The Break - Chapter 22

Chapter 22 Not wanting the moment to pass, Anita frantically looked through the drawers trying to find a notebook. In her years as a journalist, she learned that when people wanted to talk you need to listen. You may never get another chance. Most people do not freely pour their hearts out to strangers. Anita was sure that this was especially true with a man like Ron. Another lesson she learned the hard way is that you absolutely must take detailed notes of every conversation which is why she was still looking for a blank notebook. “Where did she put those?” Anita asked herself. While Anita had to admit that Elena had been invaluable in her recovery, she found her tendency to organize everything unnerving. This was particular true of writing instruments. Anita had developed a habit of leaving pens, pencils and notebooks all over the apartment in case she suddenly got an idea. Finally, she located a brand new pad in the third drawer. Until Elena’s arrival, the drawer had been the repository for screw drivers, allen wrenches and various other small tools frequently required in the kitchen. Trying to move quickly but not appear to be in a panic, Anita returned to the living room. “Found one.” She said full of false cheer. “Now you were talking about a guy named Frankie Schnieder?” “His real name is Frankie, but the called him Schnieder.” Ron corrected her. “Uh…okay.” Anita said trying to get organized. Three months laying around feeling sorry for herself had left Anita a little rusty. A quick moment of self-talk was just the thing she needed to get her going. She began using the technique when she sought out a clinical psychologist to help her quit smoking. “Come on, Anita.” She said to herself in the stern voice she needed to hear. “You can do this. Focus. Get organized. Don’t ask to many questions. Let the information flow from Ron. He wants to talk – let him. You can do this. You can do this. Now do it.” The lecture only took a brief moment. Ron didn’t even realize that there was a hesitation. “This sounds like it is pretty involved.” Anita said. “I think you better start at the beginning.” “Whoa…the beginning…” Ron said almost absentmindedly. “Which beginning would you like to hear about?” “How about the beginning of this story?” Anita said allowing her impatience to show. “I’m sorry, that sounded so rude. But I would like to talk about the explosion at the Pepsi Center.” “Of course.” Ron replied. “The question just sent me back a bit. Since the explosion, I have spent quite a bit of time examining my past.” Ron paused for a moment and stretched his arms of his head. Inhaling deeply, he blew the air out. “My son is in a band called ‘Ratdick’. Ron started. “Interesting name.” Anita commented. “It fits the music.” Ron said in an offhanded manner. “That bad, huh?” Anita asked miss judging the statement as disapproval. “Actually, they’re fantastic.” Ron said as a pang of sadness hit him. “Er...were, I guess.” “Sorry, what?” Anita asked frustrated with herself for not being able to follow Ron. Ron reached up and wiped his mouth. He looked at his hand and pondered the brownish deposit that had most recent occupied the cracks at the corners of his mouth. “Do you have anything to drink?” Ron asked Anita. “Of yes. Forgive me.” Anita said quickly obviously embarrassed. “I’m so rude. Would you like a soft drink, pop, juice or water? Or would you like alcohol?” “A beer would be great.” Ron responded. “Doesn’t matter what kind.” Anita walked to the refrigerator and retrieved a beer and a Diet Coke for herself. “Well, my son’s band was really good.” Ron started again. “That’s why we were at the Pepsi Center. They were actually going to open for U2.” “Open for U2?” Anita asked skeptically. “Apparently, the some of the guys or the road crew or someone associated with U2 caught my son’s band in Seattle or Portland, some where out west. And they were impressed. They had a few open dates.” Ron explained. “So, they make the deal to have them open in Salt Lake City, Denver, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.” “So, that explains why you were at the Pepsi Center.” Anita confirmed his statement to this point. “But who is this Frankie?” “The guy is like fifty or so.” Ron said. “Not really sure how my son met him, but he has known him for sometime. When they started touring, Ronnie, my son Ron, Jr, hired Frankie to be his roadie.” Ron paused, took a long drink from his beer. Closing his eyes, he vigorously rubber his eyes as if he was trying to clear the thoughts from his brain. Briefly, he considered getting up, walking out of the apartment and never speaking about this again – ever. Instead, he decided the only thing he could was get it out. “Turns out, Frankie is a Vietnam vet with some serious issues.” Ron continued as if he had never paused. “I had to go up to Seattle from business at the same time the boys were playing. I got a backstage pass and took in the show.” “And you saw something there?” Anita asked the obvious question. “I didn’t think much of it at the time, but yes I did.” Ron replied. About quarter of the way into the show Schnieder … Frankie, he disappears out the service door. Being the curious type, I follow him.” Another pause, another drink. “I slip out the door and I see Frankie standing at attention if front of this other guy I’d never seen before. The guy is walking around Frankie like he was inspecting him. I found the whole thing a little weird, but I figure what the hell, none of my business.” “So how does this tie in?” Anita asked. “Well, I didn’t really want to make a big deal or anything.” Ron started as he shifted his weight uncomfortable. “But I just couldn’t get it out of my head. It didn’t add up. So, I was having a conversation with Ronnie and I asked him if he noticed anything strange about Frankie and he told me about the evil.” “The evil?” Anita asked in a puzzled tone. This time the pause lasted quite a bit longer. Ron was weighing whether or not he should even try explaining this to Anita. He saw the look on the police officer’s face when he told them. Then he determined this is the only chance he had at getting the real story out. “Ronnie told me that every once and a while Frankie would just freak out and get all scared and start talking about the evil.” Ron said tentatively. He looked into Anita’s eyes to see if she believed him. Much to his surprise, he saw that she was with him. Instantly, he felt more relaxed, more confident. “Ronnie said that he found Frankie shaking and scared to death.” Ron continued. “Then he tell Ronnie that he saw the evil. Then five minutes later, he would be fine and didn’t remember what happened to them.” “That’s pretty strange.” Anita commented. “That’s what I thought.” Ron said. “Then I remembered the guy that Frankie was talking to. Something didn’t smell right. So, I decided to see if I could figure out what was going on.” “Really?” Anita asked. “Just because of that?” “I know it sounds strange.” Ron said. “But you didn’t see these guys in the alley. And it was Ronnie. I mean, I haven’t been the greatest father, but I needed to make sure he was okay – understand?” “Maybe.” Anita responded honestly. “But I’m still not sure about this. It seems a little thin.” Slightly shocked by Anita’s attitude, Ron sat back and finished his beer. He sat for a moment and considered it. Then he thought about what he had just told Anita and he wasn’t sure if he would even believe it. “It is thin.” Ron stated matter-of-factly. “But I think it has more to do with how I am telling it.” “What?” Anita asked. From this conversation, Ron knew he could trust Anita. But he had no idea if he could get himself to let go enough to get the whole story out so it was believable. “Anita, I am so use to being guarded about myself.” Ron said as he leaned forward toward her, folding his hands and rested his arms on his thighs. “I negotiate for a living. I don’t give out information easily. I have learned to hold back since I never want to reveal more than I have to. I realize that I have to loosen up a bit to tell this story.” “You have to do more than that.” Anita said frankly as she put her hand over his hands and squeezed in a reassuring manner. “You have to trust me completely. Ron, you have to tell me the whole story.” “I know.” He agreed. “But it’s not going to be easy and it is not going to be in one sitting.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking way from Schnieder, Ronnie saw that Pete was well on his way to making it with the woman from the audience. In fact, Pete had liberated one of her breasts from the skimpy blouse that she was wearing by reaching in and pulling it out. Feigning shock, the woman slapped at Pete and squealed loudly. But she did nothing to cover her now exposed breast. Her friend rolled her eyes indignantly as if she we completely disgusted with her friend. But then when she thought no one was looking, she turned her eyes back to her friend’s exposed breast. As much as Ronnie was enjoying the view, he looked away to see what Ass and Ben were up to. They were standing talking easily to one another. Ronnie went over. “Great show, gentlemen.” He said as a broad smile formed on his face.” Dude, you’re tellin’ us.” Ass spoke for the entire rhythm section. “I don’t think I …we…all of us have ever played better.” “You too, huh?” Ronnie replied as he patted Ass on the back. “I was worried that it was just me.” The three looked at each other and could not stop smiling. “I hate to say this.” Ronnie started. “But we are actually damn good.” “You know, as much as I hate that you said that.” Ass said good-naturedly. “But I agree.” “Dude.” Ben added his full agreement. “You guys up for looking for what there is to do on a Wednesday night in Spokane, Washington?” Ronnie asked. The two exchanged a look. “Uh…hey…you know…” Ass tried. “We…uh…got some things to talk about.” “Oh yeah, it’s cool.” Ronnie said. Before he walked away, he hugged both his band-mates. Real hugs, full of love and support. No further words were necessary. Ronnie just turned and walked over to Pete. Things between Pete and the two girls were escalating quickly. The one he had admired from stage had her shirt completely open with both her breast in full view. Pete was gently stroking her left breast. Her friend was subtly stroking her right. Her eyes betrayed the combination of excitement and mortification that Ronnie had seen in Ass’ eyes when he opened the divider on the bus. Because of this, he guessed that it was the first time she had touched her friend’s breast and she was genuinely surprised by how much it excited her. Ronnie couldn’t be absolutely sure, but the angle of her other arm indicated that she might be touch herself as well. “Looks like you all are having a good time.” Ronnie said. “Ronnie, my man.” Pete said magnanimously. “This is Emily. Pete took his hand off Emily’s breast long enough to wave his hand toward Ronnie. Once again, Pete used his right hand to gesture to the other woman. “And this, my man.” Pete said as if he was introducing Ronnie to his next girlfriend. “Is Chelsea.” “Hi, Emily. Hi, Chelsea.” Ronnie responded. “Hey Ronnie.” Emily gushed full of horny anticipation. “Great set. You guys are awesome.” “Thanks.” Ronnie responded. “Hi, Ronnie.” Chelsea responded less than enthusiastically. Ronnie picked up on it immediately. Looking into Chelsea’s eyes, he obviously turned his eyes to Emily’s breast. As he thought, Chelsea’s eyes followed his. Then he looked back at Chelsea and smiled. The signal was well received. “You were great.” Chelsea added appreciatively. “I had a great time.” “Thanks, Chelsea.” Ronnie said. “Think the rest of your night is going to work out pretty well, if you want it to.” Both knew that Chelsea wanted an excuse to be with her friend and Pete was about to provide her with the perfect opportunity. “So, dude.” Pete said completely oblivious to the non-verbal conversation that had just occurred between Ronnie and Chelsea. “Ready to do some partying with me and the girls?” “Ah, I think I’ll pass.” Ronnie said. “I’m going to hang out with Ben and Ass.” Looking at Chelsea, Ronnie saw a huge smile spread across her face. This time her eyes were full of excitement without even a hint of reservation that he had seen before. It was as if Ronnie’s gesture had emboldened her. Another human saw her lust for Emily and encouraged her. In fact, she began to obviously stroke Emily’s breast. “You stop.” Emily said without much conviction. She giggled as she pushed her breast closer to Chelsea and slid her right hand onto Chelsea’s bottom. “You’re not supposed to do that.” She continued her false protest. “Whatever.” Chelsea responded. Not sticking around for the rest, Ronnie decided to go back to the hotel. As he began to walk, Ronnie began to feel the fatigue. Not buoyed by sexual energy as the other members of the band, Ronnie just wanted to lie down and let sleep overtake him. On the way back to the hotel, Ronnie started thinking about Ben and Ass. It really seemed that things were moving in the right direction for them. Both of them seemed to be very happy. The chemistry was explosive. Tonight show was incredible and Ronnie was starting to think that Ben and Ass were responsible. It was true that Pete was an amazing guitar player and he did write all the songs. But the chemistry between those two was absolutely magical. Now that they were on the same plane it was even more intense. “Wonder if that will ever happen to me.” Ronnie thought. Continuing on that pattern of thought, Ronnie realized that it may have already happened but he chose to ignore it. And why, because she made a stupid mistake when she was seventeen? Everyone did dumb stuff when they were teenagers. “Well, I guess it isn’t limited to your teens.” Ronnie said out loud. It was Ronnie, after all, that had been a drug dealer up until six months ago. He and Schnieder had been responsible for putting a couple hundred pounds of weed on the street. And he was judging Annie for doing something ten years ago, that actually resulted in putting a total wack job behind bars. “I’m a dumbass.” Ronnie said out loud once again. Reaching into his pocket, Ronnie pulled out his cell phone. Dialing the numbers, he felt a small wave of nausea build in his stomach. It took a moment to make the connection, and then he heard the phone ring. “Hello.” A sleepy voice said. “Annie?” Ronnie asked as he glanced at his watch. “Yeah…Ronnie?” Annie asked. “Is that you?” Hesitating for a moment as he tried to think of what he was going to say. “Yeah, it’s me.” He said tentatively. “What’s up?” He flinched at saying something so inane. “Uh…I’m sleeping.” She said. “Why are you calling me at … two o’clock in the morning? Actually, why are you calling me at all?” “Oh…sorry…totally forgot about the time difference.” Ronnie said apologetically. “But I needed to talk to you and I couldn’t wait till morning.” “What…is something wrong?” Annie asked the concern evident in her voice. “Well, not really wrong.” Ronnie responded. “I just wanted to tell you that I realize what I jerk I have been. I shouldn’t have walked out on you like that and I am very sorry. Can we talk about it?" <<< Chapter 21 Technorati Tags: Fiction, Online Book, Chapter, Rebeleyeball, Paul Gavin IceRocket Tags: Fiction, Blook, Chapter, rebeleyeball Copyright (c) 2006 Paul Gavin. All rights reserved.