Another Brick In The Wall, chapter 2
July 7th, 2003
A hot and sunny day in Orlando, Florida. It was summer for all the school kids across the country and the air was so hot and sticky it was almost pathetic. Stepping outside was like stepping into a hot mess of moisture. It was so hot however, if you took a shower and then went outside you would still feel like you were in the shower. If you weren't sunbathing, you were taking in the cool air of the air conditioner in any place you could possibly find.
Thirty year old Jenny laid flat on her back with her bikini top unhooked and laying at her sides. A back tattoo exposed to the world that had everything important to her written around it was exposed to the world. In one corner read, "GD" in the font from the Kerplunk! album. She rested in a VIP area of a beach resort where only people staying in certain rooms could get into. No one bothered her for the normal person probably would take her as just another sun goer. Her shiny brown hair was up in a bun and her fast rested face down onto the tanning seat she was laying on. Every now and then a worker from the motel would offer to refill her drink or to lead her to a massage table, simply addressing her as, "Maria," like she requested so she didn't spark attention from anyone. There was another woman laying in the same position as her on her left and a man in boxers laying on his stomach too. The woman was her best friend and the man she had no idea who he was. Jenny popped an eye open to looked at her friend and quickly closed it again.
"Giselle, you're frying your arms" She muttered. She heard a small noise from her friend. "Jism"
"Hmm..?" She groaned, waking up.
"God you're such a dork" Jenny smiled. "Put sun shit on your arms because I'm not putting up with you if you get blistered. You can sleep in the hallway" Jenny grabbed her huge sun glasses and rolled over on her side, towards the man, forgetting her top was still off. She wasn't sure if he could see her or not since he was wearing big ass sun glasses too and there was an umbrella shading his face but she could see a small, devious smile playing on his lips. "AH" She said, and laid back down onto her top. Giselle by then was about to dye from laughing.
"GOD. Who's the dork now?"
"Shut up" Jenny shot back, solving her boobie crisis. When she figured it out she turned back towards the man and blushed. "Sorry" She said quietly.
"I didn't mind at all" He said in an odd voice. "In fact I already forgot those two great things... Kind of..."
"Be glad you're two six away from me other wise I'd slap you" She turned back towards Giselle. "Giselle, you ready to go?"
"You just made me put this damned lotion on now we're leaving?" Jenny let out a frustrated sigh.
"Fine. I'll tan my front side now" She laid down and faced the sky.
About twenty minutes later, both Giselle and Jenny were burning up. It was a miracle that they hadn't turned into fish sticks er.. people sticks.. by now. But both of them were buttheads and tried to see who would be the last one standing, so neither of them said anything, even though they kept uncomfortably moving around in the cloth seats. A person from the hotel walked up to them.
"Would either of you two like a message?"
"YES" They both answered quickly at the same time, and stood to their feet, only to quickly regret it from the extremely hot ground. The man next to Jenny was still there. He looked over that the small ruckus next to him and noticed that Jenny had a Green Day tattoo. She leaned back on the chair as the person went to go get their flip flops. He noticed the man with lighting shooting down his throat with a circle around it tattooed on her left middle finger also. He couldn't resist but to say something.
"Excuse me" He asked Jenny. She turned around to look at him. "Do I know you from somewhere?"
"Probably" She said simply and turned around.
"Wait no. Turn around and take off your glasses" Rolling her eyes, she actually did what she was told but then quickly looked back to Giselle, then put her glasses back on. "I know you"
"A lot of people know me" She turned back around to him and this time facing her back to her friend. "How do you know me"
"Gilman" Was all he said. "I saw you play your first gig with your band"
"Really?" She took interest. "What's your name?"
"Jenny I can't believe you don't recognize me" He said, looking at her through his sun glasses. The person came back with her flip flops and set them in front of her feet. She slipped them on, but refrained from standing up. "Well, then again I don't have a door knocker in my nipple" Jenny didn't say anything. She didn't get it. But then her jaw just about dropped from her entire body, entirely.
"NIPPLE KNOCKER BOY!" She cried, then received a few dirty looks from other people who had their families with them. But she felt like crying. "Tre I can't believe I didn't recognize you"
"China. I knew it was you that whole time I was seeing how long it took you" He lied.
"Why didn't you say something? This is weird" She stopped. "Wait.. Is Billie Joe with you?"
"He's around here somewhere. He'd LOVE to see you" Tre sat up.
"No no. I don't want to see him just yet" She stood up and walked towards Giselle. "But this is my friend Giselle. Giselle this is Tre"
"Holy shit you know him too? I thought you only knew Billie, Mike and John" She said. She walked over towards him to shake hands with him. Jenny couldn't believe Tre though. Wow has he changed physically. Sure he was still hot but now he was actually hotter. Years of drumming really pays off. She noticed his well defined legs and upper body and felt like melting. But it was all wrong. That couldn't be happened. She was just widowed two years back and-
"Maybe we should go get something to eat" She was cut out of her thoughts when Tre offered food. Realizing she really was hungry, she accepted. Tre stood up instantly and regretted it. But he was a butthead too. He made it about ten steps then took some water from a servants trey and spilled it all over, stepping in it.
"Tre you okay?" Jenny laughed.
"Yeah. I ran out of moisturizer for my lovely feet last night and I need the moisture is all" He answered, trying to act calm. He walked away again, resisting the urge to go back and step in the puddle he had created. "LAST ONE IN PAYS FOR LUNCH" He took off running towards the building, feeling instant relief when the cold marble floors inside the air conditioned room touched his feet.
"So what do you say? Down here in ten minutes for food?" Jenny offered.
"Sounds good" He said.
"OH. But come alone" She told him. Tre gave her an odd look and nodded.
Jenny and Giselle made their way towards their rooms, still feeling rather hot from the intensity of the sun outside. Barley making it into the door, Giselle collapsed on the bed, feeling exhausted. Jenny rolled her eyes and poked her in the ribs.
"Come on lazy ass we need to get ready really fast"
"You can have the bathroom first" Giselle muttered, resting an arm over her forehead. Jenny just rolled her eyes again and walked into the bathroom, taking a very fast cold shower before getting dressed. She kept thinking about Tre though. She hadn't seen him in years. It was amazing. Her past. It was back. It was weird. It was a big shock though of course. It's not everyday someone from over ten years ago just randomly comes back into your life. But it was very unexpected since she had avoided them for all that time. Yes, they were under the same label and they had parties and everything. But if she knew they would be there she would completely blow off the band and just apologize to Rob and everyone else about it claiming she, "Had business to take care of." Her life hadn't exactly been going too smoothly lately, so she really hadn't wanted to have a run in with Billie Joe because she was afraid he hadn't forgiven her. Hell she hadn't even forgiven herself for what she did to him. She didn't want to imagine anything though.
When she got out of the shower, she quickly reapplied her make-up, finding it was already time to head back downstairs to meet Tre. She looked at Giselle to see her snoring up an entire production line of Z's.
"GISELLE I"M LEAVING!" She hollered, only to get a few mumbled of something so incoherent she just laughed at her and quickly got onto the elevator.
*
When she got downstairs, she saw Tre sitting in a big chair that was set up as a waiting area. He bounced his leg up and down as he tapped a finger on the arm rest. He looked up at her, taking in what she looked like. Her brown hair was soaked, but looked very nice. Her clothing clung to her and showed off every perfect curve of her body. Something he'd never seen before in person since when he knew her she always wore baggy clothes. The only time he'd seen her since was in tabloids and on the Internet.
Well, to say that she wasn't checking him out either would be a complete lie. He wore a tight tee shirt and jeans with a puka shell necklace and sandals. He looked very surferish to her. She liked it.
"Ready to go in?" He asked the question that would receive an obvious yes. When she responded the obvious answer, he stood up and lead them into the dining area, and were seated by yet another one of many workers at the hotel. Once they were given their menus and the specials were recited, then the orders were in, Jenny started off the conversations.
"So where's Claudia at?" Tre gave her an odd look.
"How did you know about Claudia?" He asked. She held up her left hand to show her tattoo.
"Tre, I'm a huge fan. I know more than I should actually" She smiled.
"Well.. We're divorced now. It was finalized a few weeks ago"
"Aww I'm sorry" She said. "At least she didn't pass away"
"Really? What happened?" He asked, very intrigued.
"Well, I thought you would have heard it on the news or something. But he died on nine-eleven. He was on flight 93. They let him call me on his cell phone but I never got to speak to him. I just got a lousy message" She sighed. "Not even two years ago.." She trailed off.
"I'm so sorry.." He said apologetically.
"Wouldn't you know it four months before that, Joey passed away. 2001 was the worst year. Especially since I saw the plane hit the tower and I was right next to Joey when he died" She sighed. She felt like she was trying to make him feel sorry for her, but he didn't feel that way. He knew about Joey's passing. Of COURSE he knew. He did feel bad for her. But she didn't seem to even have a hint of wanting to cry. They simply both sat there quietly, looking down at their drinks.
"So.." He broke the silence. "Are you here for the Reprise thing?"
"Yeah.. I might go I might not.." She paused. "Is Billie going to be there?"
"Nah. Probably not. Him and Adrienne are at a rough spot so I think he's just taking this as a small vacation and watching movies all night"
"What about Mike?" She wondered.
"I'm guessing he is. He's just going through a divorce too. But I doubt he'd miss this get together" There was another period of silence but it was quickly broken by their drinks being served to them. "You know Jenny?"
"Hmm?" She asked, taking a sip of the drink.
"I would love to escort you to the party if no one else is" He offered. Her eyes lit up.
"That'd be perfect"
A hot and sunny day in Orlando, Florida. It was summer for all the school kids across the country and the air was so hot and sticky it was almost pathetic. Stepping outside was like stepping into a hot mess of moisture. It was so hot however, if you took a shower and then went outside you would still feel like you were in the shower. If you weren't sunbathing, you were taking in the cool air of the air conditioner in any place you could possibly find.
Thirty year old Jenny laid flat on her back with her bikini top unhooked and laying at her sides. A back tattoo exposed to the world that had everything important to her written around it was exposed to the world. In one corner read, "GD" in the font from the Kerplunk! album. She rested in a VIP area of a beach resort where only people staying in certain rooms could get into. No one bothered her for the normal person probably would take her as just another sun goer. Her shiny brown hair was up in a bun and her fast rested face down onto the tanning seat she was laying on. Every now and then a worker from the motel would offer to refill her drink or to lead her to a massage table, simply addressing her as, "Maria," like she requested so she didn't spark attention from anyone. There was another woman laying in the same position as her on her left and a man in boxers laying on his stomach too. The woman was her best friend and the man she had no idea who he was. Jenny popped an eye open to looked at her friend and quickly closed it again.
"Giselle, you're frying your arms" She muttered. She heard a small noise from her friend. "Jism"
"Hmm..?" She groaned, waking up.
"God you're such a dork" Jenny smiled. "Put sun shit on your arms because I'm not putting up with you if you get blistered. You can sleep in the hallway" Jenny grabbed her huge sun glasses and rolled over on her side, towards the man, forgetting her top was still off. She wasn't sure if he could see her or not since he was wearing big ass sun glasses too and there was an umbrella shading his face but she could see a small, devious smile playing on his lips. "AH" She said, and laid back down onto her top. Giselle by then was about to dye from laughing.
"GOD. Who's the dork now?"
"Shut up" Jenny shot back, solving her boobie crisis. When she figured it out she turned back towards the man and blushed. "Sorry" She said quietly.
"I didn't mind at all" He said in an odd voice. "In fact I already forgot those two great things... Kind of..."
"Be glad you're two six away from me other wise I'd slap you" She turned back towards Giselle. "Giselle, you ready to go?"
"You just made me put this damned lotion on now we're leaving?" Jenny let out a frustrated sigh.
"Fine. I'll tan my front side now" She laid down and faced the sky.
About twenty minutes later, both Giselle and Jenny were burning up. It was a miracle that they hadn't turned into fish sticks er.. people sticks.. by now. But both of them were buttheads and tried to see who would be the last one standing, so neither of them said anything, even though they kept uncomfortably moving around in the cloth seats. A person from the hotel walked up to them.
"Would either of you two like a message?"
"YES" They both answered quickly at the same time, and stood to their feet, only to quickly regret it from the extremely hot ground. The man next to Jenny was still there. He looked over that the small ruckus next to him and noticed that Jenny had a Green Day tattoo. She leaned back on the chair as the person went to go get their flip flops. He noticed the man with lighting shooting down his throat with a circle around it tattooed on her left middle finger also. He couldn't resist but to say something.
"Excuse me" He asked Jenny. She turned around to look at him. "Do I know you from somewhere?"
"Probably" She said simply and turned around.
"Wait no. Turn around and take off your glasses" Rolling her eyes, she actually did what she was told but then quickly looked back to Giselle, then put her glasses back on. "I know you"
"A lot of people know me" She turned back around to him and this time facing her back to her friend. "How do you know me"
"Gilman" Was all he said. "I saw you play your first gig with your band"
"Really?" She took interest. "What's your name?"
"Jenny I can't believe you don't recognize me" He said, looking at her through his sun glasses. The person came back with her flip flops and set them in front of her feet. She slipped them on, but refrained from standing up. "Well, then again I don't have a door knocker in my nipple" Jenny didn't say anything. She didn't get it. But then her jaw just about dropped from her entire body, entirely.
"NIPPLE KNOCKER BOY!" She cried, then received a few dirty looks from other people who had their families with them. But she felt like crying. "Tre I can't believe I didn't recognize you"
"China. I knew it was you that whole time I was seeing how long it took you" He lied.
"Why didn't you say something? This is weird" She stopped. "Wait.. Is Billie Joe with you?"
"He's around here somewhere. He'd LOVE to see you" Tre sat up.
"No no. I don't want to see him just yet" She stood up and walked towards Giselle. "But this is my friend Giselle. Giselle this is Tre"
"Holy shit you know him too? I thought you only knew Billie, Mike and John" She said. She walked over towards him to shake hands with him. Jenny couldn't believe Tre though. Wow has he changed physically. Sure he was still hot but now he was actually hotter. Years of drumming really pays off. She noticed his well defined legs and upper body and felt like melting. But it was all wrong. That couldn't be happened. She was just widowed two years back and-
"Maybe we should go get something to eat" She was cut out of her thoughts when Tre offered food. Realizing she really was hungry, she accepted. Tre stood up instantly and regretted it. But he was a butthead too. He made it about ten steps then took some water from a servants trey and spilled it all over, stepping in it.
"Tre you okay?" Jenny laughed.
"Yeah. I ran out of moisturizer for my lovely feet last night and I need the moisture is all" He answered, trying to act calm. He walked away again, resisting the urge to go back and step in the puddle he had created. "LAST ONE IN PAYS FOR LUNCH" He took off running towards the building, feeling instant relief when the cold marble floors inside the air conditioned room touched his feet.
"So what do you say? Down here in ten minutes for food?" Jenny offered.
"Sounds good" He said.
"OH. But come alone" She told him. Tre gave her an odd look and nodded.
Jenny and Giselle made their way towards their rooms, still feeling rather hot from the intensity of the sun outside. Barley making it into the door, Giselle collapsed on the bed, feeling exhausted. Jenny rolled her eyes and poked her in the ribs.
"Come on lazy ass we need to get ready really fast"
"You can have the bathroom first" Giselle muttered, resting an arm over her forehead. Jenny just rolled her eyes again and walked into the bathroom, taking a very fast cold shower before getting dressed. She kept thinking about Tre though. She hadn't seen him in years. It was amazing. Her past. It was back. It was weird. It was a big shock though of course. It's not everyday someone from over ten years ago just randomly comes back into your life. But it was very unexpected since she had avoided them for all that time. Yes, they were under the same label and they had parties and everything. But if she knew they would be there she would completely blow off the band and just apologize to Rob and everyone else about it claiming she, "Had business to take care of." Her life hadn't exactly been going too smoothly lately, so she really hadn't wanted to have a run in with Billie Joe because she was afraid he hadn't forgiven her. Hell she hadn't even forgiven herself for what she did to him. She didn't want to imagine anything though.
When she got out of the shower, she quickly reapplied her make-up, finding it was already time to head back downstairs to meet Tre. She looked at Giselle to see her snoring up an entire production line of Z's.
"GISELLE I"M LEAVING!" She hollered, only to get a few mumbled of something so incoherent she just laughed at her and quickly got onto the elevator.
*
When she got downstairs, she saw Tre sitting in a big chair that was set up as a waiting area. He bounced his leg up and down as he tapped a finger on the arm rest. He looked up at her, taking in what she looked like. Her brown hair was soaked, but looked very nice. Her clothing clung to her and showed off every perfect curve of her body. Something he'd never seen before in person since when he knew her she always wore baggy clothes. The only time he'd seen her since was in tabloids and on the Internet.
Well, to say that she wasn't checking him out either would be a complete lie. He wore a tight tee shirt and jeans with a puka shell necklace and sandals. He looked very surferish to her. She liked it.
"Ready to go in?" He asked the question that would receive an obvious yes. When she responded the obvious answer, he stood up and lead them into the dining area, and were seated by yet another one of many workers at the hotel. Once they were given their menus and the specials were recited, then the orders were in, Jenny started off the conversations.
"So where's Claudia at?" Tre gave her an odd look.
"How did you know about Claudia?" He asked. She held up her left hand to show her tattoo.
"Tre, I'm a huge fan. I know more than I should actually" She smiled.
"Well.. We're divorced now. It was finalized a few weeks ago"
"Aww I'm sorry" She said. "At least she didn't pass away"
"Really? What happened?" He asked, very intrigued.
"Well, I thought you would have heard it on the news or something. But he died on nine-eleven. He was on flight 93. They let him call me on his cell phone but I never got to speak to him. I just got a lousy message" She sighed. "Not even two years ago.." She trailed off.
"I'm so sorry.." He said apologetically.
"Wouldn't you know it four months before that, Joey passed away. 2001 was the worst year. Especially since I saw the plane hit the tower and I was right next to Joey when he died" She sighed. She felt like she was trying to make him feel sorry for her, but he didn't feel that way. He knew about Joey's passing. Of COURSE he knew. He did feel bad for her. But she didn't seem to even have a hint of wanting to cry. They simply both sat there quietly, looking down at their drinks.
"So.." He broke the silence. "Are you here for the Reprise thing?"
"Yeah.. I might go I might not.." She paused. "Is Billie going to be there?"
"Nah. Probably not. Him and Adrienne are at a rough spot so I think he's just taking this as a small vacation and watching movies all night"
"What about Mike?" She wondered.
"I'm guessing he is. He's just going through a divorce too. But I doubt he'd miss this get together" There was another period of silence but it was quickly broken by their drinks being served to them. "You know Jenny?"
"Hmm?" She asked, taking a sip of the drink.
"I would love to escort you to the party if no one else is" He offered. Her eyes lit up.
"That'd be perfect"
