CHAPTER 13
The shock of the cold water on his body cleared Kevin’s head
for about five seconds before his thoughts became jumbled once again
and so he started swimming laps. After a half-hour, he was exhausted
but still no closer to relaxation. Across each length of the pool
he had replayed a scene from ‘The Misadventures of Connie and Kevin’.
The ‘futon’ scene had been a pleasant one but others had left him
feeling frustrated and perplexed. The other guys didn’t seem to
have this problem with her.
He recalled the afternoon that Connie was asking him some questions
for the book. She had asked good questions and he was enjoying
their talk. She wanted to know about touring and record promotions.
The ‘Into the Millennium Tour” was mentioned and Kevin had casually
asked her how she had liked the album. She had smiled sweetly
and he was feeling comfortable in her company, interested to know
her opinion. He had vainly hoped that she would mention ‘Back
to Your Heart’.
“I haven’t heard it. Sorry…”
“What do you mean? Sure you have…” he had laughed.
“No… Sorry…”
Kevin’s comfort level had dropped considerably. He could hardly
believe it. Even if she hated the Backstreet Boys, surely she
would have listened to the album for the sake of research if nothing
else. And what about the radio and television? She must
have heard some of it. How could she have avoided it? Now he had
been made to feel presumptuous and a little self absorbed. He
had started to become irritated.
“What about ‘I Want It That Way?’”
She had shaken her head.
“Larger Than Life?”
“No…”
He wasn’t sure why this had angered him. Maybe it was the ‘principle
of the thing’ that had gotten to him. At any rate, the interview
had ended rather abruptly. He had given her points for having
the good grace to look embarrassed. In fact, she had almost looked
ashamed.
******************
Nick pointed to a pair of chairs on the front porch.
“Wanna have a seat, Hannah?” he asked politely. He had a lot
to learn here and he wanted Hannah to be comfortable.
“Not there.” She answered, stepping down the porch stairs and
seating herself on the next to the bottom step. “Here is better.”
Nick hurried down behind Hannah and stood facing her. He was
about to speak when she patted the empty space beside her.
“Sit next to me, Nick.”
“Why? What difference…”
“Because, Nick…” Hannah sighed impatiently, “…if Connie comes
to the window or door and looks out here, she’ll be able to see
you talking to me. She’ll see your mouth. If you sit beside me,
we’ll both be facing away from the house. She won’t be able to
see what we’re talking about.”
“Oh…right…”
Hannah shook her head and pulled a cigarette and kitchen match
out of her pocket. She struck the match on the wooden plank and
lit her Camel.
“I’m not gonna bite you, Nick. Sit.”
Nick took his seat and waited for Hannah to exhale and begin
the story. Finally, she leaned her elbows back on the fourth step
and started talking.
“Connie doesn’t like to tell people about her deafness up front.
She’d rather they discover it on their own. She likes for people
to think she’s normal so that they’ll feel comfortable around
her and she won’t be patronized. Usually, by the time they find
out, a relationship has already been established and ‘special
treatment’ is no longer a problem.” Hannah stopped to pick a flake
of tobacco off of her tongue. “But sometimes, there are…complications….”
Hannah glanced sideways at Nick. “You know…. Misunderstandings…”
“Like with Kevin…” Nick nodded.
Hannah was a little surprised at Nick’s command of the situation.
He was usually portrayed as rather dim-witted and immature, but
he was not only the first to untangle Connie’s secret but had
also observed the powerful, but strained, tension between the
two.
"Yeah. Like with Kevin..” Hannah conceded. “Connie doesn’t usually
have a problem dealing with people, despite her disability. Kevin’s
attitude towards her has her baffled and I think it’s hurt her
feelings. She thinks he’s arrogant…”
“He thinks she’s rude…”
“She thinks he’s a bully…”
“He thinks she’s trying to bust his balls…”
“She thinks he’s a control freak…”
Nick paused. “Well….”
“She thinks he just doesn’t like her, that’s all…”
“He thinks the same thing.”
The two collaborators sat quietly for a minute, staring off
into the distance. It was Hannah who broke the silence. She had
to be careful. She had made promises.
“God, I’m just glad somebody finally figured it out. Connie
would have killed me if I had said anything.” Hannah flicked the
remains of her Camel out onto the gravel. “She’s had some bad
experiences with personal relationships because of this, Nick.
Her wounds are still tender. It’s hard for her to trust…”
“Hard for Kevin, too.” Nick hesitated, waiting for Hannah to
look at him. “He’s a good guy, Hannah. He really is. You have
to tell him. This would explain everything…”
“No can do, Nick. I promised.” Hannah stood and turned to go
back to the house. "Guess I'll get to work in the darkroom..."
“But…”
Hannah stopped, turned and glared down at Nick. “You’re a bright
boy Nick. I said that ‘I’ had promised not to say anything.”
They stared at each other for several seconds until Hannah saw
a glimmer of understanding pass over Nick’s face.
“Oh….” He nodded.
Hannah smiled ruefully and headed back up the steps. She stopped
when she got to the porch and spoke to Nick over her shoulder.
“You know, Connie thinks that things are not working out for
her here. She’s been e-mailing her boss, trying to get him so
send down a replacement.”
Nick frowned as he caught Hannah’s innuendo. Guess I’m gonna
have to have a talk with my big brother when he comes home tomorrow…..
****************
Kevin climbed out of the pool and soon realized that he hadn’t
brought a towel outside with him when he had spontaneously decided
to go skinny-dipping. Shit.. He hurried back into the house,
trying to cover himself as best he could and praying that he wouldn’t
see his naked ass on the cover of a supermarket tabloid next week.
He was glad the MTV cameras weren’t around.
The cell phone he had left on the island in the kitchen was
ringing when he came in. Kevin thought about getting some clothes
but decided to answer the phone first. He could carry it with
him to the bedroom and besides, he didn’t have to worry about
being modest when he was alone in his own house. He was a little
surprised to hear AJ on the line.
“Hey, man. Enjoying your ‘alone time’? Like you’re really alone,
right?”
Kevin could practically visualize AJ’s evil grin. Little did
he know…
“Yeah. It’s great.” Kevin lied as he pulled on a pair of boxers
and adjusted their contents. “So, what do you want , Alex?”
“You trying to get rid of me for some reason, Kev?” AJ laughed.
“Got ‘company’?” he teased.
“Yeah, AJ.” Kevin said dryly. “She’s blowin’ me as we speak.
So what do you want?”
“Oh, man… you’re shittin’ me, right?”
Kevin heard AJ’s voice grow distant and muffled. He heard the
words ‘head’, ‘knees’ and ‘throat’ and then laughter.
“Alex?” Kevin yelled into the phone.
“Sorry, Kev. I was just telling Howie…”
Kevin rolled his eyes. “For Christ’s sake…”
AJ got to the point. “Listen, Kev. Go by my house and get the
music I left laying on my keyboard, will ‘ya? Just bring it with
you when you come back tomorrow, okay?”
“Sure…” Kevin sighed. “So, how’s everybody doing?” he asked
as he bent down to retrieve a pair of jeans from his bottom drawer.
“Okay, I guess - except that we miss our little Kevvy…” AJ whimpered.
Then - “Hey, Connie! Hand me that ashtray, will ‘ya, hon?”
Kevin straightened and almost dropped the phone from the crook
in his neck.
“Connie’s there? In the room with you?” Kevin asked tensely.
“We’re in the kitchen, Kev..”
“She was there when you told Howie about.. about….”
“Yeah..” AJ laughed. “I didn’t realize it. She was looking right
at me!” AJ lowered his voice. “She did get a little red…” he snickered.
“Fuck…” Kevin muttered, rolling his eyes. “Is she still there?”
“No.. She left to get ready for her hot date tonight.” AJ was
suddenly talking to a dial tone. “Well, good-bye to you, too.”
He held the phone up and stared at it. “Guess he had to go…” AJ
shrugged.
Howie shook his head and picked the newspaper up from the table.
“Or cum….” he chuckled.
CHAPTER 14
Goddamn AJ!! Kevin was pacing the length of his room, alternately
rubbing his chin and hurling curses. He’d say anything, anywhere,
in front of anybody… He started throwing his clothes in a bag
and then stopped. What the hell am I doing? I don’t want to go
back there! Why should I? To help Connie get ready for her ‘hot
date’ with that asshole? She’s gonna wish she had listened to me….
Shit!
Kevin pulled the clothes back out of his bag and flopped down
on the bed, lacing his fingers behind his head and staring up
at the ceiling. I wonder where they’re gonna go… He’s gonna
try to get her drunk. That’s the only way that prick can get a
woman… Somebody should be keeping an eye on her. She doesn’t know…
She’s soooo fuckin’ nice to everybody…..else. You can’t be nice
to guys like Mitchell. They think being friendly is the same thing
as foreplay… He looked at his watch. It was already seven
P.M.
“God dammit!”
Kevin jerked himself off the bed and began to repack his bag
for the second time. Within forty minutes he had picked up AJ’s
music and was back on interstate heading south.
It had been a long time since Connie had been on a real date
and she was feeling a little nervous. She had replayed Kevin’s
warning through her mind’s eye many times and had become more
anxious as Friday approached. She tried to shrug it off by rationalizing
that if Kevin were so worried about Terry Mitchell, he wouldn’t
have taken off for Orlando to party with his friends. Humph!
Like the ‘friend’ who was with him when AJ had called…?
Terry was picking her up at nine and she still hadn’t decided
what to wear. He had said that the evening would be casual but
he had also mentioned that they were going to a club. That meant
dancing. Connie had discovered a long time ago that she could
manage to dance if she could feel the vibrations of the music
through the floor. That probably meant she would have to take
her shoes off unless the music was really loud and had strong
bass tones. She could usually fake it if she had to. She wouldn’t
know until she got there.
She finally decided on a rust colored, sleeveless, cropped top
with a square neckline and a short black shirt that hung on her
hips. Stockings? No… Bare legs and strappy high heeled sandals…
She was glad they were going someplace where there would be a
lot of people.
***************
Kevin pulled up to the grove house at ten. It was quiet inside
but he soon heard laughter coming from the back and went outside
to investigate. He discovered a poker game in progress between
Hannah, Nick and Brian. Leighanne was on a chaise with the phone
up to her ear and flipping through the pages of a bridal magazine.
She stopped mid-sentence when she spotted Kevin standing at the
door to the veranda.
“Kev! What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming
back ‘till tomorrow! Guess who I’m talking to?” Leighanne chirped.
“It’s Brandi!”
Leighanne held the phone out towards Kevin and waved it around
excitedly. Kevin had no choice and took the phone from her hand.
“Hello, Brandi…”
Leighanne frowned at Kevin’s lack of enthusiasm and went back
to her magazine.
“Yeah… We’re doing fine….. Not too bad…”
Kevin was silent for a bit. Apparently, Brandi had no trouble
carrying on a one sided conversation and Kevin rolled his eyes,
obviously bored as Leigh listened in while feigning interest in
dinnerware patterns. Suddenly, Kevin became interested in Brandi’s
remarks.
“Oh?” Kevin said loudly, throwing his eyes and his voice directly
at Leigh. “What else did she say?”
Leigh shirked from Kevin’s glare and then got up and went inside.
She knew she and Kevin would probably have it out. She’d better
keep Brian close by to run interference. It seemed that Leigh
had told Brandi plenty and almost all of it was conjecture. According
to Leighanne, Connie was practically laying down for Kevin. Of
course, none of it was true, but Kevin found himself hesitating
before he denied her accusations. He came to realize that his
delay was cause by two factors. A large part of him wanted Brandi
to back off right now even if it was because she was angry with
him. He craved the space he needed to sort out his frustrations
and put things into a realistic perspective regarding Connie.
The second factor that stopped him from contradicting Brandi was
more primitive. A larger part of Kevin wished that Connie would
‘lay down’ for him. He was granted his first wish. Brandi started
screaming into the phone and telling Kevin to stick to the one
night stands and groupies. She slammed the phone down after telling
him not to call her anymore… anymore?… because she needed
some time to think about ‘them’. He actually felt relieved. I
might have to send Leigh some flowers or something…
Kevin ambled over to the poker game and tried to appear nonchalant.
“So, who’s winning?” he asked, despite the fact that Brian had
a mountain of chips piled up on the table compared to Nick and
Hannah’s meager stacks.
“Gee, I’m not sure, Kev….” Nick said with great sarcasm. “Who
would you think?”
Kevin ignored the barb, stuck his hands in his pockets and let
his eyes wander around the yard in an attempt to look casual.
“AJ and Howie go out tonight?” He was grasping for a segueway
to the information he really wanted.
“Yeah,” Brian answered as he dealt out another hand, offering
no further explanation. “They took Pete with them.”
“Well, well, well…” Kevin cleared his throat. “Those three are
out, you guys are here, Leighanne is upstairs… Guess that accounts
for everybody.”
Hannah and Nick glanced at each other and rolled their eyes.
Kevin was being so transparent…
“Yeah…” Brian agreed without thinking. He was busy examining
his cards.
Kevin grew a little impatient.
“Hmmm… I still feel like we’re missing somebody…” he said as
if he were truly stumped.
Nick was amused watching Kevin grope for information and yet
try to appear disinterested. This was fun. Then Hannah had to
go ruin it all. Kind of….
“You’re… I mean…we’re missing Connie…” She winked at
Nick from behind the cards she was holding up in front of her
face. “She had a date tonight.”
“Oh, that’s right.. I forgot…” Kevin lied. “They go out to a
movie?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Probably went out to dinner or something…”
“No…’
Hannah didn’t appear to be giving Kevin’s not so subtle inquiries
the attention he desired. He became agitated and wondered if Hannah
was yanking his chain.
“Well, what the hell’s left?” he said crossly.
“They could have gone to his place..” Nick teased.
Hannah watched as Kevin’s face began to change color. She decided
it was time to stop playing games. Besides, she was a little concerned
about Connie, especially after what Kevin had said. She wouldn’t
mind if Kevin did a little checking up on her.
“I think Connie said something about a club.” Hannah threw a
blue chip into the pot and pulled two cards out of her hand. “Terry
mentioned a place in St. Pete.. “Bushwhackers” I think he called
it.”
Bushwhackers? Kevin really didn’t like the sound of that.
He quickly excused himself and went up to his room. He needed
to change his clothes and check the telephone directory. Ten minutes
later, he was on his way to St. Petersburg.
******************
‘Bushwhackers’ was very loud and very crowded. Connie didn’t
mind the ‘very crowded’ part and the ‘very loud’ had no effect
on her whatsoever. But it was also ‘very dark’ and this made her
very uneasy. The only lights in the room came from three sources.
Some neon from behind the bar, votive candles setting at each
small table and spots of color that danced around the room as
a result of four narrow beamed lights that were aimed at a mirrored
sphere that hung above the dance floor. Her breathing had already
quickened and she unconsciously clutched Terry’s hand in an effort
to curb her budding panic. Terry didn’t mind her clutching one
bit and Connie was too jumpy to notice when he let go of her hand
and placed his arm around her shoulders while they were waiting
to be seated. She tried to smile at him but then he started speaking
and she couldn’t catch his words in the dimness. Connie began
to glance around furtively, checking for possible exits in case
she was overcome and had to run out into the streets. Thank God
it wasn’t pitch black. The small amount of light at least enabled
her to see people, shapes and movement. She could only make out
details if she were very close.
They were finally seated and Terry began to order drinks. Connie
knew her limits. She had a low threshold for alcohol and she nursed
her drink carefully. They sat for a while, watching couples move
on the floor and talking a little. Connie could catch a lot of
what Terry was saying in the light of the candle, but not all.
At those times, she pretended like the music was too loud for
her to hear him. By the time Terry pulled her to the dance floor,
he he’d had three scotch’s to her one gimlet. The floor was still
crowded which made ‘dancing’ easier for Connie. It also made indiscreet
touches easier for Terry. She cringed when he pulled her close
to him for a slow dance and she suggested they leave the floor
and take a break. She saw him shake his head and then he leaned
to her ear. He said something to her and then nuzzled her neck.
Connie could feel his mouth on her shoulder as his hands went
to her hips and pulled her body up against his. He ground himself
against her and she could feel him harden. She didn’t like his
forwardness and thought again of Kevin’s warning words. Then she
felt his hands on her backside, squeezing.
“Let’s sit down. I’m tired..”
Connie tried to smile, to make light of the situation but Terry
was ignoring her request. His advances grew bolder and she felt
his hand move up her back under her top.
“Please Terry.. I don’t want to dance anymore…”
She felt him sigh harshly against her neck and pull his head
away from her. He looked a little angry as Connie saw one syllable
form on his lips.
“Fine.”
Terry took her arm and began to lead her off the floor, much
to Connie’s relief. Her relief was shot lived, however, when she
realized that he was leading her away from their table.
“Where are we going?” she tried to yell above the music.
Terry glanced at her with a smirk on his face. He wasn’t ‘falling
down’ drunk but he was feeling pretty good. At least he had been
until he met Connie’s rebuff. Why do women feel like they have
to be so damn coy? I guess it makes them feel more ‘lady-like’
or something. We both want the same thing….
He pulled Connie to a darkened corridor off of the main room
and she felt him push her against the wall. Panic was settling
on her quickly but when she tried to squirm away from him, he
became more forceful. Connie pushed at him and started to shout
but her mouth was suddenly covered with his and muffled groans
were all that could escape her throat as he began to force his
tongue between her teeth. He pushed himself against her and she
felt the evidence of his need pressing against her. He was fully
aroused now. She felt like a trapped animal. Again, she tired
to push him away but she was no match for his him.
“Come on, Connie. You want this as much as I do.”
A single bulb that hung from the ceiling at the end of the hallway
cast eerie and frightening shadows across Terry’s face. She could
barely make out what he was saying.
His hands had started to move on her body.
“NO!” she cried out, trying desperately to jerk herself away
from him.
“Bullshit, baby… You’ve been alone in Clearwater too damn long…”
Then Terry paused at looked at her, amused. “You been fucking
those Backstreet Boys, Con? Is that really what you’re down here
for? Or maybe you’ve been letting that dyke go down on you!” Terry’s
eyes grew hard and Connie could tell that he was whispering. His
hand ran up and down the side of her face. “Well, Terry’s going
to take care of you now, baby….”
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