I flipped the butt of the cigarette I'd snagged from Stormer's purse onto the ground and stamped it out. Crushed it beneath the toe of my pale pink Converse high tops and sighed, rubbing my arms to brush off the chilly Fall morning air. I don't normally smoke cigarettes but this morning I'd needed one. I pulled the compact from my purse and frowned at the image of myself reflected in the tiny mirror. Hadn't gotten any sleep the night before and boy did it show. Grumbling, I put it away and walked into the upscale restaurant.
"Hey," I nodded to the two members of the Misfits that were waiting. I took one of the empty chairs and melted into it, sprawling out over the table.
"Bloody hell, Roxy, could you look any more like you just crawled out of the gutter?" Our resident Limey bitch snipped, sipping her tea.
"Put a sock in it, Jetta, I'm not in the mood," I snapped back, plenty surly for so early in the day. A sharply dressed young man in a starched white shirt and black pants strode up to the table.
"Are you ready to order, or would you like a few more minutes to decide?" The waiter asked pleasantly enough.
I nodded. "Yeah, get me a bourbon and seven."
The waiter nodded and jotted it down. "And for breakfast?"
"That IS breakfast," I glared at him
Jetta rolled her eyes. "Come on, Roxy, have more than that. It's not like you're paying for it."
"Next time I want your opinion I'll beat it out of you," I shot back with a quote from one of my favorite movies, little daggers making time with my words.
Jetta flipped me off all nice and British-style with two fingers and a dirty look.
The waiter looked nervously at us. "I'll give you ladies some time to think it over." He attempted a smile and hastily left the table.
"Bourbon for breakfast?" Pizzazz frowned at me and gulped her coffee.
"Hey, I had a really rough night, OK? Got zero sleep, I feel like shit. Cut me some slack, huh?" I yawned as if to prove a point and leaned back in the chair.
"Roxy, it can't be that bad." Pizzazz chided.
The comment made my blood boil and I had half a mind to leap over the table and throttle her. I guess it showed.
"It's that bad?" Pizzazz asked, suddenly looking almost as green as her hair.
"Take a guess."
"What was that in the studio the other day? A nervous breakdown?" Jetta asked with a grimace.
I looked at her curiously. Usually cool-as-a-cucumber, Jetta had just the slightest tone of dread in her voice, though it was carefully masked with disgust. If I didn't know how she normally sounded when she was disgusted, I'd never have known the difference now. The knowledge did nothing to improve my mood.
"Yeah, something like that. I told you she wasn't ready to come back, but noooo. Eric and Riot want our new record out pronto, to hell with what's good for the band. To hell with whether Stormer's OK or not," I scowled and folded my arms. My gaze shifted to Pizzazz's face and I held her stare. "And you just couldn't tell them to take a hike, huh? Riot says jump and you're still makin' like a bunny. Talk about pathetic."
"What!" Pizzazz yelped, voice bordering on shrill. "That's not how it was at all!"
I nodded, a sarcastic look of disbelief on my face. I made a little 'yappy' hand gesture and rolled my eyes. "No? Then why the hell aren't we postponing rehearsals till after the New Year like we talked about?"
Jetta sighed again and shook her head. "I hate to admit it, but she's got a point, Pizzazz. You did say you would talk with Eric and old lion hair about it."
"I know, I know! Jeez!" Pizzazz huffed. "I said I'd talk to them, and I did... It's just..."
"It's just what, Pizzazz? It's great that we were able to cancel the rest of the tour, but Stormer's not ready to be back in the studio," I breathed a mental sigh of relief when the waiter brought out my drink- and then chugged the whole thing in one long gulp and quickly ordered a second before he had the chance to walk off. I put in an order for a stack of pancakes and coffee- lots of coffee- for good measure.
"So we lay down what we can without her and let her come in and wrap it up when she IS ready. Simple as that," Our lead singer waved her hands wide like this was a no-brainer.
"That's your big solution?" I snorted, not exactly satisfied with her answer. "Look, I ain't gonna say this again. She's not ready. It could take months for her to BE ready. But recording without her..." I shook my head. "I don't like it. Not one bit. Misfits stick together. It's either all of us or none of us. Besides, I'm still doing physical therapy for my shoulder three times a week. It wouldn't kill me to lay off the heavy studio sessions for a while."
Pizzazz's bright green eyes rolled towards the heavens. "So what are you saying? We sit around and do nothing until she snaps out of it?"
Jetta winced, I noticed. Good for her. I was livid.
"Snaps out of it? Snaps out of it!" I hissed and leaned over the table, pretty sure there was fire shooting from my eyeballs. "Stormer nearly dies and you expect her to just 'snap out of it'? She's only been out of the hospital for a couple months, she's still getting a grip on all the shit that creep did to her, and you expect her to just snap out of it like it was a, a,"
"I think what Roxy's saying is that its not the sort of thing you get over in a day and that you should have words with dear old Eric and Riot and put off releasing the album indefinitely," Jetta said coolly, grey eyes level and unflinching at the anger on both of our faces. "Personally, I think Roxy's dead on this time. Misfits haven't had a proper holiday ever as far as I'm aware. After August, we could all use one."
I smiled at her. Yeah, actually smiled at Jetta. She got it right, nailing exactly what I was failing miserably at trying to say. Sometimes it didn't suck to have her around.
"Yeah, that's it. A vacation. No big deal, right? We got it coming." I turned to Pizzazz.
"But we have contractual obligations and-"
That was it. "No way, Pizzazz!" I snapped at her. "If you don't get in there and- no, you know what, fuck that. I'll come with you when you talk to them. They don't like it, I'll give 'em a knuckle sandwich to chew on!"
"And barring they don't have her arrested for assault, I imagine a call to the attending physicians and physical therapists and what not might convince them that a holiday was in order. Stormer was in a coma for almost a month, that has to tell them something. She had an awful episode right there on Stinger Sound premises just this week, I bet there are a dozen people who could testify to it." Jetta added.
Pizzazz sighed heavily and looked like she was weighing options in her head. "I know, I know. You're right." She flipped her long green hair over her right shoulder and stared down into her steaming coffee like she was looking for a life raft. "I'll talk to Eric again and get him to cancel everything through the end of the year."
Breakfast arrived and we sat there eating in silence for a long while. Pizzazz picked at her omelet while I stabbed a plate of perfectly innocent pancakes to death. No one said a word. The mood around the table was grim and heavy. The Misfits always bicker and pick at each other, but I really hate being MAD at them. I mean, they're not doing anything they don't NORMALLY do, but god... this whole thing had been rough on us and none of us were coping well. Wasn't exactly a guidebook for this sort of thing. This was Stormer we were talking about, thought. Taking a break would be good for her, and what's good for Stormer is good for the band. Stormer's the backbone of the group, we found that out the hard way. Without her we're screwed.
(Later)
"Hey, you're awake," I was surprised to see Stormer sitting on the living room couch watching TV when I opened up the door to her home.
"Hey," She glanced up from the TV and coiled a fuzzy black and blue afghan a little tighter around her shoulders. "I didn't think you were coming back."
That option had crossed my mind, honestly, but even I wasn't that heartless. "Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up. Pizzazz called. I went and met her and Jetta for breakfast. I brought you waffles and coffee." I took a seat next to her on the couch and set the bag down on the coffee table in front of us. "You OK?"
Stormer shrugged. "What did Pizzazz want?"
"To see if you were OK, I guess," I told her. If you boiled it down, that was sort of where our conversation had landed."She's gonna talk to Eric again and tell him we're on vacation til at least next year. No work, no rehearsals, no touring, no nothing."
She let out a long heavy sigh that sounded relieved to my ears. Stormer leaned back into the couch and stared up at the ceiling for a long moment. Her blue eyes glanced over at me a minute later. "Were they mad about the studio?"
"Please," I scoffed. "They've probably already had all the gear replaced."
Stormer nodded but didn't say anything. She looked small and sort of embarrassed about the whole thing.
"Pizzazz was all 'oh, we should just record without her until she's better', and I was like 'no damn way, we wait til your ready'!" I told her suddenly, though I hadn't really meant to. "Jetta actually agreed with me about taking a break."
That actually brought a hint of a smile to her face. "See, Jetta's not so bad after all."
"Don't get crazy, she's still a pain in the ass," I said with a light chuckle. "Cab ride back here took forty minutes, the waffles are probably cold. You want me to heat them up for you?" I motioned to the bag of take out.
"OK," Stormer raised her head off the back of the couch and smiled for real this time.
I got up and took the food into the kitchen. Of course she didn't have a microwave, this was her family's old place I was pretty sure her folks had been some kind of hippy-dippy folk music loving weirdos that didn't believe in electricity, cuz none of the appliances looked like they had ever been used and they were all at least two decades old. I looked at the oven and studied the dials and knobs for a moment, determined not to burn the kitchen up in the process of reheating a stack of Belgian waffles. I set a timer and looked around in the cabinets for a plate.
I stopped suddenly and collapsed over the counter, hiding my face behind my hands. Heaviness and exhaustion hit me like a train. What the hell was I doing here? Stormer needed real help and I'd brought her fucking waffles. Idiot!
It took a few moments, but I pulled myself together and wandered back into the living room. "You should get a microwave,"
"Why?"
"Be easier to reheat stuff. Like this coffee," I said as I took a sip from what was left in my cup. "It's cold, too."
"I don't care." Stormer said. She reached out and took the second cup of coffee and drank up as if to prove her point. She coughed and put the back of her right hand over her mouth. "OK, that's pretty terrible cold. Where did you go for breakfast?"
"Red Rock, where else?"
"Weird, their coffee is usually pretty good."
"The pancakes were good. Waffles should at least be OK." I turned and looked over at the TV. An old black and white movie was playing. Some guy in a bathrobe and a melty face was stalking a woman on screen. "What the hell are you watching?"
"Commander USA's Groovie Movies," She replied. "I think the movie today is called 'I Married a Monster from Outer Space'." She looked over at me with her tired eyes and a funny smile. "It was either this or the news, and I can't stand the news."
"Sounds terrible," I said, but sat back and watched it with her til the oven timer went off.
(Weeks Later)
"Is it just too cozy, or what?" Jetta smirked at me from across the table. We were back at Red Rock having breakfast, again without Stormer.
"It's just temporary," I rolled my eyes at her.
"Deary, five weeks in the suburbs is not temporary," She clued me in. "You haven't been at the mansion in weeks. Tell the truth, did you two buy a dog together?"
Pizzazz laughed. "And matching flannel pajamas."
"Do you two have to practice being assholes all day, or is that just a talent you came by naturally?" I sniped dryly and sipped my orange juice. "It's just temporary. She asked me to stay for a while and I said I would. You guys could always come over there and hang out now and then, ya know."
"Drive all the way out to Fullerton?" Pizzazz scoffed at that notion. "No thanks."
"Why can't you stay up at the mansion?" Jetta asked.
"Right, cuz all the press and paparazzi hanging around outside the mansion is so what she needs right now," I said with a note of sarcasm. "Look, she feels better out at her place. It's quiet. What is so damn bad about that?"
"Nothing, it just sounds really boring," Pizzazz said.
Jetta nodded. "Yeah, it does. Good that she's doing well, but how the hell can you stand it? I'd be tearing my bloody hair out by now."
"She is doing better, right?" Our green eyed singer asked.
I shrugged. "Some days, yeah." I folded my arms and frowned at them. "Kimber dropped by the other day."
"Kimber Benton," Pizzazz made a retching sound. "Was that a nightmare or what?"
"I thought the Holograms were off touring Asia?"
"They got back like two weeks ago," I clued them in. "And it WAS a nightmare. I listened to them talk about stupid sappy pop songs and crappy ballads for HOURS and then I finally had it and walked down to the closest bar."
"Ugh, boring..." Jetta drawled.
"But at least Kimber showed up!" I said, since clearly they didn't get the point I'd been trying to make. "She's only been back in LA two weeks and she managed to come over and visit. You guys haven't done that much since Halloween."
"OK, OK," Pizzazz groaned. "God, we'll go visit you in the burbs, alright?! How's Friday night?"
"Perfect," I told her with a nod.
"So what did you have in mind, hm? What the hell are we possibly going to do out there?" Jetta wanted to know.
"I don't know. Drink beer and order pizza, watch some crappy movies. It doesn't matter," I told her truthfully.
"Brilliant," Jetta sighed, clearly already hating the whole idea. She swirled a spoon around in her cup of tea. "Oh, I've got the perfect thing! Christmas movies!"
"Ew, what?" Pizzazz looked at her like she'd lost her mind.
"What, it's close to the holiday. I like Christmas movies." Jetta said with a shrug.
"Whatever," I said with a sigh. "I don't care if you want to watch cartoons and paint your nails all night, just show up."
(Later That Week)
"What the hell? 'Silent Night, Deadly Night', 'Black Christmas', 'Christmas Evil', and 'Gremlins'?" I looked through the stack of movies and then up at Jetta a little skeptically. It was early Friday night and she and Pizzazz had showed up as promised. "What exactly is wrong with you?"
"What? I said I'd bring Christmas movies," She said, as if this somehow was what any of us had in mind. "Gremlins isn't even really scary."
"I guess it's better than Frosty the Snowman," I said with a shake of my head.
Pizzazz shrugged. "Merry Christmas," She pushed a bright red glittery bag into my arms.
It wasn't sealed at the top so I peaked inside and found an idiotically expensive bottle of whiskey. "Nice!"
"I figured we'll need it to get through all of Jetta's stupid movies," Pizzazz said with a knowing look.
Jetta feigned an offended look at the singer but there was a smile in her grey eyes.
"Hey you two!" Stormer bounded out of the kitchen with a big smile on her face. Her wavy hair bounced, all tied up in a pony tail."Sorry I didn't get the door for you. I was waiting for the timer on the cookies to go off."
"Stormer!" Jetta grabbed her they hugged for a long moment. "Since when do you bake?"
"Since she doesn't have a microwave and we got sick of Chinese food," I filled her in.
"Pretty much," Stormer smiled a little. "Hey Pizzazz," She said gave her a hug for good measure, too.
Pizzazz hugged her back and handed her a bag nearly identical to the one she'd handed me, except her's was green. "Happy Holidays."
"Aw, you didn't have to do that," She said, but then she looked in the bag and giggled. "OK, maybe you did."
"Well, open that up and let's get this party started!" Pizzazz ordered.
(Weeks Later)
"Where's Stormer?" Pizzazz asked as the waiter showed us to our table. "I thought she said she was gonna join us this week."
"She was busy," I grumbled. I dropped down in my chair and rested my elbows on the table.
"Would you ladies like something to drink?" Our waiter asked. as he passed us the menus.
"Coffee," Pizzazz and I said in unison, while Jetta asked for tea as if to prove she was really still British.
"So what's she so busy with?" Pizzazz wanted to know. "This isn't about practice last week, is it?"
"She was just busy and didn't feel like coming." The sky was grey and there was a light drizzle falling on the streets. I hated early March in Los Angeles, even it if wasn't anything nearly as bad as Philly this time of year.
True to her word, Pizzazz had convinced Eric to let us off the hook for rehearsals til after the new year. We'd done three since January, nothing serious and nothing super strenuous, and Stormer had been OK through all of them. We'd met up and worked over some old songs mostly just to get back in the habit of playing together.
The waiter came back with our drinks and we placed our orders for breakfast.
"You're awfully quiet today," Pizzazz commented. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," I shot her a nasty look. I didn't want to get into it and changed the subject, "When are the Stingers leaving for Germany? I can't wait to have them out of the country for a while."
"Not til May," Jetta said with a glum expression. "Much as I wish they'd leave sooner."
"And never come back," I added.
"You've got that right," the sax player nodded. She glanced at Pizzazz, "The studio would be vastly improved without any of them hanging around all the time. Imagine how much work we could get done if they weren't there harassing us all day or trying to cut into our practice."
Pizzazz laughed. "Since when do you care about work?"
The waiter came back bearing hot beverages and I dosed mine with sugar for a change.
Jetta poured the tiny glass carafe of piping hot water into her cup and floated a tea bag across the surface. "I'm less concerned about work and more concerned about you. He's just trying to get his hooks back into you again and-"
"Oh brother, not this again," Pizzazz sighed and rolled her eyes. "I told you already, I'm not seeing him any more."
"Yeah, you say that, but I've seen you around him," Jetta said. "He's working you. I don't like it. He's just after your money."
"She's right," I had to agree. "Riot's a dirt bag. He probably wants you to foot the bill for their crumby tour so he can pocket all the money to spend on his weirdo spandex fetish."
"There," Jetta nodded at me. "See that? Even Roxy agrees."
"You two are seriously over reacting!" Pizzazz shook her head at us.
"Sure. Just like last time when he got you to pay for their-"
"Oh my god, that was one show in New York two years ago!"
"It was twenty shows on the East Coast and who cares if it was two years ago or ten?" Jetta stated. "The point is, that man is trouble and he's happy to use you for whatever he can get out of you. Tell him no!"
I nodded and added with a sneer, "Right. Just say no, Pizzazz!"
"UGH! He hasn't asked me for anything!"
"But he will. Mark my words!"
The waiter bravely came back and set a stack of blueberry pancakes in front of me. He left Jetta with eggs and toast and Pizzazz with savory crepe of some kind. For a moment we let the subject of Riot drop and dove into breakfast.
"Are you sure you're alright" Jetta asked me out of the blue. Her cold grey eyes were leveled at me like a laser.
"What?"
Jetta pursed her lips and frowned. "What, what? You've got a look." The fingers of her right hand flipped around, drawing a circle in the general direction of my face. "Something wrong out in the land of domesticated bliss?"
I let that snide comment slide and rubbed my eyes. Jetta the fucking mind reader. "Stormer's idiot brother called the other day, invited her to come stay with him in London for a while."
Pizzazz's face dropped, "I hope you convinced her not to go."
I shook my head, "It'd be good for her to get away from LA for a while."
"Ew, but with Craig? That guy's a jerk," Pizzazz frowned, voicing everyone's shared opinion of the man.
"Yeah, love, a real wet blanket," Jetta nodded in agreement. "And the weather there is terrible in March. Nothing but rain and clouds. Trust me."
"Why do you care?" My eyes narrowed. "You two sure as hell haven't been there for her. Craig might be a wimpy, drippy, jerk, but at least he won't act like she's invisible half the time like you guys have been doing."
"What are you going on about? And when the hell did you start siding with Craig Phillips? We're not avoiding her," Jetta sipped at her tea and nibbled a bite of toast. "Didn't we just spend all day in the studio together?"
"Yeah, and when was the last time either of you had seen her before then? The last time we practiced, a month ago? I mean like really seen her and hung out and stuff, not just like five seconds here and there. Asking her if she's got the new song ready doesn't count, Pizzazz," I stared intently at the singer and then glanced at Jetta.
"Ugh," Pizzazz groaned.
"Didn't we all promise that if she woke up and was OK that we were gonna be there for her? So far I don't see either of you holding up your end of the deal."
Pizzazz passed an uneasy glance to Jetta and then looked back at me. "Oh come on, Roxy. Stormer's doing OK most of the time these days, and besides, someone's gotta take care of the business end of things. We'd just be in the way."
I snorted and nodded my head. It sounded like a nicely rehearsed script if ever I'd heard one. "You two have no idea what she's been going through. You don't even care. I'm with her every night busting my ass and neither one of you can be bothered to lift a damned finger to just, like, be there! You're never around anyway, so what do you care if she goes to London?" I vented my anger and disappointment at the other two Misfits.
"That's not fair and you know it," Jetta's eyes narrowed to cold hard chips of slate, her voice taking on a dark tone.
OK, so maybe I was overstating the facts a little. They'd both come out to Stormer's place a few times in the last couple of months, but I hadn't seen either one of them staying up late nights trying to calm Stormer down after one vicious nightmare or another. I didn't see either of them holding her hand when she was crying so hard she could barely breath. Did they think I LIKED that stuff? Do I LOOK like the hand-holding type? Did it ever occur to either one of them that a little help might be nice?! We're not the freakin' Holograms, but damn it anyhow... Stormer once said that Misfits take care of our own and she was right. We have to cuz if we don't, who will?
"Whatever," I said. If she was looking for a heart-felt apology she came barking up the wrong tree. "Craig's got a ticket reserved for her, flight leaves this Friday at 9:30 A.M. and I told her she should go," I said, daring either one of them to say something about it. "I think it'd be good for her to have a break from all this crap, and I don't really give a damn what Eric or Riot have to say about it."
Jetta dropped her fork on her plate and folded her arms. "Well that clenches it. The Misfits are on holiday again whether Eric likes it or not." She folded her arms and sighed.
"But we just started practicing again!" Pizzazz glared at me like this was my fault. "How long is she gonna be gone?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. Probably til that big idiot and Aja get married."
"And when are they tying the knot? Jetta glanced at Pizzazz with a grim look in her eyes.
"Sometime this summer, I think. They didn't exactly send me an invitation, how the hell do I know?"
"Summer?!" Pizzazz yelped. "But it's only March! We can't take that much time off, Roxy!"
I shrugged my indifference. "Oh well."
"Oh well?!" Pizzazz shot me a nasty glare across the table. "Oh well? Roxy, this is terrible! We haven't had a new record out in over a year, we haven't done any publicity or shows or anything in forever! If we don't start working on something soon, we're screwed!"
"Bull," I glared back at her. "A few more more months isn't gonna matter."
"We can always plan an enormous come back tour," Jetta suggested to Pizzazz. "Or, at least a show here in LA to go along with the release of a new record, if not a full tour. It'll still be huge. Mm-" She pointed one sculpted black nail at the singer. "Hint to Clash we're planning a massive come back show, she'll tell her idiot cousin Video who will tell Jem who will tell Kimber who will tell the entire rest of the world. Instant buzz without all the interviews."
Pizzazz frowned suddenly and pouted, "But I like doing interviews."
"So? No one's stopping you from doing that," I said. I finished off my coffee. "In fact, maybe that's a good idea."
"What, now you WANT to work without Stormer?" Pizzazz shot me a skeptical, confused look. "I thought you were so dead set against that."
"Interviews and recording music are two different things," I told Pizzazz. We all knew she was addicted to the spotlight, but sometimes she really amazed me.
"I like where Roxy's going with this," Jetta nodded. "We play it real cool. Tease the press a little, give them a few pictures here and there in Cool Trash, a few little sound bites for VTV to play with, get the rumor mill going that we've got something big in the works, build up the anticipation for it..."
"And when Stormer gets back we'll work on the record for real." I chimed in.
"And it'll hit the top of the charts as soon as it's released, and it'll be like we were never gone to begin with." Jetta said almost cheerfully.
I nodded at her. "Simple."
Pizzazz sighed, clearly unhappy with all of this. She shook her head. "It's just too soon for us to take another break. I want to get working on this now. ERIC wants it NOW!"
"Eric can suck rocks for all I care," I growled. "And you can tell him I said so."
Jetta snickered at me. "You're so charming when you're pissed off. Tell the truth, Roxy, you're just heartbroken Stormer's going."
The waiter came over and refilled my coffee and laid the check down on the table. "What are you talking about now?"
"Oh please," Jetta smiled my way. "You love to complain all day about how awful it is living over there, but the truth is you love playing house with Stormer."
"No, I don't." I glared at her menacingly.
She said sweetly, "It all makes sense now. You've been sullen and crankier than usual all morning. You're upset your little play-wife is leaving the country without you."
"Aw, how sweet," Pizzazz giggled at my expense and sneered over the edge of her coffee mug.
"How many times do I have to tell you, it's not like that!" I snarled at the both of them, but they just laughed and rolled their eyes.
"Tell me a few more times, I still don't believe you," Jetta answered.
"Look, I'm glad she's going," I snapped at her. This was at least partially true. It'd be good for Stormer, and I could use a break. "Soon as she's gone I'm coming back to the mansion, so you better not have messed up my room!"
"Don't worry, no one's touched your room," Pizzazz informed me. "Matilda goes on about it weekly. Probably good you're coming back, she wants to clean it out with a flame thrower," She laid a credit card down on the table without glancing at the check.
"So you'll be at the mansion Friday night? Or Saturday?" Jetta wanted to know.
"Friday night," I rested my chin in the palm of my right hand.
"Great. We'll do something fun," Pizzazz said.
"If you're not to busy sulking, that is." Jetta smiled at me again. She and Pizzazz both laughed at me again and it burned me up.
"You guys are jerks."
"Denial really doesn't suit you," Jetta quipped and pulled away from the table as the waiter came back and Pizzazz signed the bill. She slid into her long black coat and buttoned it up. "It's not a big deal, you know. I don't know why don't just say it. Just admit it, you're going to miss playing house with her."
"Why don't you go back to London, huh?" I put on my own coat and flipped my hair out from underneath the collar. "No one would miss YOU."
"And skip out on all this fun we're having?"
"Can it, you two," Pizzazz said. She slipped into her bright yellow trench coat and slung her purse over her shoulder. "Tell Stormer we're still practicing tomorrow afternoon no matter if she's leaving town the next day or not, so she better have her ass there."
"Now that is a little sad," The mirth fell off Jetta's face suddenly. "Last time we'll all be together for a while."
Pizzazz and Jetta drove off together and I stood by the curb alone. I flagged down a cab and gave the driver the address and prepared for another long ride back to Stormer's place. Breakfast had left me feeling tense and angry and blue all the same time. I sat in the back of the cab staring at the traffic as it crawled by, glad for the time to wind down. Jetta made a sport out of teasing me, and I fell for it every single time. She was such a bitch! She couldn't ever just shut her damn face for two seconds, nooo... God forbid she ever just shut the hell up.
The thing was, and this was what really pissed me off- she was right. Kind of. Not a hundred percent, but enough for her words to sting and cut. Jetta had always been able to see right through me, another thing I couldn't stand about her. She was perceptive and just loved to wield that skill like a knife. Worse, she did it just for fun. Sadistic witch!
As much as I was glad to be going back to stay at the mansion, I was gonna miss Stormer. I DID like staying with her, even when it sucked and was horrible and she couldn't stop crying, even if it was also extremely boring most of the time. Stormer didn't have a maid like Pizzazz did, so we had to do everything ourselves. Grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, taking out the trash, ugh! Jetta was right, I had been playing house out there. But Jetta was wrong about the rest of it. Stormer and I were just friends and it wasn't ever gonna be anything more than that.
Except we shared a room most of the time. I liked it when she wrapped her arms around me at night. I liked the way she felt next to me, the sound of her soft breathing, the warmth off her skin. I liked the way she smiled at me and sat too close and held my hand some times and I despised Jetta for having to point that out to me.
The cabbie stopped in front of her house and I did my best to bury the growing ache in my chest.
(Weeks Later)
"Roxy! ROXY!"
"She's out here, Matilda!" Pizzazz raised her head and hollered into the house. She sat up on her chaise lounge and rolled over, tied the strings to her bikini top around her back. It was a balmy 73 degrees in April, bright and sunny enough to enjoy it without a sweater and a parka. "Old bat shrieks like a damn pterodactyl," She muttered.
I glanced up from the bottle of beer I'd been nursing by the pool just in time to see Matilda, Pizzazz's resident witch of a maid, come stomping out to the patio with a snarly look on her weathered face.
Jetta giggled at that. "You've never heard my mother," She said with a laugh and pulled her legs up a little higher under the wide beach umbrella that she sat under, hiding her pale skin from the sun Pizzazz and I were so busy soaking up like it was going out of style.
"Roxy!" Matilda shouted my name again.
"Yeah?" I asked, returning her surly expression.
"Telephone!" She huffed impatiently and put her hands on her hips.
I rolled my eyes and leaned back in the chaise lounge. "Whoever it is, tell them I'll call back. I'm not in the mood to-"
"It's that Aja Leith girl. She said to tell you it's important." Matilda said a little gruffly.
"Aja?" And just like that the last three and a half weeks of blissful, bizarrely quiet but peaceful late Spring at the Gabor Mansion was thrown in the trash. My heart sank and I jumped to my feet. I abandoned Pizzazz and Jetta poolside and flew past the maid in my rush to the phone in the hall. "Yeah! I'm here. What is it?"And by 'what is it', I meant 'what's wrong?' cuz the Hologram was under strict orders only to call if there was a problem.
"Oh good, Roxy" Aja breathed a sigh of relief over the receiver. "I'm really sorry to call you, but we didn't know-"
"What happened?" I cut her off. "Is Stormer OK?"
"I don't know," She said with a sigh. "I mean, physically, yes, she's fine. I think."
"Well then what happened?!" I repeated anxiously.
There was a pause on the line and I could hear Craig's voice distantly in the background. "Craig and I went out to dinner last night, and when we came back Stormer... Um, she'd been playing upstairs on this old piano and wound up kind of demolishing it. We heard the crash downstairs. She threw the bench into a glass cabinet and was standing out on the balcony when we got up there..."
"Oh no..." I said with a mouthful of dread.
"Yeah. She was working on a song that... I mean, under different circumstances it'd probably be nothing, but it sounded..."
She trailed off and left me hanging there, dancing on pins and needles. "Sounded like what? Jesus, Aja, could you just tell me what happened?"
"Craig's worried she sounds suicidal, and frankly, based on that song and the way she's been acting I can't say I blame him."
My jaw dropped open. "What?! Put her on the phone right now!"
"What happened?" Pizzazz asked from behind me. She and Jetta had filtered into the hallway and stood there staring, waiting for news.
"Hold on! Shut up!" I hissed at her and waved her to be quiet. "Aja-"
"That's the thing," Aja continued. "She won't talk to either of us. She locked herself in her room and hasn't come out." She paused again and spoke a little quieter into the phone. "Craig wanted to break the door down. I convinced him to let me talk to you first. You know her better than anyone, and you said to call if there was an emergency..."
"You're sure she's OK in there?" I asked, feeling a little frantic and panicky.
"At the moment, yeah. I heard the TV was on this afternoon, so I'm pretty sure..."
I rubbed a hand over my forehead and through my hair. "I don't get it. She was doing OK before this, right?" The last time I'd talked to Stormer she'd seemed fine! She'd told me about a stupid trip the three of them had taken out to Mason Hawthorne's estate and gone on and on about Craig and Aja's wedding plans. We'd gossiped and tossed around theories about what Aja and Jem were fighting about, and she'd sworn she'd try to weasel the truth out of Kimber if Aja wouldn't budge.
She'd wanted to know everything that was going on out here, so I told her we hadn't done anything at all since she'd been gone except hang out by the pool or by the beach, which was true. With no new music to work on and no tour to plan for, the three of us Misfits that remained in LA had done nothing but lounge around. OK, there was a little bar hopping and a couple parties, but mostly it had been a very quiet bunch of weeks since Stormer had flown to London.
My mind reeled. I had last talked to Stormer less than a week ago, maybe four days. What the hell had changed since then? And suddenly it occurred to me, "Has she been sleeping at all?"
There was another pause on the line. "Sorry. Her room is down the hall. She usually stays up later than either of us, so I really don't know."
"Can you try asking her?" I huffed over the line. "The last time she blew up it was cuz she wasn't sleeping."
"How come?"
"Ugh, cuz of nightmares and shit! Would you just go ask her?"
"Yeah, hold on," Aja disappeared from the line and I paced around the hallway anxiously for a few devastatingly long minutes.
"Jesus, Roxy, what's going on?!" Pizzazz stamped her foot impatiently.
"SHH!" I hissed at her again and glared her way.
"Roxy?" Craig's deep voice jumped onto the line. "Look, I hate doing this, but I'm at a loss here. If Mary doesn't come out of that room and talk to us and let us know she's OK, I'm going to have no choice but to break it down and take her to a hospital." He sighed and said, "That's the last thing I want to do. Aja say's you've been staying with her out there in LA and might have better luck getting through to her, so... Ugh, I can't believe I'm asking you this..."
"What?"
"Would you fly out and see if you can talk to her?" He asked, the tone in his voice full of disgust and disbelief at asking me the question.
He might as well have thrown a bucket of ice water in my face, I was so caught off guard. "Um..."
"Listen, I'm really concerned about my sister. I wouldn't ask if I saw any other better options at the moment. I'm afraid she's going to hurt herself." Craig said. He sounded devastated and battered suddenly. "Will you do it?"
"Yeah," I sputtered. "Yeah, We'll be there as soon as we can."
"Oh, hey, Aja," He said into the phone and I heard them talking in the background but couldn't make out what they were saying. The tone in their voices wasn't a happy one, though. "You'll come?" He asked when he got back on the line.
"Yeah. We can book a flight out today," I said, wondering where the hell I'd thrown my passport last time we got back into the states. "Uh, let me make some calls. I'll call you back with the flight info, OK?"
"Wait, no! Just you. I don't want Pizzazz and Jetta here." He sighed, and sounded tired suddenly. "Here's my phone number," He rattled it off and I jotted it down quickly. "Call me back as soon as you know what flight you'll be on. And ONLY you. Got it?"
"Uh, fine! Sure. I'll call you back in a minute."
He hung up and I stood there frozen.
"Well?" Pizzazz asked me for the third time. "What's going on?!"
I couldn't think straight for a moment, I was too busy trying to wrap my head around booking a last minute flight out of the country. "Uh... That was Aja and Craig."
"Yeah, OK, we go that much!" Pizzazz glanced at Jetta with an ounce of worry. "What did they want?"
"Something happened," I told them. "He asked if I'd fly out."
Jetta's face fell and her grey eyes went wide. "WHAT happen? Is Stormer alright?"
I shrugged and shook my head. "I don't know. She broke a piano and she locked herself in her room." I shuddered suddenly. "He sounded really worried. So did Aja. They said something about a song, they think she might try to do something stupid like kill herself."
"She wouldn't!" Jetta gasped
Pizzazz's eyes shot wide open in shock. "Oh my god, what?!"
"I don't know! All I know is they both sounded really worried." I nodded at them numbly. "I gotta book a flight. I HATE flying!"
Jetta glanced at Pizzazz and then back at me. "Yeah. We could probably catch a red eye out and be there tomorrow afternoon sometime."
"No," I shook my head. "Craig said just me. He doesn't want you guys there."
"What? Why?" Jetta asked. "Of course we're going with."
"Please, Craig Phillips doesn't want all three of us showing up on his door step," Pizzazz rolled her green eyes. She threw her matching hair over her left shoulder. "Stupid creepy brother of hers."
I hated flying, I hated the idea of going to Craig Phillips house alone. And... I was scared. Scared for Stormer. If it wasn't a real emergency, Aja would never have called. If they said they were worried about her, I was sure it was just as bad as they said it was. Maybe worse. I could use the back up from the other Misfits.
I sighed and shook my head at them. "If it was up to me, then hell yes I'd want both of you to come with," I told Jetta in no uncertain terms. We may not get along most of the time, but I liked her way more than I'd ever liked Stormer's brother OR Aja put together. "But Craig said just me. Just... let me get there and figure out what's going on, huh?"
"Alright. Don't say we didn't offer next time you decide to chew our ears off about not helping out." Jetta said. They both looked a little relieved, though. "Keep us posted though, yeah? When you get there call and let us know what's going on. You'll tell us if she's not OK, right? We can still fly out if you need, to hell with what Craig likes.
"Yeah, Roxy, just say the word and we'll be there," Pizzazz said with a serious expression clouding her green eyes. "Here, why don't you go pack and I'll book your flight?"
"OK," Now I breathed a sigh of relief at having one less thing to worry about. "That'd be great. Soonest one you can find!"
(The Following Day)
"Thanks for picking me up," I said as I slung a large faded black canvas duffel bag over one shoulder. I paused and frowned. "Ugh, I didn't just thank a Hologram..."
"Don't worry, I'm sure it's just the jet lag talking," Aja chuckled at me. She was putting on a brave face, but under the smile she looked anxious. "I'm just glad you were able to get out here on such short notice."
I shot her a look that wasn't exactly a smile. "That's why I gave you my number, Aja." A cold gust of wind shot through me as we walked to the car, I was suddenly envious of they heavy coats and long jeans they were wearing. LA had been 70 and sunny when I left, but London was maybe 50 degrees and pouring down rain. I hadn't packed for this kind of weather,hadn't even thought about it, and I was stupidly wearing flip flops, capris, a tank top and a light pink jean jacket that did nothing to keep the cold wind out and less to keep the rain off me. Genius!
"Yeah, well... maybe you'll have better luck than we did..." Craig said more than a little reluctantly. He didn't like me, and I disliked him just as much, but we were both doing our best to put aside our differences. For now. "It was either call you or the call the cops and bust down the door... Aja thought you might stand a better chance than cops." He told me, but his expression clearly said he thought the cops would have been the lesser of two evils.
"Hey, no sweat," I smirked at him, but there was a queasiness in the pit of my stomach that I was sure colored the expression.. I yawned, "God, I hate flying."
"Want me to carry that bag?" He offered gallantly. I guess it didn't take much to see that the bag I was toting was putting a mountain of strain on my weak shoulder.
I put on a brave face and snorted at him as I maneuvered my duffel to my right side. "Yeah, right. I got it."
Aja rolled her eyes at the both of us. "Car's this way," She volunteered, leading the way. "You hungry? We could stop somewhere on the way home, or we've got left overs in the fridge..."
"Nah, let's get to the house," I said with a grunt, hefting the bag a little higher on my shoulder. "I wanna see Stormer."
An uneasy frown settled on Craig's face that didn't go unnoticed by either Aja or myself.
"How's she been since the, uh, smashing spree?" I asked, breaking the tense silence that had settled over the group.
Craig's frown deepened and he shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Uh... pretty quiet, mostly," Aja supplied the answer since Craig apparently wasn't in the talking mood. "I saw her for a second today when she came down to the kitchen, but she wouldn't talk to me." She shrugged helplessly.
"How's she look?" I asked. "She been chain-smoking up a storm or what?"
Craig snorted. "Mary doesn't smoke."
"What are you talking about? Stormer gets twitchy and she turns into a three pack a day freight train," I said.
"My sister doesn't smoke," Craig told me in a matter-of-fact end-of-story don't question me kind of tone.
I scoffed at him and looked at Aja and rolled my eyes. "Right. Of course not." It must have been another in the long list of things that Stormer just didn't do around her brother. I didn't understand it, it's not like she was out robbing banks or killing kittens. The few times I'd seen Craig, it had always been the same: Stormer did her best to put on her perfect Church-going manners. She'd make no mention of the The Misfits or anything we'd been up to, didn't drink around him, didn't mention people she'd dated, didn't talk about anything at all except movies, the weather,and sports... and Stormer didn't even watch sports!
"Wanna give me the full story on why the hell I flew out here?" I asked him as we approached the car. "I want all the details. Tell me everything. Don't leave anything out."
Craig aimed his key-ring at the car and hit the unlock button. The alarm beeped and the boot popped open.
I tossed my bag inside with another grunt and put my hands on my hips. "Well?"
Aja's big oaf of a fiance frowned at me and rubbed a knuckle across his brow. "Yeah, get in and I'll give you the run down on the way home."
(Later)
Craig and Aja stood half way down the hall. They'd tried knocking on Stormer's bedroom door and she hadn't opened up. The light was on inside, so we were pretty certain she was in there but ignoring us.
I stood in front of the door, poised to give it a try. Hopefully I'd have better luck. I wrapped my knuckles smartly on the door and we all waited.
Nothing.
I knocked again.
"Jeez, I'm trying to sleep!" Stormer snapped from behind the door.
I snorted at her through solid oak. "Yeah, right. With the light and the TV on. Don't make me pick the lock, cuz you know I will."
The bedroom door flung open. "Roxy? Oh my god, Roxy!" Stormer lunged at me and threw her arms around my neck so suddenly I stumbled back at hit the wall with an 'Oof!'
"Yeah, nice to see you, too," I giggled a little sheepishly. I shot a quick glance at Aja and Craig and blushed a little before I turned back to Stormer and returned her hug.
"Oh my god, Roxy," Stormer mewled and squeezed me tightly."What are you doing here? Where's Pizzazz and Jetta?"
"Back in L.A. worried sick about you," I told her as I looked over her face. She looked exhausted. I touched Stormer's hair gently, plucking through her blue curls with delicate familiarity.
"I asked Roxy to fly in," Craig said. "And only Roxy."
Stormer flinched away from me suddenly, like she just noticed that we weren't alone in the hall. She glanced at me for some kind of confirmation of that news.
I shrugged and smiled at her a little sadly. "Heard you totaled the studio. Again."
Stormer shuddered and exhaled a ragged, deflated breath. Fat tears welled up in her eyes. "You flew all the way out here because of that?"
"Mary, you haven't been well. You haven't spoken more than a word to me in days and-" Craig folded his arms and frowned at her. "Frankly, I didn't know what else to do, short of breaking the door down and dragging you to the hospital."
"I'm not sick," Stormer told him adamantly.
"Well you're not well," He shot back. "Mary, you wouldn't talk to me. After what you did to the studio and hearing that song you were working on what did you expect me to think?"
"It was a song. That's how I work things out. I was never gonna-" She choked and put one hand up over her face for a second. A moment later she took a deep breath, took me by the hand and pulled me into her bedroom. The door slammed behind us.
"You OK?" I asked Stormer. She had her back pressed to the door like she thought Craig might try to come through it. Without turning to do it she locked the door behind her.
"No," She slid off the door and into my arms. "He thinks I'm gonna kill myself." Stormer laughed, but there were tears in her eyes and no humor in her voice.
"They told me about the song you were working on when you busted his piano." I sighed into her hair and squeezed her, breathed her in. She smelled like honey and apples and cloves, kinda delicious. It had been only a few weeks since I'd seen her and it felt like three years to me, way too long.
"He... he just doesn't understand. I was just upset, the lyrics were just my way of venting." Stormer whimpered. Her fingers dug into the back of my jacket. "He's upset that I won't talk to him about this, but when I tried the other night he didn't want to hear it, he just gave me a sedative and told me to get some rest."
"OK," I said with a sigh. The sleep part? Oh yeah, she definitely needed some of that, Craig hadn't been wrong there. Exhaustion was written all over her face in the deep dark circles under her eyes. "Come on, sit down with me," I told her and dragged her over to her big bed and made her take a seat next to me. "What else? How's the rest of your stay out here been? Aja giving you a hard time, too? Cuz you know I'll beat that Hologram down, just say the word."
Stormer sniffled and tried to laugh and shook her head. "Aja's been great, but... but, I mean, I know she means well, but she doesn't know me that well and I think... I mean, she tries, but she doesn't really want to put herself in between me and Craig, and I don't blame her." Stormer shuddered and put her arms around my middle, her head rested on my shoulder. "I can't believe you flew all the way out here over this."
With a travel-weary, heart-sick sigh, I hugged her. "I can't believe Craig actually asked me," I told her truthfully. The guy hates my guts! "You must have scared the hell out of him for him to stoop so low. You know it's gotta burn him up to have to call a Misfit up for help."
Stormer giggled a little and squeezed me once, tighter. "Probably." She buried her face against my neck and I could feel her start to cry before I could hear it. A moment later it was a torrential downpour with no end in sight and all I could do was wait it out.
It made me ache inside when she cried that way, and she'd done so damned much of it in the last few months. There was no quick fix for pain like that, it took time and patience and... Fuck, who was I kidding? I didn't know how to fix what was wrong with Stormer, I hadn't even been able to fix it in myself.
I didn't tell her to stop or that it was gonna be OK. What was the point? Better to let her cry, get it all out instead of keeping it bottled up like I was sure she had been for weeks on end now. Then, just like that, she stopped crying a few minutes later.
"God, I'm sorry," Stormer sat up and wiped her eyes. "Haven't been here ten minutes and I'm crying all over you..."
"Don't worry," I told her, brushing her long blue hair away from her face. "Kinda used to it by now. Better?"
Stormer shook her head and shrugged but looked at me very seriously. "I don't wanna kill myself," She told me definitively. "I just... sometimes...wanna die, you know?" The sadness in her blue eyes was thick and heavy. "Not really. I'd never... I mean, I wouldn't! It's just..."
"Some days are worse than others," I said with a sigh. "Yeah, I get that."
"I know what that song sounds like, and I trashed the studio..." She inhaled and sat up straight, dropping her hands into her lap and folding them. "Probably no wonder he thinks I'm crazy."
"I don't think you're crazy. I think you're sleep deprived. When was the last time you got more than twenty minute a pop?" I asked her, wishing there was a bookie around so I could make a quick grand when she told me what I already knew. When Craig told me what happened, I pretty much figured it was something like last time- bad dreams, no sleep, too much caffeine, too much pressure trying to pretend to be A-OK for everyone until finally she blows up... Yeah, I'd seen it before.
"I dunno. Days. Week ago? Week and a half, maybe. Smoked my last cigarette three days ago and haven't had a chance to go out. It's like I'm under house arrest."
I snorted. "Do you know that your brother doesn't know you smoke?"
Stormer shrugged. "I don't do it around him."
"Yeah, but- ah, fuck it," I smiled softly at her. "Sweetie, you need to get some real sleep."
Stormer laughed under her breath and dropped her eyes. "Yeah, pretty much. Stupid..."
I shook my head. She didn't have to say another word, five minutes and I knew exactly what had happened to get her to this point. "Didn't you bring that prescription with you?"
Stormer sniffled and glanced over at me. "I ran out. I didn't want to get it refilled because... because I didn't want Craig to ask me about it."
"What's the big deal with telling Craig?" I asked her. Not just about the prescription, about the smoking, about everything else that she didn't tell him. "I don't get it. I don't like the guy, but he seems like he really wants to help you. You actually LIKE that big blue ape, so why do you hide everything from him? What do you think he's gonna do, disown you for not being Miss Polly Perfect Pants?"
"It's... It's complicated, alright? I don't want him to know that I'm taking anything." She said, wiping her cheeks off with the back of one yellow shirt sleeve. "He'd just think it was more evidence that I should be seeing a shrink, if I can't even get to sleep on my own without freaking out..." Stormer sighed heavily and leaned against me. "I'm sorry. I feel bad that he called you. You needed a break from all this junk and I-"
"Wait, wait, I needed a break?" I asked her. "Who said that?" Cuz it sure as hell hadn't been me. I mean, I did, but I'd never said that to her and her flying out here wasn't exclusively for my benefit.
Stormer shrugged. "Come on, Roxy, I know the last few months have been bad for you, having to hang around with me all the time when I'm like this."
I flinched at that little statement. "Whoa, Stormer... OK, fine, it's not like this has been the most fun I ever had, but... hell, you know me. If I didn't want to be here I wouldn't be. Same for when we were back in L.A. I stuck around because I wanted to."
Her bright blue eyes filled to the brim with soggy wet tears. "You mean that?"
"You're my best friend. I'm not about to leave you hanging out there in the wind," I told her seriously. "And you know I'd never say something that fuckin' mushy if I DIDN'T mean it!" I chuckled, hoping to get a smile out of her and happy when I did.
"I thought..." Stormer sniffled again and heaved and sighed. "I thought you were, basically, sick of me being all crazy, so you told me I should come out here. If I was you, I'd be totally sick of me. I'm sick of me and I can't do a damned thing about it."
"Stormer," I mewled with a sickly little sour note in my voice. I HATED when she talked about herself like that. "It wasn't like that. I wasn't sick of you. I just figured it'd probably be better for you to be around Craig for a while. I'm no good at this kinda stuff, I just mess it up," Truth be told, I was probably doing her more harm than good, no matter how hard I'd tried to help. "Craig's gotta be way better at this stuff than me."
"What stuff?"
"You know, this... THIS, what we're doing right now."
"Talking?"
"Yeah, but talking about this kinda stuff. Like I know the first fucking thing about cheering people up." I was more in the ruining people's day department, if anything.
Stormer chuckled at me and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Seriously? Roxy, you're the only person who's made me feel..." She sucked in a breath and shuddered. "Just... NORMAL. And, safe. It feels safe to talk to you about this stuff and I don't get that from anyone else, definitely not from Craig."
I was really, truly surprised by that, and it made me feel oddly happy. "Damn it, I missed you," I squeezed her around the shoulders, meaning every last word. "LA is so boring without you."
"Shut up," Stormer giggled in my ear. "I know that's not true."
"It is," I assured her with a yawn. "Ugh... You care if I lay down?"
"Tired?"
"Long flight. Craig called me late the other afternoon and I caught the first flight out at 5 a.m. Haven't slept a wink in like a day and half getting out here," I told her, knowing that was probably nothing compared to how long she'd been awake. I stood up and shrugged off my pale pink jean jacket.
"You want something to sleep in?" Stormer looked around the room. "Didn't you bring any luggage?" She asked, just noticing I hadn't brought a bag in with me.
I rolled my eyes at her, "It's in the room next door. Craig dumped it in there. I'd go grab something, but you can count on the fact that he's hovering right outside for any signs of life. If I go out he'll ambush me and wanna pick my brain over about what to do about you, and I'm so not up for that racket," I yawned again and kicked off my sandals.
Stormer smirked at me. She stood up and went over to the west wall of the bedroom... where there was a door that I somehow had failed noticed between all the crying and hugging. She opened it up and revealed a full bathroom- with yet another door on the other side. "Our rooms are connected."
"Nifty," I got up and headed through the bathroom, opening the door on the opposite side slowly in case there were lurkers on the other side. I peaked in and found the coast was clear, the door to the spare room was closed and my duffel bag sat quietly on the floor next to the dresser. "Well isn't that handy," I muttered, grabbing a few things and changed my clothes quickly. While I was at it, I found my tooth brush and a few other things to abandon in the bathroom on my way back.
"Lock it," Stormer said of the bathroom door when I re-entered her side of our connected rooms. "Just in case."
Just in case her Big Brother decided to check up on us without knocking. I locked the door like she asked and flopped down on the bed next to her. Stormer was flipping through TV. channels for something to watch- or at least leave on for background noise while we chatted- and I laid down, tired as all hell.
"Wanna blanket?" She asked, tossing the remote on the nightstand.
"Yes, I'm freezing," I muttered, rubbing my hands together. Felt good just to stretch out after being cramped in a plane for nine hours.
Stormer handed me a purple fleece blanket to wrap up in and slid down next to me. She rested her head on my shoulder, one arm across my rib cage. It had been weird when we'd started doing this, at least, I had thought so. I wasn't used to letting people close to me like this, but Stormer had needed someone nearby to get through the night and it just kinda happened. And then it happened again and again until it didn't feel weird at all to have her next to me, with her arms around me or mine around her... In fact, when she'd flown into London nearly a month ago I'd been shocked at how much I missed having her there.
"Thank you," Stormer said in a quiet voice.
I glanced over at her. "What for?"
"Coming out here," Stormer said, squeezing me tight once. "I missed you, too."
That made it all worth while; the long flight, the crying, putting up with her dumb brother, everything.
(The Next Day)
"Jesus, where have you been? What happened?" Craig Phillips, Aja Leith's giant lug of a fiance, literally jumped up from the kitchen table and pounced on me when I walked through the door. OK, he didn't literally POUNCE on me, but he might as well have.
"I was sleeping. Sue me." I groaned and covered my eyes with the palms of both hands. "Ugh, sunny." In spite of the clouds, it was still too bright in the kitchen for my tired eyes.
"It's three in the afternoon." Craig informed me. "Come on, Roxy. Tell us what happened with Mary. Was she willing to talk to you?"
I leveled a frown at him in an expression that I was sure he was gonna become all to familiar with. "I'm sorry, can a girl get a cup of coffee before you tear her head off around here or what? I just woke up, man, gimme a second!"
From the other side of the kitchen I caught Aja smile. With a chuckle she pulled down a mug from the cabinet. "How do you take it, black or cream and sugar?"
"Straight black," I said as I propped myself up on one of the bright maple wood counter bar stools. I leaned on my elbows feeling tired and still suffering from jet lag as I watched Aja pour me me a cup of steaming black Joe. "At least someone around here's not a total creep."
Aja smirked at me and pushed the mug of liquid gold over to me. "You're welcome," She said, and I suddenly appreciated that we'd toured with the Holograms enough that she knew a compliment from a snarly Misfit when she heard one. "Jet lag still killing you?"
I nodded. "Kinda. I was dead tired when I got here but I feel like I got zero sleep. Friggin' hate flying, and this weather sucks!" I paused to sip my coffee, holding the mug between both hands like I was in a cocoa commercial.
"Awake enough?" Craig prodded after all of two seconds.
"Ugh, fine!" I set my cup down and spun around on the bar stool so I could see him. "Long story short, she hasn't slept more than twenty minutes a pop in at least a week- which probably really means it's been closer to two. When Stormer doesn't sleep, she gets super paranoid and super emotional but she tries really hard to act normal so no one will notice. No one can keep that up forever, though, and that's when shit gets busted. End of story. Happy?"
"Why hasn't she been sleeping?" Craig didn't look happy. "Did she say anything about that song?"
"Yeah." I took another sip of my caffeine and felt it's heat drip through my veins. Aja made a strong pot of coffee, thankfully.
Both Craig and Aja stared at me in anticipation, but I didn't say a peep.
"Well?" Craig prodded again. "What did she say?"
I shrugged. "She's not about to kill herself, if that's what you wanna know."
Craig groaned, clearly unsatisfied by my answer. "Ugh! Roxy, what did Mary tell you?"
I just shook my head at him. "You don't need to worry about it. She was just venting."
"But what did she say?!" Craig asked sharply. "I have a right to know what she told you, Roxy. This is for Mary's own good, so could you please, for once in your life, do the right thing and tell me what she said to you?"
"Look," I told him flatly. "I don't know why you think you called me out here, but I'll tell you one thing; I flew out here for Stormer, NOT for you. Whatever the hell Stormer and I talked about- it's none of your damn business."
Craig jumped up from the table. "Not my business?! That's my sister up there!"
"-And if you think for a second that I'm about to betray her trust just to give you a little peace of mind, you got another thing coming." I told him. "I gave you the basics. She wants you to know more, she'll tell you herself."
Aja glanced back and forth between me and her fiance. Craig looked steamed and ready to blow a fuse. "OK, hon," She popped up. "I know you're worried about her, but Roxy's right. You don't want Stormer to feel like you're grilling Roxy for details behind her back. You do that and she finds out about it, she could stop talking to Roxy, too," She cautioned her man. "I mean, at least she's TALKING to Roxy. That's something, right? She hasn't said a word to either of us in days."
Craig gritted his teeth and shook his head slowly back and forth. "That's not good enough."
I shrugged. "Tough. Besides, this is totally your fault," I told him, feeling bitter and cranky at the way he was hounding me.
"What?!" Craig snapped.
"Oh yeah," I nodded and narrowed my dark eyes at him. "You know what's funny, I thought you were supposed to good at this talking and hand-holding and... and... all that shit the Holograms are always going on about," I smirked and snorted at him. "But you totally suck at it!"
"What! Now just a minute, I've done nothing but try to help her and be there and-"
"Damn, you're dense," I sighed. I sipped my java and folded my arms, coffee mug hooked around one finger. "Don't you know anything about your own sister? I bet you don't even know the name of the last person she dated. Hell, I bet you don't even know her favorite color." I dared him.
"Blue," Craig answered quickly.
I snorted. "Nice try."
"What has this go to do with anything?!" Craig looked ready to snap the table in half.
I shook my head and sighed. "That right there? Half the fuckin' problem," I pointed one finger at Craig and cocked my thumb back like a toy gun.
That was the last straw, and Craig pushed away from the table and jabbed one of his meaty fingers at my collar bone. Craig snapped at me, "You know so much? YOU? No good, foul-mouthed little street rat? What the hell do you know about my sister, huh? I only helped raise her, but you're the expert. Enlighten me."
My muscles tensed up and I had to take a breath. I didn't normally let people talk to me like that or put their hands on me without shouting back or sucker punching them in the face for it. I set my coffee mug down and balled my hands into white-knuckled fists.
"OK, guys, calm down. This isn't helping. Craig... Roxy?" Aja said my name softly, probably hoping to catch me before I flew off the handle. Things were already tense, we already hated each other, but Aja was right- it wouldn't do Stormer any good to have her best friend and her brother at war with each other.
I slid off the bar stool and stomped out of the brightly lit kitchen.
"Nice. Real nice," Craig folded his arms in disgust and shook his head. "I don't know what the hell I was thinking. She's useless. She can't help us. She sure as hell can't help Mary."
Not a moment later I breezed back into the room. I tossed an empty prescription bottle at Craig.
"What's this for?" Craig asked, picking up the bright orange bottle as he slid into his chair at the round table.
"What do I know?" I asked him bitterly, glaring at him hard enough to peel the yellow paint off the walls. "I know you don't know a fuckin' thing about your sister. She's afraid to let you know her. AFRAID. I don't know why, or what you did to make her think you wouldn't like her if you knew the real her, but I know you better figure it the fuck out and fix it!"I gave him a minute to let that soak in and come back with a snappy retort, but he looked shell shocked and didn't say a word. I folded my arms and took a step back. "Get that prescription refilled for her today. She was afraid to tell you about that, too. Think you can handle all of that?"
"Xanax?" Craig read the labels.
"They're anti-anxiety drugs, and it helps her sleep. Something she hasn't done a lot of in the last week or two," I informed him. "And I better not hear you give her any flack about it later! Got it?" I didn't wait for him to reply. I turned and left the room in a huff, suddenly wide awake.
Stormer was gonna be so pissed at me, and in true Misfit fashion I didn't care at all.