The Gods of Rock 'n' Roll

Dreams and Nightmares: Allison

Chapter Four

Allison slept fitfully. At first she dreamt, quite vividly, of a scenario where she didn't slam the door on Henley guy. No, she'd dragged him in and had her way with his amazing body. She chalked that dream up to the long dry spell she'd been experiencing. Then the dreams turned darker. Nightmares plagued her until she couldn't stand it any longer. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, feeling dirty and knowing a shower in this place probably wouldn't help that feeling much. She reached for the phone and dialed the operator to call her mom collect and save the couple of percent charge on her phone, something she hadn't done since the invention of cell phones forever ago.

"Mom! It's me," she said when the operator asked if the person would pick up the charges.

"Allison? Yes, I'll accept. Allison! What's going on?"

"Nothing, mom. I'm fine. I'm in Las Vegas."

"What are you doing there? I thought you were in Southern California?"

"It's a long story," Allison said with a yawn. "I'm sorry to call collect, but I don't have my charger and my phone is almost dead. Hey, do you have Uncle Jonas' phone number? I was going to see if he could come pick me up."

Her mother was silent for a beat, then she heard her cuss under her breath. "I guess I have it somewhere. Are you in trouble, honey? Do you need—"

"No, Mom. Really. I'm just between gigs and I came here with friends. I just thought I'd try to hook up with him while I'm here. I haven't seen him in a while."

"There's a reason for that," her mother mumbled. "Let me know if you can't get ahold of him. Honey, are you sure you're okay?"

Allison smiled at her mother's predictable reaction. "I'm fine, Mom. I'll call you. I love you."

They hung up and Allison sighed. It had taken a long time for her mother to loosen her leash after they lost her little brother. It was after that she'd spent several months staying with her mother's brother Jonas. Mom needed some time, and Allison needed to find herself. No longer her brother's keeper, she was determined to find a way to spread her message of hope to others so they wouldn't succumb to her brother's fate. She'd decided to give a career in music a go, at her uncle's encouragement. That was two years ago when she was twenty-three. Many miles and many shows later, she still wasn't sure what she was doing.

If Uncle Jonas wasn't around... Well, she wouldn't worry about that. Things happened for a reason. She had just enough juice in her phone for one call.

"Yeah, you've reached Jonas Andrews, and I ain't here. So, I guess you haven't reached me. If you want to reach me, be at Night Moves weeknights where I'm bartending and singing the blues. Or leave a message."

"Hey, Uncle Jonas. It's Allison. I'm out here at the Starlight Hotel and I could really use a ride. I'm in room thirteen and my phone's about to die. If I don't hear from you—"

And her phone died. Shit. Well, she had several hours to kill before he'd likely be at the bar. It was nine in the morning. Perhaps she'd clean up a bit and grab something to eat. Maybe they'd call her a cab from the office, or point her in the direction of a place she could get a charger for her damn phone. And some new clothes that didn't reek of too much rock show.

Once she felt a little less hideous, she packed up her guitar and left her room. Downstairs in the office, there were a few stragglers nursing coffee with that "don't talk to me" posture folks had when they were in the throes of a hangover. She didn't see Sal and didn't recognize any of the voices she'd heard the night before. The "food buffet" consisted of some bagels that looked like café-castoffs, some bruised apples and bananas, and a cereal dispenser that was so cloudy with cereal-dust you could barely tell what type was inside. Allison figured the fruit was the safest bet, so she grabbed the least bruised green apple and found a small carton of milk in a little fridge that luckily hadn't expired yet. There was a counter along one wall that was mostly unoccupied, so she pulled up a stool and sat with her meager breakfast.