Read Online She-Rox: A Rock & Roll Novel by Kelly McGettigan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kelly McGettigan
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Leah?”
“T.J. told you about Slade. However, she did mention that Leah was ‘wack’.”
Taking a deep breath, Kai said, “Leah wanted nothing more than to be the next Deborah Norville and do news broadcasting. Her first big goal after graduation was to land a job at Channel Four, in San Francisco, but she was hiding an amphetamine problem and an eating disorder on top of it.” Kai paused, before he remarked, “I didn’t realize it at the time. She hid it—always on some diet and paranoid about gaining weight—telling everybody how the camera added ten pounds. She would study for hours into the night and I just assumed she was an academic like me, but the truth was, she was higher than a vendor at Woodstock.”
“And?”
“One afternoon, I got a call her roommate. She told me that Leah’s heart stopped and that she called an ambulance—found her on the bathroom floor.”
“Wow,” Eddie whispered.
“Yeah,” Kai retorted. “And there’s a reason for this purging moment of mine. Now, I’ve got this other girl that I really like. And she wants to be Miss Thing,like the last one. But I don’t want the same problem.”
“Are you referring to me as Miss Thing ? Is that why you say the word ‘musician’ as if it were synonymous with ‘porn star’?”
“Kind of . ”
“Kai, at the end of the day, we both have to be who we are—you a doctor and me a lounge lizard. Clearly, we have both chosen our brides.”
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Make an overachiever sound pathetic?”
Christmas Eve, 2006
It was late morning and T.J. had toothbrush in mouth. Leaning over to spit, she came back up hearing Kai.
“I’m in here,” she yelled, over the water.
“I need your help,” he said, uneasy.
“Sure . ”
“I need to get Eddie something for Christmas.”
“You need to get Eddie a gift or you want to?”
“I’d like to get her a gift.”
“Okay—something special or something practical?”
“I don’t care. Use your best judgment.”
“Oh, no—you’re going with me, because trying to guess where this semi-plantonic line is drawn puts me at the mall all day.”
“I hate the mall.”
“Kai, don’t jerk Eddie around. You’ve got plenty of others you can toy with. Don’t do it to her.”
“It’s not that. It’s just—if she goes back down to L.A., and I don’t do something about it, well, the next thing I know she’ll be—”
“She’ll be hanging around hot rockers, going to parties, hob-knobbing with their entourage, living a fabulous life in L. A. while you’re stuck in a lab.”
“Something like that,” he said.
“Are you sure it’s not that you don’t want other people to want her? I saw how you got when she played. You were all over her at the gig and then come Tuesday night it was somebody else.”
Kai hung his head. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been asking myself the same thing for the past two days. The Eddie that left is not the one who came back. I can’t shake this, whatever it is. Are we exchanging gifts?”
“I doubt it. She has no money at all, Kai. She is struggling down there. I shouldn’t even tell you, but she called me one night and asked for money. I mailed her a check, but she never cashed it. And don’t tell her I told you.”
T.J. put the cap back on her mascara and said, “It’s undoubtedly the worst, most crowded, obnoxious time to go shopping. Still want to go?”
After fighting traffic at the Stanford Shopping Center, T.J. suggested they hit Tiffany’s.
The jewelry was lit up in their cases, and while gazing in, a salesman came over to and asked, “May I show you anything, Miss?”
“Yes,” she brightened, “we are looking for a Christmas gift.”
The man looked up and saw Kai approaching. “Is this for your mother or a friend, perhaps?”
T.J. deferred to Kai, saying, “Well, maybe you ought to ask my brother. He’s the giver.”
Stepping up to the plate, Kai hemmed, “I need to get a
“T.J. told you about Slade. However, she did mention that Leah was ‘wack’.”
Taking a deep breath, Kai said, “Leah wanted nothing more than to be the next Deborah Norville and do news broadcasting. Her first big goal after graduation was to land a job at Channel Four, in San Francisco, but she was hiding an amphetamine problem and an eating disorder on top of it.” Kai paused, before he remarked, “I didn’t realize it at the time. She hid it—always on some diet and paranoid about gaining weight—telling everybody how the camera added ten pounds. She would study for hours into the night and I just assumed she was an academic like me, but the truth was, she was higher than a vendor at Woodstock.”
“And?”
“One afternoon, I got a call her roommate. She told me that Leah’s heart stopped and that she called an ambulance—found her on the bathroom floor.”
“Wow,” Eddie whispered.
“Yeah,” Kai retorted. “And there’s a reason for this purging moment of mine. Now, I’ve got this other girl that I really like. And she wants to be Miss Thing,like the last one. But I don’t want the same problem.”
“Are you referring to me as Miss Thing ? Is that why you say the word ‘musician’ as if it were synonymous with ‘porn star’?”
“Kind of . ”
“Kai, at the end of the day, we both have to be who we are—you a doctor and me a lounge lizard. Clearly, we have both chosen our brides.”
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Make an overachiever sound pathetic?”
Christmas Eve, 2006
It was late morning and T.J. had toothbrush in mouth. Leaning over to spit, she came back up hearing Kai.
“I’m in here,” she yelled, over the water.
“I need your help,” he said, uneasy.
“Sure . ”
“I need to get Eddie something for Christmas.”
“You need to get Eddie a gift or you want to?”
“I’d like to get her a gift.”
“Okay—something special or something practical?”
“I don’t care. Use your best judgment.”
“Oh, no—you’re going with me, because trying to guess where this semi-plantonic line is drawn puts me at the mall all day.”
“I hate the mall.”
“Kai, don’t jerk Eddie around. You’ve got plenty of others you can toy with. Don’t do it to her.”
“It’s not that. It’s just—if she goes back down to L.A., and I don’t do something about it, well, the next thing I know she’ll be—”
“She’ll be hanging around hot rockers, going to parties, hob-knobbing with their entourage, living a fabulous life in L. A. while you’re stuck in a lab.”
“Something like that,” he said.
“Are you sure it’s not that you don’t want other people to want her? I saw how you got when she played. You were all over her at the gig and then come Tuesday night it was somebody else.”
Kai hung his head. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been asking myself the same thing for the past two days. The Eddie that left is not the one who came back. I can’t shake this, whatever it is. Are we exchanging gifts?”
“I doubt it. She has no money at all, Kai. She is struggling down there. I shouldn’t even tell you, but she called me one night and asked for money. I mailed her a check, but she never cashed it. And don’t tell her I told you.”
T.J. put the cap back on her mascara and said, “It’s undoubtedly the worst, most crowded, obnoxious time to go shopping. Still want to go?”
After fighting traffic at the Stanford Shopping Center, T.J. suggested they hit Tiffany’s.
The jewelry was lit up in their cases, and while gazing in, a salesman came over to and asked, “May I show you anything, Miss?”
“Yes,” she brightened, “we are looking for a Christmas gift.”
The man looked up and saw Kai approaching. “Is this for your mother or a friend, perhaps?”
T.J. deferred to Kai, saying, “Well, maybe you ought to ask my brother. He’s the giver.”
Stepping up to the plate, Kai hemmed, “I need to get a
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