Josie And The Pussy Cats take a trip to Pago Pago

Chapter 3
“He’s My Boyfriend!”

Chapter Description: Alexandra announces her wedding plans and Josie, Val, and Mel play Bubblegum Rock!

Alan put Alexandra down in front of the tourist shop. Taking her hand, he walked in and stopped in front of the drinks machine. He chose spring water for himself and convinced Alexandra to get a sports drink instead of the sugary one she wanted.

He picked up a bottle of suntan lotion and walked up to the front. The proprietor looked at Alexandra and muttered, “la'u pele, o e fiafia i lou olaga fou?” to her.

He looked at Alan and offered to exchange Alexandra's oversize clothing for something more appropriate. Alan said yes without thinking about it and a teenager, presumably the proprietor’s daughter, led Alexandra to the changing room to help her find new clothes.

After a few moments, little Alexandra came out wearing a one-piece Catalina-style bathing suit that fit her perfectly. She wore a pair of woven sandals and sported a cheap pair of sunglasses shaped like stars. The teen smiled at Alan as she tied a bandanna around Alexandra's head to protect it from sunburn.

Alan purchased the drinks and lotion and then asked if the local police could come and pick up Alexandra. The proprietor looked at him with a questioning look on his face and asked why he would want that.

Alan responded, "Her parents must be anxious about her absence."

“Yes, Mr. Mayberry, if her parents were here. She’s your girlfriend and belongs with your group, so you must take her with you.”

“She belongs with my group? What do you mean?” asked Alan. He wasn’t getting any answers, only more questions and confusion.

“Just take her with you. If her parents show up, the authorities know where to find her. Trust me, it'll be better for her to be with you than in a juvenile holding cell!”

Alexandra was getting the feeling that Alan didn’t want her and cried. Tears fell down her cheeks as she whimpered.

“Y-You don’t want me?” she asked as her heart broke at the thought that her lifetime boyfriend was rejecting her. “Do you hate me, Alan?”

“What? I, um, but what about your parents? Won’t they be worried that you’re gone?”

“They’re not here, Alan, you know that!” she sobbed uncontrollably as her face turned red.

“Mr. Mayberry, don’t you think this has gone far enough?” asked the proprietor gently.

Alan continued to humor Alexandra. Having a child around shouldn’t be all that hard and eventually, her parents would show up and solve this situation. He bent down on his knees and comforted her.

“Shh, shh! It’s okay, Alexandra! I think we both need to drink some water. I’m very confused right now!”

Alexandra looked into his eyes for falsehoods and found none. She wrapped her arms around him and clung tightly, hoping to never let go. He picked her up and supported her against him and walked outside to sit down on a bench that was in the shade.

She sat on his lap as the two drank their water in silence. She finally calmed down enough to talk again and little “HIC!” noises escaped from her as she did so.

A small black kitten with a white stripe clumsily plopped down on the bench next to the pair. He purred happily at finding his mistress and rubbed against Alan’s leg.

“Sebastian!” cried the little girl happily and picked up the kitten. She caressed him under the chin, eliciting more happy purrs.

The pair finished up their water. Alan looked at the cat and surmised that aside from its age, it was a dead ringer for Alexandra’s pet. He went back to the music hall to see if the gang could help him figure out who the little girl was.

Alexandra insisted on riding his shoulders again. They walked in to find Josie, Val, and Melody taking a break before they put their instruments away for the performance.

“Hi, Alan! Who’s your little girlfriend?” asked Josie teasingly.

“Would you believe me if I told you her name is Alexandra?” he asked.

“No way! Did she shrink? Tee-hee-hee! Who’s the cute little kitty?” asked Melody.

“Sebastian,” replied Alan with a deadpan expression.

“What!?” chorused the three girls in perfect unison.

Alan explained what had happened while Alexandra sat happily in his lap and caressed a purring Sebastian in her arms.

After a few questions to get the story straight, Josie turned to Alexandra and asked, “So, are you going to marry Alan when you get old enough, Alexandra?”

“Yep! He’s my boyfriend and he’ll be my husband in a few years!” she said spiritedly and would brook no argument.

After a few hours, Alan took little Alexandra back to the Hotel with him. She was up past her bedtime and fell asleep in his arms. Alex took over the mixing console. He hoped he wouldn’t have to mess with it, as it was way beyond his capabilities.

After a successful gig with several encores, the Pussycats went back to join him and see if they could get more answers to the mystery.

They all met up in Alan’s room. Alexandra, dressed in a pink nightgown, slept happily under a sheet in the second bed in his room. Sebastian had curled up beside her, asleep in a cute little furry circle. She slept so soundly, their hushed conversation didn’t disturb her.

“Where did all these clothes come from?” asked Val as she surveyed a pile of children’s clothing that was large enough to fill a small portion of the room’s corner. Cotton panties, slips, dresses, jumpers, and an even dozen pairs of shoes, from fancy to casual, just to name a few things, took up that space. There was even a steamer-style trunk to put them in.

“The bellhop brought them over. He said he’d found them in her room,” explained Alan, “he figured they were hers when I carried her in the lobby. He also said that all the adult clothes in her room were gone.”

“Wow! Even her clothes shrunk and they didn’t even have to be washed first!” giggled Melody.

Sammy, who had been with the group, looked at the sleeping girl and muttered, “moe lelei, teine!”

He turned to their quizzical looks and remarked, “I said ‘sleep well, little girl!’, it’s a custom.”

"Do you know where Alexandra disappeared and this little girl came from?" asked Val.

After a while and some careful thought, Sammy replied, “Our customs forbid it, but it can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how you look at it. Yes, that little girl is your Alexandra.”

After that, he wouldn’t say anything more. He seemed visibly worried that he might have said too much. The gang accepted it and Melody offered to see to her needs the next morning, which gave Alan great relief.

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The next morning, Alan left the room to wait in the lobby. Melody and Alexandra struck up an instant friendship, and the pair showed up in the lobby, ready for breakfast. Alexandra wore a new tie-dyed, colorful swimsuit and was eager to get down at the beach to play with Alan.

He had to tell her to wait as there were some things he had to take care of first at the music hall and no amount of pouting or bratty behavior from Alexandra was able to dissuade him. She sat in one of the padded chairs with Sebastian swinging her legs with childish energy while Alan tended his boards and did sound checks with the Pussycats.

With the soundcheck complete and the mixer board locked down, Alan left for the beach with little Alexandra. Josie and Val worked out a guitar riff with several counter-points while Melody quietly beat a rhythm on her beloved drums. The constant beat and monotony left a small part of her brain idle to think about Alan and Alexandra.

“Oh, I bet those two are having such fun! Building sand castles and playing on the beach…”

She pictured Alan buried in the sand horizontally with Alexandra shaping the sand around him as a comical muscleman and giggling. She beat a few beats on the bass drum to a tympani accompaniment.

“Tee-hee-hee!” she giggled aloud, adding a quick snare hit to the mix.

“What’s got you giggling?” asked Josie as she stopped playing her riff and put down her guitar. Melody continued playing her drums while the trinket hanging from its necklace bounced off her chest in union with the beat. It caught a stray ray of light and put off a soft, luminescent light show.

“I was just thinking-” said Melody.

“You? Thinking? That’s a first!” said Val teasingly. She picked up the beat on her riff, and Melody followed along. It was irregular that the drummer follows the guitarist, but not unheard of. Josie felt the groove set up by the two and put in a few distorted counter-notes that added to the harmony of the mix.

“What were you thinking about?” asked Josie as the words “Yum, yum, yummy” escaped her mind and fit in perfectly with what they were noodling. She sang it aloud, adding “Love, love, love, tummy, tummy, tummy”.

“About how much fun Alan and Alexandra must be having on the beach right now,” she giggled as she imagined a playful Alexandra throwing water on Alan from a plastic sand bucket while he napped. Her beat while remaining constant picked up a playful snare. The trinket began glowing as if the light beam had energized it. A shimmering light that pulsated lit up the stage floor in front of Melody’s drum set.

“Meow, meow, meow, love, love, love, tummy, tummy, tummy, fish!” giggled Melody. Josie and Val smiled at each other as they felt another fun song would soon find itself added to the Pussycats songbook.

“Yummy, yummy, yummy

I’ve got fish in my tummy

And a rub on the neck from you,” Josie sang. Val added a melodious high-pitched “Aaaaah-ooooooh!” that fit perfectly.

Josie sang. Melody giggled at the thought of Josie sitting in Alan’s lap and getting her neck rubbed. The thought was so silly she lost her beat and broke out in laughter. Throwing her head back, she gave in to it and laughed out loud.

Josie stopped playing, Val stopped with a sour note, and the two looked at Melody, clearly enjoying herself and unable to stop laughing.

“It wasn’t that bad,” protested Josie.

“No! No!” said Melody, between fits of laughter. Josie and Val shared a “What’s up with her?” look between themselves and shrugged their shoulders in unison. Melody got off her stool and hugged her two friends closely, for the love she shared and to help support her as she could barely stand because of the mirth she felt bubbling up in her.

After she calmed down and the visions of little Alexandra playing beach pranks on Alan faded away. She again thought of how much fun the pair must be having on the beach. She felt happy and a little melancholy that she couldn’t be at the beach enjoying it with them.

“Wouldn’t it be fun to see them play games with each other?” she said aloud and giggled.

Her trinket flashed a bright blue for just a fraction of a second. The background lighting in the hall that the trio occupied became blindingly bright for just the scantiest amount of time. The flash was so quick that it almost seemed to not be there, but the girl’s eyes unfocused momentarily all the same.

“What was that?” asked Josie.

“I don’t know!” said Val, as her vision cleared and focused on Josie and Melody’s faces.

“Wha-a-a-t the-” she said as she stepped back. “Um, Josie? Mel? You look-”

End of chapter three.