Chapter 7 Way Back When #2
Over the next few days, they threw themselves into settling in, with multiple trips to Target and Goodwill to fill in the blanks of their household items. This was the first time either of them had cohabitated with a girlfriend, so every choice they made as a couple was a milestone to celebrate, from the color of the lampshades to whether they got a bottle of Hunt’s or Heinz.
They stacked their white dinner plates in the kitchen’s glass-doored cabinets with robin’s-egg-blue trim and found a secondhand oak kitchen table and ladderback chairs so they could host up to eight people if everyone sat a little sideways.
The wood-paneled parlor quickly filled up with shelves featuring their stereo system and extensive merged record and CD collections.
They brightened up the square, sea-foam green living room with fairy lights and framed posters from some of their favorite gigs, and a print of Picasso’s “Dove of Peace”—the artwork that had inspired Paloma’s name—dominated the bedroom wall.
Jace was thrilled to see the place come together, knowing that soon she’d come home from work to find Paloma sitting on their couch in their living room, and after a show, they could tumble into their bed.
And bonus: They were about to show off their newfound domesticity to their friends at their first-ever Fourth of July barbecue.
Jace sent out the email invite since she had better spelling, and Paloma called the invitees a couple of days out to get a head count and confirm who could bring a charcoal grill, a couple of large coolers, and folding tables and chairs that they could wedge into their postage stamp of a backyard.
Paloma had started to teach herself some simple recipes and could make a decent batch of chocolate chip cookies from scratch, and their guests brought plenty to share, too.
Sabine provided cases of beer and pop, and Mo settled herself behind the grill with a Kiss the Cook chef’s apron and handled the burgers and brats. Even the vegetarians ate well.
Over the course of the afternoon and evening, they had about thirty guests, a mix of members of Dunkman and the Queenlords and the Rousers and more.
Paloma was in her element, leading impromptu house tours wearing a cardboard stars and stripes top hat then holding court in the backyard as she caught up on the latest band gossip.
Jace socialized with folks as they waited for their hot dogs then reverted to staying on the periphery, tidying up, and making sure everyone was having a good time, which was how she had a good time at a party.
As Jace started on the dishes, she looked around the kitchen, imagining the renovations she’d like to do: put in a stainless double sink to replace the chipped porcelain; remove the wooden cabinets sticky from grease and too many coats of paint in favor of something sleek and modern.
She was so engrossed in her imaginary kitchen redo that she jumped when Sabine tapped her on the shoulder.
Sabine giggled. “Ope! Sorry to startle you.”
Jace looked up from the sink, taking in her friend’s red-and-white, candy-striped sundress and wide-brimmed navy picture hat. “You look patriotic.”
“Thank you. You look…anti-monarchy,” Sabine said, looking at Jace’s Sex Pistols T-shirt with “God Save the Queen” sprawled across it.
“It was all I had in red, white, and blue,” Jace said, immersing a pan into the sink full of suds.
Sabine spread her arms wide. “This place is so cute! Are you loving it or what?”
Jace nodded as she scrubbed. “Yeah, it’s great to be together in the city, and Paloma doesn’t have to trip over a roommate’s empty beer bottles anymore.”
“It’s about time you moved out of that sardine can in Hamtramck, too, my dear,” Sabine said, picking up a dish towel. “How’s cohabitating going?”
Jace’s first impulse was to keep her answer light and vague, but she really needed some advice. “We weren’t here even one day before Paloma talked about getting a dog.”
“Oh, wow,” Sabine said with a small laugh.
“Then she asked if I wanted to have a baby with her,” she added, rinsing the pan and handing it off to Sabine.
Sabine’s mouth fell open. “Double wow. What did you say?”
“That we’d talk about it later.”
“And has ‘later’ happened yet?”
“No. She hasn’t brought it up again, and I sure as hell don’t intend to.”
Sabine set the pan down and frowned at her friend. “Oh my God, Jace, you’re impossible.”
“What do you mean? She’s the one springing all this on me before we even unpacked a box.”
“What I mean is, this is great news! Paloma is envisioning your future together. She’s mapping out the next phase of her adult life and wants you to be a part of it. You’ve got to talk to her about it.”
“I know,” Jace said, drying her hands. “Thing is, she also said something about maybe not being in the music business forever, and that spooked me. I’ve spent months setting up a string of gigs up and down the West Coast, and there’s a promoter from Seattle who just emailed me about going there in October.
Should I even be doing all this if she doesn’t want to go the distance? ”
Sabine’s finely etched eyebrows went up. “Don’t ask me. Ask your girlfriend.”
Jace was so invested in creating a perfect comeback, she jumped when Colin came in from the back door, looking for a lighter.
After he left, lighter in hand, Sabine said, “I hope to God he’s just lighting up a joint.
You can still see the scorch mark on the left corner of the Artemis marquee from his last experiment with fireworks. ”
Jace sighed as she tossed some silverware into the suds. “Look, I’ve never dated anyone for more than a few weeks, much less fallen in love before. I’m terrified that if we don’t agree on big stuff like this, it’ll all be over.”
“Yeah, that could happen. But isn’t it better to know that sooner rather than later so you can move on if you have to?”
Jace focused on shining every tine of a dinner fork so she wouldn’t have to look Sabine in the eye. “Actually, I’d rather not know. At least not now. Not yet.”
Sabine looked toward the ceiling with an ugh!
“Jace, do you hear yourself? You are the best person I know when it comes to getting things done. No matter how puny the budget or ridiculous the request, you plan and you follow through, and it turns out great. But what’s your plan for your own life, apart from work? ”
“Hey, you are the last person to talk to me about a life apart from work, Miss Galanis. You practically sleep under your desk.”
“Well, maybe I’m speaking from bitter experience, then,” Sabine said, rising to her full height. “I made all the mistakes so you don’t have to.”
Jace leaned against the island in the middle of the kitchen and wearily folded her arms. “From the time we were little, my sister knew she wanted to have children. By now, she’s no longer interested in getting married, but she has not given up on being a mother, and she’s trying to find an adoption agency that’ll work with single parents.
But me? I’ve never had that innate desire.
I like kids, but being a parent is something I’ve never considered, especially now that I’m working in the music world. ”
Sabine stood across from her, her eyes level with Jace’s. “Well, if she’s asking about babies, it sounds like Paloma is considering it. What are you going to do?”
Jace wilted. “I need to talk to her.”
“Yes, you do.” Sabine put her towel on the counter then hugged her friend.
“I gotta go. We’ve got a double bill tonight, and Clem will crumble into dust if I don’t get back soon.
Thank you for hosting a great party, sweetie.
” She took Jace’s hands in hers and took a step back, like she was sizing her up. “So you’re in love with Paloma?”
“Yes,” she said without a doubt in her mind.
“She’s a talented gal, but from what you’ve told me, she has a big, gnawing hole in her self-esteem. Just make sure she doesn’t drag you down when she starts doubting herself. You’re her girlfriend and her manager, not her fairy godmother. Keep some wishes for yourself, okay?”
“Of course,” Jace replied with certainty, knowing that her biggest wish was to make Paloma successful and happy.
Sabine left through the front door, and Jace returned to the backyard. As she fished for a beer in a cooler half full of icy water, Paloma waved her over to join the group, which was in the midst of trading war stories from performances past.
“Babe, help me out,” Paloma asked. “What was that guy’s name who owned that bar in Chicago where we played after that show at Northwestern?”
“Vonn?” Jace said as she popped the cap off a Labatt’s.
Paloma squealed with laughter. “Yes, Vonn! Oh my God, he was a wreck! When we got there for sound check, he told us we had to wait for him to sweep the rat shit off the stage first. Mary almost threw up.”
Jace shuddered for theatrical effect as she sat down. “I was jumpy the whole night. I thought rats were going to overrun the place.”
“They wouldn’t have been able to squeeze in there,” Paloma explained to the folks sitting around them. “The whole bar could fit in this yard, and it was packed.”
“Beyond ‘packed.’ It was illegal.” Jace took a gulp of her beer as she adjusted to being the center of attention for once.
“When Paloma had gotten some radio airplay, ticket sales went through the roof. Vonn lost track of how many he sold, though, so the patrons stood asses to elbows right up to the lip of the stage. Not a square inch of visible floor space; you’d have to crowd surf to get to the bathroom. And then the fire marshal showed up.”
To Jace’s pleasant surprise, the group reacted with hoots and groans.
Paloma picked up the storyline. “I’m in the middle of singing a number, and this guy in a fireman’s helmet with a bullhorn appears at the back of the house.
For a second, I thought it was Vonn, since it wasn’t that long after Halloween.
Then there’s a brain-melting squawk from the bullhorn, and at full volume, the guy yells, ‘This event is officially over, by order of the Fire Marshal. Everyone must leave now.’ ” Paloma looked gleefully at Jace. “And did they?”
“Of course they didn’t,” Jace said, jumping back in.
“The crowd started chanting, ‘Fuck you, Fire Marshal!’ and ‘FU, FD!’ and descended on the guy. He got spooked and hightailed it out of the bar, and everybody cheered until they heard the sirens go off outside. Turns out the Fire Marshal had called his buddies from the police department for backup. They’d surrounded the building and were planning to ticket every last person in the venue. ”
“Then it became full-on chaos!” Paloma interjected. “People were running for the exits. Some guys grabbed liquor bottles off the bar before they took off!”
“Then I see that Paloma had gotten trapped behind a bank of speakers,” Jace said, shaping the scene with her hands. “I’m practically swimming toward her, elbowing through the crowd until I could grab her and make for the exit.”
“Which was blocked by the biggest cop I’ve ever seen!” Paloma exclaimed.
“There I was, calmly telling him we had nothing to do with the riot or the overcrowding, while Paloma had her hands up and was babbling, ‘Please, officer! You’ve got to save my guitar!’ And damned if he didn’t go inside and bring it out to her, handing it to her like it was a lost puppy.”
Their friends guffawed, and Jace took Paloma’s hand and kissed it. Paloma gazed at her with so much affection and a dash of lust, Jace could swear her eyes were throwing off sparks. Jace was happier than she’d ever felt, and surer than she’d ever been.
This is who I’m going to spend the rest of my life with, she thought.
Things will work themselves out on their own, I know it.