ROCK U SAFELY

An opening in the back wall snagged my attention. I wandered across the room to have a look.

Showers.

What a beautiful sight. There were six individual shower heads spaced out along the walls. The temptation to wash off the sweat and grime of travel and sleeping in my car for the past several days was too great to resist.

I knew I had to smell despite the fact I used the sinks in gas station bathrooms to wash off at least twice a day. My long hair was windblown into a snarled mess and felt nasty.

It would be nice to look clean and tidy the first time I saw my half-sister in nearly five years. I could still hear the bass beat of the music despite the buildings thick walls, so I knew the famous band, ROCK U, was still performing.

Seeing a bottle of shampoo on one of the built-in shelves decided it. I stepped out of my flip-flops and hurried over to the shower with the shampoo.

The first stream of water to hit my head was down right cold but refreshing after the sweltering heat outside. It was well past dark but probably still in the upper 70s. I adjusted the knobs to slowly make the water warmer then closed my eyes and just let it rain down over me.

I bask in the glory of getting my whole body wet for the first time in a week. Several long minutes passed with me just letting the water pour over me before I grabbed the shampoo and started working a generous amount through my mess of hair.

I laughed out loud at the wasteful decadence of actually washing and rinsing my hair multiple times. When it squeaked between my fingers, I squeezed out some of the water then twisted it into a knot on top of my head. There was no sign of soap or body wash on any of the shelves in the shower room, so I kept using the shampoo. I hadn’t bothered to remove my clothes as they needed a good washing too.

I had my soapy hands under my blouse scrubbing vigorously when a deep male voice snapped me right out of my euphoria.

“Wouldn’t that work better without the clothes?”

A scream ripped from my throat as my eyes snapped open and I stared at the man now blocking the only exit from the showers.

“Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to interrupt. I just came back for my extra guitar picks and heard the shower going.”

I recognized him from the internet. His name was Jeff. He played guitar in the Rock U band. He’d also appeared in some pictures with Kate, err Babydoll. Usually, they were both laughing.

Paralysis gripped my entire body so that I couldn’t move or speak. It didn’t much matter though since my brain didn’t offer up a single response.

His eyes were locked unblinking on me, and suddenly it occurred to me that I was standing before this stranger with my hands on my breasts and that the wet blouse and long skirt were soaked and plastered to my body.

I broke free from the paralysis enough to jerk my hands out from under the shirt and cross my arms over my chest.

He stirred and blinked finally. Gave his head a little shake as a smile spread over his face. “Well, I better get back on stage. Tommy’s solo will be over soon.”

He took a step back, but still, his gaze was locked on me. “Maybe I’ll see you later?”

I still couldn’t find my voice.

He took another step back, and his eyes released me as he started to turn. “Wait,” he came back to the doorway, “You aren’t going to steal anything are you?”

The heat of embarrassment washed over me, and guilty tears stung my eyes. “I-I used somebody’s shampoo.” My voice sounded strange to me when it finally came, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t spoken to anyone in a couple of days.

“Shampoo?” A wide smile spread across his face. “I was more worried about my debit card.”

I gasped. “I would never—“

He laughed. “Sorry, some girls want more than a good time when they show up like this.”

“I just wanted to get cleaned up before I—“

“Okay then.”

“Jeff! Where are you?” a man I couldn’t see yelled.

“Coming,” he shouted back looking over his shoulder at someone.

I unfroze enough to move over to the far corner of the room where it would be harder for someone else to see me.

“My bag is the green one. Baby bought it for me to match my eyes,” he said with a laugh. “You use anything in there you need, brush, towel, whatever.”

A moment later he was gone. I waited another minute wondering if the other man I’d heard was still out there. I tiptoed to the doorway and peeked out. The other room was empty.

I spotted the green bag right away. Kate had bought it for him. I felt a shaft of warmth in my chest. Jeff must be a nice man if Kate, err Babydoll, liked him well enough to give him a gift.

I reminded myself again that I needed to start thinking of Kate as Babydoll because she’d taken on a whole new identity since joining the Rock U band on tour nearly a year ago.

After promising myself I’d find some way to repay Jeff’s generosity, I looked in his bag. Toothpaste, a razor, shaving cream, and two big fluffy towels. I didn’t waste any more time.

About an hour later I was redressed in my clean blouse and skirt. They were only a little damp when I heard several voices approaching.

Thanks to the hair products in Jeff’s bag I had tamed my wild mane of waist length hair into spiral curls framing my face and hanging down my back. I was as spiffed up as I could be and ready to see my sister once again.

The door opened. My heart gave a sort of jolt then pounded madly. Jeff walked in first, then Kate. She was looking over her shoulder at a tall blonde man behind her and laughing.

Laughing! It was a sound I’d only heard a couple of times from her in all our childhood years.

I was so happy for her, I burst into tears and darted back into the shower area.