“Guys, think anyone’s gunna show up tonight?”
“Don’t worry, doll,” James, the guitarist started. “Even if they don’t, we’re still gettin paid.”
“Yeah, I guess so...”
The old man that ran the place, Pa, stepped inside. “You folks ready?” A few nods. “I hope y’all know that there’s probably a hundred people out there.”
“Looks like some one likes us!” Zach, the drummer, laughed.
“Thanks, Pa,” Mary said, smiling. No one knew his name, he was just “Pa” to everyone.
People shuffled in. “Hey folks! You ready to rock!” Justin, the lead singer shouted into the microphone. The band laughed. The audience cheered.
And so began another night for The Dennisons at all ages night at Pa & Ma’s.
“Let’s do somethin tonight, guys,” Nick whined, impatiently bouncing his knee.
“Nick, this is our first night home, and you want to go out?” a sleepy Kevin asked.
After some coaxing and bribes, the group arrived in downtown Orlando.
“I was here a while ago, there was a really good band playing,” AJ said as they stood outside Pa & Ma’s.
The group filed into the club, paid Pa, and got drinks at Ma’s bar. Sipping their beers, they scouted for a place to sit. The Dennisons started their version, a punk/ska version, of “Walkin on Sunshine” when the group found a table and relaxed.
...
“Thanks everyone that showed up tonight. Don’t anyone leave yet, our trumpet gal is up next. Again, I’m Justin, and we’re The Dennisons!”
The band cleared the stage. James and Zach stayed behind to help Mary with her set. Mary pulled a bar stool onto the stage, set up her acoustic guitar, her violin, and adjusted the microphone. She picked up her guitar and sat down. Looking over the crowd, she said, “Hi folks, I’m Mary Goode, and y’all remember James and Zach. I’ve got some of the regular stuff tonight, and a few slow ones. Hopefully I’ll get through them all, I’m on call tonight. This one’s an old favorite, ‘Jesus Walkin on the Water’ by the Violent Femmes.” She played a chord and started. “Oh my, oh my, oh my, what he did was true, and oh my, oh my, oh my, tell me is it true?”
...
“Wow, she’s got a great voice,” Howie thought while the rest of his group chatted. He stared at Mary, wide-eyed as she finished the song.
...
“Hmm... now what?” she asked, putting the guitar down, and turning to James.
“Do the one with the fiddle.”
“All right...” She turned back to the audience. “Please forgive James, he wouldn’t know my kinda music if it bit him on the ass.” She laughed slightly and stood. She adjusted the microphone to standing height and picked up her violin. “The one with the fiddle, just for you, James... you better enjoy it.”
“Oh, you know I will.”
Mary rolled her eyes and tapped her foot. She played the first few chords. “The devil went down to Georgia, he was lookin for a soul to steal...”
...
'Damn, this girl does everything,' Howie thought.
“Yo, D, you alive?” AJ asked, waking Howie from his daze.
“Yeah, just listening.”
...
“Well, I say it’s time for a slow one... Hmm... well, this first one I heard on the radio the other day, and the second one is Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time.’” She turned to James and Zach. “The one I was singing all day yesterday, that drove y’all nuts?” Without waiting for an answer, she turned back to the crowd. She adjusted the
mic and sat down again. She sighed. “All right, this first one... well, I made a promise to a little girl, Sarah Dexter, she’s seven years old. She loves our home grown Backstreet Boys. Well... loved.” Mary sighed. “I promised her that I’d sing her this for her, I just hoped she’d be around to hear it... Sarah lost her battle with brain cancer this morning.” Mary took a deep breath. “Show me the meaning of being lonely...”
...
“Wow, she sings that better than we do,” Brian remarked. “And she doesn’t have four other people for a harmony, either.”
...
Mary finished the song and looked at the lights on the ceiling for a moment. She kissed her fingers. “I love you, Dex...” Just then, her beeper went off. “Oh damn, they know how to ruin a good time...” she mumbled. “I’m sorry folks, but I’m being summoned again. Enjoy the rest of your night.” She grabbed her guitar and violin and
headed off stage.
...
Howie excused himself from the table to try to find this girl, the girl with that voice, that smile. He ran outside just in time to see her pull away from the club.
The night went on and the group stayed at Pa & Ma’s. Howie tried to hide his disappointment, but it didn’t work too well. “Guys, I’m going to head home. See ya’s tomorrow.” He turned to walk out of the club just as it was getting rowdy. “Just in time,” he muttered under his breath. As soon as the thought escaped his mind, everything
went black.
Howie woke the next morning with a massive headache. He opened his eyes but was blinded by the well-lit room and closed them again. He squinted and noticed the figure of a person standing above him. She was reading a machine next to him. Due to the light surrounding her and his blurry vision, he could have sworn that she was an angel. “Am... am... I... dead?” he managed to choke out.
The person jumped, started by his voice. “Oh goodness no, not yet, darlin. Looks like you have about another sixty years to go.” She stifled a laugh.
“But where am I?”
“Orlando General, Sir; room 516. You got hit on the head pretty hard last night and needed stitches. 72 of them. And you’re a bleeder, too.”
Howie blinked to clear his eyes. He rubbed the bandage on his head. “So that explains the headache...” he laughed. “Hey, you look really familiar, do I know you?”
“I don’t think so, Sir, I don’t get out all that much. When I do, I’m not usually out long, I get pretty beaten up.” She lifted a strand of hair from her forehead. “Two months ago at a club downtown. 75 stitches, beat ya.”
“What club?”
“Oh, just a hole in the wall, Pa & Ma’s.”
“Really? That’s where I was last night, last I remember. There was this girl singing, man was she beautiful! And her voice... wow...” He shook his head. “I’m blabbering...”
“That’s the pain medication I gave you last night, Sir.”
“That’s where I know you from! You’re that girl! But what are you doing here?”
“I’m your doctor, Sir.”
“Dorough, Howard Dorough,” he said, extending his hand.
“Well, nice to meet you, Howard. I’m Dr. Goode.”
“Dr. Feel Goode?” he laughed, the medication taking full effect.
“I guess you can say that...” she laughed too. “So, Howard, what did you think of last night? Before I got summoned, I mean.”
“You did great, Doc, and call me Howie.”
“Thank you, Howard, if i can call you that...”
“I have no problem with that, Doc.”
“Please, I’m Mary.”
“So, Mary, how much longer am I gunna be stuck in this place?”
“Oh, so you’re not enjoying my presence, Howard?” she asked sarcastically.
“No, no, not that, I just want to get out of here.”
“Understood. Uhm...” she checked her chart, “a few more hours, until the pain medication wears off some. I don’t want to see you out on those streets in the condition you’re in.”
“Come on, Dr. Feel Goode, you can’t let me out early?”
“I’m sorry, Howard, but callin me that will only keep you in here longer.” She moved in closer to him. “Just let me change your bandage and I’ll get goin. I have to see some other patients and you have to call someone to come pick you up.”
She gently pushed back his hair to reveal the bandage. She took a clip from her hair and clipped back his hair. “I know you don’t want bloody hair. It’s awful to clean.” She gently removed the bandage and cleaned the wound. She applied another bandage. “There, all done. Uhm... Howard?”
Howie just laid there, enjoying her presence, her soft touch. He stared at her, into her eyes the whole time she worked on him. “What?”
“All done, Howard. And you seem to be staring.”
“I’m sorry, just trying to remember you from last night,” he said, blushing slightly.
“Sure you were, Howard,” she laughed slightly. “I’ll just let you relax some. If you want to call out, dial nine and then the number. I’ll be back in about an hour.” Mary turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door. She leaned her back against it and sighed. 'Damn, why’d he have to look at me like that? He’ll make me fall in love with him...'
Mary spent the next hour not checking on other patients since it was her lunch break. Instead, she sat in the cafeteria sipping a cup of tea. 'Now what do I do... He’ll be released and I’ll never see him again... but I want to see him again...'
Just as promised, Mary knocked on Howie’s door an hour later. When she heard no response, she opened the door slightly. “Howard?” she called into the room. Again, no answer. She walked in. “Oh damn, where’d he go?” she mumbled when she saw that he wasn’t in his bed. She looked around the room and noticed the open bathroom door. She
peeked in and blushed. “Howard?”
Howie jumped, startled. He coughed slightly, zipped up, and turned around. As he was washing his hands, he said, “Wow, you surely know how to make an entrance.” He laughed as he dried his hands and walked closer to her.
“I told you I’d be back in an hour.”
“I know, I’m just not used to doctors being on time. I thought I’d be sitting here for another hour yet.”
“I’m still new, Howard.”
“Still new?” he asked as he made his way back to the bed. “How long have you been working here?”
“I was an intern here for three years and got hired here as soon as I became a doctor last year.”
“Sounds good to me, Doc.” Howie turned and looked at the clock. “So how much longer till I’m outta here?”
“I just have to sign a few forms and you’ll be released. Maybe a half hour?”
“Great,” he said, smiling. “Want to do it in here?”
Mary turned and looked at him. She knew it was his medication, but she had to ask anyway. “Do what in here, Howard?”
Howie blushed. “Paperwork. Your paperwork.
“Ah, I see. Blush easily, Howard?”
He laughed and she made her way over to the chair next to his bed. 'Please just let her stay while I think how I can make her go out with me,' he prayed. Howie sat in silence while Mary did some paperwork and signed a few forms.
“All done, Howard. You’re out.”
He shook his head. “Cool, thanks, Doc.”
“I told you earlier, call me Mary.”
“Not while in the hospital, Doc,” he said and quickly blurted out, “but maybe after work?”
“Mr. Dorough, are you asking your doctor out?”
Howie turned his head down. “Well... uhm....”
“After work you can call me Mary, Howard.” She sighed and thought for a second. She blurted out, “or, you can just call me...”
Howie’s head shot up. “Really?”
“Certainly, Howard.” She wrote her number on a card and gave it to him. “But now, let’s get you checked out. I’m off for the afternoon, so I want to get out of here too.”
“Doing anything this afternoon, Doc?” he asked as he stood.
“Uhm... I’m going home... taking a long, hot bath, and maybe take a nap. I’ve been here since about 11 last night, when I got called out of the club. Oh, yeah, I have to give Pogo a bath too.”
“Pogo?”
“My cat, darlin. He’s gettin really greasy, and he’s startin to smell like me.”
“That can’t be so bad...”
“Yeah, but he smells like the hospital me.”
“Oh, all right... well... how about tonight? Are you doing anything?”
“Not that I know of, I have the night off. Don’t have to be back here until 10 tomorrow morning.”
“Well, how about I treat you to dinner for this exceptional care you’ve given me?”
“Sounds good, Howard. Now, lets get you out of here so I can go home.”
Mary walked Howie to the front desk and had him checked out. He paid his bill and walked towards the pay phone, while Mary stayed at the desk. She pretended that she was doing something so not to seem obvious, but she stared at him. 'He looks so cute, like a little lost puppy...'
“Howard?”
“Yeah, Doc?”
Mary walked over to him. “Didn’t call anyone to pick you up yet? Thought you would have done that in your room.”
“I fell back to sleep, and then you caught me in the bathroom.”
“Well, where do you live? If it’s not too far out of my way, I can take you home.”
“Not too far from here, maybe about a 15 minute drive.”
“Sounds good to me. Come on.” Mary took her keys from her pocket and led Howie out of the hospital and to her car. “Howard, why didn’t you friends that brought you here last night stay?”
“They brought me here? Oh, well, uhm.... AJ drove me last night, to the club, I guess he brought me to here. He probably went home to sleep.”
“Wow, that’s some friend. Takes you from the club to here, bleeding profusely, and then leaves.”
“He’s all right. My friends and I just got back from Europe yesterday morning, we were all really tired.”
They reached the car and Mary unlocked the doors. “Europe? If ya don’t mind me asking, by what were y’all doing in Europe?”
Howie silently cursed himself for letting out they just got back. “Oh, just a trip, nothing big.”
“Some trip. I’ve never just taken a trip to Europe... Now, Howard, you’re going to have to give me directions.”
“All right, uhm.... get out of here and hop on the 405 and take the second exit.” Mary started the car, put it in drive and pulled out of the parking garage.
“Really? That’s the one I take.”
“Cool, never know, we could be neighbors.”
“We can always hope, right?” she asked quietly.
Howie turned to face Mary in his seat. “Definitely,” he responded.
“If you’re in that huge house at the end of Herric St. and you didn’t tell me...”
“Well, yeah, that’s where I live. My friends and I all do.”
Mary made a few turns and slowed down. She pointed to a small brick building. “I live in there, the top floor loft.”
She pulled into the driveway of Howie’s house. “This place is even more beautiful than I thought...”
“It’s all right, it fits us all.”
“How many folks live in there with you?”
“Oh, there’s me, AJ, Kevin, Nick, and Brian. And AJ’s hair dye.” Howie laughed and looked for his keys. “Oh damn...”
“What?”
“AJ took his keys off of me last night, so he could drive me to the hospital. And I left mine inside.”
“Shouldn’t there be anyone home?”
“No one’s cars are here, except for mine, that is.”
“The purple Vette?”
“Yup, I just bought her a few months back.”
“It’s beautiful... but I never understood the purpose of sports cars. I’m happy with my Taurus here.”
Howie nodded and sighed. “I wouldn’t suppose you’d like a house guest for a few hours, would you?”
“No problem at all, darlin.” Mary backed out of the driveway and headed back to her place. “Maybe you can help me give Pogo a scrubbing.”
...
Mary unlocked her apartment and walked in. Howie soon followed and shut the door. “Pogo? Mama’s home!” The sound of feet running filled the apartment. Soon, a small, short haired tiger jumped onto Mary. “Hey, sweetheart, you miss me?”
Pogo playfully bumped Mary’s nose with his head. “Pogo, I want you to meet Howard. Howard, this is my Pogo.” Pogo looked at Howie strangely. Howie raised his hand to pet Pogo. Tentatively, Pogo smelled Howie’s hand and let Howie pet him.
“He’s sweet,” Howie said, laughing from the coarseness of Pogo’s tongue against his hand.
“Yeah, he’s my baby.” She kissed the top of Pogo’s head and put him down. He scampered across the apartment, out of sight.
“Can I try to get a hold of AJ? I don’t want to put you out for too long.”
“It’s no problem, darlin. Phone’s in the kitchen, down this hall and take a quick left. I’m gunna take a quick shower and get into something more comfortable. Make yourself at home.”
She took one from the pack and put it to her lips. She shook her head and thought, “No, I really want to be with this guy. I’m not going to ruin it this way.” She took the pack and the one in her hand and took them to the sink. Throwing them in, she turned on the garbage disposal. When her habit was gone, she walked back into the living room and sat back down. She sighed, “Nothing’s on...” She flipped through the channels and suddenly stopped. She went back a channel to MTV. “Wait, he looks familiar...”
Just then, Howie stepped from the bathroom, scantily clad in just a towel around his waist. With another, he dried his hair. “Hey, Mary? Could I use your wash... oh, no...”
“Howard? My Howard? A Backstreet Boy?” she mumbled.
He put a hand on her shoulder. “Mary?”
Mary jumped. “Oh, Howard, it’s only you...” Howie walked around the couch and sat next to her. Mary scratched her head. “Some job you have there...”
“It’s a living,” he sighed. “Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”
“No sorries, darlin, I just didn’t know millions of girls threw themselves at you on a daily basis...”
“You’re all right with this?”
“What, that the guy I’m going to dinner with tonight, the guy who’s head I stitched up last night, the guy who heard me sing last night, is a Backstreet Boy?” She turned to look at him. “That the guy who’s a Backstreet Boy is sitting next to me, on my couch, in just a towel? Oh my...”
Howie covered his face in embarrassment. “Oh, lord...”
Mary stood and took off her boxers. “Here ya go, darlin.”
Howie accepted them gratefully and put them on. “I don’t know which is the worst, that the girl I’m taking to dinner tonight just found out what I am, that I’m sitting on her couch almost naked, or that she just gave me her boxers.”
“Don’t worry, darlin, I don’t embarrass easily. Oh, what did you try to ask me earlier?”
“If I could use your washing machine. I can’t get a hold of anyone at my house, and if I’m taking you to dinner tonight, I want to at least look decent.”
“Sure, darlin, get your clothes and I’ll show ya where it is.”
...
Howie’s clothes were washing and he just put on a pair of Mary’s flannel pants. “Good fit...” he thought. He walked out of Mary’s bedroom and heard water running in the kitchen sink. “Mary? You know you have water running?” he called. Mary was no where in sight. Out of nowhere, Mary went skidding across the hardwood living room floor.
“Pogo! Get back here! You know you need a bath!” Howie laughed. He noticed that she had put the boxers back on, and looked so cute skidding across the room in her stocking feet.
“Psst psst, here Pogo,” Howie called. Immediately the cat ran to him, practically jumping into his arms. “Good kitty...” he coaxed.
“You caught him,” Mary said, smiling, as she slid over to Howie. “Come here, you little rat.” She took the cat from his arms and stopped the water running in the sink. “Pogo don’t you fight me... Pogo, don’t you think about it...” Finally, Mary calmed the
cat some and plunged him into the sink. “Cat, you know you stink.”
“Need a hand?” Howie offered.
“I thought you’d never ask! Here, just hold him while I scrub.”
The fight with the cat was tedious, but Mary and Howie won. Mary drained the sink and dried Pogo off before she let him run to a warm spot. She then tossed a towel at Howie and dried herself off. “You know, we’ve been sitting around the house for three hours now, Howard?”
“Really? Then we should go for dinner soon.”
“Yeah, it’s five now, maybe make reservations for 6:30?”
“Well, I think I might have a better idea for tonight...” Howie said playfully and winked at her.
“Really? What?”
“Well, how about this... You do something for me, and I do something for you...”
“Howard, I’ve already let you into my home, let you in my shower, wear my clothes, use my washer, and wash my cat. What else do I need to do for you?”
“All right, just one more thing, I promise. No, no, wait, two... Unless, of course, you know how to pick locks to get into houses...”
“Yeah, I do that in my spare time, Howard. But what do I get for all of this?”
“Oh, you’ll see, darlin, you’ll see.”
“All right, what?”
“Well, if we want to go to dinner for 6:30, I don’t think my clothes will be dry. By any slim chance, would you happen to have any men’s clothes here, that aren’t being used by a,” he paused and looked around her, “current live-in male?”
“Come on...” Mary took Howie’s hand and led him into her bedroom. “When my grandfather died a couple years back, my parents didn’t have any room for his clothes, so I got all of them. He was about your size I think...” She opened one of her two closets.
“You decide on what fits the occasion.”
“All right, but before we do that... What do you feel like for dinner?”
“Depends, where are we going?”
“Now that’s the surprise, my dear.” He turned and walked out towards the kitchen. Suddenly, he turned back around and faced Mary. She wasn’t paying attention and walked right into him. On instinct, he put his arms around her. “Now, Mary, I have to ask... do you trust me?”
“Uhm... why Howard?”
“Because of the surprise. All I ask is that you give me complete control over your kitchen for, say, the next hour, and you just stay out here.”
“All right...”
Howie leaned in closer. Mary felt her heart flutter as she felt his breath on her cheek. “Just trust me.”
“I trust you, Howard.” She wrapped her around him and held him close. He kissed the side of her head softly.
“Thank you.”
With that, Howie let Mary go and went into the kitchen. Mary sighed and smiled as she turned at sat on the couch. “Come here, Pogo,” she called. Pogo crawled out from under a chair and hopped onto the couch. “Hi sweetheart,” she whispered as she picked up her cat and held him close. She turned on the TV and laid back with Pogo in her arms. She soon drifted off to sleep.
