Jim got back together with Barbara, but things were still on the mend when he left for Asia, and she didn’t want to travel with him. She argued they could use that time away, and missing each other would be good for them.
He and Silvia had never mentioned the subject again, back to their task-of-the-week routine. However, it was plain to see that after Jim left, their game would depend on the tour’s tight schedule. So they agreed to post whatever they came across, be it writings, pictures, music, no task required.
No Return left LA by the time spring managed to kick winter away from Patagonia. But on its way out, winter told spring about Macondo. And while it rained nonstop and everything was damp and muddy, and people asked each other what did a blue sky look like, Silvia found herself facing unexpected hard times.
Her little brother entered an angry-teen stage that was a complete first for him, and Silvia wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. Mika had alwa
Jim thought it was weird that she almost didn’t post anything but comments to what he uploaded, but he didn’t ask. They didn’t do asking.Silvia led a regular, ordinary life, and it was logical that he always had more news to share than her. So he kept updating the Hey, Jay!, knowing she followed him in her own way. Every day she would leave at least a few words to what he’d posted the day before; sometimes a question, sometimes only exclamation marks or a heart.She was his secret companion, going with him to every country, listening to every concert, walking about every city, trying every food, scolding him when he got out of line, laughing with his silliest jokes.Sometimes, when he was taking a picture for the Hey, Jay!, he would find himself already thinking its title as he took it, something smart to catch her attention. And more than once, waiting felt too long until he was left alone and free to update their blog
“Hey, dude, let’s go for a walk,” Sean said, ignoring the mayhem left in the room after the party. Jim didn’t seem to listen, cursing under his breath as he went through the phone menus. “Jimbo.” “Fuck!” “What’s up, man?” Sean grabbed a beer from the minibar on his way to his brother. “I can’t fucking find it! I deleted the DMs by mistake and now I can’t find the fucking number!” “You looking for a phone number?” “What’s the time in LA now?” Sean frowned, puzzled. “About four AM? Why?” Jim ignored his question. “So it’s seven AM in New York. One or two more hours. She should be already awake,” he muttered under his breath. Sean didn’t hear him do his math and asked, “You mean you lost Barbara’s number when we changed phones in Tokyo?” Jim frowned up at him. “What?” “Aren’t you looking for her number?” “Whose number?” “Barbara’s.” “Why the fuck would I wanna
“You’ve been humming that song for days,” said Guillermo. “Want me to play some Pink Floyd?” Yeah, she’d been humming Wish You Were Here for three days already. It’d also been three days since her mood had finally improved, and she’d focused on helping her little sister get ready to leave. A couple of days later, she sat her little brother down to talk. She told him that if he wasn’t capable of keeping basic manners, she wouldn’t either and she would pretend he didn’t exist. After a whole week of ice treatment, forced to cook his own meals, do his own laundry, and being completely ignored, the boy gave up and agreed to restore diplomatic relations. Silvia cooked his favorite meal, did all his laundry and spent a couple of hours gaming with him. Truce was signed. Mika’s farewell party worked out just perfect, and Silvia hugged her little sister goodbye on a windy November morning, making the girl promise she would stay in touch often, not only if she
But the year wasn’t quite over yet. Two days later, Jim updated the Hey, Jay! “Task of the week: the song to illustrate this year,” he wrote, followed by YouTube video. His post found Silvia at home with Paola and Claudia, like any other Friday night. Her friends saw her drop on her chair with the tablet in her hands, moving her lips without a sound. “What is it?” Paola asked, concerned. Silvia looked up at her, pointing at the tablet. Claudia stretched in her chair to see the screen and frowned. “What,” she said. “The— The song,” Silvia mumbled. “Yeah, Pearl Jam’s cover of Little Wing,” said Claudia. “So?” Paola narrowed her eyes, suspicious. “Jim?” she asked. Silvia managed to say a whole sentence before her voice broke. “His pick for a song to illustrate this year.” “And what’s wrong with it? It’s a hell of a song,” said Claudia. Paola kept her eyes on Silvia
Silvia had actually thought about a song for such a strange year before Jim came up with the task, because it was something she used to do every December, just for fun. But Jim’s pick shook everything up. Little Wing wasn’t just any song. And even though she’d tried to look confident and sure in front of her friends, she still didn’t know what to make of it. Yeah, it was the perfect picture of them in many ways, but it was the last song he should’ve sent her. Because it was true, both of them had been there for each other, and the song might also refer to that funny evening at the inn, drinking, singing, dancing. But no matter how many references and interpretations she might possibly find, Little Wing was a love song. Hendrix wasn’t singing about a friend but about someone he loved, be it his acid dealer, his favorite guitar or a woman. And a straight man dedicating such a song to a straight woman wasn’t talking about friendship but about love.
On New Year’s Eve, Silvia sent Jim a DM.“Did you notice our years don’t start at the same time? Happy Argentinean New Year, Jay!”He replied in under a minute, “Ur fkn right! Happy Argentinean New Year!”It was just obvious that he’d DM her again five hours later, to congratulate her on LA’s New Year, and that she would be waiting to reply right away like he’d done.Her birthday party was two days later, and it was a night to remember. She had so many pictures and videos to share with her friends, that she refused to spend hours uploading it all twice, first to Facebook and then to the Hey, Jay!Jim frowned when she sent him a link to Facebook. “Come to Suckerborg county to take a look.” Barbara was getting dressed for the opening of an art gallery they’d been invited to, and it looked like he had time to read Shakespeare’s com
On the last days of March, Jim’s tweet made Silvia’s knees buckle. “U ready Latin America?” Her hand was shaking as she opened his DM. “Got the breaking news? C u soon! :D” She dropped the tablet and smoked until her head felt a little clearer. Okay, Mexico was Latin America and Jim had a thing for grandstanding, so this might be nothing to have a heart attack over. Just in case, she followed the link on Jim’s tweet to the band’s official website, where she found the confirmed dates of this unexpected fifth leg of their world tour. Her lips trembled as her eyes moved down the list of countries. Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Peru, Brazil—Oh God! Argentina. Two concerts in Buenos Aires, at the GEBA stadium, the weekend before Revolution Day on May 25. And considering the national holiday was a Monday that year, those concerts could very well turn into three if the first two sold out. Her heart was hamme
When Jim knew Silvia would go to Buenos Aires with a friend, he told their road manager Tim Costa he needed two full-access passes for Argentina. He didn’t want anything to come in her way to get to him in any situation.“Okay, I’ll email the local producer,” said Tim. He noticed Jim’s look and smiled. “Give me the full names and some ID number, so they can go pick up the passes before we get there. I’ll warn the locals to wait for them.”Jim knew a thousand ways that could go wrong, so he turned to Deborah, dead serious. “I ain’t playing unless she’s at the stageside, Deb.”“Okay, but who is she? Someone from the local Squad?”“She’s a friend.”“Don’t worry, Jim. We’ve got this,” she replied, just as serious.“You better.”Tim hardly waited for Jim to leave to turn to Deborah. “A friend?&