Six Feet Under the Stars

Stereotypes involving blonde hair and tan skin assaulted my mind as I cross the threshold into the family room to finally face my pho.

Luckily Jack and I had made it back into the adjoining room to avoid any suspicion about why we were both in his bedroom. The two of us stood a few feet away from each other and tried to look natural as if we were at a photo-shoot for a catalogue; I flipped The New York Times open to a page on organic farming in the Midwest and tried to appear awed by the black and white printed letters. Meanwhile, Jack nonchalantly tossed a green apple from the counter up and down as if juggling for Barnum and Bailey.

Huffing and puffing, Alex entered the room first hauling a hulking set of luggage through the narrow doorway and immediately letting it clatter to the hardwood floors upon his entrance. Caitlyn was next and she was utterly what I hadn’t expected at all.

Dyed orange hair fell in choppy layers to her pale shoulders and chocolate brown eyes took in the new surroundings with a framing of smudged black eyeliner. She carried a small bag, presumably of toiletries or other light items, in with her and flashed me a tentative smile. Waving a hand, she said quietly, “Hey, I’m Caitlyn. You must be Melanie. Alex has told me a lot about you over the phone. Running from fans, getting trapped in a closet. You two seem like an adventurous mix.”

Her kindness threw me off guard for a moment and it took me a few seconds to formulate an appropriate response, “Well, I guess you can run into it anyway. Gaskarth over here just seems to attract more adventure than other people.”

Caitlin laughed and lumbered over towards the sofa. She wasn’t far along in the pregnancy but the beginnings of a baby bump could be recognized protruding from underneath the black T-shirt she wore. Passing the room quickly, Alex helped lower her onto the couch, “Come on, ‘Lex. I’m not that fat yet. I can still see my shoes.”

With a laugh, he shook his head sheepishly, “Can never be too careful. I was already worried about you flying and when you said you felt sick at the airport… Well, you never know.”

“Morning sickness,” she shrugged. “Shouldn’t have given into my craving.”

“What was it?” I questioned willing the conversation to stay alive. When things were moving it was easy to forget that this was the woman Alex was thinking of getting back together with.

“Pickles and peanut butter,” Caitlyn wrinkled her nose. “I know it sounds absolutely appalling and even to think I ate that is just disgusting. But it just sounded so good to me.”

“Well, hey that’s my cooking specialty.” Jack flashed a grin at her and quickly went over to kiss her cheek in a friendly manner. “Haven’t seen you in so long. And I guess you never did use that gift card to Tanning Time, did you? You’re as pale as a ghost.”

“Sorry. I’ll just burn to a crisp if I try anything.” Caitlyn smiled a thanks to Alex who handed her a glass filled with ice water from the kitchen. When she extended her arm to grasp the cup, I noticed how frail and thin her arms were. The skin was stretched clearly outlining her bones which made me shudder.

Jack leaned a hip against the side of my chair and idly twirled one of my brunette curls around his index finger. “That’s just bullshit excuses.”

Caitlyn laid a hand across her stomach dramatically, “Shh. The baby can hear, Jack. You’re soiling its mind already. At least wait until after I give birth. There goes your place for godfather.”

He frowned, “That easy?”

“Yep.” She confirmed.

“All those Baby Einstein cassettes are going to waste because of his vulgar language.” I jumped in on Caitlyn’s side just to make Jack laugh. He nudged my head with his knuckles mock-threateningly but couldn’t help but chuckle.

Loftily, Alex added, “Mr. Barakat has a way with words.” Caitlyn and I both rolled our eyes as if on cue causing the singer to resort to his nervous habit and shove a hand through his hair, “Damn, two girls turning against me. Never thought I’d see the day.”

“Guess you haven’t been invited to the Alex’s ex-girlfriend party,” said Caitlyn. It was the first thing she had said all night that seemed less than happy coming from the mother-to-be. She almost sounded bitter.

Alex’s ears turned bright pink, “Not true.”

She was relentless and insisted on keeping the awkward turn of the conversation alive, “I mean, hell, whenever we went anywhere you could have pointed out half the female population and said you slept with them. At Monica’s wedding alone two bridesmaids and a cousin told me about their nights with you.”

Seeing the suffering of his best friend, Jack smoothly changed the flow of the conversation, “Well, I always love weddings. There’s so much cake and dancing. No one expects the bride to be getting divorced within five years after popping out a couple of kids. Just bam, bam, bam.” He threw his arms up dramatically at each, “It’s really a lovely union of souls.”

I choked back a laugh and covered it up with a cough when I saw the glare Caitlyn was shooting over at Jack. The uncomfortable atmosphere did not want to disintegrate so I tried my hand at another subject transition, “Man, I hope I’m not pregnant because I feel like I could eat everything. Let’s find a restaurant for dinner.”

“That’s called munchies.” Alex informed me helpfully.

I laughed, “I’m not high, Alex.”

“Probably hot-boxed the bathroom while I was at the airport.”

“Only because I knew you’d be gone. Smoke a bowl or two and I’m all good.” I said sarcastically as Jack broke down into a maddening series of giggles. From across the room, Alex started humming the Steve Miller Band’s classic ‘The Joker’ that was often found in diner jukebox’s with famous wacky lines about space cowboys and midnight tokers.

Caitlyn didn’t look too amused though she did force a strained smile before saying, “Yeah, let’s pick somewhere to eat. What was that fancy restaurant we ate at last time I went on tour with you, Alex? The oysters they had there were just delectable.”

Her comment caught me by surprise though I wasn’t sure exactly why. It only made sense to have your girlfriend go on tour with you, I supposed. But I couldn’t help but wonder if Alex was trying to do the same thing to me and if I was only one bead on a long string of girls. Immediately, I dismissed that thought. I had come here on my own accord with Dorian. It wasn’t for Alex that I was staying on the tour. Right?

“That place usually has a lot of photographers,” Alex pointed out to his ex-girlfriend. “After the drama at the airport today with all the people asking for autographs I just thought we could do something simple. Go to a café. Maybe order in something from room service.”

I was about to say that I thought that was a great idea; having our own little gathering and inviting the whole band over for a warm friend setting would definitely help the boys get away from the never-ending tour stress for a few hours. Not to mention a steady drizzle was knocking on the windows as if daring us to defy Mother Nature, and ready to retaliate to the full extent of their powers. Before I could say a word, however, Caitlyn jumped in with a response.

“I really don’t want to be trapped in these four walls for the next two days. I want to walk around Seattle again and experience the night like last time. It would be fun!” She tried to pitch the idea convincingly, even adding on the last sentence for our benefit.

In a way, I wanted to point out to her that she wasn’t a young, single woman anymore. She had a child on the way and it was time for her to change her life and get things together. Trying her hand at Seattle’s nightlife was not the thing a future mother should be doing. Frankly, it was irresponsible and put the unborn child at risk.

Since Caitlyn had entered, I thought she seemed pleasant and kind but now the true side of her personality was starting to seep through like venom. The more comfortable she became with her surroundings, the easier it was for her to speak freely. And what she was saying wasn’t something I wanted to hear.

“Aren’t you tired?” asked Alex, truly concerned. “You’ve had a long day with the traveling and waking up early. The baby--.”

“The baby isn’t your concern.” The cold expression she wore lowered the temperature a few degrees.

Clearing his throat audibly, Alex simply answered, “Okay.”

Was this how their relationship had been? I couldn’t help but wonder what had made Alex stay with someone as poisonous as Caitlyn. Her words and glares shot direct arrows through the heart and my hunch that Alex had been verbally abused was unfortunately correct. It was evident in the poor way she had been treating him not to mention how she virtually ignored his presence next to her as if he were invisible.

Shifting in my chair, I gripped its arms and tried very hard not to ‘accidently’ chuck a lamp in the direction of Caitlyn. If she wasn’t pregnant I certainly would have long before this point. Instead, I only said, “Well, I still think eating in is good. Just because it’s carry-out doesn’t mean it isn’t a part of Seattle. The weather should be better tomorrow so maybe we can all sight-see or something.”

As if to drill my point in home, a crack of thunder ricocheted through the air and a zig-zag of bold lightning ran diagonally through the looming gray clouds.

With a great sigh, Caitlyn said, “Okay then. Just let me check to see what’s around here.” With a flick of the wrist, she pulled a cellphone out of God knows where and began to text at a rapid-fire pace until she frowned and slammed her phone onto her lap. “The internet’s not working.”

“Phonebook!” While rummaging through the coat closet, Jack exclaimed excitedly, “This feels like a 90’s movie now. Like we’re trapped in Godzilla or something. Hey, even in the opening few scenes he’s in a rainstorm so this is sort of like fate.”

The phonebook was nearly six inches in thick yellow pages and its cover was bent up due to the passing of time. Jack literally had to blow a covering of dust off of the gigantic book before throwing it onto the coffee table carelessly. He flipped through the pages randomly and seemed to lose interest in everything but the pictured ads.

“We don’t need a lawyer,” I reminded Jack gently when he kept staring at the same wide smile of a man in a slick business suit and tie. His practices advertised, ‘Got a conviction? Got a phone? Got a lawyer! Larry Horace Bowman and Associates. Helping out the Seattle community since 1983.’

Huffing loudly, he overdramatically flipped to the next page, “Well, the one day we do need one don’t complain to me. Next time you’re Seattle and get pegged for a robbery--.”

With an audible sound, the lights flashed off delving us into the pitch black. For a moment nobody moved and after several seconds the lights came back on again revealing a room full of worried faces. Alex breathed a sigh of relief, “Close call. I wouldn’t want to be trapped here in the dark all night.”

And once again, the lights of Seattle went black for good, leaving only the lightning as a guide to the growling night.