Gutter ***s

“So, how far exactly did you say your parents lived?” I ask Tre about half an hour into our drive to his home. We spent the first half hour pressing every button in the car, since it was a rental, and we were too damn curious.
“About three and half hours, maybe four.” He says simply.
“Jeebus, where is this place.”
“Didn’t I tell you?” he asks quizzically.
“Mendocino Mountains.” I say rolling my eyes, “But it’s not like I’ve actually ever been there. So it could be Africa for all I know.”
“No, I don’t think its Africa.” Tre says shaking his head, “Too many hippies.”
“Hippies?” I ask cocking an eyebrow.
“Yep, is how I started tripping at the tender age of fifteen.” He says with a big smile.

“So do your parents know I’m coming?”
“Yeah,” Tre says gruffly, “My mom screeched in my ear.”
“Uhh?”
“Yeah, did I mention, she used to think the only thing I could love are drums?”
“I think you did.”
“Oh and she really freaked when I told her you’re a woman.”
“As apposed to a man or a blow up fun doll?” I ask laughing.
“Good question.” Tre says smiling.

“I called my parents and told them I wasn’t coming home for Christmas.” I say a while later.
“Oh yeah, how’d they take it?”
“Well my mom was less than ecstatic.” I chuckle, “Then I went on to say, since I’m living with you, I should at least meet your parents.” Tre smirks.
“Didn’t you say, they didn’t know we were living together?”
“Just goes to show, it’s not Christmas without a full blown argument.” I smile as I think back to the absolutely stupid conversation with my mother, “First she was pissed because I kept it secret then she was pissed because I’m living with and I quote, some random piss head guy.”
“Awe, you’re mother’s a real peach.” Tre says cheekily.
“Well, by Easter, or whenever I go home next, they’ll be fine with you.”
“My parents know we’re living together, of course they doubt you exist but still.” Tre teases.
“Hmm, so you’re hated and I don’t exist.” I smile, “Fantastic, isn’t it?”

“Snow, holy shit.” I say looking out the window a few hours later.
“What? You’ve never seen snow?” he asks laughing; “don’t you have snow in Seattle?”
“No.” I say calmly, “And I told you, I lived in Florida till I was seventeen, then we moved to Seattle.” He continues to drive, the higher up the mountain we get, there’s more snow.
“This is amazing.” I say in awe.
“Want me to pull over?” he asks with a grin. I nod and he does so. We get out of the car and I make a snow ball like I’ve seen people do in all those cheesy Christmas movies. I throw it at Tre and it hits his green spiky hair. I laugh. “You’re a natural, but I’m a pro.” He bends over and makes a snowball and chucks it at me. It hits me right in the stomach.
“Jerk!” I yelp as I go to make another snow ball. After no more than ten snowballs are thrown Tre tackles me to the ground.
“I’ve never had snow sex.” He says raising his eyebrows.
“Doesn’t cold cause shrinkage?” I joke as I try to push him off me.
“Oh yeah, never mind then.” He laughs as he kisses my lips. We get up and head back to the car as I smooth out my coat I can’t help but yelp.
“I got snow down my pants!” I yelp. Tre laughs hysterically, “It’s all your fault; you pushed me into the snow.” Tre laughs even harder as we get back into the car.

“How far are we now?” I ask about a minute later.
“Uhh, we should be there in about five minutes.” He says craning his neck.
“Okay.” I pause, “I’m nervous now.”
“They’ll love you.” he says smiling, “More because you actually exist then you yourself.”
“Still nervous.” I say crossing my arms. He smiles.

“Okay, see that house over there?” he points out. There was only one house there for at least a hundred yards.
“Yep.”
“That’s not my house.” He laughs, I punch his arm playfully, “You know Lawrence Livermore, he’s a co-owner of Gilman’s and Lookout Records, that’s his house.”
“Ahh yes.” I tease, “So that’s where you had your first band practices?”
“Yep.” He nods, “I could run from my house here in like thirty seconds.”
“Sure.” I say rolling my eyes.
“That’s my house.” He points to the next house after Lawrence’s, “You’re lucky, my dad put in electricity and plumbing last year.”
“YAY!” I laugh.

He pulls up the drive to where three other cars are parked. We get out and get out bags from the trunk of the car before heading to the house. Tre rings the doorbell and I get really nervous.
“Oh god you are real!” a blond woman maybe two years older than Tre and I says after opening the door.
“Hello Lori, good to see you too.” Tre says rolling his eyes.
“Sorry, I thought you were joking when you said-“ she stops and looks back at me, “Hi.”
“I’m Lisea.” I say smiling.
“Great to meet you.” she says cheerily. “MOM! Frank is here!”
“It’s Tre!” he says annoyed.

A woman bustles out of the next room and hugs Tre then hugs me.
“You must be Lisa.” She says happily.
“Mom, its Leez-eee-aaa, Lisea.” He clarifies.
“Sorry.” She says looking me over, “My, my you’re pretty.”
“Thank you.” I smile, “It’s great to meet you Mrs. Wright.” She blushes a little then looks me and Tre over once more.
“You two are soaking wet, what happened?”
“We fell in the snow.” Tre says simply, “Damn ice.”
“Well you better change, last thing you want is to catch cold.”
“Is Tommy in the living room?” Tre asks quietly. Mrs. Wright nods. Tre turns back to me, “Umm hold on a minute.”

He runs down the main hallway whilst taking off his jacket.
“Argh! Tre you stupid fucker!” a man’s voice yells followed by Tre laughing his head off. I take off my coat and hang it up before following the noise. I walk into the living room to find Tre on a taller man’s back and an older man with a white beard in a recliner laughing contagiously.
“Tommy, Pops, this is my girlfriend Lisea,” he says holding on tight to the man’s neck, “Lisea, this is my brother Tommy and that’s Santa Claus.” Tre’s father does look like a stereotypical Santa Claus, especially since he’s wearing a red sweater.
“Nice to meet you Mr. Wright.” I say laughing.
“Call me Frank.” He says smiling, “It’s very nice to finally meet you Lisea.”
“Let go, let go.” Tommy says gasping for air.
“I win.” Tre says letting go.
“No you don’t!” Tommy exclaims as he pounces Tre and gives him a wet willy.
“You guys are so immature.” Lori says walking to the room and kicking Tommy’s side. Tre grabs her ankle causing her to trip. The three of them stand up and glare at each other for a second before going their separate ways.

Realizing I’m still soaking wet I look around to find the bathroom or something.
“Umm Tre, where can I get changed.”
“Right.” He says looking himself over too. We head back to the entrance to get our stuff. He leads me back across the hallway just as someone comes out of a room.
“Tyler!” he says enthusiastically.
“Hey . .. . Tre.” He says nervously.
“How are ya?”
“Fine.” He says carefully, “this must be the infamous Lisea.”
“Hi.” I say smiling nicely.
“Good to meet you.” with that Tyler heads into the living room. Tre leads me up a flight of stairs and into a room.

The walls of the room are covered in drawings and graffiti art.
“Your room?” I ask as I unzip my bag.
“Yup.”
“I like it.” I say as I pull off my jeans and pull on a pair of black pants, “So what’s Tyler’s problem?”
“Well last Christmas my sister brought him home for the first time.” He smirks evilly, “Tommy and I gave him one hell of an initiation, so he walks on eggshells around us now.”
“You’re so mean.”
“Hey, I was just making sure he loved my sister enough to risk removal of his testicles.”
“So that’s why you were so afraid to meet my family.” I say taking off my sweater and putting on clean one.
“Maybe.” Tre mumbles.
“Did you do all this yourself?” I ask referring to the wall to wall artwork of his old bedroom.
“Pretty much.”
“Awesome.”

“Dinner’s ready!” Tre’s mother calls from the floor below. I follow Tre back downstairs into the dining room where Lori and Tommy are putting the final platters on the table. Frank Senior walks across the room, nearly knocking down the Christmas tree in the process.
“Smells good.” Tre says after inhaling deeply. I sit next to Tre and across from Lori.
“Merry Christmas everyone, dig in.” Mrs. Wright says overlooking the table proudly. I glance to see Mr. Wright serving himself to potatoes and Tommy and Tre fight over the serving fork for the holiday ham.
“Aren’t ya going to eat?” Tre whispers in my ear. I shake out of my daze and start to fill my plate.

“So Lisea.” Mrs. Wright says after everyone had served themselves, “Frank tells me you’re a photographer for a magazine.”
“Its Tre, Tre I tell you!” Tre exclaims.
“Fine! Tre Cool told me you’re a photographer for a magazine.” I laugh into my hand.
“Yeah, for Globan.”
“Never heard of it.” Lori says smartly.
“That’s cause it’s a serious skateboarding magazine!” Tre says abruptly.
“Globan also owns Rock’n’Roll Nation and X-tremity.” I say hoping one of those would ring a bell.
“Yeah, I know Rock’n’Roll Nation.” Tyler pipes up.
“For such awesome magazines its own by a bunch of tight asses.” Tre states as he shovels a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth.
“Language!” Frank Sr. warns, “Its Christmas for god’s sake.”
“It’s the investors, they probably don’t even know what the magazine is about just as long as it makes them a few bucks.” I say shrugging.
“So umm do you work for all three or just Globan itself.”
“Well currently I’ve only submitted work for Globan but they say I’ll be transferred from magazine to magazine like crazy once the new year starts up.”
“So like when you work for Rock’n’Roll Nation you’ll get to meet famous people right?” Tommy asks with a big grin.
“Well apparently Joey Ramone has agreed to do an interview.” I say smiling, Tre chokes on his food.
“You didn’t tell me that?”
“I just found out.” I say in my defense.”
“You like HAVE to meet him.” Tre says enthusiastically.
“Oh great.” Lori sighs into his hand, “Another holiday ruined by the mention of Joey Ramone.” Tre stands up on the chair.
“Hey!” he points at his sister, “The world is a better place thanks to Joey Ramone!”
“Yeah, yeah, we’ve all heard the schpeal, sit down boy.” Frank Senior says laughing. I can’t help but laugh hysterically.

“Did you know?” Lori asks me.
“Know what?”
“That my little brother is obsessed with Mister Joey Ramone.” I shrug my shoulders.
“So what if he is.” I say shrugging.

The evening goes on without anymore comments about Joey Ramone. It hits two AM and Tre’s parents had gone to bed and Tommy had left, leaving me, Tre, Lori and Tyler watching TV.
“TV sucks.” Tre yawns. I’m half asleep against his chest so his yawning startles me a bit.
“Mmmhmm.” I say readjusting my head and closing my eyes.
“If you don’t like it go away.” Lori says throwing a sofa cushion in our direction.
“I’m gonna tell mom.” Tre says in a childish voice, “Then you’ll be in trouble.”
“What are you eight?” she retorts.
“Eight and a half thank you very much.”
“Let’s just go to bed.” I sigh as I get up.

We head up to his room and undress, Tre jokingly pushes on the bed then flops down next to me as he starts to kiss my neck. I run my hands through his hair as he moves down my torso planting light kisses.
“Lisea, I love you.” he says as he starts kissing my neck again. I sort of roll us over so I’m straddled over him and I start kissing his neck.
“Love you too.” I say truthfully and I start rocking against him. Tre talentedly undoes my bra and flings it aside, he starts working my breasts as I continue to rock, I feel him poking through and I can’t stand it anymore. I maneuver myself and take off my panties and pull his boxers. Tre’s already breathing heavily as he goes back to taking control and he holds himself over me. Tre pushes himself in me and I wrap my legs around him. He buries his face in my neck as we move against each other. I arch my back, chest being pushed against Tre’s as I try to hold back a sound from passing my lips. Tre’s breath staggers a bit too showing he’s also trying to keep quiet. A series of quiet moans are released and Tre pulls out of me and lies next to me out of breath.

“I’ll always love you.” I murmur into his shoulder as we both drift to sleep.