Ronnie

8

June 24, 1986. El Cerrito, California.

Cassie was sketching in her notebook as she would do on any normal morning. She thought she heard a car pull up; she peeked out of the window and saw Kirk getting out of their car.
She opened the door and smiled at him a bit.
It totally slipped her mind that she was still wearing her pajamas, one of Kirk's tee-shirts, spandex shorts, and white, quarter length socks. For a second she was slightly embarrassed, then she remembered Kirk had seen her looking much worse.
"Hey, Cas."
"Hey." He seemed a bit more friendly; he was hiding how he actually felt, she could tell.
"I just came by to pick up my stuff."
"Oh, yeah," she let him slide through the door.
"I don't have any boxes, I'll look for some bags. Maybe that will work."
"Thanks."
"You're gonna stay with the guys?" she yelled from across the house.
"Yeah, just until we get off from tour. I'll get my own place after."
"That should be exciting," she started walking towards the bedroom.
"Oh, thanks," he took the bags and began to put the few clothing items he had into them.
"Do you need blankets or anything to bring over to the Mansion?"
"If you don't mind, I'd like to bring some."
"Get a few before you leave, you know where we keep them. Or, um, where I keep them."
Being back at what was supposed to be Kirk's home, hurt him. Not just that, talking to Cassie hurt more. At first, he was pissed. Completely furious on the inside. On the way home from Long Beach his anger turned into sadness. He understood why Cassie ended things, he just wished she wouldn't have. He wanted one more chance. One more chance to apologize, to make things better. It was too late; now he just needed to accept that.
Standing around, watching Kirk pack his things felt strange. Almost like she should be the one packing.
In reality, this was her house just as much as it was Kirk's. They paid an equal amount of rent and utilities. In fact, sometimes she would end up paying all the rent because Kirk couldn't scrounge up enough money.
She had to get it in her head that it was fair for him to leave. First, he did her wrong. Second of all, he had a place and friends he could go to. The majority of Cassie's friends were Kirk's as well, besides a close friend she met at work. Third of all, he was on this big tour, so he would be getting paid very well.
"Is it okay if I come by another time to pick up the rest of my amps and shit?"
"Yeah, that's cool.
Kirk, I have a question."
"Yeah," he turned to face the girl.
"I hate to ask about it."
"It's okay Cas, just ask me."
"Okay. What about the car? Are you gonna get it?"
Sharing the car never crossed Kirk's mind. He didn't want to deal with getting rides from other people. Also, he didn't want Cassie to have to walk or ride a bus from place to place.
"You can have it. We'll be back on the road soon, so I won't need it."
She nodded in acceptance, "Need me to take you back?"
"Yeah."
Awkward silence filled the whole five-minute drive.
He got his stuff out of the car, Cassie rolled down the window to say goodbye.
"Need help?"
"I got it."
He started to walk away, "Hey, Kirk."
"Yeah."
"Thanks, for you know what."
"It's the least I could do Cassie, really." He gave her a smile and walked into his new home.
This time she could tell his smile was genuine. She missed him and all of his quirks.
She drove onto to her road to see Cliff's car parked on the curb outside her house.
She parked her car in the driveway, Cliff got out of his car and greeted the girl at her front door.
"Hey, how are you?" she asked unlocking the door.
Cliff and Cassie hadn't seen much of one another since the night of their "situation." She went to Berkeley to see them play a small gig, but that was it.
"I'm good, how about you?"
"Fine. Kirk just came and got his stuff. I guess he's gone for good."
"That's what you wanted, isn't it?"
She looked to Cliff as she walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah, I guess. I don't know. Well, I do know. It's just, ah. Fuck!" She slammed a container onto the kitchen counter. "I can't get my words out. What I'm trying to say is that, I didn't want to be in a relationship with him. It just feels weird now that he's gone, I'm not sure what to think of it."
Cliff curved his lips a bit, "Hm."
"What?"
"Nothing, just thinking."
"Did you need something? Kinda weird of you to just pull up here."
"I was just in the area and thought I'd stop by." That was a partially a lie. He was sitting around at his parents house and had a longing to come see her. He told himself that he could drive to this part of town and make some shitty excuse for coming over. So, that's exactly what he did. "I can go if you want me to?"
"No, no. Stay," she put her hand on his arm.
They sat in the living room and talked for hours.
Cliff's emotions had seemed to calm down, although to him, it was obvious they were still there.
Cassie on the other hand was anxious, she wanted to talk about what has happened the other day. She just wasn't sure how to get the words out.
"I guess I should get going," Cliff said as he stood up and stretched.
"Wait!" she blurted out, not taking a second to think. "Wait," she said quieter this time. "You can stay here, it's late. There isn't a need for you to drive back home."
"Are you sure?"
"Positively," she answered with a smile.