5. Getting Ready

                                    

                                          
There is something special about the Californian beach. People playing volleyball, talks around the sand, surf, and so much more things you can't do anywhere else. It also happened to be where my friend Reggie lived... emphasis on the 'lived' part.
"A bike shack right where my house used to be. Right here." My arms were crossed at the scene. The sign of 'Petals On The Beach' did not feel welcoming to me. This was one of the first places I visited last month, and when I saw that everything changed, I was appalled. In a way, the universe arrived with an eraser on our Californian whiteboard and wiped clean the special memories.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, man," Luke supported as he tapped the dark-haired boy's chest.
"They made the Meyerson's house into a noodle shop. Why couldn't they have made mine like a pizzeria or something?" The guy kept pouting.
"They tore down the whole neighborhood," my brother added.
"I guess my folks are gone," the bassist finally concluded.
Alex shook his head. "No, everyone's gone. Twenty-five years, gone. Friends, family, Bobby, everyone."
I let out a sigh. To be honest, I had completely forgotten about him. I was so focused on the fact that they were back that it hadn't clocked in that he wasn't here with us. "Bobby, that's right."
"I guess that vegetarian lucked out. What do you think happened to him?" Vegetarian? Ha! I wouldn't count three months and a half in 1993 as officially part of the crew.
"He probably just got old like everybody else and moved on," Luke nonchalantly responded.
"Dude, how are you so casual about this? I mean, don't you wanna figure out what happened?"
Luke's eyes squinted. I've noticed he does that when he's close to getting riled up. "Let's be real for a second. It's not like any of us were close to our families. My folks always regretted me buying that guitar. Reggie, your parents were literally a fight away from a divorce."
Reggie's head rolled back in discomfort. I know Patterson's upset, but does he have to be so harsh on us? We just want to understand the sudden change in the era. And why now and with Julie out of all people could see us?
He continued pushing our buttons, not caring if it hurt our feelings or not. "Alex I... your parents were never cool again after you told them you were gay. And Liz, you spend your school after hours doing whatever you could so you wouldn't have to breathe the same air as them."
"Okay, none of us had it great, all right? But at least we had something. You know, what do we have now?" Luke's lips parted, but the anxious blondie attacked. "And before you say cool teleportation skills, just know I'm not entirely okay with that either. All right? It tingles... in weird places."
"I'll tell you what we had. It's what we had since the day we came together." He jumped on a fallen tree used as a bench. "Guys, we have us. Okay? We're the only family we're over gonna need. You know what else we have?"
"I'm gonna guess death breath?" Reggie mentioned.
"Our music, you dork." Luke's smile widened. "We have our music, you guys. People, actual people, can hear us play! They can't see us, fine, but they can hear us. If I had my guitar, I'd play for all these people right now."
"Just like we used to do down the pier?" I suggested. The desperate guitarist nodded. Small victories go a long way with Luke. And, I gotta admit, his stupid enthusiasm is rubbing off on me.
"Just like we used to do down the pier," he winked.
I remember singing and playing there hundreds of times. Although, few people acknowledged our presence. "They can't tip what they can't see," Alex deadpanned.