Rock and Roll Angel Pt. 02

"What about you?" Jenna asked point blank.

"You can put me under obnoxious, competitive and unquestionably raunchy." she held up her beer. "AND the drinking too much thing too."

The three sat quietly. Jenna pondered all that Joy had said. Her gut told her that the people of Angel's Nest were okay but she couldn't help feeling that she was being steered in a direction not of her choosing. And the number one manipulator appeared to be Ethan Grant with his mysterious wings.

"What cities are we gonna see on the tour?" Kat asked breaking the silence.

"Cleveland then Cincinnati, to start," Joy said. "We go west after that."

"Never been to those places," Kat said. "Sounds exciting."

Jenna laughed. "You ain't been out much if you think THOSE cities sound exciting."

Kat shrugged then yawned hugely.

"Let's find you a bed to crash in," Joy said

"Gotta get my stuff," Kat said.

"I'll get it," Jenna said.

Joy led Kat upstairs and Jenna went to get Kat's stuff stashed along side the house. Her meager luggage consisted of a lavender duffel bag and a pink backpack both items worn and dirty. When Jenna came back in with the bags, Ashley, Sarah and Lisa were back.

Chapter Seven All Girl Anti.

"Moving in?" Sarah Logan asked spying the bags.

"Kat's stuff," Jenna said. "Chick had nowhere to go. Joy took her upstairs."

Ashley went to the base of the stairs and shouted up. "Put her in the green room!"

"Okay!" Joy shouted back.

"We're gonna play strip poker on the pool deck," Lisa said to Jenna, "wanna join us?"

"Really?" Jenna asked giving Lisa a disapproving frown.

"We're playing for keeps," Sarah said. "My Stones t-shirt signed by Kieth Richards is on the table. Ashley is putting up her hand crafted pewter Church of Clara belt buckle.

"It's the belt buckle Sarah wore at the battle of the bands," Lisa said. "Jenna said it was really cool."

"Church of Clara?" Jenna asked.

"An upstart religion that started up a couple of years back on the island of Maui," Sarah said.

"I wouldn't call it a religion in a true sense," Ashley said. "Its more of a ground swell of support for free love, more of an art movement if you ask me. Clara is the name of a carved statue that was put up in the Iao Valley rain forest fifty years ago. She became the figure head for the movement."

"Thank you for all that useless info," Sarah said.

Ashley gave Sarah the stink eye. "My belt buckle is worth more than that ratty Stones t-shirt."

"What are YOU putting up?" Jenna asked Lisa.

"My Ravens super bowl ring," Lisa said.

Jenna frowned. "The one your brother won in a silent auction? Didn't you find out that it belonged to the equipment manager and not a player?"

Sarah gave Lisa a dubious look. "You said that it was Ray Lewis?"

"Might have been exaggerating a bit," Lisa said giving Jenna the evil eye for ratting her out.

"Its still a super bowl ring and worth more that your Stones shirt," Ashley said.

"You gotta stop disrespecting my shirt."

"Kat is out like a light," Joy said as she descended the stairs. Joy had changed and now wore a Batman t-shirt and denim shorts. "What up?"

"Strip poker on the pool deck," Sarah said.

"See what I said about raunchy?" Joy said to Jenna as an aside.

"I'm in," Joy said. "Playing for keeps?"

"Of course."

"You putting up that fake Kieth Richards shirt?" Joy asked.

"I HAVE a certificate of authenticity!"

"The only Kieth that came near that t-shirt was Haverdink our scamming drummer who got you the shirt in the first place," Ashley said.

"What are you putting up, twerp?" Sarah asked curtly.

"My panties signed by Cheryl Crow," Joy said, and MY certificate of authenticity is standing right there." Joy pointed at Ashley.

"Saw the signing with my own eyes," Ashley said giving the two finger scout''s sign. "Crow was actually signing her jeans but the Sharpie marker soaked down to the panties and the skin of her ass. Crow's signature lingered for weeks."

"You in?" Lisa asked Jenna. Jenna could tell that Lisa was hoping for a way out of the situation. Just as Jenna was about to come up with a bogus excuse about having to be at the theater early in the morning, movement in an upper window of the house caught her eye. The shape of the person filled the window ... she could clearly the wings. A weird thrill boarding on fear crawled up her spine.

"Yeah, I'm in," Jenna said.

Lisa's jaw dropped. "You sure?" Lisa asked clearly perplexed.

"I'm sure," Jenna said.

"What you putting up?" Joy asked. She looked as stunned as Lisa at Jenna's decision to play.

"Would a signed soccer ball from Mia Hamm count?"

"Has to be an article of clothing," Lisa said, clearly hoping that Jenna would have nothing to put up.

"Um ... I have a swim cap signed by the American Olympic dive champion Li Hong?"

"She's a local girl from the island of Maui," Joy said.

"She is one hot chick," Sarah said. "I hear she's recently come out."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "You say that about every attractive woman you like."

The game was setup at a table near the pool. Lisa put up her sassy black girl front but Jenna could tell that she was nervous as hell. Lisa blinked several times and rubbed her eyes.

"Maybe you should take them out," Jenna whispered to her. Jenna was one of the few people who knew that Lisa wore contacts.

"No fucking way," Lisa whispered back. Without her contacts Lisa had to wear Coke bottle glasses a la Urkle. Along with the glasses, Lisa harbored another dark secret, she was a nerd. Lisa just didn't do stage lighting, she LIVED it, and like any good nerd, she was totally consumed by the details of her passion. She also collected 'Game of thrones' figurines on the side and went to comic cons in costume, Mystic from X-men being her favorite.

Sarah dealt the cards and laid down the rules. "Nothing wild. The first person to the left of the dealer is in the barrel. She must have at least a pair of anything and has to show them. If not she has to drop and remove TWO articles of clothing. The last person wearing anything wins the prizes."

Lisa was on Sarah's left then came Ashley, then Joy then Jenna. From where Jenna sat, she could easily see the upper window where Ethan still stood looked down on the pool deck. Jenna's fanned her cards out, they were total crap.

Lisa, who was first in the barrel, smiled and showed a pair of nines. She won the hand with three nines after the draw. Ashley, Sarah and Jenna each removed a shoe.

"I should get virtual shoes to be fair," Joy said.

"Nobody's fault but your own for running around barefoot in your luau feet," Ashley said. "What you wear at the table is what you got."

"I don't have luau feet," Joy said as she pulled her Batman t-shirt over her head. A black bra covered her tiny breasts.

Lisa dealt the next hand with Ashley to her right. Ashley didn't have a pair so had to drop. She removed her other shoe and a sock.

"Where's Ethan?" Jenna asked as her eyes flickered to the upper window then back to her cards. Again, she was dealt garbage.

"In his room on line hunting for other winged people on the planet," Joy said.

"Has he found anyone?" Jenna asked.

"Just a lot of crazies and performance artists," Sarah said.

Nobody has wings," Ashley said.

"But Ethan has them?" Lisa said.

"Any explanation at all?" Jenna asked with her eyes on Ethan's window.

"Ashley looked into everything," Joy said, "but nobody knows."

"But people just don't grow wings for no reason," Lisa said.

"Ethan did," Sarah said as she put down the winning hand of two pairs jacks over fours.

Ashley's expression soured. Clearly, Ethan's wings were a touchy subject for her. Jenna decided it was best to steer clear of the subject. She could only hope that Lisa would get on that clue bus too.

Lisa and Jenna removed a shoe. Poor Joy was down to bra and panties, one more loss and she was showing naked parts.

Sarah dealt and Lisa didn't have a pair to stay in hence lost her other shoe and shirt.

Bet she wishes she wore socks tonight, Jenna thought.

Lisa looked totally insecure in her blue sports bra. Lisa was petite but had a perky set of B-cups that fit her nicely. Jenna always envied her unblemished medium brown skin.

Ashley won with a pair of kings. Sarah dropped a shoe, Jenna her shirt. A thrill both shivery and hot, raced up and down Jenna's spine. She wore a regrettable boring white bra from Walmart. The white bra was a neon contrast to her dark brown skin. Her stiff nipples were highly visible through the translucent cloth.

I'm fucking crazy to be doing this, she thought. Her eyes went to the upper window.

Joy reached behind her back to unhitch her bra.

"Not like that," Sarah said. "stand up on the deck for all to see."

"Your such a fucking dude," Joy said as she stood at the pool's edge.

"Don't know why you're complain," Ashley said, "with the mosquito bites you call tits there is nothing to see."

"Don't be mean. I like her little figure," Sarah said.

Joy did have a nice figure. The girl clearly worked for she was all tight pleasing curves everywhere.

"That is how someone SHOULD look if they owned a yoga studio," Sarah said.

"Thank you," Joy said as she removed her bra exposing her small bumps with erect dark brown nipples.

Lisa looked on without comment. Jenna wondered what was playing out in her friends head.

Ashley dealt. Joy had a pair of sevens so got herself out of the barrel and won the hand with two sevens and two queens. Sarah dumped a sock, Lisa her jeans, Ashley lost her final sock and Jenna stripped off her slacks.

Both Lisa and Jenna were down to panties and bras. Jenna crossed her arms over her breasts and Lisa sat on their hands. Lisa appeared to be shivering but it had to be near eighty degrees out on the pool deck so clearly wasn't cold. Both Ashley and Sarah gave Jenna looks of interest. Ashley was discrete, but Sarah stared at Jenna's cleavage unabashedly.

"Oh!" came a female voice from the sliding doors leading to the house.

"Shit! It's Ethan's parent!" Ashley whispered.

Sarah picked up near naked Joy and threw her bodily into the pool. Joy screamed on the decent.

"Hey! Aunt Sylvia, Uncle Johnny," Ashley said. She got up and hugged each in turn.

"Have we come at a bad time?" Aunt Sylvia asked as she eyed up Lisa and Jenna in their undies. Uncle Johnny did the same then looked over at the pool. NO WAY they didn't see that Joy was topless. The playing cards scattered on the table told exactly what the woman had been doing.

"This is Jenna and Lisa the new tech crew," Ashley said. "We picked up a new Singer too. She's up stairs asleep. Poor thing just did a show tonight."

Thought you were gonna go with the Creedy girl from Akron?" Uncle Joe asked as he tried his best not to stare at the two scantily clad black women.

Ethan heard the new girl sing tonight and decided she was a better fit than Naomi," Sara said.

"Um, we were just about to go for a dip." Ashley frantically motioned behind her aunt and uncle for Jenna and Lisa to head to the pool.

"Um ... yeah," Jenna said. The pair got up and headed for the pool. Uncle Joe had to work even harder not to look at the two notable retreating backsides.

Jenna dove in the pool at a near run, Lisa stepped in via the ladder. Jenna surfaced and swam toward Joy who hovered at the edge of the pool blocking her from view. "Oh my god, they MUST have seen me topless," Joy whispered. "Are they still on the deck?"

Jenna pulled herself up a bit to peek. "They went inside."

Lisa swam over to join them.

Sarah walked over to the edge of the pool, looking odd in just her one sock. She squatted and stiffed a laugh. "Fucking busted. Like were back in high school." The three in the pool started laughing.

"Why are they here?" Joy asked.

"My fault," Sarah said. "Dorthy told me that they were coming to pick up Ethan's unusable cloth for donation to Habitat for Humanity. I fucking forgot."

Joy splashed water at Sarah. Sarah flinched and laughed.

"Do they know about Ethan's ... um ... condition?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah, they know," Joy said. "And you can say wings aloud."

"Ashley seems a little sensitive about the subject," Jenna said.

"It's the scientist in her," Joy said.

"Yeah, this wings thing is fucking with her world order," Sarah said.

Jenna wondered if Ashley would be perfectly happy if Ethan followed through with clipping his wings off. Wisely, she kept THAT dark gem of a thought to herself.

"You guys are totally okay that he has wings?" Lisa asked. "It doesn't freak you out?"

"In the beginning, sure," Joy said. "But he has them. Its a reality."

"I'm not THAT simplistic," Sarah said. "But Joy's right, he has them and knowing or not knowing how they came into being will NOT make them go away." Sarah looked at Lisa and asked out of the blue, "You like girls?"

"Uhh ..." Lisa said.

"Simple question. Yes or no?" Sarah asked her.

"Yes," Lisa said.

"You wanna kiss Ashley?"

"Sarah ... I'm sorry for being so rude—" Lisa started to say.

"She wants to kiss you," Sarah interrupted. "I can set you up if you like."

Lisa didn't say a thing. And simply looked up at Sarah from the water's edge.

Sarah stood, pulled off her football jersey and dropped her jeans reducing her clothing to matching black bra and panties. Her long blond hair brush her wide shoulders. The woman was built like an amazon goddess, she wouldn't look off at all in a Greek war helmet, bronze breast plate and hefting a spear. Sarah walked to the deep end and dove in. she surfaced and swam to Lisa. "Interested in kissing my fiance?"

Lisa nodded.

Sarah smiled and swam to the shallow end. She waved for Lisa to follow.

"I should go check on Kat to make sure that she's okay," Joy said but I don't wanna miss what Sarah has planed for your friend."

"I on the other hand want to TOTALLY miss it," Jenna said. "I'll go check on Kat. Where she at?"

"The green room." Joy said. "The first room at the top of the stairs."

Jenna swam to the ladder and got out of the pool totally self conscious at how her nipples and pubic hair showed through the cloth of her wet white underwear. She gathered her clothes at the card table and debated slipping it all back on over her wet body and undies but didn't want the discomfort that would create. She spied the stack of towels near the grill and snatched one up and wrapped it around her. She grabbed a second towel and worked at drying her long, straight dark hair. She spied Temporary the cat nipping at the smoked popio fish on the food table.

"I'm sure that's not for you," she said as shooed the cat off the table. The cat gave her a dirty look and made an odd grunting sound then ran off. Jenna walked into the house through the open sliding doors. Voices coming from the kitchen area made her quicken her pace to the stairs. She didn't want to talk to anyone until she was reasonably dried and dressed. At the top of the stairs, she quietly turned the nob on the first door. Kat's grubby bags were in it but Kat wasn't in the room.

Jenna, draped the wet towels on a chair in the room, pealed off her wet underwear and quickly put on her shirt and jeans. "Been a while since I've gone full commando," she said. Deciding it would be rude to leave her wet stuff in the room, she went out to the hall to find the upstairs bathroom. Back out in the hall she heard acoustic guitar coming from the far end. After dropping the wet stuff off in a bathroom a couple of door down, she followed the sound of the music down the hall that turned to the left at the end. She peeped around the corner down a shorter hall and saw Kat with her ear pressed against the door at the end.

"Hey?" Jenna said softly.

Kat abruptly pulled away from the door and covered her mouth to keep from screaming.

"Sorry," Jenna said trying to speak softly. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"I heard the music," Kat said red face at being caught listening at the door. "It's the Beatles, Yesterday."

Muffled singing start in. Jenna joined Kat at the door. The women locked eyes. Then together, they pressed their ears in to listen. The guitar stopped but the singing continued. Then shockingly, the door flew open. Both women yelped. Ethan, stood looking at the women. He wore same baggy gray cargo shorts from earlier. his uncanny wings were relaxed and folded in behind him and of course he was shirtless. The guy probably can't wear shirts that hadn't been altered. Explains why he was donating most of his wardrobe to charity, Jenna mused..

"Um ... this looks exactly as it seems," Jenna said. "We were listening at your door."

He arched an eyebrow. "The party over?" he asked.

"Your parents kinda broke up a card game," Jenna said.

"I saw," he said. "Too bad."

"Did you say hello to your mom and dad?" Kat asked.

"Yeah, they came to get all my old shirts and sweaters for donation. Don't need them as you can tell."

"What do you do to cover up?" Kat asked.

"I've had a few things modified for winter time and performing of course," he said. "Mostly I just go topless."

He looked good topples, Jenna though. Damned good!

"Come in, I got cold beer," he said and stepped aside to let the women in.

His room was a pleasant wreck, CDs everywhere, five different guitars laying around, two electric, one base, two acoustic. Music sheets, much of them hand written covered a lot of the open spaces. An elaborate entertainment system dominated one wall. Another wall was owned by a big flat screen TV. The the start menu for the game Mind Craft was up on the screen. A painting of a pale winged figure with a dark frame hung near the TV.

Lisa's a total geek about that game," Jenna said. "Is the painting of you?"

"Looks like me but no," Ethan said. "Joy bought it at a gallery on Maui. The painting is fifty years old."

"It looks a lot like you," Kat said.

"Yeah, it's kind of weird."

Four empty beer bottles stood all in a line on one crowded table along with the leavings of a meal. Three open and running laptops were scattered among the debris.

"Sorry for the mess," he said. He moved a guitar case and a stack of old LPs from a beat up loveseat sofa. Jenna and Kat sat down. He went to a mini fridge and handed out Budlite Limes.

"I've had too many of these already," Kat said, but accepted the beer anyway. For a person who said she wasn't kin to drinking she was taking to beer mighty fast.

Ethan pushed aside the acoustic guitar on his bed and sat down with a beer of his own. Jenna saw a pair of binoculars resting on a chair near the window, a second set hung from a hook close at hand. In one corner near the window was a telescope on a stand. Next to the telescope on a tripod was one of those new expensive cameras that did film and still shots that you could download on a laptop computer. The guy is a serious voyeur, Jenna thought and she didn't like that one bit.

Kat took a huge swig of her beer. "I like this. The lime is already in it," She looked at Ethan and asked, "Why are you hold up in here? Why didn't you stay for the party?"

"Because of these," he said. His wings flared up to make his point then settles back down.

"I like looking at them," Kat said. "Don't bother me none."

"I think he's talking about the pheromones they put out," Jenna said. "They make people feel uncomfortable I bet."

"You mean squirmy and sexy?" Kat said. "... like I feel right now?"

"Kat!" Jenna said. "You are gonna HAVE to develop a better social filter."

"So you ain't all squirmy and sexy right now?" Kat asked Jenna.

"Kat!" Jenna said covering her face.

Ethan laughed. "Yeah, I make people, women specifically, squirmy and sexy. They can't stay focus when in my presents for too long."