Hearts In Rhythm (10 page)

Now sitting across from her house with his cuts bandaged and two doses of pain reliever in his system, he watched the porch light come on and Allie appear. She was rolling a suitcase and had a bag hanging off each shoulder. She hadn’t mentioned she was planning a trip to Brandon. Where would she be going with Samuel just released? Had she forgotten their gig was in just a few days?

She popped her trunk and began hoisting the luggage into the back.

He didn’t think about how she would react when she saw his battered face, what she would say when she realized he was sitting across from her house at three in the morning, or how she would react to his boldness.

“Allie.” He called crossing the street. She turned from the car and looked his direction.

He jogged across and stood before her.

“What are you doing, Allie? Where are you going?”

“Brandon,” her voice held a tone of surprise. “What are you doing here? It’s like three in the morning.”

She leaned closer to him under the light emulating from the porch.

“What happened to you? Oh my gosh, have you been in a wreck?”

“No. I’m fine. Allie, tell me. What are you doing?”

She turned from him and shut the trunk.

“You should go, Brandon. It’ll be best if you do.”

“I’m not leaving. And I’m not letting you leave without telling me where I can find you. I don’t want this to end, Allie. I don’t want to look back and wish I would’ve made you stay.” He stepped closer and took her hand. “Allie, you are important to me. Please understand that.”

She looked at the ground and when she lifted her eyes to him, tears were streaming down her cheeks. His heart could barely stand to see her cry. He reached up and wiped her tears, wishing he could fix every burden she was bearing.

“You wanna talk about it?” he asked softly.

She nodded.

“Let’s get out of the cold.”

He pulled her around to the side of the car and opened the back door. She slid into the back seat and he sat next to her. He half stood and leaned over the front seat, turning the keys in the ignition.

“Let’s warm up the car and get the heater going,” he suggested.

The roar of the engine came on along with the factory stereo sat to an FM soft rock station.

He leaned back and put his right arm around her pulling her close. She nestled down and placed her head against his chest. The feel of her against his body warmed him up immediately, but he could tell she was still cold.

They sat there for several minutes in silence. Nothing but the sounds of their breathing, the blast from the heater, and the voice of Phil Collins singing
Groovy Kind of Love
filled the space. Brandon closed his eyes and leaned his head back resting it on the top of the seat. He wouldn’t pressure her to talk; he just wanted to convince her to stay. He would give her all the time she needed to open up to him.

He felt sleep finally pushing its way in, crowding out all the anxiety, worry, and concern that was keeping it away. His body gave in to the exhaustion. The shroud of sleep was covering him, taking him away, when Allie’s voice broke in and brought him back.

“I’m scared, Brandon.”

He lifted his head from the back of the seat and waited for her to go on.

“I don’t know what else to do. Leaving is my only option. Dylan’s family has plenty of money. And if he wants to take me to court, he could afford the best lawyer out there. I don’t have any money for a lawyer.”

She took a deep breath.

“Besides all that, I don’t even want him in Samuel’s life. I know kids need their dads, but not him. Not when their dad is Dylan.”

Brandon waited to make sure she was finished. He cleared the sleep from his throat.

“If I told you not to worry, could you trust me?”

There was a long pause.

“I don’t know. I mean, trust is pretty hard for me to dish out these days.”

“Allie?”

She sat up and looked at him.

“I had a talk with Dylan when he left here. Well, I had more than a talk with Dylan.” He pointed to his face. “I’m pretty sure, he won’t be bothering you.”

“Oh my gosh.” She sat up straighter “He did that to you? We should call the cops and press charges.”

“No. It’s over. What’s done is done. And besides, I kind of started it.”

“What? Why?”

“For you. For Samuel. I love that kid.”

Allie smiled at him and he saw tears filling her eyes again. He was pretty sure this time they weren’t tears of sadness.

“So, you’re confident that he won’t try to get Sammie?”

“I’m pretty sure. And if he does do something, I will be right here. I will help you any way you need. I mean anything, Allie. I’ll pay for a lawyer. I actually know a pretty good one who deals with these kinds of cases.”

She moved over and kissed him on the cheek.

“Thank you. But I have one question.”

“Shoot.”

“Won’t Simone object to all this help?”

“Simone’s out of the picture.” He tried to keep his voice free from any emotion, but Allie noticed.

“How are you doing with that?”

“At first, I tried to be upset. But truthfully, Simone and I had our differences. I believe all things happen for a reason, and she overreacted.”

He smiled at Allie. “But I’m glad she overreacted.”

She smiled back.

“Me too.”

“Now let’s get these suitcases unpacked, then we’ll go grab some breakfast.”

“That sounds great,” Allie said.

Brandon killed the motor, and climbed out of the car reaching for Allie and giving her a hand.

It had been a long night, but it was all worth it.

Chapter Ten

The next few days leading up to the gig, Allie spent as much time with Brandon as possible. They spent time getting to know each other, practicing for the gig, and hanging out with Samuel.

Samuel was healing very well. The casts were going to be removed after Christmas. He and Brandon’s relationship grew stronger. There were several times that Brandon offered to keep him during Allie’s evening shifts to give Gail a break as well. He absolutely adored Brandon, and Allie was pretty sure Brandon felt the same way.

For once in her life, Allie felt like everything was as it should be. Even though things were moving slowly romantically, she and Brandon were building a friendship. A lasting friendship. If it were to become something more, Allie would be thrilled, but as it stood, she was happy just having a friend, someone who would be there for her no matter what.

* * * *

The night of the gig arrived. Teenagers stood shoulder to shoulder against the walls of the auditorium. They filled the dance floor, bodies everywhere. Arms and legs were nothing but a frenzy of dancing. The energy from the night’s celebration was electric, filling the room with crazy excitement.

Allie sat behind her drum set, completely lost in the night. Everything about it was good. She felt the music and was nailing the songs in all the right places. The energy from the crowd was pulsating and contagious.

At the end of the first set, Brandon signaled a break.

“Hey Class of 2013! How’s everybody feeling out there?” he screamed into the microphone. The room filled with cheers.

“The band’s going to take a quick break, but keep dancing and we’ll be back in about fifteen minutes.”

Cody put on an iPod playlist of top hits. The crowd, who had all been standing idly, ran to the center of the dance floor to take part in Gangnam Style, a popular crowd pleaser.

A smile passed Allie’s lips but at the same time she couldn’t help feeling loss. This was what she missed out on. Her pregnancy had cost her these experiences of her own, as motherhood comes at a very high price. She decided for one night she would enjoy it, as if the night belonged to her. She closed her eyes and allowed the music to carry her back to her senior year. She had delivered Samuel in March and completed her graduation requirements in an alternative high school program where she could work at her own pace.

Samuel was allowed to come to school with her and stayed in a daycare within the same building provided for girls in just her situation. She walked across the graduation stage in May, but while all the classmates went to the after graduation party, Allie was home burping Samuel and rocking him to sleep.

She knew other girls whose parents kept their babies for them so they could have fun with their friends, but not Gail. Instead, she was the “you made your bed, now you can lay in it” type of mom who wasn’t going to let Allie off the hook. She let her know on more than one occasion that she needed to fully understand her responsibility.

Brandon handing her a plastic cup of something red to drink jarred Allie away from her memory.

“Thought you might be thirsty,” he said.

Allie took the drink and gulped it down.

“Wow. You were thirsty.”

“Yes, I guess I was,” she laughed.

“Here,” Brandon said reaching for her glass. “I’ll get you some more.”

“I’ll go with you.”

They made their way through the tight crowd of teenagers and toward the refreshment table. Allie picked up two cups that were sitting in front of the punch bowl and handed one to Brandon.

“I think we’re sounding really good tonight,” Allie said.

“What?” Brandon said pointing to his ear. “It’s so loud,” he yelled. He motioned her to follow him. He pushed through a double set of metal doors. The mid-December air was a welcome relief from the hot and heavy feel of the auditorium.

“Wow. It was so loud in there. I needed some air.” Brandon said. “You know, you’re really doing a good job. I have to admit I was skeptical at first. I wasn’t sure you had it in you.”

“Thanks.”

      “No problem. It’s no big deal to get you some punch.”

      Allie laughed at Brandon’s misunderstanding.

      “No. I mean, really, thanks for giving me this chance. It means a lot. You have no idea.”

      “I have the feeling it was as much for me as it was for you.”

      “What do you mean?”

      Brandon shook his head as if he’d already said too much.

Allie looked into her cup before getting another drink and surprised herself with her empty cup. “My gosh, I must be thirsty.”

Warmth flooded her body from the inside out. Since it was December, she knew it wasn’t the weather to blame. Although they’d become friends, she felt the spark of passion ignite once more.

Brandon looked up at the sky and pointed.

“Look! A falling star. Make a wish.”

Allie shut her eyes. She knew what her wish would be. It was always the same.

Suddenly she felt warm lips pressing against hers. Before she could understand what was happening, Brandon had embraced her and pulled her close to him. Her mind and body clashed. Her thoughts spoke only of resistance, but her body weakened, giving way to the desire. She kissed him back, allowing herself once more to lose herself to another time and another place, to become a girl that she used to be or the woman she has yet to become. Her heart raced. The warmth spread reminding her of a feeling she had allowed to grow stagnant and she longed for more.

There was nothing said between them afterwards. He looked at her and no words were needed. The auditorium door opened and the music to the Chicken Dance wafted out. Brandon took her by the hand. A grin spread across his face.

“Let’s dance!” he said as he pulled her back into the building.

* * * *

Allie couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this way. She and Brandon climbed back on the stage to continue playing.

Both Cody and Matt gave them suspicious looks, or was she just imagining that? Already it seemed her conscience was ruining her fun time. But what did she have to feel guilty about?

She sat down at her drum set and picked up her sticks. Matt walked over to Brandon and was talking in his ear. Allie felt her neck get hot. The music was still playing on the iPod and Allie wished someone would turn it down so she could hear what Brandon was now saying back in Matt’s ear. The conversation was getting heated she could tell. Finally Brandon motioned Matt away and turned his back.

The iPod was turned off and Cody played the beginning notes of the next song. It was a slow one. The one Brandon had played for her at his place the night Simone walked in.

It was a while before Allie was to come in with her drums in this song. The lights throughout the auditorium dimmed. People were coupling up for a slow dance, wrapping their arms around each other. Brandon’s voice began to echo throughout the auditorium and Allie began to gently tap the symbols adding a nice percussion to the song.

She played along, listening to the words from Brandon’s cover song, the one he played for her on that cold night when she sat on his sofa wrapped in a blanket. The night he toasted their relationship. The night Simone flipped her lid. She felt something brush against her leg. It was so subtle she almost missed it. The second time, she was certain she had felt something. There was a tightening feeling around her right leg, which she was using for the bass kick drum.

She glanced down and saw Bell the python wrapped around her ankle. She screamed. Cymbals crashed as she brought both drumsticks down with a vengeance. She frantically stood knocking over her stool. There was a screech of the guitars, and a squeal from the microphone as Matt, Cody, and Brandon stopped and turned to observe what was happening. The rule, “the show must go on” just couldn’t at this point.

The pressure around her ankle was increasing as Bell wrapped herself even more tightly.

“Help!” Allie screamed. “Somebody help me! Get this snake off of me.”

The crowd stopped and stared in stunned silence as Cody raced over and began unwinding Bell starting at her tail while Matt assisted pulling Bell from Allie’s leg. When the crowd saw the eight-foot long Albino python being lugged across the stage, screams from the girls and even some of the guys filled the room. It was mass hysteria at that point, as if someone had yelled ‘Fire!’ People were running, trying to get out of the door, while others were enthralled and were flooding the stage trying to get a closer look.

Cody placed Bell across his shoulders. The crowd and the noise were too much for her however. Her head was up in a defensive way and she was swaying back and forth, her forked tongue flicking rapidly.

Chaos had taken over the room. Allie stepped away from the band toward the back of the stage removing herself as much as possible from the agitated snake and the throngs of people. She searched the crowd looking for Brandon but didn’t see him until he appeared right before her. A look unlike anything she had ever seen crossed his face. His eyes burned with rage. He knocked over the drum stands holding the cymbals on his way to her. A crash of symbols filled their space. For the first time, she was fearful of him.

“Look at what you’ve done!” he yelled in her face. She took a step back from him, taken aback by his abrasiveness. No matter what she felt for him, she would not allow herself to be trampled. She had been that girl before, but not again.

“Look what I’ve done? Look what
I’ve
done? How can you blame this on me?” she yelled back at him. “If you should blame anyone, it should be them!” she said pointing toward the chaos with Matt and Cody.

She turned and jumped off the side of the stage, weaving her way through all the people, the cords from the amplifiers, and the large speakers standing like statues. She felt someone tug her arm. She turned around to face Brandon. She tried to resist as he pulled her to a side door and out into the dark night where the noise from the inside was drowned out. He held tightly to her. When she pulled away, his grip only tightened.

“Listen to me! Stop squirming and listen to me.”

Allie stilled herself under Brandon’s stern command. Her heart pounded and her mind raced.

His expression softened and his voice was the old Brandon’s when he spoke, “When I said ‘look at what you’ve done’, I meant it excitedly. Look at this! People are going to be talking about us now. It’s going to be all over town. Yeah, sure, maybe not about our music, but at least our name’s going to get out there. This small catastrophe is going to get us some exposure! Maybe it’ll even make the paper!”

Allie started as he began jumping up and down before her. The noise from the auditorium was muffled, finally starting to quiet down as hysteria waned. She stood there watching his excitement, hearing his cheers. She grabbed him by the forearms and began jumping in sync with him, sharing in the excitement. He reached for her and they locked arms and bounced together.

Panting and breathless they stopped. She looked into his face, his wavy hair framing his face. He bent his head and kissed her tenderly again.

“I thought you were mad at me,” she said when they had broken away from one another.

“I could never be mad at you, but I bet Matt and Cody could sure use our help right now.”

He held the door open for her and followed her back to the stage to remedy the chaos Bell had caused.

* * * *

The next morning, Brandon dragged himself out of bed. The knocking was incessant. He glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table and wondered who could be pounding on his door at 6:40 in the morning. He pulled on the pair of jeans that lay crumpled on the floor from the night before. He grabbed a T-shirt and shrugged it over his head and shoulders on his way to the door.