On the Road Again

Meet the Band

“Wait, wait. Okay, I wanna’ see if I can match you all up. I already know you two are married so that eliminates you.” David, the co-pilot, had come back into the coach to discuss some particulars with us and simply chat and get to know us all a bit. We had stopped for fuel about a half-hour ago which was when he had decided to come join us. The time was now 11:24. We all had fallen asleep quickly and were all feeling much more rested by now. Mary’s voice had mostly returned to normal

 “I think you, and you go together.” David pointed at Chrissie and Freddie. “You and you definitely go together.” He pointed at Roger and myself. “An’ you with you.” He said putting Brian with Mary.

 “Hey babe.” Mary blew Brian a kiss and winked at him. Brian turned pink as he so often did in these situations. Freddie laughed at David’s selections.

 “You got half of us right. Mary is with me! And Chrissie is with Brian!” Freddie got up from the booth in the back of the bus to pull the tea off the stove. At the last stop, Mary had boiled the water in hopes it would be ready before we took off again.

 “What made you so sure that these two go together? How do you know I don’t keep this one on the side?” John asked pointing to Roger. I was up helping Freddie find the teacups. David smiled.

 “It’s very obvious. Look at her and then look at Roger here! So, please tell me a little about you. How the hell did you all meet? How long have you known each other? As you know, I’m David and I’ve been workin’ road crew for about four years just here and there; various events really.”

 “Oh! I wanna’ start! I wanna’ start! I’m Freddie, this is Mary and we live together in Kensington. Um…let’s see. I’ve known these three for what feels like forever.” Freddie pointed to Brian, Roger and John. “Mary and I met in the Kensington market about a year and a half ago. Oh! And we have a cat! Okay, sweets, you go.” Freddie kissed her cheek.

 “Well, there’s not much left to tell, really. I work in Kensington market where we met. Um…ooh my, I’m so very excited about this! I have no idea where to start. But, it’s very nice of you to come meet us, David. Oh! We party hard. You should know that about us. It’s very important.” Mary shook her head and Freddie agreed with her.

 “Yes, yes…listen to my Mary!” Freddie said, pulling her over beside him. “Oh! Oh! And we love Scrabble! We dearly love Scrabble!” Freddie added. The agreement from Brian, John and Roger was unanimous and enthusiastic. David found this to be very amusing.

 “Alright, very well. What about you two?” David directed his attention toward Brian and Chrissie.

 “You go.” Brian nudged Chrissie on the shoulder. She blushed a little.

 “Let’s see. I’m Chrissie. Chrissie Mullen. I brought a few books with me to read on this road trip and I’ve recently become a vegetarian like, Brian. I very much like it!” She looked over to Brian and put her arm around him. She couldn’t wipe that smile off her face.  “I met Brian through Lydia over here. It was one of the greatest moments of my life! I work at a grocery store and…well, I won’t lie. Brian is just my whole world!” Chrissie was so giddy when she said it. Veronica and I looked to her with the most endearing of looks on out faces as Brian kissed her.

 “Chrissie is the sweetest of the sweethearts! There’s the seven of us and then one angel…and it’s her!” Freddie gushed over Chrissie and of course, she turned blood red.

 “I beg to differ! Don’t let him sway you! She may have that precious look on her face but my god! Don’t you go trustin’ her and all that so-called innocence!” Veronica assured David. This naturally sent Chrissie into a torrent of laughter. Freddie stood up once more, steadying himself in the moving coach to pass out cups of tea.