Finding Light, chapter 6
"Dad got arrested?" Joey asked within seconds of walking into the house.
Adrienne sighed and looked up from the onion she was cutting to stare at her firstborn. "How did you find out?"
Joey pulled a page of the local newspaper from his back pocket and placed it down on the island of the large kitchen. "Here," He said, pointing to a blurb under the headline for the Police Blotter.
Sure enough there was a paragraph explaining all about Billie Joe's arrest the night before.
"Where is he now?" Joey asked quietly when his Mother finished reading.
"At the station," Adrienne said, obviously trying not to sound as angry as she was "I picked him up this morning, but he had to go and fill out some paper work." She shook her head and began slicing the onion with force "He'll be home in a little bit. And honey, please don't tell your brother about this."
"Ok," Joey said, wanting to back off the situation as fast as possible, even though he was still curious as to why she tried to hide it from him in the first place.
"How's Ramona?" Adrienne asked, changing the subject.
"Oh umm, she's doing ok," he lied, rubbing the back of his scalp.
His mother glanced at him again, clearly seeing through his words. She gave him a sympathetic look, "Take care of her," she said "At school and stuff. She could really use someone to lean on."
"Don't worry," the brown haired boy said truthfully, "I will."
Adrienne gave him a smile and dried her hand on a dishtowel to remove the onion juice. "Why don't you go wash up, dinner will be ready in about 20."
Joey agreed and bounded up the stairs toward the bathroom, secretly hoping for his sake and his parents' sake that his Dad wouldn't be home for dinner, and dreading when he heard his father's car pull into the drive.
* * *
Eliot looked at her reflection and blew a stray hair out of her face with a sigh. She smoothed her hands over her flat stomach and cupped her breasts, giving them a small lift, and then she turned to the side and studied her profile. 'I have no ass,' she reminded herself.
Behind her she heard snickering and turned to see Tré leaning against the doorframe, wearing sweatpants and an old The Network T-shirt. "El," he laughed, "What the hell are you doing?"
The dark haired woman laughed, feeling slightly embarrassed, "Nothing," she replied as Tré made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing the back of her head. She looked at the couples's reflection in the mirror and felt her stomach swoop.
Tré rested his head on her shoulder and began kissing her neck, walking the two over to the bed with his arms still around his girlfriend. Eliot giggled as his whiskers tickled her neck and the couple collapsed on the bed with Eliot on top.
"If there was one thing," she started, "that you could change about me, what would it be?"
Tré rolled his head back and looked at the ceiling, as if talking to God, "Why do you do this to me? I've been a good boy lately!"
"Shut up," Eliot hit him playfully "I'm serious."
"Nothing," he answered, giving her a quick kiss, "Absolutely nothing. Where did you get an idea like that?"
"I don't know," Eliot said. "This 69 year old woman at work is getting breast implants and today we were all joking about it and asking why she was doing it at her age. And she just looked at us all and said, 'Well, can you all honestly say there is nothing you would change about yourselves if you could?' And at first I said yes, but the thing is, there are things I hate about my body."
Tré listened quietly and played with the ends of her black hair "Everyone has things they hate about themselves. But to me, you're perfect and I wouldn't change a hair on your head."
"You're just saying that so you can get laid," Eliot said with a smile, when Tré simply smirked she leaned forward and nibbled on his ear. "I wouldn't change a thing about you either," she whispered before ending the conversation by meeting her lips with his.
'Except that I'm an adulterant asshole,' he thought to himself. But as quickly as the thought entered his mind he pushed it far away and deepened the kiss, rolling over so he was on top of Eliot where he belonged.
**
After they were spent, Tré laid under the covers with Eliot sound asleep on his chest. He watched her sleep and was fascinated by how every time he did he felt his heartbeat quicken.
Tré couldn't even begin to describe the way that Eliot made him feel. He finally had an idea as to how Billie Joe and Adrienne could be so in love for so long. She taught him how to be mature but still act like his silly, random, childish self. She was smart, but silly and he loved the most random things about her.
The way she laughed at the corny jokes the weatherman made, or the pouty face she made when she burnt something on the stove. Or how whenever she was reading and something dramatic happened in a novel, her eyes would widen and her jaw would drop, as if it were happening in real life.
Tré's heart began to swell and he suddenly realized he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this woman. He knew damn well of his relationships in the past, two failed marriages and a failed engagement to The Donna's drummer, Torry. But he felt like he deserved a chance, a chance at finally being attached to the woman he spent years looking for.
The guilt from what happened with Lisea still plagued his mind, and he knew it would be a barrier. But after disclosing the truth to Mike and Billie Joe, who had sworn to secrecy, he felt that maybe the weight on his heart and conscience had been somewhat lifted and maybe it was time to start moving on.
After thinking for a moment, while gently rubbing along the silky skin of Eliot's arm, Tré finally came to a decision.
* * *
"Adrienne!" Billie Joe pleaded to his wife through the bathroom door. "How many times do I have to say, I'm sorry!"
"Sorry for what Bill? For being an asshole and getting yourself arrested for DUI again?" Adrienne answered him.
Billie Joe sighed "What the hell do you want me to do about it Adie? It was a mistake!"
"Yeah it was," The door suddenly opened and Adrienne walked into the bedroom, her hands on her hips "A mistake that you promised me you would never make again. Think about it Bill, our kids aren't little anymore and we can't hide it from them. They're old enough to understand what's going on and old enough to be embarrassed by it."
"Adrienne," Billie Joe started but was cut off by his angry wife.
"You know what you can do? Just get the hell away from me Armstrong. I can't deal with this right now."
Billie Joe opened his mouth to say something, but then decided against it. He simply grabbed a pillow from the bed and made his way out the door and down the stairs. It was impossible to reason with Adrienne when she was like this. And calling him 'Armstrong' was never a good sign. He flopped down on the couch and picked up the remote, planning to make it up to her later.
* * *
Billie Joe opened the bedroom door as quietly and snuck into the room clutching the same pillow in his hand. Adrienne was lying in the couple's bed, facing away from him. He smirked and slipped under the comforter, wrapping his arm around his wife's waist.
"You aren't asleep," he reminded her, whispering quietly in her ear. When she didn't respond he kissed her temple and trailed his lips back to her ear. "I'm really, really sorry about everything. And I know you're really mad, but I can't change what already happened."
Adrienne didn't flinch, or even open her eyes.
Billie began to kiss down her jaw line and to her neck. "Do you forgive me?"
She didn't respond.
"I'll take you're chilly silence as a yes then," he said, burying his head in her dark curls.
"I'm still pretty pissed," Adrienne said after a moment of silence "But just promise me you won't do it again?"
Billie let out a sound that kind of sounded like a laugh "I promise, promise, promise."
"Liar," Adrienne scoffed.
Adrienne sighed and looked up from the onion she was cutting to stare at her firstborn. "How did you find out?"
Joey pulled a page of the local newspaper from his back pocket and placed it down on the island of the large kitchen. "Here," He said, pointing to a blurb under the headline for the Police Blotter.
Sure enough there was a paragraph explaining all about Billie Joe's arrest the night before.
"Where is he now?" Joey asked quietly when his Mother finished reading.
"At the station," Adrienne said, obviously trying not to sound as angry as she was "I picked him up this morning, but he had to go and fill out some paper work." She shook her head and began slicing the onion with force "He'll be home in a little bit. And honey, please don't tell your brother about this."
"Ok," Joey said, wanting to back off the situation as fast as possible, even though he was still curious as to why she tried to hide it from him in the first place.
"How's Ramona?" Adrienne asked, changing the subject.
"Oh umm, she's doing ok," he lied, rubbing the back of his scalp.
His mother glanced at him again, clearly seeing through his words. She gave him a sympathetic look, "Take care of her," she said "At school and stuff. She could really use someone to lean on."
"Don't worry," the brown haired boy said truthfully, "I will."
Adrienne gave him a smile and dried her hand on a dishtowel to remove the onion juice. "Why don't you go wash up, dinner will be ready in about 20."
Joey agreed and bounded up the stairs toward the bathroom, secretly hoping for his sake and his parents' sake that his Dad wouldn't be home for dinner, and dreading when he heard his father's car pull into the drive.
* * *
Eliot looked at her reflection and blew a stray hair out of her face with a sigh. She smoothed her hands over her flat stomach and cupped her breasts, giving them a small lift, and then she turned to the side and studied her profile. 'I have no ass,' she reminded herself.
Behind her she heard snickering and turned to see Tré leaning against the doorframe, wearing sweatpants and an old The Network T-shirt. "El," he laughed, "What the hell are you doing?"
The dark haired woman laughed, feeling slightly embarrassed, "Nothing," she replied as Tré made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing the back of her head. She looked at the couples's reflection in the mirror and felt her stomach swoop.
Tré rested his head on her shoulder and began kissing her neck, walking the two over to the bed with his arms still around his girlfriend. Eliot giggled as his whiskers tickled her neck and the couple collapsed on the bed with Eliot on top.
"If there was one thing," she started, "that you could change about me, what would it be?"
Tré rolled his head back and looked at the ceiling, as if talking to God, "Why do you do this to me? I've been a good boy lately!"
"Shut up," Eliot hit him playfully "I'm serious."
"Nothing," he answered, giving her a quick kiss, "Absolutely nothing. Where did you get an idea like that?"
"I don't know," Eliot said. "This 69 year old woman at work is getting breast implants and today we were all joking about it and asking why she was doing it at her age. And she just looked at us all and said, 'Well, can you all honestly say there is nothing you would change about yourselves if you could?' And at first I said yes, but the thing is, there are things I hate about my body."
Tré listened quietly and played with the ends of her black hair "Everyone has things they hate about themselves. But to me, you're perfect and I wouldn't change a hair on your head."
"You're just saying that so you can get laid," Eliot said with a smile, when Tré simply smirked she leaned forward and nibbled on his ear. "I wouldn't change a thing about you either," she whispered before ending the conversation by meeting her lips with his.
'Except that I'm an adulterant asshole,' he thought to himself. But as quickly as the thought entered his mind he pushed it far away and deepened the kiss, rolling over so he was on top of Eliot where he belonged.
**
After they were spent, Tré laid under the covers with Eliot sound asleep on his chest. He watched her sleep and was fascinated by how every time he did he felt his heartbeat quicken.
Tré couldn't even begin to describe the way that Eliot made him feel. He finally had an idea as to how Billie Joe and Adrienne could be so in love for so long. She taught him how to be mature but still act like his silly, random, childish self. She was smart, but silly and he loved the most random things about her.
The way she laughed at the corny jokes the weatherman made, or the pouty face she made when she burnt something on the stove. Or how whenever she was reading and something dramatic happened in a novel, her eyes would widen and her jaw would drop, as if it were happening in real life.
Tré's heart began to swell and he suddenly realized he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this woman. He knew damn well of his relationships in the past, two failed marriages and a failed engagement to The Donna's drummer, Torry. But he felt like he deserved a chance, a chance at finally being attached to the woman he spent years looking for.
The guilt from what happened with Lisea still plagued his mind, and he knew it would be a barrier. But after disclosing the truth to Mike and Billie Joe, who had sworn to secrecy, he felt that maybe the weight on his heart and conscience had been somewhat lifted and maybe it was time to start moving on.
After thinking for a moment, while gently rubbing along the silky skin of Eliot's arm, Tré finally came to a decision.
* * *
"Adrienne!" Billie Joe pleaded to his wife through the bathroom door. "How many times do I have to say, I'm sorry!"
"Sorry for what Bill? For being an asshole and getting yourself arrested for DUI again?" Adrienne answered him.
Billie Joe sighed "What the hell do you want me to do about it Adie? It was a mistake!"
"Yeah it was," The door suddenly opened and Adrienne walked into the bedroom, her hands on her hips "A mistake that you promised me you would never make again. Think about it Bill, our kids aren't little anymore and we can't hide it from them. They're old enough to understand what's going on and old enough to be embarrassed by it."
"Adrienne," Billie Joe started but was cut off by his angry wife.
"You know what you can do? Just get the hell away from me Armstrong. I can't deal with this right now."
Billie Joe opened his mouth to say something, but then decided against it. He simply grabbed a pillow from the bed and made his way out the door and down the stairs. It was impossible to reason with Adrienne when she was like this. And calling him 'Armstrong' was never a good sign. He flopped down on the couch and picked up the remote, planning to make it up to her later.
* * *
Billie Joe opened the bedroom door as quietly and snuck into the room clutching the same pillow in his hand. Adrienne was lying in the couple's bed, facing away from him. He smirked and slipped under the comforter, wrapping his arm around his wife's waist.
"You aren't asleep," he reminded her, whispering quietly in her ear. When she didn't respond he kissed her temple and trailed his lips back to her ear. "I'm really, really sorry about everything. And I know you're really mad, but I can't change what already happened."
Adrienne didn't flinch, or even open her eyes.
Billie began to kiss down her jaw line and to her neck. "Do you forgive me?"
She didn't respond.
"I'll take you're chilly silence as a yes then," he said, burying his head in her dark curls.
"I'm still pretty pissed," Adrienne said after a moment of silence "But just promise me you won't do it again?"
Billie let out a sound that kind of sounded like a laugh "I promise, promise, promise."
"Liar," Adrienne scoffed.
