Welcome to "The Studio in the Country." It may be long on boring detail and short on sex, but it still has the best punctuation of any fan fiction anywhere.
DISCLAIMER: The story that follows is a work of fiction. Many characters are completely fictional. Though some characters are based on actual persons, they should not be considered accurate or truthful representations of those persons. This story is not intended to reflect the behavior, work habits, personal hygiene, sexual proclivities, or preferred style of hat of any real person, living or dead.
WARNING: This story deals with homosexual themes (or soon will, I promise you). If this offends you, read no further. If you are under 18 years of age, read no further. If accessing this story causes you break any laws applicable to your location, read no further. If you're going to a meeting of PETA, wear no fur there.
FEEDBACK: If you want to contact me and make any comments, please send them to michaelwashere@netzero.com. I'm interested in reading what people have to say about my stuff.
THE STUDIO Part 4 - Tuesday
Normally, my work calms down once the clients arrive and get to work in the studio. I spend a lot of my time making arrangements: planning arrivals and departures, getting lists of dietary requirements and special requests, shopping and delivering and storing, creating the several files we need to calculate bills, and picking up clients and driving them here. Once they arrive, my job is easy. I clean a room here and there, cook the occasional meal, and add charges to their bill. Nothing more. My job gets easy until the clients leave and I have to bill their account and start to work on the next one.
But today has been really busy.
It started with a warm shower at 5:15 in the morning. Not too warm, or I would have gone back to sleep. Then I spent almost two hours on breakfast. Mom's menu called not only for an endless supply of pancakes but also hash browns, cantaloupe, bacon and sausage, and lots of orange juice and coffee.
At first I thought she might have over anticipated. I had everything done and staying warm in the chafing dishes by 7:00. At 7:35 the only person I'd seen was Dave, who said he was off to the studio but had been lured into a detour by the aroma of my coffee. I'll take his word for it that the coffee was good: I don't drink it myself.
Then, at 7:40, I gained new respect for my mother's knowledge of hungry guys. Howie and Brian appeared, said a quick "good morning," then dove into the food. I thought they ate a lot, but then Nick sat down and ate almost as much as the two of them combined. By 7:50, everyone but Dave and Mom was in the dining room eating away. I'd already eaten, and it was a good thing because I was kept busy refilling the chafing dishes.
Ten minutes later, Howie stuck his head into the kitchen. I was busy making more pancakes, so I'd been gone from the dining room for a while.
"We're keeping you busy, huh?" he grinned at me. "D'ya want some help?"
"No, thanks," I smiled, adding the last two pancakes to a stainless steel tray to replace the empty one on the sidebar. "I'm done with this batch, and I'm not making more: everyone's eaten now."
"Everyone but your mom," he said as he reached over to take the tray from me. I let him, then held the door for him.
"On sunny mornings, she eats early then goes out to paint. She's probably out in the pasture now, with oil paint all over her hands." I picked up the empty tray from the frame and stepped back so Howie could replace it. "Careful," I told him, "the frame is hot."
"Who's got paint all over hands?" Nick asked.
"My mom," I told him as I backed toward the swinging door into the kitchen. "She paints landscapes." As I stepped backward from the room, Howie caught the door and followed me into the kitchen.
"She paints the land around here?" he asked.
I set the tray on the counter near the sink and returned to washing a few dishes. "Not anymore," I answered. "She ran out of subjects around here years ago. Now she paints landscapes based on photos or from her own imagination. She likes to be outside because the sunlight is so good and in September it's not so hot. In the summertime, it can be 90 degrees by 9am."
I set the washed and rinsed mixing bowl in the draining rack, but Howie picked it up as soon as I did and began to dry it with a towel. "Can I see some of her paintings?" he asked me.
"You probably already have. All the paintings in the hotel are hers."
"Really! I saw them last night, but I didn't pay them much attention. I'll have to look closer."
"Yo, Howie," I heard Nick yell from behind us. Turning I saw he and Brian had come into the kitchen. "Jim wants us to head to the studio now. We need to start warming up."
"Yeah, okay," Howie said. He looked at me as he set the dry bowl on the counter and began drying his hands on the damp towel. "Sorry. 'guess you're on your own."
"No problem. Thanks for helping out," I said, opening a drawer to show him a cache of dry towels. "Use one of these."
While he dried his hands for a second, Nick looked around the room for the first time. "Gah, this is a big kitchen."
"Yeah," I began, "and pretty clean too, if people would stop leaving dirty cups in the sink in the middle of the night." I winked at Brian.
"I hate when people do that," he said, grinning back at me.
They were turning toward the door when AJ stuck his head in. "Good breakfast, Ben," he said. "And I'm supposed to remind you to keep us supplied with coffee."
"Already taken care of," I told him. "When you're ready for a pot, call me and I'll bring it. Push the button marked 'K' at the bottom of the phone." Then I remembered something I'd said last night. "And tell Kevin about the button, okay? So he'll know how to call me."
"Why does Kevin need to call you?" Howie asked.
"He's supposed to call me when he's ready to go riding. He said you might want to come too, Brian. Should I get three saddles?"
"Better not," he said. "Robby and Mike have challenged Nick and I to basketball. Some other time?"
"Sure," I said. "You'll be here all week."
By 9:15 the kitchen and dining room were clean, and the last load of plates and glasses were working in the dishwasher. I had to stop once to take coffee to the studio, but Stacey had met me in the hotel corridor and taken the carafe from me. She agreed to take care of the 10:00 brunch so I could help Mike clean the hotel rooms. We didn't normally have eight people staying here and I thought I should help him out.
As I came back into the kitchen, Mom was there, pouring herself a glass of juice. "Did breakfast go well?" she asked.
"Great," I told her. "At first, I thought there'd be too much food, but I shouldn't have doubted you."
She looked at me with mock superiority. "No, you shouldn't have." Her serious face broke into a smile. After sipping again from her juice, she said, "I like these boys. They're very sweet."
"Yeah, they're good guys." By this time I was wiping down the countertop with a damp towel. "I think they like it here, too."
"They do," she said. "While you were out walking with Brian yesterday, AJ and Kevin talked a lot about being tired of hotels and how this place seems more like a house."
"I couldn't stand to sleep in hotels all the time," I told her. The countertop was clean, and I was wringing the towel out and draping it over the dishrack to dry. "Not to mention all that packing and unpacking."
Mom looked at me from under her brows, the way she does when she's thinking too hard. Finally, she said, "They're good-looking guys, too." Her voice was very even, and she continued to look right at me.
Fine, I thought. Let's have this conversation now and get it over with.
"Yes, they are," I said. "That's why millions of girls scream for them the world over. But don't get any ideas about playing matchmaker, Mom! They're only here for a week, and there's no sign that any of them would be interested."
"I know," she said. "Still, you don't meet many guys your age out here. You could at least be friends with them."
"I plan to be 'friendly,' Mom." I told her. "And if anything grows from it, fine! But I'm not getting my hopes up about anything."
She touched my cheek with her right hand. "That's my Benji. Always very practical. Your father and I trust you very much because of that practicality, but sometimes in life you have to be impractical, to take a risk."
"I will," I smiled down at her, "but right now I have beds to make." I turned toward the door, but Mom kept talking.
"These boys should have fun while they're here," she added. She rinsed out her juice glass and - seeing that the dishwasher was too far into its cycle to add anything else - left it upside down in the sink. "Do you know if they're working everyday?" she asked me.
"Today and probably tomorrow," I told her. "They said they should have some free time on Thursday and Friday. And they stop work in the late afternoon. Kevin said they're voices get tired after a few hours."
"I imagine they do. Do they have plans for the afternoon?" she asked.
"Nick and Brian are playing basketball with the little brothers. And Kevin and I are going horseback riding. He loves horses."
"Don't let the boys exert themselves too much. It's going to be very hot today." Maternal concern was creeping into her voice. "And what about AJ and ...."
"... Howie."
"Howie. That's it. What are they doing?"
"I don't know," I said to her with a grin. "But I'd make sure Stacey had a light work load this afternoon, if I were you."
She smiled back. "That's up to your father. But I don't blame her. AJ is very charming, and Howie's adorable."
I hugged her. "My mother! Trapped here with a blue-eyed husband when she has a weakness for big brown eyes! How tragic!"
"Well, there's a lot to be said for tall Nordic blonds with bright blue eyes, too. Howie's cute, but your father was beautiful."
"And on that note," I said letting her go and crossing to the door, "I'm off to help Mike clean hotel rooms. Maybe swinging a toilet brush will banish the mental image of my father dressed as a Viking and dragging you by the hair."
As the kitchen door swung shut behind me, I heard her add, "So you noticed Howie's brown eyes, did you."
I found Mike pushing the cleaning cart into the elevator. I reached up to stop the door when it began to close on his cart. "All done with the first floor?" I asked him, as I stepped inside and pushed the 2.
"I got Suite 1. Ms. Shaw is in Suite 2 making phone calls. She asked me to come back in an hour. Where are you going?"
"I'm coming to help you. Breakfast is done, and lunch is easy today. I have an hour or so before I have to go back to the kitchen." The elevator opened, and I helped him manhandle the cart into the hallway.
"Thanks. You do 3 and I'll do 4?" His voice made the sentence into a question.
"Sounds good." I looked at the equipment on the cart. "D'ya wanna start with the bathroom or the vacuuming?"
"I'll do the kitchen and bathroom first. Vacuuming sucks."
I was halfway to the door of Suite 3 before his lousy pun sank in. I turned to look at him and found him staring at me. "Well, that took you long enough!" he said. "You need a Dr. Pepper." Seeing me head again toward the door, he added, "And don't fondle the guy's underwear!"
"Three sons!" I said over my shoulder to him. "They should have stopped when they had three sons!" It was an old joke between us; he would usually reply that they had to keep having sons until they got it right. We both knew that I didn't mean it. I was close to all my brothers, but Mike was special. When we were younger, Mike always went everywhere I went and did everything I did. He and Robby had got closer while Ethan and I were at college, but Mike and I were still great friends.
Once I got inside the suite, I stole a Dr. Pepper from the refrigerator. It's one of the fringe benefits of stocking the fridge. Besides, it didn't look like Nick, Howie or Brian had even opened the fridge, let alone inventoried the contents. And I knew where to get more if they needed them.
I picked up the living room and three bedrooms before I began vacuuming. Most of it was just a little disheveled - typical guy stuff. I straightened cushions and picked up laundry which I lay over the luggage rack. The only real mess was in Brian's room. He had things strewn all over. The drawers to the dresser were halfway open, and the blankets were hanging off the bed. I straightened everything, stripped the sheets off the bed, and then went to work with the vacuum.
I was back in the living room, wrapping the cord around the handle, when Mike came in. I could see the cart behind him. "Ready to switch?" he asked, extending a blue plastic tray containing various cleaners, sponges and rags.
"Yeah, sure."
Seeing my drink, he said, "Did you get that from their fridge?"
"Yeah. And the grape soda is still there."
"Cool." He put the tray down and went into the kitchen. Mike always insisted we put one can of grape soda in every fridge - "just in case they want it," he said -- but in two years no guest had ever wanted it. If a can were drunk, Mike drank it.
I made quick work of the kitchen and bathroom before changing out the sheets and towels. My arms full of laundry, I carried it out into the hall to drop into the chute. Mike was doing the same with the laundry from AJ and Kevin's room.
Both suites were done by 10:30. We got into the elevator. I expected Mike to push the button for 1, but he hit 3 instead.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"I gotta clean the common room. We played games up there until almost 2am." The door opened for 3 and he pushed the cart out. He turned to unlock the door into the common room as I pushed the button for 1. "You handle it. I'm missing brunch." As the doors were closing, I added, "And don't forget Ms. Shaw's room."
Brunch was small today after the breakfast everyone had eaten. Yesterday Mom had prepared two trays of cinnamon rolls, which I had baked during breakfast. I'd left them in the warm oven when I went upstairs, but Stacey had put them on the dining table with a stack of plates and a pot of fresh coffee.
By now there were few rolls left, and five or six empty plates and coffee cups to show that people had come and gone. The only person left at the table was Howie.
"Kevin says this place will make him fat," he said without preamble when he saw me. "And Nick says he doesn't want to leave."
I laughed. "I know Kevin likes healthier food. He'll appreciate lunch then. And Nick can stay if he wants. I'm sure my parents will adopt him. There's an empty bedroom in my apartment, and Nick fits the colour scheme of the family."
"Apartment?" Howie said. "I thought you lived in this house."
"I do," I began explaining. "We rebuilt the upstairs into two little apartments. Robby and Mike live in one. Ethan and I used to live in the other, but his room's empty now." I picked up the dirty dishes, carefully stacking plates on my left arm and hanging cups from the fingers of my left hand. "Why aren't you back in the studio with the others?"
He smiled and stood up, licking the icing from his fingertips. "I should be. Do you want some help with these?" he asked, indicating the dishes on the table.
"Nah, I got it. But you sure are helpful. Do you follow the roadies around and ask if you can carry things for them?" I hoped that my smile kept my words from sounding sarcastic.
Howie laughed. "No, but this isn't the same. I feel like I'm a guest in somebody's house, and I wanna be polite."
I reached up and rested my hand on his shoulder. "Mission accomplished," I smiled at him.
"Howie," we heard Kevin say. He was standing in the door, looking at us maybe a little strangely. After a pause, he continued, "we need you back in the studio."
The lunch menu was easy to prepare. The vegetables were either steamed or raw, and the halibut was roasted pretty quickly. Everyone was in the dining room by 12:30, and I actually got to sit and eat with everyone else.
We all sat in the same chairs as the night before: no one said anything; we just did it without thinking. Strange how some things become habit so easily.
Apparently the guys had got a lot done that morning. Dave was a little annoyed at how late Nick and AJ had stayed up, and it took everyone a little while to get to work. But once everyone was awake and warmed up, they got a through a lot of things, sometimes in one or two takes.
The two engineers seemed impressed with Robby. He and Dad had been helping them out in the booth, and Robby had been able to do anything they asked, even coming up with a few good suggestions of his own.
Brian was talking to Robby about some of his ideas for mixing the vocals and the instrumentals, while Dad was telling Ed about some of Robby's work with some local groups. Robby overheard this and, reminded of something, interrupted Brian for a second to speak to me.
"Ben, Jennifer's group is coming tonight to record their new song, but their piano player can't come. Can you play for them?"
"What time? I have to get dinner tonight." I replied.
"About 9. Jennifer doesn't get off work until 8:30."
"If it's at 9, I can do it. Just make sure I get the music," I told him.
"I have it already," Robby said. "I'll get it for you right after lunch. Thanks, big brother."
"You play piano?" Kevin asked me, reaching for another roll.
"Yeah," I said. "Mom taught us all to play the piano when we were little. The little brothers have learned to play other things, but I just play piano."
"'Just' piano," Mike said, mocking me a little. "He's good."
"Ben's very good," Mom added. "He worked through college playing piano in a bar every night. He can play from music, but he's especially good at picking out songs by hearing them."
"When we play any songs," Robby added, "it's because Ben figured everything out for us."
"The boys are good," Dad said. "When Ethan gets here this weekend, I'm sure they'll take over the studio and play all night. They usually do."
"I'll have to hear you play sometime," Howie said, looking straight at me.
Before I could reply, Robby said, "Come to the studio tonight. We're only recording one song, but at least you can hear Ben play the piano."
"You are going to use the studio tonight?" Dave asked, a little concern in his voice. "I have all the recordings there, and the pre-sets are all in place. I don't want to have to re-do everything in the morning."
"We won't use the same studio," Robby said. "We'll use the small one closer to the office. It's just three girls and a piano player; we don't need the big room anyway."
The conversation broke up again. It really is impossible for fourteen people to sustain one topic for very long. From time to time, I would focus on this or that talk. Ed, Dave, and Dad were mostly talking business, with Ms. Shaw listening. AJ and Howie were telling Stacey horror stories from the tour, most of them involving crazed fans or stupid things Nick had done. Every time AJ would tell a story about Nick, he would talk to Stacy but look at Nick, to make sure he was listening. Nick was pretending not to listen, but his face blushed every time.
"Dave says we'll break for the day about 3:30," Kevin was saying to me. "Can we go riding then?"
"If you want," I told him. "Though it is hot today. I'd say we should go later -- after it's cooled off a bit -- but I have to get dinner."
"You'll have time to do both," Mom suggested. "The brisket will want a long time to cook, and everything else can be prepared first, then cooked afterward. Go riding."
I looked at her. I knew what she was doing - I'd known that morning in the kitchen - but now the whole family knew. They'd be watching me now, to see if I hooked up with Kevin. Or anybody else, for that matter.
But she'd taken my excuse away, and, besides, I really did want to go. "How 'bout we ride at 5, then? It won't be too hot for the horses, and you can chill by the pool for a while first."
"Sounds good," Kevin replied.
"And," I began, looking down at my plate as I cut a piece of fish with my fork, "if I can't get everything done before dinner, I'm sure Mom will help." I looked up at her to see her looking back at me. I grinned. If she was going to play matchmaker, she was going to pay for it.
"Of course," she said, just before smiling at me. We always understood each other, Mom and I.
"Bri, are you coming riding with us?" Kevin asked his cousin.
"No, Nick and I are gonna play basketball with Mike and Robby."
"Don't get too hot," Dad warned him. "Even in September, Texas is can be hot and humid, and afternoon basketball may not be a good idea."
"Yeah, Bri," Nick said. "Have you been outside? It's like a sauna. Why don't we chill by the pool, then play later."
" 'sounds like a plan," Brian answered him.
"Can I have the afternoon off," Stacey said, looking at my father, her eyes twinkling.
"And why do you ask?" he said, with a grin.
"Because I want to chill by the pool, too." She said. "Lounging by the pool with the Backstreet Boys and me the only girl: it's too good to pass up."
"As long as those letters are in the mail in the morning," Dad told her, "I don't care what you do with the afternoon."
As much as everyone was enjoying the break, eventually lunch was over and we all went back to work. Most everyone disappeared toward the studio, as Mom, Robby and I began to clear away the dishes into the kitchen. As Robby and Mom continued the job, I set about emptying the pots and pans from the dishwasher so I could refill it with plates.
"Pretty cute," I heard Robby say, "the way you got Mom to help with dinner."
I turned to lean back against the counter and grinned at him across the kitchen island. "Oh, you noticed that, did you?" Mom entered the room, her hands full of a tray of plates. I watched her walk past Robby to set the tray on the island, but I continued talking to Robby. "I was sure she'd be willing to help, especially if it gives more time with the guys. Mom seems to think I should hook up with one of them."
"No," Mom corrected, "your mom thinks you should give it a chance."
"I think so, too," Robby added. "You've been alone too long, bro. And these are good guys. They like you; you like them. What's the problem?"
"I'll give it a chance," I told them. "But I refuse to get my hopes up. They may not be interested, and - besides - what can happen in a week?"
"A lot," Mom said. "Your father and I met and got engaged in nine days."
"Yeah, but you were crazy hippies," Robby kidded her. "You did silly stuff like that all the time." His grin was huge as he reached out to wrap his arms around our mother.
"Well, that 'silly stuff' led to us being married for twenty-four years and having four wonderful sons," she said. "More people should be that silly."
I turned back to the sink and began filling it with hot water. "Well, if I'm going to get everything done, I'd better get busy."
"The dining room is mostly clean," Mom said. "You just need to wipe off the table and vacuum the rug. I'll be upstairs in the studio, if you need me, honey." I heard the swinging door behind me as she left. I thought Robby had gone with her until I felt his hand on my back.
"Seriously, big brother," he said, "nothing may happen with these guys, but at least give it a chance. You're too good a guy to be alone all the time."
"Well, it's not like there's a lot of opportunities out here, in the middle of nowhere."
"Exactly," he persisted. "That's why you need to give this a chance."
"But, a week!" I looked at him. "What can happen in a week? Even if any of them are gay, it could take more than a week to find that out!"
Robby seemed taken aback by the emotion in my voice. Finally, he smiled and said, "So you have been thinking about this? If it really didn't matter to you, you wouldn't care so much."
I smiled at my brother. "When did you get to be so smart?"
"I'm not really the dumb one," he said. "That's just part of my image." He had a big grin on his face, but I frowned at him.
"No one thinks you're dumb," I told him.
"Not 'dumb' - the 'dumb one', as in compared to you guys. I know you're all smarter than me, but I know I'm not stupid too."
"You really think we're all smarter than you?" I asked him.
"Sure," he said simply. "You use all those big words, you and Mikey both spend all that time lost in thought. I could never just sit and think like that. I'd have to get up and do something. And no way can I figure things out like Ethan can."
"We're all jealous of Ethan," I said.
"No," Robby argued, "you're jealous of Ethan. Me and Mike, we accept him for what he is and us for who we are. You're the only one who's jealous of Ethan. And that's because you don't appreciate yourself enough. You're a great guy, Benji, but you're the only one who doesn't know that."
For a brief second, I considered correcting Robby's grammar mistakes, but decided against it.
He's right, I thought. I'm jealous of Ethan. And of Robby and Mike, for that matter. It's not that I resent them their good qualities. I just wish that I could be more like them. Robby's great for doing things. He doesn't spend a lot of time on introspection; he just acts. Sometimes it gets him into trouble, sure, but he gets more done in the long run. And he sure as Hell has more fun.
"Hey, bro," Robby interrupted my thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"
"You," I told him. "If you were interested in these guys, you'd just come on to one of them and see what happened." He was about to say something when I corrected myself. "No, you'd probably come on to all of them, just in case some of them turned you down."
He laughed before wrapping his right arm around my shoulders and planting a quick kiss on the side of my head, about an inch above and behind my ear. "No worries there, big brother. These guys are guys, and I'm not interested. They're all yours." He leaned his head to the left to look me in the eye. "Have you decided which one you want, yet?"
"Of course not." I laughed, but to me the laugh sounded more nervous than amused. "It's way too early to do anything like that. I'm not going to pick a meal until I know what's on the menu." Inside, I began analyzing what I'd just said. I love analogies, but that may have sounded a lot cruder than I intended. Robby just laughed.
"But it's not too early to know if you're attracted to one more than the others," he said, removing his arm from my shoulders. "Have you got one picked out?"
"No," I said. "I really haven't thought about it."
"Well, do that, big bro." Robby began to walk toward the door. "You know what Mom's New Age self-help books say: daydreaming about some things helps to make them come true." Then he was gone from the kitchen.
My morning had been busy, but the afternoon was really relaxing. The kitchen was clean and the barbecue was cooking slowly in the oven by 2:00. Everything for dinner that could be done beforehand had been done, so I had about ninety minutes of free time before the guys broke from work. I decided to spend them at the computer, working on a story I'd been playing at writing.
I must have gotten really into it, because before long I heard a light tapping at the hall door of my apartment. I stepped across the little hall and opened it. There stood Mike, Nick and Howie, wearing T-shirts and shorts.
"Bro," Mike started, "it's a great day! What are you doing inside?"
"I wanted to get some writing done before the guys break at 3:30," I explained.
"That was twenty minutes ago, Ben," Nick said. "Everybody's out by the pool." His voice got sillier and he said "Come down and play!"
Mike laughed and repeated it with Nick, "Yeah, come down and play!" From the way they were laughing together over this, I could tell that the two of them had created some kind of inside joke between them.
Howie just smiled and said quietly, "We'd really like you to come down, Ben. It's really warm and sunny out, and the guys are even getting in the pool."
"I can believe it's almost four o'clock already. Let me get changed and I'll be right down," I said.
"Hurry up, big brother," Mike said as he and Nick turned toward the staircase. "AJ was swallowing a lot of pool water when we left, and it may be empty by now." He and Nick started giggling again as they went downstairs. Howie and I just stared at them.
"Are they sober?" I finally asked him, in tones I hoped would tell Howie I wasn't serious.
"Yeah," he said. "Are they sane?"
"No," I said still looking downstairs. Turning to look at him, I added deadpan, "definitely not."
Smiles broke on our faces. "Come in. I'll get changed." He waited in the living room while I changed into a white T-shirt and knee-length khaki shorts. As we left the apartment, I stepped briefly into what had been Ethan's bedroom - now my "study" - to shut off the computer.
"So, what kind of writing do you do?" he asked.
"Creative writing," I told him as I clicked the application closed and started shutting the computer down. "Short stories mostly, but I'm starting to think I want to write film scripts. Just short films, though - nothing major." The computer was asleep and we left the apartment.
"Isn't this place kind of remote to get into films?" Howie asked. By this time we were on our way down the stairs into the main hall.
"This exact house is, but there's a lot of film work in Dallas. All kinds of commercials and music videos get shot here, and lots of independent films are made here," I told him. We crossed the den and stepped through the French doors onto the patio. "It's a hard business to get into, but I'm not too ambitious. I just wanna make a little film or two."
Further conversation was stopped by the noise coming from the pool. Kevin, with AJ on his shoulders, was taking on Nick and Mike in a game of chicken. Just when it looked like AJ was going to push my little brother down, Nick reached over to tickle Kevin. Kevin jumped and lost his grip on AJ. AJ lost his balance and went headfirst into the water.
Stacey and Robby were sitting in lounge chairs beside the pool, and they laughed at AJ when he surfaced on his back and blew water up like a whale.
Nick yelled "Thar he blows!" and then AJ stood up and looked at him with mock seriousness.
"No, I don't, Nick," AJ said. "And for the last time, stop asking!" It was just a joke, but I caught myself glancing toward Robby: he was looking back at me with a thin smile across his face.
Nick began to chase AJ, but AJ jumped behind Kevin for protection. They played around Kevin for a while, until Kevin jumped up out of the water. When he came down, he had one hand on each guy's shoulder and he dunked them both.
The empty chair next to Stacey had a towel and someone's drink sitting by it, so I pulled over another chair for myself. When I turned back around, Howie had settled into the empty chair and was sipping at the drink. I settled into the chair and looked around. "Where's Brian?" I asked. It was an innocent question, but I caught Robby looking at me kinda strange after I'd asked it.
"He's still in the studio," Howie answered. "Dave and Ed wanted to talk to him about tomorrow's work."
"Just him?" I looked at Howie. "Is he doing a song without you guys?"
"No, they want him to re-do some of the vocals we laid down today. He had a real hard time with one of his solos, and they want to do it again."
Someone was dripping water on my foot. I looked and saw Kevin rubbing his face and hair with a towel. "Hey, Ben," he said. "You don't look like you're dressed to swim."
"Nah, swimming tires me out. I don't want to fall asleep and fall off the horse," I grinned up at him. "We're still going, right?"
"You bet," he smiled before lifting his head to look at the sky. "This is a great day for it."
Behind him, near the house, I noticed for the first time an ice chest full of soft drinks. I jumped up and started to walk toward it, still talking to Kevin. "If the weather stays nice, we can go every afternoon. You might get tired of the same paths over and over, but you can try all the different horses."
"Even Tico?" he asked as I picked up a can. It opened with a metallic pop and a fizzing sound as small spray of brown bubbles jumped up and caught the sunlight.
"Maybe not," I smiled at Kevin. "Tico's really hard to get along with sometimes."
Kevin was talking to me but watching the guys in the pool. "Aw, c'mon. If I can get along with AJ, I can get along with anybody."
"Who says you can get along with me?" AJ asked from the water.
I started back to my chair. Behind me, I could here Mike climbing out of the pool, but I didn't pay much attention to it. As I neared the corner of pool, Robby stepped up to me and said, "Let me hold your drink."
I asked him "Why?" but - trusting fool that I am - I extended the can in his direction. He took it and that's when I heard Mike behind me.
"Because we don't want you to spill it in the pool," he said as the wrapped his arms around my chest and threw me off balance toward the deep end. I was too taken by surprise to stop him, but at least I had time to grab onto his arms. I could hear everyone else laughing as Mike and I fell in together.
They were still laughing when I resurfaced, coughing up a little water. Once I stopped sputtering, I laughed too. I climbed up on the edge and peeled my wet T-shirt off and tossed it to Robby. "Hang that over the chair for me, jerk." He laughed and draped the dripping shirt onto my chair.
The warm sunlight felt really good on my wet skin, and just for a moment it seemed like nothing happened.
I get that sometimes: moments when there's no sound, nothing moving. Everything seems perfectly still, and - for just a second - I realize how really good my life is. No worries, no insecurities, no longing or ambition. Just a second of complete contentment.
I think everyone gets those moments. At least, I hope they do. They never come often enough, or last long enough, so I try to suck them dry when they happen.
This one was broken by Mike's wet hand on my left shoulder. He was out of the pool, kneeling on my right with his arm around my shoulders. "You're not mad, are you, big brother?" he asked. I smiled up at him. My smile must have told him what I was thinking, because he leaned in a little and whispered, "You're doing it again, aren't you? Having one of your 'life is good' moments?"
"Uh huh." Mike and I understand each other pretty well. "But," I added, my voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "now that I'm wet, we might as well have a eight-man game of Chicken."
"Yeah!" somebody said.
"Stacey's on my team," I heard AJ yell.
"No," Stacey's voice said. "Stacey's gonna lie in the sun and be pretty. You guys play."
"Now we're uneven," Nick said.
"No, you're not," Howie said. "Howie's gonna lie in the sun and be pretty, too." I looked over at him. He was grinning at Stacey, who grinned back from behind her sunglasses.
"Fine, pretty boy," Kevin said as he tossed his wet towel at Howie. "AJ's my partner."
"Mike's mine," I heard Nick yell. His voice sounded okay, but the look on his face seemed to be asking me for permission, like maybe he'd stepped into some unknown family territory. I just smiled back.
"All right then, Robbo!" I yelled to Robby. "Let's soak these guys."
We were pretty evenly matched, so for the next half-hour or so, no one was really winning. Kevin and Nick were both taller than I, but Robby knew all of the tricks to use against Mike. Once I even tried to tickle Kevin. He yelled "Hey!" as AJ went under, but I just laughed.
"It worked for Nick," I shrugged.
Eventually, everyone was tired. I climbed out and slogged over to my chair beside Howie, my wet feet slapping the concrete. "Hi," I said, picking up my shirt and sitting down. "I thought I'd come sit with the pretty people."
"The wet people, you mean," Stacey said. "You guys splashed me enough that I might as well have gotten in."
"You still can," Robby said. "Maybe AJ would push you around on the air mattress." Stacey looked at him, then at AJ. AJ smiled, and Robby put the air mattress into the pool. Stacey jumped up and walked over to the ladder.
I looked at Robby, intending to grin at him and share a joke at Stacey's eagerness. Robby was grinning back but nodding his head toward me, then toward Howie. Without speaking, he mouthed the words "go for it." I mouthed the words "lay off" back to him.
"Ben!" Kevin said. "Is it cool enough to ride yet?"
"Yeah," I told him. "Let's get changed." Standing up and wringing out my still moist shirt, I asked, "Is anyone else coming?" Mike and Nick were talking near the ice chest but stopped long enough for Nick to say "no." AJ was too busy talking to Stacey to answer, and Howie, it turned out, was asleep.
"Robby," I said quietly, "don't let Howie sleep too long. He'll get a sunburn."
"No prob, bro," he said.
"Whaddya say, Kevin. Meet at the barn in twenty minutes?"
"Make it thirty," he answered. "I wanna see what happened to Brian."