Old Familiar Song

Chapter 3-3

Larry wasn’t one to coddle his daughter. He knew Jen would’ve knocked on Crystal’s door and demanded they talk things out, but that was her way, not his. When Crys was ready to forgive him, she’d let him know. Until then, he would use the unexpected alone time to do a little research online.

He had a battered desktop computer that still ran Windows Vista. Everyone told him he should ditch it in favor of a newer, sleeker model, but it still worked fine for his needs, which weren’t many. E-mail, or a hard-to-find book order on Abebooks, or the occasional visit to Wikipedia…he didn’t do sss, or social media, or anything like that. Unlike Crystal, he still lived life unconnected from the internet. She hated his computer, complained it was too slow to load any of the pages she liked to visit, and took too long to boot up, and it didn’t even have wi-fi, for goodness’ sake. But he saw that as a plus, because it kept her from hogging up his computer whenever she visited. She was probably in her bedroom right now, posting and tweeting about how horrible a father he was.

This was going to be a long weekend.

The fact was his computer did take a while to boot up, so he turned it on and went back into the kitchen to refill his glass. Only tea this time, no booze. The computer was set up on a desk in the corner of the living room, and as he passed through, he clicked on the television for some background noise. Maybe it would draw Crystal out of her room, if only to see what was on. He flipped around the channels until he found something that looked promising—Jurassic Park on a cable network; he knew she loved that movie. At least, she used to. She was probably too old for it now. Still, he turned it up and hoped she might hear the familiar dialogue and venture back out to join him for the evening.

When he returned to the computer, he opened a browser window and brought up the Google homepage. As he stared at the search bar, he wondered how Geoff spelled his name now. Geo with an E or an I? The I would look Italian, which he certainly wasn’t, not with his dark hair and gray eyes. Besides, what Larry really wanted to know was if the Geo he’d heard on the radio was the same guy he’d known in college.

Of course it is, dumbass, he told himself. No one else sings like that. No one. Period.

True. Larry would recognize Geoff’s melodic voice anywhere, and that little thing he did in the back of his throat that always drove the ladies mad? The sound he used to make in Larry’s ear whenever he came? That was something Larry would never, ever forget, and he’d heard it in the song. It was the same guy. It had to be.

So in the search bar, he typed Geoffrey Mason and hit the Enter key. The results loaded on the next page, and Larry caught his breath as he saw the thumbnail images at the top of the screen.

Oh yeah. Pop star Geo was definitely Geoff, Larry’s former lover.

How had Larry not heard of him hitting it big before? But that was an easy one—he didn’t listen to contemporary music, didn’t pay attention to Hollywood news, couldn’t even name one of Crystal’s current celebrity crushes. And the last time he’d seen Geoff hadn’t exactly been under the best of circumstances. In fact…

His cell phone rang and Larry started, almost as if he’d been caught doing something bad. Quickly he grabbed it out of its holster on his belt. He didn’t even look at the screen when he answered.

He should have, though. Before he could manage to say hello, his ex-wife snapped in his ear, “Did you seriously ask her about her period?”

“What?” Larry closed his eyes and groaned. Maybe he should’ve followed Crystal to apologize, after all; then she might not have called her mother. “Jen, look, I didn’t—I wasn’t thinking, okay? Her bag was open and I saw the…the…you know…I didn’t know she was old enough already. She’s only twelve.”

Jen snorted derisively. “I got mine in the fifth grade. And let me tell you something, mister. If there’s one thing a girl does not want to talk to her father about, it’s her period. Especially not in the goddamn driveway where the neighbors can listen in.”

“No one heard us, Jesus,” Larry muttered. “Look, I’m sorry, okay?”

“Don’t tell me. Tell her.” With that, Jen hung up.

Larry set the phone on the desk and stared at the computer screen. What he needed was a web page that told men in their thirties how to deal with their teenage daughters. Pre-teen, he corrected himself, scrolling through the search results on his former friend. This is only the beginning.

He needed a way to apologize, something that said he didn’t mean to be the jerk he was sure she thought he was, but anything he said would most likely come off sounding insincere. This was his first time dealing with these sort of issues; couldn’t she appreciate that?

She’s twelve, so no.

Then he saw a link that made his heart stutter. Buy Tickets for Geo at the Richmond Coliseum NOW!

It was a Friday night show, a month away, on a weekend he’d have Crystal. His blood raced, his palms were damp, his breath came a little too quickly. He felt like a teenager himself, all shaken up at the prospect of a pop concert, but God, it would be so nice to see Geoff again. Even if they had left things badly, they’d been good together once upon a time.

What better way to tell Crys he was sorry than tickets to the hottest show around? If we can get them.

Quickly he headed down the short hall to the shut door of her bedroom. He raised a hand to knock. “Honey? Can I come in a minute?”

From inside, he heard her mutter, “Go away.”

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” Larry told her, leaning close so she’d hear him through the door.

“I said go away!”

He sighed loudly. “Fine. I guess I’ll find someone else to go with me to the Geo concert next month. Tickets are on sale now, but I need some help buying them online—”

The door opened so suddenly, he almost fell into the room. “Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!” Crystal shrieked, jumping up and down in front of him. Before he could say anything, she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed as hard as she could. “Oh Daddy, thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re the best!”

Her enthusiasm almost made him feel bad—he probably wanted to go to the show more than she did. He just didn’t want to go alone so no one would think it strange a man his age was there alone.