Don't Tell Me Twice: Chapter Five

Buck got off the plane and walked into the terminal, feeling a sense of comfort as Jim led them to the airport doors. In a matter of minutes, she would be back in the neighborhood that she grew up in, hugging her parents and reminiscing about all the memories she had before she made it big. It was nice to feel like she was part of something, to feel like she belonged. She hadn’t felt this excited for a while now, and she was ready to embrace the love of those that had helped her get to where she was today.

“It’s nice to be home, isn’t it?” Jim smiled.

“It feels better than I thought it would,” Buck replied, looking around. She remembered when her hometown airport looked like a gateway to a more interesting life. Now, it was just a steppingstone in her path to get her where she wanted to be, home.

“I parked the car in the garage,” Jim said, waving her towards the airport parking lot.

Her home city wasn’t as big as the one she lived in now. People still trusted their neighbors not to break into their cars here, and hailing a taxi was a commodity, not a necessity. Buck helped Jim find his car, and the two of them got in, paid the parking fee, and headed out of the parking lot and towards her parent’s house. Even though the two of them had agreed that Buck could stay at Jim’s, Buck couldn’t wait to see her parents, so Jim had agreed to swing by their house before going to his.

It was a silent ride, and for that Buck was grateful. She wanted to be in her own head at the moment and look at all the familiar things that she had left behind. She saw the ice cream shop that Jim and she had visited when they were kids and the beauty parlor where her mom and sister got their hair done. There was even the park she played at when she was younger. Sometimes, Buck missed home, and often, she wondered what it would have been like to stay in town, have a regular job, and a regular life, one where she was just an ordinary person who nobody knew. She knew that overall, she wouldn’t be happy having to give up her music and the band, but it still didn’t hurt to think about the simplicity of that life.

The ride to her parent’s house was a dip in memory lane for sure, and it was hard to understand how so much time had gone by so fast. Buck noticed even more familiar territory, that which guarded her parent’s neighborhood. Jim turned into the quaint area and found his way to the street that Buck had grown up on and eventually, the house that her parents lived in.

“Feels like just yesterday we were playing squirt gun tag in your backyard,” Jim chuckled. “Now, it’s my two-year-old I’m running from.”

“Time goes by fast, Buck replied, wasting no time in getting out of the car. “Are you coming?” she asked, noticing that Jim hadn’t even taken off his seatbelt.

“No, I’m going to go check on Stacey and the kids,” he told her. “Go enjoy your time with your family and tell your mom thank you for buying me the plane ticket. I’ll be back later to pick you up.”

Buck nodded and waved him goodbye. She started up the walk to her parent’s front door. It had been a while since she had seen them, and she was feeling exceptionally emotional.

“Well, hello, honey,” her mom said, opening the door before she had even gotten there.

“Were you watching for me?” Buck asked the other woman. It wasn’t uncommon for her mother to pull out a pair of binoculars and spy out the window.

“No,” her mother replied. “It was just a fortunate coincidence.”

“I’m sure it was,” Buck replied, noticing a pair of binoculars on the table by the front window. She held back a smile and stepped further into the house.

“Well, hey there,” Buck’s father’s voice sounded as he entered the living room. “How have you been?”

“Well, that’s a dumb question, Hank,” her mother exclaimed. “You know about Olive.”

“I wasn’t talking to you, Ruth,” her father told her mother. “I was talking to Buck.”

“I’m good,” Buck told her father, giving him a hug.

“Now, you don’t have to act tough around us,” her mother commented. “I saw the tabloids. I never did like that Olive, anyway. There was just something about her.”

“Ruth, let the kid breath,” her father said. “I’m sure she’s probably trying to move on.”

“Buck?” a familiar voice called from the kitchen. “Come in here.”

Buck followed the voice and saw her sister, Elaine, sitting at the kitchen table. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s nice to see you too, and mom invited me,” Elaine replied. “It’s not like you ever take time out of your busy life to give anyone a ring anymore.”

“I’ve called you,” Buck protested.

“Not too often,” Elaine said, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, how’s work? I saw that you hit the billboards a couple of months ago. Have you been working on anything new?”

“I’ve been trying,” Buck told her. “I just have written nothing that moves me yet.”

“Writer’s block?” Elaine inquired.

“Yes, an acute case of it, I’m afraid,” Buck said, sitting down.

“Who can blame you after what Olive did to you? I mean, Viola Young isn’t even that attractive.”

“Elaine,” their mother yelled. “Now, you know that it’s what is in the inside that counts. Buck can’t help it if Olive had a cheating heart, and it’s no reason to make fun of that Viola girl.”

“It is too,” Elaine protested. “Viola helped Olive cheat. She knew that Olive was with Buck. It takes two to tango, mom.”

“Enough,” Buck exclaimed. “I appreciate the support, but I’m still dealing with everything. I don’t want to hear you guys put Olive down anymore.”

“She’s still in love with her,” Elaine commented.

“Don’t you have a home?” Buck asked her sister, rolling her eyes. She was becoming annoyed with her already, and she hadn’t even been there for ten minutes.

“I do, but mom invited me over,” Elaine retorted. “Maybe have more consideration for other people’s guests.” “Alright, stop,” their father replied. “Buck, why don’t you get comfortable? We made up the guest room.”

“I’m staying at Jim and Stacey’s,” Buck told him, taking her bag off her lap and setting it on the floor. “Stacey just cleaned up their guest room.”

“You can call Jimmy and tell him that you’re staying here,” her mother stated. “I haven’t seen you in months. I’m not going to have you staying anywhere but with family.”

“Fine, I’ll call Jim and let him know,” Buck said, knowing that there was no point in arguing with her mother. “I’m going to step outside for a minute,” she said, pulling out her phone. Her mother nodded, and Buck made her way to the back porch. She unlocked her screen and noticed that there were a series of missed phone calls and texts. Buck flipped through the texts. Most were from Ralph, telling her to call him. Buck tapped Ralph’s number and waited through several rings for the man to answer his phone.

“Hello,” she heard his gravelly voice finally reply.

“Hi there,” Buck said. “I just got your messages. What’s going on?”

“Buck, finally,” the man sighed. “I have a woman that wants to audition for the band. I am going to need you to fly to Chicago. The audition is tomorrow at 9 a.m. I already got ahold of Spike and Jemma and scheduled their flights.”

“I can’t do it, Ralph,” Buck protested. “I’m at my folk’s house. I just got here.”

“This is important, Buck,” Ralph stressed. “Without a lead guitar player, you are going to miss most of your tour dates.”

“I told you I could play,” Buck retorted. “I do play guitar, you know.”

“People know you as the vocalist of Jems and Jamz,” Ralph replied. “I don’t want to create an identity crisis for the band.”

“Alright,” Buck agreed. “Fine. But I still can’t make it to the audition. Let Spike and Jemma decide. I trust their judgment.”

“Are you sure, Buck?” Ralph asked. “I’m not going to hire the woman and up and pull her out of the band if it turns out that you don’t like her.”

“Understood,” Buck replied. “Now I need to go. It’s time that I spent some time with my family.”

“Fair enough,” Ralph said, sounding disappointed. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”