Ch. 40

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Jon decided not to wake up anyone as he headed towards the doctor’s office.

Sleep didn’t come easily for him. He was a bundle of anxiety.

He knew by talking yesterday, it could potentially do more harm than good, but he had grown tired of communicating through notebooks and a pen.

He had been driving around for a couple of hours attempting to put things into perspective before the doctors did it for him.

The street was virtually empty as he thought.

‘Okay Jonny, maybe singing isn’t everything. You had fun with Trina and the others yesterday. So what does that mean?…Means that you can have fun without picking up a guitar or performing for once. For the first time in a long time. You were you. ’

He went through town a second time. His mind continued to wander. ‘You could write songs? …Write yes…But knowing me, I’d want to sing and if I can’t, well that’ll be the end of that.’

His car suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. In fact, he stopped in front of the doctor’s office.

Car idling, he looked down at his watch. It wasn’t even 7 a.m. yet. His appointment wasn’t for hours.

‘Toby’s such a good kid. There’s gotta be something we can do for him. After what he told us, we have to make sure that he doesn’t go back to that foster home.’ Jon thought.

His mind still raced. An image of Giants Stadium and seeing a sea of people suddenly came to him.

‘Giants. If I could sing anywhere that’s where it would be. All those times that dad, grandpa and I spent at the games. Good memories. To play here and see Dad’s face…’

He fought back tears. His heart went back to Trina.

‘Trina. I know things would be okay if I wasn’t singing anymore. But just how would things be between us? Richie and the rest of band would go and do other stuff. But Juanita?… What would she do? Would I need to go get a job? God, a 9-5 gig would drive me to drink. I’m such a freakin’ night owl. I barely get up these days before 10 or 11.…What the hell am I going to do?’

He continued to sit in the car. He had turned off the engine, however the stereo in the background played a fairly new Richard Marx tune that resonated with him more than any Bon Jovi tune that he could write at the moment.

He needed this time. If anyone else were with him, instead of being at the doctors, he’d be stalking the nearest pub, begging the owners to open so that he could have a drink….or two….or three…Anything to avoid this…


~

“Trina, Trina!” Toby shook jumping on Trina’s bed.

It was 10:30 a.m. She was fast asleep when she felt something jumping on her legs.

Groggy, she looked up and there was Toby grinning from ear to ear. Trina smiled at him.
“Good morning” She said to him.

“Good morning!” Toby yelled still jumping on the bed.

Trina smiled. The dark circles that had framed Toby’s brown eyes the night before were gone. He was a happy, rested little boy.

She sat up and before he could jump once more, she grabbed onto his legs, pushing him down next to her. He squealed with joy. Trina quipped.

“Got ya!” She said giving him a hug. “Didn’t your mom tell you that it wasn’t nice to jump on the bed?”

Toby laughed. He shook his head. “No!” he said.

“Well, it’s not nice.” She winked at him.

“Okay.” he said sitting next to her now on the bed.

“Did you sleep well?” She asked.

“Yep.” he nodded.

“Very good. Very good. Let’s see. Did you eat breakfast yet? What time is it?” she said looking at her clock.

“It’s 10:30. And Miss Juanita is great. She was a lot nicer today. She made bacon, eggs, waffles with tons of butter and syrup.” Toby said.

Trina was happy that he slept well. She asked.

“How many waffles did you have?”

“Four.” he said.

She raised her eyebrows. Juanita’s waffles were huge. She could barely get through two. She was surprised that he had four. She began to laugh.

“Four? Weren’t you a hungry man?”

“Yes he was.” Chimed in Juanita giving him a hug. She continued. “He’s quite the helper too. He rinsed out his plate and put it in the dishwasher.”

“Well isn’t that something?” Trina said.

“Toby darlin’, Jon thought it’d be great if he took you shopping later. He wanted me to tell you that when he got back from the doctor’s he’d take you to get some new stuff. Would you like that?” Juanita asked.

“Really? Where is he? He was gone when I got up.” Toby asked.

“Doctor’s appointment baby.” Juanita told him looking at her watch. “Actually, he should have been back by now.” Juanita said looking at Trina.

“He didn’t want any of us to go with him?” Trina asked her.

Juanita shook her head. “He probably thought we’d drive him nuts.”

“We would have.” Trina said.

Juanita replied. “I did enough of that last night.”

“You just care about him Juanita.” Trina reassured her.

“Yes. I do. All I want is for him to be happy.” She told Trina.

“Me too.” Trina said softly.

“Me three!” Toby chimed in as three of them laughed.

“Okay little man, let’s get you washed up. Jon will be back in a little while.” Juanita told Toby.

The little boy jumped off the bed. He began to follow Juanita out.

“Okay Juanita!”

Trina looked at the alarm clock. It was now 11:00 a.m. She thought.

‘Whenever you are. I hope you’re okay.’