Wheels of Steel Book 4 (13 page)

She began to sing the dirty lyrics and the DJ allowed the song to play, cutting back the vocals so that Robin’s voice replaced those of the original singer’s. Robin’s eyes were closed as she sang both the male and the female lyrics, which described the many ways the singer wanted to be fucked.

Everyone was mesmerized with Robin’s performance of the song. It was an unrehearsed, random but perfectly sexy performance.

And it was being recorded by at least twenty cellphones.

Jason and the fellows in the other room heard a hush as the DJ’s music swelled. No one paid attention as the song played out until Jason recognized the word ‘fuck’.

Such a common word, used in many different contexts, but when spoken by one particular woman who used it with wild abandon while in the throes of passion, the word transformed into a state of being. It became an anthem to his and Robin’s lovemaking and when Jason heard the sing-song quality in the use of the word he recognized the singer instantly.

He stood up while Hidalgo was in the middle of a sentence. His head swiveled in the direction of the female’s haunting voice as she sang about being fucked in the morning, in the noontime and at night and the many various positions in which the fucking should take place.

Jason quickly limped into the other room, barely using his cane. And then he saw what everyone else was seeing, Robin dancing with the other partiers surrounding her in a haphazard circle. She wasn’t the only one dancing, a few other women were moving sensually to the song although none looked as gorgeous as Robin.

She wore a clingy blue dress that reached mid thigh with off the shoulder, mid-length sleeves. The dress matched her dyed blue bangs perfectly—bangs that now hung in her eyes, partially shielding her face.

Jason stopped at the edge of the circle, and watched Robin’s total obliviousness to the effect that her performance had on the rest of the partiers. To Jason they looked like they were watching a live sex performance. And then he saw the cellphones recording it.

As much as he wanted to run into the circle and grab Robin and drag her away from the people gaping at her, he knew that it would be a douchy thing to do.

His expression tightened as he waited for the song to play through so that he could discreetly move her away from everyone’s attention. When he saw her hands lightly trace her sex through her dress he closed his eyes and knew that anyone watching him would not mistake his expression of anger.

He had promised himself that he wouldn’t be angry with Robin ever again. But now he realized that that wasn’t a realistic promise because right now he wanted to snatch her and drag her ass back to the house and lock her in a closet.

Robin felt as if she was floating through space with musical notes flowing through her cells—in and out of her body, flowing around her like ectoplasm. The song morphed into a gentle Raheem Devaughn tune and she transformed from a raunchy strip club dancer to a mellow club groover that shook her head slowly to the rhythm of the music. She felt Jason’s hands pull her close to his body.

Robin didn’t even have to open her eyes to recognize the feel of her man. Their bodies were flush and together they moved to the slow rhythm of the music. She placed her hands around his neck and her head against his chest. They slow danced, moving their bodies without moving their feet and Robin’s eyes parted and she saw that Jason’s cane was planted on the floor keeping him supported while his free hand held her close.

She smiled. That was the coolest thing she’d ever seen—Jason slow dancing with her while using a cane.

“Get up, babe,” Robin heard. She tossed in the comfortable bed and then her stomach lurched. She jumped up and quickly ran to the bathroom, not thinking of bathroom shoes as she spewed the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl.

Jason followed her but only as far as the doorway where he frowned. “Babe, you okay?” He called.

She looked over at him feeling waves of nausea rolling over her. “I didn’t drink that much …”

“Hmph,” Jason said. “You shouldn’t be drinking at all, Robin. You have an ulcer. Or if you drink keep it to just one beer or something.”

Robin grabbed toilet tissue while her stomach continued to hitch and work it’s way up to a second round of vomiting.

“Don’t argue with me while I’m sick,” she said weakly.

Jason walked into the bathroom and placed a gentle hand on her hair, stroking the unruly strands. The second round of vomit hit the toilet bowl and Jason went to the shower and turned it on.

“Come on, honey. The funeral is in a couple of hours and they want you and Y at the church early to go over the music you two are doing.”

“What?” she cried as she looked at him with drooping eyes. “I just want to go back to bed. I think I ate some bad food …”

“No,” he snapped. “You smoked too much dope, that’s what happened.”

Robin came to her feet from where she was kneeling at the toilet. “I know how to hold my weed.”

“Obviously,” he muttered. She gave him a sharp look but he didn’t say anything more as he adjusted the water temperature. Then he began to strip out of his sleep shorts. He looked over his shoulder at her. “Come on. This is big enough for us to kill two birds with one stone.”

Robin wasn’t feeling Jason’s comments about her alcohol and marijuana consumption but he made a good point so she stripped out of her panties and bra—her dress was mysteriously already gone, and then she got into the shower with him.

He might have been annoyed but that didn’t prevent him from taking pleasure in washing her body with his soapy hands. Robin was the only female that he had ever been truly intimate with and her body represented all the pleasure that he imagined deriving from a woman.

Robin was not long lines but full curves, round hips and ass and small perky breasts. She thought that because her belly wasn’t a tight six pack that she needed to exercise it down but he didn’t. He liked running his hands over all of her curves including her tummy.

There was no time for more than touching and Robin felt a bit more refreshed after the shower.

She wrapped a towel over her body and then fell back onto the bed, closing her eyes to get her head together.

Jason went naked to the closet and found the dress that she had packed for the funeral. He laid it on the bed along with black panties and bra. He located two pairs of black shoes and asked her which she wanted. She opted for the flats.

He grabbed the lotion from the dresser and sat down next to her. Robin opened her eyes again and peeked at him. He pulled her legs onto his lap and began to apply lotion.

Robin smiled in appreciation. He knew her routine well. After he’d gotten lotion on her body she finally pulled herself off the bed to pull on her clothes while Jason changed into a dry set of leg braces. They finished dressing silently and Robin remembered that this was not just another day for Jason.

She went to him and placed her arms around him.

“I love you.”

He smiled. “Me too.” They kissed and then went downstairs where there was a quick breakfast waiting.

Belinda was quiet, nursing a cup of coffee—actual coffee and not tea. She wore a black sleeveless dress that made her skin appear much too pale. Her hair was held back by a vintage pillbox hat, which had a bit of black netting decoratively dipping down to conceal one of her eyes. Not that her eyes would be seen since she was gripping sunglasses.

Amberly even moved slowly with none of the exuberance she usually displayed. Y looked good in a black suit, white shirt and simple black tie. Peter and Jason were dressed similarly.

“Coffee, Robin?” Y asked.

“No,” she grimaced. Coffee was too harsh for her stomach, especially after her over indulgence of yesterday. “Tea if there is anymore.”

Amberly poured her tea and everyone ate quietly.

Y and Robin then left together in Y’s Mercedes. The others would follow later in the limo.

Robin slipped on her sunglasses and prepared for the hour-long drive to the church.

“I thought Akita was Buddhist. Why are we going to a church?” She asked.

Y turned down the music even though it wasn’t loud. “It’s not proper to celebrate Akita’s passing in a temple. The funeral is more for the benefit of people that want to commemorate his passing. Later we will have a more traditional funeral at the house. His ashes have already been delivered and Robert will stand by his brother’s shrine. We may take turns—James and me, but one person will stand by Akita’s shrine and accept thanks and recognition of him. They have a moment to share with that person that was closest to Akita and then the next person will enter the shrine area. It can take some time. Everyone will then gather in the garden where we will serve refreshments and that’s the basic ceremony. Robert wants to take the remains back to the states with him and we’ll keep the shrine for a while.”

“Are you Buddhist?” She asked in curiosity.

He shook his head. “No, I don’t practice a religion. I believe in God, just not one religion, if that makes sense.”

Robin nodded. “I understand.”

They grew quiet again and just before Robin began to drift off to sleep Y spoke again.

“You should practice more caution. I may not always be present to make sure no harm befalls you.”

Robin lowered her sunglasses and looked at Y. “What?”

He looked at her. “I’m not telling you what you can or can’t do, but while you’re in Japan I’m responsible for you and the others. Last night you and Belinda got high on drugs that you had no idea where it came from-“

“Y,” she said in surprise, “we smoked a joint. We didn’t even finish it.”

His head snapped back to hers. “Do you think that’s all you smoked?”

Robin’s mouth fell open.

“My point is made, then. You have no idea what all was in that joint. If you feel you need to smoke marijuana then I’ll bring it to you, although I do not condone it. But it’s better than taking a chance on joints laced with other drugs.”

Robin covered her mouth as she thought back to how quickly the effects of the marijuana had hit her and Belinda. It had to be laced with something because she didn’t even remember the end of the evening. She and Jason were dancing and then she was waking up. Half a joint and two beers wouldn’t do that.

“Jeez,” she said softly. She looked at him. “I don’t want you to bring me drugs. I smoke weed to relax and chill when I’m at home. I’m no drug addict.”

He looked at her again but didn’t say anything.

“Did I act a fool last night?” Her face burned and she thought back to Jason’s attitude this morning. “Please tell me that I didn’t do anything foolish?”

“Nothing foolish,” was his response.

“What about Belinda? She didn’t do anything did she?”

“No, she passed out long before you eventually did. You fell asleep while you were dancing with Jason and he had to lift you and carry you to Hidalgo’s room.

“Oh my God!”

“You and Belinda weren’t the only ones to pass out that night. There are probably people still at Hidalgo’s condo trying to sleep it off. It’s just most unfortunate that the celebration took place the night before the funeral. There will likely be a number of sick looking individuals attending the service.”

She knew that Y was making light of the situation but to Robin it was a turning point. She didn’t want to be that girl that passed out while partying. She didn’t want to be dependent on drugs in order to have fun. She didn’t want to be another tragic figure in the music industry whose life was cut short because of drug reliance.

She covered her face with one hand and sighed. “One of the things that helped me overcome my shyness was drinking. I was always so uptight when I was in places where there were crowds. When I drank I didn’t care anymore. But drinking wasn’t going to work for me. I have an ulcer and it wrecked it.

“So someone shared a joint with me and it had the same affect but better. It didn’t hurt my ulcer and I felt like I could be myself.” She shrugged. “All I want to do when I’m chilling is listen to music and allow it to move me.”

“Then music makes you high. Why don’t you try allowing that to be your drug?”

Robin gave him a thoughtful look.

The church where the funeral would be held was huge. The inside looked like a concert hall. There were only a few tech people there and she and Y had to do a sound test. He played the piano for a while and they got the sound to echo beautifully throughout the room.

Robin couldn’t help but to be surprised by his ability. He wasn’t just a dabbler at the keys--the man knew the piano.

After that she was instructed to sing. She did a few test song snippets and at one point Y accompanied her on a few of them. For an hour the two of them jammed out while the technicians and funeral workers put up the finishing touches.

Y abruptly ended the session. “Don’t tire your voice. The main performance is in a few hours. Let’s get something to drink, I’m thirsty.”

“Yeah, me too.” She didn’t mention that she’d puked up most of her water reserve this morning.

They left the church and walked a short distance to a small restaurant where they sat at an outdoor piazza and talked. Robin discovered that Y’s mother was a pianist and had taught him to play from the moment that he had taken his first wobbly foot step.

People began to gather for the funeral and people looked at them expectantly, knowing that they were ‘important’ but not quite how they were associated with Akita Tom. Y purchased a newspaper and he read to her an article in the entertainment section that talked about today’s funerals and the list of stars expected to attend.

Robin was pleased to see that she recognized some of the artists attending, and then she remembered that she would be performing in front of movie stars and famous musicians and she felt herself begin to panic.

With shaking hands she called Jason on her cellphone.

“Babe, do you know all the famous people that are going to be here today?”

“Not really,” he replied.

She frantically filled him in on the list of guests but instead of freaking out as she was he seemed pleased.

“Jason! I’m going to be singing in front of people whose music is in my Mp3 player at home!”

“Alright. We’ll be at the church in half an hour. Breathe, honey. Remember how you used to tell me? Breathe and I’ll be there before you know it. Is Y there?”

Robin looked across the table at Y who was watching her. “Yeah.” She replied. “He’s here.”

“Let me speak to him.”

Robin passed him the phone and Y talked to Jason in hushed tones. Robin heard him say, ‘she isn’t.’ But mostly he said okay repeatedly. “We’ll meet you in the sanctuary. Yeah, it will be quiet, no ones allowed in there. Bye.”

“What?” She asked anxiously.

“Jason said to take you to the sanctuary and to play Daft Punk.”

A smile slowly filled her face. She threw her head back and laughed. Damn she loved Jason. No one knew her better than him.

When Jason and the others reached the church’s sanctuary, Robin had on earphones and was bobbing her head to the beat of
One More Time
by Daft Punk. When she saw Jason Robin leaped up and ran to him, careful not to knock him off balance she hugged him as if she hadn’t just seen him this morning.

“You alright?” He asked with concern.

“I am now.” She was still freaking out but the music put her in a better spirit.

She whispered into his ear. “Is it wrong that I’m dancing in my head in the sanctuary of a church while listening to Daft Punk on an Mp3 player right before the funeral of a famous man?”

He hugged her. “No honey. It’s perfectly normal.”