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Driftwood
Everything is open
Everywhere there's trouble
You're driftwood floating underwater
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“Are you sure that going to a grocery store is such a good idea?” I asked from the back row of the van. “I mean, the city knows we’re here...”
“That is why we aren’t going to a store in Mobile,” Ashley explained as the driver pulled the van onto the freeway heading north. “We’re going to a store in a town called Monroeville... It’s about an hour from here... And, they agreed to let us come in after hours, just to eliminate the possibility of scream squad infiltration.”
Oh man, the scream squad seemed to be everywhere this tour. I mean, we would try to sneak into theaters and they would already be filled to capacity with teenage girls. We had tried to go to Haight Street when we were in San Francisco and had almost caused a riot. We had to be so careful. “So, we’re just going to go and get what?” I asked. “Hurricane repellent?”
“No, we’re going to get food and batteries and candles and...” Ashley said from the front seat.
“You know, the essentials... Beer, condoms, rolling papers...” Taylor said cutting off Ashley. Even Ashley wasn’t safe from the interruption game.
“Ha ha.” Ashley said from the front seat. Seriously, of late, he has had no sense of humor. He used to be fun and funny, but then Walker had stayed in Tulsa and all the fun and joy seemed to have been sucked right out of him.
“Come on, Ashley...” Taylor began in stoned surfer voice. “You know we absolutely have to party. We live to party...”
“Shut up!! We get the point...” Isaac said a note of impatience in his voice. “Can’t we all just be quiet.”
“Ike, calm down.” Zac said from where his head rested in my lap. As soon as the van had started moving, his head had dropped into my lap. Ike turned to look at him and shot him the nastiest look when he noticed me smoothing back his hair. Zac was looking up at me, slowly twirling a lock of my hair through his fingers.
“Zac, bite me.” Isaac said turning back around.
“What’s up with you?” Taylor asked turning toward Isaac. “I mean, what is your main problem?”
“I don’t have a “main” problem...” Ike said in as nasty a voice as I’ve heard him use. “I have a general overall problem and really the solution is for you to all just shut up...”
“Ike, come on...” Taylor began.
“Really Tay, just shut up. You are just about the last person I want to hear from right now.”
“Isaac...” I said almost sure that I was why he was so angry.
“Bingo!!” Isaac yelled. “We have now heard from the very last person I want to hear from.”
“Ike, be nice.” Zac said quietly. “Just be nice...”
“Shut up Zac.” Isaac said without the venom he had just spewed at Taylor and I. “Let’s just all be quiet...”
“Fine...” Zac said crossing his arms across his chest.
“Fine by me.” Taylor said turning away from Isaac watching the dark world streak by.
“Good.” Ike said leaning his head back and rubbing his temples. I wanted to lean forward and rub his shoulders, but at this point in time I was pretty sure I was the last person he wanted touching him. In the half light, I could see Taylors profile as he watched the scenery fly by. His arm was hanging down over the back of the bench seat. I wanted to reach out and lightly run my fingers over the blonde hair on his arm, but I didn’t. I just leaned my head back and reached for Zac’s hand. We quickly laced our fingers together, as he continued to twirl my hair. We both sighed at the same time. When we’re on the road, there is this phenomena that just can’t be explained; whenever we get into a moving vehicle, we all fall asleep. I could have just woken up from a long nap, but once I climbed into a car, I was out. So, it didn’t take very long for Zac’s breathing to slow and then even out. And I could hear the soft sighing sounds Isaac makes when he’s asleep, but Taylor... I could tell he was still awake. I was, as well, but just barely.
I was jolted awake an indeterminate time later. I sat in the almost silent van with my eyes closed and listened to the sound of the road. I could hear Ashley grinding his teeth (a sure indicator he is asleep), Isaac was sighing softy in his sleep, Zac, at some time, had burrowed himself into my thigh and was snoring lightly and Taylor... I couldn’t hear Taylor’s deep, even breathing and almost silent mumbling (yes, he talks in his sleep), he was still awake. I opened my eyes the barest slit and saw he was intently studying me, his hand tentatively reaching towards me. His bluest eyes were searching my blank face for something. His fingers brushed against my knee. I opened my eyes wide. He smiled a sweet half smile and reached across the seat to run his fingers down my cheek. He again dropped his hand to my knee. “Cleo, you are truly the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.” He whispered.
“No, I’m not. I usually don’t look like this, the makeup is an illusion.” I said taking his hand in mine, my voice barely above a whisper. “And besides, you’ve met Cindy Crawford.”
“Aww, she’s beautiful, but you...” Taylor said quietly. “You are what I dream about...”
“Ick! I don’t want to know about your dreams...” I said jokingly. Actually, because of how much he talks in his sleep, we all pretty much know what he dreams about. One night he replayed almost the entire set list of that evenings concert before Zac threw a pillow at him and woke him up. On the bus, sleeping in a bunk was reserved for when you are really, really tired or just sick of everyone. Really, after sleeping on a bunk, I have a true fear of being buried alive.
“Oh, but don’t you want to hear how you starred in my dreams last night?” Taylor said arching his eyebrow at me. “You were naked and wet and crying out with passion...”
“Uh, that was yesterday morning...” I said smiling, but still a little miffed about the whole ice water in the bed incident. Wow, was that only yesterday morning. So much had happened in the last 40 hours, it felt like a whole week had passed. “And those screams weren’t of passion but of anger...”
“My God,” Isaac said his hands over his eyes. “Taylor, don’t you ever shut up for longer than 5 minutes at a time?”
“Yes, actually, you have been asleep for about 45 minutes and I was quiet that whole time.” Taylor said.
“Hmmm... And here I was sleeping and missed it all.” Isaac said stretching.
“Ike, I was wondering....” I began.
“Are you talking?” Isaac said cutting me off so completely that I couldn’t even remember what I was going to ask him.
“Isaac...” I began again.
“Shh, listen there it is again...” Isaac said cupping his hand around his ear.
“Isaac, be nice.” Taylor said shaking his head in what appeared to be disgust, but then again, it was dark. He could be laughing at me.
“Oh, I heard it again.” Isaac said leaning forward. “Ashley, we seriously have to look into fumigating this van. It’s infested with vermin.”
“Oh, for the love of Pete! Isaac, shut up.” Zac said from my lap. He had somehow managed to work his way under my skirt. I could feel his breath warm against my thigh through my tights. “You three have got to be the most annoying trio in captivity and I’m stuck with you...”
“Welcome back, Zac.” I said as he freed himself from my clothing. He sat up and smiled at me.
“Man Cleo, you smell good all over.” Zac whispered directly into my ear as the van turned into the parking lot of a Piggly Wiggly.
After the driver pulled into a parking place, we all piled out of the van. I was the last person to start climbing out, but before I could put a foot on the ground. Zac had picked me up and put me in a waiting cart with my legs splayed out in a very unladylike manner. I tried to pull myself up, but it was next to impossible for me to move very much. “Zac, stop! Get me out of this cart!” I yelled as he sped through the parking lot and through the front doors. This was going to be incredibly bad.
“Aren’t you enjoying the ride?” Zac yelled back as he got me rolling incredibly fast then jumped on.
“No!” I yelled as a display of canned fruit got closer and closer. I put both my arms over my head just as the cart impacted with the huge and intricate display. The cart tipped over and the entire pyramid of canned fruit came cascading down on me. “Ouch! That hurts. Man, when I agreed to go on tour with you, I didn’t realize it entailed putting up with this type of abuse.” I said rubbing my legs. I was going to have huge bruises up and down my legs and arms tomorrow and most likely on my back. That had really, really hurt.
“Cleo, what in the hell are you doing?” Ashley snapped at me as he came around the corner.
“What?” I asked as I gingerly pulled my battered and bruised body off the floor. Zac had fallen backwards, so he had missed being pelted by the cans. “What, you’re blaming me for this?”
“You shouldn’t have let it get this far...” Ashley said.
“How was I supposed to stop this?” I asked shrugging my shoulder. Actually, it felt like my wrist could possibly be broken, but really, I didn’t think this was the time to bring it up. “Didn’t you hear me telling Zac to stop?”
“He may have stopped if he respected you in any way...” Ashley said in a really nasty voice.
“Ash, it’s not her fault, it’s my fault.” Zac said reaching down and lifting the cart up off the floor. “I should have known something like this could happen.”
“Oh man,” a man in a Piggly Wiggly shirt said as he came around the corner. “What happened? Is everyone okay?”
“Yeah,” Zac said ducking his head. “I’m sorry, I lost control of the cart and hit your display...”
“Oh, that’s alright.” Roy (as his name tag proclaimed) said shaking his head. “This display was coming down tonight anyway... That’s why we can let you shop after hours, we’re doing some major changes to the end caps. Get ready for back to school and all... We’ll just have to pick the cans up off the floor. Are you sure you’re alright?” Roy said to me pointing to my leg. “You’re bleeding pretty badly...”
I looked down at my left knee and sure enough there was a hole in my tights and blood was running down my leg. “Oh man! These were my favorite tights.”
“Sorry...” Zac said shrugging his shoulders. We started off towards Isaac and Taylor at the other end of the store (I was actually limping and my left wrist hurt, I seriously wondered if it were indeed broken). Taylor was standing shifting from foot to foot. Isaac was leaning against a dog food display his shoulders slumped and his head hanging down. As we approached, he lifted his head and looked at us. He looked so sad. “Hey guys!! Let’s go shopping....” Zac said almost running into Taylor with the cart.
“Not with you pushing the cart...” Taylor said as I walked up to them. “Oh Cleo, you’re bleeding...”
“Yeah, it’s alright, it doesn’t hurt much.” I lied, my knee and my wrist were killing me.
“Too bad...” Ike said under his breath.
“What did you say?” Zac and Taylor said at the same time. I didn’t need to ask, I heard him the first time.
“I said, it’s doesn’t look too bad.” Isaac said shooting me a look of death. “I’ll push the cart.”
“No, I’ll push the cart.” Taylor said pushing Zac out of the way. After a heated discussion, it was decided I would push the cart (I did have the best driving record and I was voted the least likely to go too fast and knock over another display). As we wandered from aisle to aisle, each item picked started a new and heated discussion as to which brand was preferable. So, halfway through the store, I had three different types of potato chips (barbecue for Isaac, cheddar and sour cream for Taylor and salt and vinegar for Zac), three different types of cold cereal (Crackling Oat Bran for Isaac, Captain Crunch with Crunchberries for Taylor and Lucky Charms for Zac), a large representation of the different types of Jell-O's and puddings in those little tubs, several of each type of yogurt, about 10 pounds of apples and oranges, enough bananas for a small army of monkeys, and three of each different type of Lunchable (don’t even ask me what they were cause they all looked disgusting to me). The cart was pretty much filled with finger foods.
I had managed to tune out the guys almost completely when we came around a corner and there before us was the toy display. And right in the middle hung light sabers. “Cool! Light sabers!” Zac called out as he grabbed one. He began swinging it about wildly. “Can I get this?”
“I don’t care.” I said as Taylor grabbed one as well. Both Taylor and Zac had looks of childlike glee on their faces as they began a light saber duel in aisle F of the Monroeville Piggly Wiggly. Isaac had continued on and was by now out of sight. I began to push the cart in his direction. When I was suddenly pelted from behind with a projectile. I looked down to see a Nerf disk at my feet. I turned as both Zac and Tay shot at me again. “Hey! Stop that.”
“The target speaks.” Zac said raising his eyebrow. “She is aware of our presence.”
“Yes, we must proceed with caution.” Taylor said dropping into a crouch and snapping off another round at me. I just sighed and continued down the aisle. My wrist and knee hurt, but it was actually Isaac’s complete refusal to talk to me that was making me very sad. As I maneuvered the cart onto the next aisle I saw Isaac round the corner towards the next aisle. I sighed again. Today had been such a long and confusing day. I just wanted to go back to the hotel and climb into my bed. I wanted to sleep. “Maybe tomorrow will be a better day,” I said out loud as I grabbed a couple of bottles of Advil and Excedrin. Zac had been taking Advil like crazy the last couple of days and Isaac always needed Excedrin. As I was picking up a couple more toothbrushes (blue for Isaac, green for Zac and red for Taylor), I was pelted from behind with more Nerf missiles. I turned to see both Tay and Zac crouching behind displays their missile launchers pointed at me. “You guys, knock it off.”
Taylor and Zac exchanged looks. This was about to become a situation, I could tell. They both jumped up and began running towards me. I ditched the cart and began to run through the store. Usually, I could outrun both of them no problem, but I had basically been hobbled. So, Zac was the first one to catch me. He brought me down with a diving tackle, knocking the wind right out of me, the pain in my wrist shooting up to my elbow. If it wasn’t broken before, it probably was now. He pinned me down onto the ground and put his hand out. “Tay, give me the truth serum.” Zac had this look of pure happiness on his face. He was trying desperately not to laugh in my face.
“Check boss.” Taylor said reaching around and pulling something out of his back pocket. He placed a can of something in Zac’s hand. Oh Lord, it was a can of Reddi Whip. “One can of instant truth serum.”
“What are you going to do with that?” I asked struggling under Zac. His face was mere inches from mine, since he was leaning forward pinning both my hands down above my head. Man, my wrist was hurting. “Zac? What are you doing?”
“Cleo,” Taylor said in a mock serious voice, pacing back and forth above my head. I had a straight shot directly up his nostrils. “It has come to both mine and my esteemed colleagues attention that you have not been entirely truthful with us of late...”
“Yes,” Zac said vigorously shaking the can of Reddi Whip. “We have noticed you have taken to clandestine meetings with strange men, subterfuge, treason...”
“What are you talking about?” I said as he popped the cap off of the whipped cream. This was going to end up getting very, very messy.
“Cleophus January Burton, you have been brought here before this tribunal to testify about your dealings with the brothers Hanson...” Taylor began. I finally managed to work my right hand free and was desperately pushing on Zac.
“Tay, a little help here...” Zac said as Taylor knelt with his knees on either side of my head. This was so unlike Taylor, it should be Isaac helping Zac to torture me. Taylor grabbed hold of both my arms and pinned them down. Zac held the can of Reddi Whip above my face. “In short, we want to know, who do you love?”
“What?” I asked. I could feel my eyes getting bigger. At this point any answer would be wrong, I was definitely going to get doused in whipped cream.
“Cleo, it’s a simple question, with an even simpler answer...” Taylor said, laughter just under the surface. “Who do you love?”
“What a stupid question...” I said pulling against Taylor with all my might.
“UNNNH!! Wrong answer...” With that, Zac pressed on the nozzle and began to draw on my face with whipped cream. I tried to turn my head to escape and he filled my ear with whipped cream.
“Why do you want to know?” I asked once he stopped. “I mean, it will only disappoint you to find out that I love none of you...”
“Oh, but you do. You love one of us.” Zac said, leaning down until he was just above me again. He stuck his tongue out and licked the whipped cream off my face. I tried to scoot away from his hot tongue on my neck, but Taylors knee was in the way. I felt his tongue glide up along my jaw, then plunge into my ear filled with whipped cream.
“Ah! Stop it!” I yelled squirming as Zac continued to lick the whipped cream off of my face. Finally, he sat up and looked down at me.
“Tell us.” He said raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, Cleo.” Taylor said. “You have to love one of us...”
“No, I don’t.” I said. He shook the can again and grabbed the front of my shirt. He squirted a bunch of Reddi Whip down my shirt. I turned my head and saw Isaac watching from the end of an aisle. “Ike, Ike!! Help me!”
“He is of no help to you.” Taylor said, his grip on my lower arms tightening. Isaac just turned and walked up another aisle. “Cleo, the sooner you answer the question, the better off you’ll be...”
“Taylor, I will never answer that question...” I said. Okay, I had to get out of there, but how? I closed my eyes and just relaxed. And as I relaxed, I felt both Zac and Taylor’s grip on me relax as well. I had a plan. I turned my head and bit into Taylor’s wrist and at the same time I brought up my knee (which connected squarely with a very delicate part of Zac). With both of them off of me, I jumped up and began to run through the store. I came running around the corner trying to avoid more contact with Zac and Taylor. At this point, I was actually surprised we hadn’t been kicked out of the grocery store yet. I skidded to a stop nose to nose with Isaac in the frozen food section. In fact, I pretty much slid into him almost dumping myself on my butt yet again. “Sorry.” I said quickly grabbing his arm to steady myself.
“Whatever.” He said wrenching his arm out of my grasp. He turned to walk away.
“Ike, what’s wrong?” I asked grabbing his arm again. I needed him to talk to me.
“Are you talking?” He said looking at me. Actually, he was looking straight through me. A look of pain, hatred and disgust on his beautiful face. I had never seen such a horrid look on his face before. “Cause, I hear something, but it just sounds like a bunch of hot air...”
“Ike, seriously...” I said unwanted tears oiling my eyes, my voice quivering with the threatening tears. “Tell me. What did I do?”
“Cleo, if you have to ask...” He said pulling his arm away from me. “You will never get it.”
“Get what?” I said as the tears began to flow down my cheeks, mixing with what was left of the sticky whipped cream. “Isaac, I want to understand...”
“I... I have just loved you so much for so long.” Ike said looking at me, tears pooling along his eyelashes. “I love you so very, very much. It nearly killed me to watch you be with Jarrod, but I always had the hope you would realize what an enormous asshole he was and come to me. But, now you are... You’re doing whatever it is you’re doing with Taylor and I don’t think I can handle it...”
“I’m not doing anything with Taylor.” I said a sob choking out.
“Cleo, you are so in love with him...” Isaac said a single tear escaping. “And God help me, I hope he makes you miserable...”
“Don’t say that.” I said quietly. “You can’t mean that.”
“Can’t I?” Isaac said sneering. “Maybe I won’t mean it tomorrow, but right now... Right now, I hope he breaks your heart the way you’re breaking mine...”
“Ike, I never meant to break your heart.” I said quietly. “I didn’t know I had the power to do that...”
“Maybe not, but you did.” He said reaching out and tucking a lock of sticky hair behind my ear. “You have no idea how badly you’ve hurt me, do you?”
“Isaac, you have to believe me...” I said my voice pleading. “I’m not in love with Taylor... I’m not doing anything with him...”
“If you and he really do start dating or whatever, I’m begging you to leave the tour.” Ike said practically sobbing. “Because, I won’t be able to watch the two of you so happy. Zac seems to be perfectly happy watching you and Tay, but I... In fact, do me a favor and forget I even exist, cause I’ll try my hardest to forget you. Cause, it’s just too hard....”
“Oh Isaac, don’t say that...” I said walking over to him. I wasn’t even trying to stop the tears anymore. I couldn’t lose Isaac, my oldest, closest friend. I wanted to hug him and yet, I knew he would never let me. “I’ve already lost Thad, I can’t lose you too. Ike, I need you. You have to believe me when I say that I’ll die if I lose you....”
“Cleo, you already have.” He said looking at me with such a look of sadness my heart literally cracked down the middle. He didn’t have to worry about Taylor breaking my heart, ‘cause he was doing a stellar job. He reached out and tucked some more of my sticky hair behind my ear. “You already have...” I felt my knees buckle as I crumpled to a heap on the floor. I listened as he walked away from me. Isaac was walking away from me. Honestly, I had lived without Thad, but I don’t think I can live without Isaac. My best friend of all time had just walked away from me, leaving me laying on the icy cold floor of the frozen food section of the Piggly Wiggly in Monroeville, Alabama.
And I cried.
I cried like I had in my dream about Thad. I sobbed out all of my anguish and grief over Thad’s death. I sobbed with the heartbreak of losing my best friend. I sobbed over the fact I could never be with the one person I truly loved without ripping his family apart. I sobbed because it was all I could do.
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