An hour later…
Ben: “Okay, so you’re not gonna tell me about Choco and you now, but I swear I’ll dig that story out of you sooner or later!”
Elliot (laughingly): “Yeah, ’cause you’re so sure about your manipulating skills.”
Ben: “Tell me what’s going on with the other girls in your life, though. I haven’t seen them in ages. Is India still doing the same?”
Elliot: “She still plays the piano… That’s pretty much it. And Mama just, you know, helps her the best way she can. But Indy’s still not good at taking help from nobody. She would love to be independent. She’s very stubborn that way.”
Ben: “Just like her older brother, then.”
Elliot (thoughtfully puts a pen in his mouth while his eyes narrow at Ben): “I wish I could have them here. If it weren’t about money…”
Ben: “I know you would, if you could. Nobody would expect nothing less from you.”
Elliot (writes something down, notices Ben staring at him): “What?”
Ben: “I honestly don’t understand how you do that!”
Elliot: “Do what exactly?”
Ben: “That! You write with your left hand and play the guitar with your right one! You’re the only naturally ambidextrous person I know or have ever heard of. Do you know how rare you are?”
Elliot: “Oh, I ain’t natural at it. You know how the world is ruled by the right-handed people. This sounds like a conspiracy… Geez! I ain’t that paranoid! Well, I just meant that as a lefty, I had to adapt from an early age.”
Ben: “It’s not just adapting when you can also write with your right hand! You are naturally ambidextrous.”
Elliot: “That sounds like a terminal illness.”
Ben and Elliot: (stare at each other)
Elliot: “I know I have so much to be grateful for. Indy could have died…”
Ben: “But she didn’t.”
Elliot: “But she can never live in the ‘normal’ way.”
Ben: “But that’s not your fault.”
Elliot: “No… Not directly anyway. But I could have prevented it.”
Ben: “How? You were only 16 and you had just gotten your driver’s license. I wasn’t there, but I’m sure nobody expected you to drive India to the dentist’s that day.”
Elliot: “Yeah, well… They should have let me do it. I wouldn’t have crashed that car like the drunken excuse for my and Indy’s father.”
Ben: “I bet you would have checked that seatbelt, too.”
Elliot: “Hell yes! I was hella into cars when I was 16. I would always check that everything was like it should be. The details were everything to me. But… Then he slammed that ol’ truck’s door like he always did… So fucking hard, that if the seatbelt was hanging there freely after he or somebody else got out, weeeell…”
Ben: “The lock system of the seatbelt could break if and when it happened to get between the door and the frame.”
Elliot: “Exactly. He just didn’t care if he damaged something… or somebody. After the accident he blamed me for ‘fiddling’ with the seatbelt… and the brake… and pretty much everything about that car I could have touched. And he gave me one hell of a beating.”
Ben: “For the last time.”
Elliot: “Yeah, I couldn’t have that no more. Of course I hit him back, and I don’t regard that as one of my proudest of moments. When has violence solved anything? I felt bad about leaving Mama and Indy behind, but what can you do… Luckily he didn’t touch them, and they never blamed me for the car crash itself… even if for other things. I’ve always tried my best at looking out for them, and I sure wish I could be there for them again now.”
Ben: “You can, someday…”
Elliot: “I hope so… But seriously – can we do something else than talk about my ol’ man? I wanna do something fun for a change!”
Elliot (smugly): “Hey, I promised you the bass, not Lissie’s strap. She’s gonna be pissed.”
Ben (shakes with laughter): “Yeah right! She doesn’t need it when you’ve deserted her on the floor!”
Elliot: “She’s still pissed at you, though. You’re gonna have to name that black beauty, by the way. I never got round to it. Always thought about giving her to you someday.”
Ben: “You’re lying! I’m sure you secretly named her Spiky Rosa or something as stupid.”
Elliot: “No! This one here is Bloody Rosa. I guess I never properly introduced you two?”
Ben: “A-ha! No. And if she’s anything like the bird she got her name from, I’m not sure if I wanna get introduced to her.”
Elliot: “She wasn’t all that bad… There were good times. Now let’s see which one can play ‘I’m Game’ by Zed Zoners for the longest… This is for the good times.”
Elliot:
“You need to cool your head, baby, I ain’t foolin’ ya
I’m gonna send ya back down the road of schoolin’
Deep inside, a-honey, you know you need it
I’m game, I’m game to give you all of my love
I’m gonna give you my love
Gonna give you my love, oh”
Ben: “Oops!”
Elliot: “Mind the wire, mind the wire!”
Ben: “That wasn’t part of the song.”
Elliot:
“I’m gonna give you all of my love
I’m gonna give you all of my love”
Elliot:
“You’ve been yearnin’
And baby, I’ve been learnin’
Of all ’em good times
Baby, you’ve been forgettin’
How to play this game with me
Deep inside you know it all
I’m game, I’m game
I need a bigger place so I’ve got room to slap you in the face!”
Ben: “Forgetting the lyrics here, huh? Suckeeeer!”
Elliot (takes a step closer to Ben):
“A-honey, you need-a
I’m gonna give you a slap in the face!”
Elliot: “I’m gonna give you… I’m gonna give you…” (slaps his hand on Ben’s eyes) “HAH! Wrong note!”
Ben: “Aaaargh! You cheated! Hand off! I can’t see a thing!”
Elliot:
“I’m schoolin’ ya, honey
Deep inside, a-honey, you know you need it”
Ben: “What the hell is that all about?”
Elliot: “You gotta learn to play without seeing the instrument. My li’l sister can do it – so must you!”
To be continued…
Note from the author:
‘I’m Game’ is like an alternative universe version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ that I published in the Flickr version of this story. I am replacing all of the lyrics from the story with my own poems or lyrics, so I can publish them later in the book series I’m writing based on this story. Led Zeppelin is and will always remain as Elliot’s favorite band, and I will be able to use the band’s name in the books. But not their lyrics, so I will only post lyrics by my own fictional artists and bands like Zed Zoners from now on. I could in theory still use the original lyrics on my website as long as I’m not making money with them… But I hope this website will make me money at some point, so I’m thinking ahead and only posting things I either have the sole copyright of or a permission to use. This is also a good way of preparing material for the books I will publish in the future, even though they will not share all these same scenes.
