Nothing Else Matters by Leslie Dubois Read Free Book Online

wasted." He looked on Reyna's nightstand and noticed the ball from the final out of his no-hitter last baseball season. Sam wanted to frame it and save it for when he became famous. She figured that it might be worth a few thousand dollars on eBay one day. Instead, Scott told her it was lost and then gave it to Reyna on her birthday. He picked it up and read what he wrote to her: May La Cienega smile every day of your life. "I thought we could hang tonight," he said after returning the ball to the nightstand.
    Reyna closed her book and turned around. "What did you have in mind?" For some reason, that question made her acutely aware that she only wore a short flimsy nightgown and that Scott stared at her as if looking straight through it. She grabbed her robe off the foot of the bed and quickly flung it on.
    "Um," he said, shaking his head probably to clear his mind of the dirty thought he was having about his best friend. "I thought we could go downtown and see a band or something."
    "Can I drive your convertible?" she asked with a hopeful smile.
    "No, no, no! You are the worst driver ever."
    "Please, Scottie." Reyna sat next to him on the bed and folded her feet under her. She gave her best puppy dog expression while batting her eyes. "I promise I won't do more than ten over the speed limit," she added jokingly.
    ***
      I couldn't believe I was letting her drive my precious car. Sam bought it for me after the Sports Illustrated article. It wasn't even six months old. It wasn't that Reyna was a bad driver, it's just that she whipped that little Volkswagen around in ways that you couldn’t do with a convertible Mustang. Every time she drove it, I just held my breath. I couldn’t imagine what Sam would do to me if I crashed the car. And if she found out Reyna did it, she might implode.
      I went downstairs while Reyna got dressed and ran into her dad.
      "Hey, Scott. How are you, son?" he said as he gave me a hug.
      "I'm fine Mr. Lewis," I said, sitting down at the dining room table with him.
      "Can I get you anything to eat?"
      "No, we'll probably grab something downtown."
      "Oh, okay. Well, don't stay out too late. I really want Reyna to get some sleep. You know how she is. She pushes herself all day long, then worries about things she can't control all night long."
      "Yeah, I know." And I did know. Reyna had suffered from insomnia for years. I wondered why she couldn't find something in those medical books to cure herself.
      A few minutes later, we stood in front of the Music Farm, a popular Charleston music venue that featured bands of every genre. We often went there on the weekends and sometimes even weekdays. We didn't even care what was playing. We just liked to hang out together.
    "Damn, Joel's not working the door," Reyna said after scoping out the entrance.
    "Can we get in without him?"
    "Doubtful." She took in a deep breath and puffed out her cheeks while she evaluated the situation.
    "What if I offer him an autographed copy of my SI article?"
    Reyna looked at me incredulously. "Do you see that guy? White guys with dreads probably don't watch football. I bet he has no idea who you are."
    "So what do you propose we do?"
    "Wait here. I'll take care of it." Reyna strode confidently to the wannabe Rastafarian and struck up a conversation with him. Within seconds they were both laughing like old friends. Five minutes later she returned and said, "We're in. Let's go." She had even managed to get us wrist bands that showed we were over 21. The girl was good.
    As soon as we entered, Reyna made her way to the center of the floor and started bopping around to the music. She had no idea who or what was playing, but she acted like it was her favorite song of all time. I looked around at the signs on the wall and saw that it was a band called Ryan Adams and the Cardinals.
    I walked to the bar, bought a beer then leaned against the wall and watched as Reyna slowly turned into the life of the party. I loved going