Chapter 4

Aj looked at her and sipped his coke trying not to make rude noises. He placed his
hands around his coke playing with it nervously as though there was a
connection being made that he was scared of. He looked out the window and watched the trees fly by and the sun slowly set.

"You got a girlfriend?" Lynn inquired, trying desperately to fill the awkward
silence between the two of them.

He shook his head and his chains rattled with his movement. He
looked at her smiling,"It's kinda hard to do on the road. Most people think it's just a matter of calling each other, but when you don't have physical affection it blows. I mean I need a hug every now and then," he said looking
out the window once again clinging his rings against the thin metal of his
coke can. "What about you?" he looked at her with glistening eyes. "Do you
have a special somebody?"

"Yeah, I do."

Aj's lip slightly lowered to a fake grin. He looked at her trying not to show his sadness
and puts his hand on hers. His smile widened and he wrigled in his seat acting excided to hearsomething about it, "who is it?"

Lynn pulled a small, wallet-sized formal picture out of her pocket of her and
boyfriend Paul, then handed it to AJ. "Paul Johnson."

Aj took the picture and leant toward the window as if he was getting better light. He
raised his eyesbrows. "Niiiccee.... that must be really hard," he said
handing her the picture.

"Yeah, between him going to college and me wanting to
pursue my dancing career it's kinda rough sometimes. We make it work though."

Aj lifted his pelvis off the booth seat and reached into his back
pocket getting his
wallet and flipped to a picture that was obviously cut to fit in his
wallet. He handed Lynn a picture of
a brunnet girl with arms wrapped around Aj; both smiling. "That was my
girl," he said. "She left me,"
he said rubbing his eyes under his sunglasses.

"Why?"

"More physical attraction. We couldn't be with each other enough.
We've been awayfrom each other now a couple weeks and everday it gets better and better but its still rough on both of us. We talk on the phone once and a while and she says she's doing good and stuff, but if you everneed to talk to someone about it, just come to any of us, we know what you're going through."
He folded ther pictures back up and slid them into his back
pocket just as Nick
popped up behind the seat of Lynn's.

"Hey guys whatcha doin' ?" he said like an eager child.


Totally ignoring Nick, Lynn continued to question AJ about
his ex. "How long were you two together?"

Nick looked at Aj and then at Lynn, "Oh geeze here it comes," he said running off
towards the back of the bus.

Aj shock his head, "he's so queer. Pay no attention to him," he said
proceeding to answer her question. "Well we weren't really TOGETHER," he
emphasized, "we were just really good friends," he paused and silence filled the room. He
looked at Lynn, "that was
right after I lost my one and only love," tears filled his eyes.

"Wait..I don't really understand. How--" Before she could
say another
word, Howie motioned for her to come over to him for a minute. "I'll be
right back."

Lynn hopped over the back of the booth looking back at Aj as his
head slowly
slumped onto the table. She looked at Howie, "whats up?"

"That wasn't exactly the brightest question you could've asked AJ." He said
solemnly.
"I'm sorry... what's going on? He just got all upset on me. Did something happen?" She
said putting her hand up on his bunk hiding her mouth from Aj as if he was
actually looking. Apuzzled look came on her face and she watched Howie.
"Please tell me whatts going on," she said looking back at Aj
once again seeing that he was breathing more heavily.

"That story he told you...about his ex-girlfriend..well, that was basically just
a lie."
SaLSa1652: She raised and eyebrow. "Who was that then?"
"That picture was of AJ and his ex, Teresa. She didn't
leave him, she wasbrutally murdered about a year ago."

Lynn's heart came up in her throat and she could hear Aj sobbing.
Her mouth droppedopen and looked at Howie. "Did they ever find the killer or anything?" she said trying to swallow.

"Amanda Latona, his girlfriend prior to Teresa. Nick had a part in it too.
Supposedly he helped her drag the body through AJ's house upstairs to the
bathtub. That's where AJ found T. In a bathtub full of bloodsoaked water, bruised and beaten with her wrists and throatslit. Manda tried to frame AJ for her death as an act of revenge."
Tears came to Lynn's eyes hearing about the succes of death which seems impossible
to her simple mind. He stopped as the room filled with silence, Aj's sobbs
wer heard and her heartbeating out of her chest. The world moved in slow motion and she blinked making eye contact withHowie, who too, had stopped.

"Manda's dead."
Lynn shock her head back and forth quickly trying to soak in the information given to
her. "Whoa whoa whoa," she said putting her hand to her head, "and Aj can
live in the same bus
with Nick?"
"Well, I don't think Nick really knew what he was doing considering that
Manda had to beg and plead with him before he'd have anything to do with the
idea. He liked Teresa. Hell he had a thing for her before she started seeing AJ. I
seriously doubt he really wanted to kill her. Probably just another victim of Manda's web of lies and deception."

Lynn looked at Howie. "Wow, I had no idea. That is horrible. How did Aj get overit?"
Howie looked at Aj, "He's not over it."
Lynn stepped back and thought about the situation.

The bus came to a slow hault and
she sat down on the booth closest to Howie. The bus driver got up, "Hey
guys, come get da grub,"he said in a thick New York accent. Aj lifted his head and shot for the door. Lynn watched Sally walk by her and head out the door. Howie followed who was shoved aside by Nick. Howie laughed and pilled out after them. Lynn was left to sit on the booth with Kevin who had fallen asleep in his bunk. Lynn made her way into the McDonalds Nick and Howie shoved and pushed each other all the way to the
door and Lynncould see Sally rubbing Ajs shoulders in line. He began talking to the
cashier and Sally then stepped up. Brian slinked out of the bus behind Lynn. She was startled when he reached out from behind her to hold the door. The silence of the night was peirced with the noise of the racket of thMcDonalds. She went and stood behind Howie who kindly let her go ahead of them. "Ladies first,"
he said holding Nick back who complained about being hungry and sex didn't
have anything to dowith it. Howie hit him and he pouted quietly. Lynn ordered a McSalad
Shake-Up and found Ajsitting in a corner. She pushed her try next to his,

"Wanna talk?" she said looking at him opening his
ketchup packets. He shrugged.
)
"Howie told me about what happened." She said quietly.
He nodded not making eye contact with her and shoving a handful of fries into his
mouth.
"I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have even said anything.."
"Don't be, how would you've known?" he looked at her picking up his sandwhich and smiling. "It's alright."
"How can you even deal with Nick after that?"

"I can't," he said with a mouthful smiling at her. "Well, I mean, I can," he said
contradicting himself. "It's just... you had to know Manda. She was one of
those people who cancontrol you.... it's horrible" he paused.
Aj looked over at Nick, out of the corner of his eye, who was
attempting to put hotfrench fries up Howie's nose. He shock his head and dropped his sandwhich on the table taking a drink

Lynn frowned at the fact that the subject was upsetting AJ so much. "How
the hell can you eat that stuff?"

Aj smiled in his drink and shrugged. He looked at Sally who
plopped down next tohim with ice cream cone in hand.

"Whatcha guys talking about?" she asked smiling at Lynn.

"Stuff." Lynn stated.

Sally nodded her head and Aj put his arm around her pulling a 20
dollar bill out of hispocket, "Go pick me up one of them things babe," he said smiling.

Sally got up and walked to the counter looking for a cashier.

Lynn just shook her head and laughed. "What was that bullshit you fed me
about you not liking Sally again?"

AJ smiled at her and quickly wiped it away. He looked at Sally and smiled again
waving at her, "Hell no, I just wanted her to get out of here," he said through his teeth laughing alittle.

"You know, you keep fakin' liking her like that and it's gonna get yousomewhere you don't wanna be."
He continued to eat his fries, "Yeah I know," he said through a mouth full, "but shes the
type of girl you can just wipe off your shoulder ya know?"
"You'd know better than I would." She said, finally starting to eat some ofher salad.

He laughed watching Sally come back and sitting next to him,
"here ya go," she said handing it to him.

"Thanks babe," he remarked looking at Lynn. Sally got up and trotted to the
bathroom watching her hips move back and forth. He shock his head at himself and placed the icecream cone on the table.

"Whatcha lookin at me for?" She said as she was about to stuff a forkfull ofsalad in her mouth.
He shrugged and smiled. "Nothing in particular. Can I look at
you?" he asked stuffinghis face with a whopper.

"I guess." She said as her face turned a light shade of
pink.
Howie walked by Aj and Lynn and tapped him on the shoulder, "lets
go we gottamake it there by morning," he said holding his fries away from Nick. Aj
stood up and picked up his tray. He was barely finished with his food. He walked over to the trash can with Lynn following him
and looked at trash can. He stopped chewing, looked at the cashier, looked
at the trash can, and
then at his tray. He looked at the cashier once again, and down at his tray.
He flung the door openand sprinted with his tray to the tour bus. Howie and Nick laughed as Brian pushed Lynn along.

"Let's go!"
As Brian slowly jogged behind Lynn to the tour bus he explained,
"we collect trays from all the McDonalds we go to when we stop. Aj's always the one to steal them," he laughedopening the tour bus door for her.

Sally sprinted up behind them and Brian let her slip in. "Sorry guys, I was in the
bathroom," she said looking at Nick and Brian as she climbed up the stairs
behind Lynn.

"Shoulda left you there." Howie joked.
Brian glared at Howie. "That was low, D."

Sally gve him the evil eye, "thanks" she remarked back licking
her ice cream cone and sitting down on his lap. Howie smiled at Nick and winked at him. Howie wrapped his arms around Sally's waist and she smiled at him standing up and walking to the back of the bus.

Kevin dragged himself to the front of the bus as it mad a slow start and trugged down
the empty highway.

"What's going on guys?"
Aj sat at a booth still eating where Nick went to the back after Sally and Howie sat in
a seat near the kitchen table reading a book and laughing with Brian.

"Sally almost got left in the bathroom." Howie laughed.

He laughed and stopped next to Aj and looked down at the tray, "Jesus, do you guysever stop?" and Aj shook his eating his fries. Kevin put his hand near Ajs french fries and Aj hit himhard shoving him away from his tray. Kevin laughed and walked to the fridge.

Feeling a little out of place, Lynn just headed towards the back of the busand sat down in the last seat. Sally came out of the bathroom in her pajama's that were covered
in clouds and aspaghetti strap tank top. She stopped and looked at Lynn giving her a caring
look and hopped on
the seat placing her back against the window,

"Do you hate me?" Sally asked randomly.
"Nah."
"You seem like you do. I really hope you don't, cause I mean, I really like you. I think
we just need some time to get to know each other, ya know," she smiled. "I'm
really not as much ofan air head as you think." She laughed at herself playing with her fingers and bringing her kneestowards her chest. "You and Aj seem to be hitting it off."

"What makes you say that?"

Sally sat up, "HELLO!?!?!" she yelled, "don't you see the sparks? I can see it from a mile away. You two are SOOO meant to be. I mean the way you two look at each
other," shepaused. "But hey, if not, then I guess not."
She looked at her feet relaxing again from her sudden out burst.
"I heard Aj had a really hard break up though... well not really a break up, but lets not get into it."
"I think I kinda pissed him off by bringing up the girlfriend thing."

She shrugged, "I doubt it. I just think he's really upset about
it. It has nothing to do with you."

"Well, it didn't help when I brought up the subject of my boyfriend."

"He just needs a friend you know? Somebody to give him a hug once
was talking with Howie and he said it's been really rough on Aj lately"

""Howie ended up pulling me off to the side and telling me the whole story
about what went down between AJ and his ex. I felt horrible for even saying anything after that. AJ was all crying and shit."

Sally made a puppy face, "Awe, that's so sweet. But don't feel
bad hun, I'm sure hedoes it with everyone."

Howie called from the kitchen, "Sally come 'ere babe!" and Sally wiggled her way out of the booth. "Well hun, I'll talk to you later, oh, and don't beat yourself up over this," she said walking away.