Last Dance With
Momma
(Disclaimer: Characters belong to Marvel Comics/Kids WB. The
song "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" is an old Jim Croce number, c. Saja Records.)
(A/N: This is what happens when you watch cartoons and listen
to CD's at the same time. Anyway, it's something to read till I finish the next
chapter of "Mindshadow", in which Toad will play a prominent part. Read,
review, and enjoy!)
Todd
Tolensky was bored.
He
was all alone in the house the Brotherhood members shared. Everyone else had
gone out on errands of their own. But nobody wanted him along. All the cartoons
were over, the computer wasn't connecting for some reason, and there was
nothing to eat (Mystique had gone food shopping for the fourth time that
week.).
Suddenly
an idea occurred to him. He could "borrow" Lance's new CD player for a little
while, couldn't he? He wouldn't be going anywhere with it, after all, and it's
not like he'd ever find out.
He
snuck into Lance's room and snagged the CD player. It was a really nice one,
with all the bells and whistles. Including skip protection, so he didn't have
to tiptoe around while he was carrying it.
He
went back to the living room and turned the power on. There was a CD already in
it, and as soon as the song started he knew it.
"Bad
Bad Leroy Brown." One of his mother's favorite songs.
"Well, the south side of Chicago
is the baddest part of town,
and if you go down there
you better just beware
of a man name of Leroy Brown."
In the evenings, after dinner but before he went to bed,
she'd put the stereo on, and they'd dance around. She was probably a little
drunk, he realized now; she stopped off and had a few drinks at the bar on her
way home from work, and then had one or two with dinner. But the real drinking
didn't start until he was in bed. He was only six years old at the time anyway,
he had no idea.
He
could see her, holding his tiny hands, her blonde hair streaming out behind
her, her face flushed with excitement, whirling him around and around their
tiny apartment, singing along with Jim Croce.
"Now Leroy, born in trouble;
You see, he stands about
six-foot-four.
All the downtown ladies
Call him Tree Top Lover,
All the men just call him Sir.
And he's Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,
Baddest man in the whole damn town.
Badder than old King Kong,
Meaner than a junk yard dog."
He started to sway back and forth in time to the song,
remembering how the floors were so thin that every time they got going, Mrs.
Minnelli downstairs would bang her cane against her ceiling. "Turn that damn
noise down!" she would yell up at them.
Momma
never took any notice of her. "She's just an old grouch, Toddy," she said in
that lovely English voice of hers. "We won't let her spoil our fun, will we?"
And
Todd, unaware that their fun would be over for good in just a few months, would
always squeal,
"Again!
Again, Momma, again!"
Momma
turned up the stereo and sang even louder, and there wasn't a thing Mrs.
Minnelli could do about it.
"Now Leroy, he's a gambler,
and he likes his fancy clothes,
and he likes to wear his diamond rings
under everybody's nose.
He got a custom Continental,
He got an El Dorado too;
He got a .32 gun
In his pocket for fun,
He got a razor in his shoe.
He started singing along with the chorus, just like Momma
used to do.
"And he's Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,
Baddest man in the whole damn town.
Badder than old King Kong,
Meaner than a junk yard dog.
Now Friday, bout a week ago,
Leroy's shooting dice,
And at the end of the bar
There's a girl name of Doris,
And ooh, that girl looked nice.
Well, he cast his eyes upon her,
And the trouble soon began:
Leroy Brown learned his lesson
Bout messing
With the wife of a jealous man.
And he's Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,
Baddest man in the whole damn town.
Badder than old King Kong,
Meaner than a junk yard dog.
Todd didn't know where he was anymore. All he could see
was Momma, holding his hands, whirling around and around and singing at the top
of her lungs. It was the best time of his young life.
Well, those two men took to
fighting,
And when they pulled him from the
floor,
Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle
With a couple of pieces lost.
And he's Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,
Baddest man in the whole damn town.
Badder than old King Kong,
Meaner than a junk yard dog.
And he's Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,
Baddest man in the whole damn town.
Badder than old King Kong,
Meaner than a junk yard dog.
As the song ended, he looked up to see Mystique and the
others in the doorway.
"What
the hell are you doing with my CD player?" Lance demanded, ripping it out of
his hands. The rest of the Brotherhood just stood there in stunned silence.
Todd
didn't say anything for a minute. He felt tears slipping down his cheeks. Not
because he was being picked on, he was used to that; he was crying because he
hadn't realized until now just how much he missed Momma.
He
slipped the headphones off and handed them to Lance. "You got good taste in
music," he said, as he went to help with the groceries.
Lance
opened up the case and looked at the CD inside. "This ain't mine!"
"Huh?"
Todd looked at him. "It was in there when I found it!"
"Well,
it's not mine." Lance stalked off to his room.
"Well,
what the--?" Todd began, then stopped dead in his tracks.
Nah,
it couldn't be.
Could
it?
He
looked up at the ceiling. "Momma?"