Billy Carter

Chapter 6.5: Tony Jameson

"Who're you texting there, Tones?" Dad asked. I looked up from my phone as he sat down on the end of my bed.
"Jenny," I told him. "She had a fight with her parents."
"Oh, well that's no good."
"Yeah, she's pretty upset. Is it ok if she comes over for dinner?" I asked.
"Of course it is. We can go pick her up if she doesn't want her parents to take her."
"Thanks, I'll let her know. Did you want to speak to me about something?"
"No, not really. I just wanted to see you. Are you excited for your first band practice tomorrow night?"
"Yeah, I can't wait until we're actually performing in front of an audience," I told him with a smile. "I'm a little nervous about singing, but Jenny says I'll do great."
"She's right, you're a good little singer, Tony. So why didn't Bill want to join the band? At first, I mean."
"I think he feels guilty. You know, he lost his job at the grocery store and he thinks he ought to get another job. But I think this band thing will be good for him."
"Surely he can get another job and still play with you guys?"
"He's already got two other jobs."
"Oh. Well, does he really need a third job?"
"I don't know, I don't like to bother him about it. I know all the money he makes goes straight into paying bills, so maybe he does. And Steve's out of work at the moment."
"Oh, shit. Did you give him those hand-me-downs when he was over last?"
"Yeah. Mum threw in some stuff for Nelly too, and some of your old clothes for Steve. I don't know if they'll fit him though, he's a bit, uh, bigger-"
"More muscular than me?" Dad asked with a wry smile.
"Well, yeah," I said with a laugh. "No offence."
"None taken, I wouldn't want to square off with him anytime soon. So, not to gossip, but he got fired again, didn't he?"
"Yeah, I think so," I looked back down at my phone, starting to feel uncomfortable talking about one of my best friend's family troubles. "Bill said he stayed sober for about a month this time."
"Poor fella. I went to school with him, you know? He had a rough go of it."
"Yeah, Bill says his uncles are all shitheads and Steve doesn't keep in contact with his parents."
"I'm not surprised. They weren't good people, Anthony."
"Why? Was it drugs or something?"
"No, God no. Steve's dad was a nasty man, Tony. I won't say much about it, but he didn't treat those boys right."
"Oh." I sighed heavily and looked back up at my father. "Dad, I know it's a tricky thing, but is there anything we can do to help them? I mean we already do a bit, but I don't know how to help. I know it stresses Billy out, and I think that's part of why he does so bad in school - besides that he was just diagnosed with dyslexia - and that just stresses him out even more."
"I know you want to help and I admire you for it, but we do enough," Dad told me. "We might be better off, but we can't afford to pay their bills for them. We can't pay their debt."
"I know, but what if someone takes Billy away from them, and they send him to live somewhere across the country because Nelly and Steve can't afford to look after him? Could that happen?"
"Honestly Tony, I don't know," Dad told me. "And I don't want you to tell anybody this, especially since I don't think Billy knows, but your mother and I have spoken to Nelly and Steven and we all agreed that should the need arise Billy will come to stay with us, so don't worry about it, alright?"
"Really?"
"Yes. Now do we need to go and pick up Jen?"
"Yeah, thanks."
We both went downstairs and Dad drove us to Jenny's house. She stormed out of her front door, slamming it behind her.
"Oh, fuck," I muttered under my breath, and Dad chuckled beside me. I hurried out of the car and opened up the passenger side for her. "Hey baby-"
"Shut up Anthony," Jenny snapped. She was furious, but she looked like a cute fluffy snowball in her big, white winter jacket lined with faux-fur, and she reminded me of an angry toddler. The skin on her face was blotchy, and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. My first instinct was to throw chocolates at her and run, but she marched up and wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her face in my chest. I held her tight and rubbed her back soothingly.
"What's wrong, Henny?" I asked, hoping the nickname might cheer her up. "What did you fight about?" Judging from her behavior and appearance it couldn't have been your standard, run-of-the-mill teen vs. parent argument.
"They said we were going to break up!" Jenny cried, squeezing me tighter.
"Oh Hen, I don't plan on breaking up with you if I can help it," I told her. "Do you plan on breaking up with me?"
"No!"
"Then what are you worried about?"
"I'm not worried!" she snapped. "I'm angry! How could they say something like that? My own parents!"
"Well what made them think that we're going to break up?"
"They said that it was inevitable once we started University," Jenny sobbed. "They said I'd go to one Uni and you'd probably go to another Uni and we'd never see each other!"
"Well that's impossible, because I know I'm going to follow you wherever you go like a little lost puppy," I told her with a smile, and she wiped her eyes, still frowning at me.
"Do you promise?" she asked quietly.
"Cross my heart and hope to die," I told her. "Come on now, get in the car. I'll make you a milkshake at home."
"Ok."
I helped her into the car and went around to sit in the back beside her. "Had better days, huh?" Dad asked her.
"Hi Brian, thanks for picking me up. Mum wouldn't let me take her car."
"That's alright love."
"So why- oh, hang on." I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket, so I fished it out. "Hey, it's Ollie," I said as I answered his call.
"Hey Tony, can we talk?" Ollie asked. "Not for long."
"Yeah sure. I've been meaning to talk to you about Guy anyway."
"Oh Christ, please don't Tony," Ollie sighed. "He's been texting and calling me non stop since Jenny's party."
"Oh? And you aren't... you know. He really fancies you."
"Well that's the thing. Tony, I'm not interested in Guy like that, I actually like someone else."
"Oh? We'll have you told Guy that?"
"Of course I have! He still won't leave me alone."
"I'll talk to him, but I'll be subtle. So, who is it?"
"Who's what?"
"Who is it you like?"
"Oh. Nobody. Forget it."
"Why? Doesn't he like you too?"
"It's complicated. I'm not sure. I don't think so."
"Aw. Why, is he straight?"
"Probably."
"Probably? So there's a chance he's not?"
"I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but he did something."
"What did he do?"
"He... it's hard to explain. He, well, basically he complimented me, and it was a lot, and then he kissed me but I don't know if he did it because he wanted to or if it was for my benefit, I- it's complicated."
"Who is it?"
"No one you know, it's one of my co-workers from the chemist's friend's."
"Right. Well if it's no one I know can you tell me?"
"No. If he is gay, or queer or whatever, he's not out, and I can't do that to him."
"Alright, fair enough. Well I hope it works out for you."
"Well, we'll see. I wouldn't count on it though."
"I will say I'm a bit disappointed that you don't fancy Guy, though. He's really into you."
"He'll get over it. I don't know - I like him, and we get along, but honestly this guy I like, I've liked him for a long time. A really long time, and I like him very much. But I don't want to get my hopes up."
"Well he kissed you, certainly that's a good sign?"
"I don't know. The context was... kind of fuzzy, actually."
"Well what was his reaction after it?"
"He was really embarrassed. But the thing is, I was the one who stopped the kiss. I was the one to break it off. And even then he still wanted to kiss me. I had to talk some sense into him before he realised what he was doing. But he wasn't really himself, he was stonkered. It was, um, at a party a few weeks ago. A work thing."
"Oh, right. Well maybe he was just embarrassed he'd been so forward. Have you spoken about it?"
"Yeah. I think he's just embarrassed and scared he might have led me on. I feel like shit Tony, I think it might have ruined things. We were good friends before this."
"Well, I'm sure it will all work out. Maybe you just need to talk it out. Jenny and I do that whenever we have a fight, it works great! Most of the time."
"Right." He sighed heavily. "I've got to go, dinner's almost ready."
"Yeah, sure. Hey, why don't you talk to Bill about it? You're tutoring him tonight, aren't you? I'm sure he'll be able to give you some good advice or something."
"Yeah, we'll see. Thanks Tony."
"It's alright. So you two are friends again?"
"It's still awkward, after he, uh, insulted me. But I think it'll be ok. I'm happy to still be friends, he wasn't really himself when he said it."
"Yeah, he got pretty messy. I don't think he was in a great mood either."
"No, he wasn't, he seemed a bit off. Anyway, forgive and forget, right?"
"Right. I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you then."
We hung up and I tuned into the conversation Jenny and Dad were having. I reached over and held her hand, and she rubbed my fingers with her thumb, looking over to give me a quick, beautiful smile before she went back to the conversation.
I'm going to marry you one day, I thought to myself as I looked at her. Jennifer Jameson. It has a nice ring to it.