Bus Station: Book 2
By Shotzette




Bus Station: Book Two
By Shotzette
Rated PG

Carmine Ragusa nearly jumped out of his skin when the loudspeaker above him blared an unintelligible, static-laden burst of noise. It was like listening to one of Charlie Brown's teachers' voices in the Peanuts cartoon, but a lot less helpful. Fortunately, Carmine was in the right place at the right time. For once, he thought to himself bitterly.
The Greyhound terminal in North Hollywood reeked of stale cigarette smoke, bus fumes, and body odor; so taking a deep breath to clear his mind wasn't in the cards. At least he looked away before he got too good of a peek at what the custodian was sweeping up in the pink sawdust.
Ten minutes, he thought. Ten minutes and he would be out of the hot dry stink of Los Angeles and heading back east. Time to start looking out for the Big Ragoo again...
He hadn't been scared when he'd moved to California three years earlier. Carmine winced at his own naïveté. He'd been an idiot back then. And the plans he'd had; follow his dream girl to California, become a big movie star, live happily ever after. How could he have been so stupid?
Deep down, he knew the move had been a bad idea. Shirley had been surprised to see him, and not the happy kind of surprised. Whatever exclusivity they'd shared in Milwaukee didn't carry over to Burbank. They still dated, but neither one of them really had their heart into it anymore. The time they spent together in California was more companionship than anything else.
Then Shirley met Walter and the rest was history.
Carmine woke up one day and found himself pushing thirty, working at a dead end singing telegram job, and waiting tables part time at Cowboy Bill's; as auditions became scarcer. His friends' lives were moving, though. A newly pregnant Shirley joined Walter overseas, Laverne landed a great job with an aerospace company, Edna left Frank to run off with a jockey half her age, and Lenny-poor, dumb Lenny-re-enlisted and was shipped off to Vietnam quicker than he could say "Bosco".
Squiggy was the biggest surprise. That scheming little weasel had fit right in with the Hollywood scene and was actually making a name for himself. Just when Carmine thought that signing with Squignowski Talent maybe hadn't been the dumbest move he'd ever made, Squiggy had stopped returning his calls.
He'd found himself hanging out in Laverne's apartment more often. Originally, he'd promised Frank that he'd keep an eye out for her since she'd been so lonely since Shirley left. Lately, he'd been the lonely one as she'd immersed herself in a new job and seemed to be joined at the hip to some weirdo named Chuck.
He tried not to think of the parade of guys he'd seen traipsing out of her apartment in the early morning hours. Laverne seemed to be warming up to some aspects of a Shirley-free home.
Carmine looked down and realized his fists were clenched. What the hell? Memories of the one time he had cheated on Shirley flooded back to him; Laverne and the three kisses they'd shared. Three of the best kisses he'd ever received in his life...
What the hell was he doing? Carmine shook his head as if to physically do away with his memories. He and Laverne were friends. Good friends. They'd figured out ages ago that they wouldn't work as a couple, and it was more convenient that way with Shirley around.
Carmine let out a short, angry laugh. He must have taken too many hits to the head back in his Golden Glove days. Laverne thought of him as a friend, nothing more. When he told her of his plans, she'd just smiled and offered to loan him the money for the balance of his bus fare. She didn't beg him to stay, or give him any reason to think that there was anything left for him in Burbank.
He and Laverne were friends. So why was he still thinking about her?
"Carmine."
And imagining he heard her voice.
"Carmine."
This time the voice was a little louder. Carmine turned around and his eyes widened with shock. Laverne stood before him, her eyes darting nervously about. A suitcase was in her hand.
"Laverne, are you here to see me off? Maybe upgrade my luggage," he asked as he looked down at the battered duffel bag by his feet and compared it to her second hand Samsonite.
"No. I'm here to see if you want some company," she said.
Carmine blinked in surprise. "My bus will be here in five minutes. You shouldn't have come all the way here for a quick good bye."
Laverne shrugged. "Maybe I'll just have to go some of the way with you. Maybe all of the way with you". A blush rose to her cheeks. "I didn't mean it to come out like that."
"Like what? Laverne, what are you doing?"
"I'm not really sure. I just know that I haven't felt right ever sense you and I said good bye yesterday."
"You'll get over it. Take it from me, I'm easy to forget." Carmine regretted the words as soon as they had tumbled from his careless mouth. "I'm sorry. I'm just really confused."
"I don't want to lose you, Carmine."
"Laverne, we're just friends. It's not like we're..."
"We were. Once."
"That was a long time ago," he reminded her.
"Yeah. And we're different people now. Everything is different."
"What do you want, Laverne?"
"You. I think. I'm not one hundred percent sure about anything these days."
"I know what that's like. I just-damn it! Why did you have to spring this on me now, Laverne. I'm literally jumping on a bus in three minutes."
"Maybe you shouldn't jump alone.""
"You want to come with me to New York? Seriously? What are you, crazy? You've got a great job, a good life, boyfriends..." The bitterness in the last word surprised even Carmine.
I have a job. And I just got laid off for two weeks starting tomorrow."
"Gee, I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"Neither did I," Laverne replied with a small, sad smile. "I mean, they are paying me through next week, which is something. I guess. But when you look at it, my job isn't too different than what I used to do at Shotz. It's good for now, I guess. But I don't want to make it my life. We all came to California for a better life," Laverne gestured aimlessly around her, "but I don't see it happening for me."
"So you're just jumping ship and throwing it all away on a bus ticket?"
"Hardly. I'm going to Brooklyn for a week. My grandma offered me her guest room and you her couch." She shushed his protest with a gesture. "She's forgiven you for the whole botched trip to Italy thing. For the most part. I can look around for a job; you can look around for a permanent place to live. We can see if we still have what I think we had once."
Carmine shook his head doubtfully. "That's an awful big maybe, Laverne."
"I don't think so. If it doesn't work-if we don't work, I just go back to my life and you focus on Broadway. If it does work, we both win."
"I can't guarantee you anything, and I don't want to lead you on."
"We're both old enough to know that there ain't no such thing as a guarantee, Carmine. But I don't want us to say good bye without giving us a chance."
Carmine thought about the one hundred reasons that her coming to New York was a bad idea. He then focused on the one good reason and pulled her too him for a passionate kiss as the bus pulled up beside them.

Fin