Ruby Cate & Isabella Grace in:
'SATURDAY WITH MY COUSIN'
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Stuck...
...because exersaucers aren't for ADULTS anymore.
(Dumb ass... and yes, that's my LITTLE BROTHER!)
(Dumb ass... and yes, that's my LITTLE BROTHER!)
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Another Pic Fix...
Yes, sometimes I really do watch TV like this...
Ah, Bear... he's just a love whore!
Hey! Easter Nonno! Um, where are my Easter eggs? Huh?
I love hanging upside down from your lap Easter Nonno...
...it just makes me GIGGLE!
(and obviously some of the blood goes rushing to my little noggin,
but so far, so good. Just let's not do this all day, deal? And what about those eggs?)
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Chapter Eight...
"DUDE, DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!" Tony yells to Nick as he's trying to catch up to his friend who was fiercely hauling ass across the street towards the studio.
"AND DON'T COME BACK!" Nick screams to the stranger with the hat, who is now high tailing it down Ocean in the direction of the highway.
"ASSHOLE!" Nick shakes his head in disgust & looks up to see Tony just now making it to where he is. "Took ya long enough, cripes Tony, you really ought to think about coming with me to the gym once in a while man."
Tony, pretending he hadn't heard him, "That guy just didn't know when to quit! I'm glad we chased him outta here!"
Nick, not feeling in the mood to split hairs over who actually did the chasing, changed the subject, "So, what's up with funeral plans for Jeff? You hear anything yet? She's gotta do it soon right? I mean, they can't keep him in a morgue forever."
Tony thinks for a minute, "No, I don't think they can, can they?" he looks confused.
"Never mind," Nick pats his cell phone, "she'll call when she knows something."
Nick checks the lock on the door of the studio, good & secure. "Alright man, I'm outta here, I'll catch you later, k?" he waves to Tony & heads for his car. Tony, smiling, says "Ok dude, see ya tomorrow." as they head home in different directions, Nick towards town & Tony off away from town to his larger than life house filled to capacity with Italians just waiting to feed you a home cooked meal.
Such different lives yet such cemented friendships.
Nick arrives home, well it was home to him anyway, a charming little studio apartment on the east side of town, right on the water. Cost him a fortune, but in the summer was a tiny slice of oceanfront heaven that he wouldn't trade for the world... well, maybe to get Jeff back, but he knew that wasn't an option.
He put the key in the door & headed inside, the place was frozen in the wintertime & the money he shelled out for heat barely left him much in the way for groceries & other necessities.
Ah, the price you pay for prime real estate in Massachusetts.
He tossed his keys down on the side table by the door & went to grab his space heater. "It's like a God damned IGLOO in here!" he said to himself aloud.
He sets the heater down on the hardwood floor, directly in front of the couch, plugs it in & turns it on. "C'mon you bastard," he says to it, as if it's going to listen & heat up his little place sooner rather than later. "I'm fucking frozen!"
He puts a pot of coffee on & goes to his bedroom area & grabs an extra pair of wool socks & a big polar fleece throw & heads for the couch.
Plopping himself down, he grabs the remote & turns on the TV; "Authorities are saying that they still don't know who is responsible for the vandalism, but investigators are looking into it." the news caster reported. "And in other more local news, the murder of 28 year old Jeff Hathaway Jr, is still under investigation. Authorities are currently following several possible leads & ask if anyone knows any information, to please contact the Collins Cove police department. In other news, one local man is being hailed a hero tonight after saving a family of stray cats from a burning shed in his neighbors yard. Ron Sandy with the story, Ron?"
Nick clicked off the TV. Who in the hell would want to murder Jeff? It had been on his mind ever since hearing it even happened to begin with.
Jeff was a good egg, just a bit high energy once in a while, no biggie.
Nothing anyone would wanna kill him over, certainly.
The smell of coffee was wafting through his little one room paradise like a fart in a car, only much, much better.
He got up & made himself a handsome cup with both cream & sugar, never understood why anyone would drink black coffee when such flavor was available at the shake of a sugar packet or the popping open of a little creamer.
His pocket started to vibrate, he reached for his cell & checked the caller, 'Jess H.' calling... "Hello, Jess? Everything ok?" he was happy she had called.
"Nick, no every thing's not ok, you got a minute?" she sounded scared.
"Jess, for you I got ten, what's up?" he said.
"It's Alice, she's just," she hesitated...
"She's what, Jess, what is it?" he pleaded.
"She's acting a little nuts, like paranoid almost. I don't understand it but honestly, she just isn't being her, I know that for a fact. I've known her for years, I know her better than anyone and I just can't pinpoint why she's behaving this way. I mean I know she lost a boyfriend too but c'mon, we all lost someone we loved dearly, this is hard on all of us!" she started to cry.
"Aw, Jess honey, don't cry, it's ok, Every thing's gonna be ok, I promise." he said.
"I just don't understand it, why is she so afraid of talking to the cops? I mean it Nick, it's like she's acting crazy or something. I mean it's not like she's got anything to hide, none of us do, we ALL loved Jeff! And now, she just wanted to go straight home, she didn't invite me in and she just said she needed to sleep & said goodnight, just like that, goodnight. No hug, no nothing. I'm really worried about her. I'm afraid she might do something drastic. I really want to be there with her but I'm not, I'm here in my apartment alone, that isn't being a very helpful friend, right? I mean, I should call her & insist on coming back over to stay with her, don't you think?" she heard the sound of her voice rambling.
"Jess, first of all, relax for me, will ya? I mean, it, we can't solve anything if you start to lose your marbles too, right? Ok so let's think. Maybe she really just does need some time alone, I mean we've all been through a pretty big tragedy here, right? It goes without saying that we might want some down time to process all this stuff. It's some pretty heavy shit Jess, you gotta admit that much." he said, hoping he had calmed her down, if only just a little.
"Yeah, I suppose but I'm her best friend Nick, why, of ALL people, shut ME out?" Jess was obviously upset.
"Jess, look... you want me to come over & stay with you? I can totally come over there right now, it's freezin' ova here anyways..." he said hopeful she'd say yes.
"No, I'd just bum you out, I just needed to vent, who knows. Maybe I just need a good long cry & a half decent night's sleep. You're sweet to offer though, thank you for that." she said.
Disappointed, Nick says to her, "Well, if you change your mind, you know how to reach me, k? Sleep well Jess & try not to let this bother you too much, Alice loves you to pieces, I'm sure she just needs a good night's sleep, like we all do, k?"
"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Nick, goodnight." and she hung up the phone.
Nick snaps his cell shut & slips it back into his pocket. He slinks back into the cushions of his couch, the space heater just now starting to give off some warmth, he curls up under his blanket and allows his thoughts to wander.
On the other side of town, at that exact same moment, Jess too allows her mind to wander, but unlike Nick, her wandering leads her home.
"AND DON'T COME BACK!" Nick screams to the stranger with the hat, who is now high tailing it down Ocean in the direction of the highway.
"ASSHOLE!" Nick shakes his head in disgust & looks up to see Tony just now making it to where he is. "Took ya long enough, cripes Tony, you really ought to think about coming with me to the gym once in a while man."
Tony, pretending he hadn't heard him, "That guy just didn't know when to quit! I'm glad we chased him outta here!"
Nick, not feeling in the mood to split hairs over who actually did the chasing, changed the subject, "So, what's up with funeral plans for Jeff? You hear anything yet? She's gotta do it soon right? I mean, they can't keep him in a morgue forever."
Tony thinks for a minute, "No, I don't think they can, can they?" he looks confused.
"Never mind," Nick pats his cell phone, "she'll call when she knows something."
Nick checks the lock on the door of the studio, good & secure. "Alright man, I'm outta here, I'll catch you later, k?" he waves to Tony & heads for his car. Tony, smiling, says "Ok dude, see ya tomorrow." as they head home in different directions, Nick towards town & Tony off away from town to his larger than life house filled to capacity with Italians just waiting to feed you a home cooked meal.
Such different lives yet such cemented friendships.
Nick arrives home, well it was home to him anyway, a charming little studio apartment on the east side of town, right on the water. Cost him a fortune, but in the summer was a tiny slice of oceanfront heaven that he wouldn't trade for the world... well, maybe to get Jeff back, but he knew that wasn't an option.
He put the key in the door & headed inside, the place was frozen in the wintertime & the money he shelled out for heat barely left him much in the way for groceries & other necessities.
Ah, the price you pay for prime real estate in Massachusetts.
He tossed his keys down on the side table by the door & went to grab his space heater. "It's like a God damned IGLOO in here!" he said to himself aloud.
He sets the heater down on the hardwood floor, directly in front of the couch, plugs it in & turns it on. "C'mon you bastard," he says to it, as if it's going to listen & heat up his little place sooner rather than later. "I'm fucking frozen!"
He puts a pot of coffee on & goes to his bedroom area & grabs an extra pair of wool socks & a big polar fleece throw & heads for the couch.
Plopping himself down, he grabs the remote & turns on the TV; "Authorities are saying that they still don't know who is responsible for the vandalism, but investigators are looking into it." the news caster reported. "And in other more local news, the murder of 28 year old Jeff Hathaway Jr, is still under investigation. Authorities are currently following several possible leads & ask if anyone knows any information, to please contact the Collins Cove police department. In other news, one local man is being hailed a hero tonight after saving a family of stray cats from a burning shed in his neighbors yard. Ron Sandy with the story, Ron?"
Nick clicked off the TV. Who in the hell would want to murder Jeff? It had been on his mind ever since hearing it even happened to begin with.
Jeff was a good egg, just a bit high energy once in a while, no biggie.
Nothing anyone would wanna kill him over, certainly.
The smell of coffee was wafting through his little one room paradise like a fart in a car, only much, much better.
He got up & made himself a handsome cup with both cream & sugar, never understood why anyone would drink black coffee when such flavor was available at the shake of a sugar packet or the popping open of a little creamer.
His pocket started to vibrate, he reached for his cell & checked the caller, 'Jess H.' calling... "Hello, Jess? Everything ok?" he was happy she had called.
"Nick, no every thing's not ok, you got a minute?" she sounded scared.
"Jess, for you I got ten, what's up?" he said.
"It's Alice, she's just," she hesitated...
"She's what, Jess, what is it?" he pleaded.
"She's acting a little nuts, like paranoid almost. I don't understand it but honestly, she just isn't being her, I know that for a fact. I've known her for years, I know her better than anyone and I just can't pinpoint why she's behaving this way. I mean I know she lost a boyfriend too but c'mon, we all lost someone we loved dearly, this is hard on all of us!" she started to cry.
"Aw, Jess honey, don't cry, it's ok, Every thing's gonna be ok, I promise." he said.
"I just don't understand it, why is she so afraid of talking to the cops? I mean it Nick, it's like she's acting crazy or something. I mean it's not like she's got anything to hide, none of us do, we ALL loved Jeff! And now, she just wanted to go straight home, she didn't invite me in and she just said she needed to sleep & said goodnight, just like that, goodnight. No hug, no nothing. I'm really worried about her. I'm afraid she might do something drastic. I really want to be there with her but I'm not, I'm here in my apartment alone, that isn't being a very helpful friend, right? I mean, I should call her & insist on coming back over to stay with her, don't you think?" she heard the sound of her voice rambling.
"Jess, first of all, relax for me, will ya? I mean, it, we can't solve anything if you start to lose your marbles too, right? Ok so let's think. Maybe she really just does need some time alone, I mean we've all been through a pretty big tragedy here, right? It goes without saying that we might want some down time to process all this stuff. It's some pretty heavy shit Jess, you gotta admit that much." he said, hoping he had calmed her down, if only just a little.
"Yeah, I suppose but I'm her best friend Nick, why, of ALL people, shut ME out?" Jess was obviously upset.
"Jess, look... you want me to come over & stay with you? I can totally come over there right now, it's freezin' ova here anyways..." he said hopeful she'd say yes.
"No, I'd just bum you out, I just needed to vent, who knows. Maybe I just need a good long cry & a half decent night's sleep. You're sweet to offer though, thank you for that." she said.
Disappointed, Nick says to her, "Well, if you change your mind, you know how to reach me, k? Sleep well Jess & try not to let this bother you too much, Alice loves you to pieces, I'm sure she just needs a good night's sleep, like we all do, k?"
"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Nick, goodnight." and she hung up the phone.
Nick snaps his cell shut & slips it back into his pocket. He slinks back into the cushions of his couch, the space heater just now starting to give off some warmth, he curls up under his blanket and allows his thoughts to wander.
On the other side of town, at that exact same moment, Jess too allows her mind to wander, but unlike Nick, her wandering leads her home.
Chapter Seven...
"Can we please turn this off?" Alice pleads, "I'm just really not in the mood for the radio right now." she said.
"Sure Al, no problem." Jess says as she turns the knob.
"Where we going anyways?" Alice asks.
"Where else? Taste Buds! Why, where did you think we were going? Al, we always hang out there." Jess said.
"I know, it's just that we're probably gonna run into people and I don't know if I can handle that right now..." she sighed.
"Al, honey I know you lost your boyfriend but I lost my brother too, remember?" Jess was slightly agitated, "If I can go in there to eat something, then you can too, k?"
Alice knew she was right, and she knew she was acting irrational. Sure she was in this deep but nobody knew that & her actions were going to be what gave her away long before any evidence, that much she knew. "Ok, you're right, I'm sorry."
"Alice, we're both exhausted, spent not only emotionally but physically too. Neither of us have had anything real to eat in what's seemed like forever, so let's just agree to relax, eat something bad for us that we both know we'll enjoy every last bite of, and if someone sees us, than we smile & say hi. No different than any other time right? I mean, isn't that what Jeff would've wanted?" Jess says.
Alice thinks that what Jeff would have wanted was to be alive today to come to lunch with them. To enjoy one of Gina's double deck er burgers with a mountain of fries next to it & smother everything in ketchup. But instead, he's lying in a morgue. Yeah, she was pretty sure that's not where he'd have chosen to be had he been given a choice.
"Yeah, I suppose." Alice told her.
The car pulls up & through the window Jess can see that both Nick and Tony are sitting at the counter, she hopes that Alice didn't notice cuz she'd be sure to protest their staying.
"I can't wait for some of those fries!" Jess says, trying to psyche Alice up.
"Yeah, they'll be good, I want mine extra crispy with a crap ton of salt & so much ketchup that I could swim in it!" Alice replied, laughing.
Getting out of the car & peeking into the window, Alice notices Nick and Tony sitting at the counter, "Ugh, Jess! Nick and Tony are here!" she grumbles.
"Too late now hon, I'm parked & we're HAVING those FRIES! Let's go..." Jess insists.
*sigh* "Ok, but only because I can actually TASTE those fries now!" Alice says.
They walk in & the bell on the door jingles & both Nick & Tony swing around to see who it is.
"HEYYYYY ALICE! JESS! HOW ARE YOU?" Nick leaps out of his stool & walks over to hug both the girls, Alice first, Jess next.
Alice says, "I'm ok, we're ok... we're just tired & hungry."
"Yeah," says Jess, "we haven't eaten anything in forever."
"Hey Gina! The girls are here, you got more of those fries good and hot?" Nick smiles at Jess, "I know those are your favorite." he's proud of this knowledge.
Jess smiles, "Yeah, they are Nick, thanks for remembering. So, how are things, ah, well, how's the music, I mean, aw hell, how are you and Tony doing since all of this? I'm sorry I haven't been around much, I'm still just trying to process it all. It's all just a bit too much, ya know?" Jess feels like a brick just landed on her chest again.
"Yeah, it sucks. Nick and I can't play for shit without your brother. I know it sounds stupid but if anyone was gonna croak it should've been one of us cuz anyone can replace a drummer or an acoustic guitarist but honestly, bass, that's a serious craft, nobody played bass better than Jeff." Nick said.
"HEY, YOU SPEAK FOR YOURSELF!" Tony hollered from his seat, "I ain't dying anytime soon and you could NOT replace these puppies!" holding up his hands and wiggling his fingers.
"Dude, the guy from Def Leppard still plays better than you and he's only got ONE arm! Trust me, we could replace you if we had to..." Nick chuckles.
"Yeah right, like you even know who that guy is, ok smart ass, he's so good, what's his name & why did he lose his arm anyway?" Tony leans in to Gina & says "Watch this, he don't know any of that stuff..."
Gina leans in a little, "Uh, but you don't either Tony, do you?"
"Shhhh no, but he don't know that!" he tries to quiet her.
"Well?" Tony impatiently waits for Nick's answer.
Nick, turns towards Tony, looks him directly in his eyes, and says; "His name is Rick Allen, he lost his arm in a traffic accident and the year was 1984. Anything else?"
Tony's eyebrows immediately frown, "Oh yeah, you think you're so smart, WHAT ARM WAS IT?" Tony yells.
"His left." Nick replied. "Now if your pop quiz is over, I believe we have two hungry friends here who would like to eat.
"Thanks," Jess said, "we're starving."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever... let em eat." Tony barks, embarrassed.
"Care to join us at the counter?" Nick eagerly asks.
"Thanks, but I think we want to just go sit quietly somewhere in our own table, if you don't mind." Jess felt bad but honestly she just didn't want to have to socialize much more than she'd done already.
She was friendly, she smiled, she made small talk, but now it was time for her & Alice to just eat, in peace. It wasn't too much to ask.
"Hey Gina," Jess calls over, "Two Cokes, some of those amazing fries & two double deckers, k?" Jess ordered without ever asking Alice what she wanted, she knew.
"Hey, what if I didn't want a burger, what if I wanted a grilled cheese or something? Alice snapped.
"Well, do you want a grilled cheese?" Jess asked her.
"No, I want a burger." Alice said.
"Ok then, SHOOSH!"
They slid into the front corner booth, the one that overlooked the main drag & had a perfect view of every building across the street from the main street lights down to the old firehouse.
Alice fingers the sugar packets as she stares off into space, clearly not here emotionally, only physically.
"So..." Jess says.
"What?" Alice asks her.
"Well," Jess responds, "It's just that we haven't talked much about all that's going on. You know Al, if you wanna talk about it, if you need to talk about it, I just want you to know that I'm always here for you..." Jess said.
"Thanks Jess, but really, there's not much to talk about. Talking about Jeff won't bring him back... so why talk?"
"I know, but I'm just saying..." she said.
"I know," Alice said through teary eyes, "I know. Same here, ok?"
Jess knew that that was probably harder for Alice to say than anything, and she loved her for it.
Gina comes over with their food, smiles, and places it on the table in front of them. "Anything else ladies?" she asks.
"Nah," Alice says, "we're ok for now, thanks Gina..." and smiles up at her friend.
"Okie dokie" she says as she skips off toward the kitchen.
Jess notices Tony's eyes following Gina's every move. "Poor guy, he'll never get with the likes of her anytime soon... huh Al?"
Alice, lost in the jumbled mess that was her mind these days, looks up startled, "Huh? What was that?" she asks.
"Never mind..." Jess replies.
The two enjoy their first real meal since their lives were turned upside down.
It tasted good & they started to feel slightly relaxed and a bit more calm.
Alice looks over across the street at the boys studio and notices a weird guy in a hat hanging around the side entrance.
"Jess," she motions with her head, "check this out..."
Jess looks up from taking a big bite of burger & sees the guy out front of the studio.
"So?" she says with a full mouth, "what's wrong with him? Looks harmless enough." she takes a long gulp of her coke.
"What's wrong with him? Ah, how about what's RIGHT with him? Look at the guy! His hat is ridiculous, his outfit is like something out of a good will bin & he's hanging around outside the studio, which is OBVIOUSLY closed... THAT'S what's wrong with him." Alice says.
"Ok, so maybe we should tell Nick & Tony about him, I mean, it's not like it's our place..." she takes a hand full of fries.
"No, are you nuts? What if he's a COP!" Alice heard her voice raise.
"Would you RELAX Alice, honestly you're starting to freak me out with how paranoid you're acting... gosh!" Jess wipes some ketchup off her fingers.
"Ok, ok, but what if he IS a cop? I'm just saying that all I want to do is enjoy the rest of this meal without having to deal with reality, is that too much to ask?" Alice poked at her Coke with the straw, swirling the fizz out of it.
"No," Jess answered, "that's not too much to ask Alice, but don't you think that's what I want too? You don't get it do you, I still have yet to deal with the messiness that is planning a funeral/burial for my OWN BROTHER OK?" Jess's eyes welled up with tears now.
"Ok, you're right, I'm sorry, it's hard on both of us but clearly, the brunt of the responsibility falls on your shoulders, and I just keep forgetting that. I love you, don't cry. I didn't mean to make you upset, I'm just upset too..." Alice reached over & put her hand on top of Jess's.
Jess smiled through her tears and squeezed her friends hand, "I know old friend, I know... C'mon, let's finish this lunch & then I really have to get home to see about making the arrangements."
"Sounds like a plan." Alice said as she wiped up a few bits of stray salt from her plate with her last two fries.
"What do you think they're talking about over there?" Tony asks Nick.
"I dunno dude, the weather? What do YOU think... DUH they're probably talking about Jeff!" Nick said impatiently.
"Oh, yeah... Jeff." Tony got quiet. "You know something, I'm really gonna miss him."
"Yeah, me too dude, me too." Nick agreed.
"Well, c'mon, let's get the hell outta here & find out where that weirdo with the hat went, he best not be lurking around outside or he's gonna be finding himself smack in the middle of some trouble, if you know what I'm sayin'." Nick said with authority. "No weird ass hat guy is gonna be hanging round my place." he said.
"OUR place," Tony piped up, "you always forget that, it's OURS, remember? I pay half that rent you know..."
"Yes, how could I forget when you love to constantly remind me of that fact..." Nick rose up out of his seat at the counter & turned in the direction of the girls. "Let's go say goodbye to Alice & Jess before we go, k?"
"Yeah, sure..." Tony said as he was trying desperately to get one last look at Gina, who was currently out back in the kitchen probably cleaning the dishes of the last table she cleared.
"Hey ladies, we're outta here, anything we can do or get for you before we jett?" Nick's question meant for both of them but directed at Jess.
"Thanks Nick, but I think we're ok." she said.
"Ok, well if you need us for anything, you know how to reach me..." he taps his hand on his jeans pocket, where his cell phone is always kept.
"Yes Nick," Alice says, "we know."
The boys leave & head out the door, only to notice that that crazy hat dude was now hanging around outside their studio... they bolt in his direction at lightning speed.
"Jess, check this out!" Alice says to her, while looking out the window across the street, "they're going after that guy! I told you he was no good!" she says triumphantly.
"Alice, those two would jump a frog that hopped in front of them the wrong way. Them going after that guy in the hat only proves one thing," she says smiling to herself, "in the past week, neither of them has gotten any smarter." she says chuckling. "They're just chasing him away from the studio, that's all"
"Aw, come on, they're good guys!" Alice says in their defense.
"I didn't say they weren't, but Al, good doesn't equate smart, comprende?"
Alice just grins at her, "Now you know that's not fair, I failed Spanish in high school, no trickery disguised as a foreign language woman!"
Both girls laugh & leave their money on the table with a handsome tip for their friend Gina, and they head out the door for home... leaving the fantasy of their afternoon lunch behind them & the knowledge of the sad reality dead ahead.
"Sure Al, no problem." Jess says as she turns the knob.
"Where we going anyways?" Alice asks.
"Where else? Taste Buds! Why, where did you think we were going? Al, we always hang out there." Jess said.
"I know, it's just that we're probably gonna run into people and I don't know if I can handle that right now..." she sighed.
"Al, honey I know you lost your boyfriend but I lost my brother too, remember?" Jess was slightly agitated, "If I can go in there to eat something, then you can too, k?"
Alice knew she was right, and she knew she was acting irrational. Sure she was in this deep but nobody knew that & her actions were going to be what gave her away long before any evidence, that much she knew. "Ok, you're right, I'm sorry."
"Alice, we're both exhausted, spent not only emotionally but physically too. Neither of us have had anything real to eat in what's seemed like forever, so let's just agree to relax, eat something bad for us that we both know we'll enjoy every last bite of, and if someone sees us, than we smile & say hi. No different than any other time right? I mean, isn't that what Jeff would've wanted?" Jess says.
Alice thinks that what Jeff would have wanted was to be alive today to come to lunch with them. To enjoy one of Gina's double deck er burgers with a mountain of fries next to it & smother everything in ketchup. But instead, he's lying in a morgue. Yeah, she was pretty sure that's not where he'd have chosen to be had he been given a choice.
"Yeah, I suppose." Alice told her.
The car pulls up & through the window Jess can see that both Nick and Tony are sitting at the counter, she hopes that Alice didn't notice cuz she'd be sure to protest their staying.
"I can't wait for some of those fries!" Jess says, trying to psyche Alice up.
"Yeah, they'll be good, I want mine extra crispy with a crap ton of salt & so much ketchup that I could swim in it!" Alice replied, laughing.
Getting out of the car & peeking into the window, Alice notices Nick and Tony sitting at the counter, "Ugh, Jess! Nick and Tony are here!" she grumbles.
"Too late now hon, I'm parked & we're HAVING those FRIES! Let's go..." Jess insists.
*sigh* "Ok, but only because I can actually TASTE those fries now!" Alice says.
They walk in & the bell on the door jingles & both Nick & Tony swing around to see who it is.
"HEYYYYY ALICE! JESS! HOW ARE YOU?" Nick leaps out of his stool & walks over to hug both the girls, Alice first, Jess next.
Alice says, "I'm ok, we're ok... we're just tired & hungry."
"Yeah," says Jess, "we haven't eaten anything in forever."
"Hey Gina! The girls are here, you got more of those fries good and hot?" Nick smiles at Jess, "I know those are your favorite." he's proud of this knowledge.
Jess smiles, "Yeah, they are Nick, thanks for remembering. So, how are things, ah, well, how's the music, I mean, aw hell, how are you and Tony doing since all of this? I'm sorry I haven't been around much, I'm still just trying to process it all. It's all just a bit too much, ya know?" Jess feels like a brick just landed on her chest again.
"Yeah, it sucks. Nick and I can't play for shit without your brother. I know it sounds stupid but if anyone was gonna croak it should've been one of us cuz anyone can replace a drummer or an acoustic guitarist but honestly, bass, that's a serious craft, nobody played bass better than Jeff." Nick said.
"HEY, YOU SPEAK FOR YOURSELF!" Tony hollered from his seat, "I ain't dying anytime soon and you could NOT replace these puppies!" holding up his hands and wiggling his fingers.
"Dude, the guy from Def Leppard still plays better than you and he's only got ONE arm! Trust me, we could replace you if we had to..." Nick chuckles.
"Yeah right, like you even know who that guy is, ok smart ass, he's so good, what's his name & why did he lose his arm anyway?" Tony leans in to Gina & says "Watch this, he don't know any of that stuff..."
Gina leans in a little, "Uh, but you don't either Tony, do you?"
"Shhhh no, but he don't know that!" he tries to quiet her.
"Well?" Tony impatiently waits for Nick's answer.
Nick, turns towards Tony, looks him directly in his eyes, and says; "His name is Rick Allen, he lost his arm in a traffic accident and the year was 1984. Anything else?"
Tony's eyebrows immediately frown, "Oh yeah, you think you're so smart, WHAT ARM WAS IT?" Tony yells.
"His left." Nick replied. "Now if your pop quiz is over, I believe we have two hungry friends here who would like to eat.
"Thanks," Jess said, "we're starving."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever... let em eat." Tony barks, embarrassed.
"Care to join us at the counter?" Nick eagerly asks.
"Thanks, but I think we want to just go sit quietly somewhere in our own table, if you don't mind." Jess felt bad but honestly she just didn't want to have to socialize much more than she'd done already.
She was friendly, she smiled, she made small talk, but now it was time for her & Alice to just eat, in peace. It wasn't too much to ask.
"Hey Gina," Jess calls over, "Two Cokes, some of those amazing fries & two double deckers, k?" Jess ordered without ever asking Alice what she wanted, she knew.
"Hey, what if I didn't want a burger, what if I wanted a grilled cheese or something? Alice snapped.
"Well, do you want a grilled cheese?" Jess asked her.
"No, I want a burger." Alice said.
"Ok then, SHOOSH!"
They slid into the front corner booth, the one that overlooked the main drag & had a perfect view of every building across the street from the main street lights down to the old firehouse.
Alice fingers the sugar packets as she stares off into space, clearly not here emotionally, only physically.
"So..." Jess says.
"What?" Alice asks her.
"Well," Jess responds, "It's just that we haven't talked much about all that's going on. You know Al, if you wanna talk about it, if you need to talk about it, I just want you to know that I'm always here for you..." Jess said.
"Thanks Jess, but really, there's not much to talk about. Talking about Jeff won't bring him back... so why talk?"
"I know, but I'm just saying..." she said.
"I know," Alice said through teary eyes, "I know. Same here, ok?"
Jess knew that that was probably harder for Alice to say than anything, and she loved her for it.
Gina comes over with their food, smiles, and places it on the table in front of them. "Anything else ladies?" she asks.
"Nah," Alice says, "we're ok for now, thanks Gina..." and smiles up at her friend.
"Okie dokie" she says as she skips off toward the kitchen.
Jess notices Tony's eyes following Gina's every move. "Poor guy, he'll never get with the likes of her anytime soon... huh Al?"
Alice, lost in the jumbled mess that was her mind these days, looks up startled, "Huh? What was that?" she asks.
"Never mind..." Jess replies.
The two enjoy their first real meal since their lives were turned upside down.
It tasted good & they started to feel slightly relaxed and a bit more calm.
Alice looks over across the street at the boys studio and notices a weird guy in a hat hanging around the side entrance.
"Jess," she motions with her head, "check this out..."
Jess looks up from taking a big bite of burger & sees the guy out front of the studio.
"So?" she says with a full mouth, "what's wrong with him? Looks harmless enough." she takes a long gulp of her coke.
"What's wrong with him? Ah, how about what's RIGHT with him? Look at the guy! His hat is ridiculous, his outfit is like something out of a good will bin & he's hanging around outside the studio, which is OBVIOUSLY closed... THAT'S what's wrong with him." Alice says.
"Ok, so maybe we should tell Nick & Tony about him, I mean, it's not like it's our place..." she takes a hand full of fries.
"No, are you nuts? What if he's a COP!" Alice heard her voice raise.
"Would you RELAX Alice, honestly you're starting to freak me out with how paranoid you're acting... gosh!" Jess wipes some ketchup off her fingers.
"Ok, ok, but what if he IS a cop? I'm just saying that all I want to do is enjoy the rest of this meal without having to deal with reality, is that too much to ask?" Alice poked at her Coke with the straw, swirling the fizz out of it.
"No," Jess answered, "that's not too much to ask Alice, but don't you think that's what I want too? You don't get it do you, I still have yet to deal with the messiness that is planning a funeral/burial for my OWN BROTHER OK?" Jess's eyes welled up with tears now.
"Ok, you're right, I'm sorry, it's hard on both of us but clearly, the brunt of the responsibility falls on your shoulders, and I just keep forgetting that. I love you, don't cry. I didn't mean to make you upset, I'm just upset too..." Alice reached over & put her hand on top of Jess's.
Jess smiled through her tears and squeezed her friends hand, "I know old friend, I know... C'mon, let's finish this lunch & then I really have to get home to see about making the arrangements."
"Sounds like a plan." Alice said as she wiped up a few bits of stray salt from her plate with her last two fries.
"What do you think they're talking about over there?" Tony asks Nick.
"I dunno dude, the weather? What do YOU think... DUH they're probably talking about Jeff!" Nick said impatiently.
"Oh, yeah... Jeff." Tony got quiet. "You know something, I'm really gonna miss him."
"Yeah, me too dude, me too." Nick agreed.
"Well, c'mon, let's get the hell outta here & find out where that weirdo with the hat went, he best not be lurking around outside or he's gonna be finding himself smack in the middle of some trouble, if you know what I'm sayin'." Nick said with authority. "No weird ass hat guy is gonna be hanging round my place." he said.
"OUR place," Tony piped up, "you always forget that, it's OURS, remember? I pay half that rent you know..."
"Yes, how could I forget when you love to constantly remind me of that fact..." Nick rose up out of his seat at the counter & turned in the direction of the girls. "Let's go say goodbye to Alice & Jess before we go, k?"
"Yeah, sure..." Tony said as he was trying desperately to get one last look at Gina, who was currently out back in the kitchen probably cleaning the dishes of the last table she cleared.
"Hey ladies, we're outta here, anything we can do or get for you before we jett?" Nick's question meant for both of them but directed at Jess.
"Thanks Nick, but I think we're ok." she said.
"Ok, well if you need us for anything, you know how to reach me..." he taps his hand on his jeans pocket, where his cell phone is always kept.
"Yes Nick," Alice says, "we know."
The boys leave & head out the door, only to notice that that crazy hat dude was now hanging around outside their studio... they bolt in his direction at lightning speed.
"Jess, check this out!" Alice says to her, while looking out the window across the street, "they're going after that guy! I told you he was no good!" she says triumphantly.
"Alice, those two would jump a frog that hopped in front of them the wrong way. Them going after that guy in the hat only proves one thing," she says smiling to herself, "in the past week, neither of them has gotten any smarter." she says chuckling. "They're just chasing him away from the studio, that's all"
"Aw, come on, they're good guys!" Alice says in their defense.
"I didn't say they weren't, but Al, good doesn't equate smart, comprende?"
Alice just grins at her, "Now you know that's not fair, I failed Spanish in high school, no trickery disguised as a foreign language woman!"
Both girls laugh & leave their money on the table with a handsome tip for their friend Gina, and they head out the door for home... leaving the fantasy of their afternoon lunch behind them & the knowledge of the sad reality dead ahead.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Just When I Thought I Was Stealthy...
...my daughter called my bluff!
Ruby went out with her Nonno for their Saturday walk together,
and me feeling 'crafty' snuck quietly into my bedroom window,
cracked open the blinds JUST ENOUGH so I could slip the camera through,
zoomed in, focused the shot, feeling victorious, when:
" I SEE YOU MOMMA! "
So much for 'STEALTH'.
LOL
Damn, that kid's GOOD!
Ruby went out with her Nonno for their Saturday walk together,
and me feeling 'crafty' snuck quietly into my bedroom window,
cracked open the blinds JUST ENOUGH so I could slip the camera through,
zoomed in, focused the shot, feeling victorious, when:
" I SEE YOU MOMMA! "So much for 'STEALTH'.
LOL
Damn, that kid's GOOD!Friday, March 09, 2007
"Bye Bye Blue Nappy..."
Yesterday, by the grace of God, my daughter, slept in her crib for her nap.
Prior to that, she has been terrified of it, screamed about it, stayed away from it, thus hardly playing in her beautiful room at all. Only going in here & there to get a book & IMMEDIATELY run out & away from her crib.
While she slept yesterday, I decided to just take the bull by the horns & I disassembled her 'Blue Nappy' (hand me down, pack & play from her Auntie Sue & Uncle Dave) and put it in the back hall so that it was no longer an option.
I don't remember exactly why she slept in the crib yesterday, I think I enticed her to go in there cuz I A. left the music on (which she loves, it's all instrumental lullaby's in a classical format) and B. gave her every single one of her 'favorite' blankets, which equals to about a zillion.
She woke up from her nap happy & in good spirits.
Check one.
She gave me a 'snuggy hug' and asked if we could play with her 'house'. (little people doll house, she LOVES IT!)
Check two.
She peeked into my bedroom from our spot on the floor of the play room & noticed that her friend, 'Blue Nappy' wasn't there anymore.
Uhoh.
"Momma? Blue Nappy?"
"Sweetie, Blue Nappy went bye bye, Ruby's a big girl, big girls sleep in big girl cribs, ok?"
"Ruby a BIG GIRL!" smiling big.
"Yes sweetie, you're a big girl & you don't need that blue nappy now, you sleep in your pretty big girl crib with all those cute ladybugs and your special blankets AND your MUSIC!"
"Bye bye blue nappy." hugging Bear.
"Yes sweetie, bye bye blue nappy..."
"Momma?"
"Yes Ruby?"
"Play house?"
And as easy as that, the blue nappy debate was handled AND last night, for the ENTIRE NIGHT, my daughter slept IN HER OWN CRIB IN HER OWN BEDROOM WITH HER OWN MUSIC & BLANKETS & BEAR & A SIPPY & SEVERAL BOOKS and Momma didn't have to get up ONCE!
Somebody up there LOVES ME!
hehehehe
Prior to that, she has been terrified of it, screamed about it, stayed away from it, thus hardly playing in her beautiful room at all. Only going in here & there to get a book & IMMEDIATELY run out & away from her crib.
While she slept yesterday, I decided to just take the bull by the horns & I disassembled her 'Blue Nappy' (hand me down, pack & play from her Auntie Sue & Uncle Dave) and put it in the back hall so that it was no longer an option.
I don't remember exactly why she slept in the crib yesterday, I think I enticed her to go in there cuz I A. left the music on (which she loves, it's all instrumental lullaby's in a classical format) and B. gave her every single one of her 'favorite' blankets, which equals to about a zillion.
She woke up from her nap happy & in good spirits.
Check one.
She gave me a 'snuggy hug' and asked if we could play with her 'house'. (little people doll house, she LOVES IT!)
Check two.
She peeked into my bedroom from our spot on the floor of the play room & noticed that her friend, 'Blue Nappy' wasn't there anymore.
Uhoh.
"Momma? Blue Nappy?"
"Sweetie, Blue Nappy went bye bye, Ruby's a big girl, big girls sleep in big girl cribs, ok?"
"Ruby a BIG GIRL!" smiling big.
"Yes sweetie, you're a big girl & you don't need that blue nappy now, you sleep in your pretty big girl crib with all those cute ladybugs and your special blankets AND your MUSIC!"
"Bye bye blue nappy." hugging Bear.
"Yes sweetie, bye bye blue nappy..."
"Momma?"
"Yes Ruby?"
"Play house?"
And as easy as that, the blue nappy debate was handled AND last night, for the ENTIRE NIGHT, my daughter slept IN HER OWN CRIB IN HER OWN BEDROOM WITH HER OWN MUSIC & BLANKETS & BEAR & A SIPPY & SEVERAL BOOKS and Momma didn't have to get up ONCE!
Somebody up there LOVES ME!
hehehehe
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Chapter Six...
"Bring that here, will ya?" Nick shouts to Tony. "We don't wanna lose that thing, ya know? I promised Jess we'd keep this stuff safe for her till she's ready for it."
Jeff's lucky pic was one he's had since 8th grade. Bought it with his paper route money.
Flaming orange & bright as the sun. He loved it & never played without it.
"Bring his shirts too, but not the silver one, that one stays..." Nick remembers when Jeff bought that stupid silver shirt. He hated it when he first had picked it off the rack...
'you're seriously gonna buy that ugly thing?' he remembers saying to him 'be my guest, I wouldn't be caught dead in it! hahaha' he had said.
Caught dead in it, dead.
Jeff was dead now. What the hell had happened to his world that his friend was found face down with his head split open? Nick just shook his head in disbelief.
"Hey Nick," Tony called from across their makeshift studio which was nothing more than a rented out store front with great acoustics, "what'cha wanna do with these?"
holding up Jeff's lucky roach clips, flaming neon feathers hung loosely from them.
"PUT THAT SHIT DOWN! Christ, we're gonna HIDE THOSE!
Nobody knew that he smoked and nobodies GONNA KNOW, GET IT?!"
Nick firmly answered.
"Yeah," Tony said, "I get it."
"And for that matter nobody knows that WE do it you dork! You wanna get us kicked outta here? I sure as hell don't!"
"Ok, Ok," Tony said, "Relax, I won't say nothing!"
"Good," replied Nick "you better not!"
Nick walked over and leaned against the plate glass window
that looked out onto Main street.
Across the street was 'Taste Buds', the local hang out. Great food cheap, good atmosphere & a jukebox that somehow, never skipped a beat.
"Why is it that some of the best food in the world is found in a little shit hole like Taste Buds?" he asked Tony.
"I dunno man," he answered Nick, "but their shit's good though, don't question, just eat. Speaking of which, you hungry? I could go for one of their double deck er burgers right about now."
"Yeah, right, more like you could go for one of their Ginas right now..." Nick snickered.
"SHUT UP!" yelled Tony, embarrassed.
Staring out across Ocean street, the main street that ran the length of Collins Cove,
Nick noticed that Taste Buds was empty except for an older couple probably having a late brunch, and some guy who he'd never seen before but who looked sadly out of place.
Weird hat, funny suit, tie that didn't much match & shoes that were in desperate need of a shine.
"Hey Tony, check this joker out..." motioning in the mans direction.
*laughing* "What's that fool wearing? Heh, Back To The Future called dude, they want their suit back! HA!"
Nick started laughing too... "Yeah, let's go get that burger, I'm hungry too now that you mention it."
Tony put Jeff's belongings into a cardboard box that he had slightly hidden behind the drums.
Nick grabbed his keys so they could lock up, Tony grabbed his jacket & cell, checked his face in the mirror & out the door they went.
"You look fine by the way," Nick said as they were crossing the street, "she'll notice you today for sure."
"Shut UP Nick! You know it's not like that, she's just a nice girl, that's all. YOU should be as worried about how you look, for crying out loud have you seen your hair lately? You are in total need of a cut in case you hadn't noticed, and what's up with that 7:30 shadow? It's called a razor, ever hear of one?" Tony felt proud of himself for producing such a quick witted come back, which normally was not the case for him.
'Yeah yeah, shut it, let's just go eat, huh?" Nick knew he looked like crap, he'd seen himself in the mirror that morning, he was pale and his dirty blond hair was all mussed up & ruffled like he'd just rolled out of bed. He hadn't taken a razor to himself since hearing of Jeff... who could?
Everything was different now...
Collins Cove was a cute seaside town, with fun little shops and friendly people. Fancy houses that were younger than most of the high schoolers & some that were so old that they were part of the historical society & protected under it's strict guidelines.
It was a quiet town where every Monday morning, Gina opened the Taste Buds bright & early at 6am for the locals who were in desperate need of their morning cup'o'joe.
Her menu was simple, hearty meals for hearty people who were just happy to be up & headed to work to earn a living. Proud & loyal to whatever trade or skill they possessed.
Things like murders never happened here, ever.
Oh sure, accidents & such happen all the time, but that's life, shit happens.
But murders? Not here, not so much.
So when everyone heard the news of Jeff's death, people were all pretty shocked.
He was remembered at church, not that Nick went, but he heard from a friend who still went to Mass with his family every Sunday.
Nick never understood why, couldn't get on board with that whole religion thing but hey, to each his own.
Tony walked into the place first, letting the door hit Nick in the face, forgetting to hold it for him.
"Hey asshole, watch it!" Nick yelled to him.
"Sorry dude, my bad!" Tony replied, completely distracted.
"Hey Gina!" Tony had a huge smile on his face, his feelings for her hardly a mystery, everyone knew it, sadly, so did Gina, who didn't return his affection in a way he had hoped for.
Tony was a nice guy, a good guy, neither him nor Nick ever went to college, but they did both graduate the local high school back in 96'. Tony was a husky guy, carried most of his weight around the middle but not fat, per say. More of a football type, quarterback style, solid & rugged but just about the biggest teddy bear going. He lived on the outskirts of town with his large Italian family, four brothers & sisters, Tony being the fifth as well as the baby.
The weirdest thing was that they all still lived at home, home being a four family with each kid having his/her own apartment. Tony still living with Mom & Dad on the first floor.
He had a baby face & lots of dark black hair that he never understood wasn't as attractive as he thought, all slicked back. He was a jeans & sweatshirts type of guy who never could afford a half decent pair of shoes, always wearing those old sneakers that were begging to be thrown out but, according to his mother, just added to his character, thus never made it to the curb come trash day.
"Hey Tony! How you doing today? The usual?" she said with a smile.
"Nah, today me and Nick wanna have those beautiful double
deck er burgers you put together so perfectly!"
Shameful, the boy was shameful.... thought Nick.
"Hey Gina, how are you doing today?" Nick asked her.
Smiling big, Gina merely winked at him & said "Hanging in, my friend. Hanging in."
Gina turns around & aims her voice in the direction of the kitchen & yells:
"Hey Pops' two double deck ers for the guys!"
"Ok Gin, got it!" he yells back.
They each picked a stool at the bar.
"Coke's boys?" Gina asked them.
"Sure thing Gina, that would be great!" Tony answered.
"Yeah sure, Coke's fine..." Nick said while looking across the room at that man with the funny hat. "Hey Gina, who's the dude with the bad taste in hats?" he asked her.
"I don't know," she said, handing them their cokes, "he came in here like a half hour ago & hasn't ordered a thing. Just keeps wanting another refill on his water & scribbling things down on that pad of paper he's got.
Gina leans down to whisper to Nick, "he's also kinda talking to himself, every once in a while I see him bury his face into his arms & begin to talk but I can't figure out what he's saying."
She takes her dishcloth & pretends to be wiping down the counter.
"He's looked over here once or twice but other than that & shitty taste in clothes, not a clue who he is. I've honestly never seen him before." she said.
Nick took a sip of his Coke and played with the straw while he waited for his burger.
"So Gina," Tony asked, his voice squeaking a little, "got any plans for the weekend?"
his eyes wide, his face glowing, his hopes high.
"Uh, yeah, actually I do but nothing exciting. I gotta help out at home, promised my Pop." she lied.
"Aww that's too bad! I was going to ask if you wanted to go to a movie or something?" Tony's disappointment, although huge, was nowhere to be found... he hid it well.
"Thanks hon but really, you know how hard things have been, after my Ma passed & little Joey's away at school, it's kinda just me & Pop's holding down the fort, so I can't disappoint him." that much was true. Her mother passed away last summer from cancer. Found it in her lungs, inoperable, terminal & fast moving. She went from diagnosis to death in less than a week. Really hit her hard, but none harder hit than her father. Franky & Sonia were high school sweet hearts and never more than an arms length apart. Always held hands, truly so in love, everybody knew it. Even Gina, which is why she was still waiting, hoping, praying to find her very own love like that. A forever love, the kind that, even with death, never dies. It goes on living. To Gina, it was magic.
She looked up & smiled at Nick, "So, Nick... how are you holding up since, ah, well... since the whole Jeff thing?"
"I'm doin' ok Gina, I just still can't believe he's gone." Nick said.
"Yeah, I know. I can't believe it either." she admitted.
Gina's father called from the kitchen out back, "Hey Gin' ORDER'S UP!"
"Coming Pop! Those are your burgers, I'll be right back, ok?" Gina flung herself around & skipped out back to get the boys' food.
Tony reached over & whacked Nick on the arm, "She's cute today isn't she?" he asked with the excitement of a 4 year old on Christmas morning.
"Yeah, she's cute, but you seriously gotta chill man, you're gonna scare the poor girl!" Nick said with a doubtful shake of his head.
"Here you go boys, two double deck er's just for you." Gina returned from the kitchen and pushed Tony's burger down the counter towards him while making a point to not only hand Nick his, but keeping eye contact with him the whole time.
Nick shows her a smile, "Thanks Gina, they look great."
Gina smiling, merely winks again & responds with a simple yet powerful, "I know."
The whole time eating the guys just could not for the life of them figure out hat guy's deal.
"What's he doing over there? Talking to himself or what?" Tony asked, "Maybe he's crazy or something?"
"I'll tell you what's crazy, the fact that Jeff's dead, nobodies heard much of anything from Jess, the damn cops can't figure out who did it or if they know anything, they ain't talkin, and now this fool HAT man is just sitting around with the sole purpose of pissing me off." Nick was agitated now. "I'll be right back."
He hops down from his stool, leaving his half eaten burger on the counter and heads over to hat man's table.
"Excuse me sir, mind if I sit down?" he asks the odd stranger.
"No, not at all, please..." and he gestures towards the empty chair across from him.
"Name's Karl, Karl Peterson, and you are?" he asks Nick.
"I'm Nick, Nick Nucci," shaking hat mans hand. "Nice to meet you. Listen, I happened to notice that you're sitting here alone, I don't recall ever seeing you around these parts & I'm a regular and you just looked like you could use some company, so I figured I'd come say hi. Hope you don't mind." he lied hoping to find out some information on the guy.
"Oh no, not at all, in fact it's lucky you should come over here, you are exactly the man I was hoping to bump into, although I'll admit I didn't know quite what you looked like or where you lived so, I figured the safest bet to try and accidentally bump into you would be to hang out here until I saw you emerge from your studio, which clearly I've missed if you're approaching me from within the diner. haha" he chuckles but is clearly a tad bit embarrassed.
"Is that so?" Nick asks, "and what, if I might ask, is it that you want with me, Karl, Karl Peterson?"
"Well, story has it that your buddy Jeff was murdered this past Saturday night, and well, I work for The Grim, we're an independent publication printed locally but we hope to one day be world wide. We cover murders, suicides, anything grim & gory like that. My job is to get into the core of the story, find out the guts, ya know?" he sounded far too excited for his own good.
"Ah, actually I don't know. My close friend was just found dead in his apartment and you want to find out the 'guts' of the story? Listen man, I understand a guy's gotta make a living but seriously, I can't indulge you an interview, not like this, not now, possibly not ever. Understand?" Nick was pissed off. Who the hell was this joker thinking he could just come in here & ask to be told the 'guts' of a story that was A. none of his business and B. a NON story.
Nick, clearly annoyed & not interested in what hat man had to say, walked back to the bar & hoped up on his stool.
"You wanna know what that joker's here for? You wanna know what he just asked me, the bastard?" Nick was obviously worked up.
"Huh? What's that?" mumbled Tony, through a mouthful of burger.
"Jesus Tony, would you LISTEN for once in your life, please? I said, do you wanna know what
friggen hat man is here for?"
"Oh, stupid hat guy, what's his story?" Tony asked as he grabs another handful of fries.
"Well, that's just it, he doesn't really have a story but is clearly interested in ours. Says he's from some stupid publication called 'The Grim' which I've never heard of, and says he's here to interview ME! Can you believe that shit?"
"You? for what?" Tony takes another drink of his Coke.
"He says he wants to know the inside story, the guts of the why's & how's surrounding my friendship with Jeff. Can you believe the nerve of that asshole?"
Tony swallows his coke & says, "Wait a minute, why's he only here to interview you? Doesn't he know that I was Jeff's friend too? Doesn't he know the THREE of us were in a BAND?!"
"Jesus Christ Tony, is that all you can think of? You getting your due credit? You're unbelievable man..." Nick was disgusted with his friend, but not shocked.
"Well, what did you tell him?" Tony asks.
"I told him that, my friend just died, I'm trying to enjoy my lunch and that I'd appreciate if he left me alone. That I was not going to give him the satisfaction of an interview, not now, not tomorrow, not ever. Damn news hounds." Nick, clearly pissed, took a huge bite out of his now cold burger & chased it down with nearly all his coke.
The truth was, there really wasn't much of a story behind how Nick and Jeff became & remained friends. Nick, Jeff and Tony all met in grade school, kindergarten to be exact. They became friends how any other friendship does, at school.
They always were together, although most nights Tony wasn't allowed to go since he had a pretty huge family who not only still went to Sunday mass together but had faithful Sunday dinners that were a minimum of four courses plus coffee & dessert.
Mostly, it was Jeff & Nick who spent the majority of their weekend time together, filling Tony in on their adventures come Monday at School. Tony always jealous that he was unable to be a part of their fun.
They got older, had dreams of one day starting a band. High school came, they made their dream a reality and on a very local level, were celebrities in their own right.
Nick on acoustic, Jeff on Bass & Tony on drums.
They played high school dances, local restaurants, even church gatherings, although those were a bit trickier since their music leaned more towards the hard rock variety.
Jesus wasn't such a fan of 'Hard Rock Lovin' or 'Under the Stars, Under the Bleachers'. (both popular songs of theirs...)
Teenage years would prove to be the most difficult, as Jeff discovered he had a taste for alcohol, the hard kind. And Tony, a similar taste, but his vice of choice being food.
Nick, well Nick has his vice too but I'm pretty sure she didn't have a clue.
Weird hat Karl got up to leave but turned in their direction & walked up to Nick one last time, his hand out with a card between his fingers, "Nick, if you change your mind..." he said with a smile.
"Ah, thanks but, I won't." and refuses the card.
Karl leaves it on the counter, smiles at Gina turns to leave.
"See you later man, ah, my name was Tony, T-O-N-Y, Tony Vitale!"
Nick smacks Tony on the head, "Seriously man, you gotta cut that shit out..."
Jeff's lucky pic was one he's had since 8th grade. Bought it with his paper route money.
Flaming orange & bright as the sun. He loved it & never played without it.
"Bring his shirts too, but not the silver one, that one stays..." Nick remembers when Jeff bought that stupid silver shirt. He hated it when he first had picked it off the rack...
'you're seriously gonna buy that ugly thing?' he remembers saying to him 'be my guest, I wouldn't be caught dead in it! hahaha' he had said.
Caught dead in it, dead.
Jeff was dead now. What the hell had happened to his world that his friend was found face down with his head split open? Nick just shook his head in disbelief.
"Hey Nick," Tony called from across their makeshift studio which was nothing more than a rented out store front with great acoustics, "what'cha wanna do with these?"
holding up Jeff's lucky roach clips, flaming neon feathers hung loosely from them.
"PUT THAT SHIT DOWN! Christ, we're gonna HIDE THOSE!
Nobody knew that he smoked and nobodies GONNA KNOW, GET IT?!"
Nick firmly answered.
"Yeah," Tony said, "I get it."
"And for that matter nobody knows that WE do it you dork! You wanna get us kicked outta here? I sure as hell don't!"
"Ok, Ok," Tony said, "Relax, I won't say nothing!"
"Good," replied Nick "you better not!"
Nick walked over and leaned against the plate glass window
that looked out onto Main street.
Across the street was 'Taste Buds', the local hang out. Great food cheap, good atmosphere & a jukebox that somehow, never skipped a beat.
"Why is it that some of the best food in the world is found in a little shit hole like Taste Buds?" he asked Tony.
"I dunno man," he answered Nick, "but their shit's good though, don't question, just eat. Speaking of which, you hungry? I could go for one of their double deck er burgers right about now."
"Yeah, right, more like you could go for one of their Ginas right now..." Nick snickered.
"SHUT UP!" yelled Tony, embarrassed.
Staring out across Ocean street, the main street that ran the length of Collins Cove,
Nick noticed that Taste Buds was empty except for an older couple probably having a late brunch, and some guy who he'd never seen before but who looked sadly out of place.
Weird hat, funny suit, tie that didn't much match & shoes that were in desperate need of a shine.
"Hey Tony, check this joker out..." motioning in the mans direction.
*laughing* "What's that fool wearing? Heh, Back To The Future called dude, they want their suit back! HA!"
Nick started laughing too... "Yeah, let's go get that burger, I'm hungry too now that you mention it."
Tony put Jeff's belongings into a cardboard box that he had slightly hidden behind the drums.
Nick grabbed his keys so they could lock up, Tony grabbed his jacket & cell, checked his face in the mirror & out the door they went.
"You look fine by the way," Nick said as they were crossing the street, "she'll notice you today for sure."
"Shut UP Nick! You know it's not like that, she's just a nice girl, that's all. YOU should be as worried about how you look, for crying out loud have you seen your hair lately? You are in total need of a cut in case you hadn't noticed, and what's up with that 7:30 shadow? It's called a razor, ever hear of one?" Tony felt proud of himself for producing such a quick witted come back, which normally was not the case for him.
'Yeah yeah, shut it, let's just go eat, huh?" Nick knew he looked like crap, he'd seen himself in the mirror that morning, he was pale and his dirty blond hair was all mussed up & ruffled like he'd just rolled out of bed. He hadn't taken a razor to himself since hearing of Jeff... who could?
Everything was different now...
Collins Cove was a cute seaside town, with fun little shops and friendly people. Fancy houses that were younger than most of the high schoolers & some that were so old that they were part of the historical society & protected under it's strict guidelines.
It was a quiet town where every Monday morning, Gina opened the Taste Buds bright & early at 6am for the locals who were in desperate need of their morning cup'o'joe.
Her menu was simple, hearty meals for hearty people who were just happy to be up & headed to work to earn a living. Proud & loyal to whatever trade or skill they possessed.
Things like murders never happened here, ever.
Oh sure, accidents & such happen all the time, but that's life, shit happens.
But murders? Not here, not so much.
So when everyone heard the news of Jeff's death, people were all pretty shocked.
He was remembered at church, not that Nick went, but he heard from a friend who still went to Mass with his family every Sunday.
Nick never understood why, couldn't get on board with that whole religion thing but hey, to each his own.
Tony walked into the place first, letting the door hit Nick in the face, forgetting to hold it for him.
"Hey asshole, watch it!" Nick yelled to him.
"Sorry dude, my bad!" Tony replied, completely distracted.
"Hey Gina!" Tony had a huge smile on his face, his feelings for her hardly a mystery, everyone knew it, sadly, so did Gina, who didn't return his affection in a way he had hoped for.
Tony was a nice guy, a good guy, neither him nor Nick ever went to college, but they did both graduate the local high school back in 96'. Tony was a husky guy, carried most of his weight around the middle but not fat, per say. More of a football type, quarterback style, solid & rugged but just about the biggest teddy bear going. He lived on the outskirts of town with his large Italian family, four brothers & sisters, Tony being the fifth as well as the baby.
The weirdest thing was that they all still lived at home, home being a four family with each kid having his/her own apartment. Tony still living with Mom & Dad on the first floor.
He had a baby face & lots of dark black hair that he never understood wasn't as attractive as he thought, all slicked back. He was a jeans & sweatshirts type of guy who never could afford a half decent pair of shoes, always wearing those old sneakers that were begging to be thrown out but, according to his mother, just added to his character, thus never made it to the curb come trash day.
"Hey Tony! How you doing today? The usual?" she said with a smile.
"Nah, today me and Nick wanna have those beautiful double
deck er burgers you put together so perfectly!"
Shameful, the boy was shameful.... thought Nick.
"Hey Gina, how are you doing today?" Nick asked her.
Smiling big, Gina merely winked at him & said "Hanging in, my friend. Hanging in."
Gina turns around & aims her voice in the direction of the kitchen & yells:
"Hey Pops' two double deck ers for the guys!"
"Ok Gin, got it!" he yells back.
They each picked a stool at the bar.
"Coke's boys?" Gina asked them.
"Sure thing Gina, that would be great!" Tony answered.
"Yeah sure, Coke's fine..." Nick said while looking across the room at that man with the funny hat. "Hey Gina, who's the dude with the bad taste in hats?" he asked her.
"I don't know," she said, handing them their cokes, "he came in here like a half hour ago & hasn't ordered a thing. Just keeps wanting another refill on his water & scribbling things down on that pad of paper he's got.
Gina leans down to whisper to Nick, "he's also kinda talking to himself, every once in a while I see him bury his face into his arms & begin to talk but I can't figure out what he's saying."
She takes her dishcloth & pretends to be wiping down the counter.
"He's looked over here once or twice but other than that & shitty taste in clothes, not a clue who he is. I've honestly never seen him before." she said.
Nick took a sip of his Coke and played with the straw while he waited for his burger.
"So Gina," Tony asked, his voice squeaking a little, "got any plans for the weekend?"
his eyes wide, his face glowing, his hopes high.
"Uh, yeah, actually I do but nothing exciting. I gotta help out at home, promised my Pop." she lied.
"Aww that's too bad! I was going to ask if you wanted to go to a movie or something?" Tony's disappointment, although huge, was nowhere to be found... he hid it well.
"Thanks hon but really, you know how hard things have been, after my Ma passed & little Joey's away at school, it's kinda just me & Pop's holding down the fort, so I can't disappoint him." that much was true. Her mother passed away last summer from cancer. Found it in her lungs, inoperable, terminal & fast moving. She went from diagnosis to death in less than a week. Really hit her hard, but none harder hit than her father. Franky & Sonia were high school sweet hearts and never more than an arms length apart. Always held hands, truly so in love, everybody knew it. Even Gina, which is why she was still waiting, hoping, praying to find her very own love like that. A forever love, the kind that, even with death, never dies. It goes on living. To Gina, it was magic.
She looked up & smiled at Nick, "So, Nick... how are you holding up since, ah, well... since the whole Jeff thing?"
"I'm doin' ok Gina, I just still can't believe he's gone." Nick said.
"Yeah, I know. I can't believe it either." she admitted.
Gina's father called from the kitchen out back, "Hey Gin' ORDER'S UP!"
"Coming Pop! Those are your burgers, I'll be right back, ok?" Gina flung herself around & skipped out back to get the boys' food.
Tony reached over & whacked Nick on the arm, "She's cute today isn't she?" he asked with the excitement of a 4 year old on Christmas morning.
"Yeah, she's cute, but you seriously gotta chill man, you're gonna scare the poor girl!" Nick said with a doubtful shake of his head.
"Here you go boys, two double deck er's just for you." Gina returned from the kitchen and pushed Tony's burger down the counter towards him while making a point to not only hand Nick his, but keeping eye contact with him the whole time.
Nick shows her a smile, "Thanks Gina, they look great."
Gina smiling, merely winks again & responds with a simple yet powerful, "I know."
The whole time eating the guys just could not for the life of them figure out hat guy's deal.
"What's he doing over there? Talking to himself or what?" Tony asked, "Maybe he's crazy or something?"
"I'll tell you what's crazy, the fact that Jeff's dead, nobodies heard much of anything from Jess, the damn cops can't figure out who did it or if they know anything, they ain't talkin, and now this fool HAT man is just sitting around with the sole purpose of pissing me off." Nick was agitated now. "I'll be right back."
He hops down from his stool, leaving his half eaten burger on the counter and heads over to hat man's table.
"Excuse me sir, mind if I sit down?" he asks the odd stranger.
"No, not at all, please..." and he gestures towards the empty chair across from him.
"Name's Karl, Karl Peterson, and you are?" he asks Nick.
"I'm Nick, Nick Nucci," shaking hat mans hand. "Nice to meet you. Listen, I happened to notice that you're sitting here alone, I don't recall ever seeing you around these parts & I'm a regular and you just looked like you could use some company, so I figured I'd come say hi. Hope you don't mind." he lied hoping to find out some information on the guy.
"Oh no, not at all, in fact it's lucky you should come over here, you are exactly the man I was hoping to bump into, although I'll admit I didn't know quite what you looked like or where you lived so, I figured the safest bet to try and accidentally bump into you would be to hang out here until I saw you emerge from your studio, which clearly I've missed if you're approaching me from within the diner. haha" he chuckles but is clearly a tad bit embarrassed.
"Is that so?" Nick asks, "and what, if I might ask, is it that you want with me, Karl, Karl Peterson?"
"Well, story has it that your buddy Jeff was murdered this past Saturday night, and well, I work for The Grim, we're an independent publication printed locally but we hope to one day be world wide. We cover murders, suicides, anything grim & gory like that. My job is to get into the core of the story, find out the guts, ya know?" he sounded far too excited for his own good.
"Ah, actually I don't know. My close friend was just found dead in his apartment and you want to find out the 'guts' of the story? Listen man, I understand a guy's gotta make a living but seriously, I can't indulge you an interview, not like this, not now, possibly not ever. Understand?" Nick was pissed off. Who the hell was this joker thinking he could just come in here & ask to be told the 'guts' of a story that was A. none of his business and B. a NON story.
Nick, clearly annoyed & not interested in what hat man had to say, walked back to the bar & hoped up on his stool.
"You wanna know what that joker's here for? You wanna know what he just asked me, the bastard?" Nick was obviously worked up.
"Huh? What's that?" mumbled Tony, through a mouthful of burger.
"Jesus Tony, would you LISTEN for once in your life, please? I said, do you wanna know what
friggen hat man is here for?"
"Oh, stupid hat guy, what's his story?" Tony asked as he grabs another handful of fries.
"Well, that's just it, he doesn't really have a story but is clearly interested in ours. Says he's from some stupid publication called 'The Grim' which I've never heard of, and says he's here to interview ME! Can you believe that shit?"
"You? for what?" Tony takes another drink of his Coke.
"He says he wants to know the inside story, the guts of the why's & how's surrounding my friendship with Jeff. Can you believe the nerve of that asshole?"
Tony swallows his coke & says, "Wait a minute, why's he only here to interview you? Doesn't he know that I was Jeff's friend too? Doesn't he know the THREE of us were in a BAND?!"
"Jesus Christ Tony, is that all you can think of? You getting your due credit? You're unbelievable man..." Nick was disgusted with his friend, but not shocked.
"Well, what did you tell him?" Tony asks.
"I told him that, my friend just died, I'm trying to enjoy my lunch and that I'd appreciate if he left me alone. That I was not going to give him the satisfaction of an interview, not now, not tomorrow, not ever. Damn news hounds." Nick, clearly pissed, took a huge bite out of his now cold burger & chased it down with nearly all his coke.
The truth was, there really wasn't much of a story behind how Nick and Jeff became & remained friends. Nick, Jeff and Tony all met in grade school, kindergarten to be exact. They became friends how any other friendship does, at school.
They always were together, although most nights Tony wasn't allowed to go since he had a pretty huge family who not only still went to Sunday mass together but had faithful Sunday dinners that were a minimum of four courses plus coffee & dessert.
Mostly, it was Jeff & Nick who spent the majority of their weekend time together, filling Tony in on their adventures come Monday at School. Tony always jealous that he was unable to be a part of their fun.
They got older, had dreams of one day starting a band. High school came, they made their dream a reality and on a very local level, were celebrities in their own right.
Nick on acoustic, Jeff on Bass & Tony on drums.
They played high school dances, local restaurants, even church gatherings, although those were a bit trickier since their music leaned more towards the hard rock variety.
Jesus wasn't such a fan of 'Hard Rock Lovin' or 'Under the Stars, Under the Bleachers'. (both popular songs of theirs...)
Teenage years would prove to be the most difficult, as Jeff discovered he had a taste for alcohol, the hard kind. And Tony, a similar taste, but his vice of choice being food.
Nick, well Nick has his vice too but I'm pretty sure she didn't have a clue.
Weird hat Karl got up to leave but turned in their direction & walked up to Nick one last time, his hand out with a card between his fingers, "Nick, if you change your mind..." he said with a smile.
"Ah, thanks but, I won't." and refuses the card.
Karl leaves it on the counter, smiles at Gina turns to leave.
"See you later man, ah, my name was Tony, T-O-N-Y, Tony Vitale!"
Nick smacks Tony on the head, "Seriously man, you gotta cut that shit out..."
I have to ask... *UPDATED*
...is no one even remotely curious
as to why I'm posting chapters of a book to the blog?
I really just find it odd
that now after having posted five chapters,
not one comment had been made
nor one question has been emailed my way.
Why is that, I wonder?
Are you all just not reading it cuz it's lengthy,
or are you all just waiting for a Ruby Photo shoot fix?
Thoughts, please?
***UPDATE***
Ok, I must confess that yes, I am writing a book.
I was hoping for you all to be my initial test audience
and to maybe get some unsolicited feedback
but shamelessly, when none appeared, I went fishing.
*grin*
It's not like I was hoping everyone would say 'oh yeah, we love it',
on the contrary, I like conflicting opinions, it helps keeps me on my toes & keeps the writing fresh.
The reality is, not everyone is going to be interested in
a murder mystery & oddly enough, I actually hate them.
LOL Go, figure.
It's just a story that's been banging around inside my head
& recently has gotten the better of me & consumed my thoughts,
so much so that I had to put it in writing & give it a life of it's own.
Literally every night while laying in bed waiting for sleep to come,
those characters would berate me with scenes,
scenarios,
things to write,
places to take the story,
it got to be so much I wasn't sleeping much.
Needless to say that now I'm sleeping like a baby
because the story is finally out of my head & starting it's journey to become a book.
I know, makes me sound like a crazy person but please just trust me when I say
that writing this story is more therapeutic than you think.
And NO I have never killed anyone, so before you ask, don't.
Just know that I'll try to also post pics of my Ruby,
truth is that although this book is consuming my head-
NOTHING ever consumes my world more than her.
Just that lately I've been forgetting to have my camera with me as often as I should.
I did take a pic of her yesterday,
as a flower,
as I'm sure you've already seen.
I must continue to write, so bear with me & if you're not interested in reading it,
I completely respect your right to not do so.
But please respect mine to post it.
*hugs* to all my readers,
without you, this blog would have far less life than it currently does.
I thank you for that.
-Amy & Ruby Cate
as to why I'm posting chapters of a book to the blog?
I really just find it odd
that now after having posted five chapters,
not one comment had been made
nor one question has been emailed my way.
Why is that, I wonder?
Are you all just not reading it cuz it's lengthy,
or are you all just waiting for a Ruby Photo shoot fix?
Thoughts, please?
***UPDATE***
Ok, I must confess that yes, I am writing a book.
I was hoping for you all to be my initial test audience
and to maybe get some unsolicited feedback
but shamelessly, when none appeared, I went fishing.
*grin*
It's not like I was hoping everyone would say 'oh yeah, we love it',
on the contrary, I like conflicting opinions, it helps keeps me on my toes & keeps the writing fresh.
The reality is, not everyone is going to be interested in
a murder mystery & oddly enough, I actually hate them.
LOL Go, figure.
It's just a story that's been banging around inside my head
& recently has gotten the better of me & consumed my thoughts,
so much so that I had to put it in writing & give it a life of it's own.
Literally every night while laying in bed waiting for sleep to come,
those characters would berate me with scenes,
scenarios,
things to write,
places to take the story,
it got to be so much I wasn't sleeping much.
Needless to say that now I'm sleeping like a baby
because the story is finally out of my head & starting it's journey to become a book.
I know, makes me sound like a crazy person but please just trust me when I say
that writing this story is more therapeutic than you think.
And NO I have never killed anyone, so before you ask, don't.
Just know that I'll try to also post pics of my Ruby,
truth is that although this book is consuming my head-
NOTHING ever consumes my world more than her.
Just that lately I've been forgetting to have my camera with me as often as I should.
I did take a pic of her yesterday,
as a flower,
as I'm sure you've already seen.
I must continue to write, so bear with me & if you're not interested in reading it,
I completely respect your right to not do so.
But please respect mine to post it.
*hugs* to all my readers,
without you, this blog would have far less life than it currently does.
I thank you for that.
-Amy & Ruby Cate
Chapter Five...
The officer looks up from his coffee and notices a woman approaching the cruiser.
"Must be the sister, she looks very much like that picture of the man they found dead." he says to his partner.
He rolls down his window.
"It's cold," he says to her, "Shouldn't you be inside?"
Jess smiles a friendly yet awkward smile at him, "Yeah, probably but for now my coat & this tea will have to do. I felt I should at least come out & let you know that we're ok in there... no worries."
"We're?" he says, "Meaning you & a miss Alice Tondreault?"
"Yes, me and Alice. I'm Jess, Jess Hathaway."
He looks up at her & half smiles, "I know who you are." he says.
Jess shot him a puzzled look, "Ah, ok, well we're fine by the way, but she's exhausted, got mugged last night & had her nose broken. She's sleeping right now & I'd kinda like to keep it that way if you don't mind. So, if it's all the same with you, if you've got something to ask, I'd rather you do so out here, ok?" Jess answers him.
"Of course miss Hathaway, whatever is easiest for you." the officer replied. "We really only have a couple of questions for you to be honest, our head detective tried you on your cell when we first caught wind of all this, but he wasn't able to reach you."
"Yeah, I had my cell off, " she said, "trying to save some battery..." she lied.
"Well, Miss Hathaway we just wanted to ask you when the last time you saw your brother was & how he was feeling? Was he in good spirits? Depressed? Did he ever use any recreational drugs, that type of thing."
"Drugs? No way, Jeff never touched drugs, not even cigarettes. He did drink though, sometimes a little heavier than I would've liked, but then again, I'm only his sister, not his keeper, you know?" Jess explained.
"Yes, we understand Miss Hathaway, but now let's get back to the last time you saw your brother, Jeff was it?"
"Yes," she suddenly felt a sting in her eyes & a welt starting to grow in the back of her throat, "his name was Jeff. Jeff Aaron Hathaway Jr. He was 28."
"Ok, so when exactly was the last time you and your brother spent time together?"
"Last week, we had gotten together to play some cards, UNO actually. Never was much for gambling so we settled on a friendly game of UNO. He's a sore loser, always has been." she smiled at the thought of their last game, how he tried to cheat & still ended up losing. It was endearing in a way.
"Ok, so you played a game of UNO with him. Did he, seem at all like he was not himself or that he had some things on his mind, was he paying attention to the game or did he seem to be wandering in & out maybe?" the officer prodded.
"Officer, with all due respect, I just told you that my brother never touched drugs, never smoked, drank occasionally, albeit a little too heavily for my tastes, and we only got together to play a friendly game of brother/sister UNO. I find it completely unnecessary for you to be assuming things about his current state of being at the time. We were playing UNO, not sharp shooting at cans out in a field, ok?"
"Ok, Miss Hathaway, my bad, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to understand how a perfectly healthy 28 year old man ends up dead on the floor of his kitchen covered in water with a substantial gash to the rear of his skull & bled to death without anyone seeing what happened, hearing what happened, or KNOWING what happened? Understand where I'm going with this?"
"I understand it completely officer, and I am pretty sure our conversation here is done. Enjoy your coffee & I'll ask you to please leave the premise once you're finished." Jess said in a snarky tone that let the officer know he had overstepped his boundary just a little too soon with her.
"Ma'am, with all due respect to you, it's a public street. We're free to sit here all day if we like, if it's all the same to you. You have a lovely day & enjoy that tea, k?" the officer replied through a smirk.
Jess frowned an agitated look at him & turned abruptly & walked back to Alice's apartment.
She had left the door unlocked so she easily let herself back in, closing and locking the door behind her.
She heard the whistle to the tea kettle start to howl, Alice was awake.
"Al? You up?" Jess called to her from the living room.
Alice turned the corner from the kitchen & sees her friend returning. "Where the hell did you go Jess? Please tell me you didn't go talk to the cops or those news reporters?!"
"Alice, calm down, I merely went across the street to tell those cops that they were wasting their time hanging around here. I told them that we were both fine, and we just wanted some peace & quiet in the wake of such a personal tragedy." she said.
"OH MY GOD JESS, what in the HELL were you thinking? I wanted them to think NOBODY was HOME!" Alice was yelling.
"Alice, don't be ridiculous, we can't hold up in here forever, come on! Eventually one or both of us would have to get up & walk out that front door. Let's be realistic, we do both work, remember those things called JOBS? We both have one, at least we both did before we played hookie today. I didn't even call the office to let them know I wouldn't be coming in." Jess said.
"Jess, honest to God, it was all over the NEWS! You don't think those ding dongs down at your office can put two & two together?" Alice was snapping at her now.
"First of all, STOP snapping at me, I am your friend remember? Second of all, they're NOT ding dongs, they're fine decent human beings who I happen to enjoy working with. Just because you were never conventional in your choice of job doesn't mean that I should be made to feel bad because I am, ok?" Jess was starting to lose her patience, and why was Alice so jumpy anyways? Jess knew she couldn't understand what it must've felt like to be jumped as she'd never lived through such an experience, but honestly, it wasn't HER who had jumped Alice, so why all the hostility?
Alice could tell that she had hurt her friends feelings, she really needed to get her emotions in check and fast. "I'm sorry Jess, I am just still not myself. I just can't believe he's gone. So, tell me... what did the cops even say to you?" she was nervous for what the answer might be.
"Nothing, really. Just wanted to know when the last time I saw my brother was & what type of mood he was in. Was he depressed or agitated, happy or sad, that type of stuff." she replied.
"So that's it? They didn't ask you if you saw him Saturday night?" Alice was biting her bottom lip, another nervous habit.
"No Alice, I just told you that they asked when I last saw him, they didn't ask specifically if I had seen him Saturday night, my telling them that I had seen him last during the week kind of answers that for them, don't you think?"
"Oh, yeah... sorry. So that's it? They didn't say anything more?" Alice asked.
"No, I just told them that we'd like to be left alone to work through our pain & that they should probably take their donut party elsewhere, to which they responded with them being within their rights to sit out there & enjoy their coffee & donuts because it was a public street... and then he shot me a cocky grin & rolled up his window. Then I just came back in here to be yelled at by you." Jess said.
Trying to change the tone of the room, Alice asked,
"So, have you heard anything from the funeral home? Which one is it that you used for your parents? Dooley & Howe? Or was it Campbell's, it's been so long forgive me I forget." Alice was embarrassed that she didn't recall this bit of their history.
"It's ok, it was a long time ago, and it was Campbell's, they're very nice people, family owned for over 100 years now." Jess said.
"Imagine that," Alice thought, "over 100 years of a family owned funeral business. Can't even imagine how hard that must be when they have to bury one of their own." She shuddered at the thought. "So, how do we go about arranging everything?" Alice felt bad now for snapping at her. It wasn't just a boyfriend who was gone, it was more importantly a brother, Jess's brother, and Alice felt all the worse for that fact alone.
"I'll give them a call after lunch, nobody will be there right now..." Jess replied with her eyes closed.
"Nobody will be there? What, you mean funeral homes take lunch breaks too?" Alice said.
"I don't know Alice," Jess's eyes were still closed shut & she was shaking her head back & forth slightly, "I just don't want to think about it right now ok? I'd rather call a little bit later & we'll figure it all out then. Right now, I just want to get something to eat, I'm starving... aren't you? I mean we haven't had much to eat in the last 24 hours and I don't know about you but I KNOW that one bite out of a stale Nilla wafer does NOT count as breakfast."
Alice smiled, a warm genuine smile, "You're right my friend, let's get some lunch, ok?"
"I'd like that very much," Jess smiled back at her friend & reached out for a hug.
The two held each other a little longer than normal for this hug. Both of them terrified of the days to come, the process that was inevitably inescapable and the uncertainty of their lives without Jeff.
"Let's get going," Alice said to Jess, and took her by the hand, "I know just the place..."
They got their coats and hats, put on their boots & Alice grabbed her house keys & out the door they went... the only thing on their minds, for the time being at least, was a nice hot meal.
The rest will come, that much they knew, but there's no rule that says you have to be sad AND hungry. Wasn't one of those emotions enough to bear at a time?
"Must be the sister, she looks very much like that picture of the man they found dead." he says to his partner.
He rolls down his window.
"It's cold," he says to her, "Shouldn't you be inside?"
Jess smiles a friendly yet awkward smile at him, "Yeah, probably but for now my coat & this tea will have to do. I felt I should at least come out & let you know that we're ok in there... no worries."
"We're?" he says, "Meaning you & a miss Alice Tondreault?"
"Yes, me and Alice. I'm Jess, Jess Hathaway."
He looks up at her & half smiles, "I know who you are." he says.
Jess shot him a puzzled look, "Ah, ok, well we're fine by the way, but she's exhausted, got mugged last night & had her nose broken. She's sleeping right now & I'd kinda like to keep it that way if you don't mind. So, if it's all the same with you, if you've got something to ask, I'd rather you do so out here, ok?" Jess answers him.
"Of course miss Hathaway, whatever is easiest for you." the officer replied. "We really only have a couple of questions for you to be honest, our head detective tried you on your cell when we first caught wind of all this, but he wasn't able to reach you."
"Yeah, I had my cell off, " she said, "trying to save some battery..." she lied.
"Well, Miss Hathaway we just wanted to ask you when the last time you saw your brother was & how he was feeling? Was he in good spirits? Depressed? Did he ever use any recreational drugs, that type of thing."
"Drugs? No way, Jeff never touched drugs, not even cigarettes. He did drink though, sometimes a little heavier than I would've liked, but then again, I'm only his sister, not his keeper, you know?" Jess explained.
"Yes, we understand Miss Hathaway, but now let's get back to the last time you saw your brother, Jeff was it?"
"Yes," she suddenly felt a sting in her eyes & a welt starting to grow in the back of her throat, "his name was Jeff. Jeff Aaron Hathaway Jr. He was 28."
"Ok, so when exactly was the last time you and your brother spent time together?"
"Last week, we had gotten together to play some cards, UNO actually. Never was much for gambling so we settled on a friendly game of UNO. He's a sore loser, always has been." she smiled at the thought of their last game, how he tried to cheat & still ended up losing. It was endearing in a way.
"Ok, so you played a game of UNO with him. Did he, seem at all like he was not himself or that he had some things on his mind, was he paying attention to the game or did he seem to be wandering in & out maybe?" the officer prodded.
"Officer, with all due respect, I just told you that my brother never touched drugs, never smoked, drank occasionally, albeit a little too heavily for my tastes, and we only got together to play a friendly game of brother/sister UNO. I find it completely unnecessary for you to be assuming things about his current state of being at the time. We were playing UNO, not sharp shooting at cans out in a field, ok?"
"Ok, Miss Hathaway, my bad, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to understand how a perfectly healthy 28 year old man ends up dead on the floor of his kitchen covered in water with a substantial gash to the rear of his skull & bled to death without anyone seeing what happened, hearing what happened, or KNOWING what happened? Understand where I'm going with this?"
"I understand it completely officer, and I am pretty sure our conversation here is done. Enjoy your coffee & I'll ask you to please leave the premise once you're finished." Jess said in a snarky tone that let the officer know he had overstepped his boundary just a little too soon with her.
"Ma'am, with all due respect to you, it's a public street. We're free to sit here all day if we like, if it's all the same to you. You have a lovely day & enjoy that tea, k?" the officer replied through a smirk.
Jess frowned an agitated look at him & turned abruptly & walked back to Alice's apartment.
She had left the door unlocked so she easily let herself back in, closing and locking the door behind her.
She heard the whistle to the tea kettle start to howl, Alice was awake.
"Al? You up?" Jess called to her from the living room.
Alice turned the corner from the kitchen & sees her friend returning. "Where the hell did you go Jess? Please tell me you didn't go talk to the cops or those news reporters?!"
"Alice, calm down, I merely went across the street to tell those cops that they were wasting their time hanging around here. I told them that we were both fine, and we just wanted some peace & quiet in the wake of such a personal tragedy." she said.
"OH MY GOD JESS, what in the HELL were you thinking? I wanted them to think NOBODY was HOME!" Alice was yelling.
"Alice, don't be ridiculous, we can't hold up in here forever, come on! Eventually one or both of us would have to get up & walk out that front door. Let's be realistic, we do both work, remember those things called JOBS? We both have one, at least we both did before we played hookie today. I didn't even call the office to let them know I wouldn't be coming in." Jess said.
"Jess, honest to God, it was all over the NEWS! You don't think those ding dongs down at your office can put two & two together?" Alice was snapping at her now.
"First of all, STOP snapping at me, I am your friend remember? Second of all, they're NOT ding dongs, they're fine decent human beings who I happen to enjoy working with. Just because you were never conventional in your choice of job doesn't mean that I should be made to feel bad because I am, ok?" Jess was starting to lose her patience, and why was Alice so jumpy anyways? Jess knew she couldn't understand what it must've felt like to be jumped as she'd never lived through such an experience, but honestly, it wasn't HER who had jumped Alice, so why all the hostility?
Alice could tell that she had hurt her friends feelings, she really needed to get her emotions in check and fast. "I'm sorry Jess, I am just still not myself. I just can't believe he's gone. So, tell me... what did the cops even say to you?" she was nervous for what the answer might be.
"Nothing, really. Just wanted to know when the last time I saw my brother was & what type of mood he was in. Was he depressed or agitated, happy or sad, that type of stuff." she replied.
"So that's it? They didn't ask you if you saw him Saturday night?" Alice was biting her bottom lip, another nervous habit.
"No Alice, I just told you that they asked when I last saw him, they didn't ask specifically if I had seen him Saturday night, my telling them that I had seen him last during the week kind of answers that for them, don't you think?"
"Oh, yeah... sorry. So that's it? They didn't say anything more?" Alice asked.
"No, I just told them that we'd like to be left alone to work through our pain & that they should probably take their donut party elsewhere, to which they responded with them being within their rights to sit out there & enjoy their coffee & donuts because it was a public street... and then he shot me a cocky grin & rolled up his window. Then I just came back in here to be yelled at by you." Jess said.
Trying to change the tone of the room, Alice asked,
"So, have you heard anything from the funeral home? Which one is it that you used for your parents? Dooley & Howe? Or was it Campbell's, it's been so long forgive me I forget." Alice was embarrassed that she didn't recall this bit of their history.
"It's ok, it was a long time ago, and it was Campbell's, they're very nice people, family owned for over 100 years now." Jess said.
"Imagine that," Alice thought, "over 100 years of a family owned funeral business. Can't even imagine how hard that must be when they have to bury one of their own." She shuddered at the thought. "So, how do we go about arranging everything?" Alice felt bad now for snapping at her. It wasn't just a boyfriend who was gone, it was more importantly a brother, Jess's brother, and Alice felt all the worse for that fact alone.
"I'll give them a call after lunch, nobody will be there right now..." Jess replied with her eyes closed.
"Nobody will be there? What, you mean funeral homes take lunch breaks too?" Alice said.
"I don't know Alice," Jess's eyes were still closed shut & she was shaking her head back & forth slightly, "I just don't want to think about it right now ok? I'd rather call a little bit later & we'll figure it all out then. Right now, I just want to get something to eat, I'm starving... aren't you? I mean we haven't had much to eat in the last 24 hours and I don't know about you but I KNOW that one bite out of a stale Nilla wafer does NOT count as breakfast."
Alice smiled, a warm genuine smile, "You're right my friend, let's get some lunch, ok?"
"I'd like that very much," Jess smiled back at her friend & reached out for a hug.
The two held each other a little longer than normal for this hug. Both of them terrified of the days to come, the process that was inevitably inescapable and the uncertainty of their lives without Jeff.
"Let's get going," Alice said to Jess, and took her by the hand, "I know just the place..."
They got their coats and hats, put on their boots & Alice grabbed her house keys & out the door they went... the only thing on their minds, for the time being at least, was a nice hot meal.
The rest will come, that much they knew, but there's no rule that says you have to be sad AND hungry. Wasn't one of those emotions enough to bear at a time?
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Chapter Four...
Jess turns down her TV & picks up her phone. This is the first time she hasn't called me back?She ALWAYS returns my calls, what's wrong with her tonight? She thought to herself. She hears the ringing until the machine picks up;
~Hey, it's Alice... you know what to do.~
*beep*
" Alice, listen I won't call again cuz I know you're probably out doing something but seriously, it's not like you not to call me back, so..." but before she could finish leaving her message, she heard someone pounding LOUDLY on her apartment door.
What in the world?! Jess turned around abruptly and called out "Who is it?"
no answer.
The pounding just got louder & louder...
"HELLO???"
No answer, just pounding so loud that now her head was starting to hurt... almost as if someone was knocking on it!
"HELLO, JESS! WAKE UP!" Alice, tapping on Jess's forehead to get her attention, was shouting at her friend in a panic.
"Wake up Jess, holy shit, there's a news crew & fucking cops outside my house!" Alice startled her, rousing her from her dream.
"What? I must've been dreaming, I thought I was just calling you & then this pounding and, wait... what's going on? A news what?"
"OH MY GOD JESS, A FUCKING NEWS CREW AND GOD DAMNED COPS! WHAT THE FUCK DO WE DO? WHY ARE THEY HERE?!" Alice panicked
"I don't know, we answer the door?" Jess hesitantly replied.
"ANSWER THE DOOR? ANSWER THE FUCKING DOOR? ARE YOU INSANE? NO WAY IN HELL ARE THEY COMING IN HERE!" Alice snapped.
Jess looking a little taken aback said, "Ok, ok... so we just lay here quietly until they go away, right? I mean they can't sit out there forever. We'll just wait it out, but if you go on shouting like that they're going to KNOW we're here, so let's be quiet, ok Alice?"
Alice shaking & beginning to sweat a little says, "Yeah, ok you're right, we'll just be quiet, they'll go soon, ok fine, quiet..."
"Alice," Jess asks, "why are you so wound up about this? It's not like we did anything wrong, they're probably just coming here because you were his girlfriend & everyone knows we're best friends & maybe they went to my place first & when they didn't find me, just assumed that we'd both be here. You know how the news is, they interview anyone for a damn story..."
"Ok, you're right, I mean, I just don't think it makes sense to be showing up here without calling first, I mean, it's the friggen news ya know? Don't they call first?" Alice still in panic mode was sputtering out sentence fragments & not making much sense, she knew it.
"Alice, it's ok... probably one of the guys from his band gave them your info. Heck it's not like they don't know you like a sister at this point, you've been to every one of their practices faithfully for years now, right?" Jess told her.
"Yeah, you're right, I have gone to nearly every practice, only missed that one in senior year of high school when I had mono." Alice remembered.
"Right, so see, they probably are just here to interview you to see what you know about what happened. If you were with him or heard from him etc..." Jess explained.
"I WASN'T WITH HIM!" Alice jumped at her, "I TOLD YOU I WENT TO THE STORE TO PICK UP A FEW THINGS & GOT ATTACKED, REMEMBER?" pointing to her busted up nose with a shaky hand, Alice tries to remind her friend of the events of last night.
"Alice, calm down, it's ok... I'm your friend, remember? I know you weren't with him, but all I'm saying is, that they don't & they probably just want to ask you a few things to clear the air, no big deal, right?" Jess tries to calm her friend.
"Right, ok right... no big deal, just clearing the air." Alice crawls back into bed next to her friend & pulls the covers up over her head. "I'm just going to hide here for a while until they go away, ok? Just until they go away..."
Jess reached her arm over to her friend & began gently rubbing her back, "It's ok hon, yes, until they go away, we can just curl up here & keep warm, alright?"
Alice's house was frozen to the core, turning the heat up to 68 the night before didn't help much. Another thing to call the damn landlord about. "This place sucks" she said out loud. "I hate my apartment, and my landlord!"
Alice's toes were frozen and Jess was too for that matter.
"How come it's always so damn cold in here anyway?" Jess started to get up out of the bed to go see what was up with the thermostat, when Alice reached over & grabbed hold of her friends arm, tight, "Don't GO!" Alice begged, "stay here please? We can keep each other warm for now & anyway, they might see you, I just want them to go away, please, you stay, ok?"
Jess returned to her warm spot on the mattress, "Ok Alice, I'll stay. Let's get back to that nap we were trying to have before all this commotion woke us up, ok?"
Jess curled up next to Alice in a spooning position & then wrapped her left arm up & over Alice's shoulders & chest. Alice reached up to grab Jess's hand & hold it tight."
"Don't ever leave me Jess, promise?" she whispered.
"I promise..." Jess said, "Now let's just get some sleep."
Alice fell into a deep sleep almost immediately, but Jess wasn't tired at all. She waited until she was sure Alice was out cold & got up to go check the thermostat & put some water on for tea.
She noticed that the camera crews had gone but that the cruisers were still parked outside across the street.
She upped the temp to 72 and went into the kitchen to put some water on the stove.
Walking to the front door, she peeked outside, noticing the cops sitting in their cruiser, enjoying what looked to be a doughnut & some coffee.
Jess smiled & shook her head a little, "Cops & Dunkin Donuts" she laughed a little to herself at the thought of it. "Typical..."
She quietly shut the door to Alice's bedroom & walked over to the couch, grabbed the remote & turned on the TV;
"Sources tell us that people are home at 132 linden street, but that nobody is answering the door. Police officers are staked out waiting for any signs of life so that they may begin questioning..."
"Jesus," Jess thought, "Do they think Alice hand a hand in this? My God."
The kettle started to whistle & Jess jumped up to quiet it before it woke Alice. She poured herself a cup & headed back to the couch to continue watching the news.
"...band members, Tony Vitale and Nick Nucci said they didn't think anything was off Friday night with their friend Jeff, just business as usual for the band & their regular Friday night practice sessions. The band, known as Krackdown, has been together for years and has been playing locally now for over five." Jess listened as the newscaster continued her story; "James Macavoy, the owner of the building where the band rents it's space from, said that he's not had any trouble with them in the six years they've been renting from him."
"Those boys were good people, loud, but good. Never late on the rent & always in good spirits, but did I mention LOUD? Never did much care for that type of music, but hey, they paid on time, I don't question, you know?" mister Macavoy told the reporter.
Jess sipped her tea, piping hot & hurt going down, just the way she liked it.
She grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch & pulled it over her legs.
She remembered then her cell phone, which had been turned off nearly 24 hours now, after first learning of her brothers death.
Walking over to her jacket, she pulled the phone out from her pocket & turned it on.
"Ugh, nearly dead, hopefully enough charge to check the messages at least," she thought.
She called into her messages & heard, "You have three new messages..."
she held the phone up to her ear, hearing the first one, "
"Miss Hathaway, this is detective Bianchi from the Collins Cove police dept. We'd just like to ask you a couple of questions concerning your brother's whereabouts on the night of Saturday January 6Th. We'd appreciate a call back as soon as possible, we really need to talk with you, thanks." *click*
Well she knew that was coming, of course they'd go to her first, she was his sister after all, it makes sense to go to family first... only too bad she didn't know much about what her brother was doing Saturday night. She didn't talk to him as much as she'd like after he started the drinking. They used to be so close, but lately she just kinda kept tabs on him through Alice, she figured, if Alice was with him, then he's ok, and left it at that.
"Received Sunday January 7th, at 10:17am; "Hey Jess, you there? What the hell happened? We just SAW Jeff Friday night! Me & Tony hung with him all Friday but then he never showed up for practice last night, I don't understand how he's fucking dead now?! Call us back ok? We're freaking out ova' here!" click.
Nick sounded just as horrified as Jess felt over this whole thing.
Last message,"Received Sunday, January 7Th, at 10:31am; "
"Jess, hey listen, it's me again... Tony just told me to call you & tell you that we'll keep all of Jeff's things safe for you until you want them. His guitar, his lucky pic, he even has a couple of friggen shirts over here can you believe that? Oh, and maybe we could like, kinda keep one of the shirts, for old times sake? Let us know, call us when you can ok? We know you must be as freaked out as we are! We love ya Jess!" *click*
Nick & Tony are good guys. Been friends with Jeff ever since grade school. Even way back then they all used to 'talk' of one day starting their own band, who knew they'd ever actually do it.
Not that they were headed to Hollywood anytime soon, they weren't 'that' good but, they were good enough to entertain a small Massachusetts town all these many years & people loved them for that.
Jess gets up from the couch & heads over to the door again, it's now nearly 12:00pm on, what day is it now? Monday? Yeah, it's Monday the 8Th. Christ, what happened to the weekend? she thought to herself. It's all still just a big fat ugly dream to her.
Not having any idea how long those news crew people stayed outside the house, she knew one thing, those cops weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Eventually someone was going to have to talk to them, and seeing as how Alice is finally peacefully resting, and she WAS his sister after all, she should be the one to go out & talk to them.
She put her tea down on the mail table by the door & slowly opened the door letting in the bright sunlight. The air was freezing and the reflection of the sun on the leftover snow on the ground, nearly blinded her! She threw on her coat, grabbed her tea again & head out the door & across the street in the direction of the cruiser...
~Hey, it's Alice... you know what to do.~
*beep*
" Alice, listen I won't call again cuz I know you're probably out doing something but seriously, it's not like you not to call me back, so..." but before she could finish leaving her message, she heard someone pounding LOUDLY on her apartment door.
What in the world?! Jess turned around abruptly and called out "Who is it?"
no answer.
The pounding just got louder & louder...
"HELLO???"
No answer, just pounding so loud that now her head was starting to hurt... almost as if someone was knocking on it!
"HELLO, JESS! WAKE UP!" Alice, tapping on Jess's forehead to get her attention, was shouting at her friend in a panic.
"Wake up Jess, holy shit, there's a news crew & fucking cops outside my house!" Alice startled her, rousing her from her dream.
"What? I must've been dreaming, I thought I was just calling you & then this pounding and, wait... what's going on? A news what?"
"OH MY GOD JESS, A FUCKING NEWS CREW AND GOD DAMNED COPS! WHAT THE FUCK DO WE DO? WHY ARE THEY HERE?!" Alice panicked
"I don't know, we answer the door?" Jess hesitantly replied.
"ANSWER THE DOOR? ANSWER THE FUCKING DOOR? ARE YOU INSANE? NO WAY IN HELL ARE THEY COMING IN HERE!" Alice snapped.
Jess looking a little taken aback said, "Ok, ok... so we just lay here quietly until they go away, right? I mean they can't sit out there forever. We'll just wait it out, but if you go on shouting like that they're going to KNOW we're here, so let's be quiet, ok Alice?"
Alice shaking & beginning to sweat a little says, "Yeah, ok you're right, we'll just be quiet, they'll go soon, ok fine, quiet..."
"Alice," Jess asks, "why are you so wound up about this? It's not like we did anything wrong, they're probably just coming here because you were his girlfriend & everyone knows we're best friends & maybe they went to my place first & when they didn't find me, just assumed that we'd both be here. You know how the news is, they interview anyone for a damn story..."
"Ok, you're right, I mean, I just don't think it makes sense to be showing up here without calling first, I mean, it's the friggen news ya know? Don't they call first?" Alice still in panic mode was sputtering out sentence fragments & not making much sense, she knew it.
"Alice, it's ok... probably one of the guys from his band gave them your info. Heck it's not like they don't know you like a sister at this point, you've been to every one of their practices faithfully for years now, right?" Jess told her.
"Yeah, you're right, I have gone to nearly every practice, only missed that one in senior year of high school when I had mono." Alice remembered.
"Right, so see, they probably are just here to interview you to see what you know about what happened. If you were with him or heard from him etc..." Jess explained.
"I WASN'T WITH HIM!" Alice jumped at her, "I TOLD YOU I WENT TO THE STORE TO PICK UP A FEW THINGS & GOT ATTACKED, REMEMBER?" pointing to her busted up nose with a shaky hand, Alice tries to remind her friend of the events of last night.
"Alice, calm down, it's ok... I'm your friend, remember? I know you weren't with him, but all I'm saying is, that they don't & they probably just want to ask you a few things to clear the air, no big deal, right?" Jess tries to calm her friend.
"Right, ok right... no big deal, just clearing the air." Alice crawls back into bed next to her friend & pulls the covers up over her head. "I'm just going to hide here for a while until they go away, ok? Just until they go away..."
Jess reached her arm over to her friend & began gently rubbing her back, "It's ok hon, yes, until they go away, we can just curl up here & keep warm, alright?"
Alice's house was frozen to the core, turning the heat up to 68 the night before didn't help much. Another thing to call the damn landlord about. "This place sucks" she said out loud. "I hate my apartment, and my landlord!"
Alice's toes were frozen and Jess was too for that matter.
"How come it's always so damn cold in here anyway?" Jess started to get up out of the bed to go see what was up with the thermostat, when Alice reached over & grabbed hold of her friends arm, tight, "Don't GO!" Alice begged, "stay here please? We can keep each other warm for now & anyway, they might see you, I just want them to go away, please, you stay, ok?"
Jess returned to her warm spot on the mattress, "Ok Alice, I'll stay. Let's get back to that nap we were trying to have before all this commotion woke us up, ok?"
Jess curled up next to Alice in a spooning position & then wrapped her left arm up & over Alice's shoulders & chest. Alice reached up to grab Jess's hand & hold it tight."
"Don't ever leave me Jess, promise?" she whispered.
"I promise..." Jess said, "Now let's just get some sleep."
Alice fell into a deep sleep almost immediately, but Jess wasn't tired at all. She waited until she was sure Alice was out cold & got up to go check the thermostat & put some water on for tea.
She noticed that the camera crews had gone but that the cruisers were still parked outside across the street.
She upped the temp to 72 and went into the kitchen to put some water on the stove.
Walking to the front door, she peeked outside, noticing the cops sitting in their cruiser, enjoying what looked to be a doughnut & some coffee.
Jess smiled & shook her head a little, "Cops & Dunkin Donuts" she laughed a little to herself at the thought of it. "Typical..."
She quietly shut the door to Alice's bedroom & walked over to the couch, grabbed the remote & turned on the TV;
"Sources tell us that people are home at 132 linden street, but that nobody is answering the door. Police officers are staked out waiting for any signs of life so that they may begin questioning..."
"Jesus," Jess thought, "Do they think Alice hand a hand in this? My God."
The kettle started to whistle & Jess jumped up to quiet it before it woke Alice. She poured herself a cup & headed back to the couch to continue watching the news.
"...band members, Tony Vitale and Nick Nucci said they didn't think anything was off Friday night with their friend Jeff, just business as usual for the band & their regular Friday night practice sessions. The band, known as Krackdown, has been together for years and has been playing locally now for over five." Jess listened as the newscaster continued her story; "James Macavoy, the owner of the building where the band rents it's space from, said that he's not had any trouble with them in the six years they've been renting from him."
"Those boys were good people, loud, but good. Never late on the rent & always in good spirits, but did I mention LOUD? Never did much care for that type of music, but hey, they paid on time, I don't question, you know?" mister Macavoy told the reporter.
Jess sipped her tea, piping hot & hurt going down, just the way she liked it.
She grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch & pulled it over her legs.
She remembered then her cell phone, which had been turned off nearly 24 hours now, after first learning of her brothers death.
Walking over to her jacket, she pulled the phone out from her pocket & turned it on.
"Ugh, nearly dead, hopefully enough charge to check the messages at least," she thought.
She called into her messages & heard, "You have three new messages..."
she held the phone up to her ear, hearing the first one, "
"Miss Hathaway, this is detective Bianchi from the Collins Cove police dept. We'd just like to ask you a couple of questions concerning your brother's whereabouts on the night of Saturday January 6Th. We'd appreciate a call back as soon as possible, we really need to talk with you, thanks." *click*
Well she knew that was coming, of course they'd go to her first, she was his sister after all, it makes sense to go to family first... only too bad she didn't know much about what her brother was doing Saturday night. She didn't talk to him as much as she'd like after he started the drinking. They used to be so close, but lately she just kinda kept tabs on him through Alice, she figured, if Alice was with him, then he's ok, and left it at that.
"Received Sunday January 7th, at 10:17am; "Hey Jess, you there? What the hell happened? We just SAW Jeff Friday night! Me & Tony hung with him all Friday but then he never showed up for practice last night, I don't understand how he's fucking dead now?! Call us back ok? We're freaking out ova' here!" click.
Nick sounded just as horrified as Jess felt over this whole thing.
Last message,"Received Sunday, January 7Th, at 10:31am; "
"Jess, hey listen, it's me again... Tony just told me to call you & tell you that we'll keep all of Jeff's things safe for you until you want them. His guitar, his lucky pic, he even has a couple of friggen shirts over here can you believe that? Oh, and maybe we could like, kinda keep one of the shirts, for old times sake? Let us know, call us when you can ok? We know you must be as freaked out as we are! We love ya Jess!" *click*
Nick & Tony are good guys. Been friends with Jeff ever since grade school. Even way back then they all used to 'talk' of one day starting their own band, who knew they'd ever actually do it.
Not that they were headed to Hollywood anytime soon, they weren't 'that' good but, they were good enough to entertain a small Massachusetts town all these many years & people loved them for that.
Jess gets up from the couch & heads over to the door again, it's now nearly 12:00pm on, what day is it now? Monday? Yeah, it's Monday the 8Th. Christ, what happened to the weekend? she thought to herself. It's all still just a big fat ugly dream to her.
Not having any idea how long those news crew people stayed outside the house, she knew one thing, those cops weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Eventually someone was going to have to talk to them, and seeing as how Alice is finally peacefully resting, and she WAS his sister after all, she should be the one to go out & talk to them.
She put her tea down on the mail table by the door & slowly opened the door letting in the bright sunlight. The air was freezing and the reflection of the sun on the leftover snow on the ground, nearly blinded her! She threw on her coat, grabbed her tea again & head out the door & across the street in the direction of the cruiser...
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