The Kawosaki had slowed when it turned into the bus terminal, but hadn't yet come to a complete stop. Impatient, Faith hopped off the back of the motorcycle while it was still moving, stumbling as her feet struggled to match the inertia that still propelled the rest of her body forward.
Ahead of her, her mother's bike screeched to a halt as Syl yanked off her helmet to scream. "Faith Laurent! What do you think you're doing?"
The girl ignored her mother as she ran past, pulling off her own helmet and racing over to where the large luxury tour bus was entering the terminal.
Sighing, Syl shook her head. Leaning forward to rest her elbows on the handle bars, she propped her chin in her hands and watched her daughter wait excitedly for her uncle with a mix of exasperation and amusement.
Bassline
-
Syl smiled as she entered the beach house. The rumble of the bass guitar
welcomed her home, and the house keeper Rita came to greet her in the front
hall. ...
14 years ago
He walked off the bus, rotating his shoulders and neck, to help work out the kinks. He saw her and smiled, then spotted Syl and winked at her. Yeah he would be in crap for this later.
ReplyDeleteHe catches the attention of his PA, there had been a long discussion on the bus about how length of service was not to be confused with guaranteed employment. "I'm out, but for important stuff" he pauses to make sure the man knows what he means this time, "call me and don't stop. Oh and..umm.." he glances down at Faith. "Hook my friend up here with a back stage pass for the show." He grins at Syl as he loops an arm around Faith's shoulder.
"Alright kiddo, I am all yours. What do you wanna do today?"
Syl was laughing, watching her daughter practically bounce while thinking up things to do. "Remember there are only 24 hours in a day, Faith, so just pick two or three things." She approached with a grin to collect her daughter's motorcycle helmet. "And you have to return your uncle to his family when you're done."
ReplyDeleteShe then gave a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek to her brother. "Hey, bro. Happy birthday. Sorry, I missed it." She chuckled, "I'd give you a souvenir from my hike, but I don't think you want wild mentha and coriander as presents."
At the mention of presents, Faith began bouncing again as she pulled something out of her jacket pocket.
"Uncle Neil! I got you something!" She handed him a bundle neatly wrapped in pale blue tissue paper. The original box had been too beat up to be presentable and it was too late (or too early) to use Christmas wrapping again. She figured something neat and simple was best.
Glowing with excitement, she watched her uncle unfold the paper and pull out a custom tie. Running its length was the image of a string of cut-out paper dolls with a pair of scissors and a splotch of blood at the bottom: the banner image of Neil's band, Яunning With Scissors. Faith hoped he liked it.
"Okay, I gotta go do something about my lethargic bandmate," Syl said as she turned to go. "I hear there's a small rink in one of the shopping malls here, so if you guys are gonna hit the ice, just give my PA a call and he'll bring Faith's hockey equipment over."
Faith beamed at the news that there was an ice rink here. A lot of the recent cities they had travelled through weren't big on hockey, so she had been having a hard time finding places to play. Harder since her mother took her roller blades away. At least then she had the option of finding a pick-up game of ball hockey in a park somewhere.
"So you guys have fun. Oh, and," Syl tried to keep a straight, serious face, but couldn't. Her next statment was just a formality. She knew if it was going to happen, it was going to happen. She could at least hope they would try to not let anything happen. "Don't either of you get the other in trouble, okay? If you get arrested for something, I'm only paying for Faith's bail," she joked as she left.