The Ballad of Roxanne Pelligrini
Written by: Craig Phillips
The characters herein this story is the property, copyright © and registered ® trademarks of Hasbro. The characters Jonathan Lawrence Patterson, Christopher Michael, Max Rogers, Edwin Pelligrini, Steve Pelligrini, Tyler McConnell, and Manic Deeds are my creations. The story itself belongs to me and is copyright ©. Reproduction of this story in any manner without prior written consent is strictly prohibited.
One word of warning, I do not believe in censorship of any kind, and therefore what you read is what you get.
Chapter 6 (The Engagement) (Part 1)
Roxy just stared at the diamond engagement ring, her eyes welled up with tears, and her mind flooded with emotions that she never felt before. She could not take it anymore, and ran off to the edge of the hilltop, wrapping her arms around her body. Chris immediately stood up and ran after Roxy.
"Roxy, wait up, "he called after her. Chris slowly walked up behind Roxy, and lightly touched her shoulder. "Rox…I…I am sorry if that was too much too soon for you.
Roxy turned around and faced Chris, tears streamed down her cheeks. "Chris, I love you more than I ever loved anyone in my life. But, I can't accept your ring.
Chris' heart sank into the pit of his stomach. He looked at her, not knowing the right words to say.
"Chris, understand that I have never been asked that question before. Not only that, but I've been treated like shit my whole life," she looked down at her feet and brushed one of them against the tall grass, "I'm sorry Chris."
He looked out over Roxy's shoulder at the glittering lights of Hollywood. He then looked back at Roxy; she was still looking at the ground. He gently lifted her face to his, and wiped her tears away. "Rox, I know you're the girl for me, but if you really feel you can't accept my proposal now I hope one day you will. Because no matter what, I love you more than you'll ever know." And with that, he kissed her deeply on the mouth.
Sheila sat next to the telephone, not really sure if she knew how to tell Tyler. WhatifTylerdumpsme? She began to panic about the situation, so much so that when the phone rang, she jumped and shrieked a little.
"Hello," began Sheila.
"Hey, Sheila it's me. Listen; don't say a word until I finish okay?" His words filled Sheila's mind with fear. Her stomach knotted up, this was the moment of truth. "Look, I am heading out of state tonight. Personally, I don't think that's my kid I mean you have been around the block a few times. I have my life to deal with, and it doesn't include you." Tyler just hung up and never gave Sheila a chance to talk.
Sheila closed her eyes tightly, tears spilling from them. Her worst fears came true, Tyler abandon her, the guy she thought was in love with her only wanted his needs satisfied. Just then, she threw the receiver across the room, screamed, and fell in to the pillows of the couch.
Mary heard the crashing sound from the other room, and hurried in to find that Sheila was crying. Mary knew inside that Tyler must have broken it off with her friend. She slowly made her way towards Sheila.
"Sheila, if there is anything I can do, please tell me," said Mary caressing Sheila's back softly like her mother once did when she was younger.
"He's a fuckin' wanker he is," Sheila spat out, "The only thing he wanted was to knock me boots."
"What did Tyler say to you?"
"He said that he's not the kids father, that he's leaving the state, and that he has his own life to deal with." Sheila sat up, wiping her eyes.
Mary put her arm around her friend, and gave her a gentle hug, "Roxanne, Craig, and I will help you though this, you aren't going through this alone," she gave Sheila a reassuring smile.
"Thanks Mary. By the way, have you heard from Roxanne at all?" Sheila sniffled.
Mary just shook her head.
"I wonder what she and ol' Chris are up to," she then looked over at the busted phone, and the hole in the wall. "Sorry love for the damage, I'll pay for it."
"Don't worry, the phone sucked, and I was going to repaint this room anyway," both girls began laughing.
Chris and Roxanne got back into his car, and headed home. Neither of them spoke on the way back. Chris turned on KBST Radio, the song that was playing was a classic Misfits tune "You Gotta Be Fast"
In this world there's one thing you need
You gotta be fast, you gotta be fast
If you wanna play a lead,
You gotta be fast, you gotta be fast
You gotta be fast
The world belongs to the major movers
The ones who keep up a relentless pace
If you aren't up to their fast maneuvers
You're gonna wind up in second place
You're gonna wind up with egg on your face
All the prizes go to the swift.
You gotta be fast, you gotta be fast
Baby, baby are you gettin' my drift?
You gotta be fast, you gotta be fast
Slow and steady don't win no races
Slow and steady comes in last
If you want to come up aces
Baby, baby, you gotta be fast
And baby, you're comin' in last
You gotta be fast (You gotta be fast, you gotta be fast)
You gotta be fast (You gotta be fast, you gotta be fast)
You gotta be fast.
As the song faded out, Roxanne softly, but angrily spoke not realizing Chris was listening, "God, Pizzazz pisses me off so much."
"I know Roxy, but hey, the new and much improved Misfits are gonna take over the world again," Chris glanced over to see Roxy staring out into the night sky.
"The worst thing is, it's not really about the money, it's the way she fawned over Riot. I wanted to smack that bitch across her fucking face," her temper began to show.
Chris put his hand on her head and lightly caressed her hair. "Look Rox, Pizzazz is a child in a woman's body. She was never disciplined, and she is spoiled rotten," he glanced over towards Roxanne then back at the road, "but you are going to have to forgive her at some point."
Roxanne didn't say a word, deep down she did miss her Misfit sister and what she brought to the music. Forgiving Phyllis Gabor is another matter, one that probably will never happen.
Chris turned down the final street and pulled into Mary's driveway. Roxanne didn't get out of the car; she just stared out the window. So much had happened to her emotionally in the past few months, and it was overwhelming her senses. She needed to do a lot of thinking, especially about Chris's proposal. Roxanne took off her seatbelt, turned, and looked at Chris.
"I hope you don't think I am some uptight bitch. I love you to death Chris, and you bring so much to my life. I just don't know if I am ready inside to get married."
Chris charmed Roxanne by giving her his trademark smile, "Roxy, when the time is right for you, I will be there for you," he leaned over and kissed her lips. And with that she got out of the car, but before she closed the door, she leaned back inside.
"I love you Chris, more than you will ever know."
"I love you too foxy Roxy," said Christopher as he gave her a wink.
She closed the door and headed inside the Phillips house, turning around only to catch Chris backing down the driveway and heading off into the night. She grabbed her house key, unlocked the door, and headed inside. As she entered, the house was pretty dark, with only one light on over the kitchen sink. Roxanne kicked off her shoes, removed her coat and headed downstairs to the studio. She was still wide awake, wired, and wanted to finalize the vocal lines to a couple of her tracks. As she entered the room, she saw Sheila in the corner starring at a photo.
"Hiya Britrock, what are you looking at?" Roxanne inquired.
"Just a picture of that prat-now-ex-boyfriend-of-mine Tyler," said Sheila coolly, "that bastard bailed on me."
"Oh wow, God I am so sorry," Roxanne said as she walked over to the Brit, "what happened?"
"Basically, I called him after I took that test, and damned if he didn't deny he was the father."
Roxanne just looked at the photo of the two of them at Disney World. They both had mouse ears on and dark sunglasses over their eyes. She turned to look at Sheila, who was now staring blankly at the wall.
"You know I am here for you Sheila, and you know Mary will be as well."
"Thanks Roxy, I just can't believe I let him get in me knickers," she started to feel as if she had been violated, "the worst part is, I am as much to blame as Tyler."
Roxanne just shook her head and gave her bandmate a warm hug, when she pulled away there were tears in Roxanne's eyes. Sheila was dumbfounded.
"Roxy, what's the matter?"
With a heavy sigh Roxanne spoke, "Chris proposed to me tonight, and I turned him down."
Sheila's eyes bugged out of her head, "Are you blinkin daft Roxy? Why the bloody hell did you do that?"
"Because I'm scared to get that close to him, that's why."
"Let me tell you something Miss Pelligrini, get off your daft ass, pick up that phone and accept his proposal," Sheila glared intensely at the platinum blond woman, "If you let him go, you're a bigger fool than I am for lettin' Tyler shag me. Let me tell you something else too Roxy, he's the best thing to come into your life and you goddamn well know that."
"I know, but…" Sheila cut off Roxanne
"No! None of this but bullshit, I will kick your colony ass if you don't accept his proposal," Sheila squared off to Roxanne.
"Back off Brit, don't you dare square off against me," Roxanne snarled.
The two of them just glared each other down. It was a bit like the day they first met when Sheila played sax for the Tinkerbilly's. Though the control room was quiet, you could hear both women breathe heavily. The atmosphere was running hot in the room, and something might trigger some nasty old habits. But Roxanne was determined to stay calm; she was the first to back away and sit on a chair near a patch panel rack.
Just as Sheila herself was starting to calm a bit, Mary came into the room. She was in her Misfits nightshirt; her face did not have the trademark lightning bolt, or slashes, and her hair was a bit messy, "Hey, can you two keep it down to a dull roar, some of us are trying to sleep here," Mary said and began to yawn.
"How did you even hear us?" Sheila asked.
"Um, duh the studio door was never shut," she spat.
"Sorry Mary, it's just been a very long night for the two of us, and we are really cranky," Roxanne concluded.
"Well whatever, just shut up for the night. Good night."
"She's gotten feisty, hasn't she Roxy," Sheila giggled. Sometimes it was hard to take Mary serious when she was woken up from a deep sleep.
The next morning, the house was filled with the aroma of pancakes, sausage, and bacon. Normally this was Mary's specialty, but this morning was different. Craig decided to make everyone breakfast. Craig was a tall, athletic, handsome man who actually was the drummer for The Blue Bloods, a UK based rock band. When you looked at him, he didn't fit the mold of a drummer, but at one time he'd been a semi-finalist for Jem and The Holograms. Just as he was pouring some batter into the electric frying pan, the phone rang. As he reached for it, he accidentally spilled the remainder of the batter onto the counter.
"Oh, terrific!" He growled under his breath. "Hello? Who? Sorry, she is not up right now, can I take a message?" Craig reached into a small canister for a pen and found an opened envelope to write on. "OK shoot! Chris, needs to see Roxy today, please call. That it? OK I'll give her the message. Goodbye." Just as he hung up the phone, his little sister Mary and Roxanne walked into the kitchen.
"Mmmmm, Craig that smells so good," Roxanne grabbed a piece of bacon, "why you took up drums instead of culinary I'll never understand."
"Actually, I'm not that good of a cook, and some of the things I have attempted to make burned really bad." He looked at his sister who began giggling.
"Remember the Thanksgiving you burned the turkey, and almost set the oven on fire?" Mary started laughing harder, this laugh trickled to Roxanne.
"Yeah thanks sis, I was trying to repress that disaster, and bury it deep in my mind," he laughed too, "Oh Rox, I think your boyfriend Chris called, and he wants to meet you today." He handed her the phone message.
"Huh. Guess he still wants me even after I turned down his proposal last night," as she said that, Mary and Craig looked at her with wide eyes.
"Oh my God, Roxy he proposed to you?" Mary shrieked.
"Well, duh, that is what I just said," Roxanne got into her smart ass routine.
"But why did you turn him down Rox?" Craig inquired.
"Yeah, you are really cute together, and he would really make you happy," said Mary and she buttered up her pancakes.
Roxanne really didn't know how to answer Mary's question without bringing up Johnny. She really thought that she'd let him go, but the truth was she really hadn't, "Chris is a great guy, but I want to be sure he's the man for me."
As Roxanne said that, Sheila entered, "Oh my God Roxy, not this again! You're out of your flippin' mind", Sheila chimed in, "there has to be more of a reason than that excuse. Either your chicken, or you really don't love him."
Those words cut through Roxanne's heart like a knife. She backhanded the Brit across the face which created a bit of an echo in the kitchen, "Don't you ever fucking say that I don't love Chris. You have no idea what the hell you are talking about."
Sheila, who still had her hand on her cheek, was dumbfounded by Roxanne's temper. She just shook her head and walked out of the room, "you know Roxy someone better teach you how to control that temper of yours, because you are really walking a fine line with me."
Mary and Craig exchanged worried glances. They'd seen both girls go at it before, but this was different. Mary walked over to the sink and put her plate in it. She turned towards her friend.
"Roxy, I'm not going to start up with you, but you really shocked us that you turned him down," Mary walked over to the table and set her plate down. Grabbing the maple syrup, she began to pour some over her hot pancakes.
"Look Mary, you gotta believe me, turning down Chris has ripped my heart out. I love him so much, but every time I think about that ring it brings up the memories of Johnny."
Mary swallowed the first bite of her food before responding, "But Johnny never proposed to you, and you said it yourself so many times. Rox you have to let him go, because if you don't, Chris is going to be the one who gets hurt in the end." Mary sipped her orange juice.
With a heavy sigh, Roxanne nodded, "how is it that you are always right?"
"Guess it's a trait I got from my mom, and you know me, I hardly ever dive into that side of my personality."
The more Roxanne talked to Mary, the closer she felt to the young girl. Mary was really the level headed Misfit, and really she always had been. Even during their hey-days of raising hell against Jem and The Holograms, Mary was the only Misfit would didn't act on impulse. Though it is true that Mary could be just as much of a hell raiser as the others, she made sure no one ever got hurt. Roxanne sat down next to Mary, and gently too her hand.
"Mary, we've known each other for a long time; we've practically grown up together. I want to ask this of you, and I don't expect an answer this moment," Roxanne looked into Mary's blue eyes, "Mary, would you be my maid of honor?"
Mary's eyes grew wide, and tears welled up in them, "are you kidding me Roxanne? Do you really want me to be your maid of honor?"
"I would not have asked if I wasn't serious," Roxanne patted her friend's hands, "besides you've been like a sister to me, and ever since that trip to Tibet to search for Shangri-La when I cut my hand on the poisonous thorns…you took care of me." Roxanne felt her eyes burn with tears as she remember that day. That was the closest to death she'd ever been, and for a long time she could never shake the nightmares after they came home.
"Roxanne, I'm honored that you want me, so yes I will….wait a minute does this mean that you are going to accept Chris's marriage proposal after all?"
Roxanne smiled, "I guess it does," she swiped a piece of bacon off Mary's plate, "I better find Sheila and tell her I am sorry." She got up from the table and headed towards the hallway where she saw Sheila sitting on the staircase. Roxanne walked slowly over towards her.
"What the hell do you want Roxy, come to finish me off?" Sheila snapped.
"No. Actually I came to say I'm sorry, and to tell you that I decided to get off my ass and accept Chris's proposal." Roxanne sat down on the floor in front of Sheila.
"Look Roxy, do whatever the hell you want, I don't care. You pushed me too far this time," Sheila stood up, and stepped around Roxanne, "I've decided to go back to England, and get the hell away from you and all this drama with the Misfits."
"Wait a minute; you can't blame the Misfits for this Sheila." Roxanne blocked Sheila from leaving the room.
"Doesn't matter, me mind is made up, I'm done with the Misfits," the words that Sheila spoke were as deep as ever. She made her way to the front door and walked outside.
During this commotion, Mary sent a worried look towards her brother. She could not bear the thought of the entire band completely disbanding forever. It was bad enough when Phyllis left the group, but now Sheila threatening to leave would for sure spell disaster. Mary always worried about the Misfits falling apart, these were her sisters and she loved them deeply.
"Craig, I can't believe what's going on here, everything is out of control," Mary leaned against the counter and sigh heavily.
"Mary, just go talk to Sheila?" He put his arm on around his sister.
Mary shrugged and nodded at her brother, and headed outside. She noticed Roxanne heading down to the studio, but decided not to bother her at that moment. Mary continued to the front door, when she opened it she found Sheila sitting on the front step.
"Roxy, just back off, I don't give a shit what you have to say anymore," growled Sheila.
"Sheila, it's Mary can you and I talk?" She asked with a timid voice.
"It's a free country," Sheila said coolly.
"Please don't quit the Misfits; we've accomplished so much over the years. You are a big reason that our sound grew originally, and why we still need you," Mary looked down at her sandals.
"Do you think I really want to give this up? Truth is I don't, but I can't understand why Roxy falls back into her old abusive habits," Sheila shifted a little, "you know as well as I do that Roxy and I have never gotten along."
"It seemed like it all changed once Jerrica signed us to Starlight Music and gave us the chance to cut our album," Mary confessed, "but please don't quit the group you're like a sister to me."
"Huh. That's a new one, never heard that before", she smiled a little, "okay, I'll stay."
Mary leaned over and hugged her friend, she felt so good inside that she could convince someone not to leave. Maybe someday she could talk Phyllis into coming back.
Jerrica and Kimber began setting up the conference room for the meeting with Manic Deeds. This was a big day for Starlight Music, not since The Stingers was there a band that had great potential. When Eric Raymond convinced The Stingers to join his company by renaming it to Stinger Sound, Jerrica took it as a huge loss personally. Now with Manic Deeds, she finally felt that she could bring Starlight Music into the forefront like it had once been years ago.
Kimber entered the conference room with a tray of coffee cups, and some water bottles. She placed them on the big oak table that literally took up half the room. The red head plugged in the small coffee pot and began preparing the coffee.
"Jerrica, I was thinking about something," she began.
"What's that sis?"
"If Manic Deeds takes off for Starlight Music, we should seriously consider reforming Jem and The Holograms."
"That's a possibility Kimber, but I'd also like to start taking in some new Starlight Girls. I really miss our girls," Jerrica looked at her sister and smiled.
"You know, I got call from Ashley the other day. She just started dating this guy and just moved into her own apartment."
"That's wonderful Kimber," Jerrica smiled brightly with the thought of the once troublesome Ashley Larson, "have you heard from the others?"
"No just Ashley."
"Well, maybe one day we'll get them altogether for a family reunion," Jerrica placed the contracts on the table where each band member would sit. As the two girls continued prepping the room, there was a knock at the door.
"Miss Benton?" A young woman's voice spoke.
"Yes?" Jerrica replied.
"There is a man who is asking to speak with you. Do you have a moment to meet with him?"
"Yeah, send him to my office. I'll be over in a minute," she said as she took the water bottles and placed them next to the contracts.
A couple of minutes later, Jerrica headed back to her office. When she walked in, she saw an older man with white hair sitting across from her desk. Jerrica did not recognize this man at all.
"I'm Jerrica Benton CEO of Starlight Music, how can I help you?" Jerrica said cordially.
"Miss Benton my name is Steven Pelligrini," the man confessed.
Jerrica was briefly distracted as she was sitting down at her desk, and didn't catch the gentleman's last name, "I'm sorry what did you say your name was?"
"Steven Pelligrini. I think you know my daughter, Roxanne Pelligrini?"
To be continued in Chapter 7: The Engagement, Part 2