Blow My House Down

Chapter 3

As I was leaving the motel that afternoon, the boy at the desk stopped me. "Excuse me, Miss. Are you Kat Lennox?" he asked, looking down at a letter in his hand.

I nodded and walked over to the desk. "That's me."

"You got a letter." he said simply, handing the letter to me.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and flipped over the letter to find my old address written in large print. My parents. I nodded to the boy in thanks and exited the building. While walking down the sidewalk, I opened the letter, reading it as I walked. On the piece of paper was both my parents' individual handwriting. I smiled unconsciously.

Hey, baby girl! How did your audition go? Did you make it? If you didn't, you're grounded. I'm kidding. I'm very proud of you either way. Your mother likes our alone time. Maybe we should just keep you out of the house... Nah, I'm joking. We love you very much. And we're so proud of you.

- Dad

Hello, dear. How have you been? Have you been getting enough exercise? Are you spending your money wisely? How did your audition go? I hope it went well.  I hope you're doing well. I love you.

- Mom

I grinned down at the letter, then stuffed it in my handbag. My dad was a total goofball, while my mother was your typical protective parent. Opposites attract, I suppose. They balance each other out.

Since I was busy reminiscing, I rammed right into someone, sending my bag and all of its contents to the ground. "Shit.." I mumbled, kneeling down to pick up everything. I grabbed my notebook and pen, hairbrush, red lipstick, capo for my guitar, and the letter my parents sent me. However I was missing one thing.. or some things. Suddenly, the thing I was missing popped in front of me. I slowly looked up to see Micky holding my pads out and smirking.

I frowned and blushed, snatching them out of his hand, shoving them in my bag. "Uh.. hi." I said, looking at him awkwardly.

"Now who's in the awkward situation?" he asked, still smirking.

I chuckled slightly and nodded. "I heard you got the series." I said, clipping the bag up, a bit more securely this time.

His eyes brightened and he exclaimed, "Yeah! I was so excited. This is gonna be fun!

I laughed at this and said, "I'm an extra on the show for now."

"Really?" he yelled. I flinched. Boy, is he loud. He grasped both my hands and started jumping up and down. "We're gonna be on TV! We're gonna be on TV!"

I raised my eyebrows, but jumped with Micky just to humor him. We started getting weird stares from people walking by us. This got me laughing and I started to jump for the fun of it. I think Micky noticed it too because he started shouting 'We're gonna be on TV' even louder than before.

"Wow, Micky. That was quite an exercise." I chuckled, trying to keep myself steady so I wouldn't fall.

He laughed and said, "I know, but I'm just so excited! It's nice to know that I at least know someone on the show."

I nodded and said, "Isn't that the truth. Listen, I really need to get going. I need to get some food or something. And a new pen now. You broke my only one when you rammed into me."

He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that...."

I shrugged and said, "It's okay. I'll see you around. Bye.."

"Bye.." he waved as I walked past him. "Actually, Kat?"

I turned around and looked at him expectantly. He shifted nervously and said, "Well, I mean, I don't want you to eat alone and I haven't had anything to eat today and I was wondering if I could come along? I'll pay."

I pretended to think, laughing inwardly at him being so nervous and jumpy for someone who is so energetic and easily excited. After a few moments of contemplating, I looked over at him and smiled. "Sure. But only if you pay."

He nodded quickly and let out a small sigh of relief which he thought I wouldn't notice. I started walking again and he ran to my side and said, "So why did you come out to Los Angeles? Where are you even from? How do you like this place so far? What -"

"Micky, one question at a time!" I laughed, putting a finger to his lips to shut him up. "I saw that little ad in the paper one morning and I thought maybe I could get a job, even if it was only as an extra or session musician. I actually don't know why we're paid extras, but it doesn't matter as long as I'm getting paid. Uh, I'm from River City, which is a small town located in Northern California."

"How small of a town?" he asked.

"Small enough that everyone knows what you ate for dinner the night before because mothers would gossip at our one grocery store." I answered, and he laughed. "Yeah, it was kind of odd when people would come up to me and talk about what I had eaten the night before and how many calories it had."

"So how do you like this place so far? Or is it not even worth talking about?" Micky pestered.

I shrugged and replied, "It's okay - so far. When I was auditioning I didn't really like one of those guys, so we'll see how that goes."

"Oh, Bob Rafelson? Yeah, he's got something shoved up his ass." Micky shook his head, then smirked. "But I'm obviously the best part of it, right?"

I snorted. "Only in your dreams, babe."

"Babe." he repeated, then nodded to himself. "That's a start."

I rolled my eyes as we approached a restaurant. It was tiny with huge signs that said "THE BEST LOS ANGELES BURGERS YOU'VE EVER TASTED" - it really caught attention. "Well, I hope their burgers are really as good as they say or we're in a lot of trouble." I stated, and he opened the door for me. A bell rang above me as we stepped inside.

"Yeah, I hope so too considering I'd just be paying for trash which I can find down the road for free." Micky said, wrinkling his nose at the interior. "Who in the world decided to paint this place such an ugly color?"

"I did." stated a powerful, feminine voice next to Micky. We slowly turned our heads to find a short old woman with olive skin covered in grease and electric white hair pulled back into a bun. She pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow in distaste at Micky. I couldn't help but chuckle. "I own this place and I won't have all my hard work being picked apart and belittled by some long-haired college fool with bad posture."

I giggled and her hazel eyes flashed over me, so I masked it as a harsh cough into my sleeve. Her eyes narrowed, then made their way back to Micky. He then began his nervous babbling. "What, picked apart? My dear lady, I only said who in the world would paint this place such a lovely color? This is how I would decorate my apartment - flash and pizzazz. It shows honesty."

She crossed her skinny arms and rolled her eyes. "Get out of my restaurant, boy, and take your lady with you. I don't ever want you showing your face around here again, got it?" Micky nodded quickly. "Good - now get!"

The old woman practically shoved us out of her greasy restaurant with a frustrated huff, slamming the door so hard behind us, I thought the glass would shatter from the force. I turned to look at Micky and burst into unrestrained, loud laughter. His face turned dark red under my giggling scrutiny and he refused to make eye contact with me. "Well, I know where we're not going." he chuckled weakly.

My laughter died down enough for me to respond. "But you're still paying, Dolenz. Especially after that."

We started walking again and he threw his arm around my shoulder dramatically and stated, "You know what, Kat? I was right. It was an ugly color. And since I had to witness something so terrible, I think you should pay."

I shot him a look. "You're broke, aren't you?"

"Yes."