Read Online Road Rash by Mark Huntley Parsons - Free Book Online
Authors: Mark Huntley Parsons
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And where did you hear this?”
“From Ginger, who got it from Kelli, who sits next to Maria in history.”
I nodded slowly, the light dawning. “Oh, Maria? Maria Delgado? The one who, like, speaks in questions?”
No laugh. Not even a smile. And my impersonation was right on, if I do say so myself. “Yeah, that Maria” was all she said.
“She sure has a big mouth,” I said. Okay, I was making her work for it, but can you really blame me? After all, I’ve been dealing with a real little sister most of my life.
“And …?” she said.
“And what?”
“Who is she?”
“Hard to say.”
“In other words, you don’t want to tell me?”
“No. In other words, I don’t
know
who she is. I just needed one—I wasn’t required to attach a name to her.”
“Huh?”
I cut her some slack. “It was like you with Kevin Flanders. I needed a rent-a-girlfriend to fend someone off, so I just whipped up this imaginary girlfriend.” I grinned. “Pretty good, huh?”
“Sure, but … why’d you want to fend her off? Did she bark and wear a collar?”
“Actually, no.” Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if she
did
have a collar somewhere in her wardrobe, but that wasn’t what Kimber meant.
“Then …?”
I shrugged. “Not my type.”
“And speaking of Kevin Flanders, what the heck happened between you guys?”
“Didn’t Kyle tell you?”
“Not in detail. He said Kevin was dissing the band or something?”
What to say? It didn’t bother me not to fully disclose to Kyle—especially after the way he’d treated me the past few weeks—but I hated to spew full-on fiction all over Kimber. On the other hand, she was the thing I was lying
about
.
“Uh, something like that,” I finally said.
She leaned in. “What could he possibly have said that would have gotten you that mad?”
God, she was asking all the hard questions tonight.
I stood up. “It’s a long story, but I’ve gotta roll—you want a refill before I go?”
“You
what
?”
My dad couldn’t believe it, either. He started to go off on me big-time, so I jumped in quick. “Let me explain, okay?”
“I just don’t see how the hell you could quit the first day. You didn’t even give it a chance. And after Jerry did me a favor by hiring you.”
“Yeah, and
Jerry
seems like a great guy, who I’d be
happy
to work for.”
That made him back up the bus a little. “Okaaaay.…”
“But I wasn’t working for Jerry.…” So I explained the whole story all over again, pretty much the same as what I’d told Kimber but I included the audition call from Glenn. (All right, I left out the part about me throwing my sweaty shirt in Chris’s face, because I didn’t want my dad going off on a tangent about burning my bridges. And I didn’t just burn that particular bridge—I freakin’
nuked
it.)
“Look,” I finally said, “you agreed that I got a bad deal from the Sock Monkeys. I’m a good drummer and I should be playing in a band, not just spinning my wheels at some dead-end job. But the
good
news is, I got a call to audition for Bad Habit. That doesn’t happen every day. So when I get the chance to try out for the best band in town, what am I supposed to do?”
I thought he’d see my point for sure on that one, but the groove wasn’t quite that smooth. “Honestly,” he said, “I don’tthink that’s such great news. Those guys are a couple of years older than you. Are any of them going to college?”
I didn’t say anything. College was a big deal to my dad. And my mom. And Kimber—she talked about it all the time. And maybe even to me … when I thought about it. But what did that have to do with playing music?
“I think it’s important who you associate with,” he went on, sounding like Nate with his dogs-and-fleas speech. “And I think you’re slanting this whole thing—if you really wanted to, I’m sure there’s a way you could do the audition and still keep the job.”
God, wasn’t he listening?
“From Ginger, who got it from Kelli, who sits next to Maria in history.”
I nodded slowly, the light dawning. “Oh, Maria? Maria Delgado? The one who, like, speaks in questions?”
No laugh. Not even a smile. And my impersonation was right on, if I do say so myself. “Yeah, that Maria” was all she said.
“She sure has a big mouth,” I said. Okay, I was making her work for it, but can you really blame me? After all, I’ve been dealing with a real little sister most of my life.
“And …?” she said.
“And what?”
“Who is she?”
“Hard to say.”
“In other words, you don’t want to tell me?”
“No. In other words, I don’t
know
who she is. I just needed one—I wasn’t required to attach a name to her.”
“Huh?”
I cut her some slack. “It was like you with Kevin Flanders. I needed a rent-a-girlfriend to fend someone off, so I just whipped up this imaginary girlfriend.” I grinned. “Pretty good, huh?”
“Sure, but … why’d you want to fend her off? Did she bark and wear a collar?”
“Actually, no.” Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if she
did
have a collar somewhere in her wardrobe, but that wasn’t what Kimber meant.
“Then …?”
I shrugged. “Not my type.”
“And speaking of Kevin Flanders, what the heck happened between you guys?”
“Didn’t Kyle tell you?”
“Not in detail. He said Kevin was dissing the band or something?”
What to say? It didn’t bother me not to fully disclose to Kyle—especially after the way he’d treated me the past few weeks—but I hated to spew full-on fiction all over Kimber. On the other hand, she was the thing I was lying
about
.
“Uh, something like that,” I finally said.
She leaned in. “What could he possibly have said that would have gotten you that mad?”
God, she was asking all the hard questions tonight.
I stood up. “It’s a long story, but I’ve gotta roll—you want a refill before I go?”
“You
what
?”
My dad couldn’t believe it, either. He started to go off on me big-time, so I jumped in quick. “Let me explain, okay?”
“I just don’t see how the hell you could quit the first day. You didn’t even give it a chance. And after Jerry did me a favor by hiring you.”
“Yeah, and
Jerry
seems like a great guy, who I’d be
happy
to work for.”
That made him back up the bus a little. “Okaaaay.…”
“But I wasn’t working for Jerry.…” So I explained the whole story all over again, pretty much the same as what I’d told Kimber but I included the audition call from Glenn. (All right, I left out the part about me throwing my sweaty shirt in Chris’s face, because I didn’t want my dad going off on a tangent about burning my bridges. And I didn’t just burn that particular bridge—I freakin’
nuked
it.)
“Look,” I finally said, “you agreed that I got a bad deal from the Sock Monkeys. I’m a good drummer and I should be playing in a band, not just spinning my wheels at some dead-end job. But the
good
news is, I got a call to audition for Bad Habit. That doesn’t happen every day. So when I get the chance to try out for the best band in town, what am I supposed to do?”
I thought he’d see my point for sure on that one, but the groove wasn’t quite that smooth. “Honestly,” he said, “I don’tthink that’s such great news. Those guys are a couple of years older than you. Are any of them going to college?”
I didn’t say anything. College was a big deal to my dad. And my mom. And Kimber—she talked about it all the time. And maybe even to me … when I thought about it. But what did that have to do with playing music?
“I think it’s important who you associate with,” he went on, sounding like Nate with his dogs-and-fleas speech. “And I think you’re slanting this whole thing—if you really wanted to, I’m sure there’s a way you could do the audition and still keep the job.”
God, wasn’t he listening?
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