Chapter 7:
First Mission… Part 4
I watched
Patty danced happily in the Budweiser Events Center’s parking lot. She was very
excited when we left Kansas six hours ago. I smiled a bit when she stopped
dancing and looked at me.
“It’s so good to be home, Nicky.” There was a
mixture of excitement and sadness in her eyes.
I find it funny that I felt the same things. A
part of me was excited and eager to get this over with, and yet a part of me
was not ready to let go of Patty. It had been two wonderful days with this
special girl, and me not touching my video games for more than 48 hours was
enough proof that I enjoyed Patty’s company.
“Are you sure you don’t want to watch tonight’s
show?” I asked after making sure no one was around “We could deal with your Mom
tomorrow morning, we are set to leave Colorado in the afternoon.”
I was hoping she would at least consider my offer;
I would love to see her in the audience tonight.
“That’s a very tempting offer, Mr. Carter, but I
think I’d pass.” She waved her hand at me.
“Really? I thought our fans loves to see more than
one show, I even heard some fans would drive six to eight hours just to see
us.”
“And some fans would even make an impulsive
decision to get into the plane, without telling any of her family and friends,
to see you in another state just because she wouldn’t be able to see you
perform on her own state. Sounds familiar?” She asked me with a smirk on her
face.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”
“I’ve already seen your show twice, and you know
how much I enjoyed the show last night.” She had a playful grin on her lips,
and it made me laughed.
Patty was an amazing audience last night. She was
having too much fun dancing, screaming and singing along to all our songs; even
the new songs from the Never Gone album. And leave it to me to smile, wink and
waved at my ghost audience; it was a good thing fans beside her thought I was
doing it for them.
“Yo, AJ!” I called out when I saw him getting off
his tour bus. Patty and I walked over to him.
“I hate it when you beat me to the venue.” He
answered while putting on his sunglasses.
“Listen, man, I need a favour. I just have to do
something important, do you think you can cover for me? I promise to be back
before the sound check party.” I knew puppy dog’s eyes never worked for AJ but
I had to try.
“Gotta go sightseeing with your invisible
girlfriend?” He chuckled.
I smiled when I heard the joke Brian started. My
best friend speculated that I was hiding a girlfriend in my tour bus because I
spent every free time I get in the bus. Then my driver had to butt in and told
the guys I was laughing and talking for six hours straight while we travel from
Minnesota to Kansas. Patty was laughing so hard behind AJ.
“Whatever,” I replied still smiling “So, you think
you can do it?”
“Does saying I don’t know when Kevin asks me
sounds good to you?”
“Sounds fine.” I laughed softly “See you later,
man.”
“Thanks, AJ. It’s nice meeting you.” Patty
whispered to AJ’s ears. I stifled a laugh when AJ shivered, and had a ‘What the
fuck?’ look on his face. I was pretty sure he felt Patty’s presence. I turned
around and started walking towards the parking lot entrance.
“Too bad I won’t get to say goodbye to Howie.”
I was ready to reply with a smartass comment, but
chose to gave her are-you-serious? Kind of look instead when I saw Dianne
waiting for us in the parking entrance. Dianne was one of our make-up
artist/stylist for the Never Gone tour and she lives in Colorado. I asked her
if I could borrow her car for the day.
“Hey, Dianne.” I gave her a goofy grin
“Hey, Nick,” She replied casually and pointed at
the red car behind her “This is my sister’s car so please take good care of
it.” She handed me the key.
“Thanks, Dianne, you really are the best. And I
will take very good care of this baby, don’t you worry.” I said while sliding
my hand into the car’s hood.
She laughed “I am not worried at all, Nick, this
one is cheap and you can easily replace this if something bad happens while
it’s under your care.”
“Thanks again, Dianne.” I tapped her shoulder and
made my way into the driver’s seat.
“Be back before sound check, Nick, and if ever
you’d be caught tell Kevin I had nothing to do with your get away car.” She
waved before walking back to her tour bus.
“What’s your address again?, and I need
directions, baby.”
“Purdue Drive, Longmont, Colorado.” Patty simply
replied while nodding her head, which I hope meant she’d help me with the
directions.
“It’s not a long drive, is it?” I wasn’t in the
mood to drive for more than an hour. My nervousness was killing me.
“It usually takes 45 minutes, but I can do it in
30.”
“If only you could drive, Woman, I’d gladly switch
places with you.”
Patty was unusually quiet, and she’d only speak if
she had to give out some directions. It made me concentrate on my driving more,
but the silence was killing me. My heart was racing too fast that I bet no
nurse would accurately count my pulse rate.
“That’s our house.”
Patty pointed to a white cottage bungalow house on
our left. I pulled up on the side of the road. I stared at the house for a
while before getting out of the car. It was small but a very beautiful house; I
loved the landscaping on the garden and the adorable front porch. Something
about the house screamed home, a feeling I never get in any of my houses.
“Are you ready?” Patty asked me with a concern
look.
“I’ll never be ready for this.” I whispered back.
She nodded and sat on one of the wooden chairs in
the porch “Take your time.”
I stood there for two minutes or so trying to find
the courage to knock on the door. Patty was patiently waiting for me, but the
eagerness to see her mother was written all over her face. I took a deep breath
and knocked twice.
A woman in her late 40s opened the door. She had
dark brown hair and brown eyes just like Patty. She gave me a surprised look.
“Oh it’s you.” She said as if she was expecting me
“You know me, Ma’am?” I asked nervously, hoping
she had some psychic power and she already knew the reason why I was there.
“Of course,” She smiled warmly “Your pictures are
all over my daughter’s room. You’re a member of that famous group, right?”
“Yes. I’m Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys.” I
held out my hand and she gladly accepted it.
“Barbara Jasperson. Oh yes, that’s you. If my
daughter’s here, she’d freak out knowing you are in our house.” She was still
smiling but I could clearly see the sadness in her eyes.
I threw a sideway glance at Patty, and she had the
same facial expression.
“Forgive my manners, Nick, please come in.”
Patty’s mom opened the door widely and motioned for me to come in.
“Howie’s girl, huh?” I whispered to Patty as we
entered the house “I would love to see your room, girl.” Patty just rolled her
eyes.
“What did you say?” Patty’s mom turned around and
asked me
“Oh, nothing.” I quickly answered “No, actually I
was asking about your daughter .” I added when I thought it was the best time
to initiate the conversation about Patty.
“Patricia.” She said smiling and motioned for me
to
sit down “Patty is a big fan of yours.”
“Where is she now?”
She hesitated for a moment, and I was glad she
chose to open up “She went missing four years ago. She had an early shift in
the diner she was working for, and her co-workers said she was in a hurry to go
home when her shift ended. But she didn’t go home that day, and I never saw her
ever since. Would you like something to drink, Nick?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
“Police did everything they could to find her, but
for me their efforts wasn’t enough. Patty’s co-workers said that she might have
run away with her boyfriend but I never believed them. I couldn’t believe them,
Nick, because Patty is not that kind of girl. She didn’t even have a boyfriend
that time.”
Patty’s mom took a deep breath, then let out a
deep sigh “Do you know what kept me alive and sane for four years, Nick? “ She
smiled a bit when I shook my head “I just think that Patty went to New York to
pursue her dream of being a famous designer, and because of her pride she
wouldn’t contact me until she becomes successful. I believe that one day she
would call me or knock at our door and say hey, mom I made it.” She wiped her tears
with the back of her hand.
I looked at Patty, she was so sad while staring
and listening to her mom. She would have been crying if only she still had
tears. She gave me a small smile and nodded; I took that as my cue to start
talking.
“Mrs. Jasperson, did it ever cross your mind that
Patty might be.....” I trailed off; I couldn’t bring myself to say the word.
“Dead?” I was shocked she said the word I couldn’t
bring myself to say. “My mind tells me that everytime, but I am a mother and a
mother’s heart never loses hopes. I just want to know what happened to her,
Nick; I want to be out of this darkness.”
I took the piece of paper, where I wrote all the
information I got in Minnesota, from my pocket. I handed it to Patty’s mom, she
gave me a questioning look when she read the name of a hospital.
“I really don’t know how I am going to explain
everything to you. This will sound really crazy, and I am not sure if you’re
going to believe me. Patty went to Minnesota that day to see our concert. She
was devastated that her boss didn’t allow her to take a day off to see our show
here in Colorado. She made an impulsive decision of buying a concert ticket for
the Minneapolis show and booking a flight to Minnesota. She met an accident in
the Target Center. She was not identified because she didn’t have any
identification card with her that time. I know this might sound crazy for you,
and I am not forcing you to believe me, Ma’am.”
I took the two plane tickets to Minnesota from my
pocket and gave them to her “But at least please verify all the information
written there.”
Mrs. Jasperson stared at the piece of paper and
plane tickets I gave her. I sat beside her and pulled her into a hug when she
started to cry.
“How did you know?” She asked after crying for
like thirty minutes “Why do I feel like my baby’s here?”
***