Casey Barnes Eponymous (24 page)

“My point is that there are a lot of people to talk about.
 
And if anyone were to get up and sing
about them even half as well as you did, the song would get a big
response.
 
It’s called mob
mentality.
 
But that doesn’t make it
okay.”

“You’re talking about apples and oranges,” Casey replied, “I
wouldn’t do what I did to a fat or smelly kid.
 
I did it to Maxine French because she
chooses to be a bitch, and she deserves to get called out on it.”
 

“Do I deserve to get called out on being gay?”

“Um, newsflash Yull: You’re out.
 
And
you’re one
of the most popular people at Walton.”

“Perhaps.”

“Your attempts at modesty are pathetic.”

“Well do you know why everyone likes me so much?”

“Because you steal money from Mom and pay them to?”

“Because I’m nice, Casey.”

“Why does every conversation we have come back to the
beatification
of Yull?”

“I’m merely trying to emphasize a point.”

“And I am too.
 
People as nasty as Maxine French have it coming.
 
People said as much to me when we
finished playing the song.”

“I don’t disagree that the girl can be a bitch.
 
What I disagree with, strongly, is that
song.
 
You can’t do that to people.”

Casey folded her arms and looked away.
 
“I can do whatever I want.”

Yull paused.
 
“I’m
going to tell you something I wasn’t going to.”

Casey studied his face and, suddenly, she knew what he was
about to say.

“I’m the reason you made first cut for talent show,” he
continued, “I helped count votes and I moved two for Hair Band to Pop
Wire.
 
I wanted you to have a boost
because I felt bad about the whole Alex Deal thing.
 
And anyway I didn’t think Hair Band
would end up beating Note Mountain after round two.”

Casey stared.

“But today you earned yourselves a place in talent show on your
own merits.
 
I didn’t tamper with
anything and I’m pretty sure you’ll end up getting a spot.”

She remained silent.

“All I ask, and I do think I have a right to ask it, is that if
you do get a spot, you either don’t play the song or change the lyric that says
Maxine’s name.”

Casey looked away and then looked back.
 
“And I told you that I can do whatever I
want.”
 

It was Yull’s turn to stare, which he did, for a moment.
 
Then he left.

So what if some people might have thought she should have said
“Thank you.”
 
Those people didn’t
have to listen to Yull take credit for her getting to round two of talent show
auditions.
 
They didn’t have to live
in his shadow all the time.
 
And if
there was a front woman in the history of time who let her goody-two-shoes
older brother stand in between her and rock legend-making, Casey Barnes had
never heard of her.
 

Meanwhile, downtown, Leigh Robinson’s life was changing
forever.

30

Only a few hours had passed between Leigh’s pre and post-dinner
phone calls but when she called the second time her voice sounded years older.

“Life is so weird,” she said.

“Why?
 
What
happened?”

Leigh repeated that life was weird.
 
Casey again asked what happened.
 
After another moment, Leigh told her
about dinner.

Eva and Leigh met the Robinsons at a restaurant a block from
Aunt Eva’s hotel.
 
Mrs. Robinson
started crying when she saw her and Mr. Robinson demanded to know where Leigh
had been staying.
 
Leigh said not at
Casey’s though she did not think they believed her.

“Great,” Casey moaned.

As they sat down to dinner, Eva told the Robinsons they were
being too hard on Leigh.
 
Leigh’s
Dad said it was up to them how to discipline Leigh.
 
He emphasized the word ‘them,’ and that
confused Leigh.
 
Why would Eva have
anything to do with disciplining Leigh?
 
Then Leigh’s Dad went on to say how little he approved of the “painting
business.”
 

Yet again, and again it was odd, he focused on Eva rather than
Leigh as he said it.
 
He went on
about how a boarding school environment would get Leigh more excited about
academics, which clearly was what she needed, and how an “advanced degree in
finger painting would only lead to a life of irresponsibility.”
 
It was when the word “finger painting”
hit the airwaves that Mrs. Robinson told him to stop.
 
Until that point she had been quiet, but
she said it in a loud voice.
 
She
reminded him that Eva was a painter when she was young and now had a great
career.
 
And she said she thought it
was time they tell Leigh.
 

“Tell me what?” Leigh asked.

Eva ignored her and asked Mrs. Robinson if she was sure.
 
Mrs. Robinson looked to Mr. Robinson,
who, after staring at the table for a long moment, said he supposed it
was.
 
Then the Robinsons told Leigh
the following:

Mrs. Robinson was not Leigh’s biological mother.
 
Her biological mother was, in fact,
Eva.
 
Mr. and Mrs. Robinson had
tried unsuccessfully to have a baby for the first few years of their marriage,
but they could not.
 
Then Eva got
pregnant, unintentionally, by a guy she was not even serious with.
 
Leigh was legally adopted by the
Robinsons the day she was born.

There was a long moment of silence.
 
Leigh tried to tell herself that the
whole thing was a joke and that at any moment a TV host would pop out and tell
her as much.
 
But no one was
laughing.
 

Mrs. Robinson said they had been waiting until she was old
enough to tell her.
 
And that was
when Leigh finally spoke.
 
She said,
“I’m not.”

“Not what?” Eva asked.

“Not old enough.”

Leigh got up from the table and exited the restaurant.
 
Her mother, Mrs. Robinson that is,
caught up to her.
 
She cried some
more and said she was not sure if there ever would have been a good time to tell
Leigh, but that one seemed like it.
 
She added that she knew how upset Leigh must be but that hopefully, in
time, Leigh would understand that what they did was the best thing for
everyone.
 
Leigh asked what her real
father’s name was.
 
Mrs. Robinson
said she did not know.
 
Leigh asked
to be taken home and said she would wait outside the restaurant while Mrs.
Robinson got Mr. Robinson and settled the bill.

While Mrs. Robinson was doing that Aunt (Mom?) Eva came outside
and attempted to talk to Leigh.
 
Leigh would not respond.
 
Then Eva started crying too and went
inside the restaurant.
 
A few
minutes later Mr. and Mrs. Robinson came outside and drove Leigh home.
 
Once she got there she ran upstairs and
called Casey.

A moment passed.
 
 

“You ever been on that ride at the amusement park where they
strap you in and you put your back to the wall and then it spins around really
fast and the floor drops out?” Casey asked.

“I almost barfed.”

“Me too.
 
Is that
what you feel like now?”

“Kind of.
 
I really
want to know my real Dad’s name.”

“I would too.
 
Do
your parents still want to send you to boarding school?”

“I’m not sure.
 
My
mom said something about having a meeting with my teachers at Walton tomorrow.”

“Well that’s good.”

“Do you think I have any brothers and sisters?” Leigh asked.

“Dude.
 
I didn’t
even think about that.”

“There’s a lot to think about.”

“Seriously.”

“One more thing,” Leigh added.

“What’s that?”

“My Dad, not my real one whose name no one seems to know but
the one--”

“I know which one you mean.”

“That one ate a pot brownie.”

“Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“Nope.
 
He said he
had a feeling they were from me, like some kind of peace offering.
 
So he tried one.”

“I think my heart just stopped,” Casey said.

“His almost did too.
 
Rather, he thought it was about to because he’d never felt that way
before.
 
So he took one to work the
next day and had someone at the lab examine it and they told him it contained
pot.”

Casey banged her head against the phone receiver.
 

“I played dumb and said I had no idea who the brownies were
from,” Leigh paused, “still though.”

“Maybe the whole revealing they’re not your real parents deal
will distract them from telling my Mom.”

“Possibly.”

31

Soon after entering school the following morning, Casey read a
flier outside the Office of Student Activities.
 
Pop Wire, Air Morocco, and Eleanor
Hoffman had been selected as the three musical acts for talent show.
 

As Casey looked at the paper Alex Deal came up behind her.
 
“Congratulations.”

She turned.
 
“Thanks.”
 
She started to
walk away.
 
She didn’t feel like
engaging with him.
 
Anyway what was
the point of trying anymore?
 
Maxine
French was probably lurking behind the next corner, stingray ready and waiting
in the wake of Pop Wire’s new song.

“Hey,” he said.
 

She stopped.
 
“Yeah?”

“You guys were really good yesterday.”

She looked at him suspiciously.
 
He moved closer to her.
 
She got that excited jumpy feeling he
always made her get.
 
Goddamn.

“What are you doing after rehearsal?” he asked.
 
There was only one talent show
rehearsal.
 
It was after school that
day.
 
Talent show was the next
day.
 
She shrugged.
 
“Wanna hang out?” he continued.
 

Obviously, there were more reasons to say no than to say
yes.
 
There was how he’d blown her
off, gone out with Melanie Corcoran, and kissed Maxine French.
 
There was the stuff Yull said about
him.
 
And there was Ben.
 
But then there were his eyes, which
were, at the moment, hopeful.
 
There
was winter dance, only a few months away.
 
And, there was prom.
 
This
was exactly how she had hoped it would be, when she first tried out for talent
show.

“Sure.”

Playlist for a Person who has hit the
popularity jackpot

1. Song 1 - “No Cars Go” by Arcade Fire.
 
For when one has tripped
into a role closely resembling ruler of the free world, one must listen to a
triumphant song.
 
And a racing
string section smack dab in the middle does a mighty fine job of saying A)
someone
got a coveted slot in talent show, B) that same
person has a date with
Alex Deal
after
talent show rehearsal, and, C) that same killer of a specimen is, all of a
sudden, one people take note of when she walks by them in the hall.