The Gingerbread Boy (23 page)

“Joey,” Joanne waved a hand in front of his face. “He-ll-o?”

Joey raised his eyebrows, tipped a smile.

“Sorry.”

“What’s wrong?” Joanne asked, “You haven’t been yourself lately. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Joey reached over to rub her shoulders.

“I’ve been about as fun as a rubber crutch, haven’t I?”

“You’ve been,
different.
Something heavy must be on your mind.”

“It’s that obvious?”

Joanne nodded. “I wish you could talk to me.” She paused, lowered her eyes. “I know I come off as a dingbat sometimes, but I do have a serious side.”

“I know.”

There was a silence, but Joey offered no more.

Joanne pushed away her drink, crossed her arms on the table, and leaned toward him. “Tell me what’s bothering you. I can handle it. You might be surprised.”

Joey would not respond, and looked away.

“It’s about Catherine and Daniel, isn’t it?” Joanne said. “Isn’t it? You’re worried Daniel is thinking of leaving the band to be with her. You’re the manager, and The Front’s future is up in the air.”

Joey put his face in his hands.

“Am I on the right track?” Joanne asked.

Joey finally looked at her. “It’s something along that line. I hate to admit it, though. It sounds selfish.”

Joanne shook her head. “No, it doesn’t. I would feel the same way if I were you.”

Joey looked at her through his fingers. “You would?”

“I would. And so would Catherine. We’ve talked about these things.”

Joey pulled his hand away from his face, his expression imploring for more.

“Ah-ha!” Joanne teased, pushing his arm. “Now
you’re
the one longing for information.”

Joey attempted a smile. “I see how it feels.”

Joanne looked around the small, comfortable studio with its forest of microphones, the drum room, and the guitars leaning against the walls. Her eyes rested on a poster-sized photograph of Daniel and The Front on the wall opposite her. It was an eerie, black & white image of Daniel staring into a large mirror which reflected the faces of the other band members behind him. Joey followed her gaze.

“He’s the master-mind behind the band,” he said. “Without Daniel, we’re crippled. It’d still be a better band than most bands out there, but only a shadow of its former self. Daniel and I have put a lot of time, a
lot
of time and money into our image. It’s scary and sad to think that image may die.”

Joanne rolled her eyes. “That’s just it, Joey. It won’t die. Not if Catherine has any say about it.” Her voice became emphatic. “Do you
honestly
think Catherine would let Daniel quit the band, even if he wanted to? She knows how important it is to him. She’s got her own goals, too. She’s working her hiney off! All she does is study. She wouldn’t sacrifice her dreams, and she wouldn’t allow Daniel to sacrifice his. If the love is there, they’ll work it out.”

Joey looked at her, “You think Eastie truly loves Daniel?”

Joanne nodded. “I think it’s rather obvious.” She became concerned as Joey’s face skewered with a strange expression.

“Don’t you think Daniel loves
her
?” she asked.

“Last fall I saw him jump off a stage in mid-song to defend his maiden in distress. I also think it’s rather obvious.”

“So, you do think they can make it together, then? You think it’ll last when they’re separated for several months?”

Joey’s voice was faint. “We’ll be separated, too.”

There was a thoughtful silence. Joey reached to take Joanne’s hand, and squeezed it. “I know I’ve been preoccupied with a lot of things. It hasn’t been a picnic for you, either, and I’m sorry. I hope you have the strength to hang in there when things get very tough… because they
will
get tough.”

The warning at the end of Joey’s confession confused Joanne. He appeared to be hinting at something deeper than what they’d been discussing. She finally found her words.

“What’s bothering you is more than worrying if Daniel would one day quit the band.” She said, noticing the color drain from Joey’s face. “Don’t you trust Cathy? Are you worried she’s going to take him to Maryland and he’ll disappear to be with her this time, only for forever?”

Joey gazed up at the ceiling and remained silent. Strange emotions wrinkled his adorably plain face. His hands were trembling. This was worse than she’d imagined.

She leaned toward him. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Joey leveled his gaze at her. “Okay. I will. But we have to leave this room. We have to go into the living room.”

Joanne asked no questions as Joey hurried out of his chair, pulling her hastily along with him out of the studio. When they were finally in the living room he let out a great sigh, but still looked anxious. All of a sudden Joanne wasn’t so certain she was ready to hear what was bottled up inside of her tall, lanky southerner.

Joey backed her against a wall, placing outstretched fingers against her shoulders.

“I have to tell you in here, because last weekend I promised Daniel that the things he told me here would never leave “this” room. I figure this way I won’t be breaking the promise, at least not really.” He looked deep into Joanne’s eyes. “Can you make that same promise?”

Joanne swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded.

Joey took another breath, glancing around as though someone might overhear him. But there was no one in the house. The only sound in the silence was the rustling of You-Hoo as he arranged his pinfeathers on his perch in the corner.

“There are things about Daniel that Eastie needs to know, that Eastie has a right to know,” he began. “They’re not pleasant things, Joanne.”

Joanne’s eyes widened. Thoughts of Beth’s vengeful comments filled her mind. Could Beth really have gotten to Daniel somehow? Could she have that much of an effect on him? Was it possible? She felt a chill course through her. As Joey struggled for words, she heard her own voice squeak out, “It’s about Beth, isn’t it? Our sleazy former roommate is blackmailing Daniel somehow, trying to force him to be with her. And Daniel couldn’t say no, could he? Could he?”

Joey’s mouth dropped.
What had he almost done?
He’d almost told Joanne something he’d promised his best friend he’d never reveal to another soul until Daniel was ready to reveal it himself. Joey caught his breath and thought furiously as Joanne’s eyes begged him to continue.

Daniel sometimes mentioned weird things Catherine’s former roommate said. Sneaky, manipulative things. Until now, Joey had brushed off Daniel’s comments, for all they seemed to have done was annoy him. Yet now it haunted Joey.
What had Daniel been talking about?

Joey looked into Joanne’s face, and knew he had to tell her something
.
He’d taken her this far.

Suddenly he found himself babbling things Daniel used to talk about, feverishly trying to relate it to this discussion. “I think Beth may be trying to control Daniel, and our band,” he said, feeling the sweat form on his brow, “I’ve met her once, but I didn’t realize who she was at the time. That woman scared me. I don’t know what she’s up to, but it could force Daniel to do one of two things,” he paused for effect, watching Joanne’s eyes widen even further as he continued, “To either allow her to control the band, or to force him to leave it and escape.”

“Escape?” Joanne asked.

Joey nodded. “Go back to Peru. Maybe become a missionary like his parents were. He’s struggled with which path to take ever since I’ve known him, whether witnessing through secular music here in the States, or the most direct path… by going back to South America and taking up his parents’ cause.”

Joey finished, and was drained. The most horrible thing about what he’d told Joanne wasn’t that it was a strung-together lie, but that in any other circumstance it could so easily be true.
Somehow
, Beth knew Daniel was having some problems, that much Joey remembered. What Beth could do with knowledge concerning Catherine and Daniel’s relationship was incomprehensible. But the thing most important to Joey was that he hadn’t betrayed Daniel’s trust, even in the one room where he could have secretly done it.

When he looked at Joanne once more, her face was pale.

“What on Earth could that witch Beth hold over Daniel?” she asked. “I hate her, Joey! I really do. I never thought I could actually loathe someone that much. She’s evil… she’s unbalanced. We should capture her and Cave Pig and send them off to a deserted island to torment each other!”

Joey’s hands left Joanne’s shoulders.

“I’ve never seen you this way before.”

Joanne’s eyes welled with tears. “Cathy’s my best friend, she doesn’t deserve this. She’s had such a rough life. We have to warn her, we have to…”

“Joanne,” Joey said firmly, straightening, his deep blue eyes pinning her against the wall. “We can’t
.
I promised Daniel, and you promised me. Let’s try to forget it, and let Daniel take care of himself. He’ll make the right decision.”

“But Joey –
either
decision could exclude Catherine!”

Joey’s shoulders sank. He said nothing.

“Listen,” Joanne continued, “If Beth is blackmailing Daniel, we can turn around and do the same thing to her. She may be rich but I know we could dig up enough dirt about her to make her back down. She…”

“Daniel would never go for it, he’s a ‘turn the other cheek’ kind of guy.” Joey interrupted.

“Daniel doesn’t have to know,” Joanne stressed, “all he’ll know is that Beth finally left him alone. Joey, look at me! You don’t want Beth manipulating the band, do you? You’re the manager!”

Joey hung his head. This was going past what he’d originally concocted. Should he have told Joanne the truth? That in another few months Daniel might not have the ability to hang onto the microphone, let alone sing well? The disease was taking him fast. Daniel said he could hang in an incapacitated state for years, or mercifully… if the thought was actually merciful… he could go in less than a year. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis was an illness so sinister that physicians and scientists couldn’t even agree on what it was.

Joanne’s voice came softly. “You look drained. Beth has some kind of hold on you, too.”

Joey said nothing. Let her believe that.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“You
will
go along with me on this, won’t you?” Beth urged the undecided young man sitting on the couch next to her. “He’ll be here any second. If you don’t go along with it, you’ll never be acquitted. Maybe I won’t get my bail money back, but I’ll stand as a witness for Cathy, and that could put you away for a long time.”

The corner of Calvin’s lip twitched. “You already told the police that you saw me chasing Cathy. How do I know you’ll change your statement?”

Beth smiled maliciously. “I have it worked out. I’ll explain at the hearing that Catherine intimidated me. She’s already hit me once. I’ve got all kinds of witnesses to that incident. She has a vicious temper, she’s uncontrollable and unbalanced. She’s
dangerous
, remember?”

Calvin rubbed his chin, settled back on the sofa. “What if Joey doesn’t buy this? He tossed me around like a sack of potatoes once before, I don’t look forward to it again. How can you wreck Cathy’s reputation just by having someone falsify records? What if it doesn’t work?”

Beth rose to her feet. “Fine. Be a skeptic. I’ll see you later, in maybe five to ten years.”

Calvin jumped to his feet as she walked toward the door. “Okay! I believe you can make Cathy look like a sick little wench who has it out for me. It’s just that I’m nervous. What if Joey asks a lot of specific questions? The hearing’s coming up, and your connections haven’t been made yet. What will I say to Joey now?”

“Just follow my lead,” Beth said, walking smoothly back to him. “You can do
that
much, can’t you? We’ve talked of all this before. Don’t be the… the
Cave Pig
Catherine makes you out to be.”

Calvin’s face reddened. This plan was ludicrous, and now he was more certain than ever that this gorgeous blonde didn’t have both her oars in the water. Yet it was worth a try. Definitely worth making Catherine pay.

****

Joey walked listlessly through the dank old house. He felt invisible. He couldn’t figure out why the two or three boarders he’d passed had said “Hi,” to him. They must be imagining things. The owner of this lumbering old mansion was nowhere in sight.

The owner of this lumbering old mansion had died. Died from the inside out.

At least, that’s how Joey felt. He’d nearly reneged on a promise to a best friend, as horrible a promise as that’d been. Then he’d filled in the gap with big, juicy lies. Lies to a wonderful girl who didn’t deserve a bum like him.

No, Joey Ethan Thayer the Third was a has-been.

He sighed, wiped his hair off his forehead, and stared solemnly at his door. He wondered if he had any whiskey left hidden in that cluttered, laboratory of a room of his. If Daniel hadn’t been strong enough to resist a little ‘nip’ when he found out he was dying, then what would it harm ol’ Joey? Old Joey was already gone.

He twisted the doorknob and walked in.

He straightened, suddenly alert. He’d never had to lock his door before, and suddenly, two people were sitting on his own sofa, staring at him.

It took a moment to register that he knew who these people were. He walked toward them menacingly.

“Get of my house,” he said.

Joey stood before Calvin, reached down to grab him, watched with dark enjoyment the fear welling in the dirtball’s eyes. In such a state of mind Joey could have easily torn him to shreds if Beth hadn’t scurried between them.

“I’ve never hurt a woman before,” Joey warned, “but I’m in no mood to remain true to my convictions.” He tilted his head toward the door. “Go!”

Beth’s huge eyes were half-filled with fright, half with indignation. “Joey, please hear what we have to say. It’s important.”

Joey’s mouth drew into a tight line. He glanced at his watch. “What can be so important that you snuck into my room at midnight? Did you two collaborate to wipe out an orphanage or something?”