Rock All Night(113)

My memory of Athens – and the LGBTQ community – was slightly different. I remembered lots of crop-haired Women’s Studies majors all over the place. (Sorry to be stereotypical, crop-haired Women’s Studies majors).


But I doubted any of them were ready for the totally insane, perpetually drunk, walking tornado of an NYC punk rock drummer chick that was Riley Wojtalik.

Not that I blame them.

“So I was basically a mess,” Riley continued. “Really f*ckin’ unhappy. I probably woulda quit and gone back to New York, but Ryan was the reason I stayed.”

She laughed, and her eyes got a faraway look. “He kept bugging me to play cards. I was like, ‘Get the f*ck out of here with your cards. I came here to rock out, motherf*cker, I’m not here to play Go Fish.’ But he kept bugging me, and bugging me, and bugging me, until finally I agreed, just to shut him the f*ck up. And that was the first good night I had in Athens. We got drunk – well, I stayed drunk. He got drunk, but he’s a lightweight, kind of like you. Anyway, we were drunk and laughing and telling stories… and then we played cards every night for the next three weeks. That was before we were booking any shows. We’d practice during the day, maybe record some demos on Ryan’s equipment, and then we’d get drunk and play cards at night.” She smiled. “That was one of the best three weeks of my life.”

My heart swelled as I thought of Ryan befriending the lonely little punk rock girl. “You were the one who talked him into staying in the band, right?”

“Yeah. Well, just moving into the house is all. He was never gonna totally quit the band… he was just gonna stay in school and live with his parents and only do the band thing on the side. So, yeah, I basically guilted him into chucking the other shit. But once he went all in, that’s when things really took off.

“His parents f*ckin’ hated me for that, though. They totally blamed me for making him quit school. They love Derek – loooooove Derek, so they weren’t gonna get mad at him. Killian they’re totally panicked around cuz he’s a pothead. It’s like they think he’s gonna mug them or something, even now. But they don’t really see him as the evil f*ck who corrupted their son. Me, on the other hand… not only do they not like the whole mohawk and tattoo and lesbian thing, they think I took Ryan away from them, too. But… I can’t say I blame ‘em. If I was like them, I probably woulda blamed me, too. I’m just glad it worked out so he could say, ‘See? I did the right thing.’”

I was struck by the lack of rancor in her voice. For somebody who was so angry at the world – all of the time – she sounded remarkably philosophical. Even compassionate. I remembered her in Los Angeles, watching Ryan’s family from a distance, and what she had said:

They’re good people. They really love Ryan.

And the line that had really touched me:

It’d be cool if somebody came across the country to watch ME like that.

I hadn’t understood it at the time. But after hearing about Mr. Hopkins and the multiple foster families, I thought I was beginning to.





95




Then something happened that took me completely by surprise.

Riley shook her head ruefully and said, “You should totally ditch Derek and hook up with Ryan.”

Her words were like a bucket of cold water to the face. “What?!”

“You heard me.”

It must have been the combination of alcohol and shock, because I didn’t come back with anything obvious like But I love Derek! or Ryan’s just a friend!

All I could get out was, “Why?!”

“Cuz Ryan’s a great guy. And you’re both just uptight enough to make it work.”

“What, Derek’s not a great guy?”

Riley about choked with laughter mid-shot.

After she’d snorted some whiskey out of her nose, she said, “Look, I like the guy, and he’s a hell of a lead singer – don’t you tell him that, I’ll totally f*ckin’ deny it – but he’s kind of an *.”

“You’re kind of an *, too,” I said, only to realize that I might have just ended the interview with those six words.

Instead, to my overwhelming relief, she grinned. “I know. That’s how I can spot ‘em.”

I thought back four years ago to me and Derek outside Krispy Kreme on highway 78. “But… he’s been sweet to me…”

“Really? When? That time he chewed you out in the bus for talking during the rehearsal? Was that him being sweet?”

Oh yeah.

I’d forgotten about that.

“…I crossed a line I shouldn’t have crossed,” I said, in a voice so hesitant that even I didn’t believe me.

“Fuck that noise. I didn’t give a shit. Neither did Killian. Ryan was… okay, well, Ryan is kind of insecure – but Derek’s worse. Derek turns into a raving dick. Ryan just loses his confidence and gets all down on himself till I snap him out of it.”

My eyes widened. “You help Ryan with his confidence?”

“Don’t act so surprised, Blondie.”

I was pretty sure I’d hurt her feelings, and I scrambled to pull my foot out of my mouth.

“That’s not what I – I just meant, what’s he got to feel insecure about?”