It was Friday night and it was time to head to the bar for the show. Dressed in a black dress with leggings, Roxanne threw her shoulder-length auburn hair in a quick braided bun and black shoes from last minute shopping after they got off from work. Not used to dressing up in a getup of the sort, Roxanne walked out of the bathroom to the living room to her three waiting friends, who looked at her with awe. She smirked shyly. "Is it too much for this?"
"No way," Larry waved his hand. "You're the pianist. You wanna look nice." He batted his eyes, pretending to be the fancy type, until Moe slapped him.
"All right," she said with a relieved smile. "Let's go." She was about to march to the door.
"Hold on," Moe began as the other two had a smile slowly growing on each of their faces, making her look at them in confusion. "The three of us were talkin' and the pawn shop has been workin' well for us, but if something happens to us, who knows what would happen to it."
"Huh?" Roxanne asked, arching an eyebrow, not quite sure where this was going.
"In other words," Larry cut in, now fully smiling, "we placed the shop in your hands to care for after us."
Her eyes slowly grow in disbelief. "Are you serious?" she whispered, looking at each of them.
"Or course!" Curly cried happily. "Why wouldn't we? Nyck-Nyck-Nyck."
"The shop will… belong to me after… you?" Her mind was still wrapping around their words as she pointed a small finger at them in disbelief, then worry flooded her mind. "But what if I leave or something or that I only stay temporary or–"
Moe shrugged with a small smile. "It doesn't matter. It's still under your name. After that, you can do whatever ya want with it. It'll be past down to you, Roxanne. In the meantime, you'll just remain as an employee. Until we find Jack that is."
Roxanne felt her eyes sparkling like never before as her heart was throbbing with emotion. She ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you." She went to Larry and hugged him. "Thank you. All of you." Then to Curly and gave him a warm hug, and looked at them all with a beaming smile. "I accept and I promise that I'll take good care of it."
"We know you would," Larry replied with a smile. "But we're not dead yet." Humor was in his blue eyes with a small laugh, until Moe glared at him.
"Don't give her any ideas." A small smile crept upon his face and glanced at her, telling them that he was joking.
Roxanne laughed, then faced the white door with eagerness. "Then let us go to the show!"
"The Three Stooges Plus One!" Larry announced, standing beside her with enthuseasum.
"The new biggest hit!" Curly chimed in, standing on her right with the three of them grinning like idiots to an invisible audience.
"Hey, Three Stooges Plus One," Moe called, opening the door with a stern expression on his face and grey hat in his hand. "We're goin' to be late."
Curly whooped in a distressed manner as he grabbed his hat off the coatrack and hurried out the door past Moe. Larry snatched the violin case off the couch, and rushed out the door while holding his hat down and Roxanne ran behind him.
Moe's eyes grew at the sight as the three dashed passed him, took a deep a breath, lightly shook his head, and calmly closed the door as the sound of their thundering footsteps were trampling down the stairs. He calmly locked the door, placed the key in his pocket, then took off after them.
When they walked in the door of the crowded bar, the three of them were greeted by the bartender, George, as they greeted back. The four of them walked to the back stage as Moe and Curly were going over some lyrics or some other things as Larry was taking out his violin. Roxanne looked up at the stage where a stand-up piano was on the far end, waiting to be played. The sound of the violinist turning his instrument was in her thoughts.
This was it.
Time to prove of what she was made of and after tonight, she'll carry on the search of her pal.
"Nervous?"
The teen turned to the smiling violinist and smiled back. "A little, I guess," she admitted. It was her fist time to play in front of a crowd.
Too bad Jack wasn't here to see this…
"Hey, you'll forget about them in less than a minute. You'll do fine." He gave her a reassuring smile with a sparkle in his blue eyes.
Roxanne nodded with a smirk. "I hope so."
"Hey," Moe called, approaching them with Curly following. "You two ready?"
They both looked at him with a smile and answered, "Ready."
"Good." He smiled at the girl. "You'll do fine, kid. Relax. Now wait for my cue." He walked on the stage and the crowd began to clap.
As he was doing the introduction, the three musicians were bored as they were looking around the bar, until Larry began to silently and dramatically mock Moe, followed by Curly. Roxanne was trying not to laugh as they began to silent impressions of him in general, making her cover her mouth, but noisily burst through her hand, making the other two silently bust up laughing, until Moe glared murder at them. Immediately they looked away and suddenly the ceiling became very interesting to Roxanne.
"Now," the musician continued calmly. "I would like to introduce Larry Fine and Curly Howard."
The two of them gave a proud smile as they walked on the stage to the clapping crowd, making them bow repeatedly, until they bowed into each other, knocking their heads and Moe scuffled at them, then turned back to the crowd with a smile.
"We have new member in the band. Roxanne Connell on the piano." He introduced her and she walked up the stage with a smile and waved to the crowd, taking a seat at the piano, her hands poised over the keys as her heart was pounding in her chest. She didn't hear what Moe said after, but knew the songs that they were going to do since the music sheet was already in front of her. When the clapping began and died down, she began to play and her fingers shaking and nervous, but knew that she was not alone on the stage.
Larry was right.
After a minute, she forgot that crowd existed and was just paying attention to the notes as the nerves were gone and heart was relaxing. Once in a while Curly's and Moe's singing would flow into her head and she knew that they were good, but on stage, they were even better.
The crowd was loving them. Until in the middle of the show, Roxanne glanced at the bar and a familiar blond caught her eye, making her heart run cold in anger.
Cody.
The man that Jack supposedly owes money to and would break her hand for it.
She knew that it was almost half-time and she was not going to hesitate to ask that man about her best friend. For seven days her friend was missing and her mind was about to break with worry. That man knew her guardian and was just another suspect.
When Moe announced the band's break, Roxanne politely smiled at the applauding crowd, and when she walked off, she made a beeline for the brute that threatened her, sitting at the bar. "Cody," she stated sternly, not afraid of meeting the man that nearly broke her arm.
It was now personal.
"What do you–" He looked at her and a twisted smile grew upon his face. "Well, well. Jack's kid. What are you–"
"When was the last time you saw Jack? He's been missing," she began straightforwardly, not wanting to dawdle.
Cody chuckled darkly, curling his lip. "Good. I hope he's dead."
Roxanne winced at those words, but glared into his dark eyes. "When was the last time you saw him? Tell me, Cody." She felt anger rise into her body. For a week she was trying to be calm. For a week she tried to believe that she was going to find Jack, but she was not. Not even with help. Something happened to her best friend and she was the last to know.
His eyes narrowed. "What is in it for me?"
She narrowed her own eyes and stared into his own. "Tell me about Jack or I'll rip your tonsils out," she growled, repeating her new friend's words.
Cody didn't know where to look as he would look away with his eye, then returned to her non-blinking gaze as if she was staring into his soul. "Fine," he sighed. "Friday night he and I played a game of cards with some other guys. We made the deal and he lost." He gave a small shrug as he turned back to his drink. "Last time I saw him."
Roxanne gave a small dip of her head, relaxing. "Thank you." She smiled. "Was it that hard?" She walked to her band, who were talking to some people at a table and whispered to Larry, "I need to swing by my old place for a quick check-up." She hasn't been by the flat for three days.
He turned to her and nodded. "Okay."
On the way to the flat, the quartet were still talking about the show and how the new member was good for her first live show. Roxanne was trying to push the worry of Jack from her mind as she would laugh and talk, but when they came to the flat, they stopped walking and just looked at the stairs to the top floor. Sighing, the teenager was the first to approach it with the three following behind. Digging through a flower pot for the buried key she hid, her heart was heavy, and after she dusted it off and stuck in the knob and turned, she took a deep breath, then opened it.
"Looks like no one's home," Larry commented quietly as they all gazed the living room.
Roxanne flicked on the lights and heavily sighed as she slowly walked in. "He hasn't been home. It the same way I left it." She looked at the coats hanging on the coatrack, clean living room, and tidy bookcase on the left along with other things. Shaking her head, she walked out the flat with others following. She closed and locked up the apartment, and buried the key. She knew that there was no point in hiding the fact that she may never see Jack again, so instead, she just walked ahead of the trio, wanting to be lost in her own thoughts, but right now, there were no tears in her heart. She ran out of tears when her parents died and she refused to cry until she knew that Jack was dead.