Coming Clean, chapter 5

"Mike, I'm gonna make a phone call," I called out from Mike's kitchen, where I was getting a drink. Not waiting for an answer, I slid open the glass doors leading to the backyard for some privacy.

Scanning my missed calls told me that once again, Jaime hadn't called. I had expected her to call when the video for Good Riddence (Time of Your Life) had come out and the song had become a #1 hit, but she didnt. She must have seen the video or heard it on the radio. The song was everywhere. Was it possible that she missed it?

Jaime was avoiding me, but eight months was long enough, wasn't it? I sat on one of Mike's pool chairs and dialed the familiar number, not sure what to expect of yet another phone call.

By the time her phone rang for the third time, I was about to give up. I slowly began to close my phone when she picked up.

"Hello?" she said.

I listened to her voice come on the phone. She had picked up, she had answered her phone.

"Hello? Billie Joe?"

I realized I still hadn't spoken. "Jaime?"

There was silence on her end of the phone, and I thought maybe she had hung up. "Billie, hey. How have you been?" she asked.

"Uh, good. I've been ok. You?" I seemed out of breath, and I leaned back into the pool chair. I closed my eyes as Jaime's voice floated in and out of my head as she talked. "Come back." The words were out of my mouth before she could finish, and they seemed to shock her as much as they shocked me.

"What?" she said.

"I said...come back."

"I cant...," Jaime said barely above a whisper. "Billie Joe, why did you call me? Why do you keep calling me? I left, don't you get it? I left, and you're supposed to forget about me."

Her words hit me like a slap to the face. "Forget you?"

"Yes, Billie. You were supposed to forget about me and just move on."

I was the one who was supposed to move on? How could she really expect me to move on? "Jaime, I could never forget about you."

She was silent on the other end. Then, "I can't come back."

I blurted out, "Did you hear the song?"

"What?" she said.

"The song, Jaime. Good Riddence."

Silence. Then, "Yes."

I knew she wouldn't say more about it, but she knew it was for her. I didn't have to explain it.

I decided just to come straight out with it. "Jaime, where did you go?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Where did you go? Where did you go when you left Oakland?" I asked.

"Billie, you can't come," Jaime said, catching on.

I was determined not to let her go. "Jaime, you can either tell me where you went, or I'll find out some other way. I'm coming out this weekend, ok?"

She was quiet, and all I could hear were a few sniffles. Then she finally whispered, "New Jersey."

I got her to give me her city, her address, and her new phone number.

"Jaime, you dont have to run away from me. Wasn't I, aren't I, your best friend?" I asked.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

I was clutching the phone, not wanting to let our conversation end. Searching for any excuse to keep her on the phone. "I'm coming out this weekend, ok?" I repeated.

The phone was quiet except for Jaime softly crying on the other end. "I miss you, Billie," she said shakily, gasping through tears.

I felt my throat close up and tears pricked the back of my eyes. "I miss you too, babe. But I'll see you soon."

"This weekend?"

I grinned. "This weekend."

"Ok. Bye, Billie."

"Bye, Jaime."

I stood up from the pool chair, grinning like a fool. Mike was standing on his backyard porch, watching me.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked.

"Jaime."

"She answered?"

I walked up to my tall friend. "Mike, do you think you can handle the record store by yourself this weekend? I'm going up to New Jersey."

"New Jersey? What's in New Jersey?" Mike asked, confused.

I grinned. "Jaime."


I fiddled with my iPod, squirming around in my seat. The man next to me was snoring loudly, his face pressed against the airplane window. Only two more hours until the plane would land. Jaime had promised me when I had called her yesterday that she would be waiting for me when I came off the plane so we could go back to her house.

"Billie!"

I turned at the sound of my name being called. Jaime was sprinting towards me. I dropped my bags just as she ran into my arms.

Jaime wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my jacket. I pressed my cheek to the top of her head.

"Billie Joe, I missed you so much."