Foolin'

Part 12

"Both. I've been listening to them a lot since their new record comes out the day after my birthday on the 19th next month, which is going to be my birthday present to myself, and my exceptionally good mood is because I am going to get exceptionally drunk tonight."

Eddie laughed. "You ever see them live? I saw them three times in January. I was surprised at how good they were."

"The Last in Line Tour right? Do you think I would miss two of my favorite bands touring together? Ha! Not a chance. I went to every California show I could. Luckily at that point I had behaved myself enough to even go."

"Kat Ramsay, a wild child? Never would have guessed." He commented sarcastically.

"You don't even know the half of it. I flunked out of my second semester of junior year because all I did was 'work' shows and party after. That was... spring of '84. So then I had to repeat my junior year. It was not pretty when my dad found out. The best part was he was barely upset that I was constantly partying – you name it, I did it. He was upset, because I made him look bad. So when I finished my second round of junior year and he found out my mom was going to work at the London office of her modeling agency, leaving him solely responsible for me, I got shipped out here to live with my aunt. And I never even see her, because she works nights at the hospital and has been picking up so many extra shifts lately and I don't even know why." Kat paused and glanced over to see Eddie's reaction. She had had just enough weed to make her chatty. "So, uh, that's my damage."

"Sounds like your old man is a piece of shit."

"Least I got this car, brand new, as a going away present."

"Least he's good for something. All my old man did was continue giving the Munson name a glorious reputation for committing felonies. I was probably in middle school when they locked him up for a long while. Started Corroded Coffin right after that. My Uncle Wayne took me in though. He works nights at the plant, so I don't see him much. I get you there. My mom left when I was really young. Don't know if it was because of shit from my old man, she had me too young, or a mix of the two. Either way, she walked out and never came back. I swore to myself though I'll never end up like my dear old dad."

"Says the school drug dealer..." Kat teased, but then worried she was being insensitive. "I'm sorry, too soon? I don't mean it–" Eddie cut her off with a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah I know. A man's gotta make an honest living though. Really, I just took over for Reefer Rick when they locked him too. I was the only one he trusted. He wasn't a bad guy, just got mixed up with the wrong people. I kind of had a time like you did, only it was summer of '84. Got mixed up a little bit with some not so good people, but my Uncle Wayne helped me sort it out. Had to repeat my senior year again because of it. Guess we're kind of in the same boat with that one. Now if I can focus enough to pass this year, I'll be golden."

"Is that why you look out for Dustin so much?" That made Eddie smile to himself.

"Mostly. Between his dad walking out on him, and how I never had anyone close to decent guiding me when I was his age... When I saw him on the first day of school, I just felt someone needed to look out for him or they would eat him alive. Don't get me wrong, I look out for Wheeler too."

"No, I get it. I really like Dustin, he's such a good kid. He's really the only reason I stayed for the campaign. You just cannot say no to that face!"

"Ugh!" Eddie said feigning being insulted. "You mean you didn't stay to see all my efforts?"

"Nope! Stayed because Dustin asked and there were Three Musketeers." Kat gave Eddie a huge smile. "Flattery works with you, but obviously bribery works with me." She laughed at her joke at her own expense. He also couldn't help but laugh at it too.

Kat then dug around for her tapes looking for something more appropriate for the holiday. She fished out Siouxsie and the Banshees album "Juju" and went to put it in the cassette player once it released the Dokken tape. As she went to grab it, her ring fell off her thumb into the cup holder. "Dammit, I was afraid of that. Better it happened here I guess." She said as she retrieved it and handed the ring over to Eddie. "Hey see if this fits, I'm gonna lose it if I don't put it somewhere safe."

He held out his right hand to her, "Here, you do it." She was a bit smaller than he was so she tried it on his pinky first. He shook his hand to test it and it was a little too loose. "Nope, not that one." She took the ring off and put it on his ring finger. Repeating the test again, it stayed put. "I shall guard it with my life." He said dramatically as he put his hand over his heart. Kat laughed at his theatrics, admiring the ring on him.

"You should keep it since it clearly doesn't fit me. It looks good on you. It's snowflake obsidian too, which is supposed to bring balance and help with focus. Maybe it'll help you focus at school so you don't have to repeat your senior year yet again." Kat said with a shit eating grin this time.

"You slay me, Ramsay." He glanced at her sideways while she just kept smiling.

"What! I'm only trying to help!" She snickering innocently. "No, but seriously, like, it suits you. Keep it."

"And so I shall cherish it with my life." He said as he parked the car. "Hey, you know, since this fits oh so perfectly on my ring finger, we're gonna have to get married at some point, right? Is this your sly way of proposing to me?"

Kat's eyes widened as she slowly turned her head to stare at him. "Excuse me, what?"

Eddie chuckled. "You heard me."

"Absolutely not. Never. Not in this lifetime. No way!" Kat shook her head back and forth in fast disapproval at the notion, even if on the inside the butterflies in her stomach were doing summersaults.

He cut the engine and leaned closely over to her, whispering, "Something tells me that is a complete lie." He jolted back to his seat and seamlessly opened the door, getting out of the car. Kat just looked straight ahead for a moment, mouth slightly agape. She blinked a couple times before getting out of the car herself. She could not get to the alcohol fast enough.