Chapter 14
Gonzo sat patiently on the bench. He watched the clouds drift over the deep gray of the pond and the leaves pulled off from their branches, the wind ending their struggle to hold onto the pleasures that were summer and fade into fall.
Slowly he let out a sigh as he looked left and right. There was no sign of her.
“Jou, are entirely too early. In the ways of love, it be the girl who should wait on jou, hokay.”
“Part of the problem already is dat she was forced to wait on him. Don’t you know anything?”
“Hi guys.” Gonzo quietly said as Pepe and Rizzo plopped down on the bench beside him.
“But Gonzo, I do agree with the shrimp here.”
“King Prawn, I am a King Prawn, hokay?”
“Whatever, you are entirely too early.”
“I don’t want to miss her.”
“She said that jou should be here at two. Jou are here at one.”
“I know.”
“Gonzo, ol’ bud, did you ever think dat singing ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling’ to her was not the best way to get things started again.”
“Ya, jou should have started with something like this,” Pepe hopped down from the bench carefully placing himself in Gonzo’s line of sight and the middle of the walking path for all to see.
“Oh, no. Here he goes again.”
“How can I convince jou what jou see is real
Who am I to blame jou for doubting what jou feel
I was always reachin', jou were just a chic I knew
I took for granted the friend I have in jou”
“I already told you shrimp, dat’s not the song he should have sung.” Rizzo now hopped down from the bench and placed himself beside the now dancing Pepe in the middle of the path.
“The song dat you should have sung is by Chicago. And it goes like this.” Pepe paused a moment as Rizzo began his song.
“You know our love was meant to be
The kind of love dat lasts forever
And I need you here with me
From tonight until the end of time”
“Yo, everyone knows that Chicago is a city not known for its songs. Stick with this when she comes it will serve jou better.” Singing louder Pepe continued, “I was living for a dream, loving for a moment”
Each continued singing their old song at the same time, getting louder and louder as they went.
“You should know, everywhere I go”
”Taking on the world, that was just my style”
“You're always on my mind,
in my heart in my soul”
“Now I look into jour eyes”
“You're the meaning in my life
You're the inspiration”
”I can see forever, the search is over”
“You bring feeling to my life
You're the inspiration”
”You were with me all the while”
“Wanna have you near me
I wanna have you hear me sayin'
No one needs you more than I need you”
Both Rizzo and Pepe were fully into their routines now as Gonzo shook his head and spotted Camilla across the pond. Unnoticed, he got up walking away from the pair to meet her where they wouldn’t be overheard.
“Hi,” He said quietly as she looked down to the ground, embarrassed.
“Brawk,” she clucked, unsure of where to start. “What’s going on over there?” Camilla changed over to signing; wanting to make sure that it would be clear to Gonzo what she was saying.
“Oh, well,” Gonzo glanced over to see Rizzo now on his knees in front of one girl and Pepe sitting in the lap of her twin as they continued to sing their hearts out. “They were just trying out their next act on the show,” he replied at loss for words.
Slowly they walked along in silence, looking at the foliage on the trees, unable to believe that they had spent the past few months talking and yet avoiding the subject at hand. Now, it was all that was left standing between them.
“I guess the show last night was harder for you than I thought it would be.” Gonzo carefully looked Camilla in the eyes, “I guess I really don’t understand what it’s like for you. I didn’t spend as much time with Isabella as I could have.”
“Stop, Gonzo, just stop.” Camilla said turning to face him. “I’m the one who didn’t understand.”
“But you’re right…”
“No, no Gonzo. I’m not right, but I’m not wrong either. I just had no idea. I…”
They came back to the bench where Rizzo and Pepe were now sitting comfortably on with the twins facing the lake and took the backside looking out at the street.
“Gonzo, I had no idea how much you did to protect us. I didn’t know until last night that the public has never seen Isabella nor do they know how she passed away.”
He sat speechless for a moment then replied, “How did you find out?”
“I went to Everybody Eats when I ran out last night. Let’s just say I was awakened by a zealous group of fans.”
“Oh, them. Yea I hear they’ve been speculating on it for quite sometime.”
“How did you do it?”
“With help from all of our friends.”
“Gonzo?”
“Yes?”
“You do understand. I’m the one who didn’t.”
“Thanks.”
Camilla carefully scooted closer to Gonzo on the bench where he placed his arms around her.
“I’ve missed you,” she gently clucked to him, “I’ve missed this.”
“Yea,” Gonzo said with a sigh as he looked into her eyes leaning down to kiss her. When the kiss ended they sat with their heads together until a shout pierced through the air.
“Hey, come back now! Jou know I didn’t mean it!”
“Dat’s right, you know that he didn’t mean it”
They heard two slaps echo through the park as they turned around to see the girls stomp away. Rizzo and Pepe jumped back into the middle of the path, singing at the top of their lungs.
“I was living for a dream, loving for a moment”
“You should know, everywhere I go”
”Taking on the world, that was just my style”
“You're always on my mind,
in my heart in my soul”
“Now I look into jour eyes”
“You're the meaning in my life
You're the inspiration”
”I can see forever, the search is over”
“You bring feeling to my life
You're the inspiration”
”You were with me all the while”
“Wanna have you near me
I wanna have you hear me sayin'
No one needs you more than I need you”