“Uhm… I don’t remember when exactly, just that it was before I knew Lucky and Pete were together. He called while I was already in a mood so when he asked me to dinner it didn’t stay the focus because I was annoyed.”
With my own annoyed grunt, I set my beer down and cross my arms against my chest. “Some fucking nerve on that guy. He didn’t even like you the first time you met and he’s been a dickhead to you off and on since.”
“Yeah, and I figured it was enough when I told him I was in a serious relationship.”
“Guess not.” I don’t know why it’s getting to me so much. Leo is beautiful and she’s always gotten a lot of attention because of it but I guess being in a relationship with her changes things for me. Which is really ass backwards because Leonor is mine, and she’s Pete and Lucky’s too, so that should make me less stabby toward outside interest.
It doesn’t, but in theory it should.
And it’s that feeling that has me trying to be a little more grown up about this entire thing. “Maybe he was trying to change your mind. You know, show you he’s not some asshole who only wants one thing from you. He could even be trying tohelp you out with your next job since you don’t really have shit lined up after the restorations are done.”
“Who the fuck’s side are you on?” Leo snaps, and I hold up my hands in surrender.
“Yours. Always yours, sweets. But let’s face it, Leonor, unless you’re going to start playing with us again you have to start planning for the future a little. I know how much this place costs, how much you spend on your meds. The money from the band will definitely last a long while but not forever.” We’re fucking amazing but even that won’t keep us all comfortable for a lifetime with only two albums out.
Which our girl knows despite glaring at me hard enough to set my hair on fire.
“Fuck you, Norman. I may be a lot of things but stupid with money isn’t one of them. I don’t need to work.” She starts pacing again then starts aggressively taking her socks off. “This place is paid off, I have a few million in four separate bank accounts that require a thumbprint to access. I don’t use any form of check or plastic, and I have close to another five hundred thousand hidden all over this place. If I stay smart I won’t ever need to fucking work.”
I’m pretty sure my eyebrows just flew off my face. They went so high, so fast over that little nugget she shared that any other outcome isn’t possible.
We made a lot of fucking money when we signed to Vintage; the tours, the merch, two platinum albums. I mean, it was definitely a lot of money but it was also put into the hands of five early twenty-somethings, and we went a little nuts in the beginning.
Drugs and booze, more instruments, cars and clothes, you name it, we bought it. We also made sure to take care of those who supported us, the people who were in our corner from the beginning.
I bought a new house for my parents. Mark paid off the mortgage on Nanny’s house then paid for her to go into the most expensive nursing facility in Louisiana. Pete funded both of his sister’s college educations and got them new cars. Lucky was probably the smartest with his cash, even back then, but he did pay for a traditional NOLA funeral for his dad complete with band and parade. Plus he dumped a ton into making sure his pop had one of the nicest tombs in St. Louis No. Three. And I know for a fact Leonor went full throttle for Justine and Pierre; new cars, house, paid off loans, everything she could think of just so they were taken care of.
Even though we still get checks from Vintage Records, and money from streaming, album and merch sales, none of us are set like Leo apparently is. I mean, we’re set for a long time, we all grew up after a few years and started making smart plays with our finances. I even have someone who manages a stock portfolio for me and shit but I’m not quite on her level. I’m shocked that Leo not only hasn’t depleted what I know was in her bank account three years ago—we all knew what Leo had because she was awful about passwords so she gave us access—but she’s managed to almost double it somehow.
I frown at her while she paces and talks, the woman I’m completely gone for ranting about Collinsworth when things slowly start to click into place.
Four bank accounts, four of us. About a half million dollars left in the loft to be found by whoever had to clean it out when she… if something happened to Leo, which would have been Justine and Pierre. Even when we got here, practically every earthly possession she owned was either shrouded in a dust cloth or meticulously packed away and in storage at Justine’s house, and there was a complete inventory outlined in one of her journals with initials next to each item.
Our initials, evenJPDfor Justine and Pierre Doquin. I didn’t think anything of those letters at the time but now it all makes perfect sense.
Leo not only planned to end things permanently, she had every detail of what would be left behind mapped out for the rest of us, too.
I look at her and can’t decide if I should be moved by that, or fucking pissed that she literally had an escape plan. One she nearly executed at least twice.
“What?” Leo stops mid step and meets my eyes. “You don’t go down a rabbit hole like I did and not have a plan.” Then she shrugs like this is no big deal. “Perks of a paranoid psychosis with a splash of suicidal tendency. I only started working again to appease Justine, I would have been happy to sit here and rot.”
Today is justfullof revelations.
It’s probably for the best that I’m the one sitting here having them because Lucky or Pete would be way angrier than I am, and since Mark has been losing his shit lately, I doubt this situation would have played out any differently for him. While I’m definitely pissed that our girl had zero intention of living past a certain point, I relate to it, and if anything it just hurts me. For both of us.
“You weren’t ever going to come back to the band, were you?”
“No,” Leo says with a sigh, those cobalt blues connecting with my blank stare. “I didn’t plan on it, not really, but obviously things changed.”
Despite how fucked up it is, especially after realizing my fucking girlfriend who I’m ridiculously in love with had planned to kill herself for years and leave all of her shit to the only family she had, that last comment makes my heart swell a bit. Leo’s plans did change, and she’s gradually been talking more and more about the band in a present and future tense. She’s been talking about our future like we finally have one.
Still stings, though.
“Norm?” Leo searches my face before giving me a soft smile. “Oh, my sweet boy.”
I huff as she walks over, lowering my eyes briefly before I feel her fingers on my cheeks. “It’s hard to hear, that’s all.”
She turns me toward her, still sporting that smile as she steps between my knees. “I know, but I’m just being honest with you. I had a lot of plans that changed since the four of you came back to me.”
