Red River Blue
Chapter 74
"It's not so bad out here," Beth said, trying to hide a smile as she watched Harley yanking at the tangled knot of extension cords. "There's more room in the garage and probably better acoustics." Harley shrugged her shoulders and huffed air out through her nose like an angry horse. Harley was in the middle of dragging all the equipment they got from the music store the day before up to their bedroom when River stopped her and told her to take all that fuckin' noisy shit out to the garage. Beth guessed that Harley shared her opinion of the garage being the better place for making music and was just irritated at her mother for scolding her and telling her what to do.
"Wanna play a few songs we already know first?," Harley asked. "Then we can start working on the new one?" Beth nodded. They both got new acoustic guitars. And electric guitars with amps. They grabbed as many music books as they could carry. Plus a whole mess of speakers, microphones, more amps, and even a foot pedal that would change the sound of your voice if you stepped down on it. Beth grabbed a high end keyboard and a stand for it. They were limited on what songs they could play since they both only had guitars and their voices. She wasn't as good at playing piano as she was at playing guitar, but Beth thought the keyboard might give them a little more range.
The girls were in the middle of playing a Tom Waits song they both knew well when Beth looked up and saw one of the men from town was standing in front of the open garage door. Beth felt like maybe he introduced himself to her once before but his name wasn't coming to her. She stopped playing and stared up at the man.
"Tobin," he said. Beth nodded, grateful that the man just reminded her of his name instead of making it awkward. Tobin was holding a beat up bass guitar in one hand and a small amplifier in the other, looking at the girls with a hopeful expression. "I used to play in a rock band on weekends," he explained. "...I don't want to intrude but it's just been so long since I had anyone to make music with."
Beth glanced at Harley, waiting to see what her friend's reaction to the man would be. Harley narrowed her eyes, looking the man over as she considered his proposal. Finally she nodded and ticked her head towards a stack of folding chairs that was leaning up against the wall of the garage. Tobin smiled and moved quickly, grabbing a chair and setting it up between the two girls before the serious looking one could change her mind. He plugged in his amp and tinkered a little with his bass. Then he suggested the girls start over again with the song they were just playing.
Ron was pacing back and forth across his living room, taking occasional breaks to peek out the window. He opened the window the moment he heard the music coming from across the street. At first he only planned to listen. But once he saw Tobin approach the two girls and be invited to join them, Ron started to consider doing the same. He hadn't seen a girl close to his own age since before the turn. And these girls were not only slightly older than him and accomplished walker fighters, which made them seem more intimidating, they were also both very pretty. Which made him even more nervous.
"Why don't you just go over there?," Sam asked, turning from the window to glance at his brother. "They don't have a drummer yet." Ron paused, considering his brother's suggestion. It was the word yet that caught his attention. Ron didn't know if anyone else in town played the drums. But there was certainly a chance that someone did. And if Ron didn't get moving, that person might beat him over there and he would lose his chance. "I'll walk over with you if you're scared," Sam offered.
"I'm not scared," Ron said, quick to defend his honor even though he was actually terrified to approach the girls. "But you can come with me if you want. I'm supposed to be watching you anyway." Sam smiled and leaped up from the couch. He grabbed his older brother and dragged him towards the door before Ron could change his mind.
Harley regretted giving Tobin permission to join them the moment he sat down. But after he started to play along with them, she changed her mind. He was good. Probably better than her and Beth. She decided he could stay. The three of them were poking through the music books, trying to choose a few songs they all liked when Harley heard someone else approaching. It was a teenage boy she hadn't met yet. He had a younger boy with him that looked about Meeka's age. Based on the physical resemblance between them, Harley assumed the younger boy was his brother. The older boy didn't say anything. He just shifted his weight from one foot to the other and stared down at his feet.
Tobin greeted the boys by name and asked them if they needed something. Ron didn't answer. But his younger brother was happy to announce why they were standing in the mouth of the garage.
"My brother played first chair percussion in the high school band," Sam announced proudly. "He has a drum set in our basement." Ron glanced up. The taller girl looked angry. But the girl with the big blue eyes was offering him a smile. His stomach felt like a big bat was flapping around in it. She was even prettier up close. Ron quickly looked back down at his feet. Tobin asked Harley and Beth what they thought, adding his opinion that they really needed a drummer if they wanted to actually play anything. Beth smiled and nodded her approval. With a drummer, they would have a whole band. Which was a lot more than she thought she would have just tinkering with Harley in the garage.
"You can't stay out here," Harley told the younger of the two boys, "...You can go in the kitchen with my mom and Carol." When the boy didn't move immediately to comply, Harley stood up and pointed him towards the door. His brother gave him a shove in that direction, sending Sam into the house. She took a step towards Ron. "Come on," she said, "yer drums aren't doin' us no good down in yer basement."
Tobin laughed as the three young people took off dashing across the street together. He considered following after them and helping to carry the drums over. But they looked like they could manage on their own. And he thought Ron might appreciate time with the two young ladies without an old man like himself tagging along. Tobin did get up, but instead of heading across the street, he tapped lightly on the door Sam just darted through.
Swinging it open a crack, Tobin called inside to announce his presence before he entered the house. He walked inside, pausing at the entrance to the kitchen. Sam was already inside, helping a girl about his age, and another one that looked slightly older, to load roasted nuts into a blender. There was a happy smiling baby strapped into a high chair. She was playing with a couple plastic cups. Three adults were present in the kitchen. A large black man and two women. Tobin recognized one of them as Harley's mother. And the other was Carol. The woman Tobin noticed at the party. Deanna told him the woman wasn't married and had a little girl with her that she had informally adopted. Carol arrived at the party with one of the men from her group. And Tobin had seen the man walking with her in town. He wasn't sure what their relationship was. But Tobin was relieved to see the man wasn't here now. He really did want to play music with the kids in the garage. But he had also been secretly hoping that hanging around her house playing base might offer him an opportunity to speak with Carol. Even if it was just to introduce himself.
"There's coffee," River offered, pointing towards the opposite side of the kitchen. She and Tyrese were sitting at the kitchen table sorting through a large pile of dandelions, putting the leaves in one pile and the yellow blossoms into a bowl. Carol pulled a clean mug down from the cupboard for Tobin and he took it from her with a grateful smile, pouring himself a cup of the hot coffee.
"Tobin," he said, taking a sip of coffee before he offered the woman his hand to shake. Carol hesitated for a moment, smoothing out the front of her shirt before she reached forward and let him take her hand in his. Tobin clasped her hand, holding on long enough to stretch the contact into more than just a casual handshake. He smiled at her, trying not to let his eyes linger over her body. Even in her modest attire, the soft curves of her hips and breasts were visible. He liked the way her hair curled softly around her ears and neck.
River scraped her chair across the floor in her hurry to rise from the table. She crossed the space, inserting herself between Tobin and Carol. River stuck out her hand to the man, shaking his forcefully once she was able to grasp it with her own.
"Hi! I'm River, Carol's sister-in-law," she announced. The confusion showed plainly on Tobin's face.
"Your Merle's sister?," he asked, giving Carol a questioning look. Not that this was an impossible proposition. But the two of them didn't seem to share much family resemblance.
"No. My husband and Carol's boyfriend are brothers," River corrected. "So we aren't technically in-laws yet. But I'm sure it won't be long."
River put her hand on Tobin's shoulder and began steering him towards the door, thanking him for stopping in and telling him he could return his coffee mug later. Once she snapped the door shut behind him, Tyreese exploded with laughter that he had clearly been holding in since River shoved herself right in between Carol and the poor man that was clearly only being just slightly more than polite. It was no secret that River was personally invested in the relationship between her brother in law and her favorite friend. Tyreese enjoyed her antics. She just wanted everyone to be happy, even though her approach was often lacking in decorum.
"That was rude," Carol told her. River wrinkled up her broken nose at Carol.
"He'll get more than rude if Daryl sees him sniffin' around 'ere staring at yer tits," she argued. Tyreese laughed harder. Carol rolled her eyes at him and returned to the task she was working on before Tobin arrived. She doubted the man was even interested in her. He was probably just being polite. And even if he was, she wasn't convinced that Daryl even liked her enough to get jealous.
"Is this a real gun?," Sam asked, pulling the weapon out of a nearby kitchen drawer. Tyreese moved quickly, snatching the loaded weapon out of the boy's hands. He placed the gun up on top of the refrigerator and out of reach. "Can I have a gun?," the boy asked. Carol gave him a skeptical glance.
"What do you need a gun for?"