It's Got a Beat, Mr. Jones

You're Just Too Good To Be True

The car was stopped in front of Mary's old house. She stared at the door. She was almost afraid to go to the door. Bobby was holding Odette. He was standing behind Mary.
"Just go knock on the door," He urged.
Mary looked back at him and Odette. Odette was smiling at her. Mary took a deep breath then knocked on the door of the house.
A young girl answered the door. "Who are you?" She asked.
"My name's Mary, I used to live here," Mary replied.
The young girl look her up and down. "Mom didn't describe you in anyway what you look like," She said.
"Mom?" Mary said quite confused.
"I'm you're half sister," The girl said.
Mary stared at the girl for awhile. What the girl had said wasn't registering with her. She had a half-sister?
Bobby smiled and walked up behind Mary. "Hi," He said smiling widely.
The little girl gave him a funny look. "Who're you?" She asked.
"I'm Mary's husband, Bobby," Bobby said.
The little girl turned to Mary. "You married this long-haired weirdo?" She asked.
Bobby gritted his teeth and Mary laughed. "Yeah," She said.
The little girl gave Bobby a dirty look. "Oh, by the way, my name's Audra," She said.
"Mom always said she liked the name Audra," Mary said. "She would have named me Audra if my father hadn't insisted on the name Mary, after his sister."
"Do you wanna come in?" Audra asked. "Mom isn't home right now, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind. Besides you should meet my dad."
Mary smiled. "Alright," She said. Audra gestured her in. Audra walked into the small living room. There was more furniture in the room than Mary remembered and there was a brand new television which was playing in color. Mary found herself drawn towards the television. Audra laughed at Mary.
"Have you never seen a color television before?" Audra asked.
"Only in the windows of stores and at friends houses. I always wanted one," Mary said.
"Sit down, go ahead and watch," Audra said. "I'll go get dad."
Mary sat down on the couch. The screen was playing some show about a band and the silly situation they got in. The music they played was very nice, a little light and happy, but they had nice voices. Mary was entranced by the colors and the voices. A man walked into the room. Audra was behind him. He had stern frown lines.
"So you're Melinda's first daughter," He said.
Mary looked over. She looked him up and down. He had slightly greying, brown hair. His eyes were brown. He was completely average. Audra looked a lot like him. She also had brown hair and brown eyes, but there was something about her made her special, maybe it was the way she walked or acted. Audra was anything but average.
Mary stared at the man for a little while. What he had said wasn't registering. Bobby smiled at him. "Yeah, this is Mary," He said.
"Can't she speak for herself?" The man snapped.
Mary was taken aback by the man's sharp words. "I can," She said indignantly. "You don't have to yell at Bobby."
The man looked over at Bobby. He looked like he didn't like Bobby for some reason. Bobby's hand went immediately to his hair. He knew why the man hated him. Maybe Bobby should have cut his hair shorter...
"Um... this is my dad," Audra said.
"My name is Mary and this is Bobby, my husband, and my daughter, Odette," Mary said slowly. She didn't like Audra's father.
"My name's Joe," Audra's father said.
They sat silent for awhile before Joe left the room.
Bobby was staring down at the floor. "I hate him," He said slowly.
Mary looked over at Bobby. She was startled by how angry Bobby looked. It was beyond Joe's distaste towards him. She reached out and placed her hand on his arm.
"I've got to leave," Bobby said standing up. He handed Odette to Mary and then walked out of the house.
Audra watched him leave. "What was that all about?" She asked.
"Didn't you notice how your father treated him?" Mary asked.
"My dad treats all hippies like that," Audra said shrugging. "That's just how he is."
"Bobby's sensitive over that type of thing," Mary said.
"You'd think he'd get used to it," Audra said. "A lot of people around here act that way towards people with long hair."
"His hair used to be a lot longer," Mary said, "and he dressed more outlandishly."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Mary said laughing.
Audra glanced at the television. She let out an exasperated sigh. "My dad doesn't like me watchin' this show," She said.
"Why not?" Mary asked.
"He says they're all on drugs and stuff," Audra said. "Maybe they are, but they sure are cute and funny."
Mary smiled at her. "Oh," She said.
"I also like the Beatles," Audra said. "Dad doesn't like that either."
Mary laughed. "Your dad's a square," She said.
"I know," Audra said smiling. "It's horrible. He really just doesn't understand."
"My dad was the same way," Mary said. "He didn't understand why I liked rock 'n roll then he was gone..."
Audra frowned slightly. "What happened to him?" She asked.
"Well, for awhile he was complaining of pains in his side then the next day he was just dead," Mary said. "I was only seventeen."
Audra glanced over at the television. "I'm only thirteen... I don't really get that yet... I don't know, maybe I'm too young to imagine something like that," She said.
"I hope you never have to understand what it's like," Mary said.
Audra looked at Mary for a little while then she turned back to the television. There was now a different show on, a spy series. Audra looked over at Mary.
"Can I hold your baby?" Audra asked.
Mary nodded and passed Audra Odette.
Audra smiled at Odette, and Odette reached her hand up to touch Audra's face.
There was a noise at the door. Someone was opening the door with a heavy load in their hands. Mary looked over at the door. A thin woman in a pale green dress walked through the door.
"Audra can you..." She started to say before dropping the bag of groceries she was holding. "Mary?!"
Mary smiled and stood up and ran towards her mother. Mary grabbed her mother, Melinda, and hugged her tightly. Mary noticed how small her mother seemed, so thin and fragile. They parted.
"Oh, you're so grown up now," Melinda said.
"You're a grandmother now," Mary said smiling.
Her mother's eyes widened. "I'm a grandmother?" She said.
"Yeah, Audra's holding her," Mary said.
Audra stood up and carried Odette to Melinda. Melinda took the baby from her.
"What's her name?" Melinda asked.
"Odette," Mary replied.
Melinda smiled widely. "That's a beautiful name," She said.
"Bobby wanted to name her Odette because of Swan Lake," Mary said. "He likes that play."
"Bobby is?" Melinda started.
"My husband, he's outside right now," Mary said.
"The... Um... Young man out there smoking?" Melinda said slowly trying to find words that weren't offensive.
"Yeah," Mary said smiling. She didn't notice her mother's slight horror. "He's a real nice guy, and he's got a good job too."
Melinda glanced at the door. "Okay..." She said slowly.
"Do you want to meet him?" Mary asked.
Melinda glanced over at Audra. Audra shrugged. "Alright," Melinda said slowly.
Mary walked out of the door and towards the blue bug parked in front of the house. As she neared the bug she smelled something very wrong. Bobby was sitting in the driver's seat with the engine running. He was chuckling really hard. The radio was on. He was holding a joint between his fingers.
Bobby glanced over at Mary. He smiled her a goofy sort of grin.
"The man on the radio talks funny," He said in a out-of-it sort of way. "He says uh... Uh... I don't remember what he said, but Mar, it was funny."
Mary ran her fingers through her hair. She tried to hide her embarrassment and her face behind her hand. Bobby was singing along with the words of a song, but he wasn't getting them all right and he was off key. The song changed and the tune made his face light up. He turned to Mary. He looked almost serious in a spaced out kind of way.
"You're just too good to be true," He sang. He was on key and he actually sounded kinda nice. "Can't take my eyes off of you."
Bobby stopped singing for a moment to take a drag of his joint. He busted out laughing then he saw Melinda.
"Hello!" He said smiling widely. "I'm Bobby!" He laughed a lot more.
Melinda glanced over at Mary. "I'm sorry, I didn't think he'd be stoned," Mary said quickly stumbling over her words.
Melinda frowned slightly. "Hello, Bobby, I am Mary's mother, Melinda," She said.
Bobby smiled even wider. "I married Mary," He said then began to laugh.
Mary stared at her husband with surprise and embarrassment. She had a sick feeling in her stomach.
"I married Mary," He mumbled still giggling.
"He doesn't normally do things like this," Mary tried to explain to her mother.
Melinda's brow was furrowed. "Um... Let's go back inside," She said slowly retreating towards her house. Mary followed her. Mary felt sick. Why had Bobby done that?
Mary didn't walk into the house right away. She glanced over at her bug and Bobby. He was singing again, still off key and still getting the words wrong. She felt tears well up in her eyes and her chest kinda burned. Why did he have to do it?
Mary stepped into the house and looked at the clock on the wall. She walked over to the couch and sat down. She let her fingers run through her hair. The tears wanted to run down her face, but they wouldn't come.
It was seven fifteen.