The Debt 8 (Club Alpha) (10 page)

***

She flew commercial back to Boston,
making sure to put on a cap and wear sunglasses for a large portion of the time
she was in public.
 
The strange fact
was that she’d become part of Jake Novak’s life, and her picture and image was
appearing all over the place on the web and even TV sometimes.

But for the most part, nobody seemed to
recognize her except perhaps the TSA lady that checked her ID and gave a
knowing smile, and the younger man who sat next to her on the flight and kept
giving her sidelong glances, seeming to want to start a conversation, but
losing his confidence every time.

The funny thing was, not very long ago,
she’d have been intimidated by him
.
 
He was young and good-looking, but in
this instance she had less than zero interest in striking up a conversation
with any man.

She already missed Jake and it had only
been a few hours.

In her mind, as the plane came in for a
landing at Logan airport, Raven kept replaying their last moments together
before she’d gotten out of Jake’s jeep and gone into the airport in Miami.
 
Raven had told Jake not to go into the
airport to see her off because it would draw too much unnecessary attention.

He’d grumbled about it but given in,
finally.
 
And then they’d looked at
one another, both of them emotional and choked up.

“Text me when you land,” he’d said.

“I will.”

“And don’t be a stranger, okay?”
 
He’d caressed her cheek softly and she’d
nearly burst into tears, told him that she wanted to stay and call off her
entire trip.

But somehow she’d held on to her will,
given him a kiss, a hurried
I love you
,
and then grabbed her bag and scuttled out of the jeep.
 

Looking back over her shoulder as she’d
entered the airport, she’d seen him watching her from the car and it felt as
though her heart would break.

Now, as the plane hit the runway in
Boston, Raven was jolted back to reality.
 
She put on her sunglasses and lowered her cap.

“Incognito,” the man next to her smiled,
having finally gotten the courage to speak, apparently.
 
“I like it.”
 
He grinned.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Are you in town for long?”

Raven shook her head as she got up,
pulled her bag from the overhead compartment and then sat down, waiting for the
plane to make its way to the gate.

The man was gaining confidence.
 
“It’s so weird that I sat next to you on
this flight,” he said, his fingers tapping his knee.
 
“I was just reading an article about you
last night in Music Maker.
 
That guy
who played keyboard and piano on Jake’s new album said that you’re some sort of
genius, and that without you, the new songs wouldn’t even exist.”

Raven now wanted desperately to get away
from him.
 
She didn’t want to talk
about Jake or her life, or to be hit on, even if he was being nice.
 
“Thanks so much for the compliment,”
Raven smiled.
 
She craned her head to
look out at the isle.
 
People were
beginning to stand up to leave.

“I’d love to maybe grab a coffee and pick
your brain,” her suitor said.
 
“I’m
kind of an aspiring singer songwriter myself.”

Raven got up and gave him another quick
smile.
 
“I’m so sorry, but I just
don’t have time on this trip.
 
Good
luck with everything.”

The man nodded, suddenly looking younger
than he had before, and dejected too.
 
Raven hated how she
felt,
blowing him off, but
there was no way around it.
 
She
didn’t want to give him the wrong impression.

After she deplaned, Raven made her way to
the pickup area, where Danny was waiting.
 
He walked over and gave her a big hug and then grabbed her bag.
 
“How was the flight, Mata Hari?”

“Mata who?”

Danny laughed as he threw her bag into the
car.
 
“Mata Hari was a chick who was
a spy back in the old days.
 
She’s
kind of famous.”

“Oh,” Raven said, realizing he’d been
talking about her flimsy disguise.
 
His words brought back thoughts of Club Alpha, souring her mood
instantly.

“They executed her,” Danny added, as he
got into the driver’s seat.

Raven got in the car and Danny started
off.
 
He whistled as he drove,
seemingly in good spirits.

“How is everyone?
 
Mom and Dad?” she asked.

“They’re happy you’re coming to see
them,” Danny said.
 
“The prodigal
daughter returns.”
 
A little sarcasm
had seeped into his voice.

Raven glanced at him and noticed the bags
under his eyes.
 
“Is everything all
right?”

“Oh, sure,” he said.
 
“We’ve been moving from hotel to hotel,
with twenty-four hour security watching our every move—until they
suddenly left because supposedly they stopped being paid,” he said.
 
“Of course, a few days later they showed
back up because they’d gotten paid again, so that’s good.”

“Danny, I know it’s been hard—“

“It’s been a ball.
 
I mean, we haven’t been cutting albums
and sunning ourselves on the pristine Florida beaches, but those continental
breakfasts they serve in the mornings more than make up for it.”

She looked down, feeling the sting of
tears behind her eyes.
 
“I should’ve
known you’d be angry with me.”

“I’m not angry,” he sighed.

“You’ve been mad at me for years because
I left home and you got stuck taking care of Mom and Dad.”

Danny slapped the steering wheel.
 
“I just wish you wouldn’t rub my face in
it with those bragging texts you send me.
 
Now you’re his goddamn manager?
 
What do you know about managing a musician?
 
I guess I could be a fucking brain
surgeon, by that logic.”

“You should stop wasting your time being
jealous and judging me, and start figuring out why you refuse to ever take a
risk yourself,” Raven said, finally snapping.

“Oh, is that so?”

“I can’t believe we’re already
fighting.
 
I just got into
town.
 
It’s been all of five minutes
and we’re at each other’s throats.”

Danny sighed and his shoulders
slumped.
 
“You’re right,” he
said.
 
“I’m jealous.
 
And it’s pathetic.”

“You’re not pathetic.”

“I said my jealousy’s pathetic,
Raven
.
 
I didn’t
say I’m pathetic, but now that you’ve got me thinking that way—“

“Oh, knock it off,” she said, glaring at
him.
 
“Stop being a martyr,
Danny.
 
It’s seriously lame.”

He grinned at her.
 
“Lame?”

“Yes.
 
It’s very, very lame.
 
You’re better than that.”

He nodded and then said, quietly, “I hope
you’re right.”

***

Luckily, the rest of the day spent with
her family wasn’t nearly as awkward and painful as the initial moments spent
with her bitter brother.
 
Raven’s
mother and father were overjoyed to see her.

They were currently staying at a bed and
breakfast in Sudbury Massachusetts, and it was nice and quiet.
 

Security was around the hotel, but they
seemed to stay out of the way for the most part.

Raven and her family just hung out in the
suite and watched TV and ordered Chinese food in, eating and reminiscing about
the old days.
 
Of course, they
stayed away from any bad memories or family feuds.

Her father was breathing well and seemed
happy, and that was a relief to Raven.
 
And despite Danny’s earlier barbs directed at her, both of Raven’s
parents seemed genuinely grateful at how Jake had protected them after the fire
and made sure that they were in no danger.

She went to sleep—or she tried to
sleep rather unsuccessfully—on the pullout couch in the suite, covered by
a scratchy blanket, dreading the morning.

That was when she was going to break the
news to them about her intentions for how to solve their housing issue.

She texted with Jake in the middle of the
night, because he was awake and told her he missed her.

It’s
hard being apart
, she
wrote back.
 
Harder than I expected.

How
are things with your
fam
?
He asked.

Pretty
good.
 
Danny’s
being a pill as usual.

There was a long break and then her phone
buzzed again with another message from him.
 
I
don’t know if I can stand a week without you.

Raven smiled.
 
I
love u.
 
Are
u going to the studio soon?

Tomorrow.
What r your plans?

She quickly texted him
back
.
 
Going
to the hospital to surprise Sky. Her Mom told me she’s having radiation
tomorrow…scary
stuff.

Tell
Sky I send my best.
 
And don’t
forget how much I love you baby.

With those words making her warm inside,
Raven was finally able to go to sleep.

She was woken up by her father, coughing
as he wheeled his way into the room
.
 
“Wakey, wakey, shake
‘n
bakey!” he shouted in a hoarse voice, coughing some more.

Raven roused herself, laughing.
 
That little line was how her dad always
used to wake them up as kids.

“You’re ridiculous, Dad,” she said,
grinning at his enthusiasm.

“How’d you sleep?” he asked, wheeling
closer still and adjusting his oxygen tube.

“Pretty good.”
 

“
That couch
comfortable enough?”

“Very comfortable,” she lied.
 
In truth, springs had been poking into
her back and the blanket was irritating her skin.
 
But this was the last night she would
spend in the bed and breakfast, so it was fine.

She slid her legs off the couch and sat
on the edge, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

After a moment, she got up, went to the
bathroom and then changed into some comfortable pants, flats and a
sweater.
 
New England weather, she
thought, shivering, as she recalled the mornings in Florida where she could run
outside to the beach or the pool in shorts and a t-shirt.

When she came out of the bathroom, her
mother was out in the main living quarters brewing a pot of coffee in the teeny
tiny coffee pot on the kitchenette counter.

“Hey Mom,” she said, walking over and
putting a hand on her mother’s forearm.

“Hi honey.”
 
Her mother looked tired, Raven
thought.
 
Tired
and probably stressed from worry.

“Danny up yet?” Raven asked, her stomach
feeling fluttery as she contemplated telling them what she wanted to tell them.

How would they take it?
 
Danny, she imagined, would find a way to
be angry, as usual.

“I heard someone calling my name!” Danny
yelled out from down the hallway, and then he was entering the suite too.
 
His hair was messy and the circles under
his eyes darker than yesterday.

Raven wondered if he’d slept at all last
night, but didn’t ask.

When Danny came out, Raven’s mother
greeted him with a plastic cup of coffee, as if this were an old routine.
 
By now, Raven supposed that it was.
 
Then she gave Raven a cup, before making
one for herself.

Raven sat down on the couch with her
mother, while Danny stood, watching her with a strange look on his face as he
sipped at his cup.

“Spit it out,” he said, after a moment.

“Spit what out?” she asked, taken aback
that he knew she intended to tell them all something important.

“Whatever you came here to tell us.
 
You know I’ve always been able to read
you like a book, Raven.”
 
He gave a
smug grin.
 
“Did ol’ Jake pop the
question?”