Sierra Court Blues-Chapter 2

 

 

 

 

   I pulled into my driveway a shade past midnight and hoped Jade was already asleep. The light in the living room was out but I could see the flicker of the T.V. If she was still up I hoped she was in a better mood.

   I laughed as I climbed out of the car.

   I climbed the stairs to our apartment and eased my key into the lock. If she was asleep I sure as hell didn’t want to wake her up. All I wanted to do was slide into bed. We could always fight more tomorrow.

   I walked in to the living room and found Jade curled up asleep on the couch. She looked adorable.  I didn’t want to wake her up to get her to go to bed. I also didn’t want to leave her on the couch in case Kirby got up at some point during the night. I didn’t minded getting up with him, but when he woke up like that he always wanted her.   

  As I watched her sleep, it occurred to me how attracted I really was to her. She was truly sexy. She was short, only about 5’1”, thin, but stacked in all of the right places. She had dark blond hair, like me, and savage blue eyes. It wasn’t until she opened her mouth that things went down hill. Her attitude could really be s****y at times.

  

 

  

   Of course, I had to take credit for some of her attitude. We were way too young to be married in the first place.

   I had met Jade three years before when we were juniors at the vocational school we had both just started. U.S. Grant J.V.S. accepted students from four different school districts.  To a horny 16 year old it was a dating buffet with new girls from all over eastern Clermont County.

   It didn’t take me long to discover Jade.  She stood out like a firefly in a dark room. It did take me awhile to screw up the courage to ask her out, though. She was so hot I thought her out of my league. I confided in a few friends about her and contented myself watching her from a far.

  A month into the school year one of those friends, Bill Pratt, said he was having a huge field party on his parent’s farm. It was the first big social event of the school year and he had invited everyone at school.

  The night of the party I arrived early and found Bill and another friend working on tapping a keg. Bill started grinning as soon as he saw me.

  “Bo, I’m glad you’re here, man. I need you to do me a favor.”

   I was cautious about accepting. You never knew what kind of crazy s**t Bill had in mind. I didn’t want to accept without knowing what he wanted. With him, I could have been running to Over-The-Rhine to buy cocaine.

  “What do you need me to do?” I asked.

 

 

 

 

   “I need you to run to New Richmond and pick up some girls. They’re supposed to meet you at the Dairy Isle.”

  “Sounds like I’ve already been volunteered,” I said.

   Bill stood up and sat his hand on my shoulder. “Well, I figured you wouldn’t mind since that freaky little Jade chick is supposed to be with them.”

  I grinned from ear to ear.

 “Well, don’t just stand there grinning like a doofus,” Bill said.” Go. I told them you’d be there already.”

   I got back in to my car and set out like a bat out of hell.

   Jade and I had been together from that night on.

   We discovered Jade was pregnant in October of our senior year. We were both in shock. Jade had no doubt in her mind that she wanted to keep the baby and in some weird way it cemented our relationship. From that point on, it was us against the world. Neither one of us had a clue what we were in for but we went forward with the verve that only a couple of dumbass teen-agers could muster. We were married, at the age of seventeen, right before Thanksgiving, 1989.

   Of course, now, two years later, we were still, technically, a couple of dumbass teen-agers. After everything we’d been through, though, it really didn’t seem that way. We were an old married couple, now, whose relationship was falling away.

  

 

 

   I still loved Jade. As I watched her sleeping on the couch I remembered all of the good times we’d had and how hard we had fought to be together.  I just wondered if either of us still had enough verve left to keep it together.

  I looked around our apartment and smiled, proud of what we had managed to accomplish. Our place wasn’t extravagant, but it was ours and unlike Jon and Angel no one spent a dime to help us get here.

  I was enrolled in the welding school at Grant and began working as a welder part-time for a local company between my junior and senior year. When we found out Jade was pregnant I started working full time to save for our future. After we were married Jade moved in with my parents and I. Jade’s parents were religious and wouldn’t cotton us living in sin. They also weren’t about to foot the bill for an unwed mother. 

   So, I spent my senior year of high school going to school part-time and working full-time, most days 15-16 hours. I loved Jade more than anything in the world and did what I had to for the three of us. I, somehow, managed to keep my grades up and graduated with honors in English and History. I was so tired the day of our vocational graduation I dozed off. When they called my name to receive the honors I literally jumped out of my chair, totally taken by surprise.

   Jade and I graduated from high school on Sunday, May 26^th 1990. Kirby joined the party less than a week later on Friday, June the 1^st.

  

 

 

 

 

   By the time we graduated I had saved enough money for us to move here. I was as proud as a peacock with my son in my arms as Jade and I signed the lease. We were on our own and didn’t owe any one a damn thing.

   Our apartment was on the second floor of a four family apartment building. It was really nice with two bedrooms and a huge kitchen. The living room was cozy, big enough to entertain, but intimate enough to curl up in front of the T.V with Jade for nice quiet nights after Kirby had gone to sleep. Over the course of the last year, though, those quiet nights had became less frequent.  

  I bent over the couch and gently tried to shake her awake. “Jade. You ready to go to bed?”

   Jade slowly opened one eyeball and looked at me. She scrunched up her nose and rolled over on her back. “What time is it?”

  “Just after midnight.”

   She looked up at me and shook her head. “I didn’t figure you’d be back tonight.”

   I shrugged and smiled. I was grateful she hadn’t started screaming at me. “Yeah, well. I’m home and I’m going to bed. I didn’t figure you wanted to sleep out here.”

   Jade sat up and grabbed her cigarettes off of the table. “Not really. This couch is pretty but it’s not great to sleep on. You go on to bed, I’m going to make a glass of juice for Kirby in case he wakes up.”

 

 

 

  

 

   I climbed into bed glad for the calm. With Jade you never knew how long the peace would last. I fell asleep before she came to bed but I drifted off hoping things weren’t as bad between us as I’d made them out to be.

  

  The next couple of weeks went smoothly. I was spending more time at home and the two of us hadn’t exchanged one cross word. I knew it would never last. As soon as things blew over at Jon’s house and the band got back to work I feared our troubles would begin anew.

   Jade, for some mysterious reason, hated me being in a band. She knew it was part of the package when we met. I had been playing with some guys from school then. She had grown to trivialize my need to play music. It became a major point of contention between us. As long as I was under her thumb, like I had been recently, she was fine. I enjoyed the peace while it was happening but I knew it would never last.

   When the phone rang that Wednesday evening the look on her face told me it was all about to change.

   “It’s Jon,” she said, venom dripping from her voice. She handed me the phone and shot me a nasty look before heading back in to the kitchen.

   Well, I guess all good things must end.

  “What’s up, man?” I said.

   “Bo, my brother from another mother, what the f**k is happening?”

   Jon was buzzed and wanted something. I’d known him long enough to hear it in his voice.

 

 

 

   “Not much, just hanging out watching T.V.” I said. “What have you been up to? Heard anything out of Angel?”

  “Nope. Not a peep. I think the b***h fell off the map. It’s not like I give a s**t, though. I’ve been hanging out with this tough little blond stripper from Norwood, Karla. She’s got some t*****s that could start a war, man. You’ve got to see these things, Bo.”

   I smiled and shook my head. I was glad Jade couldn’t listen in on this conversation.

   “What happened to Laney? I figured you’d have her piled up now that Angel’s gone.”

  “Laney’s in New York trying to get famous. I told you it was just a thing with her. Besides I think she’s about half nutty.”

  “No s**t?” I tried not to laugh out loud in Jon’s ear. “What makes you say that?”

  “That night Mick took me out looking for Angel, Laney tracked us down and followed us for like an hour. Mick and I both spotted her and eventually lost her. Then she shows up at my house and denies the whole thing. And I’m like ‘we saw you, Laney,’ but she wouldn’t come off of it.  Then she gives me this crazy speech that my relationship with Angel is this and this and blah blah f*****g blah. That’s when I was all like, b***h, you have got to go.  She’s f*****g looney tunes, dude. So, I was glad when that little Cali girl of yours told me Laney had split. I’ve got to stay away from her, man.”

   I ignored Jon’s comment about Cali being ‘mine’.

  “So, anyway, Bo. The band got offered big bucks to play a party on the Fourth of July. I’m trying to see if everyone can come over Saturday for a band meeting. I’ll fire up the grill and

 

 

 

make some burgers and we can get our set list figured out. I figured I’d call you first since you’re always the hardest one to spring.”

  “The fourth? That doesn’t give us much time to rehearse,” I said.

   I noticed Jade peek around the corner when I said that. I guessed I better get ready. It was probably about to go down.  Again.

   “You worry too much, Bo. You know we’ve got this s**t down. Two or three rehearsals and we’ll blow their doors off. What’d you say? Can you be here Saturday?”

  “What time?”

  “2 or so. I figured we’d make a day of it. Maybe even jam some then. Cool?”

  “Cool,” I said.

  “Alright. I’ll see you then. Kiss the baby for me and tell Jade I said ‘hey’.”

  “Alright, man. Take care. Later.”

  “Later.”

   As soon as I hung up the phone Jade was on me like ugly on an ape.

  “What was that about?”

  I looked into her blue eyes and tried to send a mental transmission of calm deep into her psyche. If she started her s**t, I was going to go off of the deep end.

  “Jon said we have an offer to play a party on the Fourth of July for some decent money. He wants to have a band meeting Saturday. He’s going to cook out so we’re all invited.”

  

 

 

 

   Jade gave me a dismissive look. “I’m not going over there,” she said with more than a touch of disdain. “Your mom offered to take Kirby and I shopping Saturday. I guess I’ll call her and take her up on it.”

   She turned on her heel and walked back into the kitchen shaking her head. At least, she hadn’t started a fight, but it sure as hell wasn’t friendly either.

   I took Jade and Kirby to my parents Saturday. I gave Jade some money, kissed her and Kirby and saw them off on their day of shopping. I was still surprised by how calm things had been

between us. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I decided since it hadn’t I needed to quit questioning it and move on.

  I rolled on over to Jon’s singing with the radio and feeling better than I had in a while. It was a beautiful day. It was warm but not humid. The sky was clear and as I drove along I took notice of all the people taking in the sunshine.  I pulled in to the trailer park blissed out on the summer day.

  As I rounded the curve towards Jon I was surprised to see Angel’s grey Camaro parked in the drive. Jon’s truck was gone so I wondered if something else had gone wrong. I hoped they didn’t do something that would ruin my good day.

  I went up and knocked on the door cautiously. Much to my surprise Angel opened it with a big smile on her face.

  “Bo, How’s it going? C’mon in.”

 

 

 

  

   I walked in and looked around. Everything seemed normal. Angel was just hanging out drinking a beer and listening to Skid Row on the stereo.

  “So, back from another adventure?” I asked like she’d been on vacation.

  Angel gave me a weird look as she headed for the kitchen. “Just a diversion. You want a beer or something?’

  “I’ll take a Coke if you’ve got it.” I said. “Where’s Jon?”

   “He went to the store to get stuff for the cook-out.” Angel opened my Coke and handed it to me as she sat down on the couch. “I heard about the fourth. It sounds like a good time.”

   “I just hope it pays as good as Jon says it will. Do you know who it is that booked us?”

  “No. He didn’t say. I guess we’ll find out when everybody gets here. So how are things with you and Jade? Still fighting?”

   I had to smile. After all of the pyrotechnics of their last blow up. Angel behaved as if nothing ever happened. It amazed me every single time.

  “It’s actually been pretty peaceful,” I said. “She didn’t give me s**t about coming over today or anything. I keep waiting for something to screw it up.”

  “I’d enjoy it as long as it lasts,” Angel said.

  “That’s what I keep telling myself.”

   Angel stared at me as I took a drink of soda and set the can on the coffee table. I pulled a cigarette out of my pack and lit it basking in the awkward silence.

  “So, I sense a question floating around in that pretty little head of yours, my dear. What’s up?”

  

 

 

   “Did you get to meet Jon’s little stripper buddy?”

   “Nope. I haven’t been over here since the night you took off,” I said.

   “But I’m sure he called you to fill you in on all of the gory details, didn’t he?”

   “Not really. He mentioned her in passing,” I said.

   “Did he say if she was a blond or a red head?”

   I started rolling laughing. I couldn’t help myself. It was just too funny.

   “What’s so f*****g funny, Bo?” Angel asked, tossing a pillow at me from her side of the couch.

   “Why do you care, Angel? I mean, really? You run off with Donnie for damn near two weeks and you’re worried about who Jon’s been seeing? I mean come on.”

   Angel’s eyes narrowed. I could tell my reaction aggravated her, but I didn’t care. She’d get over it.

  “I wasn’t with Don the whole time. I did him once, which wasn’t all that by the way. He brought me back here the next morning to get my car and then I went to my Dad’s. That’s where I’ve been.”

  “So you’ve been in Blanchester the whole time?”

  “Bored out of my damn mind,” Angel said. “So really. Bo. Tell me which one was it, the blond or the red head?”

  “I really don’t know, kiddo. The only thing I remember him mentioning was a bodacious set of ta-ta’s. He said they were big enough to start a war.”

  

 

 

   Angel smirked. “The blond. They were all here when I got back last night. Pat Kennedy was here but I couldn’t tell who was with whom. I told Jon to get them all out of here. I can’t stand Pat. He’s a f*****g sleaze ball.”

   I wasn’t crazy about him either. He was way too involved in doing hard drugs and chasing w****s. You couldn’t say anything against him to Jon, though. He thought Pat was great.

  “Yeah, he is. I’m glad I wasn’t around for that.”

   “Well, hopefully, Jon’s got it out of his system for now and you guys can get back to work,”

    “He better, I’m not dealing with Pat if he starts hanging around. I’ll end up kicking his junkie a*s.”

  “So, now for my next question,” Angel smiled. “What happened to Jon’s little model chickie, Laney?”

   “What is this an interrogation? She split for New York. That’s all I know. Now, quit pumping me for information,” I said, laughing.

  Angel grinned. “You won’t let me pump you for anything else.”

  “Don’t start with me, girl.”

  “You know it’s yours whenever you want, Bo. I won’t tell a soul.”

  “I like you too much to disappoint you like that, darlin,” I said.

  “Whatever. I know better than that.”

  I heard Jon’s truck pull up outside. I looked at Angel and smiled. “Looks like we’re out of time anyway, doll. I better go help him carry stuff in.”

 

 

 

   We both got up from the couch and headed for the door.

  “Don’t tell Jon what I was asking you about,” Angel said.

  “Have I ever?”

  “No.” she smiled, “That’s why I love you.”

  “Is that the only reason?” I asked.

   “Nope. Give me a chance and I’ll tell you all about the others.”

  Angel winked at me as she opened the door.

   I just smiled and shook my head. If I didn’t think she was trying to play me, I’d almost take a shot at it.

   Jon was hauling groceries out of the bed of the truck by the time we got out there to him. Angel took a bunch of the bags out of his hands with a pleasant smile and headed back toward the trailer.

   Jon looked at me and rolled his eyes and shook his head as we watched her walk away.

 “So what did she do, just waltz back in last night while you and Pat were playing patty fingers with the strippers?”

  “What did she say?” Jon asked.

  “She said she told you to clear everybody when she got home.”

  “Pretty much. We were all just laying around stoned playing Nintendo when she walked in. She looked around, turned off the stereo and said ‘Okay, kiddies the party’s over. Momma’s back.’

 

 

 

 

Then, she just cruises on back to the bedroom. So, I go back there and I’m pissed, right, and there she is stripping down to get in the shower. She looks at me, half naked, and says “Lets just take an eraser to these past couple of weeks. Clear everybody out and I’ll give you something to remember.’ An eraser, dude. So after a couple of seconds of watching her jump out of her clothes I said ‘Why not.’ I went back out pulled Pat aside and told him to gather up the girls and split. He didn’t seem to mind. I think he wanted a shot at Karla anyway so they took off.”

    “Okay, that’s really messed up,” I said, grabbing a huge bag of charcoal out of the truck bed.

  “Which part?” Jon asked.

    “The whole damn thing. Jesus, Jon. You bring over the chick your banging. Angel bounces with a friend. She walks back in and you just dump another chick on the spot and take Angel back?” That’s a hell of an eraser. “ I said.

   Jon shrugged and gave me a sheepish look. “Well, it was never going to work with that Karla girl, anyway, She was a hard core b***h, man. She f***s like a beast but she never stopped bitching. I was burned out on her before Angel ever rolled in. You know Angel’s my girl. Even after all the stupid s**t, she’s still the one.”

  “If you say so. You all just have a funny goddamn way of showing it,” I said.

  “Whatever,” Jon said. “Help me get this grill set up, would you?”

  “So when are Devon and Stevie supposed to get here?”

  “I told Devon one o’clock,” Jon said, smiling. “That way he’d  get here by two thirty.”

 

 

 

 

   “That boy will be late for his own funeral,” I said. “I don’t know how a drummer with such precision timing behind a drum kit could be so bad at punctuality.”

  “I suppose his brain made up for one by the loss of the other,” Jon said. “It’s the only way I can figure.”

   Jon was right on the money, too. Devon, his girlfriend Mandy and our bass player Steve rolled in at ten minutes after two, just as the food was getting done.

   Devon and Steve were one of the best rhythm sections in and around Cincinnati. They thought like a unit and played like an atomic wrecking ball. They were tight, like Jon and I, and had

played together for years. When the four of us hit the stage it was powerful. We were turning into a juggernaut and I couldn’t have been happier.

   Devon was first out of the car and rolled up on Jon and I squeezing us both with each arm. He was taller than both of us and muscular from all of the drumming. His best feature by far was his sense of humor. He never stopped with the jokes. You couldn’t keep a straight face around him. He wouldn’t let you.

  “Sorry we’re late. Mandy wouldn’t get out of the bathroom. You all heard of the three S’s, right; s**t, shower and shave? Well, with her there are about ten more, soak, stare, sigh, sing, shade and shellac. I could paint the Maysville Bridge quicker than it takes her to put on make-up.”

 

 

 

 

 

   Mandy walked up shaking her head. She was a looker. She was almost full-blooded Lakota Sioux. She was tall and thin and had the most striking coal black eyes. She was also hot-  tempered and more than willing to kick somebody’s a*s if they needed it, including Devon.

  “Yeah, but it didn’t help that Devon didn’t roll his lazy a*s out of bed until twelve thirty, either.”

  “Hey! You weren’t supposed to tell them that part, sugar.” Devon said.

   Mandy smiled and smacked Devon on the a*s as she walked by. “Is Angel inside?”

  “Yeah,” Jon said, “go on in.”

   Stevie rolled up on us nodding his head in his own plodding fashion. He was the most laid-back cat I had ever met, anywhere. You couldn’t rattle the guy. He wasn’t much of a talker but the ladies loved him. He got as much action as Jon but never let him self get tied down. He had his long curly brown hair pulled up in a top knot like Gene Simmons and had a Sex Pistols T-shirt on. If any of us looked like a genuine rock star it was Stevie.

  He sat his bass case down by the steps and gave us a quick look over. “What’s up?”

  “What’s going on, wild man?” Jon asked. “Do anything good lately?”

  Stevie smiled his slow easy smile and nodded, “I’ve been hanging out with that little blond waitress from Annie’s. You know the one that threw the drink in Barry’s face the last time we played there.”

  “Yeah, right.” I said, trying to remember her name, “Jenny?”

  

 

 

  

   Barry was the singer from another local band that thought he was God’s gift to music and women.

  “Yeah, Jenny,” Stevie said. “When she threw the drink in that dickhead’s face I knew I had to check her out, man. She’s pretty cool.”

  “She’s f*****g hot,” Jon said. “She wouldn’t give me the time of day.”

  Stevie smiled a big s**t eating grin, “Like I said, she’s pretty cool.”

  Jon got a goofy expression on his face but then smiled and flipped Stevie off.  “Whatever, m**********r. You all ready to eat?”

   Devon grabbed the plate of burgers out of Jon’s hand so he could close the lid to the grill.

“I’m ready to hear about this gig, man. It’s been a month since we’ve played anywhere. I want to kick some a*s.”

   We followed Jon into the house. The girls were laying out stuff on the kitchen table and Angel came over to relieve Devon of the burgers.

  “You all remember that big sweaty frat guy that kept bugging us at Never-on’s, between sets?” Jon asked. “The one that was falling around the dance floor with the pitcher of beer in his hand.”

  “Yeah,” Devon said. “Tommy got in his a*s for slopping beer all over the place. Wasn’t he with your cousin or something?”

  “Yeah. Marla. They go to college together.” Jon said. “Anyway, Marla called and said that guy, Benny, always has this big blow-out for the Fourth every year and he wants us to play. Evidently, his parents are loaded and she said he’d pay two hundred bucks a man.”

 

 

 

   Silence.

  That number took the three of us by complete surprise.

 “If he said he’d pay, I say we play,” Devon said. “Where’s the party at?”

  “Outside of Milford somewhere, I told Marla we’d probably accept so when I call her back I’ll get this Benny character to come to one of the practices and get all the details worked out.”

  “Works for me,” I said. Devon and Stevie nodded.

   And just like that, it was on. The Malevolent were back in the race.

   “Now let’s eat,” Jon said. “I’m starving.”

  

   After we ate we loaded in Devon’s drums and Stevie’s rig. We didn’t do a full on practice. I was still apprehensive about practicing in the middle of a trailer park. Like Jon said, though, they were his neighbors not mine. After we had gotten our practice nights worked out, I left.

   Jon tried to talk me into staying but I knew it was going to be tough enough getting Jade to deal with the practice nights between now and the Fourth. When Mom dropped them off from shopping, I was going to be there.

   I made my way home pleased with the prospect of a decent paying gig. Party’s were always fun to play but were a lot of work. Playing outside presented a unique set of problems so it always took a little more planning and attention to detail than setting up in a club. Fortunately, it wasn’t our first rodeo so everything should go smoothly. I would make sure everything went smoothly. I didn’t want anything to tarnish our image.

 

 

 

    All the possibilities of a glorious future swam through my head as I drove down into the valley toward New Richmond and home.

   I pulled up in front of my apartment as happy as a clam. I smiled and waved at our downstairs neighbor, Jim, who was sitting out on his stoop.

  “Is Jade home yet?” I asked as I walked around the car.

  “Yeah. They got back about five minutes ago. I get a kick out of that boy of yours. As soon as his feet hit the ground he was on the run. Your wife had to chase him down. He took off up the street just jabbering away. He’s as cute as he can be.”

   “Thanks. It’s like he went from crawling to running. It’s a race just to keep him out of everything.”

  “I wish I still had that much energy,” Jim said.

  “Me too,” I said. “Well, I better get up there and give Jade a break. I’ll talk to you later, Jim.”

  “Be good.” He said.

   Jade had Kirby in his high chair trying to feed him when I walked in the door. It looked like he was wearing more food than he had eaten. Jade was talking to him and giggling when I walked in. I managed to get a smile out of her, too.

  “Wow. You’re early. I didn’t figure you’d be back until after dark.”

  “It was just a meeting. I wanted to be back by the time you got here.”

  “We just got back. We found Kirby some of the cutest outfits. I’ll show them to you later.”

  “Cool. You want me to finish feeding him?”

 

 

 

   “No, it’s okay. I’m trying to get him to eat these peas but he just keeps playing with them.”

  “I can tell. He ate them when they were baby food.”

  “I know. He seems to be having more fun squishing them between his fingers,” Jade said. “I got him some of the cooked carrots too. I guess I’ll see if he’ll eat them.”

  I grabbed a can of soda out of the fridge and sat down at the kitchen table. As soon as Jade sat the carrots down on the high chair tray Kirby scooped them up and started munching.

  “I guess peas just aren’t his thing today,” Jade said. “Oh well. As long as he eats.”

  “I got some good news today. That party we’re going to play is going to pay $200 bucks.”

   Jade frowned. “For all of you?”

 “No. A piece. Evidently, it’s some rich kid that’s dating Jon’s cousin. So the offer was $800.”

   Jade looked at me and considered what I’d said. I was waiting for some derogatory comment to come spilling out.

  “We could use it.” Jade said after a second.

   “We’ve got time for three practices between now and then. The guy hiring us is supposed to be at one of them to work out the details. So, I guess it’s a done deal.”

   Jade gave me a weird look when I mentioned the practices.

   I knew she would.

  “When are they?”

 

 

 

 

 

   “Tuesday and Thursday. Just like always. I didn’t want to change the schedule. We’ll practice twice next week and once the week of the fourth. I hope you can come with me to the party. It sounds like a good time.”

   I got another weird look. I was pushing my luck.

  “I don’t want to go to a party with a bunch of snotty rich kids,” Jade said,

  “Well, I don’t blame you there. You wouldn’t have to, though. The band will probably have its own spot and you can hang out with Angel and Mandy.”

  “That’s not much better,”

  “Whatever. Don’t go. I don’t care. I just thought it would be nice to get out together.”

  “Don’t start with me, Bo.” Jade shot me a dangerous look. 

   “Who’s starting? I just wanted to take my wife out. I’m sorry that’s too much to ask.”

   Jade didn’t respond. She turned her back to me and went back to watching Kirby eat.

  I grabbed my soda off of the table and went into the living room to veg in front of the T.V.

 My happy day, officially over.

   Jade and I stayed out of each other’s way for the next couple of days. I took Kirby to my grandmother’s house on Sunday and left Jade at home. I didn’t even ask her if she wanted to go. I didn’t feel like having to deal with her.

   When I got home from work on Monday her and the baby were gone. She didn’t leave me a note but that was no big surprise. I got a shower and headed across town to get something to eat.

 

 

 

  

   They were still gone when I got back so I pulled out my practice amp and plunked around on my guitar for a while. I was a little nervous about the party and I wanted to make damn sure I was ready for it.

  After an hour or so I heard Jade come through the door. I sat my guitar down and went out to see if she needed any help. As soon as she saw me she gave me a grave look. It took me by surprise.

  “We need to talk, “ she said.

  I got Kirby out of the car seat and took him into the living room. I put my guitar away and then sat in the floor with the baby to play. Jade came in and looked at the guitar case and amp shaking her head.

   “You need to sell some of that stuff,” Jade said pointing at the amp. “We ‘re going to need the money.”

  Aw, hell, here we go.

  “I’m not selling my stuff, Jade. What the hell are you talking about?”

  Jade looked at me and I knew instantly it was not going to be good.

   “I’m pregnant.” She walked over and sat down on the couch, lighting a cigarette. I just sat and stared into the space where she had been standing. I was in total disbelief.

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  ‘That’s where I’ve been. I had a doctor’s appointment. It’s a lock. I’m pregnant and way farther along than I thought.”

 

 

 

   “How far?” I asked.

  “Four months. I couldn’t believe it. I knew something was screwed up but I didn’t think I was pregnant. I thought the birth control pills were f*****g me up. I took a home test in the beginning of May and it came out negative. But I am definitely pregnant. I’m due right around our anniversary.”

   I was in a state of total shock. I sat there breathing deeply, very, slowly. I thought I was going to have a panic attack or a heart attack or a screaming s**t fit or something. I didn’t know how to process what was going on in my head. I was really starting to freak out.

  “Aren’t you going to say anything?” Jades voice was razor sharp but I didn’t know how to respond.

    “Bo, goddamn it, answer me.”

  I turned and looked at her. I felt as if all of the blood had drained out of my skull, I thought I might pass out.

  “I don’t know if I’m ready for this,” I said.

   That’s when Jade went off.

   “Well, you better get ready, m**********r, because it’s happening. So now you’re going to quit that lame a*s band and get a real job. It’s time to grow up.”

  The comment swam in my head for a second as reality slowly settled back into by brain.

  “I’m not quitting s**t.”

Reviews

[Ellen Brook]

Two Thumbs up!

[w2de35657u687y4324rf]

This chapter didn't include as much emotional(or sex) appeal. I, as a reader, struggled through some of it. I started viewing out narrator as an antihero, thinking that he had lied about Jade being a b***h.
I really like the play you've struck up around Angel and Jon, it's pretty characteristic (I've known people), and you've exercised it well (this kind of unspoken, but acted reality of the two people on the brink of all worlds).
Angel's character is especially resourceful, you never quite know what she's going to do. I definitely see some hot wires crossing about in the future with that one. I feel like I don't really know what she looks like for playing such a big part. Bo is more of an action narrator, though.
I also feel a bit on the vague side with Kirby, too, which also leads me to think that Bo is an antihero. We have not had any interaction with him throughout the story, only big talk on him. So, it's suspicious to me.
Also, be sure you have a friend run through with a fine tooth comb before sending it off for publication. There was one phrase that was just too funny, and I think unintentional, "Tommy got in his a*s..."
Overall though, it was still really great. It definitely a sense of realism and culture. Your ending was tragically expert. You cut mid-scene as opposed to semi-resolution, which really renders the reader ready to turn that page. Unfortunately, I'm not in that position. Keep it up, Lawrence, and we can have this whole thing reviewed in no time!