THE BIG DEAL: PART 8
My apologies for the delay, but without further ado we bring you part 8
<3 Faren
“Err… um… H-hey, Dev?” Cherry was still trying to recover and comprehend what had just happened. She glanced around to see if anyone had witnessed it, half hoping no one had, half hoping Sweet had and was now irate and jealous.
Haze stood with eyes wide, cheeks puffed like a chipmunk full of a gulp of water he was unable to swallow out of shock of what he had just seen. Olivia strutted out from behind him sliding her hand along his stomach as she brought herself face-to-face with her stunned lover. She gently hit him in the stomach with the back of her hand and he looked down at her, mouth still full of water. She silently shook her head lightly as if to tell him to let it be. He swallowed the water roughly like it was shards of glass as she put her finger on his lips to silence him. Olivia took Haze by the hand and led him toward the back exit of the venue.
Dev put his hands on Cherry’s hips and bent down to her ear. “Just play along.” He whispered and kissed her on the neck. With much hesitance she wrapped her arms around his.
Just as Dev’s hands began to wander, Sweet prowled his way over to the embracing couple in his usual cat-like manner. “Oh. Hello, Dev. How’s the family? Your sister doing alright?”
Cherry could feel the anger rise inside him as Dev’s fingers began to clench at her body and he slowly pried himself away from her.
“She’s doing great, jackass. Oh! So’s the manager of the Fuzzy Walrus. He sends his love. He invited us back to play in October. Double the pay. Imagine that, Sweet! How much did you guys get paid when you played there? Ha! Oh. Shit. I’m sorry, I forgot. He turned your joke of a band out on its ass. My apologies.”
Sweet never stopped smirking his signature smirk, but Cherry could see Dev’s words had done their job for his jaw began to pulsate as he clenched his teeth behind his constantly cool face. Cherry didn’t blame Sweet for being upset by Dev’s comment. The MCB was her home, her family, and all she had, and she thought he had done a poor job of sticking with the plan by insulting the band she was a member of.
“Gee, Cher. Your taste in men is ever-improving. Time to say bye-bye. You and I need to talk. There’s a little matter of a swollen nose to discuss. You’ve become a regular trouble-maker lately, young lady.” Sweet wagged his finger back and forth disapprovingly.
Cherry’s expression turned from one of utter discomfort to one of absolutely panic. Sweet wasn’t jealous, he was disgusted and now they were going to talk about the Blueberry incident. She was now convinced her involvement with Dev had done nothing but up her chances of getting kicked out of the band.
“I’m looking forward to a big dinner, so I’ll skip voluntarily making myself sick and let you two lovebirds kiss goodbye in private. I’ll be on the bus. Oh, and Dev, send my love to your dear sister. Tell her I hope she found a way around that problem she was having last time I saw her. I know how embarrassed she was. I’d go into more detail, but I know how impolite it is to bedroom talk in public.” He winked at Dev and kissed the air before turning to leave.
As soon as Sweet had reached the back door, Cherry turned to Dev. He was still scowling at the door although his nemesis was no longer in sight. “I’m gonna kill him” he snarled.
“Dev, it’s not worth it.” Cherry stroked his arm.
His whole body seemed to relax as if he were coming out of a trance. Dev sighed and turned to Cherry. A smirk had replaced his rabid dog mouth and he began licking and biting his lip. “You’re right, Miss Magic. Whaddaya say we head back to your hotel room and make a little of our own? I mean, to further your dirty little plan, that is. Talk’s getting you nowhere. It’s time for a little… action.”
“I-I can’t. I’m sorry. You heard him. We have to talk. I’m sort of in trouble. I kind of broke someone’s face.”
“Really? You’re not as innocent as I thought! What a pleasant surprise. Well, next time, eh?”
“Oh. Yeah, of course.” She lied. Cherry wanted to be away from Dev as quickly as possible. Everything had blown up in her face and she needed to reassess the situation, but more than anything she needed to know where she and Sweet stood as far as her job was concerned.
Dev leaned in to kiss her but she turned her head, forcing his lips to barely hit her cheek. “Thanks for coming, Dev. Sorry things didn’t work out like you had planned.” She grabbed her trombone case and hurried to the bus, practically running.
When she got to the humming mammoth she called home, she stopped outside the door to catch her breath. She was finding it difficult because she could not stop hyperventilating thinking about how horrible the conversation she was about to have with Sweet was going to be. On a normal occasion she could barely work up the nerve to speak to him, but now she was going to have to beg his forgiveness and hope he would show some mercy and allow her to stay in the band. She wondered if he would ever speak to her or look at her the same again if he let her stay. She had frantically thought of every beg and plea she could come up with on the way to the bus. Right now, Sweet was not the tall, blonde boy she dreamed and drooled over every day; he was her boss. He was the savior in the back of the dingy club she had met as Cheryl Maige just a few short years ago.
She reached for the handle of the door, but it swung open before her. Cherry jumped backwards as a grunting, angry Blueberry fumbled down the steps with her bags in her arms. She had so much luggage in her arms that her face was almost completely covered, but Cherry could still make out the swollen purple lump that was her nose. She felt bad for hurting her, mostly selfishly out of fear of what consequence she was facing. She wanted to ask her if she could help her carry her bags to the other bus but she knew it would only lead to more trouble. As she missed the bottom step, she fell on her knees in the gravel, landing on her pile of bags. The usually intoxicating girl that Blueberry was had been replaced by some feral beast. Instead of words she only made horrible noises. She began grunting again, brushing the tiny pieces of rock off of her hands and trying to gather her bags. She spotted Cherry’s shoe out of the corner of her eye and looked up. She let out one horrible scream, equivalent to a dying beast and several members of the band came running to her aid. Spotting Cherry, they grabbed Blueberry’s bags and helped her to her feet and to her usual bus.
Sweet stepped out of the bus in slow motion, his hands cupped close to his face attempting to light a cigarette with a stubborn lighter. Failing, he held the fireless stick between his lips and pitched the lighter across the parking lot, squinting his eyes as he zeroed in on where it landed in the dim glow of the street lamps. He let out one of his chesty-laughs and fumbled in his pocket for a book of matches. Walking over to Cherry, he struck the match on her trombone case as its head burst into a small flame that raced toward his thumb and index finger as the tip of his cigarette finally began to glow and he took a long, satisfying drag.
Cherry tried to figure out what to say first as Sweet silently stared at his feet, kicking gravel around and flicking ashes to the ground.
“Stop punching my backup singers, Cherry. You’ve gotta decide where you want your career to go.”
She knew he was about to tell her that he wasn’t sure if she should stay. She opened her mouth to beg him to let her keep her place but he interrupted her.
“I mean, do you want play in my band… or do you want to be a professional boxer? I am not sure you’d like the uniforms. And I don’t think your pigtails would fit under the headgear.” He spoke in a manner that reminded her of Haze when he’s high as he flicked one of her pink ponytails.
Cherry thought her lungs were going to collapse. That was it? He wasn’t mad? Just what sounded like an herb-induced joke? She was relieved and confused, and continued to hold her tongue.
“She’s quitting, y’know? She thinks I-” he took another drag of his cigarette and blew the rest of the words out with the smoke “She thinks I like you better.” Cherry’s knees began to quake. “I guess she’s probably right.” Her head began to spin and swim with more thoughts than she could even account for. “I mean, Blueberry’s easy to replace. I’ve got a dozen backup singers. And there are plenty more girls out there with average voices who want to sleep with me who are willing to throw on a blue miniskirt and call themselves by some silly name. But you, Cherry… you’re like one of the boys. There are few people in this band I’d actually consider a friend, and you’re getting there. But stop punching my backup singers. I’m liable to get sued and then I’ll force you stop hiding behind that suit of armor you call an instrument and shake your stuff with the other bimbos in the band.”
She was stunned. She didn’t really know what to feel. She was simultaneously relieved and disappointed and grateful. She still wanted to apologize for being such a jerk and hitting Blueberry and causing him to lose one of his backup singers, even if he thought they were replaceable and even though she now truly didn’t regret hitting her in the least. As she remembered how to talk and finally began to squeak out a syllable, she was once again interrupted. This time she was stopped by Haze stepping out of the bus and softly speaking Sweet’s name. Sweet turned and looked at his friend who was packing his pipe with freshly seeded ammunition. Sweet flicked his diminished cigarette onto the ground a few feet in front of him and walked off with Haze to find dinner.
Cherry stood there with her mouth agape. She didn’t know if she wanted to punch Sweet or kiss him, but she was no closer to being his girlfriend than she had been before. This seemed to be how he operated. Every time he said something that sounded like he was interested in her, he countered it with something that dumped a big bucket of platonic all over it. Despite it all, she finally began to breathe easily because she still had her job. As much as she wanted Sweet all to herself, she wanted to stay in the MCB more.
Olivia appeared next to her out of nowhere. When Cherry noticed her, Olivia began to clap lightly. “Bravo, Cherry. Bravo. You’ve rid us all of an annoying parasite and managed to keep your job, all with the satisfaction of inducing Blueberry to bleed and cry. I’m genuinely impressed.”
“What kind of hippie are you? You seem to support breaking people’s noses and verbal warfare more than anyone else around here.”
Olivia laughed out of real amusement. “Just because I was raised on a commune does not mean I subscribe to every idea my parents do. Besides, I’m not the one who punched her in the face. I applaud your actions and take real satisfaction and benefit from them, all without having to actively participate in violent behavior. I’m living vicariously through your bruised knuckles.” She laughed again. “C’mon. Let’s go eat. I know exactly where you can find something Sweet.”
<3 Faren
“Err… um… H-hey, Dev?” Cherry was still trying to recover and comprehend what had just happened. She glanced around to see if anyone had witnessed it, half hoping no one had, half hoping Sweet had and was now irate and jealous.
Haze stood with eyes wide, cheeks puffed like a chipmunk full of a gulp of water he was unable to swallow out of shock of what he had just seen. Olivia strutted out from behind him sliding her hand along his stomach as she brought herself face-to-face with her stunned lover. She gently hit him in the stomach with the back of her hand and he looked down at her, mouth still full of water. She silently shook her head lightly as if to tell him to let it be. He swallowed the water roughly like it was shards of glass as she put her finger on his lips to silence him. Olivia took Haze by the hand and led him toward the back exit of the venue.
Dev put his hands on Cherry’s hips and bent down to her ear. “Just play along.” He whispered and kissed her on the neck. With much hesitance she wrapped her arms around his.
Just as Dev’s hands began to wander, Sweet prowled his way over to the embracing couple in his usual cat-like manner. “Oh. Hello, Dev. How’s the family? Your sister doing alright?”
Cherry could feel the anger rise inside him as Dev’s fingers began to clench at her body and he slowly pried himself away from her.
“She’s doing great, jackass. Oh! So’s the manager of the Fuzzy Walrus. He sends his love. He invited us back to play in October. Double the pay. Imagine that, Sweet! How much did you guys get paid when you played there? Ha! Oh. Shit. I’m sorry, I forgot. He turned your joke of a band out on its ass. My apologies.”
Sweet never stopped smirking his signature smirk, but Cherry could see Dev’s words had done their job for his jaw began to pulsate as he clenched his teeth behind his constantly cool face. Cherry didn’t blame Sweet for being upset by Dev’s comment. The MCB was her home, her family, and all she had, and she thought he had done a poor job of sticking with the plan by insulting the band she was a member of.
“Gee, Cher. Your taste in men is ever-improving. Time to say bye-bye. You and I need to talk. There’s a little matter of a swollen nose to discuss. You’ve become a regular trouble-maker lately, young lady.” Sweet wagged his finger back and forth disapprovingly.
Cherry’s expression turned from one of utter discomfort to one of absolutely panic. Sweet wasn’t jealous, he was disgusted and now they were going to talk about the Blueberry incident. She was now convinced her involvement with Dev had done nothing but up her chances of getting kicked out of the band.
“I’m looking forward to a big dinner, so I’ll skip voluntarily making myself sick and let you two lovebirds kiss goodbye in private. I’ll be on the bus. Oh, and Dev, send my love to your dear sister. Tell her I hope she found a way around that problem she was having last time I saw her. I know how embarrassed she was. I’d go into more detail, but I know how impolite it is to bedroom talk in public.” He winked at Dev and kissed the air before turning to leave.
As soon as Sweet had reached the back door, Cherry turned to Dev. He was still scowling at the door although his nemesis was no longer in sight. “I’m gonna kill him” he snarled.
“Dev, it’s not worth it.” Cherry stroked his arm.
His whole body seemed to relax as if he were coming out of a trance. Dev sighed and turned to Cherry. A smirk had replaced his rabid dog mouth and he began licking and biting his lip. “You’re right, Miss Magic. Whaddaya say we head back to your hotel room and make a little of our own? I mean, to further your dirty little plan, that is. Talk’s getting you nowhere. It’s time for a little… action.”
“I-I can’t. I’m sorry. You heard him. We have to talk. I’m sort of in trouble. I kind of broke someone’s face.”
“Really? You’re not as innocent as I thought! What a pleasant surprise. Well, next time, eh?”
“Oh. Yeah, of course.” She lied. Cherry wanted to be away from Dev as quickly as possible. Everything had blown up in her face and she needed to reassess the situation, but more than anything she needed to know where she and Sweet stood as far as her job was concerned.
Dev leaned in to kiss her but she turned her head, forcing his lips to barely hit her cheek. “Thanks for coming, Dev. Sorry things didn’t work out like you had planned.” She grabbed her trombone case and hurried to the bus, practically running.
When she got to the humming mammoth she called home, she stopped outside the door to catch her breath. She was finding it difficult because she could not stop hyperventilating thinking about how horrible the conversation she was about to have with Sweet was going to be. On a normal occasion she could barely work up the nerve to speak to him, but now she was going to have to beg his forgiveness and hope he would show some mercy and allow her to stay in the band. She wondered if he would ever speak to her or look at her the same again if he let her stay. She had frantically thought of every beg and plea she could come up with on the way to the bus. Right now, Sweet was not the tall, blonde boy she dreamed and drooled over every day; he was her boss. He was the savior in the back of the dingy club she had met as Cheryl Maige just a few short years ago.
She reached for the handle of the door, but it swung open before her. Cherry jumped backwards as a grunting, angry Blueberry fumbled down the steps with her bags in her arms. She had so much luggage in her arms that her face was almost completely covered, but Cherry could still make out the swollen purple lump that was her nose. She felt bad for hurting her, mostly selfishly out of fear of what consequence she was facing. She wanted to ask her if she could help her carry her bags to the other bus but she knew it would only lead to more trouble. As she missed the bottom step, she fell on her knees in the gravel, landing on her pile of bags. The usually intoxicating girl that Blueberry was had been replaced by some feral beast. Instead of words she only made horrible noises. She began grunting again, brushing the tiny pieces of rock off of her hands and trying to gather her bags. She spotted Cherry’s shoe out of the corner of her eye and looked up. She let out one horrible scream, equivalent to a dying beast and several members of the band came running to her aid. Spotting Cherry, they grabbed Blueberry’s bags and helped her to her feet and to her usual bus.
Sweet stepped out of the bus in slow motion, his hands cupped close to his face attempting to light a cigarette with a stubborn lighter. Failing, he held the fireless stick between his lips and pitched the lighter across the parking lot, squinting his eyes as he zeroed in on where it landed in the dim glow of the street lamps. He let out one of his chesty-laughs and fumbled in his pocket for a book of matches. Walking over to Cherry, he struck the match on her trombone case as its head burst into a small flame that raced toward his thumb and index finger as the tip of his cigarette finally began to glow and he took a long, satisfying drag.
Cherry tried to figure out what to say first as Sweet silently stared at his feet, kicking gravel around and flicking ashes to the ground.
“Stop punching my backup singers, Cherry. You’ve gotta decide where you want your career to go.”
She knew he was about to tell her that he wasn’t sure if she should stay. She opened her mouth to beg him to let her keep her place but he interrupted her.
“I mean, do you want play in my band… or do you want to be a professional boxer? I am not sure you’d like the uniforms. And I don’t think your pigtails would fit under the headgear.” He spoke in a manner that reminded her of Haze when he’s high as he flicked one of her pink ponytails.
Cherry thought her lungs were going to collapse. That was it? He wasn’t mad? Just what sounded like an herb-induced joke? She was relieved and confused, and continued to hold her tongue.
“She’s quitting, y’know? She thinks I-” he took another drag of his cigarette and blew the rest of the words out with the smoke “She thinks I like you better.” Cherry’s knees began to quake. “I guess she’s probably right.” Her head began to spin and swim with more thoughts than she could even account for. “I mean, Blueberry’s easy to replace. I’ve got a dozen backup singers. And there are plenty more girls out there with average voices who want to sleep with me who are willing to throw on a blue miniskirt and call themselves by some silly name. But you, Cherry… you’re like one of the boys. There are few people in this band I’d actually consider a friend, and you’re getting there. But stop punching my backup singers. I’m liable to get sued and then I’ll force you stop hiding behind that suit of armor you call an instrument and shake your stuff with the other bimbos in the band.”
She was stunned. She didn’t really know what to feel. She was simultaneously relieved and disappointed and grateful. She still wanted to apologize for being such a jerk and hitting Blueberry and causing him to lose one of his backup singers, even if he thought they were replaceable and even though she now truly didn’t regret hitting her in the least. As she remembered how to talk and finally began to squeak out a syllable, she was once again interrupted. This time she was stopped by Haze stepping out of the bus and softly speaking Sweet’s name. Sweet turned and looked at his friend who was packing his pipe with freshly seeded ammunition. Sweet flicked his diminished cigarette onto the ground a few feet in front of him and walked off with Haze to find dinner.
Cherry stood there with her mouth agape. She didn’t know if she wanted to punch Sweet or kiss him, but she was no closer to being his girlfriend than she had been before. This seemed to be how he operated. Every time he said something that sounded like he was interested in her, he countered it with something that dumped a big bucket of platonic all over it. Despite it all, she finally began to breathe easily because she still had her job. As much as she wanted Sweet all to herself, she wanted to stay in the MCB more.
Olivia appeared next to her out of nowhere. When Cherry noticed her, Olivia began to clap lightly. “Bravo, Cherry. Bravo. You’ve rid us all of an annoying parasite and managed to keep your job, all with the satisfaction of inducing Blueberry to bleed and cry. I’m genuinely impressed.”
“What kind of hippie are you? You seem to support breaking people’s noses and verbal warfare more than anyone else around here.”
Olivia laughed out of real amusement. “Just because I was raised on a commune does not mean I subscribe to every idea my parents do. Besides, I’m not the one who punched her in the face. I applaud your actions and take real satisfaction and benefit from them, all without having to actively participate in violent behavior. I’m living vicariously through your bruised knuckles.” She laughed again. “C’mon. Let’s go eat. I know exactly where you can find something Sweet.”