Chapter 12

Psychedelic Hollow

Itsmeocean@hotmail.com

Joe woke up to the melodious hum of the doorbell. Stretching lethargically, he cracked his joints and jumped off the bed, shaking his head to clear it of sleep, immediately regretting as bright little spots dotted his view.

"Coming!" He popped his head out of his room door and yelled into the emptiness of the house. Nine thirty-five. Frank would arrive about ten-fifteen earliest with the rest of the family coming in later as Aunt Gertrude, Fenton, Laura and Hallie always have their sumptuous Sunday brunch outside before returning home. After throwing a bathrobe over himself for decency as he was even more scantily-clad than Frank had been when Nancy caught him only in his boxers, he trudged down the stairs. Eyelids still so heavy with lingering somnolence, he almost tumbled over in his 'sleep-walk' but thankfully held on the railings in time and was prevented from suffering the same fate as Humpty Dumpty. Finally, after the tedious walk in morass, he threw the door open and immediately rubbed his eyes, unsure if the uninvited visitor was who he thought she was. He was used to seeing things shortly after he woke up anyway.

"You look pretty."

"Nan… come in… ahm…I wasn't expecting you so early…" Joe held the door open as she brushed past, surveying the house smilingly.

"Nice place… very homely." She turned around suddenly and he almost bumped into her. Alone in the house, just an inch away from Nancy Drew's lips wasn't exactly a comfortable situation but strangely, it wasn't unpleasant either. She sounded friendly and that would mean that she had forgiven yesterday's argument.

"Sorry…"

"It's ok. I shouldn't have been so abrupt. Bought you breakfast." Nancy passed him the brown paper bag she was holding. He peered into it and smiled when he smelt hot chocolate and a blueberry muffin.

"I asked Frank last night what would make you happy in the morning and he said this. The queue was long at the café that he recommended. Listen buddy, I'm feeling a little bad about the quarrel we have and, I admit, you have your point. I'm sorry. Treat it as I'm just a stubborn, narrow-minded feminist." Nancy lifted her shoulders in a half-shrug, her outstretched hands and open palms mirroring her genuine verbal apology. He led her into the dining hall and placed the bag on the table, happily taking out the delicious breakfast. Just as he was about to bite into the muffin, Nancy pushed his hand down from his open mouth.

"I thought you told me you needed to take some enzyme pills first."

"Oh, right… I forgot… what a drag." Joe grumbled, setting the muffin down on top of the bag. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll go grab the pills, they're in my room."

"Okay. Take your time. Where's everyone, anyway?"

"In Church." Joe hollered back from the foot of the steps, "Frank will be here about ten-fifteen to ten-thirty."

"All right. I need to update you guys on the interview with McCain as well. Looks like we have some new leads."

"Great. We been to see Howard Wain as well but he wasn't at his house or the car workshop. Since we didn't plan for any sudden B&E last night, we'll probably have to go again this morning, after we call the guy to make sure he and Colin are in."

"If Colin is the culprit, your job is done, right?"

Joe scratched his head as he leaned against the stairs' railings, "I guess so. Short case. Good too. Frank needs to be free of all distractions for his big day. I will be right back down with my pills!" Cued by the growl in his stomach, Joe scampered up the stairs hurriedly. He could almost taste the muffin in his mouth. Glancing around his room, ruefully remembering Frank and Elle's lectures on tidiness, he knew it would be forever before he finds that little pack of enzyme pills among the piles of clothes, scattered magazines and drawers spilling over with assorted bric-a-brac.

"Come out little pills... oh… where are you guys? Come to daddy! I need to eat some of you! I want my muffin…" Joe sang softly to himself as he rummaged though the litter. In his brief search, a couple of Hallie's 'lost' toys- action figurines really- showed up. Pleasantly surprised, he displayed them neatly on his toys' showcase, admiring, for a second or two, how well they look sitting next to his valuable collection.

And then his stomach rumbled irritably. He had to appease the grouchy old thing before anything else could be done.

"Darn!" He cursed, slamming the last drawer shut, "Not here… where could they be?"

His last hope was the night table where he dumped his car keys and wallet. However, the pills were not there. Scratching his head, he jumped when Nancy knocked on his open door. Turning around, he could tell by her rounded eyes and arched brows that she was mildly astounded by the mess.

"I don't know cyclones attack a room specifically…" She commented, stepping inside cautiously. "Need help looking?"

"Well, yah… I guess…"

"Okay, I'll check the drawers but you have to look through your… laundry… no way am I touching those." She pointed to the tangled jeans and t-shirts and he grinned sheepishly, embarrassment coloring his cheeks red with Day-Glo paint pen.

"I look through the drawers already but no harm looking again. And, at least, I don't throw worn underwear around… hmm… bad thing to say, right?" Joe grimaced at himself and Nancy nodded sagely.

"Yes, definitely very bad and icky."

"Icky?"

"Crude, vulgar, typical man's language…" Nancy threw him a condescending smile and he bunched up a t-shirt, pretending to throw it at her, guffawing when she let out a shriek and ducked.

"Hah! I knew you're a girlish girl at heart."

"I'm going to slug you one day…"

"Why not now?" Joe taunted, clutching a few more pieces of dirty clothes in his hands, "Afraid I'll push you in these?"

Nancy shook her head, unable to contain her smile. She closed one drawer and brushed her hands, "You really should vacuum everything here…you can actually convert the dust into artificial snowflakes for one winter season. It's amazing that you just moved home and… bang! It'll take me at least a year to get my room as messy as this…"

"You know, Nan, that does sting a little…" Joe picked up the pair of jeans he wore last night. He had to take the pills before dinner and maybe he left them in his jeans' pocket.

"But you're always messy…"

"No, not that… forget it." Joe shrugged it off, hating to be reminded of the time he tried to exile himself from home. "I'm sorry too about yesterday. You know me. I have something against those so-called feminists who couldn't see the double-standards they are propagating.  And you sounded a little like one, though I know you're not. Would have apologized first but you beat me to it." Joe cast the jeans aside when the search turned out to be futile. "Forget it. I'm destined to not eat breakfast. Later, I'll just ask Frank to drive me to the doctor to pick up more pills."

"On a Sunday?"

Joe threw her a crafty smirk, "We know where he lives. He's our family doctor and frankly speaking, having us as loyal customers is perhaps his worst professional curse."

Nancy laughed, understanding his wry joke perfectly. As the hilarity died off, she looked at him with some uncertainty in her eyes, "Joe, can we backtrack to our conversation yesterday? There's something I want to say but I couldn't, given my apparent peevishness with you."

"Shoot." Joe sat on his bed and she took her place next to him.

"You know when you said something about a girl saying 'No' but her body language says 'yes'?"

Joe narrowed his eyes, looking up at the ceiling, "Yah, somewhat… what about that?"

"Actually, her verbal 'No' takes precedence over whatever her body actions are suggesting because body language is a subjective mode of communication. She may not mean 'yes' though the guy could take it as that. This is why I was angry over what you said about the body language part… a girl wearing miniskirt while walking down a dark alley is not asking to be raped and neither is it her fault if it should happen, though I concede with you that she should have taken responsibility for her own safety. But some people just don't have common sense and worse, they can be equipped with a faulty danger radar."

Joe smiled at her. He already knew what she was trying to explain and just like anger had gone to her head, his masculine reactions towards feminism had also played a heavy hand in his aggravation by what she had said before. "I know, Nan. I was just trying to warn against those guys with no common sense to know a 'No' means 'No', no matter what the circumstances. There are those guys around and they can be anyone- your friends, classmates, colleagues, and even boyfriends and husbands. And rapists lurk in places you don't even expect, not only dark alley ways. Before we start again, I'm not saying we can't trust people. Trust is important and sacred- helps us relate and connect with other people since no man is an island. However, everyone has to guard against danger, girls and guys alike. Prevention is still better than cure."

"Point taken too. Nancy patted his lap and giggled suddenly, "You know, we look pretty scandalous right now."

"Huh?"

"Me and you in an empty house, on your bed, with you wearing a bathrobe."

Joe gave her once over, "But you're fully dressed…"

"Right. In a spaghetti-strapped top and a pair of skin tight jeans." Nancy rolled her eyes and Joe laughed, noticing for the very first time that she was casually, yet, very attractively put together.

"You know something?"

Nancy arched a shaped brow and Joe whispered in her ears, "Though I'm sure I look very sexy, I haven't brushed my teeth nor washed my face yet."

"Ew! Gross! Joe Hardy!!!!" She screamed, jumping off the bed.  Sniggering, he disappeared into the bathroom. As he performed his delayed morning rituals, he heard her fiddling with some of his stuff outside. That was Nancy Drew- inquisitive as usual. Grabbing a hand towel from the round handle to wipe his damp face dry, he smiled when she shouted a compliment.

"Hey, your daughter's really cute…"

Okay, so you're praising me indirectly.

He hung the towel back on the hanger and strolled out of the bathroom still in his bathrobe, having forgotten to bring in something decent to wear. Nancy was flipping through a recent photo album filled with pictures of Hallie, Vanessa and him before Vanessa flew off to Hong Kong. Sighing heavily, he kept the smile on his face as he approached her, ready to comment on any interesting photos she came across.

"You and Vanessa look very sweet together… I'm sorry…" She glanced at him, catching that brief pained expression on his face. He dismissed it with a wave of his hand and pointed to the background of the photo.

"It's blurred because I made a mistake with the shutters, aperture and stuff. Never knew how to work those things. But it makes us in the foreground look real clear, huh?"

"Yup, I thought it's pretty artistic…" She flipped through the last few photos before putting the album back into the drawer. "I wished to meet Hallie one day. And you know something? I bet Vanessa is going to realize she made a mistake and come back to reunite with you two soon. Nothing is more important to a woman than her family."

"I don't really want to think about it right now. We have been apart for far too long, seriously. Maybe it's really time to… I don't know… look around." Joe cast one last protracted glance at the album before pushing the drawer shut. "You've been dating after… well… you and Frank?"

"Not seriously. But I'm going to take your hidden advice. Maybe it's time to look around."

"But first, you have to lay things aside. Talk is only talk. I can understand, I tried. Dated many girls in fact… just can't really, you know…"

"Open your heart to them." She finished for him. Throwing her an odd look, he felt a little weird. Nancy finishing sentences for someone else seemed to be a prerogative of Frank's and vice versa. And he had seen the both of them in action. Even Callie couldn't reach that uncanny telepathic connection with his elder brother and she was about to become his wife. Maybe love was more than being able to reach the other person's mind- hell, he would give anything to be able to read Vanessa's mind. But he knew, despite the wrangling heartaches they put each other through, he had loved her and maybe, still did.

The 'maybe' was killing him inside slowly and miserably. Did he still love Vanessa or was he only haunted by the apparitions of a dead relationship? Who knew such things? He gave up- he hadn't got a clue.

As he leaned against the column of drawers, occupied by his own pathetic mental rambles, Nancy continued scouring his room. Stopping by his guitar which was propped up against a wall, just right under the two white, lattice windows, she knelt down and unzipped the leather jacket, retrieving the instrument. Seated on his bed again, she started to strum simple, off-tune chords before chuckling with awkwardness.

"Self-taught. Sound like I'm not a good teacher."

Joe smiled gently before pushing his swivel chair towards her. Sitting down in front of her, he gestured for the guitar. "You're right. You sound like you're strangling chickens. Let me show you how a guitar ought to be coaxed…"

"I know Frank plays in a band occasionally and I have heard him. I know how a guitar is coaxed."

He pouted, remembering how jealous he was when he watched Frank performing to a crowd of appreciative fans and pub-goers. "Yah… but you haven't heard me. I'm better."

"You sure?" She taunted, "Play me a song. Let me be the judge. And you must sing too… multi-task… you know. Let's see if you can handle it." She handed him the guitar and he stuck a tongue out at her before grinningly shrewdly.

"I know you're just trying to bait me for a song. Well, when I cut a multi-platinum record selling album, you can boast that you heard me first in my room. Let me see…" Joe stared at his guitar, his mind blanked suddenly. Memories always failed him when it came down to the crunch. On an ordinary day, when he was by himself, he could just pluck the chords to about a hundred songs without much fuss and now, all he could think of was, "Three Blind Mice."

Recalling Frank's performance in the pub, the song his brother sang to Callie came to him. He knew its chords and the song was pretty. Any girl would love it even though it wasn't sung by the person they wished was serenading to them.

*"I was standing, all alone against the world outside.

You were searching, for a place to hide.

Lost and lonely, now you've given me the will to survive.

When we're hungry, love will keep us alive…"

Mesmerized, she leaned forward, her startling blue eyes fixed on his mien- that was good. He grinned, inferring from her fascination that he hadn't lost his charm. Actually, he had been propositioned by many girls for dates but the moment Hallie's existence was known, something he would never deliberately hide, some of them would shy away. He wasn't even looking for commitment but the presence of Hallie caused quite a number of them to think that he was actively looking for a mother for his child.

That would be a scary thought for any girl. He could understand but Hallie was his top priority and he wouldn't hanker after women who couldn't accept that he was a father first and foremost. Those who dared to continue dating him were also in for an unpleasant surprise as he would suddenly just bid them farewell for no apparent reason. Sure, he felt guilty about his irresponsibility but it was better that way, he supposed, when it was obvious that he was merely looking for Vanessa in all of them.

No longer, probably. Time to let go…

*"Don't you worry, Sometimes you've just gotta let it ride.

The world is changing, right before your eyes.

 Now I've found you, there's no more emptiness inside.

When we're hungry...love will keep us alive…"

He didn't know who kissed who first but he remembered looking at her from a different perspective. And he was vaguely aware of his guitar crashing onto the floor and she into his arms. He could taste her peppermint toothpaste and revel in the softness of her body- such a pleasant contrast to her hardened personality.


And somehow, though everything seemed so fast and sudden, they also seemed so right.

And wrong, and right. And wrong. He didn't know. The hodgepodge of emotions was too daunting to even try untangling. He didn't want to know anything anymore. He just wanted to kiss her.

Thank goodness I brushed my teeth.

"Oops… sorry…"

Uh-oh… Frank...

Nancy pushed away from him and stood up, staring at him with her mouth gaping in shock. Joe simply tried to remember how to breathe.

"Don't mind me… I'll just be downstairs and…" Frank's apologetic voice grew smaller and it wasn't after Joe heard the door close that he dared to speak, or more appropriately, squeaked.

"Bad?"

Nancy dabbed at her lips with the back of her hand, horror apparent in her glazed eyes, "Very, very bad."

*The Eagles, "Love Will Keep Us Alive"  Hell Freezes Over, 1994.