Chapter 5

The station wagon pulls up in front of Bradleigh's house at 2:30 am.  One by one, they all pile out to tell her goodbye, giving her hugs before they flee the scene.  Jon is left roadside with her.  His guitar case at their feet in the grass.  Bradleigh can see that Jon is tired, his hair is still damp from the show.  "Did you have a good time?"  Jon asks her, looking at her lips.  "What did you really think?"

"I think you guys were amazing."

"Really?" He asks her with a hint of shock in his voice.

"Yeah Jon, I think you guys were good."  She answers, trying not to sound like a freak.  "You guys give a great show."

"We try."

"Keep doing what you're doing, and I'm sure you guys will go far."  Bradleigh tells him, having no idea what their plans are as a band, or as men for that matter.

"Wanna come over and have a beer?  Maybe we can catch a movie on HBO?"  He has to look away from her.  He's fearing she may reject him.

Bradleigh turns around and looks up at her house.  The only light on is the porch light and she knows her dad left that on for her.  She thinks for a moment, "Sure.  Why not?"  She gives a shrug of the shoulders, "one beer though."  She's not much of a drinker, and she's never caved into peer pressure, but she thought that one beer with just Jon might not be a bad idea.

Jon reaches down and picks up the guitar case, on his way back up, he leans in and quickly kisses her on the lips.  "I've been wanting to do that since the day I met you."  He admits, head hung a little low.  "If that upset you, I'm sorry but I had to get it out of the way."

Bradleigh blushes, even as she reaches up and lightly brushes his cheek, "That's fine Jon.  I've kinda wanted you to do it."

He grabs her hand and leads her across the street, diagonally to his house.   As they get closer, they can see there is one light on, in the kitchen.  "Ma must be up."  Bradleigh stops in her tracks.  Jon looks at her, "What's the matter?"

"If your mom is up, maybe I should go home?"

"Oh, no.  You're meeting ma."  he tugs her arm, leading her toward the house.  "She's going to love you."

"Jon." Bradleigh slightly resists, "Maybe it's too late?"

He ignores her and pulls a little harder.  Before she knows it, she's walking in the front door.

"MA!"  Jon calls out, leading Bradleigh through the living room into the kitchen, stopping half way to off load his guitar.  As they round the corner into the kitchen, that's where she meets Carol for the first time.  "Ma, this is Bradleigh from across the street."

Bradleigh steps forward with a smile on her face, "Good evening, ma'am, how are you?"  she extends her hand to properly greet Mrs. Bongiovi.

"I'm good dear, how are you?"  Carol stands to greet Bradleigh.  The women shake hands and Mrs. B takes her seat again, "How was the show, Jonny?"

Jon nods, peeling off his jacket, "It was good.  It was real good."  He hangs his coat in the back of a chair and pulls it out for Bradleigh.  "Have a seat."  Jon tells her.

As instructed, Bradleigh takes a seat, feeling a little nervous for some reason.  She looks around the kitchen, into the living room and sees that Jon lives a very modest, yet priveledged lifestyle.  Jon hands Bradleigh a beer and she takes it, one small sip.

Carol sits back in her chair, crosses her legs and asks, "You're the girls that just moved into the Parsons place, aren't you?"

Bradleigh nods her head, "I am.  Me, my brother and my father."

"I met your father tonight."  Carol confesses, "He was cutting the grass, so John and I went over there to welcome you to the neighborhood."  Bradleigh can only smile, she has no idea what to say to that.  "Where's your mother?" she candidly asks.

Bradleigh was mid sip when she heard those words.  That was a question she didn't get asked very often.  "My mother passed when I was 12." 

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry.  I had no idea."  Carol is feeling like she had just put her foot in her mouth.  Jon took a seat at the table with the two of them.  He gives his mom a look, but that doesn't phase Carol.  "How did she pass?"

"Car accident."  Bradleigh responds, just before she takes another drink of the cold beer.  "She was hit by a drunk driver."  

There is an awkward silence between the three of them.  Bradleigh finally slides her foot over to Jon's, getting his attention.  He finally breaks the silence and tells his mom, "We're going to go watch a movie."  He stands up and pushes in his chair, "I'll see you in the morning ma."  He walks over and kisses her ont he top of his head.  Bradleigh gets up and takes care of her chair.

"It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Bongiovi."

"Likewise, Bradleigh.  Don't be a stranger."

Jon and Bradleigh head for the basement, Bradleigh feeling relieved that that was over.  Jon flips on a light that leads down the hallway to the furnished half of the basement.  "Sorry about that."  He chuckles, looking back at her, "She went easy on you."

"Why's that?" Bradleigh questions.  "Easy on me?  That was intense."

"Any time a pretty girl steps foot on this property, whether it be for me or my brothers, the Spanish Inquistion starts."

"I don't know if I could have handled that." Bradleigh takes a seat on the couch that slightly furnished what looked like a teen hangout to her.  The room was dark.  It housed a TV, TV stand, a couch, a chair, a coffee table and a bunch of musical and recording equipment.  

"Excuse the mess."  he says, picking up a tshirt off the floor.  As he stands up, he flips that long hair of his and he adds, "Can I get you anything?"

Bradleigh gestures toward him with her beer, "No, I'm good."

Jon turns on the TV and grabs the corded cable box.  With his finger, he slides the channel over to A and asks her, "What do you want to watch?"

"I don't care."

"A movie?"

"I don't care.  Are you sure you don't want me to go?  You have to be tired." Bradleigh can only imagine how exhausted he must be.  They played a long set in a hot club, that had to be draining.  She turns to face him.

"I'm good.  What do you want to watch?"

"You pick."  They go back and forth for a few more minutes as Jon clicks one channel at a time.  He stops on HBO and the Godfather happened to be on.  "Oh yeah, let's watch this."

Bradleigh and Jon settled in on the couch, on each end - leaning toward the center.  Bradleigh sipped her beer, not really feeling like drinking.  Jon had finished his almost as soon as they reached the basement.  They lounged on the couch and watched the movie, having casual conversation.

"What did you do for fun in Rhode Island?" he whispers to her.

Bradleigh looks up at him, "There wasn't much to do there."

Chapter 4

The 8 of them piled into Tico's station wagon, along with all of their gear was a sight to see, but it worked. Bradleigh waves to her dad as she climbs into the center of the front seat, "Don't wait up."  She smiles at the man standing in the right of way, arms crossed over his chest, ball cap slightly off kilter, "I'll be home when they're done dad."

"I'll leave the door unlocked Brad, please be careful "  Her dad responds.

" I will daddy."

"I'll take good care of her."  Jon reaches over and shakes Bradleigh's dad's hand.  "We'll be at the Stone Pony if you're not doing anything later."

Brad gives Jon a chuckle, "You kids go, have fun."

They leave and make their way down to Asbury Park.  They shared laughs, dreams, cigarettes and beer as they ventured south.  Four packed in the front seat and four packed in the center seat, they were on there way to a night sure to create memories.

With a tap on her shoulder, Brad looks back and sees David leaning up to talk to her, "Ya know, it's hard to call a girl by a guys name."

"I was named after my dad."

"We figured that out, but why don't people call you Leigh?" He asks, seemingly confused by that namesake.

"I've been Brad as long as I can remember."

"I like Leigh, you don't look like a Brad."  David tells her, "All the Brad's I know, with the exception of you and your dad are assholes."

"We are too , wait, you'll see." 

"It is an odd name for a girl."  Richie adds his five cents.  "Dave is right, Leigh is better."

"My name is Brad."  She turns and looks over her other shoulder at Richie, who's fidgeting with his pick case.  

"I'm calling you Leigh." He says to her, laughing.

"I'll ignore you." She states, distracted by the tap on her leg.  She looks over at Tico, who tapped her to get her attention.  

He winks, "Pay them no attention, they get like this before a gig.  They nitpick until there nerves calm."

Bradleigh smiles at Tico, "They're fine.  They're asking me a question I get asked often."

This time Alec joins in, "Were your parents hoping for another boy?"

"NO." She flatly responds.  "My name was going to be Bradley/Bradleigh regardless of my gender."

That conversation went on and on, along with several other silly topics.  The ride didn't take too long as it was the middle of the day.  

When they arrive at the Pony, they start load in.  The crowd had started to arrive and the mood was being set.  One by one, road cases were being wheeled in, guitars were taken in two by two.  

Once the front of the house sound guy arrived, they were able to plug in and start tuning.  Little by little, tweet by tweek they found their desired sound and rehearsed their biggest hit to date, Runaway.   

A few more songs rehearsed and the set list is set. 

They retire to the small room that was back stage for the talent and begin to dress.  

Bradleigh tries to stay out of the way.  With 5 band members, nervous, a hairdresser and a guitar tech - there isn't much room for her.  So, she grabs her bag and makes her way to the bar.  She was seen doing load in with the guys, so the bartender knows that she's with the band.  "What can I get you, you sweet thing?"

"Excuse me?"  She barks back, having never been asked that question.  

"What can I get you to drink?' he drops a cocktail napkin down in front of her.

"Bud, please." She gives a crooked smile, feeling like an ass because he was just trying to be polite.

Bradleigh sits there and drinks her beer as she waits for the show to start.  She can see the crowd growing, the line against the building and down the street.  As she's lost in her thoughts, the bartender reappears, "I haven't seen you with the guys before, who's flavor of the week are you?"

"I'm not anyone's flavor of the week." 

"Well, you will be.  They don't bring chick's to these gigs for nothing."

"Meaning?" 

The bartender points to the fans outside, "They don't drag anyone with them to shows, when they can have their pick from the many outside.  Who brought you here?" He explains, knowing what he's talking about.  "My guess is Richie."

"Jon invited me." She states, with a smirk.

"Bullshit.  He'd never drag a piece of ass with him."

Bradleigh is almost in a state of shock.  She's hung out with Jon and the band and she's never gotten the impression that any of them are the way that he's describing - especially Jon.  "I'm his neighbor."

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Bradleigh stayed at the bar and ignored the bartender.   When it was time to open the doors, it was then that she seen just how big this band was going to become.  Girls, scantily clad with big hair and loud makeup bum  rushed the stage area.  It wasn't a big place, and they had to use corral fence to keep the fans at a safe distance from the band.  She sat and watched the madness unfold and was happy to have her back row seat.

The lights dim and the band is announced.  Tico, Dave, Richie and Alec all took their places and began to play the first few cords of Silent Night.  When Jon appeared, the crowd surged and rocked with Bon Jovi for a great 90 minute set.  

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Show is over and they rush off the makeshift stage, back to the area that they got dressed before the show.  They all high five one another and share their highlights of the show.  Jon looks around and doesn't see Bradleigh.  "Has anyone seen Brad?" He asks, wiping the sweat from his face. 

"She was at the bar." Tico tells him, doing the same thing - wiping the sweat from his face.  

Jon goes to the door and asks the guard, "Can you go get the cute blonde from the bar?  She's in a flower dress."

"A groupie?"  The guard asks?

"No, she'll stand out.  You can't miss her."

The security guard does as he's asked and retrieves Bradleigh for Jon.  When she enters the backstage area, he asks her from his chair.  "What did you think?"