Green Grass and High Tides

While the paint inside was drying and the acrid fumes wafted to and fro, Bianca, Jimmy, and I sat outside on a bench near a Weeping Willow in the front yard. The gates were closed and had been since newspapers had reported Jimmy's purchase and had made the mistake of giving out the lot name. Ever since, the toll booth out front was no longer vacant; it was necessarily in use by a guard and it had already stopped several fans from entering or scaling the fence.

It was obvious Jimmy felt uncomfortable living in such an extravagant place. He pulled petals off a Cosmo awkwardly, Jack Daniels bottle in hand, antsy because he wanted to do something other than sit and wait. As hard as it was to believe, there was nothing to do at the moment. We couldn't leave the property because we were waiting for Bonzo to show, and we couldn't enter the house. We'd already explored the acreage (and what a magnificent acreage it was, with a pond in the far east of the lot!), so that was out of the question.

Bianca sat in the grass next to Jimmy who sat beside me on the bench, telling him the story about how she and I ended up at a Rolling Stones concert some years back. But Jimmy wasn't listening; a brown car pulled into the gate and hollered something to the toll guard who let him in.

Jimmy stood and Bianca scouched backward. I stretched out on the bench and Jimmy looked back at me. "Bonzo's here to start a garden out back," he explained. "I've never met a Green Thumb like him before, quite honestly." He began walking toward the car now parked on the gravel drive. Bonzo exited the car and both Bianca and I resisted the urge to run over and beg for an autograph.

"Hallo!" Jimmy called as Bonzo made his was toward Jimmy.

"Hiya, Pagey," Bonzo greeted once he got to his friend. They hugged and a few droplets of Jack dropped to the ground with the motion.

Bonzo wore tan chinos (khakis) and western-style boots. His brown chest hair was unattractively sticking out of his half-buttoned geometric-patterned dress shirt. He had a moustache that looked like he had tried to manage it, but couldn't. His brown hair was, surprisingly, longer than Jimmy's and had been decorated with a red paisley bandanna around his forehead. "God awful day, eh?" he remarked, looking up at the sky.

Although Bonzo had worn such (typically) nice clothes, he seemed a lot more casually dressed than Jimmy, who stood comfortable-- for once-- next to his best mate in a white tee, a navy cardigan, and flare denim jeans.

"Tad over-dressed for a garden, are we?" Jimmy observed, eyebrows raised and a humorous smile on his face.

"Pat and I had taken Zoe and Jason out to dinner while they were in town," Bonzo replied. "I've got a spare set in the boot." Bonzo glanced over at Bianca and I. "Groupies?"

"No," Jimmy corrected. He pointed to Bianca, "That's my girlfriend, Bianca--" he pointed to me, "and that's Jenni, Bianca's friend. She's a fan."

My heart jumped when he had said that Bianca was his girlfriend; I wasn't jealous, but it was surprising to me. I had never heard that they were an item before, and it made me furious to know they hadn't told me they were.

Jimmy and Bonzo walked to Bonzo's car and opened the trunk, all the while discussing music. I lost track of them as I turned to Bianca, who was the brightest shade of rouge I had ever seen. She cleared her throat and hid her face so I couldn't see her giggles.

"Since when have you been Jim-Jam's girlfriend?" I asked, hiding the bubbling angst in my voice but failing miserably.

"Since when do you call him Jim-Jam?" she asked, curious and obviously fretting. "I thought you didn't like him? Nick-names are a sign of friendship."

"I figured that-- considering I'll be living with the bloke for a few months or even years-- I may as well get on with him. No need for hate in this stone palace. Not to mention, it's a story that my grand kids would love! Could you imagine? A grandmother or even a mother who had lived with the Jimmy Page? It's unbelievable!"

"I suppose," Bianca sighed. She laid back in the grass and stared up at the gray sky and the Weeping Willow. "I didn't even know we were together until he said that. I mean, we did it, but I figured it was just because we were so close, you know?"

More anger bubbled in the deepest pit of my stomach. I sat straight up on the bench. "You shagged Jimmy Page? You're fucking joking! You've got to be."

Bianca gaped at the tree's leaves for some time and bent her knees. "Happened maybe two nights ago. I had asked him to help me move my bed and build that bookshelf I got. Well, we only got half-way through moving the bed."

"Where was I?" I asked.

"I believe Cynthia Peele came by and you two went shopping for furniture," Bianca replied. "I didn't even think you two were still close."

I nodded, remembering shopping with Cyn. My heart rate increased and I scowled down at her. "So if you and Jimmy get in a row, we'll have no where to live? Smart thinking, B!"

Before Bianca could retort, the boys returned with gloves and shovels that Bonzo had brought. "I love this place," Bonzo remarked, looking around to get a 360 view. "Beautiful yard. How many rooms did you say she has?"

"Ten," Jimmy replied. "Plus a whole third floor that I'm set up as a sound studio."

"Blimey!" Bonzo exclaimed. "I could live here!" He chuckled.

"Then why don't you?" I asked.

Jimmy shot me a curious look, his handsome facial features more visible with his hair pulled behind his ears. He gave a wide smile to me and faced Bonzo. "John, do you want to live here? You and Pat?"

Bonzo's eyes widened and he smiled at the three of us. "Where do I sign!"

I smiled up at Jimmy. "Maybe Robert and JPJ could live here, too! Lets see... that leaves four spare bedrooms for guests. Oh! Jeff Beck could live with us, too!"

"Let's not get carried away," Jimmy said. He was hardpressed to give up his house to a bunch of people, but he compromised with, "Robbie, Jonesy, and Maureen can live here, but as for Becky, he's pretty content with where he's at now."

I grinned at Bianca and she could tell what I was trying to express. I'm going to live with Led Zeppelin!