Haunted (7 page)

With a mouth full of sandwich Jade said, “There’s a thocked thidge an thnackth downthtairth behind the bar if you get hungry. Help yourthelf.”

He may have spit some of it on Mage, who was sitting next to him, but I was likely the only one to notice.

“Yeah, and Mr. Daryl told us you like Diet Coke so we got a bunch.” Star at least swallowed before talking.

They were finished with their sandwiches before I even came close to eating half. I wrapped the other half and set it down on the table.

“I tend to treat my Diet Coke like others treat coffee, I’m afraid. Thanks for taking care of that.”

"Anything for you, Miss Charles,” said Jade, who had left a cushion’s space between us on the couch.

“Please, call me Jay, or Jaylene. The Miss feels kinda funny.” They looked to Devon and Marcus, who nodded, and so they agreed.

“Ok, Jaylene,” Mage said, trying my name on for size, almost waiting to see if he’d get struck by some natural occurrence for not using the Miss.

I thought it was very respectful how kids were taught in the South to call their elders Miss or Mister. But it felt weird on me, especially when they weren’t that much younger than me. It was almost as creepy as being called ma’am.

Mage leaned forward, resting his forearms on his legs and rubbing his hands together. “So when is your birthday?”  

I was startled by his question. “Um, why?”  

The other guys mumbled to themselves and Marcus even hung his head in his hands. “Here we go,” he muttered.

“Oh, uh, just because I was wondering what your sign is? I was going to do your star charts, for you.”  He looked at the other guys. “What? Is that weird?”  

Star slugged him in his thigh. “Dude, she just got here! You want her to bail on us?”

“No, it’s ok. It’s actually today.”

They all looked at me, stunned. Mage especially. “Truly? And Friday the 13
^th
even?” His voice was filled with wonder and I fought the urge to giggle.

Just under 6’ I’d guess, Mage was exotic looking. He had a wide smile and full lips. His eyes looked not so much dangerous, more like always on alert, like he never really relaxed. He made you feel like he was always watching. It didn’t unsettle me; rather it felt like I was being watched out for.

“Yes, why? I don’t really celebrate birthdays much so I didn’t even think about it.” I hadn’t even told Mackenzie, just didn’t seem like a big deal.

They were still all looking at me. “So, April 13th is your birthday. Ok. Very interesting. Mind if I ask what year?”  

Marcus groaned loudly and Devon got up shaking his head and started walking out of the room.

“Guys, this is serious. I’m not...What?” He looked around at them like he was afraid he’d just spilled the beans. “Oh no, am I being rude? Shit, sorry, I mean shoot. I forgot it’s not cool to ask women their age, or something.”

This time I couldn’t help it, I had to giggle. “No worries, Mage. I was born in 1986.”

He grabbed the pencil behind his ear and started writing something down and seemed very into whatever he was doing. Jade spoke up next.

“That was a really good year! Top Gun came out, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off...And of course...Master of Puppets, Peace Sells...But Who’s Buying?...Great year!”  

Boy, he sure knew his pop culture trivia.

They all started buzzing. Marcus grabbed an acoustic guitar and started playing Sanitarium. Star grabbed his sticks and started banging out the beat on the ottoman. I wondered if they did this often, just burst into song. I admired that ability.

“Yeah, I’m kind of fond of it, I guess.”

Devon had come back in the room with a pack of guitar strings. He leaned over the back of the couch behind me, his breath hitting my neck as he whispered, “Happy Birthday, Jaylene.”

I smiled up at him and he went back over to the corner and started restringing the guitar he had been working on.

Jade started rubbing his hands together. “Wow, that’s awesome, it’s your birthday! We should totally celebrate! What’s your favorite food? We’ll order it for dinner. Devon’s mom cooks for us, and she’d be happy to make you whatever you want.” He was very insistent.

“Oh, thanks, but no. You don’t have to do anything special for me. I’ll just have whatever she’s making. I’m sure it will be good.”

Jade just looked at me like I’d spoken Swahili for a moment. “Not do anything special? For your birthday? What, do they not celebrate birthdays where you’re from?”  

Star threw a drumstick at him. “Hey, shut up! Maybe she’s like Jehovah’s Witness or something. Don’t be offensive, dickhead!”  

I giggled and said, “I’m not Jehovah’s Witness. It’s no big deal. I just never had much use for birthdays is all.” I had to change the subject fast. Mage was looking at me weird and continuing with his writing.

“So, why don’t you guys start telling me a little about yourselves? I have to be upfront and tell you that before the past couple of days I hadn’t really heard much of your music.” They were all looking at me, confused. I tried to recover. “It’s good. I listened to some the day you guys came in. Uh, Mackenzie is a big fan.” Still the blank looks. “I don’t really listen to the radio, or anything.” I let out a big breath, blowing my bangs out of my face. Ok, this was going really smooth.

“So which album did you listen to?” Marcus was leaning in, studying me.

“I, ah, whatever was on your website? Burns Like Fire, I think?”  

He narrowed his eyes. He was sitting on the ottoman and he scooted over until he was right in front of me.

“It’s Ice. Burns Like Ice.” He cleared his throat and lowered his voice a little, biting on the corner of his lip.

I felt myself sinking back into the couch.

“Which song did you listen to?”  

Ok, now I was feeling the burn. In my cheeks. There was no way I was going to start reciting lyrics. From the way he was leering at me, I was beginning to get the picture that Marcus was the primary songwriter and was trying to use his sexual assertiveness to get to me. I shifted in my seat.

“I don’t really remember. It was something smutty.” I had to fight back, let him know he wasn’t going to get to me that way. Stand up for myself, that was my tactic.

His lips peeled back into a very satisfied male kind of smile. “Smutty. Yeah, boys, I think she heard us. So it will take us a little work to win her over, that’s ok.” He leaned even closer, putting a hand on the couch next to my thigh, his knees touching mine. “I like a good challenge.”

Oh, shit.

“Knock it off, Marcus. She’s not here to stroke your ego. Or anything else belonging to you.”

Devon had spoken up from the other side of the room but hadn’t looked up from his job. The other guys started to chuckle, hiding their grins behind their hands. Marcus gave me one last smoldering look and turned to them, standing up.

“Hey, I’m only trying to find out what the lady likes. If we aren’t her cup of tea, perhaps she’ll tell us who is?”  He smiled sweetly at me and I hoped I hadn’t pissed him off.

“Well, I’m pretty much into older heavy metal and some of the stuff from the ‘90’s. I listened to a lot of Zeppelin and the Doors growing up, my stepmom was a fan. I love AC/DC, with Bon Scott specifically. Metallica I’ve seen four or five times in concert, Megadeth, Pantera...That kind of stuff. Oh, and I like 70’s and 80’s punk. Do I pass your test, Mr. Lambert?” I couldn’t help issuing a challenge of my own.

“What’s your favorite Doors album?” Mage was looking at me intently, tapping his pencil against his chin.

“Has to be Strange Days I guess. But their debut was great as well. I love People are Strange.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “That’s a good one. I loved the cover Echo and the Bunnymen did for that movie The Lost Boys. That was a great flick.” Mage obviously knew his 80’s trivia as well.

“That’s a good movie. I’ve actually been to a lot of the spots they used to film that movie.”

Star and Jade leaned in, interested in our conversation. “Us, too. We stayed in Santa Cruz once when we were touring out West. One of our early shows was at the Catalyst. You ever been there?”  

I nodded. “Sure, I saw Agent Orange there once.”

“No way! I love them!” Jade started naming off other California punk bands and we seemed to like a lot of the same stuff.

Marcus cut in then. “Ok. Well, at least you have good taste, even if it’s a bit antiquated. Our music is certainly influenced by the early Metal but we’ve tried to step it up a notch.”

I caught Devon’s smirk out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t want to interrupt Marcus. He seemed like he was about to give a serious speech.

“Our first three albums were very edgy for Metalcore, which is why expectations are so high for us. We have a lot riding on our next album, and I for one don’t want to be written off just yet.” He had his hands on his hips and almost seemed to be scolding the others. Tension started to build and I was getting a clearer picture of why they needed me.

Devon spoke up next. “We do have a lot riding on our next album, Marcus, and that is why we need to be open to new ideas and influences.” He nodded almost imperceptibly at me.

Perhaps he was trying to help me get a feel for the group dynamics. It was already apparent that while Marcus was the most outspoken, Devon was equally in charge and the other three followed them to varying degrees. I wanted to explore this dynamic more, but felt it safer to change the subject. I leaned forward and took Marcus’ arm in my hands, turning it over in the light.

“Who did your tattoos? I’m seeing a lot of similar styles. Did you guys get work done by the same people?” Encouraging people to talk about their artwork could lead in all kinds of directions and these guys were eager to share.

He looked down at his arm distractedly, like he wasn’t happy about the subject change. “I got a few done when I was younger, around here, before going to L.A. But my arms were done at Six Feet Under in Upland. You heard of it?”

“Corey Miller’s place, sure. They do good work there. The line work is really good here.” He had an intricate sleeve involving Gothic crosses and skulls with angel wings. I grabbed for the other hand and heard an intake of breath from him. I looked up to see him looking down at me with a sneer.

“You want to inspect anything else?” It was obvious that this type of thing worked for him, but I was so not buying what he was selling.

“Thanks, I’m just interested in what’s been done to your skin, not what you like to do with it.”

The guys all laughed at that comment and it even got an appreciative smile from Devon. I was simply setting boundaries!

Marcus chuckled, but I had the sense that we weren’t finished testing each other. Jade slid over next to me and started showing me his Traditional work, telling me stories about each of his tattoos. Pretty soon the four guys were all crowded around me showing me their work. Troy had done some of their work as well as a couple of other local artists. They’d also gotten work done in LA and the surrounding areas. Most of it looked great, but they each had an embarrassing tattoo story.

“Star, show her your pinup!” Jade pulled Star’s shirt up. On his rib cage, he had a scantily clad pinup done pirate style. But the proportions were way off. “They put six fingers on her right hand.”

I giggled, but hurried to reassure him.

“Unfortunately, it happens. When I was still an apprentice, my mentor caught me before I misspelled ‘Independence’ on a guy’s chest. It was huge. It probably would have been the end for me!”  

Star nodded at me. “What about you? Who did your work?”  

They were looking intently at my arms but seemed hesitant to touch me. They would put their hand out and then bring it back. It was too cute. Even Marcus was looking from afar. I told them about the shops I’d been to back home. Most of my work, including my arms and a large piece on my thigh (which of course I wasn’t disrobing to show them) was done by my mentor Stephen Pierce at Black Heart Tattoo in Hayward. They asked a little about what an apprenticeship entailed and I told them I’d worked closely with Stephen for a year and a half before he made me an official artist in the shop.

We’d been chatting for about an hour I guess when Marcus looked at his watch and said, “Well, fellas, time to get to work!”  

They all groaned and stood up. Mage followed them, picking up some leftover trash. I stood to help him.

“It’s ok, I got it.” He winked at me, took the trash from me, and carried it over to a small kitchenette I hadn’t noticed. He grabbed a bottle of water and gestured to me with a second bottle. I nodded, so he tossed it gently to me.

“Thanks, Mage.”

Marcus was chatting with Devon by the chair where he’d been working on the guitar. I stepped over, a little unsure whether they wanted their space or not.

“Hey, I don’t mean to interrupt, but if you guys are going to be practicing, do you want me hanging out or to get lost? Either way is fine.”

Devon gave me that killer blue-eyed gaze of his and I had to catch myself before I reached up and checked my pulse. Marcus looked at him and then at me with an eyebrow raised.

“We absolutely want you there, of course," Marcus said. “That’s the point of you being with us.”

I nodded and figured I should give the full disclosure to him about my little habit.

“I told Devon, but I should let the rest of you guys know that I sketch. A lot. I’ll try not to be intrusive, but I usually have a pencil and sketchbook with me all the time. Is that going to be too weird?” I should have known he would be fine with it. He kind of puffed up his chest a bit and gave me his best sultry-model face.

“Sketch away, dahlin.”

Devon gave him a shove and said, “C’mon, Fabio. Let’s get to work.”

I bit back a laugh, Marcus looked perturbed and Devon just gave his half smile.

I sighed. This was definitely going to be an interesting couple of weeks.

I went to my room to grab my sketchbook and pencils and checked my phone. Mackenzie had already left me five text messages. I sent her a quick
“I’m fine, I’m working, you should be too!”
answer and dropped the phone on the bed. I didn’t want it distracting me so I wasn’t going to keep it with me.

As I headed down the stairs, I could hear the guys starting to warm up their instruments. I was actually looking forward to watching their creative process. Live music was thrilling to me in any form. Being there while they created what would hopefully be another successful album would be a once in a lifetime experience!

Star’s drum set was on the little stage. It was a stripped down set, probably not what he’d use live. The other guys were in a half circle around the front of the stage. Jade and Mage stood next to each other, tuning their guitar and bass. Devon was off to the other side with a collection of acoustic and electric guitars. He was warming up with a Les Paul, but I could also see a Fender Stratocaster, a Flying V and an Epiphone acoustic. My eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to his long fingers flying over the fretboard. He hadn’t plugged in yet so I couldn’t hear what he was playing.

Plugged in. This might get loud. I looked around and at that moment, Mage walked over and handed me a box of earplugs. “Here. You might need these.”

I thanked him. But if I was going to need earplugs, wasn’t everyone else going to hear? Then I noticed that egg crate foam was put up all along the windows in the front. Aha. That was how they hoped to keep folks from hearing what was going on. There were a couple of huge bean bags thrown over by the bar so I figured that would be a comfy place to watch. I could see them all fairly well from this vantage point. Marcus was lining up sheets of paper at the foot of the stage. Star was running through some beats and Jade and Mage had plugged in and were tuning.

They started by playing a few instrumentals, perhaps some songs they were working on? The first one started out with a fast, pounding rhythm followed by Jade and Devon playing a harmony together that was reminiscent of an Iron Maiden or Judas Priest song. I could dig this for sure. There were a lot of changes and then they just kind of stopped. Ah. Not quite finished yet. Marcus was just bobbing his head along, writing occasionally. The second piece was a slow groove that had Devon playing a very soulful intro. It reminded me of something Slash would have played on later Guns tracks. Marcus was watching him, not bobbing his head this time. Instead, he was studying him with a frown on his face. Jade and Mage were following along, eyes closed a bit. Star was playing a soft, almost jazz-like rhythm, not overpowering to the melody.

Marcus appeared to grow increasingly impatient, finally motioning for Devon to stop. “Ok, ok. I’m just not sure what you want me to do with that one, D.”

Devon just shrugged and walked over to a stool to get a drink of water.

“It is what it is, Marcus. You want us to work on stuff. This is what I came up with. It’s just where my head’s at right now.”

Wow, if that’s where his head was, it was a bluesy and beautiful place. I figured I shouldn’t play the cheerleader right now, but if I were I’d say Go Team Devon!

Marcus walked back over to his papers and then grabbed one of the guitars by Devon. “I was thinking something more like this.” He played a riff that sounded squealy and full of feedback to me, but that was my uneducated ear. He repeated it and looked over at the other guys, who were kind of scratching their heads. They fell into a supporting groove with him. His playing was in the realm of earsplitting but he had some talent. It just didn’t seem as natural as it did with Devon. Or was I choosing sides? Bad, bad. I couldn’t do that, I was supposed to be observing. But what I was seeing was some major tension coming off two friends that were in totally different places musically, for sure. Maybe those differences could be seen in other ways, too.

I picked up my sketchbook and started to draw. I was listening to them start to argue and found myself drawing a heart split in two. One side had jagged edges. The other just seemed to melt toward the bottom of the page. Then I was doodling and each side of the page became distinctive. One side was filled with anxiety and frustration, the other with sadness and despair.

After a while I started hearing some familiar tunes. It seemed Devon was trying to teach the guys to play a blues riff. I didn’t know whose it was originally, but I liked it. Jade and Mage joined in with Star supplying the rhythm. Eventually Marcus started to play, although he still seemed frustrated. He wore his guitar slung low and his movements were kind of jerky compared to Devon, who was loose, his limbs hanging low. I didn’t know what had come between them, or why the rift, but I was sure it wasn’t going to be pleasant for anyone to discuss.

The guys played for another couple of hours with a few breaks in between for smokes out back. Through it all I just sketched each of them playing their instruments and tried to capture what their essence brought to the group. Devon’s and Marcus’ were probably the most detailed, though, because it was obvious that the root of their problem was something between them.

Star came over during one of the breaks and flopped down into the beanbag next to mine. He was trying to look over my shoulder with subtlety. He had zero. Marcus and Devon had gone outside together and the other two were grabbing drinks from behind the bar, stretching their hands and arms out.

I handed my sketchbook to Star with a sly smile and said, “If you want to see my drawings, Star, you just have to ask. They’re all going to belong to you anyway.”

He blushed and said, “That obvious? I’m sorry. I’ve just always wished I could draw. I was never any good at it.” He started to flip through the pages and blew a breath out in a whistle.

“Damn. Jaylene these are amazing! You totally got us all! Where did you learn to draw like this?”  

I shrugged. “I don’t know, around I guess. I had a few classes, but I never did well in them because I wanted to do my own thing, you know? I probably had lower grades in my art classes than anything else because the teachers were always like ‘You have so much potential, Jaylene, blah blah blah, if you’d just do it like this.’”  

He nodded in agreement.

“Totally! You should have seen us in music class. Our band teacher hated us, huh Jade?”

Jade wandered over to us and asked if he could look at my book, too.

“Of course. I told Marcus and Devon it’s a habit of mine. I draw all the time. Sometimes they turn into something, sometimes it’s just a way for me to process what’s going on around me.”

He was looking at one drawing in particular thoughtfully.

“That’s so weird, that’s how you see us? That’s so cool though, isn’t this cool? Mage! Dude, come check this out. You look fuckin’ crazy dude, look at this one.”

Mage came over with a cup of coffee in his hand and peered over Jade’s shoulder. In the drawing of Mage for some reason I’d added swirls around him like a cyclone of energy and up above them there was a face with hollow eyes. It was kind of freaky, but like I always say, I draws ‘em like I sees ‘em.

“No shit, really?” He looked from the book, to me, and back. “Jaylene, these are really deep. You can really see us.” His eyes met mine, searching. “You sure you don’t have any of the Gift in you, eh?”

I frowned back. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“It doesn’t always have to be about that freaky shit, Mage. You are going to scare her off.” Jade was looking worried so I shook my head.

“Jade, it’s fine. His beliefs are his beliefs and that’s cool. It doesn’t bother me. I’ve heard a lot of peoples’ views on things, and it’s like, whatever rings true for them? We all have to find our way, right?”  

Mage was looking at me like he’d just had an epiphany.

“Yesssss. See? That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you assholes since 7th grade and you just gotta see everything like skeptics. Haven’t you ever seen something or been through something that you just couldn’t explain? Like it had to be something else, man?”  

Star and Jade just groaned.

“He’s right, I think. There’s a lot that goes on that there’s no good explanation for, true Mage. And hey, the way I look at it is if people believe in something, it gives it power, so I try to suspend disbelief. It is what it is.”

Their looks weren’t as disgusted when they looked back at Mage this time. Maybe they were seeing things through his eyes. Then Mage hurriedly turned and ran over to pick up his bass.

“Hey Jade, come check this out.”

The two of them put their heads together and started on that demented musician speak Devon had warned me about. I just watched the magic happen. Star wandered around them slowly and climbed back up to his drum set. The beginnings of a riff were coming together when Marcus and Devon came back in. Marcus looked pissed, Devon just looked sad.

The three continued to play and the music began to get faster and faster. Star was pummeling the drums. But instead of the shrill sound I’d heard when Marcus had started them off, this was powerful. The kind of stuff you could feel in your gut. I couldn’t help but bob my head a little. Devon wordlessly picked up his guitar and caught up to them. In a few eight counts he started playing notes all over the place complementing what Mage and Jade were laying down. Marcus’ face went from angry to engrossed. He just stood there engaged at a pretty deep level.

So that’s how it happened. That was how a metal band wrote a song. Or at least I was seeing the beginnings of how a song comes together. They started it over, Mage said a few things to Devon, who just nodded, and they played it out for a solid seven or eight minutes until Marcus waved them off.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about! I sure fucking hope someone remembered to turn on the recorder.”

Star raised a hand and they all thanked him. Mage was writing things down quickly, the chords I guess. I had no idea. This was all foreign to me.

“Mage I’m going to listen to that and see what I can come up with for lyrics. Nice work.”

Mage seemed very pleased with the compliment. My guess was that those didn’t come often from Marcus, or at least not recently.

Marcus walked over to me then and said, “Now that is what we are trying to accomplish. This is how it’s supposed to work. It just hasn’t for a bit. Maybe you are our good luck charm!” He glanced down at my sketchbook that was forgotten in this creative burst. The drawing of Mage was still on top. Marcus bent down and picked it up, looking at it closely.

“Can I borrow this?”  

I nodded, “Sure. It’s all yours. Just take it out.”

He carefully ripped out the page, looked at the drawing of Star, on which I’d added silly devil horns, and he laughed. “Yeah, I guess you really do see us. Star, she’s already got you figured out.”

Star blushed and played a silly drum roll. The tension dissipated and the camaraderie of earlier was back.

I stood up and stretched, stiff from being hunched over my sketchbook for the better part of two hours. But I felt good. I felt like I could illustrate what was going on and they could see it from an outside perspective. No words, no judgments. Just pictures. I giggled, thinking about those “artist’s renderings” from court sessions and hoped there wouldn’t be any drawings of angry conversations. I’m not much good with confrontations. I tend to be a bit passive. I didn’t like it when the guys were mad at each other. If I could get it out through my drawings, then I could process it better and maybe so could they.

The guys went back upstairs to watch TV and play video games. I decided to do some exploring. I knew there was a back patio and I wanted to get a breath of fresh air. I thought that would be appropriate considering the afternoon we just had.

I walked back between the bar and the stage into a narrow hallway. I could hear kitchen sounds, so I thought I’d take a peek. Devon was in the kitchen with an older woman who was peeling potatoes and singing to herself. Devon was washing dishes and for some reason it didn’t seem out of character for him to be doing that. It seemed almost natural. Could it be he knew his way around the kitchen?

“Hey,” I said to announce my intrusion. “Is there anything I can do to help?”  

Devon turned around and looked from the woman to me. He walked over to the door, wiping his hands off on the back of his black jeans.

“Jaylene Charles, this is my mother, Marie Doucette Boudreaux.” The woman turned around and gave me an all-business handshake. I tried not to react. Boudreaux? That was Devon’s last name? Did that mean Margaret was his wife? It would make sense why he was so full of sorrow. That thought hit me like a punch in the gut. I tried to shake it off and make nice.

His mother was thinner and taller than me, probably 5’10”, with black hair streaked gray in a messy bun on top of her head. She was wearing a black t-shirt with the name 'Houma City Bar and Grill' on the front, and a pair of khaki Bermuda shorts.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Boudreaux.”

She smiled at me and said, “You as well, Miss Charles. I’ve heard a lot about you from that rascal brother of mine, Daryl. He speaks highly of you and your work.” She glanced at my arms and hid any displeasure she might have had at my tattoos. That was a welcome reaction.

“Thank you. Daryl has been very kind to me since I arrived here. I couldn’t have opened my shop without him.” She smiled and nodded.

“He does a lot for the people he cares about. He took care of us after my husband passed. Helped me keep the business open, he did.” She smiled but there was that sadness I’d grown used to with Devon in her eyes.

If he’d lost his father that could explain some of the sadness, but it seemed deeper than that.

“I was actually just trying to shoo Devon out of the kitchen. Maybe you could encourage him to let me be?”  

Devon looked at his mother with his half smile. “I guess I know when I’m not wanted. I was just trying to help, Mama.”

His drawl was a bit more pronounced in here with her. It was sweet to see him with his mother. He obviously cared deeply for her.