Philautia || Amour Éternel Series BOOK ONE ||

Five - SHANNON

September 2014

Shannon parked his motorcycle on the apron of a cracked concrete driveway and looked at the house in front of him. Another bike was parked further up the driveway next to a black SUV. A pick-up truck was right next to the house. From what Shannon had seen, parking space was at a premium in this neighborhood. It had been years since he had ventured down to Long Beach but the neighborhoods were pretty much exactly as he remembered. Older one-story bungalows and two-and-three-story apartment buildings lined the streets. A few streets had the original historic houses, but for the most part they had all been torn down and the larger lots had been subdivided into multiple mini-lots.

Ben's house was on a wide, tree-lined street, nestled between two densely-packed blocks of small bungalows and apartment four-unit apartment buildings. Shannon walked up the crumbling driveway toward the dilapidated Victorian house. Callie's motorcycle sat between a 1971 Norton Commando and a black SUV. A large Monterrey Cyprus tree towered over the overgrown front lawn and unkempt shrubs that had seen several better days nearly blocked out the front porch of the house. He carefully picked his way up the creaking stairs, hoping the wood wasn't going to give way. The front door was wide open and voices drifted out to him.

"Anyone home?" he called, stepping into the formal entryway. Dust crunched under his boots as he took a few steps into the home. The hardwood floor creaked a bit as he walked. "Ben?"

"In here!" Ben's voice drifted out to him.

Shannon followed the sound past the characteristic staircase and walked into a large open space connected to the currently-gutted kitchen. Several of the walls had been stripped to the studs and there was dust and debris covering the floor. Tools laid around the room and Ben was standing next to Callie and another girl, talking with a tall dark-haired man.

"Hey," he announced, putting his helmet on the counter top. "Sorry I'm a little late."

"No worries," Ben assured him. "We were just talking about the plan for the upstairs bathroom. It needs total gutting; the floor is dry-rotted under the tub and I'm almost positive the plumbing needs replacing."

"Oh, okay, sure," Shannon replied. "I worked construction for years before the band took off. I could take a look at it if you want."

"That would be great, thanks man," Ben smiled. "Oh, you haven't met these guys yet," he added. "This is my youngest daughter, Jonquille, and my good friend Keanu."

Shannon held out his hand. "Nice to meet you. Shannon Leto."

"I think we've actually met before," Keanu responded, shaking his hand. "Your brother's Jared, right?"

Shannon nodded. "You got it."

It used to bother him that everyone associated him with Jared and Jared's success determined how well-known Shannon was. He used to hate that people would hear his last name and immediately think of his brother. But over the years, he had learned to embrace the positive side of the situation: he got the benefits and the anonymity. It wasn't like he was trying to abuse Jared's name, but it did have perks. However, there had been plenty of times when he had fallen victim to people trying to use him to get closer to Jared, too. It was a double-edged sword.

"I think we met last year, at an Oscars party or something," Keanu said. "I just remember your brother was the talk of the event."

"He has that effect," Shannon smiled. He turned to the other girl. "You're Callie's younger sister?"

She nodded. Her eyes were brown, like Callie's, but her hair was a deep chocolate instead of fiery red. It was bundled up on the top of her head in a messy bun, but he could easily see the same wild curls Callie had been blessed with. She was tall and thin and could pass for a model. She shook his hand with more force than he anticipated from a high school kid.