Page 42 of Finding Jeremy
“Don’t forget the middle finger salute,” Chaos insisted.
“Already done,” Jeremy said, retrieving the page so his pops could see what he’d done so far.
He’d sketched the mesh webbing of the hammock as lightly as possible around the chain wrench, wanting to get the dimensions right before he worked on the expression. As he watched his father study it, he could see the admiration in his old man’s eyes as he stroked his beard.
“I like that you used the chain wrench; that was a unique way of getting my ponytail in.”
“I’m going to add another little piece of chain for your goatee once I’ve got the scowl down the way I want it,” Jeremyexplained. “I’ll trace it onto the digital tablet once I’ve finished the sketch, then I can start digitally painting it. I’ve been thinking a lot about the font too, and I’d like to go with a wide-bodied one that will let me fit tools and parts in it. Once I have them all positioned, I’ll be able to delete the actual font layer and let the hardware make up the logo. I think it will look way more unique that way, especially when I add the chopper silhouette in between the words. I’m going to keep that small, so it doesn’t overpower the rest of the logo, but I still think we need to keep it in there so there’s no question what it is you work on.”
“Oh yeah, that’s gotta stay; that’s one of the first pieces you drew for me,” Chaos concurred. “It wouldn’t be my logo without it.”
“I’m gonna get my things put away and the living room straightened up,” Jeremy said, before looking down at himself and realizing that he was still in the shorts and tank top he’d thrown on after his shower that morning. “I’d better throw something else on too.”
“Sounds good,” Gray said as Jeremy packed his pencils back in the case and carefully tucked his drawing back in the black portfolio where he kept the things he was currently working on.
Though he slept in Gray’s room each night, he still kept most of his things in his childhood bedroom. Closing the door behind him, he took a moment to just look around and take it all in. Over the years the walls had changed colors several times, from sea green to light blue to glow-in-the-dark lime during what his father had nicknamed his neon punk period. By the time he’d added murals, slogans, and skater tags to the wall, he’d achieved a look that was part rave club and part skate park. His pops had considered the space so mind-blowingly bright when the lights were off that he’d hung a bright yellow caution sign on the door. Jeremy still couldn’t figure out where the hell he’d gotten it from, and his old man had flat out refused to tell him too. Allhe’d done was warn Jeremy that stealing road signs was a finable offense that could lead to people getting hurt. Which made the appearance of the sign even that much more mysterious.
In addition to the sign, he’d also printed out a warning list cautioning guests that the colors that lay on the other side of the door could cause disorientation, headaches, confusion, distractions, and the misconception that one had stumbled into a trippy, otherworldly space. The sign had also stated that those who wished to proceed should do so with caution and that management, aka Chaos, would not be held responsible for anything that they encountered on the other side of that door.
Yeah, growing up there had been amazing. No one he’d ever met had a father like his, and truthfully, Jeremy had always considered himself to be the luckiest kid in the world. It would be weird leaving, but he was more than ready to stretch his wings and create a life with the man he’d fallen in love with.
The desk beneath the window was a testament to all the artwork that had been created in that room. Whereas drawing pencils, markers, and pens had always been allowed in the living room, Chaos had drawn the line at paint, charcoal, and any other medium that could be splattered or sprayed. The result was a multi-hued desk caked with a multitude of different kinds of paint. There were still a few smudges of neon that glowed when he turned out the lights, as well as thick tempera and flanking finger paint marks from some of his earliest masterpieces. His old man had taken great pleasure in hanging Jeremy’s creations on the refrigerator, and when that got too full, he’d created scrapbooks of them, always choosing a few special ones to frame and hang around the house and shop.
As he changed into jeans and a T-shirt, Jeremy wondered if Gray would hang his work up around the house too and treasure it the way Jeremy’s father always had. He thought he might. He really seemed to like the comic strip of the squirrel, and hehadsaid that he was going to frame it. Taking a deep breath, Jeremy worked on settling his thoughts. The nagging questions were just nerves and little bolts of anxiousness over the unknown. It would all be okay. It wasn’t like he was going clear across the country, or even the state, just a few miles down the road and not even right away. This was just the first step. They hadn’t even seen the property yet. There was a chance they wouldn’t even like it, so he refused to let his thoughts start spiraling and wrecking the mood.
He clipped his wallet to his jeans, ran his brush through his hair, put his Ozzy necklace on, and headed back to the living room to see that either his dad or Gray had already put the cushion back on the couch and repositioned the coffee table. Both were sitting in there. His Pops in his favorite chair, flipping through the previews on the streaming service, looking for something to watch. Gray had flopped on the couch, sprawled against the arm, sipping a craft root beer.
“I’m gonna grab a sandwich before we go,” Jeremy declared on his way to the kitchen.
A short time later they were climbing into the truck and heading off down the road. Jeremy was shocked when they took a left less than a mile down the road, bouncing along an unpaved stretch of gravel that Jeremy loved to ride his dirt bike on. When they took a left on the very next road, Jeremy turned in his seat to look at Gray.
“It’s back here.”
“Yup.”
“I thought the only property back here was the old Richardson place?”
“That’s the one.”
“Wait, seriously?”
“Yup.”
“Holy shit. Pops used to talk about buying that one since the backside shares a border with his place, but at the time ownership was being contested by his kids and I guess a couple kids he had outside of his marriage who didn’t think it was fair they were being left out.”
“The courts finally sorted it out, and the inheritor put it on the market,” Gray explained. “After the old house burned, old man Richerson just put a camper on the property and lived in it until he passed away since the kids were grown and out of the house by then and his wife had already passed away. The realtor said that it was hauled off by one of the kids a few years back, so all that’s out here is bare land. Your Pops was beyond excited when I told him about it this morning and showed him the pictures.”
“Holy shit,” Jeremy declared as they came to a stop in a little clearing just off the side of the road and paused beside the realtor’s blue SUV. “I could literally ride my dirt bike over to Dad’s place without bothering with the road.”
“He mentioned that too.”
"Why didn’t you guys tell me this was the property we were looking at?"
"I didn't realize it until I showed your old man the listing when we were in the living room waiting for you to get ready," Gray explained. "At that point I figured I might as well surprise you."
"Best surprise ever!" Jeremy declared, bouncing in his seat a little.
Excitement coursed through him as they followed the realtor up the long driveway, erasing the lingering traces of anxiety he’d felt when they left the house. As a kid, he’d sneaked onto the property more than once, exploring the thickly wooded sections with Haven and River. Like Chaos, old man Richardsonhad chosen to clear a spot well away from the road to give his family some privacy.
