Bittersweet

Bam made everyone go home the next day. The demo was over for them, but they had intended to stay another night, to catch up with Birdman and some of their other skater friends.

“Are you leaving all ready?” Tony blinked when he met his friend in the lobby, seeing him already weighed down with his bag.

“Yeah,”

“Oh,” Birdman smirked. “When do I get to meet her?”

“Meet who?”

“The girl you’re going home to.”

“Girl? What are you talking about? What girl?” Bam pretended to be oblivious. Tony rolled his eyes and wandered off. He spotted April in the elevator and ran to catch up.

“Tell me about her,” he demanded. April smiled.

“Her name is Lenny. She was our neighbor girl. She and Bam sort of fell in love. She ended up moving in with us when her mother moved back to their home town.”

“How old is she?”

“Nineteen. Almost twenty. A little young, but they’ve worked past it.” April was soon chatting with him, telling him how funny and sweet the girl was, how good she was for Bam.

**

Lenny had made her way up the stairs once the lights came back on. Her ankle was swollen and aching, and so she’d swallowed a couple of Motrin before crawling onto the couch with the remote and an afghan. She was just thinking about getting some ice when the door opened.

“Lenny! What the hell?” he stared at her propped up foot. “I thought you said you sprained it.”

“I did.” She said weakly. April noticed how pale she was and tsked. She went and fetched a bag of ice and then fussed about the girl’s ankle, setting the bag down. Bam lifted her head and settled it down in his lap.

“That’s the last time you’re ever scared of the dark, huh?” he teased.

Lenny just groaned and covered her eyes.

***

“Tony!” Ape threw open the door the next day to see the tall skater. He smiled sheepishly.

“Hi, April. I have a layover here for a day on my way to Europe. Do you think I could hang out?”

“Sure, sure, come on in.” April ushered him in. Lenny came hobbling in on her crutches. They’d gotten the swelling down, but she still couldn’t put weight on the appendage. She smiled curiously at the lanky man as she went to get herself some juice.

“Oh, here, do you need help with that?” Tony rushed forward and took the glass from her. She smiled shyly as he took the grape juice. He looked at her thoughtfully.
“Were you gonna sit in here and drink it?”

“Sure,” she sat in a chair. Tony delivered her the drink. Bam wandered in and took in the scene. He froze a little.

“Tony, I didn’t think you were coming.”

“I have a layover. I’m just staying tonight. April said it would be okay.” He sat down across from Lenny.

“Oh,”

“So this is your little lady.” Tony smiled at Lenny. She blushed and stared down into her juice.

“Nngh,” Bam didn’t give a response in English.

“She’s really cute. I can see why you ran home to get be here with her.” Tony grinned. “She’s just too adorable! So little and bubbly.”

“I am not!” Lenny stuck her tongue out.

“How old is she? Where did you find her, The Gap?”

“Dude lay off. It’s not like we’re really that involved.” He looked at Lenny, staring at him openly.
“You’re talking like I love her or something.”

Lenny stood sharply as she could on her crutches. She turned and hobbled out of the room, almost blindly.

“Whoa, Gimpy. Where are you going?” She ran straight into Dico, who reached out to steady her.

“Upstairs.”

“Why?”

“I’m packing!”