"Roz, Roz, Roz!" Dewey begs from the lawn of Roz's two story house. "Don't do this to me! I'm sorry!" Roz continues to throw his things from the balcony, shouting high brow insults at him as she did it. "You immature, overgrown child!" She shouted as she began throwing records. "No no no!" He shouted as he dove for his precious records, grabbing as many as he could. "Roz, what did I do now?" She stops to glare at him and suddenly he knows what he did wrong. He forgot to pick her up from school. Her car had blown up and she needed a ride, and he had forgotten. Like many other important things he'd forgotten recently. "Roz not the guitar!" Without a second thought she dumped the guitar he had given her, one of his favorites, off the balcony. With a lump in his throat he could do nothing but helplessly watch the guitar smash on the ground, the amp following. He looked up at her disappointed. "Now that isn't fair!" With a frustrated growl she dumped out a bag of his clothes, scattering them across the lawn. "Go back to mooching off of Ned like you were before, you irresponsible ass!" Feeling broken himself, Dewey gathered up everything that hadn't been destroyed and loaded it in the back of his black van. "I'll show you!" He shouted, feeling the need to get in the last word before he left.
"Dewey..." Dewey stared at the toes of his Chuck Taylors, not wanting to look Ned in the eyes. "She kicked you out, didn't she?" Dewey nodded, clutching the bags of his stuff. "C'mon in man. I didn't let Patty crash your corner room." "Thanks man." "She kicked you out Dewey?" Patty asks, actually sounding concerned. "Yeah.." "Haha where's my $20 Ned? I knew she wouldn't be able to stand him for long!" Ned glances at Dewey, a sad expression in his eyes. "I didn't bet with her.." "It's cool." Dewey cuts him off. "If you don't mind, I wanna be alone for a little while." He adds, setting his crate of records and bag of clothes in his 'room'. "If you wanna be alone, you should get your OWN place!" Patty retaliates. Dewey turns around, shooting a sad glance at her. "Leave him alone, Patty." With a sad sigh Dewey closes the curtain to his room, puts on a Nirvana record, and stretches across his cot.
Dewey sat at a bar later that night, nursing a cheap beer while he listened to the house band play. A country band, unfortunately. They weren't half bad, but Dewey was mostly glad to be out of the house. Patty had been busting his chops every chance she got. Get a job. Get your own place. He'd just asked his best friend for a place to crash for a little while, not forever. Maybe just the summer. He'd be back to his music program once school started back. A tap on his shoulder startled from his thoughts and he turned to see a familiar face. "Dewey?" "Austin!" He spun around on his barstool when she opened her arms to him. "God! I haven't seen you since high school!" The brunette commented, wrapping him in a familiar hug. "What are you doing here?" He asked as she occupied the stool next to him and asked the bartender for a beer. "I'm with the band." She replied, motioning at the stage. He noticed for the first time that the jukebox was playing now instead of the live band. At the end of the night Dewey drove back to Ned's place with a slight buzz and a smeared phone number written in ink across the back of his hand. He and Austin, a high school friend, had spent time catching up between the band's sets. Determined to keep in touch with him, she had given him her cell phone number.
A few weeks later Dewey balances the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he raids the fridge. Phone calls between the two had become nearly an every day occurrence by this point. "So what are you up to today?" He asks, settling on a carton of ice cream he spotted at the back of the freezer. "Getting ready for work. I'm a working stiff now." "No!" Dewey gasps. "Not you too!" "Yeah yeah." She replies. "I work in a record store downtown. I need the extra income." "I know what you mean." He replies, eyeing the help wanted ads that he knows Patty left around for him to find. "What record store?" "Allman's." She replies. He can hear a Fleetwood Mac song in the background suddenly and she apologizes. "Sorry, I've been requesting this song all day." "It's cool. I gotta run anyway. I'll call ya later." After saying their goodbyes and hanging up, Ned and Dewey greet each other. "Oh, you mean he's up before noon?" Patty chides. "You cannot harm me today, evil witch. For I am over Roz and I am in a great mood. Also, thank you. I know it was you who left the help wanted ads out. Now I'm off to get a job." He proclaims as he chucks the empty ice cream container in the trash. "Hey that was mine!" Patty fusses and he quickly slides out the front door, making his way to his van.
Later Mr. Allman passes Dewey his official name badge. Dewey thanks him again for hiring him. "Dewey Finn what are you doing here?" He turns and grins at her, flashing the badge clipped onto his AC/DC t-shirt. "No fair, I worked here first." She taunted.