“Hey, Jay,” Sab said. “When do we get to meet your wife?”
“You already did,” I said.
“We were drunk,” Dex said. “And she wasn’t your wife then. She was your… I don’t even know.”
“Tell you what,” I said. “You all debate it. I’m going to go face the music. The wildest bad boy in rock n’ roll just got hitched in Vegas. To a complete stranger.”
“Jay just being Jay,” Nash said.
They all started to laugh.
I exited the plane giving them all the middle finger.
“Is it true?”
“Jay, who is she?”
“Where is she now, Jay?”
“Were you both drunk? Does she remember?”
“Jay, is she someone you knew before showing up to Vegas?”
Jay… Jay… Jay… Jay…
The cameras took pictures and the questions flew at me with speed.
I stood there and listened to it all.
I literally just stood there.
My plan wasn’t to answer questions and make nice with these people.
It was to let the rest of the band and their ladies get off the plane without getting bothered.
I was keeping my promise.
Just standing there, stone faced, not playing into the paparazzi game… and it worked.
They got bored.
They stopped asking questions.
They stopped taking pictures.
“Jay, come on, man,” someone said. “Give us something…”
I stuck the nail of my thumb between my bottom teeth and managed to get a chunk of some kind of food. I flicked it at the guy who spoke last.
That did not make him smile.
Oh well.
After a few more awkward minutes, Toby showed up and touched my arm.
“We have to go,” he said to me.
“Sorry I can’t answer any more questions,” I said. “My ride is here.”
That got them riled up again.
They all started shouting the same questions at me over and over.
I walked with Toby to a waiting SUV.
He got into the front passenger seat and I got into the back.
We didn’t make it out of the airport lot before Toby turned around and looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“What’s your plan?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Shouldn’t you have one?”
“Why?”
“Jay…”
“How does this hurt the band?” I asked. “It doesn’t. If anything, it helps. It puts us back in the headlines. Pictures everywhere. Trending on social media. This marriage was for you, Toby. Not me.”
“You’re a prick,” Toby said.
“Of course I am. FILTHY LINE is the wildest rock band in the world. Okay? So run with the story. Trust me, we all need it. All I’ve been seeing and hearing lately is about RAUNCHY RECKS. I’m tired of it. Those assholes just want to ride our coattails.”
Right on cue, a RAUNCHY RECKS song started to play on the radio.
I pointed. “Why are they playing their shit and not ours?”
“To be fair, sir, I’ve heard plenty of FILTHY LINE today,” the driver said. “And I’ve heard about the Vegas wedding.”
“Thank you,” I said to the driver. I looked at Toby. “See?”
“So this is what your plan is,” Toby said. “You want to fuel that fire… the two bands…”
“We’ll see,” I said. “I wasn’t thinking this way when it happened last night. But if the narrative works and helps the band and gets your panties untwisted…”
Toby looked at the driver. “I don’t wear panties.”
“I don’t think he cares,” I said.
Toby let out a groan.
“I’m not sure what the deal is here,” I said. “This is my business.”
“Fine,” Toby said. “I’ll let it go for the moment. But this thing is going to get spun around over and over…” Toby shook his head. “Mitchy.”
“What about him?”
“That’s not going to work.”
“I know.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I’m not sure, Toby,” I said. “As I told everyone else, he came out of nowhere. He just showed up. I put him in the beach house so he could self-destruct away from the city.”
“Where are you headed now?” Toby asked.
“The beach house,” I said. “I want to see if he’s still alive. And what his plan is. The band made their decision. He has to go.”
“Let me see what I can do,” Toby said. “There are lawyers already involved in this mess. I can’t believe he did that. Just show up…”
“I can,” I said. “It’s what he does. He feels slighted by us. Since he was the one who got booted when we were all fucked up at one point.”
“It’s not that simple, Jay.”
“I don’t need your opinion on the matter,” I said. “What’s done is done. Mitchy will never play a FILTHY LINE show again. Okay?”
“Okay,” Toby said.
He got a text on his phone. Then he let out an oh shit groan.
His sights were right back at me.
“What now?” I asked.
“Your wife has a PR person working with her already,” Toby said.
“What?”
“Yeah. Just got some insider information. She’s planning on having some kind of event to get ahead of the story.”
“That she married me?”
“No,” Toby said. “You haven’t read what’s happening here?”
“I slept on the flight,” I said. “I handled the paparazzi. Now I’m here with you.”
“Okay,” Toby said. “It’s getting twisted. She’s going to jump ahead of the story. Apparently she married you for money. Her plan is to bleed you dry.”
“She can bleed my cock dry of cum,” I said.
The driver laughed.
“I don’t think that’s funny at all,” Toby said.
“I do,” I said. “So does the driver. I’ll handle it.”
I looked out the window.
I knew nothing about Wren. Other than she was in Vegas for her friend’s wedding and was a jealous mess over it. That wasn’t all I knew. There was plenty I could assume. She was beautiful and smart. A lawyer. Fierce enough to get involved with a PR company already.
I liked it.
All of it.
We were opposites, but married.
She was taking her stand when it came to this Vegas marriage.
I guess I should figure out mine.
I opened the door to the beach house and heard music.
Live music.
Not just Mitchy either.
I dropped my bag but kept my guitar and walked to the spare bedroom where we had found Mitchy the last time.
I opened the door and looked right at Mitchy.
He was wearing the same clothes as last time. His hair was a greasy mess and thrown over the left side of his head. His eyes looked at mine. He was strung the fuck out pretty bad. I knew he hadn’t slept in days. It was nothing but booze and pills and snorting shit up his nose to keep himself alive.
He held a guitar and smiled at me.
Then there was someone sitting in a chair, holding another guitar, smiling at me.
“Sab,” I said.
“Had to,” he said. “Just wanted to see if this fucker was still hanging around.”
“I’m still here,” Mitchy said.
“When was the last time you slept?” I asked. “Or showered?”
“Ah, man, come on with that,” Mitchy said. “We’re just playing rock n’ roll here. Feel the music, brother. I’ve been writing songs all day and night and day… and… is it night yet?”
Mitchy started to laugh.
I didn’t laugh.
Sab shrugged his shoulders and laughed. “Grab a guitar, Jay. Come on.”
“Play a song with us,” Mitchy sai
d. “Old times sake.”
“One song,” Sab said. “Then you’ll shower. Right?”
“Yeah,” Mitchy said.
“And get some sleep?” I asked.
“If there’s room in your bed,” Mitchy said.
“Do you still have the same women in there?” I asked.
“No,” Mitchy said. “I swapped them out. There’s three. Hey, brother, one for each of us… I got the any hole you want deal. You know what I mean?”
I took a deep breath. “Mitchy…”
“Come on,” he said. “Don’t be a fucking loser. Don’t shit on me. I know you got married in Vegas last night.”
“How?”
“One of the ladies told me,” Mitchy said.
“Jay,” Sab said. “One song.”
I felt irritated.
Really irritated.
There were a lot of things happening at once.
I had wanted to come home from Vegas, get some sleep, and get ready for the next show.
I threw my guitar case on the bed and opened it.
I found another chair and sat down.
“Mitchy, play that new one,” Sab said. He looked at me. “It’s really good.”
I sat there and listened to Mitchy play.
It honestly broke my heart a little.
This guy had been a brother to us. We had done drugs together. We had shared women together. We had done everything together. Playing shitty shows to big shows.
And then it all went to shit…
Mitchy started to sing.
He was the opposite of Nash. Not that is wasn’t good, but a totally different tone.
Mitchy could write haunting songs that just twisted your heart with ease.
Sab started to play the song, following Mitchy’s lead.
My fingers slide up and down the strings, not making any noise.
I was feeling the song.
And then an idea came to me.
I took the lead since I was the lead guitarist.
We sat there and jammed out like it was old times.
I felt like I was stabbing the rest of the guys in the back.
Nash, Dex, and Reed were probably all home doing whatever and here Sab and I were…
I chased away the thought and just played the song.
When we finished, Mitchy clapped.
“We should record it,” he said. “Give it to Nash.”
“No,” I said.
“One more song,” Sab called out.
He started to play a classic FILTHY LINE song… Dirty Down There.
It was a drunken jam-band kind of song. With stupid lyrics and a stupid tone, but it was one that the fans loved to sing with us a long time ago.
I couldn’t help myself as I started to sing along with Mitchy and Sab…
She’s dirty down there,
And I don’t even care.
I told her let down her hair,
She said, ‘eyes up here, don’t stare.’
I think I’m in love,
She fell from above,
A saint and sinner pair,
Because she’s dirty down there.
We finished that song and I put my guitar away.
In the ten seconds it took me to do that, I saw Mitchy from the corner of my eye.
Looking at his elbow, rubbing his veins.
He nodded and licked his lips.
“Shower time,” I said.
“What?” Mitchy asked.
I wasn’t going to fuck around and argue with him over it.
I threw my guitar case to the floor.
Then I lunged for Mitchy.
I carried him to the shower.
“You fucker!” he screamed. “You fucker… put me down…”
Mitchy was so high and weak, he couldn’t fight back.
“I fucking hate you, brother,” he said. “It’s your fault the band blew up. You fucking kicked me out. I knew it was you!”
Now came the attacks.
Mitchy knew he was screwed.
I opened the bathroom door and took him to the shower.
I put him on his feet.
“Get naked,” I said.
“Fuck you,” he said.
He spit at me.
I turned on the water and he screamed.
I kicked his feet out from under him.
He toppled to the floor and burst into tears.
The water soaked him.
I reached down into the water, getting myself soaked too.
I literally ripped his shirt off his body.
I tore the thing to shreds and left it on the floor.
As for his jeans, I just grabbed the legs and fought until I won.
“Christ, Jay, you’re going to hurt him,” Sab said from behind me.
I spun around, splashing Sab. “You did this. You showed up here. He needs to fucking sleep this off or else he’s going to die.”
Sab stepped back.
Mitchy curled up on the shower floor, covering his face, crying.
I squirted some soap onto his body.
I wasn’t going to wash him by hand.
Fuck that.
“Drink some water right now, Mitchy,” I said.
He turned his head and opened his mouth.
He was so skinny. Even his tattoos were all messed up because of his skin getting loose and weak.
This guy was not the guy I met all those years ago.
The rock star life wasn’t all fun and games…
After a few minutes, I shut the water off and grabbed a towel.
I picked Mitchy up and wrapped him in the towel.
I threw him over my shoulder like a bag of laundry and exited the bathroom.
Sab ran in front of me and opened the master bedroom door.
The room smelled… rough.
Old, dirty sex. Body odor. Booze.
It was disgusting.
“Chase the whores out,” I said.
Sab walked to the bed and pulled off the covers.
There were three women in bed. All naked. All wrapped up in each other.
Sab clapped his hands. “Out of the bed!”
Sab lifted the mattress and rolled the three women out of the bed to the floor.
Not a single one of them woke up.
I did see them all move, which was good. Nobody was dead. Yet.
I threw Mitchy into the bed and covered him up.
His head moved left to right.
“Jay… are you there?”
“Get some sleep,” I said. “Time to rest. Sober up a little before you hit it again.”
“Jay… I didn’t want to call the lawyers,” Mitchy said. “I was broke and scared, brother. I want the band. I want the life. It’s what I’m meant to do.”
“Okay, Mitchy,” I said. “We’ll talk later.”
I left the bedroom and Sab followed, shutting the door behind him.
We looked at each and I felt like punching Sab in the face.
But that would get me nowhere.
I had other things to deal with.
I had to track down my wife.
I had to figure out why she hired a PR person to help.
Did that mean she didn’t want to be married to me?
That thought made me laugh.
12
WREN
The only reason I slept was because Nia called me to say she was going to help me. Things were going to get smoothed over. We’d get the story straight, then the marriage would end. And it would all just disappear.
It would be nothing but a wild story to tell.
Months from now.
The bigger issue was Grams.
How to break it to her that the entire thing was fake.
I thought maybe I could lie to her.
Just tell her that things didn’t work out. That Jay and I thought we had something but with his touring and lifestyle, we just couldn’t make it work.
Or I could just tell her the truth.
At the very
least, she’d get a kick out of that, right?
I hadn’t heard from Jay, which sort of surprised me.
I thought for sure he would have been bothering me.
Doing anything to get me annoyed or mad at him.
I sure as hell wasn’t going to contact him.
I had no desire to do so. And Nia told me not to.
The next morning, I checked on Grams and she was still asleep.
I helped myself to a quiet coffee and breakfast.
I swore I was still feeling a little hungover from Vegas. That could have just been the anxiety of what happened and what was going to happen.
Bethany arrived a short time later.
“Hey,” she said in her cheery voice. “How’s Grams?”
“Sleeping,” I said. “I actually got to enjoy a quiet morning.”
“That’s good. I’m sure you have a lot on your mind.”
“That I do,” I said. “That I do.”
“Wren, I have to say something,” Bethany said. “I feel like this is my fault.”
“What?” I asked.
“When you were debating on going or not… there was a conversation about love. I told the story about myself and my husband…”
“Oh, Bethany, no,” I said. “That has nothing to do with this. This was…” I shook my head. “I just lost myself for a second. And in that second, I did something crazy. That’s all.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m more than sure,” I said. “Please don’t think anything like that ever again.”
Bethany nodded. “If you say so.” She put her stuff down on the counter and checked her phone. “Okay, I’m going to wake the star patient up. Get the day moving for her.”
I nodded and smiled.
I enjoyed the last few sips of my coffee, then put the cup in the sink.
I looked out of the window to the yard and took a deep breath.
I had no idea what Nia had in mind, but whatever it was, I had to trust her and go with it.
I just…
“Wren!” Bethany’s voice yelled. “Wren! Come in here now!”
My heart instantly sank… no.
I ran into the bedroom and feared the worst.
Grams was awake.
Which was good.
Bethany was at her side.
Grams pointed to the TV. “Wren… is this true?”
“What?” I asked.
I looked at the TV screen.
There was a story running… about me.
A FILTHY Marriage (Filthy Line Book 4) Page 10