Chapter 27

Thursday Rhonda went with us to the Blue Ridge as she had planned. My training time didn’t go well. I was distracted and unfocused to the point that Chef made me run laps around the restaurant followed by a whole lot of sit-ups and push-ups to ‘get my head out of my ass.’ Although it didn’t have anything to do with Rhonda being there specifically, since she spent the whole time sitting inside with Hanna and doing homework, Chef didn’t see it that way.

He made it clear that if he was going to spend his time working with me, then during training my entire focus needed to be on that training. I’d already learned that trying to argue back, even when he was wrong, didn’t work. For someone who’d been so giving and friendly since I’d met him, when we started training he fell into some old school discipline. I’d gotten rapped on the shins by a staff he had with the rest of the training equipment several times. Not hard enough to really hurt, but enough to get my attention.

The truth was, the real problem hadn’t been Rhonda herself but a gnawing worry that was still working in the back of my mind ever since Mom declared she wanted to have Rhonda over for dinner. That worry had only increased the day before. Realizing she’d planned for us to go to Aaron’s party, despite the obvious downsides, still bothered me.

We finished up and he sent me home with a warning that he’d be twice as hard if I didn’t shape up tomorrow. I was exhausted and distracted, and Rhonda seemed to notice it. Hanna, thank goodness, also seemed to notice it and actively kept Rhonda engaged in conversation on the way home.

Hanna said she’d drive me home, rather than make Rhonda have to jump the creek on the path back to the trailer, like I’d originally planned. Considering how Rhonda was dressed, trendy as always in tight jeans and boots that were made from some kind of shiny black material, I imagined she wouldn’t be thrilled about the possibility of getting mud on either.

“You live in Oakdale Estates?” Rhonda asked in horror as Hanna pulled into the entrance.

“For right now. We’re hoping to move somewhere better when the lease is up, but when we first moved here things were kind of tight,” I lied.

Hanna gave me a side-eyed look, but didn’t say anything. I couldn’t tell if the look was because of how Rhonda reacted to finding out where I lived or the fact that she knew I was lying about moving somewhere better.

“Here we are. Did you need a ride home, Rhonda?” Hanna asked, pulling up in front of my trailer.

“Mom said she’d drive Rhonda home,” I said.

“Okay. See you tomorrow then.”

We got out and I took Rhonda’s hand as Hanna pulled away.

“I know it’s not much, but Mom works hard for it,” I said, hoping she got the message I was trying to send.

Aside from my relationship with my dad, the biggest thing I disliked about my life was how poor Mom and I were. Besides it making anything we tried to do harder, it was impossible to miss the looks and side comments from people who didn’t know me when they figured it out. Despite their pretending not to care, Rhonda’s friends couldn’t hide it. In that way, I actually appreciated Camille. At least she didn’t hide her disdain.

The worst part was knowing how Rhonda felt. I knew she liked me, but it still felt like it constantly hung over our relationship, threatening to break us up.

“No, it’s great. Cozy.”

Neither of us believed that, but I figured polite was as good as I was going to get. Mom opened the door and smiled.

“Come in, come in,” she said, stepping back and holding out an arm. “Charlie, go take a shower, you stink. Rhonda, do you want to help me finish getting dinner ready.”

“Sure, Mrs. Nelson,” she said, her fake smile plastered on her face.

I hurried back and got my stuff for my shower. Mom had told me that morning to hurry home after my training. Normally I took a shower at Chef’s apartment because of how much I sweated during our training. She said that, because it was a school night, she didn’t want to keep Rhonda out too late. Seeing her greeting though, I realized she’d played me pretty good, managing some time to have a conversation without me around.

I came out, still damp, to find them setting the table, and laughing at something.

“Charlie,” Mom said. “You didn’t tell me how funny Rhonda was.”

“I’m afraid of what she’s telling you that’s so funny,” I said, pulling out the silverware and helping finish getting the table set.

Mom had really pulled out all the stops, making spaghetti with meatballs. Normally our spaghetti was just sauce with no meat to keep the cost down. Meatballs were a rare treat.

“It’s nothing like that,” Rhonda said. “I was just telling her about my last riding competition.”

“Ohh, the one with the girl whose brother freaked out her horse during her turn?”

One of the things Rhonda loved to talk about, when she let her guard down at least, was horses. When we ate lunch together without either of our friends’ groups, the conversation regularly turned to her horse or one of her occasional riding competitions. Talking about it always made her happy.

“Yep.”

“Was she okay?”

“Yeah, she landed clear. Her brother, however, has to sleep with his eyes open from now on.”

“You know, before meeting Rhonda, I’d never even heard about ‘horse girls,’ but I’m told they make up a pretty large segment of the teenage girl population.”

“They really do,” Mom said. “We didn’t have horses growing up, of course, but I’d go and read about them in the library all the time when I was a little girl. I’d always dream of one day getting a chance to have one.”

“It’s kind of like how most boys want to grow up to be sports or rock stars, right? You’re kind of like the boy equivalent, right?”

“I’m not a rock star. I’m not even sure I’d want to be one. I just love playing.”

“You could be one though,” Rhonda said, smiling. “You’re good enough.”

“He is, is he?” Mom asked.

“Yeah, he’s amazing. Have you never heard him play?”

“I’m home sometimes when he practices, but I haven’t had a chance to see him on stage yet.”

Mom’s tone went notably cooler when we got onto the topic of music. Rhonda didn’t seem to notice, but I could hear the familiar disapproval still in her voice. I opened my mouth to change the subject, but Rhonda beat me to it.

“Charlie says his dad used to play in bands, and you’d travel with him. That must have been amazing!”

Mom looked at me and, for a moment, I thought she was going to change the subject. I was surprised when she actually answered.

“When we first started, it was. I was young. We got married right out of high school and started living in that RV when we were eighteen. By the time Charlie came along though, I think I’d grown tired of it. It seems glamorous at first but ... it’s a tough way to live. Always moving, never having a place to really call home. I’m not sure it’s the kind of life I’d wish on anyone. Even with Charlie’s father there, it was awfully lonely.”

“Yeah, but being up on stage most nights, hearing the crowds cheering. What a rush,” Rhonda said, missing Mom’s point entirely. All she could see was the fame and glory.

Mom seemed to pick up on it too, and decided to finally change the subject.

“So Charlie said you two were going to a Halloween party on Saturday?”

“Yeah. It goes pretty late, so we’re going to show up after Charlie plays that night at the Blue Ridge. If there’s time, we might even go to another Halloween party that’s also happening.”

“We’ll see,” I said.

I didn’t want to start an argument with them here, especially in front of Mom, but I was annoyed that she apparently still hadn’t given up the idea of going to Karen’s party. I thought she’d have figured out by now there was no way I’d ever go to a party thrown by one of Aaron’s friends.

“What are you going as?” Mom asked.

“I wanted to go as Anna and Troy from Vampire Royalty, but Charlie threw a fit.”

“I didn’t throw a fit,” I said.

“I think the words you used were ‘over my dead body.’”

“That could work,” Mom said, teasing me. “Troy’s a vampire in the movie, after all.”

“We settled on Tony McCarin’s character from Trainbound and his bounty hunter girlfriend.”

“I don’t think I saw that, but I seem to remember her outfit was kind of ... minimal,” Mom said with a wicked smile. “I’m guessing that was kind of the point.”

Rhonda blushed and looked at her lap but I wasn’t fazed. Mom liked to catch people, meaning me usually, off-guard with pointed comments like that. I just shrugged. It wasn’t like Rhonda would be naked or anything, it was just kind of revealing. There wasn’t anything to be embarrassed about.

“I just hope it’s not too cold. McCarin spent most of that movie in an undershirt and blue jeans.”

“You’ll be inside, it’ll be fine,” Rhonda said. “Besides, all this exercise you’ve been doing every day, you’re starting to really fill out.”

She wasn’t wrong, although it was more that I was getting adequate calories every day thanks to Chef. Mom was still thinner than was good for her, but now that I was bringing home okay money from gigs, she was starting to eat a little better too.

We kept chatting and eating for another forty-five minutes or so. Thankfully the subjects stayed light, mostly about Rhonda’s hobbies, how she was doing in school, and things like that. Mom seemed okay with her and Rhonda seemed like she was getting comfortable, both of which made my life easier. By the time we left, Rhonda had stopped the furtive glances around and didn’t seem to be bothered by Mom’s car, which was fairly obviously in bad condition.

We drove Rhonda home, where I walked her to her door. I realized I hadn’t really met her parents, aside from her mom once in passing. It was still fairly early in our dating for that to be a concern or anything, so I didn’t let it bother me much. Considering my mom was sitting a dozen yards away in the car watching us, I settled for giving Rhonda a brief peck on the cheek and a hug.

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“Sure,” she said, looking past me at Mom one more time. “See you.”

We drove quietly for a few minutes until Mom finally broke the silence.

“Interesting girl,” Mom said.

“Interesting?”

“Yes. She seems very pleasant.”

“Mom, you don’t normally beat around the bush, so don’t start now. If you have something to say, say it.”

“I’m just a little concerned for you, that’s all.”

“Concerned about what? She likes me, we get along.”

“You just haven’t really dated before and I don’t want you getting too attached.”

“What does that mean?” I said, getting a little angry.

“I just mean I don’t want you being too upset when you two break up.”

“What do you mean when we break up? Why? What did she say when I was showering?”

“Nothing. I can just see that you’re really taken with her is all.”

“I am. We really get along and I like her.”

“Just ... be careful. Okay?”

“We haven’t...”

“I wasn’t talking about that. I mean, I do hope you’re careful there too, although you might want to think about waiting a little longer. I don’t think kids understand how it changes...”

“Mom, you had the birds and the bee’s conversation with me already. What did you mean?”

“Rhonda has very clear aspirations and I’m worried what she might do when she decides someone else can help her meet those aspirations. I’m not saying she’s bad or doesn’t like you, but I think you should be careful how deep in you get with her.”

Part of me wanted to be offended and defend Rhonda. Mom was dancing around the point, but it was pretty clear she thought Rhonda was shallow and would dump me for someone if it could make her more popular. The problem was, I’d had that same thought more than once. She wasn’t always like that, but it still reared its ugly head. I couldn’t have missed her looks of disapproval at our trailer and her still plotting to get into Karen Brooks’ party.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. I’m not trying to live your life and I do think that we all have to experience hurt sometimes in our life. It’s the only way we learn. I’m still your mother though and I can’t help myself.”

“I appreciate it. Can we change the subject?”

“Sure, kiddo.”

Saturday was just as packed as I’d worried it would be. Between helping out during the lunch rush, another grueling two hours of training and conditioning with Chef; a full set with the band left me ready to just go home and crawl into bed. One look at Rhonda and I knew I couldn’t do that to her. She’d gotten a ride up to the Blue Ridge and was already in her costume, which drew more than a few looks.

“You did great,” she said, rushing up to me as soon as I announced that was my last set. “Not that I thought you wouldn’t be. I knew you could handle taking over while Willie’s out of town.”

“I’m not taking over. They’re playing a set without me, in a few minutes. It’s no different than the nights they have me take the lead, except Willie isn’t on stage. Other than that, it’s really the same thing.”

“I know, I’m just saying I could see you doing that with your own band, you know. You need to get changed. Cameron said he’d be by in the next ten minutes to pick you up. He’s already got all the equipment set up and they’re ready for you to play. Apparently, the playlist they put on is not cutting it.”

“I guess I don’t have time for a shower.”

“No, but you’ll be fine. Rock stars are supposed to be sweaty on stage.”

“Yeah, but I won’t be playing all night, and no one wants to dance with the smelly guy.”

“You smell fine. Manly,” she said, putting her arms around my neck and kissing me.

I went up to Chef’s apartment and changed clothes. I’d planned on just wearing my own jeans but Rhonda had insisted they weren’t right. She’s surprised me the afternoon before with a pair of new jeans that she said matched the character.

Part of me thought she might be embarrassed by my jeans which, since we got them second hand, were somewhat threadbare. I did reconsider her motives after trying them on. They were really tight. She’d asked my pants size earlier in the week, so I knew she hadn’t made a mistake. They did make my ass look good, which was probably her plan, so I couldn’t complain.

“Perfect,” she said when I came out, making a quick walk around me.

“They’re ... snug.”

“Yes they are,” she said, smiling.

Now I knew she’d bought a smaller size on purpose. I was just glad I’d decided to not wear them earlier, to keep them from getting dirty. I couldn’t imagine staying in these things all day. Of course, who was I to complain? I regularly appreciated her pants, which were always practically painted on.

“Cameron’s out front. Let’s go.”

It was interesting that she was keeping in touch with Cameron. She hadn’t been enthused about going to the theatre party and as far as I could tell, they weren’t particularly friendly. Then Friday she’d suddenly come around and seemed to be into the idea. Not that I wasn’t happy with the change, I just found it strange.

I put my guitar in Cameron’s trunk and we all piled in. he didn’t live all that far from the Blue Ridge actually. Half the kids in school lived in subdivisions just outside of town, their parents working either down at the factory or at one of the businesses that supported it. The other half were kids whose families owned some of the farmland or pastures that surrounded Wellsville for miles in every direction.

There were some areas of crossover between the two groups, but that was mostly in athletics. Other than that, the farm kids tended to form their own social groups and focused on actives like Four-H. Cameron, being a farm kid and in theatre, was a bit of an outlier.

There was already quite the crowd at his house by the time we arrived. Cars lined the long driveway up from the main road to his house and I could hear noise coming off of it as we drove up.

“Where are your parents?” I asked.

I hadn’t met them before and I couldn’t imagine they’d be thrilled with that many teenagers going wild while they hid upstairs in their room.

“They went to my Uncle Doug’s house. I had to promise Dad I’d spend the weekend fixing the new fence on the back four and that I’d get the whole place cleaned before they came back tomorrow morning.”