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Chapter 24: Hang Ups

"I'm open!" AJ yelled out as he waved his arms in the air, after just manuvering away from the lanky form of Nick, who was on the opposite team and trying to block him. He eyed one of his fellow teammates, Howie, who had current posession over the basketball. "D, pass the ball! I'm open!" It was him, Howie, and Brian on one team, playing a half-heated game of basketball against Kevin, Nick, and his mother, Denise. Which surprised AJ quite a bit. His mother wanting to get in on the basketball action with them...very odd. Most defenitely, she always declined any offer to ever play and was content to just sit on the sidelines watching. But when AJ came to her hotel room that morning to let her know that him and the fellas were heading to a local gym to play a few games of basketball and was seeing if she wanted to go with them, he was more surprised when his mother was actually serious when she said of course and that she would even like to get in on the basketball action. The fellas were fine with the idea, and said it would be fun. And afterall, it evened-up the teams 3-3.

AJ pivoted out of Nick's path again as the tall blonde stepped in front of him, a sweaty, but very serious game-face expression plastered on his face. Tiny beads of sweat dripped down his own temples as he tried to get closer to Howie, who was quickly becoming cornered by Kevin, which do much for Howie's own good, considering Kevin towered over him. "D!" AJ yelled out as he ran to the side and quickly caught his best friend's attention. Howie locked glances with him and rushed the ball in his direction. AJ's hands made a grab for the ball, but before he could even graze it with his finger-tips, a pair of feminine hands intercepted and carried the ball away, causing AJ to freeze in his spot with shock. "Mom!" Denise grinned as she ran away with the ball, bouncing against the ground with much determination.

"Ouch!" Howie busted out laughing as he watched the interception and the humorus expression appear on his best friend's face. "That's gotta hurt your ego, huh?"

AJ glared at Howie. "Shut up, you're supposed to be on my team!"

"I am!" Howie continued to laugh.

"Go for the shot, Denise!" Kevin instructed as Denise quickly made her way towards the basket. He was currently blocking Brian from stepping into Denise's path, so that Denise could make the basket. And it only took one shot, too. Denise did her own version of a lay up and the ball went sailing through the net without much disturbance to the netting itself. "That's game!" Kevin yelled triumphantly, stepping away from his cousin. He grinned as he slapped Nick a high-five and did the same to Denise as she came jogging back up to him with the ball.

"Didn't think your old mother had it in her, did ya, Alex?" Denise grinned as she teased her son, who was still standing in the spot where she had stolen the ball from him, arms crossed over his chest and an extremely stumped look on his face. "Beaten by your own mother..."

"You cheat...simple as that," AJ answered, tapping his foot against the ground.

"I cheat?" Denise laughed.

"Yes!" AJ gritted, raising his tone quite a bit.

"I do not cheat, and don't raise your voice with me."

"Oooooh!" came a chorus of four voices.

AJ felt his cheeks grow red.

"24 and still getting yelled at by his mother," Nick cackled, running a hand through his sweaty hair.

AJ shot a glare at the tall blonde. "At least I'm not scared of my mom."

"I'm not scared of my mom!"

"Sure Nicky, you keep telling yourself that..."

"Alexander, be nice to your friend."

"Excuse me?" AJ asked, raising an eyebrow at his mother.

"You heard me, Alexander. Be nice to your friend," Denise repeated, keeping an utmost serious look on her exhausted face.

More rounds of chorused laughter rang throughout the gym. "This is unreal..." AJ muttered, just shaking his head at his mother.

"Who's up for another game?" Brian suddenly asked.

"Not me," Denise answered, following her son over to the bleachers that were set up against one of the side walls.

"Kev?"

"Nah, cuz. I'm beat."

"D?"

"Too tired."

"Aje?!"

"Nah, I need a break!"

Brian sighed. "Nick?"

Nick grinned. "I was waiting for you to ask."

Brian grinned right back. "Great! Let's go!"

"Are you upset?" Denise asked her son as she approached him from behind.

"Upset?" AJ chuckled as he looked at his mom.

"Yes, over the fact that you were beat in the game of basketball by your mother."

"You never stop, do you?" AJ grinned.

Denise smiled. "Never.

"I love you, Mom," AJ chuckled again as he reached into his jacket pocket and secretively pulled out his cellphone, pack of cigarettes, and his lighter. Before his mother could catch sight of any of the three objects, he shoved them into both pockets of his baggy adidas warm-up pants. "I'm going outside for some fresh air," he continued, looking around and spotting his bodyguard standing next to one of the entrance doors to the gym. "Jeff, I'm heading out for some air!"

"Right behind ya," Jeff replied following AJ out one of the doors.

*****

AJ stepped out into the cooler air of the outside, loving the cool refreshing feeling it brought to his warm skin. He watched as Jeff stood guard next to the door and allowed AJ to have his space. Reaching into one of his pants pockets, he was careful to pull out the pack of cigarettes and the tiny see-through yellow lighter. 'Damn, I need to get another pack...' AJ thought as he noticed there were only four cigarettes left. But pushing the thought aside, he pulled one out and placed it lightly between his lips, shielding the lighter from a small breeze as he brought it up to light the end of the cigarette.

The stinging sensation the nicotine smoke brought to his lungs caused him to cough out spontaneously for a short second, but he quickly recovered and took another drag. He really didn't understand why he still did this, smoked that is. He had tried to quit several times, but each time he had failed terribly. And it surprised him that he still did smoke, he didn't enjoy it much. He never really had. But that's what addiction did to a person, and he hated it.

He was addicted.

Taking another drag from the cigarette, he looked down and kicked at a small pebble that stood out against the pavement and seemed very out of place. A small 'tapping' sound entered AJ's ears as the pebble bounced/rolled aimlessly away after it had come in contact with his foot. The breeze had picked up a small notch and was now wisping around him in a playful manner. And as he looked up, AJ noticed that the sky had turned a bit dark. He hated this type of weather. He didn't like coldness. Coldness made everything seem so dark and dreery.

With a final drag from the cigarette, AJ flicked the small thing to the ground and brought his foot on top of it, smushing it into the pavement. For a few seconds afterwards, he inhaled and exhaled the clean air, almost smiling as it filled his lungs. And amist the smell of smoke that was still present in the air, he could smell rain. He'd always had a keen sense for smelling it right before it started raining. Sure enough, looking up, dark clouds were already beginning to move in. 'Damn weather...' his mind growled and he produced a fresh cigarette, quickly lighting it up. 'I really need to cut down on these...'.

*Drop*

He felt the small pellet of precipitation come in contact with the skin on his face and anticipated there would be more to follow soon. The draft in the air was enough of mocking evidence that a down pour was to be in the near future. 'Can't wait to get back to Florida...at least it's warm there when it rains.' While taking a prolonged drag from the cigarette, he reached into his other pocket and pulled out his cellphone, switching it on when he noticed the power had been turned off.. It took nearly half a minute before the phone was fully on and he was able to press the speed dial button for the number he needed. But when all of that was done, he brought the phone up to his ear and waited patiently.

*RING!*

"Hello?"

AJ was shocked, someone had actually answered on the first ring. "Uh...Jenny?"

"Yeah? Who's this?"

"AJ."

"AJ?"

"Well, Alex."

"Oh! Alex!"

"Yeah, hi to you, too."

"What's up?" Jenny asked casually, which also surprised AJ, considering the last time they had spoken had not ended in good terms. "By the way, I recieved your apology and I accept it."

"I was hoping that you would. I'd hate to ruin your first impression of me."

"You ruined that a long time ago."

"Did I?"

"Not really, 'cause I guess I can give you a second chance."

"Aren't you the quick one to reconsider?"

"Don't push it."

"Is that a threat?"

"I could make it one, so like I said, don't push it."

"Very funny."

"So anyway, why ya calling?"

"Is it a crime to?"

"Never said that."

"Actually, I was calling to talk to Jaymee. Is she around?"

"Um..." Jenny hesitated for quite a long moment. "...Yeah. Let me get her for ya."

AJ kicked at another pebble absentmindedly as silence developed over both phone lines, and faintly in the background, he could hear Jenny calling out for Jameelah, "Jaymee!". And again, all he heard was silence.

*Drop, drop*

AJ looked up and was hit in the eye with another rain drop. He hadn't realized it, but it had begun to sprinkle lightly and he could already see multiple drops staining his clothing. It was only a matter of time before it really began to rain. He would have to head back inside soon.

"Hello?"

"Jaymee, hey! It's Alex!" AJ immediately answered as soon as he heard her voice come on the line, but there was no answer, causing AJ's eyebrows to furl. "Jaymee, are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here," Jameelah answered in a distant tone that surprised AJ to say the least. But what Jameelah said next, surprised AJ even more. "What do you want?"

"I was calling to talk to you," AJ almost stuttered in reply.

"Why?" Her tone was defenitely far different then what AJ had expected, and her attitude was more then a bit on the cold side. It was most evident that she was angry about something, but exactly what she was angry about...AJ could not be sure.

"Why?" he tried to clarify, wondering if he had heard her correctly. But she didn't answer him again. "Jaymee, what's wrong?"

"I'd figure that you would already know what's wrong."

"No Jaymee, I don't. Would you mind telling me?"

"First off, I was very much offended by the way your friends treated me on the phone the other day. I don't know what their problem was, but I don't appreciate being called a liar."

"Ok, I-"

"Don't interrupt me."

AJ's mouthed dropped open in silence.

"And as for you-"

"Whoa, wait a minute," AJ interrupted Jameelah again. He had already figured out why she was angry, but now she was turning this on him? His eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean as for me?"

"I don't appreciate you calling, wasting my time by not saying anything, and then just hanging up."

"What?"

"Like you did last night."

"Jaymee, I can explain that. I was at the venue last night, it was showtime and-"

"Don't even bother, Alex," Jameelah cut him off before he could even finish. "You're a nice guy, but...I really am getting the feeling that I'm becoming a burden to you and you obviously feel like you have to call me, and that's not fair. And to tell you the truth, I don't want to deal with something like that."

"Jaymee-"

"Listen, I'm really busy right now, so I don't have the time to be talking on the phone. I have to go. Goodbye, Alex."

"Jay-"

*CLICK*

AJ stood there in shocked silence as he listened to the call being disconnected, the phone still pressed to his ear. He couldn't believe what had just happened, he would have never expected Jameelah to have reacted in such a way. He had never expected that she was so angry towards him in the first place. But finally, in anger, AJ hastily turned the power on the phone off and shoved it into his pocket. "Fuck!" he growled out, anger swelling within as he threw his cigarette to the ground. Then, just as a crack of thunder sounded from above, and the awaited down pour began to fall, AJ stormed back inside.

*****

Jeanie McGuire sat next to the table in AJ's hotel room, her cheek resting against her hand as she silently watched AJ continue to pace around the room. It was their third session, already nearly an hour into it, and AJ had spoken less then ten words to her the whole time. She didn't need anyone to tell her for her to see that AJ was not in the best of moods at the moment. The only thing she couldn't tell by looking at him was whether he was angry or upset. His facial expressions were made up of a mixture of emotions - anger, sadness, confusion, and any other emotion you could think of. "AJ?"

"Hmmm?" AJ murmured absentmindedly as he paced by his therapist again, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. His eyes were narrowed in intense thought, though his eyebrows were furled in confusion, his forehead creased.

"What's wrong?" Jeanie asked, sitting up straight as her left arm was starting to fall asleep from her head leaning up against it for so long. She knew she needed to find out what was eating at AJ today, as the silence was starting to get to her. Plus, it was her job as AJ's therapist to find out about his emotions.

"Nothing's wrong," AJ answered shortly, trying to steady his breath as it was coming out unevenly, just like his jumbled and mixed up thoughts were coming out of his brain unevenly.

"AJ, tell me what's wrong," Jeanie said in a soft but direct voice as she kept gaze glued on him.

"I said nothing's wrong," AJ repeated, stopping only shortly to glance at Jeanie, but continued right on with his pacing. He just didn't want to talk, he wasn't in the mood to really speak with anyone at the moment, no offense to be thrown towards his therapist.

"AJ..."

"Listen, Jeanie...I just don't want to talk about it right now."

Jeanie grew quiet as she gave a small nod. She watched AJ for a minute more before she stood up from her chair and gathered her yellow legal pad and black ball-point pen in her hands. "Well, I guess I will let you be alone right now, then," she spoke, beginning to slowly head for the door. She was hoping AJ would stop her from leaving and talk, but no such thing happened. "We'll try again tomorrow when you arrive at your next destination."

"Yeah, ok..." AJ mumbled, rubbing at his temples for a moment.

Jeanie nodded and she reached for the handle on the door, but before she could even grasp it with her hand, the handle moved and the door was pushed open, barely missing with coming in contact with her face. She stepped back, surprised, right as Howie came walking through the now open doorway. His face was adorned with a casual expression as he offered her a smile. "Hey," he greeted, his smile almost brightening as he spoke.

"Hello," Jeanie greeted, offering the latino a shy smile back.

"Hey J," Howie called out to his friend. He waited until AJ directed his gaze towards him before he spoke again. "I was just stopping by to let you know that everyone is meeting up at Kev's room in about five minutes to chill out. I think Kev's ordering a pay-per-view movie and we're all going to battle it out in a few games of poker. You gonna come?"

"No, I'm just going to hang in my room," AJ shrugged, his gaze breaking away from Howie's.

Howie's eyebrows raised when AJ declined the offer. He'd noticed that AJ's mood had changed drastically since they had come back from playing basketball at the gym earlier that day. But the thing was, Howie didn't understand what the problem. He'd tried to ask what was wrong when they were on their way back to the hotel, but AJ had just shrugged it off even then. "Alright, man. The offer's open if you want to head over later." AJ only nodded and Howie turned to Jeanie. "The offer is open to you also, if you would like to come?"

Silence fell over the two as they just stood there looking at each other for a period of several minutes, niether one blinking more then a few times. AJ rolled his eyes at the scene and walked over to the window. It was not something he wanted to be seeing at the current moment.

Finally, Jeanie shook her head slightly to pull herself out of her daydream. She bit down on her bottom lip, as if contemplating the idea, but in the end, thought against it. "I...I really shouldn't. So I'm going to decline your offer," she finally spoke, almost unwillingly.

Again, silence fell over the two as their gazes remained lock.

"Alright," Howie spoke a minute later and he offered Jeanie a smile. "I'll see you later, Aje. We leave at seven tomorrow morning. Be on the bus by ten to!" Then Howie made his exit from the room.

Jeanie watched as the door shut behind Howie and she turned her gaze on AJ. He really didn't look right at the moment, very deep in thought as far she could tell. She knew something was wrong and she only wished that he would talk to her about it right now, but at the moment, he was chosing to be stubborn, and for one time only, Jeanie decided to respect his stubborness and allow him to have time to think. Maybe she would try to get it out of him tomorrow during their next session. She could only hope. "AJ?" she called out.

"Hmmm?"

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He gave his short answer and plopped onto his bed, staring blankly at the non-interesting ceiling.

Jeanie stood at the door. "Listen AJ, I know I'm your therapist, but I would also like to be your friend. I just want you to know that if you need someone to talk to, you can talk to me. It doesn't have to be during our sessions."

AJ shot her a side glance for moment, offering her a smile before saying, "Thanks."

Jeanie gave him a smile back, then walked out the door.

*****

AJ tossed and turned in a fitful manner within the bed sheets. The sheets were tangled around his body in an awful mess and his white wife beat clung to his persperation-damp skin. His eyes fluttered furiously under their lids before they finally popped open and he looked straight up at the ceiling through the dark, ending up on his back. Having woken up in a cold sweat and barely being covered by the tangled sheets, AJ couldn't help but shiver. The temperature in the room had seemed to have decreased several degrees since he had fallen alsleep.

Kicking at the sheets until they were laying in a heap at the foot of the bed, AJ stole a quick glimpse at the clock on the nightstand and groaned. It was only 2:28in the morning. He didn't have to be awake for another four hours at the most. But just his luck. Of course he would have to wake up at this hour. Rolling onto his stomach, he desperately buried his face in the pillow and attempted to fall back to sleep. No such luck. He clamped his eyes tightly shut and rolled to his right side. Two minutes later, he rolled onto his left side. Then finally, he sat up, sighing in exasperation. It was useless, he would not be getting back to sleep any time soon.

Well, now he'd be able to sleep his way to the next town on the tour bus. That he would defenitely look forward to.

AJ reached for the lamp on the nightstand and squinted his eyes as the bright light filled the room when he succeeded in turning it on. Once his eyes finally adjusted to the light, he looked around the room in a disoriented manner. 'Who in their right mind would be up at this hour?! Well Aje, you obviously aren't in your right mind...' AJ shook his head in dissatisfaction as he threw his legs over the side of the bed, catching glimpse of his cellphone, pack of cigarettes, and lighter. Not having anything better to do, he grabbed of all three items and headed out to the balcony.

The weather hadn't let up at all since it had started pouring earlier the day before. Good thing there was a small overhang that covered the balcony, otherwise AJ would have been soaked the moment he stood foot outside the sliding glass door. Another plus, there wasn't any wind, so the rain was basically falling in a straight down angle, leaving the two chairs on the balcony completely dry.

AJ took a seat and quickly pulled out a cigarette, lighting it up. Completing that task and taking a few drags, he turned his cell phone on, waiting for it to charge up. He knew it might turn into a mistake to be calling her at this hour, but he needed to talk to her again. He still didn't fully understand why she had acted so badly towards him on the phone, or why she had been so mad. Well, apart from the fact of Brian and Nick's rudeness...he just didn't understand. Especially since she wouldn't even give him a chance to explain exactly why he had hung up on her that one time at the venue. Wasn't she overreacting just a little bit about that?

Well, AJ was about to find out. He suddenly didn't care what time it was. He needed to give her a call because he needed to know what he had done wrong, or more specifically, what he had done to make her so upset.

AJ pressed speed dial and brought the phone up to his ear, exhaling the nicotine smoke through his nose.

*RING!*

*RING!*

*RING!*

"...Hello...?" The voice to answer was clogged with sleep and didn't sound very thrilled for recieving a call at this hour of the morning as silence took over the line. "Hello?"

"Jaymee, it's Alex," AJ answered.

"Alex?" Jameelah clarified, even more disgruntled for having recieved this phone call.

"We need to talk," AJ spoke in a determined tone of voice.

"Do you even realize what time it is?"

Oh great, now she sounded pissed.

"Yes, I do, but we need to talk."

"It can wait until later, Alex."

"No, it can't."

"What is your problem?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out about you. I call you yesterday and you say your mad at me and you don't even give me a chance to speak. What I would like to know is what exactly have I done?" AJ answered in one long drawn out breath.

"I'm not going to get into this right now, Alex," Jameelah said. She was really sounding uptight and angry now.

AJ didn't care.

"Yes you are. I deserve a suitable explanation of what I did wrong. The least you could due is give me that explanation."

"You are acting very rude right now, and I am going to hang up on you."

"Jaymee, wait! I just want to talk-"

"Then learn how to call at decent hours. I told you I am not going to get into this right now, and I am not very happy about you calling at this hour. If you want to talk, then call at a decent hour. And until you learn how to not act so rude towards me, then don't even think about calling me back. Goodbye!

*CLICK*