Page 30 of My UnTrue Love
Bill cut him off. “Clem and me got nothing to do with you. In fact,nothingabout Clem has anything to do with you. Not anymore.”
That was impossible. She was the only part of Johnny Jacobs that stretched all the way back to John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt. Back before he outgrew his acne and lost all those extra pounds. Back when his Wolfball-loving family had ridiculed his interest in music. Back when he got bullied every day at school for being different. Back when Clementine’s smile had seemed like a spotlight aimed right at him.
Johnny and Clementine wereJohnny and Clementine. She couldn’t just change that. She was throwing some female tantrum. This was all temporary. Everything would be fine.
Johnny swallowed down a weird sensation of panic. “Clem’s just having a moment, because the band is moving to the next level, and she can’t be a part of it. Once she gets over it, she’ll be back here with me.”
This time Bill’s smirk was right out in the open. “We’ll see.” He said without a bit of worry in his tone.
Johnny’s phone rang before he could continue the argument with the arrogant son of a bitch. The sound jolted him from this whole crazy situation.
He recognized the ringtone as the biggest hit from The Yellow Roses’ first album. He’d selected that one for Rosalee. She was the most important person for his career and so her calls deserved the best song. He grabbed for his phone, eager to talk to her about his new album. She got his new, more sophisticated vision for the band.
Bill arched a brow. “Bye, John.”
“Yeah, I’ve got to go.” Johnny muttered. He shook off the feeling that the coyote had just triumphed. That he’d robbed Johnny somehow.
No sense in overreacting. Bill was nothing. A blip!
In fact, Clem moving out was actuallygoodnews. Now, Johnny could focus on his music, without having to worry about her fragile feelings. He cared about Clem, of course, but she could be so needy. Clem would miss him too much to stay away for long. She’d soon see he was right about Bill’s cunning wiles. She’d come running back home, with a much better attitude. Everything would return to normal.
In the end, Clementine wouldalwayschoose Johnny.
Everybody knew it.
Chapter Seven
Both partners must agree to cut,
The bond that makes them mates,
The wife refused to call caput,
Left him in dire straits.
Lyrics from the folk song “Crossroads Coyote”
Clementine knocked on the door of apartment 2B.
She’d tried to find out the name of the musically-talented kid who lived next door to Bill, but the “dangerous, male coyote” hadn’t identified himself on his mailbox slot downstairs. Clem had officially moved in with Bill the night before, which made this mysterious kid her new neighbor. It only seemed neighborly to stop over and say hi.
And to ask him about his fiddle playing.
Time ticked by and no one answered, so she knocked again. It was nine in the morning, but the heat was already unbearable. She was worried about Bill, off building that railroad in the blistering sun. It wasn’t healthy for him.
She turned and gazed over the decorative wooden railing of the Western Arms Apartments, while she waited for her neighbor to realize that she wasn’t going away until she talked to him. Her new home was constructed in a U-shape. The second-floor apartments were accessed by a long balcony and all the front doors opened onto a central courtyard.
The cement of the courtyard was cracked and the pool was half-filled with green water, but she could envision how it had looked fifty years before, when the adobe building was new.With some upkeep, it could be a nice complex again. Fix the pool… Maybe paint murals on the walls to cover the mishmash of clay colors… Patch the holes in the wooden steps… They should have some kind of tenants’ meeting to discuss all the improvements they could make and fun activities they could have.
There was a clubhouse space downstairs that mostly seemed deserted. Just a pinball machine tipped on its side and some wobbly folding chairs. If they shooed the nests of scorpions out of the corners, they could have potluck and movie nights. It would be nice for Bill to meet new people.
The door to 2B finally creaked open, just as far as the security chain would allow.
Clementine’s attention snapped around to grin at her neighbor. “Hi!”
The teenage boy peering out at her had extraordinary hair. That was the first thing she noticed. A shoulder-length mass of silvery-white, mixed with threads of onyx-black. It was so much lighter than the golden-tan color of his skin. It looked almost magical. She’d never seen anyone else with hair like that. It could be a huge asset to him, as a fiddle player. Really help him stand out of the crowd at auditions.
He didn’t respond to her cheerful salutation. Instead, he just stared at her with distrustful, pale-brown eyes. Yes, definitely one of Bill’s brethren. Coyotes were an attractive, suspicious, unloquacious group.
