Normal Life
Chapter 7
By: Bella
Tristen hummed as she applied her makeup and got ready for the day in the master bathroom of their bedroom. Adah was contently watching her from her infant seat that was set on the large counter in the bathroom and once in a while Tristen would stop and smile or say something to her. Benji was in the shower cursing loudly every time he dropped the soap, shampoo bottle, and anything else that was slippery and in his way. Tristen couldn't help but smile as she finished up. She then exited the bathroom with Adah and her infant seat in one hand and she snatched Benji's towel with the other and quickly strolled out and threw the towel on their bed.
A few minutes later she heard the water stop running, the shower door open, and Benji begin another irritated string of curses. While this was not an every day occurrence, it did happen more frequently than Benji felt was necessary. He walked out of the bathroom, wet and naked, to find Tristen changing Adah's diaper. He could tell that she was trying to hold back laughter and failing miserably, as he could hear little noises escaping her mouth and see her shoulders bobbing. He looked on the bed, where she usually threw his towel, to find that Cash had claimed it. The dog was on their bed rolling around on the towel that Benji had hoped to dry himself off with. Before he could begin expressing his extreme displeasure once again with a sequence of profanities, the phone rang.
"Hello?" he said into the phone as he answered it and went to get another towel at the same time.
"Hey, it's me," Joel said on the other end.
"What's up?"
"Well, I was thinking. You and Tristen haven't had some alone time since… uh, two days ago and seeing as how that's an awful long time and I just love bonding with my favorite niece anyway, I was thinking that maybe I could come over and watch Adah for a few hours while you two crazy kids went out tonight."
"Whoa, thanks Joel, that's really nice but I think Tristen was planning on dragging me and the baby to dinner at her parents' place tonight."
"Tonight? Can't you guys go another night?"
"Well, what's going on tonight? Why can't you watch her another day?"
"Argh, nothing I just really need to borrow your kid tonight!"
"May I ask why it's so important that you borrow my daughter?" There was a pause on the other end.
"Well?"
"OK, remember that huge woman in the jewelry store last week that Tristen dared me to ask out?"
"Yeah …"
"Well, Adah and I sort of went to the park while I was babysitting her and we sort of ran into each other and she sort of went nuts over her and I'm sort of digging her even though she looks like a female Arnold Swartzenagger and I sort of have a date with her tonight at 8 and she sort of expects me to bring Adah because she sort of thinks that she's mine and sort of feels sorry for us because I sort of told her that her mother left us," Joel blurted out. He let out a huge breath afterward. Benji laughed, he was thoroughly amused by this.
"You dumbass, I can't believe she even agreed to go out with you. Leave it to you to use an innocent child to pick up chicks," he said, playfully.
"C'mon man, I can't just show up and say, 'Oh by the way that baby is really my niece. Sorry for lying to you but I really wanted to take you out and I figured using a baby to score a date was my best bet.'"
"That's exactly what you need to do. Good luck with that, buddy," Benji said and then quickly hung up before Joel could do any more protesting.
"What the hell?" Tristen asked. "He used Adah to pick up girls?"
"Yep, and not just any girl. That girl from the jewelry store," he said with a grin.
"What? The big one?" she asked, confused. Benji nodded in response.
"Oh my gosh… I'm really surprised," she said as she sat down on the bed holding Adah and admiring her. "That's not something I'd expect Joel to do. If Adah were Joel's I could definitely see you doing it, but not the other way around. I guess you two really are related!"
"Hey!" he exclaimed, frowning and pretending to be hurt as he rubbed his new towel back and forth over his head in an effort to dry his hair.
---
(Months later)
Benji looked out of the window and watched the seemingly endless acres of farmland rush by. He knew he was driving through the Midwest somewhere, but had lost track of exactly which state they were presently traveling through. He had been on tour and away from his family for five days, 12 hours, nine minutes and 47 seconds. He knew this because he had counted.
It was strange to him that the tour bus had once felt like home, his bandmates had once felt like family, and his fans had once felt like friends. He still enjoyed touring, loved his bandmates, and appreciated his fans, but felt miserable at the same time. He missed his wife and his daughter.
On Pacifica's tour bus, Tristen's mood was the same. She was grateful to have Adah with her, but missed her husband terribly. After much arguing, she and Benji finally decided that it would be best for the baby to come with Tristen on tour, because she was six months old and still breast feeding.
For the first time in quite a while, Tristen was truly unhappy. She hated being away from Benji, she hated the same songs that she played nearly every night, she hated the band that was opening for them, and she hated performing in front of large audiences. The career that had once served as an excuse not to pursue the kind of lifestyle that her parents had encouraged, and was ultimately responsible for causing her to even meet Benji and start the life that she had quickly grown accustomed to and enjoyed, now caused her pain and sadness and she didn't know what to do.
She strapped her guitar on and faced the wall behind her. She felt a once familiar tightening in her chest and let a tear slip down her cheek. This had been her routine before every show until she met Benji, and had now become her routine once again since Benji wasn't with her. Shaking, she tried her best to gather herself and joined the rest of the band as they got ready to perform again.
---
Benji had a hard time getting to sleep that night. He tossed and turned in his bunk but couldn't get comfortable. When he finally did start to drift off, he began an unrelaxing sleep and an unsettling dream that would be burned into his memory …
-begin dream-
"Adah, would you turn that fucking shit down?" he yelled from across the hall at his 16 year old daughter who had loud music coming from her room and filling the rest of the mansion that he and his family called home. The music continued, which made him angry. He had just gotten back from Australia where he was producing some songs for a band that he had signed there and was suffering jet lag. He was trying to get some rest, but couldn't with the booming sounds that came from across the hall.
His first born daughter smoked, drank, and skipped school constantly. He knew this, but did little to keep it from happening. He figured that all he could do was encourage her not to, but ultimately it would have to be her decision. His other daughter, Mary, was 12 years old, motivated, and well behaved but very distant. He had never felt close to her and regretted it. His son, Levi, was just three months old and in London with Tristen while she visited a friend for two weeks. The family rarely traveled together.
Fed up, he stormed to Adah's room, but realized that it was not her room but Mary's that the loud music was coming from. He opened her door and came into her room to find her in bed with a much older looking teenager. They screamed and quickly tried to cover their unclothed bodies with the sheets around them. Disgusted, Benji turned down the volume on her stereo, exited her room, and slammed the door. He had enough.
He went into his bedroom and packed his things. He didn't need much. He found a note in his nightstand that he had written months before and read over it:
"I'm sorry but I can't do this anymore. I'm leaving and I don't know when or if I will be back. Please don't hate me, you'll be better off without me. I never contributed anything but money to this family, and I've left you enough to survive on. Let's face it, this family has been falling apart since it first started and I've been unhappy and now I'm ready to move on. I guess no matter how much I've tried to deny it, I am my father."
-end dream-