Chapter 16

The group all gathered in the private charter area of the Honolulu airport.  The band, Obie and Allegra would be taking Jovi Air for the five hour flight to Seattle, and the wives would be taking a separate charter plane back to New Jersey.  There was much hugging and laughing among the group as they said their goodbyes. 

When Dorothea got to Allegra, she pulled her off to the side.  “Seriously consider the job offers.  And I know I don’t need to say this, but don’t take any bullshit from Jon.  If he gives you trouble, call his mother.  Even at his age, Carol can still incite fear into him.”  Allegra laughed and nodded.  “Now Richie, that’s another story.  Be nice to the man.  I think you’d be surprised how much you’d like him if you just gave him a chance.” 

“I think you’re right,” she confessed softly.

“I am?”  Dot was surprised.  “Is something going on that I don’t know about?”

“No, but I’ve started to see a different side to him lately.”

“I’m glad!”  She gave her a pleased hug.  “I think you’d be good for each other, even just as friends.” 

Jon interrupted them.  “Dorothea, give me a kiss and get your ass on the plane.  It’s time for me to go to work, Baby.” 

Everyone made their final goodbyes and the group moving on to Seattle made their way into the Jovi Jet.  Allegra was steering toward a seat in the back of the plane, when Jon guided her to a sit across from him in the front of the plane.  She raised her eyebrows, but he didn’t say anything, just gestured for her to sit.  To his credit, they had been in the air for at least ten minutes before he started.     

“Where’d you disappear to yesterday?”  He crossed his legs and settled back into the leather seat.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where this was headed.  “I played tourist.  Took a couple guided tours of the island.”

“Did it occur to you to check in with somebody?  If Lemma hadn’t told me he at least spoke to you yesterday, nobody would’ve known that you were alive.  He’s the only reason I wasn’t blowing your phone up all day.”

A scowl darkened Allegra’s features.  “I sort of remember me standing in my hotel room and you saying something about putting a leash on the overprotectiveness?  Does that ring any bells for you?”

“Does common sense ring any bells for you?”  He wasn’t out of bounds with this, and he knew it.  “Being in a strange town by yourself, don’t you think it would be a good idea to let somebody know you’re okay?  Especially after the way you freaked out on Mike.  And, while we’re on the subject what was THAT all about?  Tony’s still pissed.”

Her eyes fell to her lap and she reached for the armrests to propel herself upward.  “Okay, I’m going to go talk to David now.” 

He laughed.  “I’ll take that as an admission of guilt.”

She stuck out her tongue at him, not giving him even an inch of rope to hang her with.

Jon’s features settled back into CEO mode.  “Seriously though, what happened with Rew?”

“Tony evidently told you, since you said he’s still pissed.”

“Yeah, but I don’t believe that story, sugar.”

She shrugged.  “Don’t know what to tell you.  It’s the only story I’ve got.”

“Do you remember what else I said in your hotel room?”  He gave her a meaningful look.  “About the crew?”

Her spine stiffened, and she flipped her ever-present ponytail over her shoulder.  “Yeah, so?”

Crossing his arms over his chest, he pushed her for more information. “Rew thinks it had something to do with Montana.”

Mention of Montana brought a picture of that toad Felix to mind.  Her eyes darkening with anger at the memory of Felix’s words, Allegra flew off the handle at Jon. “I’m not fucking your crew, Jon.  You made your decree on that perfectly clear. Nice image you have of me, by the way.  Did you share those thoughts with the rest of the guys?  Do they all think I’m a slut now too - or just a select few of them?”

Tico was nearest the two family members, in the seats behind them, and could hear the anger permeating Allegra’s voice.  He looked around to see if the other guys were paying attention, but Richie was asleep, Dave and Obie both had headphones in and Hugh was reading.  He could tell that she was upset, but was unable to make out any of the words – until Jon’s voice rose a few more decibels with his next question. 

“Frannie, what the hell are you talking about?”

Frannie?  Did he just call her Frannie? 

Tico couldn’t have heard correctly. 

No way!  Surely Allegra isn’t Jon’s little cousin Frannie? 

The ramifications of that rolled through Tico’s mind like a freight train. 

SISTER Frannie. The NUN.

He rose and quietly moved toward the pair, clearing his throat.  “Unless you want the whole plane to hear your argument, you might want to dial it back a little.”

Allegra’s head snapped around and her panic-stricken eyes searched Tico’s face for some sign of how much he’d heard. 

Jon saw his drummer studying her speculatively and knew Allegra’s secret was out.  Son of a bitch.  There would be hell to pay for this.  He dipped his head in remorse.  “T, have a seat man.”

Tico looked to Allegra for her approval before taking the seat next to Jon.

Jon sighed and braced himself.  “How much did you hear?”

“None of the argument.  Just your last question to… Allegra.”  His eyes darted to her briefly.

Allegra threw her hands in the air.  “Great!  Just frickin’ GREAT Jon!”  The Bongiovi temper had come-a-calling, and she wasn’t shy about letting it roam free.

Damage control, Jonny. You can spin this.   “Calm down or you’ll have all the rest of the guys up here.  It’s not a big deal.”

“Of course it’s not a big deal to YOU,” she hissed.  “You didn’t understand it to start with.”  She kicked his foot in anger.

“Ouch!  Listen to me, dammit!  There’s nothing to worry about.  Tico will keep it to himself, won’t you T?”

The older man was clearly uncomfortable with the situation.  Directing his answer to Allegra, he said, “I’m gonna have to say that it raises a few questions.  But, out of respect, I won’t say anything.”

Her anger morphed into alarm as her mind flashed back to the beach that morning.  Richie couldn’t find out.

She reached across to clasp the drummer’s hands.  “Tico, please, please don’t tell anyone else that I’m Frannie.  Right now I don’t even know if I’m staying with the tour, but if I do, I want the information to come out on my terms – not JON’S.”  She fixed her cousin with another icy glare.  “I feel as though you and I have become good friends, and don’t want that to change, so can we talk about this?  I’ll answer any questions that you have.”

Jon’s voice was stern as he reminded her, “You and I have a conversation to finish first.” 

Icicles dripped from her voice.  “I can’t understand a word you're saying around that big black boot in your mouth, so I think that means we’re done.  Instead, why don’t you talk to your brothers again and make sure they’re not going to be suffering from the same affliction.”

Jon’s face flushed with anger and his mouth drew into a tight line, but he merely nodded.  The blame was his and he would accept the consequences, however grudgingly.

She turned her attention back to Tico.  “Do you mind if we speak someplace a little less out in the open?”

He looked to Jon, who nodded slightly.  “There’s a bedroom in the back,”  he said rising from his seat and moving in that direction.

Allegra stood to follow him, but Jon put a hand out to stop her.  “I’m sorry you’re upset with me,” he told her quietly.  “But I’m not sorry that it happened, if it means you’re going to get whatever you’re burying out in the open.  And we will finish our little chat when you cool off.  You don’t get a pass on that one no matter how pissed you are at me.”

Blue eyes clashed, both filled with determination.  “We’ll see about that,” she muttered as he finally allowed her to move past him.

Making her way toward the rear of the aircraft, she passed the other men of Bon Jovi, and fought the urge to stop and watch Richie sleep.  His sinfully perfect lips were parted slightly in a soft snore, causing her smile.  Seated across from Richie, David met her eyes questioningly and pointed to his headphones.  She nodded and held up her finger, indicating that she’d be back in a minute. 

She followed Tico into the small room.  It was small, but held what appeared to be a king-size bed, along with a small sitting area.  He gestured for her to sit here before closing the door.

Allegra wasted no time, beginning to speak the minute the door snicked shut.  “I’m sure this seems strange to you.”

He rubbed his face thoughtfully.  “It does.  You evidently have your own reasons for being here, and I’ll admit that I’m curious as to what those reasons are.  My discretion doesn’t depend on you telling me though.  I will respect your wishes and your privacy, if you so choose.”

“Tico, I told you that I think of you as a friend.  I know you won’t push me to explain, but in the interest of our friendship I’d like to satisfy that curiosity.  Can you start by telling me what you know about me?  It’ll help me decide the best place to start.”

“I know that you entered the convent when you were just out of high school, following your calling at an early age.   Your work with disadvantaged children fits in place with the stories Jon’s told us, but you understandably left out some things the last time we spoke.  I also know from Jon that you were heavily involved in an orphanage operated by the Church.  You were in a position to counsel the youth who found themselves there, and that you made a huge impact in their lives. ” 

She nodded slowly.  “I’m not sure about the huge impact thing, but the rest is accurate.  Do you have a specific question that you’d like me to answer first?”

“How can you walk away from the Church after taking your vows?”

“Well, yeah, that would be the obvious question, wouldn’t it?”  She gathered her thoughts and tried her best to clarify.  “As a Catholic, I’m sure you’ve got a working familiarity with nuns.  I lived in a cloister with the nuns from the time I was eighteen years old, but the vows that I took, by definition, made me a religious sister.  Not a nun.  It’s a fine line, as the vows of poverty, chastity and faith are the same.  The difference was that I took those vows on a temporary basis instead of a permanent one.”

His look of disbelief had her continuing, “I know, I know – nineteen years is a long time to be called temporary.  I had always envisioned going on to take the solemn vows to that would formalize me as a nun, but there was something inside of me that could never take that last step.   I now think that God held me back a little on purpose.  Or maybe that’s what I need to tell myself.”  She shrugged.

“When did you leave the cloister?”

“At the first of the year.”

“So it’s only been,”  he quickly calculated in his head.  “Six weeks?  You’re still a baby out here then.”  He spoke more to himself than her.  “No wonder Jon’s so obsessive about watching out for you.”

The tensing of her jaw was his cue to abandon that line of thought.  “If it’s not being too intrusive, what happened to make you leave?”

At her hesitation, he assured her, “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.  Please don’t feel obligated.”

“How about I give you the Reader’s Digest version?  Last fall there was a situation that I didn’t feel was handled in the manner befitting a religious institution.  The Bishop was adamant that it was God’s will, and the other sisters followed his lead.  I couldn’t.”  Her eyes misted, but she didn’t falter.  “That feeling was compounded just after Christmas.  I was heartbroken on more than one level.  My faith in the Church was compromised; I questioned God.   He didn’t see fit to give me any answers, and finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore.  I had to leave.  Considering that I was at odds with him, the Bishop agreed that it was the best thing for all parties involved.”

He could see how difficult this was for her, and clasped his hand around hers.  “And what brought you into the Jovi Circle?”

She took a breath and wiped an errant tear away with her other hand.  “I had spent my entire adult life cloistered from the real world.  Well, not entirely, but I may as well have been.  Where was I going to go?  I had no money or marketable job skills.  I didn’t even know what my options were.   But I couldn’t get it out of my head that if I were able to get out into the world and see and experience it, that my direction would become clearer to me.” 

She gave him a smile and a small shake of the head.  “It was just a coincidence that this tour was getting ready to start.  So I shamelessly played the family card and begged Jon to take me with him.   He didn’t want to, but Dorothea pushed, so here I am.”  She gently separated her hand from his and pulled at the hem of her oversized t-shirt.  “It hasn’t gone so well, as you may have noticed, so maybe I should’ve listened to him.  I’ve questioned myself a thousand times over since the plane left New Jersey.  I’m no longer sure what I’m doing here.”

“Don’t you?  It’s pretty obvious to me.”

She looked at him in surprise.  “Well that makes one of us.  Would you like to share your insight?”

He leaned forward to rest his hand on her knee, locking gazes with her.  “You’d known you were going to follow a higher calling since you were a teenager.  You were preparing yourself for that discipline, so I’d wager that you were a very submissive teenager, never rebelling against authority.  And now you’ve run off to join a rock band.  Isn’t that the ultimate rebellion?  An outward display of your inner anger with God and the Church?”

Taking in his words, it was like a light had been turned on for Allegra.  Right, wrong or indifferent, that’s exactly what she was doing.  And, surprisingly enough, she was okay with it.  She would enjoy her rebellion for a little while longer and then face the consequences.  It felt good to have an objective – for the moment anyway.

She leaned forward to wrap her arms around this precious man.  “You’re a wise one Tico.”

He separated from her and looked out the window, slightly embarrassed.  Then a look of resolve came over his face and he faced her once again.

“Well, I’m going to take advantage of the fact that you think so, then.  Lemma mentioned that he’s going to hook you up with some music.”

“If we can ever manage to get together, yeah.”

“Well, make sure he gets you our album These Days.  Listen to it.  There’s a song on there that Jon wrote solo that you may be able to relate to.”  He knew that he was stepping into a potential minefield, but couldn’t get away from it in good conscience. 

“I know you’re unhappy with Jon right now, but you might be surprised at just how much he understands.   Allegra, you need to know that he’s always spoken of you with pride.  He didn’t necessarily understand your choices, but he had pride in your determination and dedication.  You’ve chosen two very different paths, but you’re made from the same mold.”

“Tico I know he’s a good guy, but he’s too overprotective.”

“Honey, cut him a break.  And I’m apologizing in advance, but now knowing what I do, you’re going to have to put up with my protectiveness too.”

“But you won’t tell anyone else, right?” she implored.

“I won’t tell anyone else.”

She sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.  “Then I’ll gladly put up with you too.”  She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.  “Now I believe I’ve got a date with the Joker.”




Author's disclaimer:  I am not Catholic and just researched enough to suit my purposes for the storyline.  If inaccuracies exist, please know that there is no intent to insult or offend anyone or their religious beliefs and practices.  :o)