Chapter 5 #2
After a chorus of goodbyes, we ended the video chat, and I went back to packing, carefully placing my cactus, in the padded box I’d placed her in for added stability, on the table.
I’d cut the lid flaps off so they wouldn’t bump her during the trip and fully intended to buckle her box in the middle seat for the drive back to Seattle.
I’d never had a plant before my prickly Percilla, but Tony had given her to me when I’d still been in the hospital, this tiny, prickly little nob of a cactus that had now grown to over eight inches tall.
Maybe some people would find it weird, but I loved that damned plant and told her so on an almost daily basis.
Each time she grew, I figured that it was her way of telling me she loved me back.
I’d given up on finding a human who’d feel that way about me from the first moment I’d seen my face after the bandages had come off.
So far, I’d been able to keep Stoli, Wolf, Joey, and Pressley from noticing, but I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to keep that up with them working in such proximity and us a day away from moving into Pressley’s spare rooms.
Great, now I was anxious.
Fortunately, Tony showed up as ready as he ever was for a visit to his father’s place, and just like I expected, the stop at my sister’s was brief and filled with hugs.
If nothing else, it put a brief smile back on Tony’s face for the slow drive across town, though it faded the moment we walked up the steps to the front door.
When he lifted his hand to fit the key in the lock, I placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, a reminder that he wasn’t going in there alone.
We found his old man where we usually did at this time of day. Already in his work clothes, in his easy chair in the living room, with the sports channel on the television featuring the upcoming pregame highlights.
“Hey pops,” Tony called out as he stepped into the room with him.
“Hey yourself,” his father replied. “What do you need? I’ve got to get to work soon.”
“I know. Just wanted to come tell you that I was leaving the city and heading up to Seattle permanently. We’ve got a moving truck coming tomorrow, and I don’t know when we’ll be back down here.”
“Seattle, huh? Still chasing that goddamned music, I bet. When are you gonna do like I keep telling you and get a respectable fuckin’ job.
They’re always looking for guys down at the docks, steady work that pays good money too.
Get yourself in the union and you’ll be set for life.
Stop fiddlefarting around with that goddamn guitar.
I never should have bought it for you in the first place. Worst goddamn mistake of my life.”
“Pops, I just landed a gig that will ensure I’m set for life,” Tony explained, desperate to reason with him while I stood there wanting to yank him the hell out of there before his old man could say anything more hurtful than he already had.
“Signed a contract and everything. I’m gonna be the frontman too, that’s the singer. They even paid me a signing bonus.”
“Sing? Boy, I’ve never heard anything that sounded like singing come out of your room!
Just a whole lot of screaming played way too loud.
You’ve truly got shit for brains like your mother, always dreaming and thinking you’re gonna be somebody instead of knuckling down and working hard for what you want.
Fuckin’ singing? What the fuck makes you think you can sing, let alone in front of people who pay their hard-earned money to go to a show?
That’s got to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a lot of dumb shit from you over the years. ”
“And on that note, we’re out of here,” I said, reaching out and snagging Tony’s arm.
I could feel him shaking beneath my fingers, and not once did he resist as I started tugging him towards the door.
“You wanna talk dumb,” I growled. “What you just said to your son, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard and a dick way to treat someone you’re supposed to love.
What the fuck gives you the right to talk to him that way, you fucking asshole?
You’ve got a hell of a lot to learn about being a dad! ”
With that I tugged him the rest of the way out the door, wishing I trusted myself behind the wheel enough to drive us out of there, because I didn’t want us sitting out in front of his old man’s house when he was already bellowing for me to get the fuck out of there.
The last thing we needed was for him to decide to follow us outside and hurl more abuse at him.
In the car, Tony punched the steering wheel and probably would have done it again if I hadn’t grabbed his hand.
“Not worth it, man,” I murmured, keeping my voice low in the hopes that would help him settle his sporadic breathing down.
“So not worth it. You put that shit out of your head right now. Masterson wouldn’t have signed you as the singer if they didn’t believe you could handle it.
Remember what Joey said, he’s gonna work with you and make sure you’re ready by the time we hit the stage.
A guy like that isn’t going to offer to be a mentor if he doesn’t have complete faith in you.
You’re gonna go out there, and you’re going to make that son of a bitch inside the house eat his words, understood? ”
He sucked in a sharp, ragged breath, then a second, slightly less shaky one. By the third inhale, I could feel the tension in his hand lessening, and I slowly began to ease the hold I had on it.
“Yeah,” Tony muttered, finally sticking the key in the ignition. “Understood.”
The engine came to life with a rumble, then we were off and headed away from the bastard who, as far as I was concerned, had no right to call himself a parent.
“Let’s grab a bottle of something and some food on the way home, kick back, and play some Twisted Metal before we crash, if we crash,” I said.
“We might be hungover, bleary-eyed messes by the time Pressley comes to load us up, but you deserve a chance to unwind after that bullshit, and I know you, you won’t sleep with his words tumbling through your head. ”
“I wish I could hate him,” Tony muttered, in a voice that just sounded defeated. “It would be easier if I could just hate him.”
“I know, buddy. Since you can’t, I’ll spring for tequila and subs tonight. I’ll even throw in a sundae with all the brownie bits you can eat.”
“You sure?”
“Hundred percent positive. My treat. You get as many scoops as you want on it.”
He flashed me the ghost of a smile as we pulled up to a stoplight and nodded. “Thanks for getting me out of there and for believing I can handle being the singer for the band.”
“Anytime, you know that. I’ll always have your back, the same way you have mine.”
“Always, brutha,” he said, heaving one last heavy breath and perking up a bit as traffic got moving. “Always.”