CHAPTER 2.9: Delta blues

With Audra on maternity leave and Eliza starting school Tate was able to go back to work.  His landscape gardening business had really taken off and the money was rolling in from Bridgeport's wealthy citizens.

Audra was thankful of the time she had on her hands.  She could spend her days taking care of Finlay and walking in the park with her father. 

The days of her having to fret over her life seemed so far behind her now.

"Jonny Traytor, as I live and breathe."  A voice called out to them from across the park.

"Curt?  Is that you?"  Jonny asked squinting as he tried to make out the age ravaged face of his former band mate.

"Yeah i guess I've changed a bit since i saw you last."  Curt laughed, "But then so have you.  It's good to see you man, and out in the daytime no less!"

"I guess I'm back to being the old me."  Jonny smirked.

The two old friends spent a while catching up and swapping stories of their respective families before the conversation turned to talk of the old days.

"Man it must be going on for, what?  30 years since we hung out last."  Curt exclaimed.

"Yeah, since the day Pauly kicked me out of the band."  Jonny reminded him.

"Oh, that's right."  Curt mumbled, embarrassed at the memory.

"Don't sweat it man it's ancient history."  Jonny laughed patting his old friend on the back.

"How would you feel about a little trip down memory lane?"  Curt asked.

"Jam session?"  Jonny concluded, instinctively knowing what his friend was planning.

"Yep, the whole gangs meeting at the bandstand at Bridgeport Acres. You up for it?"

Jonny was nervous about picking up his sticks after so long, but as he sat at the drum set and started tapping out a beat he soon found his rhythm.

They were joined by Sheeni and Pauly, who were a little surprised to find their old band mate as part of the jam session.  But somehow it just seemed right for them to be together again.

After Jonny left Hot Fuss they had gone on to sell millions of records worldwide, but the group had not recorded an album in years.

Although they had never officially announced their retirement, Hot Fuss had faded from the modern day music scene.

But they had not faded from the hearts and minds of their loyal fans and soon a crowd gathered.  It wasn't long before the paparazzi showed up, it seems a rumour had spread quickly through town that Hot Fuss had reformed!

Finlay started to grow tired so Audra took him home.

when she arrived Delta was sitting alone on the swing set looking distracted.  Casper and Elena had never made it to her birthday but they had sent her a present.

"Hey kiddo!"  Audra called, "You look bored."

Delta nodded her agreement, "Well, why don't you hop in your new ride, get over to Bridgeport Acres and see some rock legends in action."  Audra persuaded her niece who seemed to perk up at the prospect.

When Delta arrived, the jam session was almost over, but the crowd were cheering for more.  Most of the revellers were old biddies but Delta spied a couple of guys her own age hanging out at the edge of the stage. 

She hung back shyly pretending to be getting into the music, but every now and then she would turn her gaze in the boys direction. 

The dark haired boy was really cute, she thought, but when he would catch her staring she would look away, blushing furiously in embarrassment.

After the final song had played the band starting greeting their fans, it was kind of weird seeing her grandpa signing autographs, but she'd never seen him look so happy.

She looked around to see if she could spot the cute boy.

He had been called away by a girl, Delta saw the two of them laughing together.  It must be his girlfriend she though dejected.

As the boy turned to leave the girl caught Delta watching them, she wasn't sure but she thought she saw the girl wink at her.

"So what did you think?"

"Huh?  Oh sorry grandpa."  Delta said jumping as Jonny came up behind her, "Yeah you rock!"

"From where i was sitting it looked like you were more into staring at that boy."  He teased.

Delta turned bright red at the accusation so Jonny dropped it and the pair made their way home in Delta's jalopy.

The next day after school had been let out Delta spotted the boy from the gig and the girl he had been talking to. 

She looked like something straight out of a music video, her clothes were cutting edge and her blond hair was frosted pink.  She noticed Delta watching them once again.

To Delta's surprise she called her over.

"Hey, i saw you at the gig last night right?"  The girl asked giggling,  "So you're into retro music then?"

"Erm, my grandpa is Jonny Traytor, so i was just there to support him really."  Delta said, feeling the need to explain her apparently bad taste in music.

"You're grandpa!"  She laughed.

Delta looked away unsure how to handle being made fun of, the girl caught her worried expression and explained.

"Oh I'm sorry I'm not trying to be rude it's just, well Danny's dad is the bassist in Hot Fuss so i just thought it was weird that he's the same age as your grandpa.  You're a junior right?"

"Yeah."  Delta nodded, still embarrassed "My parents were kinda young when they had me."

"Oh i get it."  the girl said smiling, "Anyway I'm Amaretto, that's my bro' Orlando and Danny Daggar."  She motioned to the two boys.

"Amaretto and Orlando, Belle?"  Delta asked.

"In the flesh darlin'"  the blond haired boy chipped in.

"As in Lola Belle."  she asked making sure she wasn't dreaming.
"Sorry i just figured you would be in a private school, what with a pop star for a mother."

"We were but they couldn't handle us!"  Orlando laughed cockily.
"So what do you say to hanging with us tonight?  We're going to The Brightmore.  You in?"

"Yeah come with us, it'll be like totally awesome."  Amaretto added.

Delta nodded, still a little confused by all the sudden attention.  She noticed that Danny hadn't spoken a word, he just stared quietly at her.

Then as quickly as they had surrounded her they were gone.

Amaretto jumped into the flashiest sports car Delta had ever seen and called, "Pick you up at 9.30!"

9.30!  That was way past curfew, Delta thought but before she had time to argue Amaretto sped out of the car park in her Audi.

"See ya tonight babe."  Orlando winked at her before speeding off with Danny in a matching black convertible.

When Delta arrived home from school she felt a mixture of nerves and excitement at the prospect of what the evening may bring. 

She did her best to act normal, doing her homework and eating her tea with Eliza before going to bed at 9. 

She got under the covers fully clothed, and waited until she could hear Eliza snoring lightly in the next bed.  

Moving as quietly as possible, she eased open the back door, sneaked passed the kitchen window and ran out to the street.

Amaretto was already waiting for her, Delta was so relived she hadn't sounded her horn.  

Hopping into the passenger seat she admired the cars interior, which was leather and chrome. It was fully equipped with a state of the art sound system, which was blasting the latest Funky Llama track "Do the Llama"

As they headed over the bridge towards down town Bridgeport Delta's stomach did flips.

The Brightmore was an upscale night club strictly adults only, she had no idea what they were going to do when they got there.


Amaretto pulled up to the front of the club and tossed her keys to the waiting valet, who parked the car in the underground garage. 

The doorman didn't flinch as she strolled right past him into the lobby of the club.

"Don't we need like a fake I.D or something?"  Delta asked.


"We got something better than a fake I.D."  Amaretto replied, "All i need to get what i want in this town is my mothers name."

With this she casually strutted past the bouncer and straight into the club. 

Delta could hear the loud techno music pumping through the walls.  As she approached the red velvet rope the bouncer regarded her sternly, prompting her to gulp, there was no way he would let her in, would he?


She edged forward nervously, the bouncer looked her square in the eye and lifted the rope back allowing her entry. 


She had to practically force her jaw to remain closed as she walked inside.

"Hey, there you are."  Amaretto exclaimed loudly, "Come on lets get our party on."

"I can't believe that bouncer didn't even card us."  Delta said.


"I told you!"  Amaretto proclaimed, "Everyone in town knows me and Orlando we can get in anywhere and the drinks are usually comped." she bragged.


"Comped?"  She asked naively.


"Yanno, free!"  Amaretto filled her in, "You really are brand new aren't you!"  She smirked.

Soon hanging out at bars became second nature to Delta.

She would often go straight from school to one of the many local bars, always telling Audra that she was studying at Amaretto's house.

Orlando loved introducing her to new cocktails, each bar had different ones and they had weird names like simsapolitan and bad cheerleader. 

He would laugh when she wrinkled her face after tasting some of them.

Orlando was always flirting with her, but she always just brushed off his compliments she wasn't ready for a boyfriend just yet. 

Danny was still an enigma to her, she knew he wasn't dating Amaretto, even though Delta was certain that she was into him.  Sometimes she would catch him looking at her but as soon as she looked up he would look away. 

Delta figured he didn't like her very much.

That Friday when school was over, Orlando rushed over to Delta.
"Hey babe."  He smiled, "So what would you say to the hottest ticket in town for tomorrow night?"


"No way!" Delta screamed, "You got Funky llama tickets?"


"Of course!"  He preened.

"Urgh Orly!  Stop waving those tickets around."  Amaretto chided him.


"Oh come on Sis even you gotta be psyched over the Llama's."  He retorted, waving the tickets in her face.


"I guess, they are playing Aquarius.  You gotta come Delta they have a hot tub on the roof!"


Delta wanted to go so badly, but she knew it was a big family party this weekend.  Tate, Audra and Eliza were all celebrating birthdays, there was no way she could go.

Before she could tell them she couldn't make the gig a paparazzo popped up and started snapping them.

"Urgh, I can't go anywhere!"  Amaretto declared, but Delta noticed that she posed and preened happily while the photographer snapped away.  "I'm out of here."  She said blowing a kiss at Delta, "Wanna ride home Danny?"


Danny shrugged and hopped in Amaretto's convertible leaving Delta and Orlando to face the glare of the camera's flashlight.


Orlando winked at Delta and opened his car door motioning for her to get in.

As they sped away Delta couldn't help but feel special sitting next to the most popular boy in school.
Even though Orlando was full of himself Delta found herself begin to let her defences down around him.


When Saturday morning came, Delta was agitated.  
Audra was busy preparing for Tate's surprise birthday party and Eliza was bugging her to play, all she could think of was the Funky llama gig. 

It was going to be epic, there was no way she could miss it.  But she couldn't wear the same old dress she always wore, she had to have something new.
But if she asked Audra for the money she would want to know what it was for.  
Suddenly an idea came to her.  She heard that the scrap yard over the other side of town paid cash for car parts. 

It's not like her parents could be mad about it, I mean they only got her the stupid car to try and buy her forgiveness for them always being away. 

She told Audra she was going into town to get Eliza's birthday gift, "OK don't be late the party starts at 8."  Audra whispered to Delta, trying her best not to ruin Tate's surprise.

Getting the cash had been easy and Delta soon had 200 simoleons burning a whole in her pocket. 

Amaretto had agreed to meet her at The Dollhouse, Bridgeport's ultimate designer clothing store.

"Delta!"  Amaretto squealed, as she planted air kisses either side of her cheek.  "Oh my gosh they have the most amazing new collection we have to try it all!"

Amaretto pulled her into the store where the sales assistants proceeded to treat her like royalty, ushering the pair into a private room and bringing rack upon rack of designer dresses for then to try.

Delta tried on tons of dresses before finding the right one, it was black silk and lace and so beautiful she had to have it.  But the price tag said it was 200 simoleons, that was all the cash she had.

If she bought the dress so wouldn't be able to get Eliza's the new Simstreet Boys CD she'd been wanting forever. 

"OMG that dress is killer, you have to get it!"  Amaretto exclaimed.

She's right, Delta thought why shouldn't i spend my money on what i want?

She knew if she went back home Audra would never let her skip Tate's birthday for the gig, so she got ready at Amaretto's instead. 

She was feeling like a million simoleons when they reached the club, and the way Orlando eyed her in her new dress told her it had been a good investment.

The gig was amazing and the four of them danced until Delta was ready to drop.  After the last song, Orlando said "So you wanna meet the Llama's?"

"Are you for real?"  Delta asked her eyes wide with excitement.

Orlando took her backstage where she had met the whole band and Liam Llama signed an autograph for her!

Delta was on cloud nine as the four of them headed out of the club, she couldn't believe she had met THE Liam Llama!  She felt the need to pinch herself to check she wasn't dreaming.

She was so excited that she didn't see the police officer standing there and she walked right into her.

"Hey!"  the officer shouted, "Had a little too much to drink have we?"

Delta looked wide eyed at the policewoman, "N-No officer."  She stammered.

"Lemme see some ID."  The officer demanded.

"I, erm I mean I left it at home."  She answered, unconvincingly.

"Well then let's take you home and I'll check it there then."  The officer ordered, not believing the girls story for one second.

She lead Delta to the police car and locked her in the passenger side.  Delta could do nothing but stare out at Amaretto who mouthed "Sorry" to her.

When they pulled up to her house the officer said "You stay here, I'm going to speak with your parents."

"Good luck."  Delta muttered.

As Delta sat there she could see her Aunt's face as the policewoman explained everything, she looked really mad.  When Delta was released she stormed straight over to her and yelled, "How could you be so selfish and irresponsible?  Go to your room, we'll discuss your punishment tomorrow."

"You can't tell me what to do, you're not my mother!"  Delta retorted angrily. 

She was so sick of being told what to do by Audra, why shouldn't she just do the things she wanted to do?  It was good enough for her parents. 

Delta pushed past Audra.

But her Grandpa was in her way.  "You shouldn't speak to your Aunt like that Delta, she's done so much for you."  He lectured.

"Oh, yeah she's such a saint isn't she taking pity on the poor kid no one wants!"  Delta yelled back, her anger now taking over.

She could see how shocked her Grandpa was at the way she spoke to him, but she was beyond caring.

"But hey who could blame my Dad for leaving, I mean you were a pretty crappy role model.  How old was he when you abandoned him?"  She spat.

"Go to your room now!"  Audra shouted at her.

Delta regarded her with a look of pure anger, but said nothing more.  She stormed off to her room slamming the door behind her and waking up a sleeping Eliza.

"Hey!  You missed Dad's party."  Her cousin accused.

"Yeah well he's not my Dad."  She retorted, still seething from her argument with Jonny and Audra.

"What about my party tomorrow?"  Eliza asked.

"What about it?"  Delta answered huffily, she couldn't be bothered with her little cousin's questions, so she pulled on her nightdress and got into bed pulling the covers over her head.

Jonny was mortified by Delta's actions and her comments had truly hurt him.  He splashed water on his face while her accusations resounded in his head.

What if she was right?  He had set a bad example to Casper when he had left to find Jessica, was that really the reason his youngest son had abandoned his fatherly duties?

He walked into his bedroom and started to undress for bed, as he did so he was overcome with a sudden bout of dizziness and almost passed out. 

Shaking his head he fumbled his way to the bed and sat awhile until the faintness passed.

As he settled down into his bed, he realised that for the first time he actually felt his age.  His body was always filled with aches and pains especially this one persistent pain in his arm which felt as though it was spreading to his shoulder. 

Sighing he rested his head on the pillow and as he closed his eyes he dreamed of Leila.

Chapter2.8

Chapter2.10