deadly nightshade | fever in, fever out

chapter 59: nightshade in bloom

"we can make some more,
nature is a whore.
bruises on the fruit;
tender age in bloom."
-"in bloom", nirvana

It would be another few hours, but Joey had put on a snug slender black tuxedo, complete with the little black velvet bowtie with a bit of silver glitter in the middle: he had run his black curls under the shower head in the bathroom there at the end of the hall, but he never did brush it once. Instead they trailed behind his head like a bunch of curled streamers; his dark skin was smooth and delicate, and even with a moment's glance, Sam could tell that he had kept his promise and he stayed away from the drinks.
Belinda meanwhile, put on a black dress with white polka dots all over and a white satin belt around her waist. She had done up her hair into those loose curls all about her head but there was nothing big about it: she just had it curled and then tousled over her shoulder. Her black high heels stroked over the carpet like that of a princess.
"Looks like we're headed to a Goth wedding," Joey remarked.
"Or a funeral," Sam followed up.
"A Goth wedding that's also a funeral?" Belinda added.
"Yes!" Sam declared, and the three of them laughed at that.
Joey set his hand on their shoulders as they strode on down the stairs to the front door, and they were greeted by the cold afternoon sun as it poked out from the lingering wisps of San Francisco fog. He squinted his eyes against the bright light while Sam and Belinda gazed straight up at the sun. The former couldn't help but smile: to feel the sun on her face in the middle of winter! It felt so novel, especially since she had grown so acquainted with the clouds and the cold lake effect snow all around her.
"So where are we headed?" Sam asked him.
"I think—I think, anyways—we're going around the villa here to the grass—" Joey led them off of the front step and across that narrow driveway, and around the check in building: indeed, there stood a stretch of grass, still a pale green despite the winter time, and a slight hill side. Nestled back in the trees stood a few rows of white folding chairs before an altar of pine trees. Zelda ambled across the grass in those tight black jeans and that white shirt: she had kept her promise and put on narrow black suspenders over her shoulders. Zetro breezed up behind her, also in a white shirt and black jeans and narrow black suspenders, which had some veins of golden embedded within.
"We're just about ready for all of youses," Zelda told them as she adjusted her suspenders upon her shoulders.
Sam spotted Eric and Chuck about to seat themselves at the front row, and the both of them had on rich black velvet jackets.
"Oh, hey, there's Louie Louie and Gregory," Belinda pointed out: indeed, right next to Chuck was Greg in a thin black velvet jacket, and Louie and his flat helmet of black hair which he had smoothed back from his face and nicely combed over his head.
"They all look sharp," Sam added as the two of them padded towards the row of chairs behind them. Chuck lifted his gaze from the grass and showed them a grin.
"Hey, there are our girls! Little Bel and Sammich."
"Sounds like a restaurant name," Sam remarked.
"Gotta have the 'little' in there, too," Eric added.
Alex had put on a white shirt under a black corduroy jacket that hugged his body, and he had thoroughly brushed his hair to where it almost floated about his head. Even with the black hair dye over his brow had a bit of a sheen to it under the winter sunlight. When he took a seat in front of them, Sam could see the ever so slightest difference in color there over his forehead. Zelda sauntered up behind them and took a look at Louie and his slicked back hair before she took her seat next to Sam.
"Hey, Le e e e e e ewis," Belinda greeted him: she stretched out his name a bit upon saying it, but he rolled his eyes at that.
"You call me Lewis like it's the best thing since sliced bread," he said.
"'Cause you are the best thing since sliced bread, Lewis," Alex joined in from the front of him, and Sam, Belinda, and Zelda burst out laughing at that. Sam turned her attention to the little necklace of off white bones around Zelda's neck: right in the middle was a little black and white skull of bone and rhinestones. She glanced down the row of chairs at Frank and Dan, both of whom had on solid black double breasted tuxes, just like Joey, but the both of them had dark red rose corsages pinned to the lapels.
"It is a Goth wedding," Sam chuckled.
"I know right?" Eric laughed with her. "We're all wearing black, and Kirk and his bride are, too."
Zetro then took his seat next to Zelda, who linked arms with him even though neither of them were going anywhere. Joey took his seat next to Sam and he frowned at Testament right in front of them. Sam sighed through her nose and she hoped he wouldn't do anything to draw bad attention to himself: he was doing excellent on that day.
Soon, everyone else showed up behind them, including James and Lars, both of whom were wrapped in dark corduroy suits, and Jason, who looked to be wearing a tie that was two wears away from crumbling apart at the seams. Aurora and Emile took their seats at the far end of Sam and Belinda's row, as did Charlie and Marla: save for Aurora's dark red velvet dress, all of them wore something black.
Kirk strode up to the altar with his black curls neatly combed and styled back from the sides of his face, and his solid black suit tailored to fit his body just right; meanwhile in the first two rows, Sam watched Alex adjust the hem of his shirt every so often. It was quite cool out there in the trees, but his face flushed from feeling far too hot. At one point, Eric looked over at him with a look of concern.
"You okay?" he asked him in a low voice.
"I ate too much earlier," Alex replied in a near whisper. "Too much too fast." He let out a low whistle and tossed his floaty hair back from the side of his face.
"And there's gonna be an onslaught of food later on," Chuck added. Joey stared at the back of Alex's head but he never said anything: Sam took a glimpse at him to ensure that his expression never changed. Indeed, as Kirk stood there at the altar with his arms tucked behind him, every so often, he glanced over at Alex as he tried to sit still for even a minute. Too much food all at once, and he was still a hatchling to boot.
"You alright over there, little man?" Kirk called out to him with a bit of a smirk on his diamond shaped face. "Got enough to eat earlier?"
"Hey, man, I'm Jewish—we like to eat when we can," he said, and that brought a laugh out of both Scott and Dan, but Joey was still silent. Soon, another dark skinned boy strolled up to the altar, wrapped in a black robe lined with pearly white satin. He, too, had long black curls down to his waist: Sam took another look to find they were matted to the point they were about to become dread locks.
"For those of you who don't know me, my name is Mark," he started in a scratchy voice and with a glance over at Sam, Belinda, and Zelda. "Mark Osegueda of Death Angel—a fellow Filipino. I came to wish Kirk here good luck and to give the guy his robe back."
A cool breeze came up and Joey's black curls billowed back into Sam's face. He chuckled and helped her smooth his curls back onto the side of his head. At least it broke him out of his stoic trance.
"I can't control the winds here, though," Mark continued.
"Why not?" Zelda called out.
"And why you wearing his robe, too?" Zetro chimed in.
"Dry cleaning, duh."
A man in a black suit strode up to him and Mark peeled off the robe and handed it right to him before he sat back down next to Alex and Eric. But not for long given Kirk's bride, Rebecca, emerged at the far end of the aisle in a little white dress with a black and blue belt wrapped about her slender waist and with her father next to her, and they all stood to their feet in her honor. The white veil on the crown of her head drifted behind her like the white clouds about the bay and she held the bouquet of blue and white flowers close to her waist. Alex pushed his hair back yet again and he grimaced at the feeling within him. Sam frowned and she wished to help him unwind and relax. Too much energy within him and she hoped he would at least sit comfortably in the time being.
Joey gave his black curls a gentle toss back from the side of his face and he gazed up at the pure blue sky overhead with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Do you often think of your own wedding?" he asked aloud in a soft voice.
"You asking me?" Sam tilted her head to the side.
"Yeah." He then turned his head for a straight on look at her. "Do you ever think of things like that?"
She shrugged as Rebecca floated past their row.
"Once in a while, but not often."
"Sometimes I'll think of the perfect wedding to the woman of my dreams," he said.
"And who's the woman of your dreams?" Sam asked him as they took their seat again.
"I'll tell you later," he vowed as Kirk and Rebecca stood opposite each other at the altar. Alex stayed in his spot but Sam could tell he was uncomfortable; at the far end of her row, Marla brushed away tears and Charlie put his arm around her. He whispered something to her and she nodded her head so her iridescent hair appeared to change colors in the cold sunlight.
They said their vows and then after five minutes that seemed to go on forever to Sam, Kirk put his arm around Rebecca's waist and he kissed his new wife. James and Lars cheered from behind the second row, while the two of them and Joey clapped for them. Not wasting another second, the newlyweds and their small party left the altar on the other side of the chairs, and everyone else all stood up and padded away from the chairs. James and Scott congregated near the other side of the grass to converse about something, when a photographer took their picture together.
Joey, Sam, and Belinda walked together back towards their cabin but a series of tables had been set up within that narrow strip of driveway: Sam thought about Cliff's memorial and the sheer amount that she and Lars ate together. Now she was about to do it again with Joey, given Lars was socializing with everyone in the meantime.
Indeed, he took a fair amount of food for himself as well, including a big slice of that chocolate wedding cake with white frosting and blue and yellow flowers. There was nothing that resembled to alcohol to be found anywhere, and thus Sam could only assume he was making it up there with a few helpings of goat cheese. She kept one eye on him and every so often, she looked over at the neighboring table, at Alex and Louie, the former of whom was eating even more.  She thought about what Joey had said in that he sometimes thought of his wedding with the woman of his dreams and he never told her what he meant by that.
She made a note to get alone with him about that as Zetro and Zelda joined the three of them with a slice of cake in either of their hands.
"Okay, is it just me or does anyone else think this cake could use a little rum?" Zetro asked them; Joey never lifted his head but Sam had to chuckle at that.
"Maybe if we were in Hawai'i?" Belinda suggested.
"Eh, it's close enough," Zetro pointed out. "Kirk and Osegueda—all the guys from Death Angel, really—they're all Filipino. It's all islander stuff—" He then lifted his gaze to the table behind them.
"Tom!" he called out and he waved his hand to the space far behind them. "Tommy!"
"Tommy boy," Zelda joked which made him laugh, and he bowed away from there. Aurora and Emile took their seats right across the table from Sam and Joey, both of them with plates of dinner and wedding cake.
"Now's my chance," Alex quipped right then, and once he wiped his mouth with his napkin, he bowed out from his spot towards the trees. Joey pursed his lips at the sight of him, and to the point Sam squirmed in her seat.
"Where you going?" Eric called after him. "Alex?"
"Guess when you gotta go you gotta go?" Zelda wondered aloud.
"Poor boy just couldn't sit still," Aurora said in a low voice as she set her purse down on ground next to her feet.
"It is later in the day now, so he has the right idea," Emile pointed out.
They fell back into silence so they could finish their food: Sam had learned her lesson from Cliff's memorial but Joey ate up three full plates of food, including two slices of that cake. He was so slender and svelte and yet she raised her eyebrows at the notion of him eating so much in lieu of drinking.
"Ladies wanna take a walk?" he offered them once he downed the last bit of ice water for himself.
"I'd love to," Sam replied. "Wanna join us, Aurora?"
"Oh, no, I'm good, thank you," said Aurora as she picked at her goat cheese.
"I'll come along, though," Belinda chimed in as she wiped her mouth. The three of them strode away from there and back towards the grass and the trees. The sun hung low over the horizon, and near the incoming cloud bank over the ocean. Cool and crisp but nothing too cold for sure: a voice in the back of Sam's head told her that this was home to her.
"Nice li'l crowd Kirk attracted here," Joey remarked in a soft voice as he, Sam, and Belinda walked together towards the slope. The latter kicked off her heels and picked them up from the grass, but she didn't seem to mind the wet grass on her stockings. Joey meanwhile, had undid his tie and unfastened the top two buttons on his shirt.
"Yeah, I'll say," Sam added. Eric sidled up next to her with his hands tucked in his pockets and his tie undone, and a concerned look on his face.
"D'you guys see where Alex ran off to?"
"Yeah, he's right over there," Joey pointed out to the bottom of the hill with his free hand. Alex had stripped off his shirt and lay it as well as his jacket neatly upon a boulder. He crouched down with one hand to the ground, and then he darted away from there, and back up towards the girls. A steady climb up the hill and he skidded to a stop right in front of them and he bowed his head to avoid eye contact with them. His deep chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. He had a slight, soft looking little roll on his otherwise svelte, slender waist and Sam wondered if it was going to be an anchor for him. But he ran so quickly across the grass as if he was a track and fielder runner.
He had so much energy inside of him that she thought he was about to do aerobics right then and there. He had let go a little just so he could breathe better. If only she could do the same thing for herself. He put his hands on top of his head and let out a low whistle: Sam and Belinda eyed his bare chest and his slender little body with smooth soft looking white skin.
If only she could do the same thing for herself.
"Stitch—" he groaned, complete with a grimace. "—stitch in my side—"
"Feel better?" Eric asked him as he undid the cuffs on his jacket sleeves.
"My shirt was too snug," he explained, out of breath. "I also ate too much and too quickly—my stomach was just killing me right there and so I had to move around."
"He's also a teenage boy," Joey muttered to Sam and Belinda, both of whom nodded at him. But Sam kept her eye on Joey's facial expression, and how it never broke away from that cold stoic look. He never held a grudge but he still didn't like Alex, and it didn't help matters that he walked about before them with no shirt on and with his lanky arms upon his head. Joey nibbled on his bottom lip as Alex let out another low whistle and then he turned back around and sprinted back down the hill for his shirt and jacket. Sam kept her eye on his jet black curls as they lightly floated behind him. He may as well have walked right out of a Motley Crue show with those black curls and his bare body.
"What's he doing?" James asked them from behind. "Looks like fun!"
"Way too much energy, I told you," Zetro sneered. "Eighteen year old kid with too much in his belly and he's still coming out of puberty."
"I got too much energy and so does Eric, but you don't see us doin' it," James retorted.
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah. We're all still kids, y'know."
"Roll down the hill like a bunch of kids then," Zetro teased him.
"Speak no more," James replied, and he lay on his back and rolled right down the side of the hill, right behind Alex. Joey then cracked a smile and Belinda burst out laughing.
"Wait for me!" Zelda called after him.
Sam didn't come all this way for nothing, and she and Zelda lay down on their sides at the top of the hill. Grass stains could come out. So could mud.
They rolled down the hill in unison and Joey and Zetro both howled with laughter. It wasn't that much of a hill but they could do it: she had enough food in her stomach to make her a little uncomfortable but she did it anyway. Once the slope leveled out, James sat up and clasped a hand to his head. Lars said something at the top of the hill.
Sam and Zelda lay side by side on the grass: the former struggled to catch her breath from the incessant rolling. Her elbows burned from the blades of grass, but that was exactly what she needed. Zelda rolled her head over for an excited grin at her.
"That was fun!"
"That was nice!" Sam declared in a fake British accent: a short but dull pain emerged in her side She stared straight up at Alex's silhouette as he towered over her and Zelda. The crown of his head blocked out most of the sunlight so they could barely see his face.
"Ladies need help up?" he offered with his hands outstretched.
"Nope, I'm good," Zelda assured him.
"Me, too," Sam added as she scrambled up next to her. Her back and shoulders were damp from the grass but she had been jarred awake by that rolling. Alex had slung his jacket and his shirt over his smooth bare shoulder, and he walked with them back up the hill. The grass was slick but they reached the top just as Lars followed James' lead down the hill.
"Where's the bride and the groom?" Zetro called out.
"What have I done," Alex quipped, and Belinda couldn't help but laugh at that. Sam rejoined Joey there at the top and they kept on walking as more of the wedding party congregated around the hill for some more rolling.
"You should be a wedding singer, Joey," Sam suggested.
"Sing a song for Kirk and Rebecca?" he asked her, and that was the first time in a couple of hours she saw him crack a smile. "I wanna know what love is—" He stopped. "I forget the words."
Sam giggled at that and he clasped a hand to his stomach.
"Now I ate too much," he confessed in a low voice.
"At least it's that and not something else," she assured him.
"True, true..." His voice trailed as they walked back to their cabins. Alex shook his hair about before he stepped inside of the one across the pavement from Sam and Belinda: the former watched him go inside with his clothes slung over his shoulder. He got all hot and sweaty running about the hill there, and she and Belinda were soaked from the wet grass, but nothing that a warm shower couldn't fix up.
Once she and Belinda had settled back inside their room, night was beginning to fall over them and she climbed up to the top bunk with that copy of Siddhartha in hand. She nestled back against the pillow and let her wet, clean hair lay upon her shoulders. Her hand caressed over the smooth royal blue cover and her eyes fixated on the brass statue of Buddha, right smack in the middle.
Joey's upstate accent floated in from the hallway, as did Mark's scratchy voice. She would learn everyone's names at some point. She had to.
Joey laughed at something and she noticed his speech slurred a little bit. She hoped for the best as Mark said something else to make him laugh.
"I still feel bad," Belinda spoke out of the blue from the bottom bunk.
"About what?" Sam asked her.
"Getting Joey drunk back on New Year's."
"You did what you had to do, and you see how he is towards Testament, to Alex especially."
"Oh yeah. Why does he do that again? Does he like not like Alex or something?"
"A while back—and I mean a while back, it was right after Cliff died—Joey and I ran into them at this cafe in North Syracuse, and he and Alex were outside talking about something, and I guess Alex hit a nerve with him and Joey shoved him."
"Wow."
"Yeah. It was pretty intense—like it was the first time I ever saw Joey truly angry." Sam hesitated as she flashed back on that evening. Alex was scorn and disheveled while Joey was fearsome and foreboding. She thought about the way in which his body looked, how his slim, lanky hockey player arms were tense and strong with the adrenaline and the testosterone, how his deep chest heaved like the ebb and flow of ocean waves, how the darkness in his eyes appeared to be even darker than ever. But then she thought about Alex, and his smooth milky white skin against the afternoon sun, and his smooth black hair down over his head and shoulders. Both men had jet black curls: Alex had that dark and light contrast where Joey was as smooth and dark as melted chocolate.
She brought a hand to her chest to steady her heartbeat. She thought about that moment in her apartment where she touched herself for the first time in years but she could feel it more in her chest than between her legs.
"You okay, Sam?" Belinda asked her.
"Yeah, I was just—just having a moment."
There was silence, and there was silence outside of their door.
Then—
"Oh, shit!" Joey called out from the stairs; Sam leaned over the edge of her bunk, and Belinda poked her head out from under her.
"What was that?" she asked.
"I don't know."
Joey then burst out laughing: Sam could hear his footsteps up the stairs, and then he knocked on the door.
"Sam? Bel? You girls awake?"
"Yes!" they called out in unison, and Joey stumbled into their room with his face aglow.
"What?" Sam demanded as she set the book down next to her. "What happened?"
"Emile just proposed to Aurora," he declared as he rubbed his hands together. "And she said 'yes'!"
"Wow!" Sam proclaimed as she clasped her hands to her chest.
"Please don't make us fly out here again," Belinda groaned in a low voice.
"I hope we don't have to," Sam agreed with a shrug of her shoulders. "But my best friend is getting MARRIED!"
"She be gettin' hitched!" Joey declared with a clap of his hands; Sam couldn't smell it but she knew he had had a drink or two out there. But she climbed down the ladder on the side of the bunk beds and onto the floor. She hurried out of there, past Joey, and she spotted Aurora at the bottom of the stairs with a hand upon her mouth and tears in her eyes. She fanned herself as Sam ran up to her with her arms outstretched.
"Oh, my god!" Aurora declared in a broken voice, and Sam embraced her right then. She couldn't hardly contain herself right there: just like Zelda, she planted a kiss on the side of her face. She pulled back so Aurora could show off the bright purple engagement ring on her left finger.
"When is it?" Sam asked her with a tremble to her voice.
"We haven't decided yet—Emile's getting his day planner as we speak." She brushed away a tear and she threw her arms around Sam once again.
"Oh, my god—my parents are gonna freak," she said right into her ear. "I was just walking across the way to talk to Chuck and Eric about the record when Emile pulled me aside and he confessed his love to me. He just got down on one knee and popped the question right there."
"You gotta tell them about it now," Sam encouraged her, and she could feel the tears in her eyes as well. "You've just got to, Aurora."
"I'm going to right now—" She then ducked away from her, and she completely forgot that her fiance was in the next room with his day planner. Sam thought about what Joey had said to her earlier and she still wished to know who was his dream woman. She turned to find that he wasn't upstairs near her and Belinda's room, or his room for that matter. She doubled back outside to find he was by Charlie and Marla's rental car, and he had opened the back door in search of something. She hurried over to him, only to come face to face with the black seat of his pants as it accentuated the curvature of his hips and thighs.
Toned and smooth. But she shook her head at the sight of him. So much was happening that she need not focus on him all together. He lifted his head from the back seat with a bemused look on his face.
"What'cha looking for?" she asked him.
"Charlie told me there's a tape recorder in here somewhere, but I ain't seeing it." He then showed her that lopsided grin once again. "I really wanna be the wedding singer now."
"Aw!"
With the incoming darkness, the sound of Aurora's voice floated in from her right.
"So we send it in for production and then that's it?" Chuck asked her.
"Exactly. The producer and I will take care of the rest—and you guys can, too, if you'd like."
"Nah, I think we're more ready for a tour than to join in on that."
"Alright then, we're done," Eric declared as he ran his fingers through his smooth black hair. "Thank god."
"Thank Buddha," Sam retorted, and that brought a laugh out of him; meanwhile, Joey returned to the car in search of the recorder. She kept her gaze fixed on the arch of his back rather than his hips and thighs. She thought about her parents and how they had to know that one of her best friends was about to get married at some point. She thought about how he was the bachelor of the band, and she thought about how much he had flirted with Belinda.
Rolling down that hill did something to her.
"Joey, you wanna be my date to Aurora's wedding?" she blurted out. He lifted his head and banged the top on the edge of the doorway.
"Ow!" He clasped a hand to the crown and grimaced at the feeling.
"Oh, you alright?"
"Yeah." He then looked at her, confused. "You wanna be my date to Aurora's wedding?" he echoed it.
"I'm asking you that," she clarified.
"Sure—" He showed her that lopsided grin once more. "Just so long as we get a big bite o' cake afterwards."
"Of course, of course. But since Aurora is my best friend, I have to introduce her to my parents. And if you're gonna be my date—"
"I have to meet your parents now," he finished.
"It's only common courtesy. I want them there with us."
He shook his head.
"That's fine. As long as no one thinks we're actually dating."
"Of course, of course." And Sam couldn't help but feel like she had made a conquest of sorts.