Rum and Coke

“So, what are we going to do now?” Ryan asked Ellie after she filled everyone in on why Mark was leaving with his bag and instrument.

“I can call in for another studio musician,” Brain offered as he pulled out his cellphone and started scrolling through his contacts.

“No, that won’t be necessary,” Ellie said as she stood up.

“What do you mean?” Matt asked.

“I can rewrite one of the guitar parts-”

“Ellie, you took Music Thoery with me- you know that you can’t just toss out the bass section and rewrite the other parts to suit it,” Ryan spoke up. “It never works.”

“Read my lips: we don’t fucking need a bassist!” Ellie screamed before storming out of the bus.

Brian made a move to go after her, but Ryan was too quick.

“No, you stay here. I’ll handle it. We’ll call you when we’re back in the RV,” Ryan said in an even tone before he followed after his twin. Ellie had always loved going to parks, so Ryan instantly knew where his twin headed as soon as he saw the sign pointing the way to a nearby park. He followed the signs and came across a busy intersection. Foot tapping the entire time, he waited for the “walk” light before running across the street. After that, Ellie wasn’t too hard to find. Ryan just walked until he saw a large oak tree in the center of the park. Silently, Ryan sat down next to Ellie and pulled out his box of cigarettes. After offering one to Ellie, he lit up both of their cancer sticks and took a long drag.

“So, how mad are they?” Ellie asked in an effort to break the tension.

“I don’t know. I jetted outta there as fast as I could,” Ryan said, exhaling. “I think they’re more worried about you than anything else.”

Ellie scoffed and tossed her half-finished cigarette aside. “This sucks.”

“What? Mark and Bailey leaving us? Yea, it sucks,” Ryan replied, offering her another stick.

She waved his offer away.“No, I mean my life in general.” She found a new fascination in picking at the blades of grass that surrounded her. “It’s just- gone all to Hell after she died, ya know?”

Ryan nodded.

“And, the thing with Brian- god, I don’t even know where to begin with that.”

“Don’t say that name, you can’t convince me that you’re suddenly religious,” Ryan sent a smirk her way.

Ellie shoved his shoulder. “You’re not helping!”

“Fine, fine. Let’s start with the most recent problems at hand, then work our way back. Mark and Bailey-”

“That’s not fair- Bailey left because her dad died-”

“What? I-I didn’t- how did you-”

“Uncle Jared told me. Now, can we move on? Mark- hell, I don’t know what the hell happened there. I thought we put everything past us. Boy, was I wrong.”

“Well, I can’t say that I didn’t see any of this coming,” Ryan laughed forcefully.

“Do explain, because I’m not following you.”

“I mused that something like this would happen before we even started our roadtrip. See, the thing is, is that nothing really tied them to this band.”

“I’m still not understanding your logic.”

“Ok, what was Mark outside of the band?”

“He was ALD.”

“Exactly-”

“I don’t see-”

“He had something outside the band. Same with Bailey- she had that military thing going for her. But, you and me? Ever since we quit acting, we’ve had nothing. Sure, you had to help run the house, but you didn’t do it because you loved it. You did it because you had to.”

“Ryan-”

“You know it’s true.” Ryan said sincerely. “Now, moving on to Brian-”

“I’m going to need more than nicotine for this.”

“Well, suck it up, because it’s all we got,” Ryan replied with a roll of his eye as he offered the last of his pack. “You now owe me,” he smiled as Ellie scoffed. “Ok, so, Brian: great guy, and he’d really love to know you more- you know, the real you, not the lies that you weave.” Ryan said, not letting Ellie get a word in edge wise. “You’re a good actor, Ellie, but you’re more than just that- let him see it. I know that he would appreciate it- I know we all[ would.”

“I know he would, but it’s just….hard, I guess. I mean, they train us from an early age how to act and think like another person, that we never get time to know how we act and think like ourselves- our true selves.”

“I feel your sentiment, but I’m still not buying it. And that brings us to our final point. I know that you kept her phone active. I’ve heard you cry through your singing to her. It’s not healthy, Ellie. The time to grieve must, eventually, come to an end. This charade must come to an end- it can’t last forever, Ellie.”

“It only has to last until New York.”

“What then? you know he’s instantly going to know something is up when she doesn’t show up for the concert. What then? Are you going to throw a blindfold around his head and have Idina act like her? Newsflash: Idina sounds nothing like your mother!”

“No, I’m not going to do that! I- I don’t know what I’m going to do! I thought it would just, I don’t know, come to me, I guess.”

“Ellie,” Ryan replied in a softer tone, “You know that stuff like that never works out. You need to have a plan. You need to have a plan now. We’ll be in New York in a week’s time.”

“I know that, Ryan. I know.” Ellie sighed as she took a long drag of her cigarette. “Fuck, everything’s gone to hell.”

“You’ve said that already.”

“How the fuck can I live my dreams or even start when everything has come apart?” Ellie plowed on, not even paying attention to her twin. “We promised, that, no matter what, we would never change and never part. We fucking promised that we’d amaze the world together- the four of us.”

“You can stop paraphrasing “Little Women,” you know. I get what you’re aiming at,” Ryan said, patting Ellie’s knee. “But, hey, you’ve got me. You’ll always have me. That’s gotta be a win, right?”

Ellie smiled and rested her head on hers. “And you’ll always have me, even if you do drive me up the wall some days.”

Ryan shrugged, “We can’t all be perfect little Broadway Princesses.” He kissed her cheek.

Ellie laughed. “Says the Broadway Prince, if I do recall correctly,” Ellie said as she stood up and offered Ryan her hand. “Man, we ruled that town.”

“We sure did, now, we’re about to rule the nation. And then? the world.”

Ellie’s smile failed. “I may not live to see that day.”

Ryan hugged her. “We’ll get to that road when we cross it. Now, how about we get back to the others? We can figure out what to do about tomorrow night’s gig.”

“Sounds great.” Ellie said as she and Ryan walked out of the park. “You know, I’ve been selfish these last few days.”

“Just the last few days?” Ryan quipped.

Ellie pushed him. “Shut up. anyways, what’s up in your life? How are things with you and Kay?”

Ryan shrugged and looked both ways as they came to the busy road. “they’re going. Matt hasn’t killed me yet, so that’s progress.”

“Well, it’s definitely progress from Gonorrhea Girl-”

Ryan didn’t get to reply. For, as soon as the last word exited Ellie’s mouth, than a speeding car hit the two pedestrians, causing them to roll over the hood of the car. Their bodies, bloody and broken, became a sack of bones on the asphalt. The car in question proceeded to crash into a lamp post.