Chapter 14
Being on the roof of the Hyatt House in LA feels nostalgic, even if he was only here a few months ago. Only last time, Gene was here with the Dusty Brooms. Now, he’s here with his girlfriend. Girlfriend. Calling her that still sounds strange to him.
He’s sitting in a lounge chair on a night just like the night he met her—moon in the sky, glistening over the water in the pool in front of him, potted palm trees scattered everywhere between the chairs and along the fencing.
There’s always so many people up here, but it makes sense.
This is California. Any one of these people could be a rockstar, a movie star, a model, or a celebrity.
However, the only people he actually knows are Toshiko, her manager Yasuhiro, and a man that Gene had met the first day he got here.
That man is Toshiko’s American publicist, working alongside Yasuhiro to get her name out and about in this country.
His name is Pete… Thomas? Thompson? Townshend?
No, it can’t be Townshend. That’s the guy from the Who.
Must be one of the others. Either way, he’s sitting with them all up here on the roof, and thankfully has been Gene’s main source of weed and, for the first time, acid.
On one of the days earlier on this trip, Gene had called his parents.
He’d thought about calling Ray and the Brooms instead, but figured maybe he’d wait a little longer, that way Ray would have more info to update him with concerning the album and tour.
Even if Gene plans to visit Japan after he’s done here in Cali, it should still all work within their schedule as long as he doesn’t stay there longer than a week.
When Gene called his parents’ house, his mother picked up, as usual.
His father rarely ever picks up, seeing as most of the time he’s either at work, at some sort of meeting, or simply too tired to talk over the phone.
Gene told his mother where he was, and how he finally, after all these years, has a girlfriend.
“And she’s Japanese too?” his mother said over the phone. “Can you even understand each other?”
“Yes, very easily. She’s fluent in English, so there’s no problem talking,” Gene said, sitting on the bed in his hotel room. Toshiko was elsewhere with Yasuhiro that day, taking more publicity photos. “But I think it’d be cool if I could learn Japanese, myself.”
“Why of course! I mean, if you two stick together…” She gasped. “Oh my goodness, my grandchildren would be half-Japanese! They’d certainly want to know how to speak the native language of their mother, and then you as well—”
“Mom! Please!” Gene laughed. “I just started dating her earlier this month, and here you are already talking about grandchildren?”
“Well, I assume she must be pretty special if you made it official. You’ve waited until you were twenty-two years old, and she’s your first. So I assumed she must be someone important to you.”
“I mean… yeah, I guess.” Gene shrugged, grabbing the phone cord with his free hand. “Though, I don’t want to think of kids at the moment. With how I’m with the Dusty Brooms, and we’re starting to tour a lot, I don’t think I could handle having kids on top of it…”
He heard his mother tsk over the phone. “I suppose so. You always loved your music. Well, it’s simply something to think about. Alright, dear?”
“Alright.” Gene nodded, despite his mother not being able to see.
Almost every time he talks to her, she mentions something about either him finding a girl or having grandkids.
But now that he does have a girlfriend, he knows it’s only going to get worse with her pestering him about grandkids.
Gene is an only child, so it’s not like he has any siblings that could have their own kids.
No, if his mother wants grandchildren, the duty is all on Gene.
He never gave much thought into how he personally would feel about it, but figured it was more just something one does in life: get married, have kids, have grandkids.
But that prospect, however, gives Gene chills.
As he sits next to Toshiko on the rooftop of the Hyatt House days after that phone call with his mother, moonlight making the glitter on Toshiko’s dress shine, palm trees surrounding them, he ponders a possible future.
What would it be like if he married Toshiko?
While he likes her a lot, enough to make her his girlfriend, thinking about being locked into a commitment like that…
It terrifies him.
Maybe he only thinks that because he hasn’t known her for long enough, and if they’d been together for, say, a year, he’d feel differently.
But he wonders what his life would look like if he were to marry her—would they still be touring, apart for months at a time, only living together during breaks?
How would having kids work out like that?
Furthermore, would marrying her grant her US citizenship?
It gives him a headache, worrying about this sort of thing.
He takes a drag of his cigarette, blowing the smoke toward the pool, the warm breeze carrying it over.
If he were to marry anyone, he’d want it to be someone he can share his whole life with, obviously. That’s the whole point of marriage, isn’t it? Someone who understands him on a deep level, who loves music as much as him, who’d be with him every step of the way, writing songs and performing them…
Of course, his mind drifts to Ray.
Sometimes he feels like he’s already married to Ray.
Their songwriting partnership is basically just like a marriage, working together through thick and thin, having chemistry, feeling the other’s groove.
They even have a name for themselves now: ‘The Flare Twins’.
And that’s not even touching their friendship in general, or… whatever else it is between them.
Oh god, how I miss him.
He and Toshiko aren’t busy doing anything other than sitting up here with Yasuhiro and Pete, are they? They’re simply chatting, not doing anything in particular. He waits for her to finish laughing at whatever Yasuhiro said; Gene wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation anyway.
“Hey, Toshiko?”
“Hmm?” She turns her head toward him, her black bobbed hair swishing over her ears.
“I’m gonna retire to the room, if you don’t mind.” Gene smiles. “I realized I haven’t called the Brooms this whole week I’ve been here. I need to; they gotta update me on how our album’s coming along.”
“Oh yes, definitely.” Toshiko nods. “Go right ahead.”
“Alright. If you’ll excuse me, dear.”
He stubs out his cigarette in the ashtray on the little table between Toshiko and Yasuhiro, then heads over to the staircase, walking down a couple flights until he’s back on his floor.
Once inside the room, he shuts the door, kicks off his boots, and sits on the bed he shares with Toshiko, grabbing the phone from the nightstand and dialing the number back home.
It’s about ten o’ clock at night here in LA—meaning it’d be around one in the morning in Michigan—but the Brooms are always up at odd hours.
Someone is bound to pick up. Thankfully, someone does after a few rings.
“Hello…?”
“Hey, Santi! It’s Gene.”
“Gene! Oh my god, it’s about time you called,” Santiago chuckles on the other side of the line. “You realize what time it is over here? Scared me half to death hearing the phone ring.”
“Well, at least you were up to answer, right?” Gene chuckles as well. “Is Ray awake?”
“He just went into his room, so I doubt he fell asleep already. I can go grab him, if you want.”
“Yeah, please, if you could.”
“Alright. Hang on.”
Gene can hear the phone being set down on the counter while Santi scurries away.
It’s only for a few minutes, yet Gene’s heart rate ramps up as he waits for the man he wants to talk to.
He glances at the door. While it shouldn’t matter if Toshiko were to enter, he’d rather her not overhear.
Sure, he probably wouldn’t say anything to Ray over the phone that would make her suspicious, but he’d have more peace of mind knowing he’s alone in the room.
In no time at all, Ray picks up.
“Hey, Gene?”
“Hey Ray.” Gene smiles, even if Ray can’t see him. “How’s it going?”
“I thought I was gonna get ready for bed, but I guess not yet.” Ray chuckles.
“Is Carol there?”
“No, she’s staying overnight in New York for a modeling gig, actually.”
“Ah, alright. Santi still nearby?”
“Nah, once he grabbed me out of the room, he stayed upstairs. How about Toshiko? Where’s she?”
“She’s up on the roof. I’m calling from our hotel room, here.” With Carol not there, and Toshiko out of the room, despite them being miles apart, it feels more… intimate, in a way, on the phone like this. Gene appreciates that.
“Okay. You been having fun in LA?”
“Yeah, it’s been good. I had my first acid trip a few days ago.”
“What, really?” Ray laughs, the sound soothing Gene’s chest, giving him butterflies. “How was that? Where was that?”
“You know the club, the Whisky a Go Go? It was there. Had a blast, though I could barely tell what was going on around me.”
“That sounds fun. As long as you didn’t get into trouble, y’know.”
“I was fiiiine.” Gene lets out a small laugh. “No one got hurt, and I made it back to the hotel in one piece. But anyway, I really wanted to ask—how is the album coming along? Do you know when it’ll be done?”
“Just about done, actually. Looking for a release in mid-September if all goes well, like around the sixteenth or seventeenth. Then we’ll tour a week or so after that. Dennis is getting it all booked. You will be back home in time for that, right? You’ve already been gone for a week.”
“I know.” Gene pouts, grabbing the phone cord with his free hand. “But that should work out. Today’s the twenty-first of August, so that gives me plenty of time. Because, um, actually, Ray, I gotta tell you…”
“Tell me what?” His tone sounds concerned, not accusatory.
“I’m planning to visit Japan with Toshiko.”
“Japan?!” Ray huffs. “Sorry, dangit, I hope I wasn’t too loud. But really? You’re going over there?”
“Yeah.” Gene swallows. “But it’ll only be for a week. I promise I’ll be back before the album releases.”
“You sure?” Ray asks, worry in his voice. “What if something bad happens? Flying across the ocean is pretty scary. Flying in general is scary. You know what happened to Buddy Holly, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course, I know. But I’ll be fine!
I flew to California and made it here alive.
Planes have gotten a lot safer since back then.
” He chuckles. It warms his heart to hear Ray so concerned for his safety.
“Carol takes a plane every time she has one of her modeling gigs out of state, doesn’t she? Do you get as worried for her?”
Ray grumbles. Got him. “Well, yeah. I guess so. But… well, y’know I just… I just miss you, Gene. I want to know you’ll be back home safe and sound and on time.”
Butterflies flutter in Gene’s chest at those words. “I will be back, Ray. I promise.” He looks up toward the door again, making sure he’s still alone in the room. “I miss you too, baby.”
Ray hums, low and warm. “Well, I should probably be getting to bed, like I originally planned. It’s pretty late here.”
“Yeah. Sorry for calling at such a bad time.”
“It’s fine. Even if I was asleep, I’d wake up just to talk to you.”
Gene smiles. “I suppose I’d do the same.
But alright, yeah. I’ll let you get to sleep.
And I’ll be back sometime early next month before the album releases, don’t you worry.
I’ll only be in Japan for a week, but Toshiko is going to stay for longer since she’s gonna be touring the country for her own new album. ”
“Oh, really?” Ray’s voice perks up. “Would she be coming back to America once that’s done?”
“Yeah. She didn’t really want to be in Japan for that long in the first place, but her manager is kinda making her do it. She’ll be back once that’s done.”
Ray huffs, sounding a bit… disappointed. “Well, alright.”
“We’ll have our own time together, though, right?” Gene twirls the phone cord around his finger. “We’ll write more songs. And then we’ll be touring with the Brooms.”
“Yeah. We will.” It’s as if he can hear Ray smiling over the phone. “I really should be going to bed, though. I’ll see you then, okay?”
“Okay.” He looks up at the door again. Still alone. “G’night, Ray.”
“G’night, Gene.”
They hang up, Gene’s chest still warm with delight.
Saying goodnight to Ray used to be something he’d do every night, back when they were still living in Grand Rapids, sharing a bedroom.
It reminds him of that first night they cuddled together in the same bed, holding Ray so close, ruffling his curly hair, comforting him.
Then the nights after that, few and far between, when they cuddled as well—he wishes Ray weren’t so far away, and was here sitting on the bed with him.
Gene grasps the sheet underneath him, feeling the soft fabric glide over his fingers.
Cuddling, kissing, touching, fucking—oh, how he wishes he could do more with Ray.
He’s done all that with Toshiko, of course, but not so much since they’ve arrived here in California.
No, he’s been feeling off. Maybe it’s because he’s away from home, nerves poking and prodding him, excited about the Brooms’ new album and wishing he were just out on the road already.
The Brooms haven’t done a live show in almost two months now.
Yeah, that has to be it. I just want to perform again.