Howie
“Howie! Call Georgianna!”
I sighed at the first words from my mother’s mouth. This was the way things had been going lately - come home from being out with Jessica, call George. Come home from being out with Georgie, call Jessie. It got a little crazy. I went up to use my extension and hit speed dial.
“Hello?” she answered wearily.
“Hey there.”
“Oh thank God,” she sighed.
“What’s the matter?”
“Are you busy?”
I was tired, but not busy. “No, why?”
“Come pick me up, we’ll talk then,” she told me.
“OK,” I said uncertainly. “You sure you’re all right?”
“Frustrated, but yeah, I’ll be all right. Just hurry.”
“OK,” I repeated. Damn. I had really been looking forward to resting for awhile. After changing clothes I was back out the door and in the car. I wondered just what it was that had George so upset, then suddenly a fear hit me out of nowhere. What if she had somehow found out about Jessie and I? It wasn’t at all far-fetched. None of our friends really knew we were back together, but that didn’t mean that someone couldn’t have seen us and mentioned something to her. My heart started to pound some. God I was so paranoid! George wouldn’t have wanted to see me right away had that been the case. I hoped.
I didn’t even have to go up to the door at George’s - as soon as I pulled up she was out like a shot, running to the car and plopping into the seat. “Hey, wha-”
“Drive,” she ordered. I didn’t ask questions, just took off. It was quiet for a few minutes.
“Anywhere in particular I’m headed?”
“Somewhere with coffee’d be good.”
“All right.” I managed to make it to Denny’s in record time, so eager to know what was going on that it was only fear of another ticket that kept me from going even faster. Once we were seated I watched her, not wanting to push but hoping desperately she’d speak up soon. “So what was with the getaway, Bonnie?” I finally asked. She rolled her eyes.
“My parents were driving me absolutely nuts,” she sighed. I nodded, disappointed. That was it?
“That sucks. What were they getting on your case about?”
“Oh, a million different things. First I forgot to tell them Mark called, and he was calling about his car, which Dad was supposed to go give him a hand with, but because I forgot he’s all pissy, so my dad got pissy. Then my mom was angry that I didn’t come out and help her with groceries, but dude, I was upstairs with my headphones on, I didn’t hear her...” She kept going on and on and I kind of zoned out, just nodding occasionally and thinking about what to order. “...and then the fact that I’m not going back to school after all that? I was stupid to even bring it up tonight.”
I was still nodding, but then the last words registered. “Wait, wait - what was that last part?” I questioned quickly.
“I was stupid to even bring it up tonight?”
“Bring what up?”
She gave me a teasing look. “Thanks so much for paying attention.”
“George...did you say you...” I couldn’t honestly believe it. George smothered a smile.
“Aren’t going back to school?” she clarified. I just nodded. “Yeah. That’s what I said.”
I was frozen. There she was, saying the words I had hoped she’d say all summer. It was too good to be true. “You- you really aren’t?”
“No.”
“Oh my God.” I shook my head, then grinned. “What are you going to do...like, instead?”
She shrugged. “Central Florida will accept almost all my credits from Ball State.”
“You’ve already looked into this?”
“Yes...”
I peered at her. “How long have you known you were going to do this?”
“I don’t know.” She looked down and started picking at the table. “I guess I’ve been thinking about it for a couple weeks subconsciously, then really started debating it a week or two ago. By Tuesday I was decided.” She looked up again, right into my eyes. Tuesday was the night she had been sick, that we had just laid there together...it was the night that I couldn’t completely wipe from the slate. It bothered me, more than a little, that I couldn’t just forget that night like I had all the others. Every time I thought about it I felt so calm and subdued that it was almost eerie. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one it had had an effect on. I felt my smile widen to the point it hurt and Georgie followed suit.
“I can’t believe it,” I mused, leaning over and hugging her tightly.
“Yeah, well, neither can Mom and Dad,” she said into my shoulder.
“I can imagine. Are they ready to kill you?”
George sat back again. “I’m not sure about kill. I think the fact that I already had a game plan saved my life, but the beating they looked like they were ready to issue was severe. Mom couldn’t understand why I’d want to change schools now and gave me a million reasons why I shouldn’t. My dad just kept looking at me and shaking his head, muttering, ‘Jesus Christ, Georgianna’.” She sighed again. “It’s gonna suck around there for awhile.”
“I can imagine.” It was hard to be so sober when everything inside of me was elated. Georgie shook her head and looked up at me with a smile.
“But what are you gonna do, right?”
I nodded happily. “Absolutely.” I snagged the dessert menu from the middle of the table. “Let’s celebrate.”
******
“Howie! You have a message!”
“What is this?” I muttered, then called, “Jessica?”
“No,” Pollyanna piped in. “Some guy about an audition, it’s written down in the kitchen.” I trudged to the kitchen and scanned the notepad:
H-
Lou Pearlman (???) called re: an audition you did, call him back asap!
“Polly, did this guy say when was too late to call?”
“No - matter of fact he gave me the impression that you should call him the second you got in,” she answered.
“Who’s Lou?” I wondered aloud, then tore the page from the pad and took it upstairs.
“Howie, you ever gonna be off that phone?” John called.
“You ever gonna go home?” I asked in response. I heard Polly laugh as I reached my room. I had no idea who this guy was or what audition he was calling about. It had actually been quite awhile since I’d gone on any auditions. With a deep breath I called the number Polly had written down.
“Hello?” a man answered on the third ring.
“Hi, I’m looking for Lou Pearlman please.”
“Speaking. Who’s this?”
“Oh, hi, this is Howard Dorough, I got the message that you-”
“Howard!” he cut me off happily, then laughed. “Or should I say Tony?”
“Pardon? Oh,” I said, embarrassed, then laughed. “Tony Dinetti.”
“You certainly are a hard one to track down with that name, son. I suggest using Howard from now on. Well, maybe Howie.”
That’s what I had thought all along, but I had been roped into marketing myself under that stupid name for awhile. “I think you’re right.”
“Yes...like I said, you’re a hard one to track down. We almost gave up.”
“Really?” I had no idea what he was talking about but I decided to play along anyway.
“Yes, we’ve been looking for you for a few months now, but under the name Tony Dinetti.” There was a pause. “Do you know who I am?”
“Honestly? Ah...no.”
He laughed again. “That’s understandable. A few months ago you tried out for a five-man vocal group out at-”
“Yes! Yes I remember now,” I interrupted, feeling a tiny flicker building.
“Good. Well, I won’t mince words, Howie - may I call you Howie?”
“Sure, yeah.”
“We liked you. We liked you a lot. We liked you so much that, like I said, we didn’t want to give up on finding you. I wanted to know if...well, first of all, is this still a project you’d be interested in?”
Singing hadn’t been what I thought I’d end up in, but as of right now it sounded great. “Yes, I’m definitely still interested.”
“Good. What we wanted to know was if we could see you again - talk, get reacquainted, hear you, that sort of thing. Are you free at all this week?”
‘I am now!’ I almost said. “Sure, when would you like to see me?”
He and I arranged a time and place. “I’m really glad we got reconnected, Howie. We’re hoping this’ll be a project that’ll take off.”
“Well...I do too!” I wanted to take it back, it was so dorky, but it was too late. Lou laughed again.
We said our goodbyes and hung up. I was dazed. Two shocks in one night. This guy had been looking for me for months? That had to be good. After all this time, had I actually hit gold? I didn’t give it much more thought, just dashed back down the stairs. “Mom! Dad! Check this out!”
Chapter 10
