Tripping Over Drum Sets, chapter 29
The rest of my stay was great. We pretty much hung around, ate, went to parties, and for one night, I got to look after Joey for Adi and Billie Joe so they could go out and have a night to themselves.
*Three days before the wedding*
I was in my bed sleeping. Just dreaming about everything that had happened over the last week or so. I rolled over on my stomach and heard the door open. Who ever it was, walked over to the window and opened it letting a ton of sunshine in. I pulled the covers over my head slightly. Until...
"SAIDI! I THINK IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP!" cried Tre as he jumped onto my bed and started jumping.
"No!" I mumbled pulled the blankets higher until my feet showed at the bottom of the bed.
"I don't think so Saidi!" yelled Tre as he hopped off the bed. He felt him grab hold of the blankets at the foot of the bed. "YOINK!" He pulled the covers off.
"Son of a bitch Tre!" I said reaching for the blankets.
"OH MY GOD! SAIDI! GET SOME CLOTHES ON!!!" yelled Tre laughing his head off. There I was, lying on my stomach, ass naked, except for a pair of navy blue underwear. Mike, Billie Joe and Adi had come running in to see what the matter was.
"Nice Saidi," laughed Mike as Billie Joe fell against the wall laughing.
"Saidi sleeps in the nuuuuuuuddde! Saidi sleeps in the nuuuuuuuuuuuude!" cried Tre in a sing song voice. Adi rushed over to Tre and threw the blankets over me.
"Thank you Adi," I said sitting up. I shot Tre an evil glare for not covering me up. I blindly felt around the floor for my bra, and when I found it, I put it on and jumped out of bed. "GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE TRE!" I screamed as I ran around the house in my underwear chasing after Tre.
"RUN TRE! RUN! SHE'S ON YOUR HEELS!" screamed Mike. I took a flying leap and landed on Tre's back knocking him down. He rolled on to his back as best as he could with me sitting on top of him.
"You little bugger! You could have at least handed me my bra! Or covered me back up again!" I said pouting. Tre started laughing again. I felt hands behind my back. I looked down, Tre's hands were on the ground. I looked up and then around. There was Mike running off with my bra. I covered my self up and grabbed a pillow. "Fine! I have more bras you know!" I yelled after him. His head appeared around the corner with a very evil grin on his face.
"No you don't!" he said smiling even wider this time. I tilted my head. Then his hand appeared, holding every single last bra that I had in my bad.
"If you rip the red satin one, I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU MIKE!" I screamed as I ran after Mike this time. I spent about 20 minutes fighting Mike and Tre for my bras back as Billie Joe and Adi sat there with Joey in their arms laughing. Finally I got all my bras back. I went back to my room, locked the door and got dressed. I decided that since we were leaving today to go back to New York, I'd better pack. I sat down on the end of my bed and starting packing everything. Okay, I thought to myself. Underwear first, then socks, shirts, pants, hoodies, and everything else. After I finished packing I came out of my room.
"Hey, Saidi, do you know which hotel we are staying at?" asked Billie Joe, who had obviously decided to pack up his things, as well as Joey's.
"I don't know. I think the Super 8," I said dropping my bags at the front door. Adi had come out of her room carrying her bags. She placed them next to mine and took Joey from Billie Joe.
"Okay, all we have to do is pick up Mike and Tre, who went back home to pack up, and then we'll be on our way!" she said, playing with Joey's hair.
"Sounds like a plan," I said. Billie Joe had placed his luggage next to our and walked over to the phone and dialed up Tre.
"Ready to go?" he asked. "Okay, call up Mike and tell him that we'll be there in like 10 minutes okay? We're coming to pick you guys up right now.... okay bye."
"Ready?" asked Adi. Billie Joe nodded. I picked up my bags and hauled them to the car, as Adi picked up her bags and Billie Joe picked up the two remaining bags. We all put our stuff in the car, Adi buckled Joey in, and we sped off to meet Tre and Mike. We picked up Tre first and then Mike.
"Okay, does every one have everything? Are we ready to go to the airport now?" asked Billie Joe sternly before departing from Mike's house. Every one nodded and Billie Joe stepped on the gas. We made it to the air port in about 10 minutes (the traffic was good) and then checked in, and handed our bags over. Tre was beeped on the way through.
"I'm sorry sir, but will you please step over here," said one of the security guards. Tre's face went white as he stepped over to the guard. He ran over him with the metal detector thingy and stopped right on Tre's crotch. "I'm going to have to ask you to lift up your shirt and take your pants off."
"What? Erm... okay, sure," Tre said as he undid his pants. He dropped them and the guard searched him again.
"Nothing. What is going on?" the guard said, hitting the scanner in his hand. I could only laugh at Tre. He was standing there with his hands in the air and his pants on the ground standing in front of a massive guard. From my point of view, it did not look that great, if you catch my drift. "Okay, empty your pants. You may have missed something." Tre pulled his pants up, and checked his pocket. His head dropped and I could see a smile forming on his face. He pulled his hand out and opened it for the guard. There in the middle of his palm, well, I couldn't really see it, but it was shinny. Tre buttoned his pants up and walked over to us.
"What did you pull out?" Mike asked.
"Nothing, it was just a dime," said Tre laughing. We continued on our way onto the plane. We got onto the plane, sat in our seats, Billie Joe, Adi and Joey had three seats to themselves, and I ended up sitting across the isle between Tre and Mike. Mike seemed to have a lot of sugar before we left, so he was bouncing up and down in his seat humming 'Ring Around The Rosie.' Tre just sat there laughing silently to himself. The plane ride home was extremely boring, and the only fun I got out of it was playing with the cashews that they give you. Well, that and Tre making a puppet play with them. I ended up falling asleep about half way there, along with Mike and Tre.
Then, I guess around the end of the plane ride, I was awoken by a bump. I looked out the window, and saw that we were on the ground. Okay, so I didn't have to guess that it was the end of the trip, but you know, whatever. The plane came to a stop, and I woke Mike and Tre up.
I looked over to Billie Joe and Adi who were playing with Joey. Actually, they were buckling him in. The plane stopped, and then we all stood up. Actually, I stayed seated. I hated it when people just stand there waiting to get out and it's all crowded and you feel like you have to really hurry up because there are 25 people behind you waiting to get out and breath 'real' air again. After the plane was mostly empty, I stood up, got my things, and left the plane along with everyone else who had used my philosophy. I got off the plane, picked up my luggage and met Tre, Mike, and Billie Joe who was holding Joey.
"Where's Adi?" I asked. Billie Joe shifted Joey to his other side and pointed to the bathroom behind him. I nodded and stood there with the guys waiting for Adi to come out.
"Man, I have to go now too! Saidi, can you hold Joey please?" said Billie Joe, all of a sudden grabbing his crotch region. I nodded as he passed Joey over to my arms and ran frantically into the bathroom. When Billie Joe and Adi finally came out of the bathroom, we all caught the shuttle bus thingy to the 'outside world,' seeing as the airport was a world in it's own. We then caught a bus to the Super 8 hotel. We pulled our belongings to the front counter to check in.
"It seems that a young lady has already checked in for you. Your rooms are 656, 507 and 509, right across from each other as you have asked. Here is the key for your rooms," said that lady as she passed us the keys.
I handed it off to Billie Joe and Adi who had their own room, seeing as they had a crying baby to look after, I'm sure they didn't want to wake us up or anything. And the other to Mike and Tre. We got into the elevator and Tre begged us for him to press the button. When we reached the 5th floor we looked for the rooms. Billie Joe and Adi went into their room, and I found Mike and Tre's room. They opened it and walked in.
"Wow, we have three keys. Here Saidi, have one," said Mike handing me a key. I shrugged.
"Thanks. I'm gonna go upstairs now and put my stuff in my room now," I said leaving the room. I went up another floor and found my room. The door opened and there was Maria standing in the door way.
"Welcome home!" she said holding her arms out for a hug. I put my stuff down and hugged her.
"I missed you! I'm so glad I could see you! I was going to call but I didn't want Nick to be answering the phone," I said. "You know, 'cause of the tradition." She nodded. We all entered the room and unpacked our clothing.
"I brought the wedding dress, and everything else that you may need for the wedding," she said holding out a white box.
"Oh wow!" I said taking the box and putting it on the bed. I wanted to see my dress. I haven't seen it in a while. I opened the box and pulled it out half way. It was the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen.
"It's so pretty!" said Maria.
"Thanks. I picked it out myself," I said putting it back in the box. I didn't want it to get messy. It was about 9 at night now when everything was said and done with. Maria handed the key over to me and left the room to go back home. Because it was only me, I got two beds to myself. Although, I only ended up using one. We all had a big day with traveling and all, and I was sure that little Joey was really tired and cranky. The light went out and I fell asleep.
*The Next Day*
I was the first to wake up. I picked up the phone, ready to put on a fake voice and/or accent. I dialed my home number hoping to God that Maria would pick up. And she did. Thank God!
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey, it's Saidi. Can you come up to the hotel today? Please?" I said.
"Why?" she asked.
"Well the wedding is tomorrow, and we have to get some last minute stuff done right?" I said. "Plus, when it's all over, we can go out to dinner with everyone."
"Oh, okay then. Sure, I'll be over in... how's 20 minutes?" she said.
"That's fine. I'll see you then. Bye!" I said hanging up. I got out of bed, and looked at my suit case. Then I remembered yesterday's events. I got dressed and went down to Tre and Mike's room. I carefully opened the door, and stole all of Tre and Mike's underwear, put it in a little box and then out on the balcony. I then got out my camera, carefully pulled both their underwear off and then ripped the sheets off both Tre and Mike and snapped a picture before they could do anything. Tre rolled over and looked up at me holding my camera. His eyes immediately widened. He shook Mike awake and they both chased after me.
"But we never took a picture of you!" pleaded Mike. I couldn't help but laugh. Tre suddenly remember his other pairs of underwear. He ran to his suitcase only to find that they were not there.
"Where did you put them?!" he said. Yet again, I could only laugh. Mike and Tre started fanatically looking around the room, while trying not have their pictures taken over and over again. I was having lots of fun. I sat down on the bed and started laughing my ass off even harder.
"No! Seriously! Where?" asked Mike. I pointed to the balcony still laughing. Both Tre and Mike ran out on the balcony, grabbed their underwear and put on a pair.
"That was not funny Saidi," said Tre.
"Well, what goes around, comes around," I said shrugging. Tre frowned.
"Come on. Get dressed and come to my room. Maria is supposed to be over soon," I said.
Mike and Tre quickly got dressed and followed me to my room. I opened the door and we waited only a few minutes for Maria to come. There was a knock at the door. I opened the door and Maria walked in.
"Okay, lets get to work," she said. She was holding a massive folder and a bouquet of flowers. She sat down on the bed and we started talking. Tre and Mike just sat there, listening to us.
"But this isn't the bouquet that I wanted. I'll have to get the real thing. Do you think they'll have it?" I asked.
"Yeah. They made about 5 of them that you liked, and I only brought this one. Thank God they are fake eh?" she said.
"Yeah. I'll go pick it up now, before I eat breakfast. Mike, can you drive me?" I asked.
"Yeah sure! And we can get a coffee while we're at it. I need my coffee," he said. He grabbed Billie Joe's keys and we left the room.
"We'll be right back! And we have a key!" I said as I shut the door. We walked to the car, got in and drove to the flower shop to pick up the flowers.
*Tre's View*
Saidi and Mike had just left. Now I was stuck in this room with Maria.
"I expect that they'll be a while. The flower shop is about a half an hour away, and then the traffic is bad too," she said standing up. "Tre can we go for a walk? I need to talk."
"Sure," I said standing up as well. We left the hotel and went for a walk.
"That's where Nick works. It's only about a 10 minute walk from our house," she said pointing places out.
"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked her.
"Tre I gotta tell you something," said Maria
"Yeah I kinda figured that out on my own. What?" I said
"Nick and I are.... we're having sex. But please don't tell Saidi. It would kill her! It almost did before."
"What do you mean?" I said, curious as to what Maria had to say.
"I told her about Nick and I and then she got mad at him and told him to fuck off and then got hit by the truck," she said starting to tear up.
"What?! No, Maria, I have to tell Saidi," I said starting to get up.
"What? No! Her and Nick are better off with out Saidi knowing about us. Please Tre. Don't do it. I know that you want her back. And this is not going to work," she said. That hit me right in the balls.
"I-I know I can't have her back, but that ass hole Nick, is being... is being... is being just like I was," I said looking down. I felt like an ass hole. "But the thing is, she doesn't deserve to have a man like that! He might do it again! And he was SOBER!"
"Tre, don't tell her please!?" she pleaded. I nodded. "Good. Thank you Tre. Look, I have to go back to the hotel to wait for her, so I'll see you there. Later." And she walked away. She had wiped away her tears. I couldn't let Saidi go on and marry this fuckface. Not after what I put her through. I had to tell her. But first I'd start with Nick. He was probably at work. I walked around the block and across the street to where Maria had pointed out his mechanic shop. Sure enough, there was Nick, getting up from under a truck with oil spilled all down his front.
"Nick I need to talk to you," I said.
"About what?" he asked. I could have sworn there was a hint of coldness in his voice.
"I know about you and Maria," I said. He just kept looking at me.
"And? Is that it?" he asked turning to leave.
"No. Maria told me what you guys did," I said grabbing his arm.
"And you think Saidi deserves someone better then me right?" he said taking my hand and pulling it off his arm.
"Yes! She doesn't deserve to have anyone cheat on her. And you should tell her!" I said.
"Why? So you can swoop in and grab her? So what if I fucked Maria? Saidi went out with you guys and probably gave you a nice fuck," he said. This time I knew there was coldness in his voice.
"Listen. She already went through something like that. Now you should be the man and tell her and if you really love her then you can find a way to show it to her and make it up to her!" I said getting mad. "Dude! You cheated on her! And no, we did not fuck!"
"Just like you. Except you were too stupid and got caught!" he snapped back.
"Listen, Saidi deserves a man who isn't gonna cheat on her," I said.
"So I guess that rules YOU out!" he said poking my chest.
"Yeah. You know what. It does. But at least I know that no one will ever love her as much as I did," I said. He scoffed. I knew he didn't care about Saidi the way I did and still do.
"Yeah, you loved her lots eh? Cheating on her and all," he said turning around.
"Hey," I said as I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and I drove my fist right into the middle of his face.
"What the fuck!" he said through holding a bloody nose.
"That's for what you did to Saidi! Consider yourself lucky, because I got about a million frying pans to the head!" I yelled at him as I walked away. He was an ass hole, but Saidi loved him and I didn't want to screw it up for her. All I cared about was her happiness.
I decided I would go back up to the hotel. Saidi and Mike were probably back by now. And Saidi was probably talking to Maria about all things wedding. When I got to the 6th floor I decided that I didn't want to have to listen to them talk about wedding crap, so I went back down the elevator and walked to my room. I took out the key and opened my door. I hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Mike was a very bad snorer, so I decided that I would get some sleep. Poor Saidi. Before I knew it, I was asleep.
*Later that day*
I was just sitting on my bed in my hotel room, staring at the door, hoping that some one would call or come in. I was so lonely and I didn't know what to do. Nick and Maria admitted to me that they cheated together on Saidi. And Saidi knew. But when she got hit, she lost all that memory. Just how the hell, could I get her to remember. If she doesn't have that memory, then there's no way she would believe me. I was deep thought when I was all of a sudden brought back to my miserable reality. The phone was ringing right beside me.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hey Tre. What are you doing?" Saidi was on the other line.
"Just sitting here thinking," I replied.
"That's a first. Don't think too hard or you'll sprain your brain there buddy," she joked. I chuckled a bit.
"Yeah. I try not to." I said. "So what's up?"
"Oh nothing.. just sitting here... THINKING!" she said taunting me. "No seriously. I wanted to know if you and the guys wanted to do something today."
"Well, Mike is probably getting some breakfast, and Adi and Billie Joe are in another room. You know, 'cause of the baby."
"Yeah. Well, Mike got his coffee already, and he hasn't eaten yet, and Maria went home. And well, I'm on the floor above you guys, so I'll come down to your room. Okay?" she said.
"Um, yeah sure. I'll be here waiting for you," I said. I hung up the phone and looked around the room. Mike's stuff was all over the place. I picked up a ton of his stuff and threw it behind the far bed. I ran over to the door and got a view of the room. It look pretty clean, other then the coffee packets scattered around the coffee table.
"God dammit, Mike!" I said as I pushed them into the garbage can. I heard a knock at the door. If it was Saidi, I had to tell her what was going on. I just had to. I couldn't go on knowing about what Nick did to her and not telling her. It would eat me alive. I had to tell her even if she didn't believe me. I opened the door and there was Saidi, standing there, as beautiful as ever, playing with her hair. It took me all I could not to sigh at the sight of her.
"Well? Are you going to let me in, or are we going to talk through the door frame?" she said, snapping me back to reality.
"Right. Uh, come on in," I said moving to the side for her. She stepped in.
"Wow, your room is... it's clean!" she said gasping and pointing around the room.
"Yeah, well, that's 'cause Mike is here," I said giving Mike credit. She just smiled and jumped onto the bed.
"So how do you like NY?" she asked. I shrugged.
"Saidi, NY is great. But I really have to talk to you about something really, really, truly important," I said. She sat up in the bed and cocked her head at me.
"What do you mean?" she asked. I heaved a great sigh.
"It's about Nick," I said. She rolled her eyes and fell backwards onto the pillow.
"Not this again," she said she said covering her ears and sighing.
"No, no! Listen. It's really important," I said, taking her hands off her ears. "And I'm not trying to change your mind or anything. Maria told me that she and Nick were... well, you know..." I began. I couldn't bring myself to say it. "Doin' it."
"Oh my God Tre. Why do you have to lie all the time?" she said.
"No I swear it. She, I mean Maria, begged me not to tell you. But I couldn't go on knowing this! And then I asked Nick and he admitted to it!" I said.
"Oh God Tre! Now you're trying to turn me against my best friend? Who would NEVER do something like that!? What else did you do? Punch out Nick?!" she screamed in sarcasm.
"Yeah," I said under my breath.
"You what?!" she said. "You punched Nick!? Where!?"
"Outside the shop. After I finished talking to him," I said looking down.
"Not where, where. Where on the body!?" she said.
"In the face," I said.
"Tre. Listen. I know for a fact that Nick would never cheat on me. And not with Maria for sure," she said.
"That's a lie Saidi! He admitted to cheating on you with Maria!" I said. Saidi got up.
"Tre look. Love is like gold. You spend your whole life looking to strike it rich, and at first all you find is fool's gold, and you go on for a long time thinking it's the real thing. Then you find out it's not real and then you look more and find the real thing. Well you are my fool's goal, and Nick is my gold," she said. Wow... That hurt.
"Yeah. I uh I understand. Just know this Saidi, no one will ever love you as much as me," I said quietly. "How about we get Mike and them, and go out now eh?"
"Yeah. Exactly what I had in mind," she said as she got up. I followed her out of my room and watched her knock on Billie Joe's door. Billie Joe answered and Adi, Joey and Mike came out ready to go for brunch... or whatever meal we were going to have.
*Three days before the wedding*
I was in my bed sleeping. Just dreaming about everything that had happened over the last week or so. I rolled over on my stomach and heard the door open. Who ever it was, walked over to the window and opened it letting a ton of sunshine in. I pulled the covers over my head slightly. Until...
"SAIDI! I THINK IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP!" cried Tre as he jumped onto my bed and started jumping.
"No!" I mumbled pulled the blankets higher until my feet showed at the bottom of the bed.
"I don't think so Saidi!" yelled Tre as he hopped off the bed. He felt him grab hold of the blankets at the foot of the bed. "YOINK!" He pulled the covers off.
"Son of a bitch Tre!" I said reaching for the blankets.
"OH MY GOD! SAIDI! GET SOME CLOTHES ON!!!" yelled Tre laughing his head off. There I was, lying on my stomach, ass naked, except for a pair of navy blue underwear. Mike, Billie Joe and Adi had come running in to see what the matter was.
"Nice Saidi," laughed Mike as Billie Joe fell against the wall laughing.
"Saidi sleeps in the nuuuuuuuddde! Saidi sleeps in the nuuuuuuuuuuuude!" cried Tre in a sing song voice. Adi rushed over to Tre and threw the blankets over me.
"Thank you Adi," I said sitting up. I shot Tre an evil glare for not covering me up. I blindly felt around the floor for my bra, and when I found it, I put it on and jumped out of bed. "GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE TRE!" I screamed as I ran around the house in my underwear chasing after Tre.
"RUN TRE! RUN! SHE'S ON YOUR HEELS!" screamed Mike. I took a flying leap and landed on Tre's back knocking him down. He rolled on to his back as best as he could with me sitting on top of him.
"You little bugger! You could have at least handed me my bra! Or covered me back up again!" I said pouting. Tre started laughing again. I felt hands behind my back. I looked down, Tre's hands were on the ground. I looked up and then around. There was Mike running off with my bra. I covered my self up and grabbed a pillow. "Fine! I have more bras you know!" I yelled after him. His head appeared around the corner with a very evil grin on his face.
"No you don't!" he said smiling even wider this time. I tilted my head. Then his hand appeared, holding every single last bra that I had in my bad.
"If you rip the red satin one, I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU MIKE!" I screamed as I ran after Mike this time. I spent about 20 minutes fighting Mike and Tre for my bras back as Billie Joe and Adi sat there with Joey in their arms laughing. Finally I got all my bras back. I went back to my room, locked the door and got dressed. I decided that since we were leaving today to go back to New York, I'd better pack. I sat down on the end of my bed and starting packing everything. Okay, I thought to myself. Underwear first, then socks, shirts, pants, hoodies, and everything else. After I finished packing I came out of my room.
"Hey, Saidi, do you know which hotel we are staying at?" asked Billie Joe, who had obviously decided to pack up his things, as well as Joey's.
"I don't know. I think the Super 8," I said dropping my bags at the front door. Adi had come out of her room carrying her bags. She placed them next to mine and took Joey from Billie Joe.
"Okay, all we have to do is pick up Mike and Tre, who went back home to pack up, and then we'll be on our way!" she said, playing with Joey's hair.
"Sounds like a plan," I said. Billie Joe had placed his luggage next to our and walked over to the phone and dialed up Tre.
"Ready to go?" he asked. "Okay, call up Mike and tell him that we'll be there in like 10 minutes okay? We're coming to pick you guys up right now.... okay bye."
"Ready?" asked Adi. Billie Joe nodded. I picked up my bags and hauled them to the car, as Adi picked up her bags and Billie Joe picked up the two remaining bags. We all put our stuff in the car, Adi buckled Joey in, and we sped off to meet Tre and Mike. We picked up Tre first and then Mike.
"Okay, does every one have everything? Are we ready to go to the airport now?" asked Billie Joe sternly before departing from Mike's house. Every one nodded and Billie Joe stepped on the gas. We made it to the air port in about 10 minutes (the traffic was good) and then checked in, and handed our bags over. Tre was beeped on the way through.
"I'm sorry sir, but will you please step over here," said one of the security guards. Tre's face went white as he stepped over to the guard. He ran over him with the metal detector thingy and stopped right on Tre's crotch. "I'm going to have to ask you to lift up your shirt and take your pants off."
"What? Erm... okay, sure," Tre said as he undid his pants. He dropped them and the guard searched him again.
"Nothing. What is going on?" the guard said, hitting the scanner in his hand. I could only laugh at Tre. He was standing there with his hands in the air and his pants on the ground standing in front of a massive guard. From my point of view, it did not look that great, if you catch my drift. "Okay, empty your pants. You may have missed something." Tre pulled his pants up, and checked his pocket. His head dropped and I could see a smile forming on his face. He pulled his hand out and opened it for the guard. There in the middle of his palm, well, I couldn't really see it, but it was shinny. Tre buttoned his pants up and walked over to us.
"What did you pull out?" Mike asked.
"Nothing, it was just a dime," said Tre laughing. We continued on our way onto the plane. We got onto the plane, sat in our seats, Billie Joe, Adi and Joey had three seats to themselves, and I ended up sitting across the isle between Tre and Mike. Mike seemed to have a lot of sugar before we left, so he was bouncing up and down in his seat humming 'Ring Around The Rosie.' Tre just sat there laughing silently to himself. The plane ride home was extremely boring, and the only fun I got out of it was playing with the cashews that they give you. Well, that and Tre making a puppet play with them. I ended up falling asleep about half way there, along with Mike and Tre.
Then, I guess around the end of the plane ride, I was awoken by a bump. I looked out the window, and saw that we were on the ground. Okay, so I didn't have to guess that it was the end of the trip, but you know, whatever. The plane came to a stop, and I woke Mike and Tre up.
I looked over to Billie Joe and Adi who were playing with Joey. Actually, they were buckling him in. The plane stopped, and then we all stood up. Actually, I stayed seated. I hated it when people just stand there waiting to get out and it's all crowded and you feel like you have to really hurry up because there are 25 people behind you waiting to get out and breath 'real' air again. After the plane was mostly empty, I stood up, got my things, and left the plane along with everyone else who had used my philosophy. I got off the plane, picked up my luggage and met Tre, Mike, and Billie Joe who was holding Joey.
"Where's Adi?" I asked. Billie Joe shifted Joey to his other side and pointed to the bathroom behind him. I nodded and stood there with the guys waiting for Adi to come out.
"Man, I have to go now too! Saidi, can you hold Joey please?" said Billie Joe, all of a sudden grabbing his crotch region. I nodded as he passed Joey over to my arms and ran frantically into the bathroom. When Billie Joe and Adi finally came out of the bathroom, we all caught the shuttle bus thingy to the 'outside world,' seeing as the airport was a world in it's own. We then caught a bus to the Super 8 hotel. We pulled our belongings to the front counter to check in.
"It seems that a young lady has already checked in for you. Your rooms are 656, 507 and 509, right across from each other as you have asked. Here is the key for your rooms," said that lady as she passed us the keys.
I handed it off to Billie Joe and Adi who had their own room, seeing as they had a crying baby to look after, I'm sure they didn't want to wake us up or anything. And the other to Mike and Tre. We got into the elevator and Tre begged us for him to press the button. When we reached the 5th floor we looked for the rooms. Billie Joe and Adi went into their room, and I found Mike and Tre's room. They opened it and walked in.
"Wow, we have three keys. Here Saidi, have one," said Mike handing me a key. I shrugged.
"Thanks. I'm gonna go upstairs now and put my stuff in my room now," I said leaving the room. I went up another floor and found my room. The door opened and there was Maria standing in the door way.
"Welcome home!" she said holding her arms out for a hug. I put my stuff down and hugged her.
"I missed you! I'm so glad I could see you! I was going to call but I didn't want Nick to be answering the phone," I said. "You know, 'cause of the tradition." She nodded. We all entered the room and unpacked our clothing.
"I brought the wedding dress, and everything else that you may need for the wedding," she said holding out a white box.
"Oh wow!" I said taking the box and putting it on the bed. I wanted to see my dress. I haven't seen it in a while. I opened the box and pulled it out half way. It was the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen.
"It's so pretty!" said Maria.
"Thanks. I picked it out myself," I said putting it back in the box. I didn't want it to get messy. It was about 9 at night now when everything was said and done with. Maria handed the key over to me and left the room to go back home. Because it was only me, I got two beds to myself. Although, I only ended up using one. We all had a big day with traveling and all, and I was sure that little Joey was really tired and cranky. The light went out and I fell asleep.
*The Next Day*
I was the first to wake up. I picked up the phone, ready to put on a fake voice and/or accent. I dialed my home number hoping to God that Maria would pick up. And she did. Thank God!
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey, it's Saidi. Can you come up to the hotel today? Please?" I said.
"Why?" she asked.
"Well the wedding is tomorrow, and we have to get some last minute stuff done right?" I said. "Plus, when it's all over, we can go out to dinner with everyone."
"Oh, okay then. Sure, I'll be over in... how's 20 minutes?" she said.
"That's fine. I'll see you then. Bye!" I said hanging up. I got out of bed, and looked at my suit case. Then I remembered yesterday's events. I got dressed and went down to Tre and Mike's room. I carefully opened the door, and stole all of Tre and Mike's underwear, put it in a little box and then out on the balcony. I then got out my camera, carefully pulled both their underwear off and then ripped the sheets off both Tre and Mike and snapped a picture before they could do anything. Tre rolled over and looked up at me holding my camera. His eyes immediately widened. He shook Mike awake and they both chased after me.
"But we never took a picture of you!" pleaded Mike. I couldn't help but laugh. Tre suddenly remember his other pairs of underwear. He ran to his suitcase only to find that they were not there.
"Where did you put them?!" he said. Yet again, I could only laugh. Mike and Tre started fanatically looking around the room, while trying not have their pictures taken over and over again. I was having lots of fun. I sat down on the bed and started laughing my ass off even harder.
"No! Seriously! Where?" asked Mike. I pointed to the balcony still laughing. Both Tre and Mike ran out on the balcony, grabbed their underwear and put on a pair.
"That was not funny Saidi," said Tre.
"Well, what goes around, comes around," I said shrugging. Tre frowned.
"Come on. Get dressed and come to my room. Maria is supposed to be over soon," I said.
Mike and Tre quickly got dressed and followed me to my room. I opened the door and we waited only a few minutes for Maria to come. There was a knock at the door. I opened the door and Maria walked in.
"Okay, lets get to work," she said. She was holding a massive folder and a bouquet of flowers. She sat down on the bed and we started talking. Tre and Mike just sat there, listening to us.
"But this isn't the bouquet that I wanted. I'll have to get the real thing. Do you think they'll have it?" I asked.
"Yeah. They made about 5 of them that you liked, and I only brought this one. Thank God they are fake eh?" she said.
"Yeah. I'll go pick it up now, before I eat breakfast. Mike, can you drive me?" I asked.
"Yeah sure! And we can get a coffee while we're at it. I need my coffee," he said. He grabbed Billie Joe's keys and we left the room.
"We'll be right back! And we have a key!" I said as I shut the door. We walked to the car, got in and drove to the flower shop to pick up the flowers.
*Tre's View*
Saidi and Mike had just left. Now I was stuck in this room with Maria.
"I expect that they'll be a while. The flower shop is about a half an hour away, and then the traffic is bad too," she said standing up. "Tre can we go for a walk? I need to talk."
"Sure," I said standing up as well. We left the hotel and went for a walk.
"That's where Nick works. It's only about a 10 minute walk from our house," she said pointing places out.
"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked her.
"Tre I gotta tell you something," said Maria
"Yeah I kinda figured that out on my own. What?" I said
"Nick and I are.... we're having sex. But please don't tell Saidi. It would kill her! It almost did before."
"What do you mean?" I said, curious as to what Maria had to say.
"I told her about Nick and I and then she got mad at him and told him to fuck off and then got hit by the truck," she said starting to tear up.
"What?! No, Maria, I have to tell Saidi," I said starting to get up.
"What? No! Her and Nick are better off with out Saidi knowing about us. Please Tre. Don't do it. I know that you want her back. And this is not going to work," she said. That hit me right in the balls.
"I-I know I can't have her back, but that ass hole Nick, is being... is being... is being just like I was," I said looking down. I felt like an ass hole. "But the thing is, she doesn't deserve to have a man like that! He might do it again! And he was SOBER!"
"Tre, don't tell her please!?" she pleaded. I nodded. "Good. Thank you Tre. Look, I have to go back to the hotel to wait for her, so I'll see you there. Later." And she walked away. She had wiped away her tears. I couldn't let Saidi go on and marry this fuckface. Not after what I put her through. I had to tell her. But first I'd start with Nick. He was probably at work. I walked around the block and across the street to where Maria had pointed out his mechanic shop. Sure enough, there was Nick, getting up from under a truck with oil spilled all down his front.
"Nick I need to talk to you," I said.
"About what?" he asked. I could have sworn there was a hint of coldness in his voice.
"I know about you and Maria," I said. He just kept looking at me.
"And? Is that it?" he asked turning to leave.
"No. Maria told me what you guys did," I said grabbing his arm.
"And you think Saidi deserves someone better then me right?" he said taking my hand and pulling it off his arm.
"Yes! She doesn't deserve to have anyone cheat on her. And you should tell her!" I said.
"Why? So you can swoop in and grab her? So what if I fucked Maria? Saidi went out with you guys and probably gave you a nice fuck," he said. This time I knew there was coldness in his voice.
"Listen. She already went through something like that. Now you should be the man and tell her and if you really love her then you can find a way to show it to her and make it up to her!" I said getting mad. "Dude! You cheated on her! And no, we did not fuck!"
"Just like you. Except you were too stupid and got caught!" he snapped back.
"Listen, Saidi deserves a man who isn't gonna cheat on her," I said.
"So I guess that rules YOU out!" he said poking my chest.
"Yeah. You know what. It does. But at least I know that no one will ever love her as much as I did," I said. He scoffed. I knew he didn't care about Saidi the way I did and still do.
"Yeah, you loved her lots eh? Cheating on her and all," he said turning around.
"Hey," I said as I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and I drove my fist right into the middle of his face.
"What the fuck!" he said through holding a bloody nose.
"That's for what you did to Saidi! Consider yourself lucky, because I got about a million frying pans to the head!" I yelled at him as I walked away. He was an ass hole, but Saidi loved him and I didn't want to screw it up for her. All I cared about was her happiness.
I decided I would go back up to the hotel. Saidi and Mike were probably back by now. And Saidi was probably talking to Maria about all things wedding. When I got to the 6th floor I decided that I didn't want to have to listen to them talk about wedding crap, so I went back down the elevator and walked to my room. I took out the key and opened my door. I hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Mike was a very bad snorer, so I decided that I would get some sleep. Poor Saidi. Before I knew it, I was asleep.
*Later that day*
I was just sitting on my bed in my hotel room, staring at the door, hoping that some one would call or come in. I was so lonely and I didn't know what to do. Nick and Maria admitted to me that they cheated together on Saidi. And Saidi knew. But when she got hit, she lost all that memory. Just how the hell, could I get her to remember. If she doesn't have that memory, then there's no way she would believe me. I was deep thought when I was all of a sudden brought back to my miserable reality. The phone was ringing right beside me.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hey Tre. What are you doing?" Saidi was on the other line.
"Just sitting here thinking," I replied.
"That's a first. Don't think too hard or you'll sprain your brain there buddy," she joked. I chuckled a bit.
"Yeah. I try not to." I said. "So what's up?"
"Oh nothing.. just sitting here... THINKING!" she said taunting me. "No seriously. I wanted to know if you and the guys wanted to do something today."
"Well, Mike is probably getting some breakfast, and Adi and Billie Joe are in another room. You know, 'cause of the baby."
"Yeah. Well, Mike got his coffee already, and he hasn't eaten yet, and Maria went home. And well, I'm on the floor above you guys, so I'll come down to your room. Okay?" she said.
"Um, yeah sure. I'll be here waiting for you," I said. I hung up the phone and looked around the room. Mike's stuff was all over the place. I picked up a ton of his stuff and threw it behind the far bed. I ran over to the door and got a view of the room. It look pretty clean, other then the coffee packets scattered around the coffee table.
"God dammit, Mike!" I said as I pushed them into the garbage can. I heard a knock at the door. If it was Saidi, I had to tell her what was going on. I just had to. I couldn't go on knowing about what Nick did to her and not telling her. It would eat me alive. I had to tell her even if she didn't believe me. I opened the door and there was Saidi, standing there, as beautiful as ever, playing with her hair. It took me all I could not to sigh at the sight of her.
"Well? Are you going to let me in, or are we going to talk through the door frame?" she said, snapping me back to reality.
"Right. Uh, come on in," I said moving to the side for her. She stepped in.
"Wow, your room is... it's clean!" she said gasping and pointing around the room.
"Yeah, well, that's 'cause Mike is here," I said giving Mike credit. She just smiled and jumped onto the bed.
"So how do you like NY?" she asked. I shrugged.
"Saidi, NY is great. But I really have to talk to you about something really, really, truly important," I said. She sat up in the bed and cocked her head at me.
"What do you mean?" she asked. I heaved a great sigh.
"It's about Nick," I said. She rolled her eyes and fell backwards onto the pillow.
"Not this again," she said she said covering her ears and sighing.
"No, no! Listen. It's really important," I said, taking her hands off her ears. "And I'm not trying to change your mind or anything. Maria told me that she and Nick were... well, you know..." I began. I couldn't bring myself to say it. "Doin' it."
"Oh my God Tre. Why do you have to lie all the time?" she said.
"No I swear it. She, I mean Maria, begged me not to tell you. But I couldn't go on knowing this! And then I asked Nick and he admitted to it!" I said.
"Oh God Tre! Now you're trying to turn me against my best friend? Who would NEVER do something like that!? What else did you do? Punch out Nick?!" she screamed in sarcasm.
"Yeah," I said under my breath.
"You what?!" she said. "You punched Nick!? Where!?"
"Outside the shop. After I finished talking to him," I said looking down.
"Not where, where. Where on the body!?" she said.
"In the face," I said.
"Tre. Listen. I know for a fact that Nick would never cheat on me. And not with Maria for sure," she said.
"That's a lie Saidi! He admitted to cheating on you with Maria!" I said. Saidi got up.
"Tre look. Love is like gold. You spend your whole life looking to strike it rich, and at first all you find is fool's gold, and you go on for a long time thinking it's the real thing. Then you find out it's not real and then you look more and find the real thing. Well you are my fool's goal, and Nick is my gold," she said. Wow... That hurt.
"Yeah. I uh I understand. Just know this Saidi, no one will ever love you as much as me," I said quietly. "How about we get Mike and them, and go out now eh?"
"Yeah. Exactly what I had in mind," she said as she got up. I followed her out of my room and watched her knock on Billie Joe's door. Billie Joe answered and Adi, Joey and Mike came out ready to go for brunch... or whatever meal we were going to have.
