The Biggest Fan
Neon Yellow Rubber Gloves.
As we all were standing next to the tour bus, hearing the tour crew packing up the gear, we knew we were running low on time.
“Hey, guys? I think we better get inside now. We don’t have much time before we’re leavin´”, Bert said as he stumped his cigarette before heading inside the bus.
I was told we couldn’t afford losing any time. We were in Germany and needed to be in the States before the day after tomorrow. Or was it July 1st?
I didn’t remember. All I knew was that we didn’t have much time getting there.
Jepha followed Bert as they both went into the bus, leaving me, Quinn and Dan outside.
“What are you doing, do you smoke too?”, I asked almost amazed, seeing Quinn lit a cigarette.
“Yeah, didn’t ya know?”
“No, I didn’t. Or, I haven’t really noticed that you’ve been smoking, so…”
“Well, I don’t do it that often, just occasionally when I feel like it”, he explained, grinning while blowing out some smoke that the wind took.
“Hey, it’s not like he’s goin´ solo. I do it too”, Dan suddenly added, making my jaw drop.
“What, you too? Man, I suck at noticing things”.
“Haha, yeah”, he smiled as he gazed over to the tour bus.
“Well, we better get goin´. It’s getting late”, Quinn said stumping his smoke, before we all headed inside.
As soon as we got into the tour bus, it immediately started moving, making its way onto the German automobile freeway called Autobahn.
It was Jepha’s time to make dinner and since he was a vegetarian, he refused to make anything that involved meat.
“Stubborn fuck!”, Bert said, sitting by the tiny brown-ish table, smoking a cigarette.
“Fuck you, man. At least I’m healthy”.
Jepha’s tone made me giggle. He and Bert sounded like an old married couple as they were quarrelling with each other. It killed me.
“I’ll eat your food, Jepha”, I said in his defence. I was still giggling slightly.
“Thank you. At least someone’s appreciating some quality food around here”.
“Well, I’ll eat about anything right now. I’m starving”, I whispered humoristically in Bert’s ear.
“Haha!”, he burst out, sticking out his tongue to Jepha.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing…”, Bert replied, hiding a smile as he continued inhaling smoking his cigarette.
After about a 30-minute wait, the dinner was ready and we all sat down by the table.
To be quite honest, Jepha’s cheese tofu with vegetables wasn’t that bad. I’d expected worse.
After all, it had been years since he last made a proper meal during his days as a cook.
“Mmm, this was actually good, Jepha”, I said, taking a mouthful.
“Told you so. Veggie food rocks”.
“I’d prefer a juicy piece of beef, though”, Dan added, picking on his now smudged tofu with his fork.
“Hell, yeah. I’m with you, dude”, Bert agreed, shoving his plate aside.
“Hey, give Jeph a chance, guys”.
Quinn was trying to defend him, but I could see he would’ve preferred a beef too.
I could’ve sworn I was the only one enjoying Jepha’s food just then.
But I had to admit, I had tasted better.
As I emptied my plate of cheese tofu, I thanked Jepha for the food.
He smiled with his mouth full of food, making his snakebites move slightly up a bit.
“Is anyone else done?”, I asked, taking my plate off of the table.
“Yeah, here”, Bert replied, giving me his plate. It wasn’t even half-empty.
“Me too”, Dan added, giving me both his and Quinn’s plates.
I took all four plates and put them on the kitchen counter, ready to do the dishes.
During these passed couple of days, the dishes had been piling up, turning into a tower, occupying most of the kitchen counter.
“I’mma go play a little”, I could hear Dan saying while walking towards the Play Station machine at the end of the bus.
“I’ll join you”, Bert said, following him.
I spotted Jepha and Quinn sitting by the table, each doing separate things.
Quinn was reading a newspaper, while Jepha was still eating, just about to finish second portion.
“Hey, you done with that?”, I overheard him saying.
“Yeah, here”, Quinn responded, handing him the newspaper while taking his empty plate.
I could hear he was coming towards the kitchen area.
“Hi!”, he said smiling before giving me his plate.
“Listen, I’ve been meaning to take the dishes, but-”
“It’s okay”, I interrupted. “I’ll do it. It’s the least thing I can do for you guys”.
“Thanks! I could help you, though?”
“Sure, if you wanna”.
I could feel my face light up. I hated doing the dishes, especially alone.
“I’ll wash while you dry, okay?”, Quinn said, putting on some neon yellow rubber gloves.
I burst into laughter, watching him struggle to put them on.
“What? My fingers get wrinkly!”
Just by the way he said it made me laugh even more.
“Okay, let’s do this”, he added before I fetched a towel to dry the dishes with.
So there we were: me and Quinn, doing the dishes, kidding around like little kids and squirting water on each other.
I can’t remember last time I had this much fun with someone. It must’ve been months.
Even though we fooled around pretty much all the time, we still managed to finish the dishes.
“Good job!”, Quinn said, high fiving me with his wet neon yellow rubber glove, making my eye getting some soap into it.
“AH!”, I burst out, immediately putting my hand on my eye, trying to cover it up for some reason.
“Oh, I’m sorry!”, he said before rushing down the hall to find a dry towel.
“Here”.
“It hurts”, I complained, feeling the tears running down my cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, Lina. Are you okay?”
Quinn’s voice sounded hurtful, almost as he was worried.
“Hey, what’s all the fuzz about?”, Jepha asked, coming into the kitchen.
“I splashed some soap into Lina’s eye by accident”, Quinn explained as he took of the rubber gloves, putting his hand on my back.
“Man, you’re a walkin´ disaster. You okay, Lina?”
“Yeah, I’m fine”, I responded sighing as I dried my eye.
I looked at Quinn as I smiled, before bursting into laughter.
“God, you scared me! I thought I needed to take you to the fuckin´ hospital or somethin´”, he said relieved, tucking his arm around my back as a quick hug.
“Dudes, you're weird”, Jepha commented with a grin on his face while he left the kitchen, shaking his head.
Me and Quinn just looked at each other, before we once again burst into laughter, this time uncontrollable.
At that point, it felt like as we both connected with our inner child, being able to act like children as we were laughing at the dumbest things there and then...
“Hey, guys? I think we better get inside now. We don’t have much time before we’re leavin´”, Bert said as he stumped his cigarette before heading inside the bus.
I was told we couldn’t afford losing any time. We were in Germany and needed to be in the States before the day after tomorrow. Or was it July 1st?
I didn’t remember. All I knew was that we didn’t have much time getting there.
Jepha followed Bert as they both went into the bus, leaving me, Quinn and Dan outside.
“What are you doing, do you smoke too?”, I asked almost amazed, seeing Quinn lit a cigarette.
“Yeah, didn’t ya know?”
“No, I didn’t. Or, I haven’t really noticed that you’ve been smoking, so…”
“Well, I don’t do it that often, just occasionally when I feel like it”, he explained, grinning while blowing out some smoke that the wind took.
“Hey, it’s not like he’s goin´ solo. I do it too”, Dan suddenly added, making my jaw drop.
“What, you too? Man, I suck at noticing things”.
“Haha, yeah”, he smiled as he gazed over to the tour bus.
“Well, we better get goin´. It’s getting late”, Quinn said stumping his smoke, before we all headed inside.
As soon as we got into the tour bus, it immediately started moving, making its way onto the German automobile freeway called Autobahn.
It was Jepha’s time to make dinner and since he was a vegetarian, he refused to make anything that involved meat.
“Stubborn fuck!”, Bert said, sitting by the tiny brown-ish table, smoking a cigarette.
“Fuck you, man. At least I’m healthy”.
Jepha’s tone made me giggle. He and Bert sounded like an old married couple as they were quarrelling with each other. It killed me.
“I’ll eat your food, Jepha”, I said in his defence. I was still giggling slightly.
“Thank you. At least someone’s appreciating some quality food around here”.
“Well, I’ll eat about anything right now. I’m starving”, I whispered humoristically in Bert’s ear.
“Haha!”, he burst out, sticking out his tongue to Jepha.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing…”, Bert replied, hiding a smile as he continued inhaling smoking his cigarette.
After about a 30-minute wait, the dinner was ready and we all sat down by the table.
To be quite honest, Jepha’s cheese tofu with vegetables wasn’t that bad. I’d expected worse.
After all, it had been years since he last made a proper meal during his days as a cook.
“Mmm, this was actually good, Jepha”, I said, taking a mouthful.
“Told you so. Veggie food rocks”.
“I’d prefer a juicy piece of beef, though”, Dan added, picking on his now smudged tofu with his fork.
“Hell, yeah. I’m with you, dude”, Bert agreed, shoving his plate aside.
“Hey, give Jeph a chance, guys”.
Quinn was trying to defend him, but I could see he would’ve preferred a beef too.
I could’ve sworn I was the only one enjoying Jepha’s food just then.
But I had to admit, I had tasted better.
As I emptied my plate of cheese tofu, I thanked Jepha for the food.
He smiled with his mouth full of food, making his snakebites move slightly up a bit.
“Is anyone else done?”, I asked, taking my plate off of the table.
“Yeah, here”, Bert replied, giving me his plate. It wasn’t even half-empty.
“Me too”, Dan added, giving me both his and Quinn’s plates.
I took all four plates and put them on the kitchen counter, ready to do the dishes.
During these passed couple of days, the dishes had been piling up, turning into a tower, occupying most of the kitchen counter.
“I’mma go play a little”, I could hear Dan saying while walking towards the Play Station machine at the end of the bus.
“I’ll join you”, Bert said, following him.
I spotted Jepha and Quinn sitting by the table, each doing separate things.
Quinn was reading a newspaper, while Jepha was still eating, just about to finish second portion.
“Hey, you done with that?”, I overheard him saying.
“Yeah, here”, Quinn responded, handing him the newspaper while taking his empty plate.
I could hear he was coming towards the kitchen area.
“Hi!”, he said smiling before giving me his plate.
“Listen, I’ve been meaning to take the dishes, but-”
“It’s okay”, I interrupted. “I’ll do it. It’s the least thing I can do for you guys”.
“Thanks! I could help you, though?”
“Sure, if you wanna”.
I could feel my face light up. I hated doing the dishes, especially alone.
“I’ll wash while you dry, okay?”, Quinn said, putting on some neon yellow rubber gloves.
I burst into laughter, watching him struggle to put them on.
“What? My fingers get wrinkly!”
Just by the way he said it made me laugh even more.
“Okay, let’s do this”, he added before I fetched a towel to dry the dishes with.
So there we were: me and Quinn, doing the dishes, kidding around like little kids and squirting water on each other.
I can’t remember last time I had this much fun with someone. It must’ve been months.
Even though we fooled around pretty much all the time, we still managed to finish the dishes.
“Good job!”, Quinn said, high fiving me with his wet neon yellow rubber glove, making my eye getting some soap into it.
“AH!”, I burst out, immediately putting my hand on my eye, trying to cover it up for some reason.
“Oh, I’m sorry!”, he said before rushing down the hall to find a dry towel.
“Here”.
“It hurts”, I complained, feeling the tears running down my cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, Lina. Are you okay?”
Quinn’s voice sounded hurtful, almost as he was worried.
“Hey, what’s all the fuzz about?”, Jepha asked, coming into the kitchen.
“I splashed some soap into Lina’s eye by accident”, Quinn explained as he took of the rubber gloves, putting his hand on my back.
“Man, you’re a walkin´ disaster. You okay, Lina?”
“Yeah, I’m fine”, I responded sighing as I dried my eye.
I looked at Quinn as I smiled, before bursting into laughter.
“God, you scared me! I thought I needed to take you to the fuckin´ hospital or somethin´”, he said relieved, tucking his arm around my back as a quick hug.
“Dudes, you're weird”, Jepha commented with a grin on his face while he left the kitchen, shaking his head.
Me and Quinn just looked at each other, before we once again burst into laughter, this time uncontrollable.
At that point, it felt like as we both connected with our inner child, being able to act like children as we were laughing at the dumbest things there and then...
♠ ♠ ♠
is this a long update? did i promise you a long update?- yes. (:
well, did you like it? : D
xo,
lina.