Chapter Fourteen

My alarm clock rang annoyingly beside me. I struggled to rise out of bed to turn it off. Bleh, it was Monday. I had work today, which meant Johnny would be here and probably bored out of his mind, since he couldn't go anywhere in Baltimore without being followed by fans or news reporters. Poor thing.

I turned around to see him with the bedsheets wrapped around him like a cocoon. God, he was so cute! He was like a baby. "John..." I made sure my voice wasn't too loud, and I shook him gently. "Baby, wake up."

He squirmed around for a little while, then finally sighed softly and opened his eyes. "Hm...?"

"You awake?" I asked.

"Mhm." His eyes were slowly closing.

I shook him again and laughed. "Sweetie, please wake up. Just listen to me for a second."

He sighed again and opened his eyes once more. "Yeah, babe. I'm up. What's the matter?"

"I have to get ready for work. I have work today."

"Aw man."

"Yeah, I know. I get off today at around four, and it shouldn't take me too much time to get back home. I'll miss you today."

He sat up in the bed and touched my face, his hand warm from sleep. "Don't leave me, Angie."

Honestly, at that moment I wanted to cry. The way he said that made me extremely sad. He sounded like a child on the first day of preschool who didn't want their mom to leave them. "Aw, John. I wish I didn't have to, but how else am I gonna get paid?"

"Well, you could quit and come live with me in New York. The group makes a pretty good salary so..."

"Mmm, I don't know. I'd feel like a freeloader."

"What? Wha- no! No, not at all. Angela, I love you. You know I'd do anything for you. Besides, do you even like where you work?"

I sighed and looked at a corner of my wall. "Not really. All I do is sit at a desk and take phone calls."

"Well that's exactly my point. If you come with me you wont have to work at some boring place. And get this...you'll see the Ramones EVERY DAY."

I laughed, making him laugh along with me. "Very funny, John."

"What, ya get to see us rehearse and everything. Any fan would kill to see that, especially a girl. Like you."

"Yeah but remember, I'm not just a regular fan."

"Well yeah, I guess that's true. But still, you get what I mean, dontcha?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Yeah, I do." I looked over at the clock again. "Look, I gotta get ready to go, okay? We'll talk about it when I get home."

Johnny laid back down. "Alright. Will ya at least come over here and kiss me before you leave?"

I laughed. "After I've brushed my teeth. I don't want to blast you with morning mouth, you know."

He smiled and cuddled back into the covers. "Okay."

I sighed and looked at him sympathetically, brushing his soft hair back. Then I got up and walked to the bathroom...I really wanted to go with Johnny to New York, but what about my mom? I mean, she's only met him a couple of times. And what if she got depressed because I wasn't there anymore? She'd be lonely and sad, and it'd be all my fault. I didn't want to do that to her, it would break my heart.

I shook the thought from my head and continued to get ready for work. I did what I did every morning. I washed up, dressed in my suit and tie, got my purse and got ready to leave, except...I took a small detour upstairs to say goodbye to my boyfriend before I took off.

"Baby, I'm leaving now, okay? Just hang tight until I come back. I'm gonna need you once I'm done with today, so expect my arrival at around five."

Johnny sat up in the bed and rubbed his eyes some more. "Okay. I love you. Have a good day."

"Oh, I love you too, baby." I kissed his forehead, then his soft lips. "I love you so much. I'll see you later."

"Alright, I guess I'll just practice my mosrite. It's still in the van."

"Bye, John." I waved to him and made my way back downstairs and out the door.

. . .

"Ooh wee, do it one more time for me. Ooh wee, do it one more time for me. Cant stop, stop that girl, there she goes again. I really really love to watch her, watch her headbangin'. Suzy is a headbanger-"

"Ms. Black!" I jerked my head around quick to see my boss staring me down with her arms folded. "You are SUPPOSED to be doing your job. Why are you singing?"

"I-I just, uh...I'm sorry Mrs. Evans, I guess I got a little sidetracked. But I've also been taking alot of phone calls today. In fact, I'm waiting for the next one right now."

"Well can you please not sing while you are working? It's a bad habit. I might reduce your paycheck if I see this again." Her harsh blue eyes suffocated my gaze, and I soon had to look away from her. Instead, I eyed my desk, and all of the messy papers strewn all over them. "Well I'm very sorry, Mrs. Evans. I assure you it will not happen again."

"Hm." She crossed her arms and walked out of my cubicle. I blew a sigh of relief. I was glad she didn't take away some of my paycheck on my first warning...I really needed the money. But I guess I wouldn't need it as much if I moved in with Johnny. Living with him seemed like a dream...my memories kicked in, and I started to go back to when I was sixteen, watching him and the rest of the Ramones play live at CBGB's* (see footnote on bottom of page). I remembered seeing him through the screen and watching him play. He was so young back then in the late seventies...

I daydreamed about living with him in a big house somewhere and making love to him day and night, and drinking champagne with him through expensive wine glasses as he and I were dressed like hippie flower children or something. I daydreamed about us getting married in a beautiful floral ceremony with both our families there... God, me and my imagination could run wild back in my teenage years. And now look at me. I was actually with him. After a dream, came the reality...one that felt somewhat like a dream itself.

A couple of hours later, it was time to go home. I was relieved! John and I had a lot to talk about when I got home. I still didn't know if I wanted to leave my mother here in Baltimore all by herself. But I guess I'd make the final decision once we talked about it.

The ride home was pretty pleasant. The sun set peacefully and it was a beautiful sight to see. I was always called strange in high school, and I guess it's because when most kids were smoking weed and talking about the good ole days at Woodstock, I was staring off into space and gazing off at clouds fly slowly by. I loved nature, that's just how I was. Then again...I think most kids in my school were like that. We were all equally hippies.

Once I got home, I parked my car next to the Ramones tour van, and walked up to my front door. Before I even opened it, I heard loud strumming behind the door...and singing! Was that Johnny? Well, duh, of course it was. What other guy did I have living in my house?

I opened the door and heard the strumming louder...

"Dancin' in the alleyway, waitin' for someone to say, 'Come and dance with me'. And I've gone crazy-"

"John, is that you?"

Startled, he missed a chord on his mosrite and stopped playing. "Oh, hi babe. I uh, didn't hear ya come in."

"I didn't know you could sing."

He turned a bright red. "I wasn't singing."

"Yeah you were, I heard you."

"Maybe it was the TV."

I looked over at the television. Which was not turned on. I chuckled. "The TV's off, John."

"Alright, alright. You caught me." He put his mosrite down next to him. "I haven't told anyone."

"Why not?"

Johnny sighed and walked closer to me. "You know why, Angela. Obviously that would mean I'd have to sing with Joey for some of the backing vocals for our songs, and I'm not gonna do that."

Here we go again..."Alright, look. What the hell is your problem with Joey? Why do you hate him so much?"

He groaned and walked over to the kitchen. "Angie, baby please. Not tonight."

"Well then, when? I wanna know what's going on. I just don't get it."

"Good, let's keep it that way," he said stubbornly.

Damnit, I hated it when he got like this. I swear, I just could not get him to talk about this at all. Well you know what? We were going to, whether he liked it or not. "Okay, listen. How about we sit down? This is important, sweetie."

Johnny pushed his hair back and walked back over to me. And after a minute of deep contemplation from him, he said,"Fine." I took his hand and we both walked to the dining room table. Looks like I was about to become the mediator of one big mess...