Page 33 of Tumbling Hearts

Hearing Ray’s voice singing the blues rustles butterflies in Gene’s chest. Ray is a master at it, hence why their band has gotten so popular. But it’s not just that—something about Ray’s singing touches Gene’s soul in a way he can’t describe. He wants more of it, to always be able to listen to his best friend’s voice until the end of time.

It’s funny, he heard Toshiko sing plenty of times this past month, either in person or via her new record, yet he can’t remember feeling the same flutters. Yes, her singing is phenomenal—there’s no question about that—but there’s something about Ray’s voice that hits differently. He can’t deny it—Ray soothes him in a way no one else can.

“I love that,” Gene compliments. “Let’s figure out some more, I think we got that down.”

“For sure.” Ray nods. “I’ll continue on the same lines as that… Ah, okay.”

“You got something?”

“Yeah.” He sings the next line, “Why does life test me so? Why can’t I let her go? I try so hard but it leeeaves me soooo dryyyy⁠—”

It doesn’t matter if the song is about a hypothetical woman—Gene feels the emotions strike the fiber of his very being. Ray is so good at that. Gene can’t get enough of it. “Fuck, yeah, that’s beautiful,” he says.

“Thanks.” Ray smiles. “You want me to write that down?”

“Absolutely.”

Ray jots down the words, and they continue on like that until they have the entire song written. It’s so refreshing, being able to write with Ray again. Oh, how he’d love to reach out and kiss him—especially since it’s just the two of them in the room—but he knows that’d be a bad idea. Carol may be out at the store, though there’s no telling when she’ll be coming back. She could waltz right in whenever she wants, since this is her own bedroom, after all. But Gene will take whatever he can get with Ray, even if it’s just this. During this whole past month of barely hanging out with him, it’s like a piece of Gene was missing—the piece that Ray occupies. Sure, they’re still living under the same roof, but it’s not the same as spending quality time.

If he visits California—possibly even Japan—he’ll be missing Ray even more. He knows he will.

Should I even bother going at all?

Of course he needs to go. He and Toshiko are literally a couple now; he can’t just go back on his word to his own girlfriend. My girlfriend. He still hasn’t told Ray about it. Just like how he hasn’t mentioned California, either. But he can’t, not now. Not when he’s feeling so good jamming with him.

He’ll just have to remember to tell Ray later. He’s not leaving until Saturday. That’s still a few days away. He’s got time.

Right now, all he wants to do is make music with his darling singer.

The next day rolls in, and Ray hangs up the phone after having a good conversation with the band’s manager. Starting Monday next week, Ray and Dennis are going to go back into the studio to mix their new album, and once that’s done, they’ll ship the tapes to the record company to make masters. Each time they do this it gets easier, now that they have multiple singles and this new one will be their second LP. This time around they took quite a large break before working on anything, but Ray feels like it was needed. It’d be too draining to constantly tour, record, tour, record, with no downtime in-between. They’ll be touring again anyway after the album releases, so it’ll be fine.

Ray’s a little hungry, but not enough for a whole meal, so he rummages through one of the cupboards for a can of Pringles. Nicky then comes into the kitchen too, opening up the avocado-green fridge and pulling out some sort of leftovers container. He’s been staying with the Brooms for a few weeks now. Is he straight-up moving in with us? If he is, why has no one told me about it?

Ray figures, instead of wondering about it, he might as well ask him.

“Hey, Nicky,” Ray says after Nicky grabs a fork from a drawer. “I know we don’t talk much, but, um… I was wondering how long you were planning on staying here? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind your company.” He lets out a nervous laugh. “But you were living in Ohio before, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, that’s where I’m from.” Nicky nods. “I had some other buddies I was staying with there, but one of them had… uh… a bit of a run-in with the law. I didn’t want to get involved, so I phoned Gene and he said I could stay with you guys, which I appreciated.”

“Oh, okay.” I was wondering if it had to do with something like that. “Are you still in contact with them? Your old buddies?”

“Yeah, I’ve called them a few times, and things are fine now. But I’ve been liking it a lot better here; my old friends weren’t musicians, so they didn’t get me as much as you guys.”

“That makes sense.” Ray opens the Pringles can and sets the lid on the counter. He pops a chip into his mouth.

“I wasn’t sure if I was gonna go back to stay with them for a while, though, since Gene’s gonna be visiting California for a few weeks. I was gonna ask you guys if you didn’t mind me staying here, but Gene’s the one who invited me over, and if he’s away, I didn’t want to be a burden⁠—”

“Wait. Wait, wait, wait,” Ray says, his voice muffled by the chip in his mouth. He swallows it down forcefully. “What do you mean ‘Gene’s gonna be visiting California’?”

“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” Nicky raises his brows, hidden by his brown bangs.

“No. He didn’t say anything about that.”

“Well, huh. That’s weird. But yeah, since Toshiko is going back to California, he’s gonna go there with her and stay for a bit.”

“And Gene told you this.” Ray puts the lid back on the Pringles canister, setting it on the counter. All of a sudden he’s not hungry anymore.

“Yeah, he told me earlier today.”