The Boy from the Band

Home at Last

I looked at the stranger standing in front of me, hesitated for a moment, then hold out my hand, "I'm Dacy," I said, "I guess I'm your new neighbor."

"I've been waiting for you," Kat replied, "Your boyfriend said you'd be arriving any day now." How had Rick known that? Maybe he called Gina.

"Well, I took my time getting here, but here I am at last. Are you sure about wanting to help, I just have to unload my car?"

"I've moved one than once, you can always use help. Just tell me what you want me to take and where to put it, we'll have this done before you know it."

To be honest, I was glad for her help. I had almost decided to leave unpacking until the next day. I had boxes of everything that could fit in my car and garment bags full of clothes. Getting them inside was only half the battle, I always unpacked more slowly than I packed. Between the two of us we got the boxes put away, and hung my garment bags in the armoire. After we finished, we collapsed on the loveseat and heaved sighs in unison.

"I need a drink," she groaned.

"Me too, I answered, "But I can fix that, Rick left me a couple of bottles of Pinot Grigio. I think I can find some glasses. I have something else, too." I went into my bedroom and pulled one of the pre-rolled joints that I'd brought along for the journey out of my purse. I didn't know if she smoked, but If she'd gotten a glimpse of Rick, she might guess that I did.

"Here," I held up the number, "I don't know if you smoke weed or not, but I could really use this."

"Well, I usually don't but it sounds good. Tell you what, I have a crab casserole in the oven and green salad we could have for dinner."

"That sounds great, I'll supply the wine and the appetizer in exchange for dinner. It's the least I could do in exchange for your help, and the food."

She had a way with crab that a gourmet chef would envy. It was my first introduction to lump crab and although I prefer king or Dungeness it was good. We killed half of the wine and all of the joint, then sat on her sofa and talked, getting to know each other.

I asked her where I could get my phone and cable hookup. I told her I left my old tv behind and she knew of an appliance store where I could pick out a new one. I felt embarrassed that I was imposing on her, but she assured me she was glad to help. She'd taken some vacation days and didn't really have anything to do.

She began to ask me questions about Rick and I wondered how much to say. She'd grown up in Woodstock and was familiar with the Band, but I didn't know how much of his personal life she knew about. I know he liked to play in the local bars, more for fun than the money, and that Elizabeth accompanied him at times. I wondered if she'd seen the two of them at a gig.

I think that Rick had left Kat with the impression that he and I were together, leaving me to wonder just how much she knew. She'd told me she was married, what would she think if she knew about Elizabeth?

She took a sip of wine, "How did you meet this guy?" she asked me.

"Well, I met him at Shangri La Studios when I was twenty-three. It was lust at first sight and I didn't expect to see him again or for us to be together seven years later. He broke up with me before he moved back here, but about six months later he came back and asked me to move to New York. My answer to that was no, but I was attacked about 3 blocks from my apartment one night and beat up pretty badly. He came to see me and was shocked, then insisted that I move." I smiled ruefully, "I love California, but after the attack, I didn't feel safe. So, here I am."

"He's really fond of you, you know," said Kat, "He was worried when you hadn't shown up yet. But after seven years why aren't you at least living together?"