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The spotlight moved away from me onto Tali, who was completely beloved by her family. She told them about her classes and playing in the Gamelan ensemble. They asked about Nina, and they even asked about Tino. She’d obviously kept them well informed about her college life; made me wonder what she’d told them about me.
After lunch, Tali’s dad asked if I’d like to join them in his garage to listen to a record or two before we headed out. Tali whispered, “In like Flynn,” when her dad’s back was turned.
I settled into a rusty old lawn chair and had the fucking time of my life sitting with Tali and Roberto, listening to his original Ramones record, and then the White Stripes record he’d gotten a few months ago.
Roberto jerked his chin at me. “You have a CD yet?”
“Yeah. We laid down some tracks last fall.”
Tali produced one from her bag and handed it to her dad. “Prepare to have your mind blown.”
I didn’t think he’d actually get up right that second and put the CD into the dusty boombox he had tucked behind his pristine record player, but that’s what he did. He sat silently, stoically, listening to my music—my spilled blood.
My heart roared in my ears. I barely knew this man, but I found myself desperate for his approval.
Tali rocked to the beat, mouthing the lyrics to every damn song. Any other day, any other setting, seeing her in my band’s T-shirt, rocking out to my music, would’ve had me hard in two seconds. Right now, I was on pins and needles, waiting foranykind of reaction from her dad.
Teresa stuck her head in the garage. “Hey, kids, I wanted to let you know it’s getting late. You should probably think about heading out.”
Roberto got up from his chair and shut off the CD in the middle of a song. He looked at me. “Okay if I keep this?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s cool. I know it’s not vinyl, but…”
He clapped his hand on my shoulder, leveling me with a heavy gaze. “You have a lot of talent, Jude. I did not expect to hear what I just heard when I turned that on.”
I bowed my head, humbled and more than pleased. “Thank you, sir.”
“Roberto,” he corrected.
“I told you,” Tali said triumphantly. “Did you honestly think I would be with someone who made sub-par music?”
His mustache twitched and he pulled Tali from her seat, then threw an arm around her shoulder. “Not my daughter. What was I thinking?”
We were sent home with two lasagnas and a bowl of leftover ravioli, plus two bags of miscellaneous groceries. Somehow, I ended up with a new set of sheets for my bed as well. I couldn’t even say exactly how it had happened.
The ride back home started silent. I was stuck in my head, turning over and over everything from the last two days. First getting booked for Busted, then performing for the biggest audience of my life, and now, leaving Tali’s family feeling like maybe they liked me. I liked the hell out of them.
She reached over and rubbed her hand on my forearm. “I love you, Jude.”
“I love you too, Stripes.” I laid my hand on the center console, palm up, and she slid her fingers between mine. “I’m feeling kind of inadequate now that I know what kind of family you come from. I mean, I had my suspicions, but to see it live and in action? That shit’s intimidating.”
Her hand tightened around mine. “That’s an accident of birth. I did nothing to earn the family I was born into, just as you did nothing to deserve the shitty family you were born into.”
I had nothing to say to that. I knew it was fact, yet a lot of the time, I felt like I’d gotten exactly the family I deserved.
“My dad really liked you,” she said.
“I really liked him,” I said.
“I’m sorry my brothers felt the need to be assholes.”
“Assholes I can handle. So long as they don’t try to get between you and me, they can say whatever they want.”
“They’d never try that. They may talk a big game, but they’re scaredy cats. You regularly throw grown men out of a club, I highly doubt any of them have so much as thrown a punch. If you snarled at them, they’d probably run away.”
I chuckled. “Spoken like a true little sister.”
She laughed too. “Isn’t it my prerogative as a little sister to rag on my brothers?”
