The Prince of Punk Rock (27 page)

Angel titled his head to the side
and squinted an eye.
 
He never
contemplated a heterosexual act before.
 
“Maybe.
 
A little.
 
She’s got a really cute ass.
 
And you know I’m an ass queen.”

“Well, the next time you guys do
it, seize the opportunity.
 
Rub her ass
or grab a tit or something.”

“I couldn’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to talk about this
anymore. Let’s go before someone hears us.”
 
As they walked toward the back room of the bar, Angel wondered if Tommy
would get mad if he wanted to touch Jessi’s breast.

Jessi and Alyssa were at the bar,
still laughing about the look on Angel’s face after he realized he kissed Jessi
on stage.
 
Alyssa didn’t ask any
questions and Jessi wondered just how much she knew.

Audra and Kira, the two girls who
were infatuated with Angel, came running over, bouncing with excitement and
demanded details.

Jessi was unsure how to
answer.
 
Should she tell them that
Angel’s kisses were intense and ferocious? Or that if Angel wanted a kiss, he
took it?
 
That there was no resisting?
Should she say that he explored every inch of your mouth with his tongue?
 
She decided that was a little too much
information. “It was fierce.”

Kendall
pushed her way between Audra and Kira and stood directly in front of Jessi,
with her hands on her hips.
 
“What are you
doing kissing my boyfriend?”

Jessi glared at her.
Kendall
was drunk and slurred her words. Her eye make-up
was runny, and her hair was a frazzled mess.
 
The girl disgusted her, and
Kendall
’s
one-sided, self-fabricated friendship with Angel, annoyed the hell out of her.
 
“He’s not your boyfriend.”

“Relax.
 
You don’t have to get snotty. I’m just
messing with you.”

“Well, knock it off.
 
Don’t think I forgot that you ripped my
garment. You don’t want to screw around with me, Kendall.”

Kendall
leaned forward and pointed her finger at Jessi.
 
“Oh, no,
Princess
.
 
It’s
exactly the opposite.
 
You
don’t
want to screw around with
me
!”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Angel settled in on his side of the
bed and snuggled up to Tommy.
 
“Am I
crowding you?”

“No.” He pulled Angel closer. “I
love being sandwiched between you and Jessi.
 
It’s the best place in the world.”

Jessi peeked up at Tommy.
 
“Your mom called me today. She’s been trying
to reach you for a couple of days.”

“I know. I’ve been meaning to call
her back.
 
What’d she say?”

“She wanted to make sure we were
coming to your brother’s party next Saturday.”

“We don’t have a show that night,
right?”

“I haven’t checked the schedule,
but I think I left it open.
 
Either way I
told her we were going.”

Angel picked up his phone from the
night stand and started scrolling through it.
 
“No. You left that date open for a family function.
 
What kind of party is it?”

“It’s his 21
^st
birthday.”
 
Tommy smiled with pride.
 
“He’s at
Rutgers
on a football scholarship.
 
Word has it
that my little brother’s gonna make pro.
 
You’re coming, right?”

“Where? To your brother’s party?”

“Yeah. I want you to meet my
family.”

Angel stared out the window and
watched the traffic crawl by on the BQE.
 
It didn’t matter what time of day it was, the traffic was always
congested on the well-traveled expressway.
 
For once he was grateful that the short ride out of
Brooklyn
took twice as long as it should.
 
He was
stressed out about meeting Tommy’s parents and the delay would give him time to
shed some of his anxiety.
 
He glanced to
his left at the
Freedom
Tower
.
 
Thirteen years later, and he still expected
to see the majestic twin towers of the
World
Trade
Center
soaring above the
New York City
skyline.

Tommy took his eyes off the road
long enough to smile at Angel. “Don’t look so nervous.”

“I can’t help it.
 
I want your parents to like me.
 
What have you told them about me?”

“I told them you had a voice as
smooth as honey and that you were a born star.
 
I told them that you had a heart as big the moon and that you were a
master chef in the kitchen.”

A broad smile appeared on Angel’s
face and his anxiety was quieted by Tommy’s loving words.

Jessi tapped the back of his
seat.
 
“Don’t worry.
 
They’re going to love you.
 
Just be yourself.”

He wished Jessi wouldn’t have sat
in the back seat.
 
He was boldly
conspicuous sitting in the front passage seat next to Tommy, and it wasn’t the
way he wanted to greet Tommy’s family.

Tommy glanced at him again.
 
“A, I need to tell you something. I hope you
don’t get upset, but I’m not telling my parents about us today.
 
My family has no idea about me.
 
It’s going to be a real shock.
 
Plus, I want them to fall in love with you
first.”

“I understand.
 
I guess introducing your gay lover at a
family celebration can be less than ideal, even though that’s the way most
people do it.”
 
They shared a smile, and
Tommy took his hand.

The next thing he knew, they were
pulling into Tommy’s parents’ driveway in Howard Beach.
 
It was one of the nicer areas in Queens and
the properties were spread out, unlike the shoulder to shoulder buildings in
Brooklyn
.
 
The
greenery of the artistic landscaping and manicured plush lawns took him by
surprise.
 
It was unexpected among the
concrete and asphalt and it reminded him more of Long Island than
Queens
.

Clusters of mylar balloons, branded
with the number 21, floated freely up to the ceiling in the corners of the
living room of the Blade residence.
  
Sports memorabilia dominated the walls.
 
Football jerseys were framed in shadow boxes and on display.

The predominantly middle-aged
people, most likely aunts and uncles, that occupied the house quickly gathered
around Tommy and Jessi.
 
For a few
awkward minutes Angel felt out of place, a stranger in the midst of a family
reunion.
 
Then a small semi-circle opened
around Tommy and everyone turned to look at him.

“This is Angel Garcia.”
 
Tommy draped his arm across Angel’s shoulder,
and let it remain there.
 
“He’s the lead
singer in my band, and my best friend.”

People started stepping aside to
allow an older couple, obviously Tommy’s parents, to make their way across the
room.
 
Tommy abruptly dropped his arm from
around Angel, and took a step back as soon as he saw them.

Tommy’s parents, along with most of
the other people in the room, shared the same blond hair, fair complexion and
light eyes.
 
Tommy’s parents monopolized
his attention, and Angel began to feel out of place again.
 
He was about to make conversation with one of
Tommy’s aunts, when Tommy introduced him to his parents. Confusion as to why a
stranger was at a family gathering passed across Tommy’s father’s face.
 
He was a big man, over six feet tall and
broad in the chest and shoulders.
 
He was
an athlete in his younger days, no doubt.
 
He crushed Angel’s hand in a firm handshake.

“So, you’re the singer I keep
hearing about.”
 
He was gruff and his
eyes were stern and formidable.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Mr.
Blade.”

“Is my son wasting his time in this
band?
 
What makes you think you can make
it in the industry?
 
What makes your band
stand out from the thousands of other bands that aren’t getting a record deal
either?” He was brash and almost insulting.
 
Tommy looked mortified, with bright red blotches stained on his cheeks.

“We have exceptional musicians,”
Angel boasted.
 
“Tommy’s the best guitar
player on the indie circuit. We have an impressive following, and I’ve had
interest from record producers in the past.
 
I’m not a complete unknown in the industry.”

“Don’t you have a real job?”

“I’m a chef.
 
A sous chef, actually.
 
But the band
is
my real job.”

“So, you’re another one, schooled
with a trade and the opportunity to make a lucrative career, wasting your time
with a band like a teenager.”

Now Angel
was
insulted. He
pressed his shoulders back, lifted his chin and met Mr. Blade’s eye.

A loud crash outside diverted the
attention away from their grating conversation and ultimate standoff.
 
Through the glass sliders Angel could see,
what appeared to be, a frat party going on in the back yard.
 
A small group was engaged in a serious game
of beer pong, while another threw too many logs on the fire pit.
 
The cause of the commotion was a football-cradling
jock that knocked over a table.
 
He had
dark hair, so Angel deduced that he probably wasn’t Tommy’s brother.
 
Robert was more likely to be one of the two
blonds tossing a ping pong ball into a red plastic cup.