Pitch Perfect - 5. Chapter 5: Can't Keep Me Away pt 1

Starring up at the ceiling. Lucca attempted to memorize the fine lines he saw forming there. ‘Last night was a complete disaster. Of all the topics for Addie to choose-why that one?’

The outing Addie planned started pretty well; however, Lucca found their conversation drifting into unexpected and undesirable areas. As soon as the appetizers arrived she began throwing all sorts of relationship-based questions at him. The dinner began with a fairly innocent inquiry about who he was interested in and ended with her demanding to set him up with someone. The conversation had felt like a whirlwind, slowly winding its way out of control. By the time they reached the end, Lucca couldn’t even remember how it had started.

‘Maybe if I had given her something real to latch onto she wouldn’t have pushed it that far? Why couldn’t I just make up a name of some girl? No, no. That’s so wrong, I shouldn’t lie.’ Avoidance had always been more Lucca’s game, so trying to come up with a half-truth to tell Addie was basically an impossible feat. ‘Maybe I’ll tell her I’m just not interested in getting involved right now. That is true. Since Matt will never… I just don’t want to date anyone.’

Laying in bed thinking was just frustrating so he decided to take a shower. While undressing, Lucca caught sight of his reflection. He looked worn; under his eyes cream skin was tinted with a purple hue. His hair was getting too long- just as Mrs. Whittaker had suggested, and he looked very thin. Growing up he had always been lean and muscular, like a long distance runner. Recently, though, the lack of quality rest and appetite had taken a toll. ‘God, I look sick, no wonder Dad worries about me.’

Stepping under the warm spray Lucca felt more than a hint of guilt as he considered his father’s position. He worked as many jobs as he could find freelance writing, kept the house running smoothly, and was always looking out for Lucca.

At the end of ninth grade when Lucca decided to come out to his parents he knew his father would be the first one he told. His nature was warm and welcoming; Lucca had witnessed him walk an elderly woman to her car at the grocery store, he always let people cut in front of him in line and was the type of person to remember every casual acquaintances name. A man who acts as if all people were dear friends would have to be tolerant of their own flesh and blood Lucca figured at the time. His intuition was right-on, when he told his father the reaction was just a lopsided grin and then full acceptance. As if he had relayed the fact he liked the color blue rather than his interest in other boys.

Thinking about the steadfast love he felt that day always made Lucca smile. Now, though, he returned that kindness with a slap in the face. In the shower he grimaced knowing how worried he made his father for no good reason. ‘It’s wrong. I need to do something to get over Matt. I can’t keep living like this, it’ll kill my Dad.’

Pulling on jeans and a black long sleeve t-shirt to get ready for his volunteer gig Lucca considered ways to deal with the Matt problem. ‘I need to be busy. Really, ridiculously, busy. Should I volunteer more? No, I’m already there two days a week. Maybe I’ll find a job or get some sort of hobby.’ Lucca laughed at the absurdity of his own idea for a second. ‘A hobby? I feel pathetic just thinking that, even though that probably would help.’

By the time he arrived at Grace Memorial the new list of potential activities was narrowed down to either writing short stories or getting a job, possibly both. That thought process had to be put on the back burner as Lucca hurried toward one of his regular Saturday rooms.

Doc was a robust older man with large bushy eyebrows and sparkling blue eyes. Lucca was never fully confident that the older gentleman knew who he was, or why he was there. They got along well nonetheless; Doc loved to tell stories about his army days and Lucca was always willing to oblige.

Normally Doc would regale Lucca with tales of training camp and marching through Europe in 30-degree weather; today was different.

“Summer of ‘56, yeah? That was the most important summer of my life. I was thirty years old at the time. When I returned home from the war I had no discernable skills other than being able to read German. So, I decided to look for someone to teach me a trade, yeah?” Doc looked to Lucca to confirm he was still following. He gave a slow nod wondering where this story was going, Doc never told anything but war tales.

Doc took a gulp of apple juice and spoke, “I ended up with a carpenter; really swell guy. He had his own business, and boy, was he good. Ask him to make anything and before you could even blink it’d be done.” There was a faraway look in his eyes as he continued, “I learned all about carpentry that summer- but that’s not why it was such a special year- that was Anna.”

“Who is Anna?” Lucca asked genuinely perplexed. He was still not getting where this story came from, and what woodworking had to do with some girl.

“Anna, oh she was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. The man I was working for invited me for drinks at his house after a particularly busy day. I was sitting on the couch drinking a glass of scotch when saw someone move at the top the stairs out of the corner of my eye. It was just a second, but when she began walking down the stairs I couldn’t tear my eyes away, she looked angelic.” Stopping to wipe his eyes Doc sighed in contentment.

When he hadn’t started speaking a minute later Lucca was starting to get impatient. “What happened? Did you ever see her again?”

“Oh, goodness yes. I saw her almost every day for fifty years. After that first night I asked her out the very next time I saw her. She had a boyfriend, but when true love strikes, that’s it. Her father wasn’t too pleased at first, but about a year later we got married.”

‘Wow, love at first sight, I thought that sort of thing only happened in movies and poetry. I wonder if I could ever meet someone and just know like that?’ Lucca quickly shook the idea out of his head. Life, especially his, was never that convenient.

“Thanks for the story, Doc. It sounds like your life had a great love in it.” Lucca smiled and wandered off to visit with other patients.

During lunch Lucca sat staring at his sandwich for a good ten minutes. He might have stayed thinking things over forever if Betty hadn’t plopped down next to him. She sat quietly for a moment before speaking, “Lucca, you’re a great boy. But, don’t take it too far, okay? It’s alright to lay your burdens down on someone else for a change.”

He nodded then leaned his head on her shoulder. With just those words his chest felt tight. Despite what Betty had said it seemed unfair to load his problems on someone who already had too many of their own.

Even though nothing passed between them Lucca still breathed out in relief. He had someone, and that was enough. They sat like that for a long time; silently Lucca thanked the world for knowing he needed someone. Eventually they both had to get back to their duties, but before Lucca could leave the warm room he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I almost forgot. Something to look forward to, there’s a new volunteer. I would have introduced the two of you last weekend if you weren’t feeling so sick. He’ll be here every Sunday from now on.” Betty grinned; it was rare to have a new volunteer at Grace Memorial. Most people looking to help out ended up as candy strippers at the county hospital instead.

The news actually did make Lucca happy. It would be nice to have more people care about the residents. Way too often family members wouldn’t even come to visit. Lucca could never get over how some people abandon their relatives only to show up on holidays, as if out of painful obligation.

After letting his mind wander a bit Lucca tuned back into what Betty was saying, “…you’re almost the same age. What do you think, won’t that be great?”

“Yeah, that’s neat. I’m glad to have more help.” Lucca left the room to spend the rest of the afternoon with residents. Not surprisingly nothing else said that day touched him as deeply as Betty’s comments had.

When Lucca got home that day he found his father writing furiously again in his study. Suddenly he felt the urge to be kind to his father. He wanted for the first time in awhile to have a real conversation with him.

“Hey Dad, I’m back,” Lucca said, leaning against the wall. His father looked up at him with a raised brow.

“Hey. I thought you’d wind up at Addie’s tonight, it’s Saturday.”

“Yeah,” Lucca said slowly, “I thought maybe we could eat together and catch up on things.”

His father frowned; he appeared to be thinking something over. “Really? I mean… yeah. That sounds amazing.”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can find to eat.” Lucca smiled and walked to the kitchen. After rummaging through the fridge for a while he wound up making omelets and toast for both of them. His father walked in just as everything was being assembled onto plates.

“That smells really good, thanks Lucca.” His father brought the plates over to the kitchen table then went to grab some coffee.

Dinner proved to be a great idea. They talked a lot about Lucca’s school year and his plans for college. His father also told him about a story he was writing for a financial magazine that required a ton of research. They talked over all sorts of things, but eventually landed on the topic of Robert, Lucca’s brother.

“Is Rob every coming for a visit?” Lucca asked.

“He’s been really busy at school, though honestly I think he’s a little hurt that you never call him, Lucca,” The way his father said it was serious, bordering slightly on stern.

“I know, it’s just…” Lucca wasn’t sure it was just anything. They had always been very close growing up. Rob was a supportive older brother, always helping Lucca with homework and indulging him by letting him hangout with his friends. Everything was different after their mother died though. For a whole year before Rob left for college they hardly spoke. Now, the time and distance between them made it impossible for Lucca to connect with him.

“Lucca…” There was definitely a warning tone in his voice this time.

“I’ll call him soon, I promise, okay?”

“See that you do. You’re brother really misses you, every time I get him on the phone all he does is ask questions about you. I can barely ever get information about what’s going on with him.” The good-natured personality his father had broke out again and he ruffled Lucca’s hair when he stood up. “I have to get back to work. I would love to talk more, but I have a deadline in two days. Maybe we can do dinner more often?”

“Sure, I’d like that,” Lucca answered with complete sincerity.

Later, back in his own room Lucca spread out on his bed. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed Matt’s number. After several rings the answering machine picked up and Lucca sighed ending the call. It was actually a relief not talking to him. Even though he wanted to apologize for acting so immaturely, Lucca didn’t know how he would go about doing that. ‘I can’t exactly bust out with something like: “I’ve liked you for years, so it’s hard being around you without letting my feelings out.” I wonder what his reaction would be to that? I hope when the time comes, I have something more eloquent to say.’

Lucca made one more quick call before going to bed. It was to his brother’s phone. Robert didn’t pick up, but this time Lucca decided to leave a message. “Robert, It’s Lucca. I’m sorry I haven’t called you. I don’t have an excuse really, other than I don’t know what to say. Come home to visit soon? I miss you.” Lucca thought about his relationship with his brother after disconnecting the phone. Somewhere in the midst of examining their relationship, his mind shut down and he fell asleep.

***

The next morning went by quickly and before he knew it Lucca was at Grace Memorial playing scrabble with Mr. Evans. He was just about to lay down a word on a triple-word score space when Betty interrupted.

“Lucca, remember when I mentioned that we have a new volunteer?” Lucca could tell Betty was bouncing with ecstatic energy even though she was across the room in the doorway.

He let out a small laugh and rolled his eyes before answering, “Of course I remember. You told me about it yesterday.”

“Oh hush,” Betty mock scolded, “you’re still going to show him around today, right?”

‘I was going to show him around today?’ Lucca wondered where that came from when he recalled the conversation from the day before and realized that must have come up when he was zoning out.

“Sure, that’s no problem.” Lucca gestured that she come into the room. Betty walked in with a familiar boy behind her. Lucca thought about it for a second and realized he knew him from school. He was a clean-cut, good-looking, guy with brown hair who played on the Lacrosse team. ‘What’s his name? Oh god, I should know that. I know he’s popular.’

Just then the boy stepped forward with a radiant smile and an extended hand. “Hi, I think I’ve seen you around school, right? I’m Jeremy, Jeremy Singer.”