Chapter Thirty-Three
Ashland
Doug, the owner of the Deck Bar was giving us the stink eye while he wiped down the mahogany bar shaped like the hull of a ship. We were regulars. He liked us coming in, sure. He liked that his place had become sort of an unofficial hangout for the band. In fact, he had our pictures with our handwritten endorsements proudly displayed on the wall. But the amount of tacos we had packed away on two for one night was definitely cutting into his bottom line. Fanny did her part. She wasn’t shy about eating which I appreciated. I had no use for the rabbit food micro meal bit some chicks did. Plus she was making up for those weeks on the street.
“Truly?” she asked Linc, leaning forward in her seat, her eyes wide behind the round rose hued sunglasses she was wearing despite being indoors at night. Like a rock star trying to remain incognito which in fact she was. I stopped wandering through my thoughts and playing with the strings on her halter. I think she wore things with strings to torture me.
“That’s exactly how it was.” I had to correct my cousin’s recounting of the band’s first real gig outside of OB. I shook my head at him across the pub table. Simone just rolled her eyes, accustomed to our sibling-like squabbles.
“Oh, that’s exactly how I remember it,” he disagreed.
“You’re exaggerating the whole thing. I was only a little nauseated.”
“Ba-ha-ha!” Ramon slapped his hand on the tabletop, jostling Karen since he had his other arm around her. She had eaten as much as Fanny had and was starting to look sleepy. “If by a little you mean two barely digested In-N-Out burgers and two fries erupting volcanically then yeah, ok.” The traitor turned his head to the side mimicking my puking. “All over the fucking stage.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yuck it up, Martinez. You wanna start down that nostalgic road of embarrassing stage stories, I can relate the one about how you extended your guitar solo for twenty minutes in Kansas City just because you didn’t want to face Karen’s wrath for going onstage wasted again.”
“That stop was bad.” Linc cringed. “People started throwing shit at us.”
“Ok. Ok. I’ll leave you alone about your stage fright.” Ramon gave in. “Shame though.”
“How’s that?”
“Well, you got it under control enough to play the drums. Too bad we’ll never get to see you singing lead again.”
“What the hell made you think of that?” Linc asked. “Ash hasn’t fronted in forever.”
“Since you joined the band. Yeah.” Ramon nodded reflectively. “But he sang great with Fanny today. Sounded even better when I listened to it on the playback. He’s got a sweet voice. I forgot how much he sounds like Bono.”
“I wish.” I made a dismissive sound. “But thanks.”
“You do,” Fanny weighed in. “I was trying to think who you sounded like. If you do a new song for the greatest hits you should do a U2 cover.”
“That’s a fine idea, Fanny.” Linc nodded his head. “There was a time when it was his dream to front the Dogs…”
“Yeah,” I cut in. “Only I got a reality check when I couldn’t even play that tiny backyard gig without tossing it. You saved the band.” I gave credit where credit was due. I would beat his ass later for spilling about my hopes and dreams.
“Why do you think it happens?” Fanny asked, taking my hand and playing with my fingers, lightly tracing them, going in and out between them. It felt good, but it was making my cock hard. I needed to get her alone soon to hash out some things. I wanted her. I wanted us at the next level. After that kiss and fooling around in my bedroom, it was practically all I could think about.
“Ash?” she prompted, peering over the top rim of her shades and batting her lashes, looking totally cute, sexy and adorable.
“What?” I replied a little too forcefully. She was testing the limits of my control.
“The stage fright?”
“Oh. I don’t like being on center stage with everyone staring at me. Too much pressure.”
“Too much you can’t control, you mean,” Linc chimed back in. “Audiences can be very fickle. One day they love you. The next they’re throwing beer bottles at your head.”
“That,” I tapped the table to emphasize, “is a prime example. And when the bottles are full it’s the worst.”
“Well, I can certainly understand.” Sympathy brimmed in her eyes. “But Ramon’s right. It’s a shame. Knowing how brave you are. Seeing and hearing today how hard you rock it.” She bumped my shoulder. “Singing is part bravado and part balance, besides not tripping over your own power cords and such.”
“Fanny,” I warned. “I see what you did there.”
“Just giving it to you like I got it about the surfing. And singing lead’s easier. You don’t even have to worry about sharks, Ash.”
“People are a lot more unpredictable than sharks.”
“Touché. But I wish you’d give it a try.”
“Thanks, but I have, little one.”
“A long time ago.”
“Not happening.”
“Give it up, Fanny,” Linc told her. “He’s immutable when he’s made up his mind.”
“You could wish on the mermaid.”
“What?” Fanny’s auburn brows lifted.
“It’s a long-shot.” Diesel swiveled and pointed to the mermaid painting on the back wall. “Legend has it that if you bring her an offering, something that reminds her of the sea and you kiss her on the lips when the bar is full of witnesses, a ship’s bell will ring, and you’ll get what you desire. In my case the bell was my cell phone ringing.”
“Not this shit again.” Ramon rolled his eyes.
“Hey, it worked for me.”
“You groped the poor mermaid, too, as I recall,” Karen reminded him. “I think she just granted your wish to be rid of you.”
“Not that any of us are complaining about the results, Le,” I added. “Glad it worked. Your ex is really bad news. We’re all on your side about her. I would’ve given the mermaid a kiss before you did, if I’d have thought it would make her go away sooner.”
“Hey, speaking of cells, yours is ringing.” Fanny pointed to where it lay screen up between us on the table. I’d kept it out waiting for the lawyer to text me the specifics on the meeting about Lesowski tomorrow. But it wasn’t the lawyer. It was my dad’s face on the display.
“Hey, Dad. We still on for Mom’s birthday?”
“Ash. That’s not why I called. I need you. Your mom. She’s having one of her episodes.”
“Fuck.” My fingers tightened around my cell. It had been years.
“What’s going on?” I heard Linc ask, but I covered my ear with one hand so I could hear my dad better and waved him to be quiet with the other. “Where are you? What’s going on?”
“We’re at Stump’s Family Market. She’s…well she’s currently doing a little striptease in the produce section.”
“Oh, Dad.” I sighed.
“The audience is small. I don’t think they have video surveillance cameras in this store. I hope they don’t. I’m hoping you can help me talk her down. Maybe we can get her to stop without the police getting involved, her getting slapped with a public indecency charge and losing her spot on the city council.”
~ ~ ~
Fanny
I noticed several things right off the bat when Ash, Linc, Simone and I entered the small grocery store. One, Ash’s dad looked a lot like him only older. And two, Ash didn’t just love his dad, he really loved his dad. He went to him first and placed an empathetic arm around his shoulders while Linc moved toward his mom.
“You ok, Dad?” he asked when he pulled back, his troubled gaze assessing.
“Yeah, son.” He rubbed a hand over his husky beard. “It hasn’t happened in so long, I forget what to do. Guess I’m a little flustered.”
“Linc and I’ll handle her. Things will be fine. You’ll see.”
“I know I should be more firm with her. But when she’s doing well, she starts to believe that she doesn’t really need her medication anymore. She’s been halving her dose. Says it makes her too sleepy. Disinterested in…” he trailed off, noticing me. “Who’s this?”
“Fanny, Dad. Fanny Bay.”
“Fanny,” he repeated. “Sorry to make your acquaintance under such…exceptional circumstances.”
Linc reappeared and the vocal stylings of the fifty-something blonde currently standing atop the apple bin rose in volume. We all turned to regard her. She shimmied her booty and tossed her scarf down to the ground as she rendered her version of ‘I’m A Slave 4 U’. Now I knew where Ash got his singing voice.
“Aunt Maggie told me to go away and not return unless I could make it rain.”
Ash’s dad sighed.
“Sorry, Uncle Gene. I tried.”
“What if Gene and I get Linc’s car?” Simone suggested. “We’ll bring it around to the front of the store while you two get Maggie to come down so we can take her to the hospital.”
“That’s a good plan.” Ash nodded. “Thanks, Simone.” He kissed her cheek.
“You would do the same for me, Ash. Your family, Linc’s family, it’s mine, too.” She turned to Gene. “Ready to go?” she asked him. He glanced back at his wife and cringed. She was showing no signs of letting up.
“Yes, sure. I’ll call her doctor while we’re in the car. Tell her which hospital we’re going to. Maybe she can meet us there.”
“Good thinking, Dad.”
“Yeah,” he returned wryly. “It’s easier to think straight when you’re surrounded by people you love.”
“It’ll be ok.” Ash embraced his father. “We’ll join you in a bit.” He turned to Linc as Simone escorted his father away. His expression was part resignation part bemusement. “Let’s shut this down, Linc. You play good cop. I’ll be the bad one.”
“I’ll follow your lead.”
They squeezed their way through the small semicircle of onlookers that had gathered. Linc said something to his aunt that made her smile and stopped her singing. Ignoring Ash, she took the hand her nephew extended, stepped down like a queen flanked by her royal escort, and we all left the store through the automatic doors, a smattering of applause following us.
Outside, there were logistics to sort out. In the end, Linc switched places with his fiancée driving his sleek new car with Gene in the front seat and Ash and his mom in the back. Simone called a Lyft for us. We arrived at the hospital not long after they had. They were just finishing filling out the paperwork in the emergency room when we stepped through the sliding glass doors.
“I miss my boys,” Maggie lamented from her spot in one of the plastic chairs in the waiting area squeezing her nephew’s arm, then her son’s. Simone and I moved to take seats on either side of Gene. He looked alone and more than a little overwhelmed.
“I miss you, Aunt Maggie. What’s been happening lately on the city council?”
“Oh, you know. The usual scheming and backstabbing and underhanded tactics.”
“Ohh-kayy. Maybe small talk isn’t such a good idea right now,” Linc admitted.
“Ash,” she called even though he was right beside her, and her hand was curled around his crooked arm. “There’s some girl I don’t know sitting with your dad,” she whispered loudly.
“I know, Mom. She belongs to me.”
“She does? Oh my. That’s never happened.” She narrowed her gaze on me.
“Hello, Mrs. Keys.” I waved, my heart warming even in the chilled hospital air because of Ash’s words. She swiveled back to him. “She’s pretty enough. You should keep her.”
“I plan to for as long as I can.”
“You and your plans.” She made a disapproving sound. “You should try a little spontaneity.”
“Like stripping in the grocery store?”
“Don’t be fresh,” she sputtered.
“Ash knows love doesn’t follow rules, dear,” Gene said softly.
“But he puts people off with all those do’s and don’ts and keep away boundaries.”
“Mom,” Ash warned.
“Yes, son?”
“Drop it. Before you scare her away.”
“You don’t think the stripping thing did it?” Linc muttered.
“I can hope not,” Ash returned.
“Mrs. Keys?” A nurse appeared, an electronic pad in hand glancing around the surprisingly empty waiting room.
“Yes?” Maggie replied, standing but now she was the one who appeared overwhelmed, more than a little. Her husband moved to take her hand, leading her toward the back with Ash and Linc following. Ash stopped and came back to me. “Do you mind waiting with Simone?”
“Of course not.” I formed my hands into a lotus flower. “I’ll put positive thoughts in here. For her to get well soon. For strength for you, your dad, Linc and Simone. All of you.”
“Thank you,” he said, bringing his hands up to close his fingers around mine, closing my flower. “I appreciate that.”
Simone and I kept each other company. We didn’t have to wait overly long. Maggie’s doctor admitted her. She was taken to a private room and sedated. The men returned, somber in expression and not very talkative, but it was decided that Linc would drive all five of us to the home he and Ash had grown up in. Gene would pick up some things he needed before returning to the hospital to stay the night with her.
Twenty minutes of driving along dark winding hilly residential streets brought us to it, a one story white stucco home with red clay Mission roof tiles and arched Mediterranean windows. It was more than a few blocks away from the ocean. Once we were inside, Ash went to the kitchen to call the insurance company while Gene took my hand and led me around the modest but warmly appointed house showing me family photos in the hall and the trophies in his son’s bedroom as we conversed.
“He made top grades in all of his classes, but science and math were his favorites.” Gene’s coppery brown eyes brimmed with fatherly pride.
“I can see that,” I affirmed as I perused a wall lined with Ash’s academic awards. “I imagine he excels at anything he puts his mind to,” I muttered. It was a bit intimidating.
“Pretty much. Yes. He’s most comfortable when things follow a set of rules. You know he taught himself to play the drums? Never took one lesson. And I think, well…” His expression turned bemused. “I think they’re his refuge when the world around him gets chaotic. Like with Maggie’s episodes.”
“You ready to head back to the penthouse?” Ash appeared at the entrance to his old room, a worried crease between his eyes.
“Whenever you are,” I answered though I was a little confused. “But aren’t we going back to the hospital with your father?”
“No.” He turned to Gene. “Get your things, Dad. Linc’s ready to take you. I’m going to walk home.”
“Alright, son.” Gene shuffled past us, looking suddenly less enthusiastic than he had been when bragging about Ash.
“Let’s go, Fanny.” Ash put his hand on the small of my back. He seemed in a hurry for us to leave. Firmly, he steered me down the short hall, through the living room and directly out the front door.
“Your house is very nice,” I stated as we crossed his lawn and turned right on the sidewalk. The street was wide on this part of town, the houses along it a lot like his and quiet at this late of an hour. The ocean was too far away to see or hear.
“Not Beverly Hills nice,” he returned.
“My house wasn’t nice. Sure it had fine furnishings and plenty of space, but we were never a functioning family loving each other and solving our problems together like yours.”
“I’m sorry, Fanny. Tonight’s made me poor company.”
“It’s ok, Ash.” Foot catching in a pothole, I started to tell him I understood, but he hadn’t noticed my stumble and had gotten a couple of steps ahead of me. Suddenly a shadow separated from the alleyway we were crossing. Three of them.
“El Jefe!” I gasped recognizing the gang leader as his face tipped into the illumination from a nearby street lamp.
“I saw you walking out here.” His expression was sinister. “I said to Carlos and Nieto, we should go over and say hi. Make sure our lesson took, güera.” He snatched the black beanie from my head and tossed it to Carlos, who tossed it to Nieto.
“Now I bet you wish you had this one, eh?” His gaze overly bright as if he were high on something he withdrew my purple Lakers cap from one of his front pockets and a switchblade from the other. Fear slamming into me, I backed away from him so scared I almost threw up my Deck Bar tacos.
But this time it was different. This time I wasn’t alone.
Silently Ash swooped in, my own personal avenging angel. Lips pulled back from his teeth, his expression grim, he grabbed the gang leader’s arm and yanked it down hard toward his rising knee. I heard a sickening crack, and El Jefe’s arm bent at an odd angle across his thigh. The switchblade clattered to the concrete as it fell from his useless grip. My cap fell quietly to the ground beside it.
“You broke my fuckin’ arm!” El Jefe cried, going down onto his knees. Carlos and Nieto scattered. Ash didn’t waste any effort on them. He cast his gaze to the gang leader.
“You’re lucky I didn’t do worse.” His tone was deadly, absent of mercy like the justice he had just dispensed. “Never touch her again.” I had never seen Ash wear a more lethal expression. “In fact, steer clear of OB completely. If I see you or any of your gang around here again, next time I won’t be so merciful.” He straightened and turned, dismissing the gang leader and coming straight toward me. Moaning, El Jefe stumbled to his feet and limped back into the shadows.
“You ok?” Ash asked. He still looked furious.
“Yeah.” I nodded, trying to stave off the post adrenaline trembling. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me for giving that scumbag what he deserved.” He stooped and snagged something off the ground. He pressed it into my hands and turned away. I think he assumed the residual fear in my eyes was because of what he had done. I hurried after him not realizing what he had given me in the dark until we crossed beneath another street lamp.
My Lakers cap.
I crushed the yarn in my grip while marveling at the brooding knight beside me. Tonight had given me a coveted glimpse into his background. I understood better why Ash was emotionally and physically guarded. I suspected that he walled himself off to create a controllable stable environment likely because he didn’t have much of one growing up in a home with a bipolar parent. I was familiar enough with the disorder to know it was cyclical. Manic highs, often with bizarre behavior like Maggie’s display tonight, followed by severe lows. I pondered my new insight and held it close to my heart for safekeeping, as I did my feelings for the man himself and the unlikely favor he had bestowed upon me.