Page 34 of Courting Danger

“So, what am I kicking things off with?” Pope asked as he made a few adjustments to the way it was tuned.

“All the Way from Memphis,” Ocean blurted.

“Good one!” Danger said.

“He knows it, doesn’t he?” Ocean asked.

“Oh yeah,” Pope said before launching into the song.

Ocean drew in a lungful of smoke and passed the joint, shocked when, instead of smoking it, Roan passed it to Danger and started to sing along.

Holy shit.

Roan drew his feet up until they were tucked against his ass, arms wrapped around his knees, singing like he was fucking performing in front of a stadium full of people and yeah, Ocean would have happily forked over his hard-won money to listen to him too, ‘cause the fucker had pipes.

Danger sat up fully, staring at Roan with wide eyes, joint forgotten until Ocean reached for it, then took a quick drag and reached past Roan to pass it to him. Pope’s expression was an equal mix of shocked and impressed as he continued playing, their voices complementing one another’s. When Roan hit a high note without wobbling, then drew it out over the course of several beats, Ocean felt goosebumps crop up along his arms and shivered as they sang the final words.

“Why the fuck were you trying to spin around the pole when you should have been up on that stage singing in the dungeon the other night,” Pope said as the final chords lingered in the air.

“I-I didn’t know that was an option,” Roan admitted. “Aside from the drag queens when they did their lip-synch routines, everyone else who got up there danced.”

“Stop trying to be like other people,” Pope admonished. “The rest of the Jokers will respect you being genuine over anything else.”

“Yes, sir,” Roan muttered, squirming some, not that he could wiggle much the way Ocean was pressed up against his side.

“Who’s got the next song?” Pope asked.

“Making it Easy,” Roan said.

Pope stroked his chin, and for a split-second Ocean thought Roan had stumped him on his very first try, then Pope nodded.

“The Raspberries. Nice choice. I haven’t played that in a while,” Pope said and started strumming.

Like he had before, Roan sang the song with him, while Danger and Ocean smoked Ocean’s joint down to the roach, then lit one of Danger’s.

“We used to sit around the beach like this,” Ocean said when the song was finished. “My buddy, Shannon, had this old ukulele he’d break out. Half the time it was missing a string and out of tune, but we’d sing some silly ass songs and listen to the waves.”

“What kinds of silly songs?” Roan asked.

“You know, just, funny shit, likeMahna Mahnafrom the Muppets and thatTime Warpsong,” Ocean replied. “AndPuff the Magic Dragon, stuff like that.”

“Wait,” Pope said. “Your buddy was playingThe Time Warpfrom the Rocky Horror Picture Show on the ukulele?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t half bad either, or maybe it was and we were too crossfaded to notice,” Ocean replied.

“I love that song!” Roan declared, which was enough to prompt Pope to play it.

Since they all knew the words, at least to the chorus, Ocean and Danger added their mostly out-of-tune voices to the mix. Different group of people, same relaxed, lazy vibe. The smoke left Ocean’s muscles lax and his mind blissfully hazy.

“Should you even be smoking with a competition coming up?” Danger asked as Ocean relit the joint at the end of the song.

“Therapeutic exemption,” Ocean replied before drawing in another lungful of smoke.

Eyes already heavy-lidded, they closed completely as he held the smoke in and drifted with the rhythm of the waves before letting it out.

“How’d you manage that?” Pope asked.

“Severe enough ADHD, especially the hyperactive part,” Ocean explained. “They tried a bunch of meds when I was a kid that either turned me into a zombie or left me bouncing between anxious and pissed off. I was getting into more trouble on themthan off, so Mom took me off. When I started smoking up with my friends, I realized that for the first time, I could focus, like completely hone in on something and follow along. As soon as I was legally able to apply for a medical marijuana card, I got one, which made it easier to get the exemption when I turned pro.”