Daylight

Joe’s POV

The next afternoon I was packin’ a bag with a number of good things when Tom came up to watch me.
“What’s that, brother?” he asked.
“Dinner for me date,” I answered with a smile.
He observed me for another minute.
“You’re workin’ awfully hard for that bird,” he commented.
I shrugged.
“She must be worth it, then,” Tom carried on.
“I think so.”
“Good on ya, mate,” me brother agreed.
Silence.
“How’s it with Sal?” I finally asked.
Tom shrugged. “Ah, she’s a lovely girl, a bit fucked up, but lovely all the same. Now,” he grinned, “if that gorgeous drummer….”
“She’s too far above you, mate,” I warned him.
His grin fell. “Yeah, I know, and she don’t seem to need anyone, least of all me,” he said glumly. “But we talked a bit, and I’d swear she fancies me too….”
“Only one way to find out, brother.”
Tom never got a chance to answer me; we heard Pet callin’ from the front of the bus: “Hey guys, anybody here?”
Glenn greeted her from his place on the couch, only halfway takin’ his mind off the game he’d been playin’ most of the day. We heard him directin’ her to where Tom and I were talkin’.
Suddenly she appeared as the sun was just settin’ outside the window. She had on jeans and a pink top, and was carryin’ a sweater against what might be a chill evening. We were in Colorado, up in the mountains, and the air was a good bit cooler than what we’d had so far that summer.
The light from outside was gold and red, and it made Pet sort of glow.

It was gorgeous. She was gorgeous. I smiled at her.
“All ready?” she asked.
I held up the cooler. “Let’s go, luv.” I took her hand and nodded goodbye to me brother.

We unpacked the bag I’d brought and spread out the duvet—blanket, she called it—so we’d have someplace dry to sit. It was almost full dark when we got to our little spot, but the moon was bright, just as I’d hoped.
As much as I’d admit that I wanted to get Pet alone, particularly in that large bunk on the ‘Bathers’ bus, I was glad we could be outside in the fresh air.
Pet shook her head at all the food I’d brought. “How many people were you expecting to feed?” she wondered. “Should we have invited the rest of the tour?”
I pulled a face. “Very funny, luv. It wouldn’t be much of a date with that lot along, would it?”
She giggled. “No, I guess not. Where did you get all this? Did you knock over a convenience store or something?”
“Knock over…what?” I asked in confusion.
“Oh, sorry,” she replied. “I mean, what’d you do, rob someplace?”
“There was a grocery in town,” I answered. “I just didn’t know what you’d want, so I got a bit of everythin’.”
“That you did. Looks good,” Pet exclaimed. Then she shivered and pulled on her sweater. It was the most covered-up I’d seen anyone since the summer’d begun.
I grinned at her. “You know, I’d be glad to keep yeh warm,” I offered.
She rolled her eyes at me. “Thanks, but I think I’d rather eat just now. I’m starving.”
I brought out a tub of salad as she dug into the nearest bowl of food. “I noticed.”
“Hey,” she said defensively, “I’m young, I exercise, I take good care of myself. I can eat a little more if I want.”
I smiled. “Go right ahead, luv,” I said as innocently as possible. “I like a girl with an appetite.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Hmmmm. I’m gonna ignore that comment for now. I’m too hungry.”
I wiggled my eyebrows at her, and she thumped me. Hard, I might add.
“No more faces,” Pet warned me. “Now shut up and eat.”

After we ate, we stretched out on the blanket and looked at the moon bathin’ the countryside in blue light.
“Thank you for dinner,” Pet said. She was layin’ on her back, with her knees bent. I was on me side, just enjoyin’ the view. She turned her face to mine.
“Hey, wanna play a game?” she asked, her eyes bright.
“What sort of game?” I propped meself up on one arm.
“We play this one all the time on the bus when we get bored, sort of a ‘what-if’ game,” she replied. “We call it ‘Betty or Veronica.’”
“What’s that mean?”
She sat up. “You don’t know the ‘Archie’ comics?”
“Not really,” I was forced to admit.
“Well, in the comic book, Archie is this guy with red hair, and he’s got two girls who both wanna be his girlfriend,” Pet eagerly explained.
“He’s a ginger…with two ladies after ‘im?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes again. “Yeeeessss…are you gonna let me tell you?”
“Go on, then,” I answered, amused.
“Anyway…one of the girls is a pretty brunette, with a rich dad, sort of a Southern belle, and that’s Veronica. The other one’s a local girl, a blonde, and….”
“…that would be Betty?” I guessed.
She nodded, smilin’.
I was confused. “So what’s that got to do with your game?”
“It’s just what we call it,” she carried on a bit impatiently. “It’s one of those things where you ask questions, like, Where would you like to travel and why?”
I lay back again. “So what’s the point o’ this exercise?”
She lay down too. “The point, Joe, is to get people talking.”
“Girls have trouble…talkin’?”
She bloody thumped me again for me apparent stupidity. “No! But sometimes, you wanna talk and just need a way to start the conversation. Or you meet new people and want them to join in. I’ll give you an example: if you could spend a day with anyone, alive or dead, famous or not, who would it be?”
I thought a bit. “Hmmmm…I guess that would have to be me granddad.”
She smiled. “Why’s that?”
I closed me eyes. “Well, he died when I was sixteen, and though we loved him, he was a tough old geezer,” I said quietly. “He was very hard on me and Tom wantin’ to play music. More so than our Mum and Dad.”
She leant up on her elbow. “So why would you wanna spend the day with him?”
“To show ‘im we did alright,” I answered, openin’ me eyes.
Pet nodded. “That sounds good.”
I sat up a bit. “And how ‘bout you, miss?” I asked, running me hand along her soft hair. “Who’d you want to spend a day with?”
“That’s easy,” she said straightaway, “Billie Joe Armstrong.”
“Ahhh,” I replied knowingly, but she cut me off.
“Joe, God, I mean, really!” she hissed at me. “You’re just assuming that I have some girly reason that I’d wanna be around him for a day.”
I played along. “What, you mean you don’t?” She raised her arm to fuckin’ thump me again, but I stopped her, laughin’.
“Damn, but you piss me off,” she huffed. “What the hell’s your problem?”
I kept laughin’ and could see she was gettin’ more gutted at me.
“You mean you don’t think the man’s attractive?” I made the mistake of askin’. “Isn’t that how you all see ‘im?”
“Of course he’s attractive, but c’mon, the guy’s like 15 years older than I am,” Pet replied. “Whether I think he’s cute isn’t the point. He’s amazing! He writes almost everything they play, you know that! To be able to watch him in the studio, to see his creative process, to try and get inside his head as much as possible: that’s what I’d be after.”
She was too passionate to be makin’ that up; she’d clearly thought it through. “Alright, alright, I surrender,” I said, raisin’ me hands.
She smiled; she’d won. “Alright, your turn to make up a question,” she instructed.
I considered. “Here’s one,” I started. “If you could play any venue, anywhere in the world, what would it be?”
She sat up and thought for a few minutes.
“Wembley?” I suggested. “The Kaiserkeller? The Cavern?”
She waved her hands at me. “Stop it, I’m thinking,” she growled. “It was this club in LA…I think it was on the Strip…wait…The Whiskey A Go Go!”
I grinned. “Seriously?”
Pet returned me smile. “Oh yeah! That’s one of the places the Doors got their start. Now, what about you? Where would you play?”
“Ah, that’s too easy: the Marquee in London, where the Rolling Stones began,” I answered.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Oh, you’re just saying that because you think the Stones are this sexy, dangerous rock band. Really, Joe….”
I pretended to be horrified. “Oh, Petula, how can you say that to me?” I chided her. “It’s so cruel when you assume about me like that….”
She lay back on the blanket and shook with laughter. I took the opportunity to roll meself over her, not on top of course, but just crouchin’ on me hands and knees over her.
“No laughin’,” I said as sternly as possible. “You’ve been cruel, and you have to take yer punishment like a man.”
Pet stopped laughin’, but she still looked amused. I stayed as still as possible, just lookin’ at her face, watching it change minute by minute as she tried to make out what I was gonna do.
Finally, I lowered me head, stoppin’ just an inch or two from her face. She’d shut her eyes as I’d got closer. A minute or two ticked by, and she opened those pretty blue eyes. They looked almost clear in the moonlight.

“What’s up?” she asked softly. “And what did you mean by my punishment?”
I smiled in answer. “This is it, luv.”
“You’re a tease, Joe,” she almost whispered.
“Maybe,” I replied.