Wheels of Steel, Book 3 (9 page)

She rubbed her face in annoyance. Why could a song still have so much power to bring back a memory? It shook her, that particular song and the memories that it brought. With determination Robin stormed to her bookcase. She knew how to counteract these unwanted emotions!

Not with marijuana or liquor. But with DAFT PUNK! Robin found her ipod and scanned to the tune that had become her anthem. She put in earbuds and it didn’t matter that it was after midnight when she cranked up the volume. She allowed the music to fill her body until she was overcome with the need to move. And then bouncing around her apartment in nothing but panties and a t-shirt, singing the lyrics repeatedly like a mantra, lyrics that she wanted to live by, Robin felt good again.

Chapter 7

Jason stared at the big screen television, his long body stretched out in the reclining chair in a position that seemed leisurely but wasn’t since he was not in a state of relaxation. He was tense and focused. Music from Wheels of Steel streamed from the surround sound speakers. And then the camera focused on the form of one dancer; lost in the music, Robin dressed as the sexy Queen of Hearts.

Jason’s eyes stayed glued to her, the way her eyes closed and she seemed oblivious to her surroundings. He had counted the number of men that had watched her, the number of times that she had wet her lips, how many times her eyes had blinked. Over the months he had learned every nuance of every motion she made in the video. He pressed pause and studied her form.

There was a loud knock on the door and Jason blinked as if awakening from a dream.

“What?!”

Normally no one bothered him when he locked himself away like this. Everyone knew the familiar sounds of the Omicron Halloween party DVD that Amberly had created and had then given to him and Peter for Christmas. Sometimes Jason would sit for hours watching the video or listening to the DVD that he had recorded of Robin’s singing, just playing it over and over.

“Jason, can I come in. I need to talk to you!” Amberly voice drifted through the closed door. He didn’t immediately move but finally pressed stop on the DVD player and got up and walked to the door unlocking it. He ignored the cane that sat propped against the chair, and it had been a long time since he’d needed crutches or his wheelchair. Jason wordlessly returned to his seat after unlocking the door without bothering to open it, plopping down listlessly. Amberly opened the door, her eyes flitted to the television screen uneasily but then she smiled again.

“Jason, I saw Robin tonight!”

Jason’s head instantly swiveled towards her. “What?”

“At a club!”

He suddenly sat up straight. “What club? Why didn’t you call me?!”

She bounced on her toes happily. “Because she performs there every Thursday!” He frowned at her in confusion. “Robin’s in a band!” She explained.

“A band…” His eyes narrowed. “What’s the name of it?” He had already leaped to his feet and was limping quickly to his computer.

“Orange Crush.”

Jason began pecking away quickly on the computer. “Eh!” He scowled as Amberly moved behind him to see what he was doing. “Nothing! What’s the name of the club?”

“Nuthouse.”

Jason’s pecking continued and then he paused, a slight smile tilting the corners of his mouth. He pulled up a site for The Nuthouse and saw that it was a Club in Madisonville. They had an open mic night, Karaoke as well as nightly live band and dj’s. Orange Crush was on the schedule each Thursday; no picture of the band, though.

He rubbed back his hair turning to Amberly. “How…how was she?”

“Good. It’s just three girls; Robin singing and the other two on guitar.” Amberly shrugged. “She’s a good singer-”

“No…I mean, how did she seem? Did she seem okay?”

Amberly looked uncomfortable. She scooped her hair back behind her ears and frowned. “She seems…different. I would have never thought that she’d be singing or even dancing in some club.” She shrugged.

Jason considered her words. “Orange Crush…”

***

The girls had jammed all week, sometimes they blew off studying to meet at Becca and Tracey’s apartment to kick back with the guitar, singing whatever came to mind. Which didn’t mean that they had practiced for Thursday’s set. But since they rarely did, it was all cool. Even when they messed up a little the band was still quirky and fun and no one ever complained or booed them.

Earlier they had messed around with learning A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall, and now they were lying around smoking weed. Robin was on the chaise with her head hanging off the edge and nearly touching the floor. She was stoned but it was cool because at least she wasn’t drunk as well.

Tracy was strumming lightly on the guitar. She was petite, with non-existent breasts or ass. Her dyed pink and blonde hair was cut short into a boy cut. Her eyes were light grey and her skin was pale beneath a spattering of freckles. She was bisexual and could easily pass for a prepubescent boy…and often had.

Becca moved across the room to hand Robin the joint that she had just rolled. She could have been a supermodel except that she wasn’t even as tall as Robin. She had long raven hair and sky blue eyes set within a tanned face. She was a girlie girl that had to get her nails done, get her hair professionally styled and shop until she dropped. She and Becca were best friend’s but friend’s only. Becca was straight and had two boyfriends to prove it.

Robin accepted the joint and after taking two puffs returned it to Becca who then walked it over to Tracy, placing it between her lips as the girl continued to play.

“What are we going to play tonight?” Becca asked.

“Fuck if I know.” Robin responded. They only had an hour long set but they didn’t like playing the same things week after week. They had a small following…which basically amounted to some people from school, and whoever Becca was having sex with.

They spent too much time discussing random things instead of working up a set so before they knew it, it was time to get to the club. Tracy drove them in her mini cooper and they headed to the lower level ‘backstage area’ while open mic finished up. They usually got there early enough so that they could have a good laugh at the performers. It was a very good thing that the backstage area was in the lower level because the girl’s marijuana induced laughter was loud and often times obnoxious.

They had fun together and laughed easily but when it was time to perform they got into Orange Crush mode and became very serious. The spotlight was on them and Robin headed for the stool that had the mic in front of it.

“What are we going to do, girls?” Tracey asked as they got into position.

“A Hard Rain?” Becca Suggested.

Robin shook her head. “Nah. I still don’t have all of the lyrics down.”

“Gives You Hell?”

Tracy scowled. “As a starter? No way.”

“Well come on bitches!” Becca exclaimed and several members of the audience chuckled.

Robin looked over at them shrugging. “Summertime?”

“Yeah,” Becca responded while beginning to strum out the opening notes of the Janis Joplin song. Robin turned to the audience but didn’t see them, just heard the melody and felt the words begin to leave her mouth. She could sound like Janis Joplin if she wanted to, but she opted to turn it into more of a soulful rendition then a bluesy one. The best thing about Orange Crush is that no one got uptight when she did things like that. When the song ended the crowd went nuts! It was always good when the crowd went nuts on the first song! Amateur night had evidently gotten them primed for some good singing.

Becca gave her the raised eyebrow, meaning that this version of the song was going into their play set. After that they did tunes by Lady Gaga, Keri Hillson and Robin was in the middle of Katy Perry’s Firework; her mind so into the song that she didn’t realize that she was moving across the stage with her head thrown back, wailing out the lyrics at the top of her lungs, the crowd stomping and singing along with her.

And that is when her eyes glimpsed something that caused her to squint past the spotlight that was shining on her and out to the crowd. Her body suddenly went ice cold. No one probably had any idea that she was in a total state of shock in that second that she saw Jason Hamilton. The words continued to flow from her mouth, the crowd continued to sing along with her, but her brain was in suspended animation.

Jason was watching her performance from across the room where he, Belinda and Peter sat at one of the small tables. Robin couldn’t take her eyes from them, especially from Jason. His hair was different. At some point he had cut it and it had grown back, not quite reaching his shoulders but still long and unruly. He had let his sideburns grow out until they met with the slight bit of facial hair that seemed more like he’d neglected shaving one day instead of one week. He was wearing a sweater but his muscles filled it out even more than she remembered…

The words stopped coming from her mouth and she realized that it was because the song had ended. Everyone began applauding and she looked around as if she didn’t know how she’d gotten there. Belinda and Peter were whistling and clapping like mad. Jason just stared at her.

Tracy started playing another Katy Perry song and Robin moved to perch herself onto the stool. Her legs were too weak for her to continue standing. She averted her eyes from the little group at the table. So that had been Amberly last week. And where was she now?

Robin sang about Teenage Dreams wishing that she was anywhere but here. And when the song ended she gestured for Tracy to cut it. Her friend covered her mic and leaned forward.

“We got two more songs we need to do.”

“I can’t…”

“What’s wrong?” Becca asked them.

“Just play Tick Tock!” Robin snapped.

The Kesha song was usually sang by Becca and Tracy and they used it when Robin’s voice began to fade. Robin walked off stage, and headed down the stairs to the back stage, ignoring the applause that followed her. Then the girls began singing the Kesha song and the audience went wild for them.

Robin paced back and forth, her face twisted into an angry scowl. Why did they have to show up and spoil everything?! She hadn’t invited them back into her life and she didn’t want them here; not any of them and that included Peter and Belinda! Their friendship had been a double edged sword. They pretended to be her friends but constantly stabbed her in the back. It was always about Jason; catering to him. But when she needed them…

Robin forced the thought out of her head as she got her purse out of the locker. Not that she could go anywhere since they’d driven over together. She was shaken and sat down heavily on the ragged black leather couch. She dug through her purse and located the joint that she had brought. The area was empty now that open mic was over so when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs she presumed that it was the club owner. She didn’t bother to hide the joint, he was the one that sold to them.

But surprised, she saw that it was Jason that had come down the back stairs. She stared at him in shock. He was walking, leaning heavily on a cane, but he had come down the stairs with absolutely no trouble! She straightened up from her slouched position on the couch, but refused to put out the joint. She couldn’t take her eyes from him.

He was a giant! But her memories of him were mostly of him in a wheelchair. He looked more like a football player than ever! His muscle movements had steadied though not completely disappeared. When his head and neck did move, his hair tended to obscure his face. It hadn’t been like that before, he had kept his hair out of his eyes, now it shielded his face.

“Robin.”

Robin looked away, his voice causing some string to be plucked within her body, and the resulting reverb shook her.

“What are you doing down here? This is for performers only.” Fucking weed! Why was that the first thing out of her mouth upon seeing her ex-boyfriend; her first boyfriend…her first love??

“To tell you how good your band played…how good you sounded.”

With her eyes still averted she put the joint back into her mouth and took a draw. She exhaled slowly before looking at him. He was just watching her with steady eyes. Looking in his eyes was like looking into the face of the sun. She couldn’t do it. Instead she stood up and paced a bit.

She took in a shaky breath, not knowing what to say and then just said the first thing to come to mind. “So you got the pump thing?” She couldn’t remember the name for it.

“Yeah. I’m back on the Baclofen pump. I’ve had it since January.”