Tangled Web (4 page)

And, second, they looked like rock stars.
They must have spent the afternoon sketching some fake tattoos in
their arms, but even their clothes, their equipment, and their
attitude made them appear to be a band who’d been doing this for
years. Johnny had a red bandanna wrapped around his right wrist,
and he’d gelled his hair into a faux-hawk. He wore a black Slayer
concert shirt, red leather pants, and black high-top sneakers.
Katie had been mesmerized by Riley during the first verse--he had
an onstage charisma she’d never seen in person before, a stage
presence that now captivated her--but then her eyes were drawn to
her best friend. Johnny had become a different man on stage. Yes, a
man, Katie told herself. There was something so different about
him. He seemed so poised, so confident, so sure of himself. He
played like a pro--she could hardly see his fingers moving at some
spots. And he kept posturing--moving, then pausing, facing the
audience so they could see what he was doing. He’d shake his head
and stick out his tongue “demonically,” then grin at the audience.
He was in his element, loving every second. And he had charisma
too. Everything that Katie had always loved about her friend was
amplified by ten onstage. Katie was certain he couldn’t see her
eyes and she was glad, because suddenly Johnny seemed like a
different person to her and she couldn’t pull her eyes away.

Never in the more than seven years that
Katie had been friends with Johnny had she felt this way. Watching
Johnny onstage forced Katie to see him as more than a friend. He’d
always been, in her mind, that gangly fifth grader with the quick
sense of humor and gapped-tooth grin. But onstage he was sexy. Yes,
sexy. He was manly; he was gorgeous. And so, for the rest of the
song, even though she tried to watch the entire band, she found
herself drawn to Johnny--her best friend who had now just become
her lust. She felt her whole body grow warm and tingly, and her
cheeks felt hot.

She’d had crushes on a lot of guys in high
school, but she’d never captured anyone’s interest. She had plenty
of male friends, but no suitors. She’d supposed it was because she
and Johnny were close friends. Either guys who might have been
interested thought she and Johnny were boyfriend and girlfriend or
they didn’t want to hassle with a girl who had a guy friend--he
might be overprotective and brotherly. It hadn’t bothered her much.
Sure, she’d always wanted to hold hands with a cute boy or kiss
someone, but she knew the time would come. She’d bided her time
falling asleep kissing her pillow, pretending it was her latest
crush, and then just waited. She knew it would happen someday.

But now it seemed so clear to her. It was
better this way. Maybe she and Johnny were just destined to be
together. And then she wondered if maybe Johnny had felt the same
way about her for a long time. He’d gone on occasional dates, but
nothing that lasted. In fact, the last date he’d had was at
Homecoming last fall. Katie was pretty sure that he’d also gotten
laid, but Johnny would never have said anything to her about
something like that. She suspected, though, because he just seemed
a little different after that--nothing bad, just different.

All it took was the six minutes of Johnny’s
band onstage (yes, it hadn’t escaped Katie’s notice that they went
over the time limit) for Katie to see with her own eyes what she’d
been missing all these years. Her best friend could be the ideal
boyfriend too.

After the song was over, the audience gave
Spawn of Satan a standing ovation. The audience had chosen its
favorite without being told to. Katie noticed that she wasn’t the
only one in love with the band. Johnny put the index and middle
finger of his right hand together and “saluted” the crowd,
something that--years later--would become a signature move. Riley
pulled the bandanna from around his neck and threw it into the
crowd, and a dozen eager girls pounced on it before one emerged the
victor. Yuck, Katie thought. All that fuss over a sweaty bandanna.
But she hadn’t failed to notice the band had “arrived.”

The judges conferred, whispers and huddled
shoulders, around their table, and the majorette stepped back up to
the stage. Johnny and crew stepped back to join all the other bands
on the left hand side of the gym. The majorette announced that the
judges were tallying their votes, but in the meantime, she would go
down the list of bands and ask for the audience to cheer for their
favorites. As she went down the list, all the bands got a decent
amount of applause--Katie was glad that none of them would go home
ashamed. But, ultimately, there was no question whom the audience
favorite was--hands down, it was Spawn of Satan.

The judges then passed their results to the
majorette. She announced the top three bands in no particular order
first, and of course one was Johnny’s band. She then told them who
was number three, then number two. And Katie was not surprised to
learn that Spawn of Satan would be playing at the prom that
spring.

The crowd was excited and so was the band.
The principal then got up to thank everyone and send all of them on
their merry way. Katie ran up to Johnny’s band to congratulate
them. Trent saw her first, and she said, “You guys were fantastic!”
Still shy, he smiled softly and nodded, then said “Thanks” in a
voice so quiet Katie could barely hear him over the din in the
gym.

Riley and Johnny, however, were as loud as
could be. Riley gave Johnny a high five. “That was awesome!”

Johnny replied, “Did you see all the girls?
We’re gonna get laid tonight! Take your pick, man!”

Katie felt the blood drain from her face.
Crestfallen, she steeled herself. How could she tell her best
friend she had a sudden love for him when his plans were to have
sex with the cutest-looking, most available slut nearby? She
couldn’t. She bit the inside of her cheek as she felt hot tears
form in the corner of her eyes. She forced a smile and tackled
Johnny from behind, hoping she would look and could act like her
usual self, because she didn’t know that she could pull it off.

He turned around. “Hey, buddy! So, what’d
you think?”

Katie kept the too-wide smile plastered on
her face. “You guys were great. I had no idea you were that good.
You’re professional, Johnny, all of you.”

He hugged her and kissed her on the
forehead. Then he pulled away but lowered his head to look her
straight in the eye. “You’re not just saying that, are you?”

Katie was pretty sure Johnny did get laid
that night, and probably by more than one girl. At least that was
the rumor floating around school. She tried not to think about it.
And she tried to keep it a deep, dark, buried secret, but she loved
Johnny as more than a friend from that point on until the last time
she saw him, pale, weak, and sickly, darkening her doorstep, a
broken man.

“What have you been up to since I saw you
last?”

Katie wasn’t prepared to tell Johnny the
whole truth. Not yet, anyway. She played around with her salad and
finally stabbed a cherry tomato with her fork. “Well, you already
know I bought a house. I did that this spring. I have a huge garden
in full swing this summer that I hope I can keep up with. I started
volunteering at the animal shelter last year. They’re working
toward being a no-kill shelter, and having volunteers helps out.
You know, less money on salaries. And--uh--well, you know I became
a vegetarian. I actually did that about two years ago.”

Johnny started pouring another glass of beer
and interrupted her. “So what the hell inspired that, Miss
American?”

The waitress showed up at the table with two
pizzas. “Careful,” she warned, and slid Johnny’s onto the metal
table stand. Katie’s small pizza sat on the table on top of wooden
pizza peel. The waitress set one plate in front of Johnny and
another next to Katie’s salad. She smiled. “Can I get you anything
else?”

Johnny looked at Katie who shook her head.
“Nope. I think we’re good. Thanks.”

“Enjoy.”

Katie took a deep breath and slid a tiny
slice of her pizza onto her plate. “Well, I made the choice for
dozens of reasons.”

Johnny used his spatula to slide two pieces
of his pizza onto his plate. He tilted the plate toward Katie, the
discs of pepperoni curled up on the pizza, tiny bowls for the
orange grease inside them. “But how can you say no to this
deliciousness?”

“Easily.” She took a bite from her pizza.
“And if I were really good, I’d give up cheese too. But I just
can’t.”

“You’re crazy.”

Katie managed to explain to Johnny all her
rationale for changing her diet for health, ethics, and
environmental reasons. And even though Johnny teased her, he
respected her decision and enjoyed their conversation. By the time
she was done talking, Johnny had polished off the pitcher of beer
but neither of them finished all the pizza. When the waitress asked
if they wanted a to-go box, they turned her down. Katie excused
herself to the women’s room. Fixing her hair in the mirror, she
decided she would tell Johnny about Grant as soon as she came back
out. He had to know. That wasn’t something you kept from a friend.
When she exited the restroom, she spied Johnny at the cash
register. She caught up to him and saw one of her co-workers
walking in the front door, ending her chance (and courage) to tell
Johnny about Grant. “Hi, Kate. Fancy seeing you here.”

“Hey, Gail,” she said to the brunette in
front of her. “Gail, this is an old, old friend of mine, Johnny
Church. Johnny, this is Gail Taylor.”

He smiled and extended his hand, grinning in
that charming way of his. “You might know me as J. C. Gibson.”

Katie smiled. “Trust me. She doesn’t.”

Gail frowned. “What’s that?”

“His stage name. But you might know him
because he’s a hometown boy.”

Gail started giggling. “Kate. You know
you’re at least five years older than I am. I don’t think so. I
don’t really know any other people as old as you.”

Katie smiled weakly. “Heh. Well, see you at
work tomorrow.”

Gail’s date approached her from behind, and
the waitress finished at the register to lead them to a table.
Johnny opened the door for Katie. He lowered his voice and said,
“Another ma’am moment, huh?”

“Yeah. They’re coming a little too often for
my taste.”

Johnny sighed, playful. “Well, I guess
that’s what you get for calling me your ‘old, old’ friend. And for
not giving credit where credit is due.” He laughed as they walked
to his bike.

“Come off it. It’s not you, and it’s not
your age. Gail listens to country music. Trust me when I tell you
she has never heard of you, and it’s not because you’re not
awesome.”

Twilight had descended upon the town but the
night was still young. Katie put her jacket on and Johnny handed
her the helmet again. “What next, milady?”

* * *

“And heeeeeeeere’s Johnny who’ll be singing
some Stone Sour!” The deejay cranked up the music for “Say You’ll
Haunt Me” as Johnny jumped up to the mike. The two had arrived at
Suds an hour earlier. Johnny had ordered another pitcher and talked
Katie into drinking with him. She didn’t want beer, though, so she
sipped a rum and Coke. Johnny had been spending the better part of
the hour trying to talk Katie into doing karaoke but she refused.
That was his game, she told him. So he turned in his slip (and
didn’t pick any of his own songs to “play fair,” he said) and
finally had his chance.

Katie didn’t miss the fact that Johnny
wasn’t looking at the words on the big screen high up on the wall
behind her. Katie could tell he knew them all. And he was singing
them
to her
. She didn’t miss that either. He was having a
lot of fun, but it made her feel a little bit like she was under a
microscope. Johnny was the ultimate showman and entertained the
whole place, sang for the whole bar, but the song was for Katie.
She knew that much.

When he was done, a guy near the bar yelled,
“Yo, J. C.! What the hell are you doin’ here in little old
Winchester?”

Johnny’s face split into a cocky grin and he
waved his customary two-finger salute. He yelled into the
microphone, “These are my digs, man. I’m home for a while!”

So now that the jig was up, the man walked
toward them, still shouting (too drunk, Katie surmised). “So is it
true, dude? Did Scathing V. break up?”

Johnny half-frowned. “Yeah, it’s true. But
keep your eyes peeled for my next venture.”

“Who should we look for?”

“J. C. Gibson, man. That’s all you need to
know. And it’ll be the best thing I’ve ever done. I promise.”

The crowd roared. Most of them were glad to
see a hometown boy come back, that he hadn’t gotten too big for his
britches. If only they knew, Katie thought. When he’d first “kicked
the dirt of this town off my boots,” he didn’t want to use his real
name. He used his initials--J. C.--and combined them with Gibson to
represent his favorite guitar. It was all Johnny wanted to be known
as. Over the years, though, he’d come to miss home. His mother
still lived there, and so did his best friend, and he realized that
his fondest memories were formed in Winchester. As he grew up, he
realized it wasn’t so bad. But most of the town had long since
forgotten that his real name was Johnny Church, and most people
addressed him as J. C.

He finally sat down next to Katie. “So much
for a quiet night out with my friend, huh?” She smiled at him. “We
can get their minds off me if you sing.”

“No way.” The deejay called up the next
victim, and Katie felt bad for him. No one should have to follow
Johnny, because anyone would pale in comparison to him. He’d been
on a stage for his entire adult life. No one else in that bar had a
chance. Fortunately, the new guy was singing a rap song, so there
was less to compare.