Hidden
…later the next day
Tommy sent me flowers.
They're beautiful.
Dina put the flowers in one of the few vases that were left over from the family's previous house. It
was a simple white ceramic design with a green border along the white scalloped edges of the top.
She wanted to look extra special even though it wasn't technically a date. Drake was coming along.
She had to remember that she was the invited guest of her brother. Tommy and Drake were
supposed to be at Club 627 to find their drummer. Not to give Dina an opportunity to get to know
Tommy Rodriguez better.
She was going to do her best to make every moment count.
"…Did T-Rod send you these flowers?"
Was that a sign of approval or disapproval?
As time wore on it was getting more difficult to read Drake's mind.
And I'm supposed to be the complicated one of the family?
"Yes, he did. Aren't they lovely? How did he know that I love daisies?"
She decided to put her hair in a ponytail and covering up the elastic band with a powder blue scarf.
"Lucky guess. Did you see my box of guitar pics?"
"No."
If he didn't keep his side of the room looking like a pigs sty he wouldn't be running around like a
maniac looking for stuff.
"I think I left them in the basement…." and off he went.
Dina didn't mean to think it, but she was glad Drake was gone for the moment. She wanted to
wonder about the evening in silence without anyone present. Dina put down her blush compact and
figured while he was gone she would straighten up his side of the room.
What clutter! How could he be so messy? This room was much smaller than the loft apartment
feeling of their old room. Maybe, that's what made the mess look worse. But in any event, she knew
Drake would get sidetracked looking for his guitar pics so she could properly straighten up around
here. And if that meant straightening up his boxer shorts in the dresser drawer than so be it.
Was that a pizza box under his sofa/bed? No wonder this room was starting to smell funky.
Dina was on her hands and knees trying to get the box out from under the sofa, but something
seemed to be under it. She lost some of her upper arm strength due to the estrogen, but Josh
Nichols wasn't exactly Mr. Universe either. Finally! A plain hardcover brown book took
precedence over the pizza box.
What was this?
This was the size of the blank paper journals that you see in Hallmark.
No way.
Drake Parker was keeping a journal?
On purpose?
It was private and Dina knew better. She was glad that the diary Megan
had found of hers a years ago had nothing to do with being transgender.
The last entry was before Stephanie was murdered, which meant that Drake got tired of writing
(naturally) and shoved this under the sofa in typical frustration.
…T-Rod likes Dina
…Dina likes T-Rod (he told her to call him Tommy)
…He wants me to set something up between them.
…I'm okay with this (sort-of).
…I miss Josh. I never got to say goodbye to Josh.
My fault.
I wished her death. I didn't mean that.
I love Dina….I love Josh too….I miss the things we used to do together.
…Sometimes, and I know it's wrong, but I blame Dina for making Walter leave. I just started
caring for the man—and trusting him---and now he's gone. No one knows where he is.
I know it's not her fault—but how can I stop caring for Walter Nichols?
I'm bad person for thinking like this.
So that explains everything!
Dina heard Drake coming up the stairs so she shoved the journal and the pizza box back under the
sofa before going back to the task of putting on her make up.
"Drake, did you find your guitar pics?"
"Yeah. They were on the coffee table in the living room."
He took the box out of his back jeans pocket and placed them on his dresser.
"That's good."
"Did you straighten up my side of the room?"
"Yes. It's gross. Have you heard of mildew?"
"Thanks."
What?
Were they reduced to small talk now?
"I have an idea…let's go to Mystic Mountain and ride The Demonator."
Neither Drake nor Dina had been there since junior year in high school before Josh let Dina out of
the closet. She remembered because it was like a hundred degrees outside, but she still secretly
wore her pantyhose and one light coat of clear nail polish. But Dina also remembered riding her
favorite roller coaster with her favorite person. Drake tried to win this stuffed bear for some
skunkbag of a girl who was wearing nothing but a tube top, short shorts, and flip-flops.
He couldn't knock the pins down and the girl moved on to some other guy.
"Today?" Drake inquired
Since when does one need to think about going to an amusement park? This was one of their
favorite places to go.
"If you don't want to that's okay…"
"I'm just busy…."
"Of course. Well, I offered." She needed to go downstairs to not only get something to eat, but to
get out of here before this escalated into something.
Her frown was short lived when she noticed Tommy at the front door about to ring the bell.
"Hello, Tommy."
"Hey, Dina."
"Thank you for the flowers. Come in…"
"You're welcome. Is Drake upstairs?"
He didn't know about her, but his heart was beating a million miles a minute.
"Yeah, he is."
Dina started to walk away.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
There was really no sense burdening the man she fancied with the on/off/on/off-ness relationship she
seemed to be having with Drake lately.
He blames me for Dad leaving…
"Are you still coming to the club with us?"
"Of course. I wouldn't miss it."
Tommy was the first man she had REAL feelings for and she didn't care if Drake was going to be a
sour puss the whole evening. Nothing was going to stop her from having a good time getting to
know this man better.
"Awesome. I'll see you later, Dina."
"Of course you will, Tommy."
Club 627
Dina hated these kinds of places. Everyone here didn't seem to care about any of the bands on the
bill. They were just here to party and get laid. She also hated seeing how Drake operated in this
environment. Was he not here for the purpose of finding a drummer for the band? So, why was he
chatting up to some girl in a barely there halter top and mini skirt by the bar?
"I'm sorry about that." Dina said to Tommy as they found their way to an empty back booth.
"Sorry about what?"
"Drake ditching us—you—so he could chat up that tramp."
"Oh. I'm kind of happy about it." He put his one hand on top of hers and quickly released it.
"You didn't have to let go…"
Now it was Dina's turn for her heart to rapidly beat.
Tommy deflected his nervousness by flagging down a waitress so he could order a bottle of beer
and whatever the lady would like.
"Surprise me. Something with an umbrella in it."
"Did I tell you that you look very nice tonight? You're like a supermodel."
Dina thought she was dressed a little too conservative for the mostly female slutty clientele at Club
627 in a cotton light blue v-neck shirt and a denim skirt. But the v-neck matched the scarf that she
covered the elastic ponytail holder with.
"You just did. A supermodel, huh? It's a good thing I know you're being sincere. Thank you. So tell
me something about yourself, Tommy."
The waitress came with their drinks, but as if he knew Dina was going to ask this question he
seemed to have a quick reply at the ready.
"I've been playing the bass since I was twelve."
That's not quite what I meant.
"That's—"
That's when Drake sans harlot came to the table. He more like bumped into the table, before being
able to slide himself in. Dina would have had something to say about the whole thing if Tommy
wasn't there.
Dina could smell the beer on her brother's breath already.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you two." Drake said with a nudge-nudge, wink-wink emphasis on the
word 'disturbing'. Dina wished he'd have stayed at the bar.
"How many beers did you have?" Dina asked out of concern. Wishing that Tommy wasn't here to
witness this. She didn't want to ask, but she couldn't help it.
"Just a couple. I don't get drunk all that easily."
His eyes were all glassy. Did he take something else besides the alcohol?
What happened to the important task of finding a drummer?
Drake snapped his fingers and Dina knew he was going to order another beer.
"Hey," Tommy asked as he gently put his hand on Dina's shoulder, "I think I left my wallet in your
car and you locked the doors."
He was going to take Drake's car keys away from him without Drake realizing what he was doing.
"Here," Drake fumbled to get them out of his inside jean jacket pocket. He tossed the keys where
they landed in Dina's tropical drink, "Bullseye!"
Even though it wasn't an extreme drunken display Dina was still embarrassed that Tommy had to
observe this. But she was grateful that he hoodwinked him into handing over his car keys. Dina took
the keys out of her strawberry daiquiri and wiped them with the paper napkin before handing them
to Tommy.
"I'm just going to the restroom." He whispered in her ear to make it look like he was leaving to get
his wallet.
"Thanks."
"Aww! You two are so CUTE together!"
"Drake…"
"It's okay…" Tommy whispered once more before leaving the table.
"I know what you're thinking."
"You do, do you?"
The waitress put Drake's bottle of beer on the table.
"I just need to relax. Are you going to spoil my good time?"
Dina thought about the words she read in Drake's journal:
…Sometimes, and I know it's wrong, but I blame Dina for making Walter leave.
So, what now? Was he going to become an alcoholic?
Was she going to get the blame for that too?
"I'm leaving to find Tommy, so he can drive me home."
"Fine…Whatever."
"He'll come back to pick you up."
"That's cool."
Drake wasn't even looking Dina in the eyes.
"I'll see you later, Drake."
In the car
"I hope you don't mind going back to pick up, Drake. I could call a cab…"
Dina rambled on to Tommy in Drake's car.
"Dina, it's okay."
"Does he drink much around you? Have you seen him do any drugs?"
"Just the normal amount and I've never seen him do any hard drugs so don't worry."
"He's my brother, Tommy. I'm going to worry."
"You're too pretty."
That seemed rather randomly inserted, but she needed to hear it.
Truth was Dina wanted more cosmetic surgery. All she wanted was just a simple breast
enhancement and a slight lip injection.
"Thank you. Looks like we're here," She fished around in her purse for her butterfly key chain.
"I'll come back for my car after I pick Drake up."
"That's fine."
Neither one of them left the confines of the car.
"I know we haven't had an official date, Miss Nichols, but would you be offended if I wanted to
kiss you goodnight?"
"No. I want you to."
Oh, how I want you to.
Tommy put his arms around Dina and kissed her on the lips. It was one of those starts off slow, but
end with bang type of kiss.
At that moment Dina felt that she could have walked on air.
"How was that?" he shyly asked
She put her hands on his stubbly cheeks, "Lovely."
"Really?" he seemed quite surprised
"Don't be so surprised, Tommy," Dina opened up her purse to take out a pen, "Do you have
something to write on?"
"This is Drake's car. Hey!" He took the pine tree shaped air freshener off the rear view mirror, "I
found something."
Dina laughed.
"This will do," She wrote down her phone number inside the small white box on the bottom. "Call
me."
"I will."
"I'll leave the door open so you can get Drake in the house."
"Thanks."
This time she took the reigns and decided to kiss him. She didn't want the night to end.
"Goodnight, Tommy."
"'Night, Dina. And don't worry. I'll bring home Drake safe and sound."
"Thank you." She finally opened the car door so she could take a nice, long hot bubble bath and
dream about how she wish the night went with Tommy.
"And Dina…"
"Yes?"
She nervously put the loose strands of blonde hair behind her ear.
"I'll call you…"