Chapter 7

"Whoa, Rich. This ain't nothing like your basement bedroom at your mom's house." Jon wandered around the mansion in open mouthed awe, taking in the tastefully decorated interior. Walking up to the grand piano, he ran his hand over it lovingly.

"Well, this ain't nothing compared to your house. I mean, your house now," Richie retorted.

"You mean what I saw of it, which was mostly the inside of your room." Jon reminded him. "The first night was just a blur, but that office is real nice..."

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Which reminds me...who's Katrina?"

"What?"

"I saw a folder in the office labeled 'Katrina'. Who is she?"

Richie debated whether tell him or not. The mantra 'the less he knows, the better' kept playing in his mind. Will Jon knowing affect the original outcome?

Seeing his hesitation worried Jon. "She's someone I'm having an affair with, right?"

"What? No! Katrina is, or was, a hurricane." Shit!

"A hurricane? Why would I keep a file on a hurricane?"

"Why would you keep one on an affair, you moron?"

"I don't know. It just worried me. I mean, I can see that Dot and I ended up with each other, but after what happened with Diane...I don't know, man, Rich."

"Look, Jon, Katrina was a hurricane. A big one. It devastated New Orleans and a lot of other cities. Thousands of people lost their lives and their homes. The band is helping the people re-build their lives. That's what part of Habitat for Humanity is."

"Thousands? Wow. When does it happen?'

"Actually, three years ago to this date."

Richie went on to tell him a little more about the flooding and how Jon and the band joined Habitat. Jon sat in one of the couches and was quiet for a while, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

"Bro? What's going on in your head?"

"Hmmm? No, I was just wondering if that's the reason I came here. You know, to warn people."

Richie stared at him. "How is warning them three years later going to help anyone?" he asked rather crossly.

"No! I don't mean about the hurricane. I mean something else. Something bad that's gonna happen in the future."

Richie thought about this for a moment before he spoke, "I think you've got it backwards. If you were here to warn us, you would have come back from the future. Right now you don't even know what to warn us about because it hasn't happened yet."

Knowing Richie had a point did not deter Jon's way of thinking. "I still think there's a reason for me coming here."

"Wormhole," Richie offered.

"What did you just call me?"

Richie narrowed his eyes at Jon. "Terms of endearment hasn't changed that much in twenty years, asshole. A wormhole is a scientific theory on how time travel is possible."

"And this is common knowledge in 2008?" Jon scoffed.

"No, I looked it up on the web." Damn it!

"What is this 'web' you keep talking about? Where is it?"

*****

Luckily, Richie's housekeeper was off for a couple of days, though she did stock up the fridge and pantries when Richie called to let her know he was coming home.

They were sitting around the kitchen table with their sandwiches and drinks when Richie remembered something.

"What did you mean by 'Romeo knows'?"

"I don't know, Rich. It's a gut feeling. He just knows, maybe more than we do, about what's going on. I could see it in his eyes."

Richie put his sandwich down and looked at Jon in exasperation. "He's four. How in the hell could he know more than us? We don't even have a clue what's going on. I'll bet that look he gave you is more of fright at seeing his dad's old photos come to life."

"No. He knows."

*****

"We need to go shopping."

"What for? I rather you not leave this house, Jon."

"I don't have any change of clothes. I can borrow your T shirts but your pants are...well..."

"Legs are too long?" Richie tried unsuccessfully to hide his smirk.

"Fuck you, Sambora."

"Alright, fine. But don't forget to stick to the story that you're an actor." Richie grabbed his keys and they made their way to the garage. Opting to take the less conspicuous sports car over the Hummer, they drove to the nearest mall. They were in luck as it was nearly deserted being a Friday afternoon, before the crowd hit. Flipping through the racks of a clothing store, Jon noticed someone staring at them.

"Holy shit, Rich. That's Mrs. Ferguson."

"Who?"

"Mrs. Ferguson. That old bat used to be my math teacher in high school. I can't believe she's still living."

"Just ignore her. Maybe she won't notice you."

"No, she's staring at me. She's one nosy little poker, always trying to stick her nose where it's none of her business. She used to trail Dot and me trying to eavesdrop on what we were saying." Jon lowered his voice to a whisper as Mrs. Ferguson leaned over and almost fell off her motorized chair into the bargain bin.

Both men tried to keep a straight face as they watched her stuff herself back into her chair, but it was hard to disguise their amusement.

"That's very rude, young man. Very rude," she scolded waggling her finger at Jon, "I shall have to call your parents. Yes, I shall. Now get going to your next class or I'll send you to the Principal's office."

Jon and Richie looked at each other. "I guess we don't have to worry about her."

Going up to the counter to pay for their purchases, Jon looked at Richie apologetically. When Richie rolled his eyes but started to pull out his wallet, Jon smiled, "Thanks, bro. I owe you."

****

Back at the house, they opted for a quiet evening of watching a movie. Richie decided to toss his concerns to the winds and let Jon look over his DVD collection to choose something he wanted to watch.

"Whatever happened to video tapes?"

"Long gone, bro. This way, you won't have miles of tape stuck inside your VCR."

After taking some time going over the synopsis of several movies, Jon selected one and handed it to Richie.

"You're kidding, right? After all that, The Godfather?"

Jon just shrugged. "I love that movie."

*****

Jon and Dorothea had just gotten the kids to bed after several requests for water and a story. "It's still a bit early, what do you want to do, babe?"

"Jon, don't you think you should rest, too? How's your headaches?"

"I'm fine, Dot. Seems like since Richie left this morning, my headaches have disappeared. Maybe I'm allergic to him," he chuckled, gathering his wife into his arms and sitting down together on the big couch in the family room.

"Well, how about a movie, then?"

"Mmmm...I had other ideas in mind..." he murmured into her ear, nuzzling the spot that made her shiver.

"Jon! The kids just fell asleep." Dot jokingly pushed him away and brought a stack of DVDs to him. "Here, you pick."

Jon scanned the selection for a while and finally chose one and handed it to Dot.

"You're kidding, right? After all that, The Godfather?"

Jon just shrugged. "I love that movie."