Caught in the rush
Chapter Twelve
Previous chapter < < Chapter list > > Next chapter
"How long has it been since you've been home Bjornar?" Dirk asked, desperately trying to find another topic of conversation, other than Penny. Bjornar yawned.
"I was there last Christmas for two weeks," he replied, getting bored of reading about Enron and WorldCom and all the other scandals plaqueing America.
"What part of Norway you from?" Shawn asked.
"Baerum."
"Where's that exactly?" Dirk asked.
"District 20 minutes from Oslo." Bjornar replied.
"Oslo is nice."
"You've been there?"
"Once. My parents took us there for a holiday when my sister and I were teenagers. Nice, very cold though."
"That it is. You're from Edinburgh, aren't you?"
"Yes, you ever been there?"
"No. Been to Aberdeen though. Graduation present from my parents."
"What about you Shawn, where you from?"
Shawn frowned. Here were these two guys, who had apparently traveled the world, lived and traveled to exotic locales, and here he was, a local boy and the most exotic place he ever traveled to was Palos Verdes.
"Hawthorne," he mumbled, "raised in Inglewood."
Dirk and Bjornar looked at each other. "Norma Jean Baker was born in Hawthorne you know," Dirk stated. Shawn blinked.
"Who's that?" he asked, thinking the rock star was trying to make him feel better.
"Marilyn Monroe. She was born and raised in Hawthorne," Dirk replied as Bjornar grinned at Shawn, "according to what Penny showed me, the Hawthorne and Inglewood area used to be really classy. All the movie stars use to hang out at the clubs in Inglewood. The Hawthorne Grill, The Cockatoo Inn,.."
Shawn didn't know this. He was intrigued, but he frowned.
"You wouldn't know it now, looking at it," Shawn remarked, "place is run down, full of gangs and poverty."
"Too bad," Bjornar replied, "they must have really let it go."
"I'm sure there's still some nice places in Inglewood," Dirk yawned.
"Yeah, the cemetery," Shawn replied, "Inglewood Park Cemetery is really a beautiful place. The area around it is okay, Great Western Forum. But that's it."
"Shawn, everywhere you go, there are good parts and bad parts," Bjornar remarked, "there are parts of Norway I wouldn't want to go for fear of my life…" "Scotland is a beautiful country, but some towns are so run down," Dirk added, "and even in Torrance, where Penny was born, there is a very nice area. Around Western Avenue, where she grew up, I wouldn't send a pack of rabid hounds after dark."
Suddenly, Dirks phone announced that he had a text message. He picked it up, looked at it and frowned. "What does it say?" Shawn asked.
"If you get on that plane mate, Lane won't be the only one who's ever kicked your ass," Dirk replied, setting the phone back down, "love Dom."
"Lane kicked your ass?" Bjornar asked, as Shawn started to giggle.
"I met Lane a few years back when we got into a fight in a pub," he snarled, "I don't even know what started it, we were both pretty gone."
"And he kicked your ass?" Shawn asked. Dirk frowned again.
"It was a draw."
Overhead, they all heard the sound of a helicopter flying overhead. "What's going on now?" Shawn asked, as Bjornar rolled down the window and looked out.
"Looks like Penny actually did send out the Cavalry," he laughed. Dirk sat up and stuck his head out of the sunroof and looked around. Sure enough, there was a helicopter dropping off small boxes every few cars. Dirk ducked back into the limo as the helicopter carefully dropped a box between the limo and the car to the left of them.
Dirk, Bjornar, and Shawn got out of the limo as other people from the cars around them started surrounding the box. Bjornar opened the box as everyone peered into it. Inside, there were several trays of sandwiches and small bottles of water. "Oh great," Dirk remarked, almost amused, "the Queen of Subway strikes again."
Bjornar started passing out the sandwiches, as Dirk started handing people bottles of water. Shawn helped out when Dirk got near the bottom of the box and there was a large tray of brownies, and he started passing those out.
As the small crowd dispersed, the three grabbed some food for themselves and got back in the limo. "God bless you Miss Breslin," Bjornar whispered as Shawn fell on his sandwich, "I was starving. By the way, what was that Queen of Subway crack about anyway?"
"Penny is obsessed with Subway sandwiches," he mumbled, after swallowing the bite he took of his sandwich, "I got her to stop eating at Taco Bell all the time. Now, if anyone asks her to buy lunch or whatever, its always Subways. She even did a radio spot with that Jared bloke."
"Taco Bell's not that bad," Shawn remarked, "but I have to admit, sandwiches are healthier."
"She did lose a bit of weight I noticed after she started eating there more often," Bjornar added. Dirk glared.
"You noticed?" he asked, eyeing his driver, "have you been checking out my girl?"
There was no way Bjornar was going to be able to lie himself out of this one, and he knew it. "It's hard not to notice," he replied, meekly, "she does to tend to wear rather revealing clothes at times. It's a males nature to look."
"Well, don't look too hard," Dirk mumbled, "she is still mine."
Dirk then frowned. "I hope," he thought to himself.
* * *
During their trek across Canada, Penny had to resist every urge she had to just stay. She never knew how beautiful that country was. She even tried to buy a house in Montreal, but Dirk stopped her.
"There'll be time for that my dear," he explained, "after we get married."
Married. What the hell brought that on? Sure, the thought had crossed her mind once in awhile, but she never dreamed that he was thinking about that. He's been talking to his mother again, that had to be it. She smiled at Dirk, and got on the bus.
Penny wasn't as well received in Canada as Trouble was, but it didn't matter much to her. She still had a good time. Particularly with what happened when they were in Ontario. The incident was well documented in the local Trouble Newsletter that circulated amongst the members of the bands Canadian fan club. The article was written by their vice president, Sonia Patrick.
"As they usually do, both Trouble and Penny and her band threw an after concert party for fans. It took place at Lulu's, here in scenic Ontario. Lulu's was perfect for the kind of bash they like to throw, it's an old warehouse with a bar, perfect for tons of dancing people, or even a band. Dirk spent a lot of time mingling with the fans and signing autographs, while his lady danced with all the young ladies. Dirk, I noticed wasn't much of a dancer, he seemed to just mainly bob his head when they played a song to his fancy.
I talked to several members of Trouble, mainly to Val McMahon and Dave Brooks, and they were very nice. Val told me how she met Dirk while they were kids, and how well they had always got along. Dave teased me a bit because Dirk was the only member of the band I hadn't given a rose to, mainly because for some reason, I was just too afraid to approach him. Isn't that funny, I, Sonia, suddenly too afraid to talk to Dirk Monahan? "For Shame!" you scoff, but tis true. I was probably tired. Anyway..
Penny had apparently decided to take a break from dancing with her teenage minions, and approached us at the bar. Val introduced me to her, and she was very kind. Dave then started telling her how every member of the band got a rose, except Dirk because I was too shy to give it to him. She grinned at me and told me that when she started dancing with Dirk, she would purposely dance over to me and I could put the rose in her mouth and she would give it to him, and let him know later who it was from. I thought that was kind of odd, considering I didn't think Dirk would actually get out there and dance. But I agreed.
After a couple of minutes, the disc jockey started playing an old Wang Chung song from the eighties called "Dance Hall Days" and Penny then ran to the middle of the floor and called out to Dirk. She then motioned him out as he looked over at her.
I thought I was going to die laughing. They began doing some ballroom dance, which was very well done, but they also acted out parts of the song as well. For instance, during the line "Take your baby by the ear, and play upon her darkest fear", Dirk grabbed Penny by both ears, pretended to rattle her head, then spun her around, and as she did so, he started to pull a Michael Jackson, and start moonwalking, while Penny pretended to faint. When they then took each other by the hand and started dancing again, I thought that maybe Penny had forgotten about me, so I wandered out and placed the rose in her mouth myself. She seemed to like that, because she began to giggle, then during the part where the song went "take your baby by the wrist, and in her mouth an amethyst" she took the rose and placed the stem in Dirks mouth.
The whole incident is so hard to describe. It was one of those "You had to be there moments" but it was funny. Afterwards, dragging a laughing Penny with him, he walked over to me, thanked me for the rose and kissed me on the cheek. And then, for some unbeknownst reason, so did Penny."
When they arrived in Quebec, Penny found she was more well received there, they seemed to love her. "Well, that's the French for you," Lane joked, "what do they know?"
She continued to dance along to The Escape Clubs "Wild Wild West," stopping long enough to throw a stale bagel at Lanes head (it missed, but she got her point across).
It was after two stops in New Hampshire and Rhode Island that they finally made it to New York. That's when Penny gave Lane, Dave and Val the nicknames, The Joker, The Smoker, and the Midnight Toker, respectively. Lane, for obvious reasons. Dave, because to Penny, he always seemed to have a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and Val, because she witnessed Val's first and last hit of marijuana at a club. She was dancing with Dirk during LL Cool J's "Phenomenon" when she looked over and saw Val start to cough violently as some girl took a bong away from her.
It was also in New York that Dirk and Penny's relationship suddenly started to "snag". It was actually just after their last concert in New York City. Everyone from both bands went to a very popular dance club, and everything seemed to go really well.
Dirk had only ever drank imported beer. Never anything stronger, and there was a reason for that, only he forgot what it was, and didn't have the heart to say no to Penny's drummer when he started buying him shots of Goldschalger. (It's cinnamon schnapps with little gold flakes floating in it, testimony of some that have partaken of it, have claimed it can cure the common cold. Scientists are still investigating) After a few shots of said liquor, Dirk lost any common sense he had, and his eye started to wander.
A group of girls has approached Penny and asked her to dance with them, and she obliged, leaving Dirk to his devices. After Penny was gone, Dirk looked around and saw a very pretty brunette sitting alone at a table. Dirk took drank another shot, and approached her. "Why are you sitting alone there, pretty lady?" he asked, as he approached the table. The lady smiled. "My friends are dancing," she replied, flattered by the attentions of whoever this good-looking man with the foreign accent was, "I just felt like sitting this one out. I'm Maria."
"Dirk," he replied, "may I?"
"Oh sure, go ahead."
Watching from a distance, Dom and Dave weren't exactly sure what it was that Dirk was up to. Maybe he was just talking to the girl because he felt bad about her being alone. Maybe she bought him a drink and he felt obliged to speak with her. It wasn't until he put his arm on the seat behind and leaned in close, that they knew exactly what he was doing, and they were shocked. They both got up from their seats, and rushed over before Penny could see him, but it was too late. Penny has seen the whole thing, and was already at the table.
"Exactly what is it that was going on in your head that you could just blatantly hit on another woman while I'm right here in the same club?" she asked, her face draining color. Maria stared at Penny in utter fear, as she began to recognize her.
"Oh my god, Penny," she stuttered, sliding out of the seat, "I didn't know, I swear, I didn't recognize him."
"It's cool," Penny replied, softly, "he did."
A crowd of people started forming around the table as Dom pushed past Penny and pulled Dirk out of his seat. Penny just continued to stare at him. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Dom hissed in his ear, "are you trying to ruin everything you have?"
"Ungrateful jackass," Penny screamed, "I give you everything and I do everything for you, and you just spit on me…"
"You're over reacting," Dirk hissed, "I didn't do anything."
"You would have though, wouldn't have you?"
"So what if I had?"
"You probably did fuck that girl, didn't you?"
"What girl?"
"Leslie, that backup singer you said you had to fire because she came on to you. That wasn't exactly true, was it? You fired her because you screwed her and couldn't face her afterwards, isn't that true?"
"So what if I did? She was probably better than you were anyway…"
He didn't have a chance to finish his line, when Penny lifted her right arm, swinging it upward with all the strength she had left in her, and backhanded him so hard across the face, that he fell backwards into Dom, who lost his balance, fell into the table with Dirk, which in turn lost its balance, and tumbled them both on the floor. "You better never touch me again you son of a bitch!" she screamed, as Val and Marvin took her by her arm and started to pull her away, "because its over, you hear me, its over!"
Dom got to his feet, as Lane and Dave approached, and the three of them pulled Dirk to his feet. "You really blew it this time pal," Lane stated, as he and Dave hoisted his arms over their shoulders. "My face hurts," Dirk mumbled, as they carried him out of the club. Dom sighed. "A whole lot more is going to hurt when you sober up," he stated.