Chapter
2:
It Takes a Lot to Know What is Love
Later on that week
I found myself spending the afternoon at Alex's house with he and his mom,
Denise. The rest of the guys were there,
too. Alex had insisted that all of us
come over so we could put in some rehearsal time and then stay for dinner.
Nick was the only
other person, besides me, who thought this was a good idea.
The only other
person's house Nicky had been to (from the group) was Brian's and that was only
once. Kevin’s mouth was pressed into a
thin line. He told me earlier he felt
like we were constantly working around Alex and what would work for him. So, Kev was basically an angry-looking
lump. Brian just chewed his nails,
looking uncomfortable to be in a house he'd never been in before.
A lot of Brian's
insecurities came from his childhood. I
heard it from Alex, and Alex had heard the story from Nick and Nick had heard
from Kevin. Anyway. Brian was born with a heart problem, and even
though it's a real little one, it affected him a lot. See, he has this small hole in his heart, and
I don't really know all the details, but when he was five he was put in the
hospital because he got some staph infection and almost died from it. Took him a long time to come back from, and
even though he's fine his family likes taking care of him a lot, especially
Kevin. I think deep down, Bri really
wants to be treated normal, but at the same time he's scared that something
might happen, because the hole was never fixed.
Alex had left us
three older guys in the kitchen with his mom, who was busy cooking an
awesome-looking homemade pizza while he took Nicky to the Nintendo.
Kevin stood
against one wall, arms crossed, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. Brian's face told the same story, but instead
of being indifferent, he looked scared out of his mind. Worse, he kept calling Denise
"ma'am."
Now I know he was
brought up in a Christian home in the South, but did he have to call EVERY
woman that? I'd spent so much time
around Denise she seemed like my own mother, and Brian's name for her was just
WEIRD. She tried to be cool and sweet
about it, but I could tell it made her uneasy.
I knew she was fairly loose with Alex.
Not like she didn't teach him manners, she did. But I think there's almost a cultural
difference depending on the part of the country you were raised in. Let's just say it made casual conversation
difficult.
"Can I set
the table, ma'am?" Grrr.
"No, sweetie,
it's fine. Why don't you go play
Nintendo with Alex and Nick?"
Oh and I
forgot. Any person in Denise's house
who's younger than she is-well, their name is automatically
"sweetie."
I breathed a sigh
of relief as Brian exited the kitchen, and turned my attention to Kevin. He still looked upset. I was pretty sure this had a lot to do with
the fact that Alex had announced that since practice was held in his house, he
would be the one conducting it. (He's
still kinda immature.) Alex's idea of
leading rehearsal went something like, "One, two, three, go!" and
then pointing at us. He had done a fair
job, but there was also Brian's added nervousness and Nick's antics to put up
with. I knew that since Kevin was in
Denise's house, he wouldn't dare comment about her son, but the minute he left
. . . Let's just say I'm glad I took my
own car.
Once the food was
on the table Denise hollered that it was time to eat. As expected, Brian appeared in the next
second, but Nick and Alex were still downstairs and it took three more yells
from Denise and Kevin actually going down there, for them to get upstairs.
"So, sweetie
how was practice?" Denise asked.
The sweetie in question was Alex this time, in case you're wondering.
"Good," Alex
said, mouth full.
"Thanks,
Denise, this is awesome!" Nick cut in, staring at the pizza with wide
eyes.
"Oh, no
problem, sweetie! I love the
company. Anytime you feel like it, just
stop in. Our door is always open. What game were you playing?" she asked,
referring to the video game.
"It was Super
Mario 3," Alex butt in, "And I won, right Nick?" he smirked.
"NO!"
Nick whined. "Denise! Alex cheated!
I said no secret keys in this game and he just kept finding them!"
"Hey, if
they're in there," Alex ventured.
"Alex,
cheaters suck!" I informed him.
This comment,
apparently, was hilariously funny and both Alex and his mom laughed
hysterically for the better part of a minute.
"What?"
I asked.
"You
said- Y-you said 'suck!'" Alex
managed, between gasps. "Too much
time with me-" he finished amidst his fit of giggling.
Okay, I admit
it. I'm not known for obscene
vocabulary, or any word that may have the potential to hurt someone's
feelings. Even though it slips out
frequently in my thoughts, I rarely let any of it past that point. However, I didn't think my use of the word
'suck' was cause for Alex to be rolling.
Yes, he was out of his chair and rolling on the ground. I could see tears coming out the corners of
his eyes. Denise was doubled over and
Nick was trying to hide a snicker, Brian patted my back roughly and
grinned. Kevin just stared.
Hey, anything to
lighten the mood. And that it definitely
did. After everybody had gathered
themselves, Brian seemed less apprehensive, and Kevin less stoic, though he
tried not to show it. Denise wanted a
"performance" from us before we left, and so we did a huddle and then
started the song, using Brian's timid voice as a pitch pipe.
We did pretty
well, even though Nicky's voice was failing him at practically every turn. I watched silently as Alex took up Nick's
part along with him, to make him more comfortable about his sound. That was cool of him.
Nick had to be
home by 9:00 p.m. so Kevin and Brian took him as soon as our
"concert" was done. I hung
around a while longer with Alex. Denise
didn't mind. She even told me I could
stay the night if I wanted.
I was in the
middle of observing Alex's massive collection of strange hats, when he
interrupted my gawking with a question, "Hey, Howie? Why doesn't Kevin like me, ya think?" he
asked the question casually, but I knew it had been bothering him for a while.
"Jay, Kev's
just stressed out right now. You guys
just have different ideas about how to get the same thing done. Everyone clashes sometimes, bud. He likes you, though. Everybody likes you," I finished with a
grin.
Deep down, I knew
Alex really felt he needed to please people, no matter how mean they
acted. Even though he seemed very
confident on the outside, inside. Jay
was a real nervous guy, who wanted to be liked by everybody. And I really did believe the last part of my
statement was true. I honestly didn't
know anybody who didn't like Alex. He
had a fiery personality on the outside but cared very deeply for people, and
was always putting them before himself, even strangers. Alex and me had been best friends for ten
years because of that and I loved him as a brother. Reaching over, I gave him a hug.
***
