"I want to take lots of pictures, the big lake near Palm Springs is the Salton Sea and that's disgusting", said Nika.
John nodded as he took their suitcases to the living room to wait for Anthony to pick them up. "I heard about it, I saw on a news show. It's totally polluted from fertilizer runoff and it killed all the fish, it's toxic. Lake Tahoe is much nicer than that", he said.
"Grandmere says you should sit on a suitcase for good luck before a trip, her father said that", said Nika.
John smiled indulgently at his daughter as they sat on their suitcase. "I'm skinny, I won't break it. I guess it's to think about your trip, a sort of meditation", he mused aloud.
There was a car door opening outside and then a knock on the door. Hey, Fru and Nika. You guys ready?", said Anthony.
John nodded as he grabbed the suitcase and placed it in the trunk of Anthony's dark blue Camaro. "Ohh, aren't you pretty?", cooed a beautiful blond lady in the passenger's seat, smiling kindly at Nika.
"Nika, this is my girlfriend Yolanda. Yo, this is John's daughter Nika", said Anthony.
Nika blushed as she dropped into a curtsy. "I am glad to meet you, Miss Yolanda", she said solemnly.
"How cute, I haven't seen that since my ballet class when I was a kid", said Yolanda in surprise, taking off her sunglasses to clean a spot with a wipe.
Nika was still blushing when she got in the backseat with John. She studied Yolanda and thought the blond lady was the prettiest woman she had ever seen. The older woman was tall as Anthony and willow slim with blond hair cut in a chic bob that just grazed her chin and vivid blue eyes, her simple white dress clinging to her slender figure. "We used to go to Yosemite back in the day, I went all the time with Flea and Hillel in high school. Tahoe is close to Yosemite, maybe we can go there for the day", said Anthony.
"Maybe, I don't want Nika to get exhausted", said John.
"I've only been to Palm Springs and England and Japan to see Mom's family, I'm not familiar with the rest of California", said Nika.
"Wow, so your family just flew to England from California? Did you stop anywhere?", asked Anthony.
"We just changed planes in New York, then drove up to Yorkshire once we landed in England to Great Uncle Ian's home. He has a big manor house named Roseblanche", she replied.
"Cool, is he a knight or something?", teased Anthony.
"Actually, he is. He's Sir Ian Sutherland. He's written a lot of books on Hellenistic Greece and bestselling novels about Alexander the Great", she replied
"Awesome, I'll have to ask Brendan if he knows him. Brendan is our British friend, he booked us to play Club Lingerie to open up for Bad Brains. He's northern English too, from Manchester", said Anthony.
"Pepere is from Manchester, him and Great Uncle Jack are from Didsbury. I must meet him, there's not many people from northern England in the US", said Nika.
Unlike the drive to Big Sur, the trip to Lake Tahoe took them northeast through inland California. As they drove further inland, they passed the massive, fertile farms of the Imperial Valley, all lush and green with ripening fruit orchards and vegetables under an azure blue sky. The fields then gave way to forests and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the dark green of the pine forests and the snow-capped peaks under a painfully blue sky.
"I didn't know there were mountains like this in California", said Nika.
"Wow, you really haven't seen anything in California", Anthony exclaimed.
"Yeah, the skiing in the Sierras is great. I can't ski anymore because of my modeling contract, in case I break my leg", said Yolanda.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Is modeling boring, though? I don't like taking pictures", said Nika.
"It depends, sometimes when the photographer is really demanding and keeps telling me and the other girls to pose this way or that. Or when we have our hair and makeup done and we have to wait for the crew to finish setting up. That's boring", said Yolanda.
Nika nodded in understanding. She understood why that would be boring and was glad she wasn't pretty enough to be a model. She was pleasantly surprised that Yolanda was very nice, not the stuck up idiot she'd been expecting. The lodge was located on the shores of Lake Tahoe and Nika tried to get a better view. "Our room has a balcony with views of the lake", said John.
An idea came to him as he bent down with his arms open. "I hope my back won't hurt", he said ruefully.
Nika moved closer and was startled when John scooped her up into his arms and lifted her up onto his shoulder. She let out a frightened squeak and frantically tried to get down. John set her down and the terrified look on her face horrified him. her dark blue eyes huge in her pale face. "Sorry, Dad. But Mom made me hug the old man who hosted the show, he kept touching my butt", she whispered.
John's jaw clenched and his vision blurred as a jolt of white-hot anger went through him. Anthony and Yolanda looked askance at the normally mild-mannered guitarist. "I know some people in Palm Springs, they can get him fired", said Anthony.
"The bastard touched my daughter. I will kill that motherfucker", said John quietly, but his hazel eyes turned green with anger.
Nika clung to Anthony in terror. John frowned and was horrified at the idea of his daughter being scared of him. He let the anger dissipate and gave her a kind smile. "I got angry at the idea of anyone hurting you, Nika. But I don't want anyone hurting my daughter, understand? I'm sorry if I scared you, Nika", he whispered.
"Mom was like that when she got mad, she'd be quiet and eyes turned black but she didn't yell", said Nika.
"Wow. I'll try not to get angry at you, Nika", he said.
Nika was quiet as they went to check in. She couldn't help being frightened when John picked her up, the instinct was so strong. Now she felt awful since she realized John wanted her to get a better view of the lake, but the instinct was so strong. She looked over and saw Anthony and Yolanda holding hands and wondered if she would ever feel comfortable holding hands with a guy.
She immediately felt better when John opened the door of the room and she could see the brilliant blue of the lake from the balcony window. "I knew you would like this, Anthony helped me pick out the hotel", he said.
"That lake is huge, Dad. Is there a trail by the lake?", she asked.
"Yeah, or there's cruises or you can rent a boat to go fishing. We can go out on the lake tomorrow", he said.
"Okay. Dad, you have ever hugged girls before?", she asked.
John raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah. Girlfriends, back when I used to date. I didn't mean to frighten you, but I just wanted to pick you up so you could get a better look", said John.
Nika vowed to herself that next time she would let John hug her as she unpacked her things. "Are Anthony and Yolanda in the same room?", she asked.
"Yeah, they do live together after all. I hope they behave themselves, they fight a lot", said John with a frown.
"Really? Miss Yolanda is so nice and pretty", said Nika in surprise.
John sighed and gave his daughter a rueful smile. "She is smart enough not to argue with Anthony in front of kids. Sometimes adults hide things from children", he said.
Nika stretched as John unpacked his bag and how the sunlight from the window shone on his curly dark brown hair, bringing out the auburn highlights in the loose curls. She twisted one of her own curls around her finger and saw it was the same color and even had the same highlights. Nika hoped he never cut his hair again since he looked so good with his long hair, his hair nicer than many women's.
Nika finished unpacking and turned on the TV and flipped through the channels until she came to VH1 which showed a rerun of the Ed Sullivan show. The stoic old man introduced the Supremes and she was riveted as the glamorous trio performed You Keep Me Hanging On.
John heard the music and tapped his foot along to the beat. He turned around and was surprised and delighted to see her dancing, just lost in the music. Her skirt twirled around her legs and her curls bounced around her flushed face, blue eyes sparkling.
John was still as he watched her dance, just thrilled at the sight of his daughter dancing without thinking. He loved watching her dance and have fun with her mind switched off, just going with the flow. The song ended and Nika's face was flushed and her blue eyes sparkled as she tried to catch her breath. "Ohh! Did I look silly?", she asked anxiously.
"No, you were having fun. I like it when you have fun and don't overthink. I feel the same way when I'm onstage playing music", said John.
"Really? What is that like?", she asked.
John sighed and gave her a wistful smile. "It's like an out of body experience, I'm physically on Earth playing guitar but mentally I'm on other astral plane. It's the best feeling the world", he said with a happy little smile.