“I don’t follow.”
“Her daddy, I used to party with him, you know.” Iz lifts his chin to study the sky. Stands there with his joint centimeters from his lips. I watch his face, waiting for him to speak, while the sounds of city nightlife fill my ears. Horns honk, engines rumble, tires squeal, and it all comes together in a muted backdrop. Iz doesn’t speak for several minutes and I wonder if that’s all he’s gonna say. If that’s his story, none of what he said helps me understand Lexi better. The only thing that’s calmed my anger is the shared Mary Jane.
I drop my gaze from the sky and open my mouth to say peace out. Before I do, his deep timbre pulls me back.
“She used to come visit when Richie wasn’t on the road. He had this place right on Mission Beach where we’d all stay. Sometimes for days; sometimes weeks. Drinking, smoking, sex. It was pretty hardcore, man. And Lexi’s mom, she’d come by, bring Lex, and disappear for a few days. Lexi was a good kid. Smart as she is now, but when she started getting curves in all the right places, shit got weird.
“There was this one party. It was fucked up, more than normal. We were all trippin’ on acid. Even Richie. Lex was there one minute and then she wasn’t. Only we didn’t notice her gone ’cause everyone was too messed up. ’Cept for Richie’s bass player, Dan. He never touched the hard stuff. Well, he noticed the girl was missin’. Went lookin’ and found her in the bathroom.”
Iz blinks several times, tokes on the joint, and shakes his head.
It sucks Lexi was around that kinda shit as a kid. I can’t imagine watching my mom party or get wasted. She was always larger than our problems, a super woman who worked hard, doing whatever was needed to take care of me. She’d never have left me with someone like Richie for a weekend.
“Shit, man. When Dan went in that bathroom, he found Lexi being held down on the floor by one of his junkie friends with tears streaming down her face. The dude was assaulting her. She was a little girl, Trent. It was fucked up.” Iz shakes his head and goes back to stargazing.
My stomach fills with acid at the thought of what she’s been through. Even without the play-by-play, anger bubbles and grows with every beat of my heart. That shouldn’t have happened. Her mother shouldn’t have left her. Her dad shouldn’t have been doing shit like that, having people like that around. Being a father is a fucking privilege, not a right, and just like that, every bit of admiration I had for the great Richie Sands evaporates, disgust left to reside in its place.
“What happened next? What did Richie do when he found out?”
“Don’t really know. I was too fucked up and missed the whole damn spectacle. All I know is I never saw Lexi ’round his place again.” The joint is nearly done when he meets my stare. “Want another? You can have the last hit.”
“Nah, man. I’m good. Gonna go find Austin and Sean to have dinner before we roll out. You coming?”
“No, thanks. You young’uns talk too much. I’m gonna sit out here ’til it’s time to bounce.”
“Thanks for telling me about Lexi. And for the weed.”
“Anytime, bro. Anytime.”
