“So, what are you thinking?” Jack asked Sal as they were loading the bus with supplies.
“I’m thinking about ripping your clothes off and ravaging that body of yours,” Sal answered, trying to keep a straight face.
“I know the voices in your head aren’t real, but they have some great ideas,” Jack answered keeping a poker face.
“You really mean that? I’m not just chasing rainbows? ” Sal asked eagerly.
"I'll be your sex object—every time you ask for sex, I'll obey,” Jack said, trying his best not to laugh.
When, at last, they had burst into joyful laughter, it was loud enough to have been heard from miles away. The boys laughed till their ribs hurt.
“Is your sexual tension drama going to have an intermission soon? We've got to go,” Rosie said saltily.
“But Rosie, the voices inside my head are telling me to say no, but I find it so hard to resist. Look at that face.” Jack looked at Sal with a goofy smile on his face.
“Right. I’ll go and search for your off button.” Rosie crawled onto the bus.
“But dude,” Jack said as the bus was put into motion, “what are you thinking about the whole Charlie/Strong Edge situation?”
“Well, I’m going to take Charlie back to Strong Edge and introduce him. He insists on staying at a hotel even though I said he could sleep in my room.”
“He’s really cool, isn’t he?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, he is. I can’t believe he isn’t angry at my parents.”
“He got you back. Maybe that’s all that matters.”
Sal didn’t answer. He just nodded. His mind slipped back to his parents’ conversation in the kitchen. Sal knew they were sorry, but he was still trying to make sense of the situation.
Jack told a story as they drove, about how the long road to Limestone was infamous due to the strange activity occurring at night. This included satanic cults, ghost sightings, and some kind of hellhound.
Sal didn't pay much attention. He was still thinking about the task ahead of him. It would be awkward, it would be a pickle, but Sal didn’t care. His parents would just have to suck it up.
It might even be good for them.
He was looking forward to seeing Carl. Sal missed him like crazy. He wasn’t sure if he should tell Carl about his father and the run-in with the Nazis, though. He supposed he'd eventually probably have to, but for the time being, he'd keep it to himself. Carl seemed to have a nice life going for him. He'd even landed a job as a warehouse team member. The job was in a neighboring town, so he needed a shitty car to get him back and forth. His pay was a joke, but he seemed happy. When he wasn't working, he helped his landlord, Ned, out and spent time with Louise.
Louise had suffered a miscarriage only a few days after her arrival in Limestone. I had probably been for the best, considering who the father had been. It made Sal sick to his stomach to think about it.
Ben Adler deserved his brutal fate.
Louise was doing better, but there was still a long way to go.
When they picked Carl up, Sal could tell something was wrong. Carl hugged Rosie and Jack and joked around, but something weighed heavy on him.
Sal closed his eyes, trying to control his mind. Seth’s face surfaced. A warm feeling rushed through Sal's body.
Someone shook his arm.
“Hey, Sal, wake up.”
Sal opened his eyes to see Carl looking at him funnily.
“What are you doing?” Carl’s blue eyes were daunting.
“Hey, Carl.” Sal hugged his brother. “How are you?”
“I’m okay. Were you sleeping just now?” Carl asked.
“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep last night.” Sal was beside himself. It wasn’t the time to explain about the Nazis and his father, and he didn’t want to talk about Seth.
“Did something happen?” Carl asked again.
“I think it has something to do with his 'friendship' with a certain person,” Jack happily contributed to the conversation. “It has him going absolutely bonkers.”
"I think Phil Collins says it pretty well." Jack started to sing the lyrics to Easy Lover, changing the word "she" to "he":
Sal rested his head in his hands, slowly letting his hands slide down over his face. “Okay, can we go now?”
Carl giggled, and Rosie turned to Jack. “I think you’re the one who's going bonkers. I think you should consider wearing the straitjacket.”
“You'd like that, wouldn’t you? All tied down. Rawr.” Jack smirked at Rosie.
“Weird is the new fabulous, I suppose.” Rosie blushed as she retreated into the bus.
Sal did his best not to laugh, and he could tell Carl was doing the same. At least the mood had lifted a little.
As they drove on, Sal’s heart started doing somersaults when they neared Charlie’s RV. He wondered if his mission should have been a solo one. The situation was crazy. He was about to bring his real father back to the parents who had stolen him as a child. Sal wondered if it would be awkward and if Charlie would change his mind about going to Strong Edge.
Sal started to freak out. What if he'd already changed his mind and didn’t want to go?
As soon as they pulled up to the trailer, Sal’s fears whisked away when he saw Charlie waiting outside the RV, holding a trolley bag and wearing a broad smile. His face lit up when Sal jumped out of the bus.
“Charlie,” Sal cheered.
“Sal.” Charlie reached out and hugged Sal tightly.
Sal introduced Charlie to Carl, Rosie, and Jack, and the last of his concerns were put entirely to rest when Charlie clicked with the crew right away, bumping fists with them. He bumped fists with Carl and Jack and said, "The rebel and the rock star—it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Charlie took Rosie’s hand gently and said, “Rosie, the fairest of maidens, it is an honor to meet you.”
“He’s just as slick as you, Sal. Like father, like son,” Jack declared in amazement.
The ride back to Strong Edge turned out to be a long one for Sal, given that his brother and friends had decided to share every embarrassing childhood story they could think of with Charlie.
“This one time, Sal and I were playing on a jungle gym. Sal would have been about five. On the ground floor was a kid that we didn't know very well. Sal got the genius idea that it would be hilarious to pee. He pulled down his pants, and while laughing, he started to pee on this kid's head.
"When our mother came, he started to cry, claiming that he hadn’t been able to hold it in, so she forgave him.” Carl shook his head.
“Or when he stole a gift card from a store because he thought they were free,” Rosie added.
“How about that time he flirted with that girl at Burger King and when he leaned over, he smashed his hand down onto a package of ketchup and ruined her sweater?” Jack laughed.
“Or when he lost his swim trunks in the lake at Giantsfair but didn’t notice until someone had complimented his ass.” Carl messed with Sal’s hair.
“You were a very outgoing kid, weren’t you?” Charlie said, laughing.
“Yeah, he’s such a charmer. Just this morning he complimented my physique.” Jack winked at Sal.
“Do I want to know?” Carl asked Rosie.
“No, you don’t. It was like they were acting out some twisted version of Romeo and Juliet,” Rosie answered.
Charlie’s laughter built softly but eventually exploded.
Sal lost the tightness that had been mounting in his chest in an outburst of laughter spread around the bus.