For The Least Of These (7 page)

He was trying to be charming. I was nauseated. “Actually, I do like brandy on occasion, but I prefer white Russians – on ice, please.” This last part was directed at the bartender who had finally arrived.

After the bartender fixed my drink, I wondered if
– no, prayed that – Fisher would walk away, but he lead me to an empty table and pulled out a seat for me. He was definitely on his best behavior. Then he took the seat beside me. “So, who invited you to the party?” he asked. “Or more to the point, who is your date tonight?”

“I don’t have a date.” Darn, why did I say that? “My friend and I were invited by one of the roadies, Skylar. I’m here to meet Rick Hartwood.”

“Skylar told you he was a roadie?” he remarked with a laugh. His tone had changed, I thought, and I feared that the demon from the night before had returned.

“He’s not a roadie?” I asked nervously. “Why would he lie about that?”

“I’m sure he wanted to impress you and your friend so you two would show up. This party isn’t about Rick Hartwood. It’s Skylar’s party. Last time he was in town, he made quite a few friends, so he decided to throw a party for us.”

“So, he doesn’t even know Rick Hartwood. I should have known. But I wonder where he got those concert tickets.”

“Oh, he knows Rick Hartwood. His brother plays drums in the band. But Rick isn’t too fond of Skylar. And the concert tickets – Skylar always manages to get a few so that he can pass them out to friends or people he thinks he might like to impress.”

So Dylan Sims was Skylar’s brother. Dylan had been with Rick since the beginning. “Why is Skylar here if he doesn’t work for the band? Is he traveling with his brother?” I asked.

“Yeah, Skylar always tags along with Dylan. Dylan feels that he needs to take care of his baby brother.”

Just then, Alicia showed up. “Hey, Brand. Who’s your new friend?”

“Alicia, this is Fisher.” I noticed Skylar was not with Alicia, but I felt certain he would turn up momentarily.

“Hello, Fisher
– is that your first or last name? Either way, it’s nice to meet you.” I could tell from Alicia’s demeanor that she hadn’t recognized Fisher.

“So, you’re here with Skylar? He and I are pretty good friends.”

“Well, I wouldn’t brag about that if I were you,” Alicia said.

“Why is that?” Fisher asked.

“He’s a jerk. I just told him to take a short walk off a long bridge.” Alicia wasn’t even aware that she’d gotten the adage backwards – she wouldn’t have cared anyway.

Fisher was amused. Apparently, he was easily amused. It was time to forget about him and this party and get back to my search for Rick. Perhaps Fisher could tell me where to find him. Just then, it occurred to me that Alicia had dumped Skylar and I had to wonder why. She usually stuck with one of “her men” at least long enough for a visit to her bedroom.

“You discarded Skylar? What did he do to deserve that?” I asked.

“He called you a sick elephant or something like that. I know you’re a little overweight, but no one is going to call my friend any kind of elephant,” she replied affectionately. It was enough to make me feel tons of remorse for all the ill thoug
hts I’d ever had about Alicia, even if she had misunderstood Skylar.

“He meant sycophant, I believe,” I corrected her, but in the kindest tone I could find. “I doubt he really understood what it means. He’s using it to call me a fanatic, but it usually means a self-seeking flatterer. Similar, but not the same.”

“No, he used it correctly, if that’s what it means. He said you were kissing up to everyone here so someone would introduce you to Rick.”

My blood was starting to boil. “Why that rude, ignorant, big-mouthed, jackass! He doesn’t even know me, and he had no right making an assumption like that! What a hateful thing for him to say.”

“Well, he probably got the idea from me. I told him you would stop at nothing to meet Rick. Like coming to this party only because Rick was supposed to be here – and by the way, he isn’t. If I’d realized that Skylar wasn’t calling you an elephant, I might not have dumped him so quickly. I mean, it isn’t above you to get to Rick through any means. You did follow Rick’s tour buses all the way from Pensacola…”

By now, I knew my face was blood red. Alicia had succeeded in making me angry and in embarrassing me
– all in front of a stranger. A stranger who seemed to know a lot about Rick and his band. A stranger that might have been able to get me close to Rick. Oh my gosh! Maybe I was a sycophant! It was beginning to look that way even to me.

“Why don’t you go make up with Skylar,” Fisher was saying. “Then maybe the four of us can go back to my place. I have a nice motel room with a view of the beach. I’d love to show it to you.”

Well, there it was. The true Fisher was finally here. We had to get away from him and Skylar.

“Fisher, I think you’ve misunderstood. I’m not interested in seeing your room. In fact, I’m not interested in you at all.” I then turned to Alicia and said, “Let’s get out of here. Skylar lied
– Rick is not going to be at this party.”

“I know you came for Rick, Brandy. But I came to be with Skylar. I need to talk to him and work this out.”

“Okay, talk to him. But then let’s go.”

Fisher grabbed me by the elbow, “What do you mean you aren’t interested in me? You seemed pretty interested a few minutes ago.”

“That was before I realized that you were the skuzzy delinquent that I saw last night at the Rest Inn. I lost thirty dollars on that room because of you. Now let go of my elbow if you want to take your hand home with you tonight.”

Fisher released me, and I followed Alicia, stopping a few steps away from where Skylar was standing. Alicia and Skylar spoke for several moments then she came over to me.

“Brandy,” she said in an excited voice, “Skylar just told me something very interesting. He’s driving one of his friend’s trucks so he can go pick up his brother. Oh, I forgot to tell you that Skylar’s brother is…”

“Dylan Sims
– the drummer in Rick’s band,” I inserted.

“
Yeah, that’s right. Well, anyway, it seems that Rick and the band are rehearsing tonight for tomorrow’s show. Skylar said we could go with him to pick Dylan up and maybe you can see Rick – or even meet him.”

I hesitated. I didn’t trust Skylar
– especially since he was close friends with Fisher. “I…I think we’d better pass, Alicia. I do have the tickets, so I’ll see Rick tomorrow night…”

“Oh, stop being such a fuddy-duddy. We can take Sam and follow Skylar. We don’t have to ride with him since it makes you so uneasy. What in the world ever happened to the Brandy that I used to know? She never hesitated if she thought a cute guy was involved. Boy, have you changed!”

Alicia was right. At one time, I would have jumped in the car with anyone if they promised to introduce me to “a cute guy”. But I had changed. I was now old enough to realize how stupid I had been back then. I considered it lucky that I’d never rode away with a serial killer or a rapist. I had been a reckless teenager, but now I had to be more cautious – if not to save me, to save Alicia. Still, if we were going to drive Sam, I felt that the risk was worth taking. “Okay, if we can drive Sam.”

Alicia, Skylar, and I traveled together through the Isle of Capri. I had thought earlier that I would like to go inside to the gaming floor, but now I was more than ready to leave and go see Rick.

Outside, I gave my ticket to the valet and he soon brought Sam back to me. Skylar was still waiting for his vehicle, so he walked over as Alicia and I got inside. “This car looks very familiar,” he said.

Alicia piped up, “It should. It followed you all the way from Pensacola.”

I thought, if I kill her right now, a sympathetic jury would deem it justifiable homicide.

Skylar’s eyes lit up. “
Crap! This is that car! Damn, I can’t take you to get Dylan if you’re driving that. They’d probably call the cops. Everyone on my bus thought you were stalking us or something.”

I wasn’t sure if Skylar was kidding or not, but he was starting to worry me.

“Brandy,” Alicia began, “you heard what Skylar said. We’ll have to ride with him if we want to meet Rick. I don’t want to get arrested, do you?”

I wanted to scream, “Of course I do. I can think of no better way to end this miserable day than in a jail cell.” Instead, I just said, “No.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Skylar was saying. “Why don’t I follow you back to the hotel? Then you can leave your car there and ride with me.”

Alicia figured that she could read my mind, so she quickly said, “Let us think about it on the way to the Richland. Meet us over there, Skylar.”

“Okay. I’ll be there shortly.”

Once in the car, Alicia started pleading her case. “Brandy, just give him a chance. He’s not crazy or anything. I know he won’t kill us. And if he does, you never have to speak to me again.” Alicia’s logic was
infallible. “Come on, Brandy. I mean, we know his name. If something happens, we can get the police to arrest him.”

“It’ll be hard to tell the police his name if we’re dead, Alicia. But okay. I’ll do it. This trip has been one disaster after another, and the only possible good thing that could happen is that I might meet Rick tonight. I can’t give up that opportunity. I know, I know…it will never turn out the way I want it to. Rick has probably already left or something. But I can’t go home knowing that I didn’t try every possible way to meet him. This is probably my last hope.”

“All right! Now that’s the Brandy I know!”

Skylar pulled into the Richland parking lot shortly after we did. He was driving a powder blue 1990 Ford Ranger with a super cab. I didn’t know that much about trucks, but it looked a little snug for three people to fit into. Still, I remained optimistic. I handed Alicia the keys to Sam. “I don’t have anywhere to keep these. This dress doesn’t have pockets.” Alicia took them and placed them in her purse where she was already carrying my wallet. We headed over to the truck.

“I’ll sit in the backseat,” Alicia offered. “It might be a tad snug for you, Brand.”

Gee, thanks, I thought. But I didn’t argue either. The “backseat”, as Alicia referred to it, was little more than a storage area. It certainly didn’t qualify as a seat of any kind.

Alicia got in on Skylar’s side, so I sat down in the front passenger’s seat. We drove along at a moderate pace, and I became lost in my thoughts of Rick. The truck jerked to a halt and I was a little surprised that we’d arrived so soon. I noticed that we were sitting in a parking lot in front of a bank.

“I need to run up to the ATM,” Skylar said. “It’ll only take a minute.”

Alicia had slid over to my side of the truck. “Brandy, can you let me out for a minute? My legs are really cramping up back here, and I can’t get Skylar’s seat to go up with the door closed.”

I opened the door, flipped the latch on the seat, and helped Alicia crawl out. She seemed to be in pain, and I began to feel sorry for her. “Why don’t we switch places for the rest of the ride?” I suggested.

“No, no. That’s okay. I’ll be fine.”

“I really don’t mind, Alicia. In fact, I would have gotten back there from the beginning, but you insisted.”

“I said I would be fine. Let me get back in.”

Skylar had returned to the truck and was getting in, so I gave Alicia my hand and helped her back inside. I went to put the passenger seat back, but it wouldn’t lock into place. I sat on the seat and tried to force it, but it felt as if something was blocking the latch.

“Alicia, see if there is something under the seat that is keeping it from locking,” I said.

Alicia leaned over, but it was clear that she didn’t have enough room to see up under the seat. “I don’t see anything. Push it again.”

“No, I don’t want to break something. Feel up under there with your hand.”

Skylar leaned over from his seat and said, “Here, let me do it. Sometimes it just won’t catch.”

He took a firm hold on the back of the seat and used all of his strength to snap it into place. Underneath me, I heard a sound that reminded me of opening a carbonated soda can. Then the loud hissing noise began.

I jumped out of the seat and back into the parking lot. I had planned to jerk the seat up and find what was causing the noise, but that became completely unnecessary. Red paint was already spewing out the front and side of the seat
– most of it splattering on my face, hair, and dress.

Somehow I remained calm. After several tugs and a face full of paint, I finally got the latch on the seat to open, and I pulled the seat up. It was very difficult to see because my glasses were almost completely covered by the paint, but I saw enough to grab the punctured spray paint can and jerk it out of the truck. Alicia reached up and slammed the truck door
– ostensibly to prevent any further damage to the truck’s interior. Now the paint hissed and spewed all over the outside of the truck as I desperately searched for a place to throw the violently secreting container. It was difficult for me to see, but I finally spotted a trashcan two parking spots away from me. I ran over and tossed the hissing can into it. The can only sputtered now as the last bit of paint found its way out.