't mean to...it was my fault. You have to promise not to tell anyone. You have to!" Johnny's face grew tight and red. He was becoming very upset, and, Taylor could tell, he didn't know how to express it.
"Well Johnny, you can't just let your dad hit you and stuff. It couldn't have been your fault...that kinda thing isn't your fault...you're the one with the bruises," Taylor tried to convince him.
"Yeah, but I shoulda..." Johnny tried to make an excuse, but Isaac interrupted.
"...Johnny, there are no 'buts' about it...it's wrong," Isaac firmly stated.
"There's nothing I can do about it, so..."
"You can go to the cops, that's what you can do," Zac entered the conversation.
"Yeah right. Then what? He's lies, they say 'yeah, ok, whatever', and he does it again because I told," Johnny wasn't very convincing to Taylor.
"Then we'll tell them. Zac go get the mom and dad...and the phone," Taylor ordered Zac who looked at him with a scrunched up face, then exited the room.
"Besides Taylor, my dad works for the big oil company, they'll never believe he would do this anyway," Johnny explained to Taylor as the two sat next to each other in the back seat of the red Dodge Intrepid. Diana and Walker refused to let Johnny go back to his house. They were taking him to the police station, not knowing exactly what would occur.
"Your dad works for the oil company? And he does this to you? Why? Where's your mom? Do you have any sib..."
"Taylor, hold on...let's let the police ask the questions, alright?" Mr. Hanson interrupted his son.
"It's alright, Taylor. He hits my mom, too. But she's too scared to leave. I don't blame her, she gets it worse then me. I don't have any brothers or sisters, it's just me and my mom...we stick together," Johnny was relieved that he finally had someone to talk to. He shifted around in his seatbelt, then turned to stare out the window. Taylor left it at that. He didn't want to upset Johnny any more. He, too, turned and watched the scenery. He watched people rollerblade by, checking out everyone's blades as they went by on the sidewalk. He watched people carrying shopping bags, and little kids running around away from their parents. After fifteen minutes, which seemed like an eternity to Taylor, they pulled up into one of the many, wide parking spaces at the police station.
"Alright, we're here. Let's see what we can do," Walker looked at his wife hopefully as he unbuckled his seatbelt and slowly got out of the front seat. After Mr. and Mrs. Hanson, Johnny, and Taylor had successfully exited the car, they all walked up to the entrance as if something was holding them back. They walked in, following Walker's lead, and made their way over to a big counter. Papers were strewn all over and there was a computer in the corner which caught Taylor's eye. There were people all around, some with a police officer, others sitting on benches waiting their turn.
A very tall, slight woman emerged from around her desk, her waist- length blond hair getting in the way of her view, setting her paperwork aside.
"Can I help you?" she asked, eyeing the four people. Walker glanced over at Johnny, who was standing behind Taylor, as if he was trying to hide.
"Yes, we would like to report abuse," Walker stated. "Can you direct us to someone we can talk to this about?
"Ok, hold on one sec. I'll call Detective O'Brien," the woman, who Taylor had noticed, was named Karin, answered as she smiled, then preceded to turn around. As she spun around on her high heel, she crashed into a short, chubby, round man who's bald head, with alittle hair, was in the shape of a peanut. Taylor had to chuckle at that thought. "You're just the guy I was looking for, Detective O. These people over here would like to talk to you," she looked down at him and pointed at the Hanson's and Johnny. They mingled for a few seconds, then the Detective waddled on over to Walker and stuck out his rough hand.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Detective Troy O'Brien, but you can call me Detective O," he greeted them. After the introductions, they followed Detective O. into a small, quaint little room with a couch, desk, and a few chairs scattered about.
