“Hey Davey,” she smiled at him, and thankfully I remembered her saying her brother’s name before.
“What the hell happened to you?” Dave asked, glaring in my general direction. His sister blushed, stammered, and then just shut up so I filled him in.
“Don’t worry, I’m handling the guys who did this because the whole reason I came over here was because Beck I heard them talking about the creepy new guy they set loose on my kit alone.”
“Creepy new guy?” David asked while chuckling. “Good job, MJ.”
“Shut it, Davey!” She hissed at him.
I just shook my head. “They’re idiots for not seeing the truth right before them,” I muttered which triggered another sidelong glare from the brother. It’s weird that the glare was what made me remember him from the auditions for the opening act slot. He had been glaring dubiously at his bandmates while they waded through our questioning them about everything. He clearly saw through some of their bullshit answers as much as we did. Didn’t matter though, because they had all played well, and had the sound we were looking for to accompany us. Too bad they hadn’t been able to keep their shit together long enough to tour with us.
Chapter 2
~ Chelle ~
“Ouch!” I hissed out through tightly clenched teeth as Evan poured peroxide over the gash in my shoulder before drying it with gauze and then slathering antibiotic ointment all over it. He then wrapped a bandage on it and placed a gentle kiss on top of the bandaged area.
“There, all better now.” He gently lowered my arm from where I’d been resting it across his now blood soaked pants leg.
“Thanks, I think.” He had stepped in after the guy in the first aid booth got called away to deal with someone who passed out while waiting in line to get into the venue. They explained to me that I just needed to clean it up and stitches weren’t necessary, so Evan told the paramedic to go deal with the other situation, and that he’d take care of me. Dave left me to Evan’s care so that he could go hunt down Markus Bledsoe himself. “I hope he doesn’t get himself in any trouble. We kind of need this gig right now,” I grumbled, thinking of my brother.
“I promise you that he won’t. If your brother finds that idiot I don’t think he’d do anything to him that I wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, but you’re in the headlining band. We’re just roadies. There’s a bit of a difference in who can and can’t be disposed of easily, champ.”
“Champ?” He grinned at me then and my heart literally paused a beat. “It would probably be worse if I handled it, because the fool could go to the press. There could be lawsuits. This way, we can just get rid of Markus if need be, and your brother will be fine. We need good people on the crew. What we don’t need is assholes who think it’s okay to use my drum kit as a hazing tool for new people. Not only does that risk me having a shitty setup for the show, but obviously people can get hurt.” He tipped his head toward my cut arm and frowned at it as if it had personally offended him.
“Come on, let’s go find Smithy and then we’ll hunt down Everly, the new girl that’s handling Fourth Down.” I followed behind Evan in a daze. I didn’t think I’d actually get to meet any of the band members other than Fourth Down’s bassist since he was riding our bus and I was supposed to remain incognito. To find myself suddenly being cared for and led around by the drummer of The Infinite Everything was blowing my mind and causing me to wonder if I was just dreaming or what. This could not be real life. Not even a couple weeks ago I was worried about ending up homeless.
I let out a sigh, which in turn had Evan glancing back at me. “You okay?” He asked the question as he slowed his pace; assuming that the brisk walk we were doing was hurting my sore arm. It was a little, but my sigh was more about the great big picture and less about the stinging pain radiating down my bicep.
“I’m fine. This is all just a little crazy for me,” I stated without elaborating. The bastard grinned the cockiest grin I’d ever seen, assuming I was talking about the fact that he had hold of my hand as he tugged me further down the corridor.
“Overwhelming being in the midst of all this, isn’t it?”
At first, I thought he was smugly talking about himself, but then I noticed he was waving his unoccupied hand around in a gesture meant to encompass everything in our surroundings.
“Considering where I came from, yes. We were always supposed to come on this tour, but this has definitely been very different from just helping my brother’s band out with trying to sell their EP, which, by the way, only had four songs. I’m honestly still surprised they managed to get that many done with all the bullshit some of them were starting to pull toward the end.”
Evan nodded. “That’s how they originally got the gig. Jay’s girl dropped their EP in our lap and we had a listen. They were pretty good. Their sound was a little raw, but we thought they’d benefit from the experience of being out on the road and be able to build on it.” He shrugged his shoulders up and down once in a dismissive gesture. “Damn shame they threw it all away before they even got here, but then again – and no offense to your brother – I’m glad they fucked up before coming out with us instead of imploding during a tour.”
“Yeah, I bet that would be a headache,” I agreed.
He chuckled. “You don’t know the half of it. This is the first tour where we’re getting to call the shots and put demands on who goes with us. If we had chosen them and they screwed up while out with us we would have been back at square one with the studio making all the decisions, and us having to just toe the line.” He cringed. “I don’t want to go back to that.”
“I understand.” I nodded my head in agreement with myself because I absolutely did understand that. No one liked being lorded over and told what to do when it was their talent pulling people in. It was something my brother always told me he thought he’d struggle with if his band got anywhere. He didn’t want to be told that his music wasn’t marketable if it held a piece of his soul. My brother wasn’t just the bass player for his previous band. He was the reason that little EP had existed, because those were his songs, even if he did allow the band as a whole to take credit for them. Dave had written the lyrics and most of the music behind them. He could play piano, guitar, bass, and even managed a good beat on drums when he had to, although he didn’t actually enjoy playing drums all that much. My brother was self-taught on everything. It just came naturally to him.
Then there was me. I could play guitar passably if the only audience I had was at a backyard barbeque of non-musical people who were easy to impress. My brother has done his level best to teach me. My problem was always that my attention span got in the way, or should I say, my lack of one.
“Evan, man, rehearsal is that way,” Micah pointed in the direction we had just come from as we nearly passed him in the hallway. I hadn’t even noticed him there before. I hadn’t noticed the bottle blond on her knees in front of him either. I shivered. Gross. I was probably the least judgmental person when it came to people’s sexual proclivities, but there was something just skeevy about the way women threw themselves into sexual acts with semi-famous musicians on tour. I’m not sure if they want to be able to brag about it to their friends or they just think they’re going to have the golden snatch that snags the star and all he can offer – whether that be money, fame, or drugs and parties. The entire things smacks of desperation. Far be it from me to judge the guys too, but I guess a part of me does. I always think of them as better than this. It is a step up from getting a blowjob from a dirty hooker in a back alley somewhere. Micah must have seen my wrinkle-nosed sour expression because his eyes narrowed on me.
“Got a problem, Fred?” The snide tone in which he stated the boy name let me know that he knew I was a girl, but thought I was far beneath the likes of him in my current backstage-greaser meets hobo-on-the-run look. I glanced down at myself as I thought it and when I looked back up Evan was glaring at Micah.
“How about you shut your fucking mouth and take t
hat shit where other people don’t have to see it. Jesus, asshole, we have a few women on tour with us this time and you already know how Mags feels about seeing that shit.” Evan put an arm around my waist and scooped me closer to him. I hissed out a harsh breath as the movement tugged the bandage off of my arm and blood started seeping down my arm again.
“Shit! Sorry, Chelle.” Evan turned to see the damage at the same time Micah pushed the woman on her knees away from him. By the time he got across the hall to us I was happy to see his dick was tucked back away in his pants.
“Christ, what happened there?” Micah muttered then leaned in to get a better look. “I bet that scars like a bitch,” he stated matter-of-factly.
Again Evan turned to look at his band mate. Though I couldn’t see his face this time, if I were a betting woman I would say he was being treated to the ultimate glare again. “How do you even manage to get a woman near you? Jesus, Micah, a little decorum once in a while would be nice.”
I snickered at that as Micah glared at his band mate. “Who the hell is she, anyway? Looks like someone’s kid sister tried to tag along with the band. Hell, I actually can’t tell if it’s a dude or a chick under all that,” he waved his hands around indicating that all that meant the horrible get-up I was currently garbed in. Evan growled low in his throat and I can’t say my response wasn’t the same even if it was completely true.
“She is on her way to meet with Everly about the merch job for Fourth Down.”
It was Micah’s turn to wrinkle his nose. “She could have dressed better for a job interview.”
I let out an exasperated sigh just as the blond bimbo – who had apparently managed to get up off her knees all by herself – spoke up reminding us all that she was still in the hallway with us and listening to everything. “I could be the merch girl, and then we’d have the whole tour to spend together, and maybe longer,” she cooed as she leaned in and stroked Micah’s chest. He visibly shuddered as he removed her hands from his body. Funny how quickly his attitude towards this woman touching him changed the minute she appeared even slightly interested in more than just offering up a warm mouth for him pre-show.
“Sorry sweetheart, this girl here,” he stated as he turned my way actually showing a slight bout of embarrassment at not knowing my name yet, “has the job already.”
“You just said it was an interview,” the girl pouted in that little baby voice that grated on my last damn nerve. Judging by the tick in Micah’s jaw he didn’t much care for it either.
“I just remembered that she’s one of the band member’s sisters. She already had a job. That was just me teasing her about her outfit. She’s always trying to go around here in costume and shit to see if anyone will be able to spot her.”
“Quick on his feet,” I muttered under my breath so that only Evan could hear.
He chuckled. “If he was quick on his feet he wouldn’t have gotten within throwing distance of that one.” His warm breath feathered over my ear and sent an involuntary shiver down my neck and arms that Evan did not miss if I were judging by the solid smirk that quirked up the side of his mouth I could see.
“Well, obviously,” I stated in a breathier tone that I meant to use.
“You might wanna do something about all that shit oozing down her arm, man.” Micah pointed and both Evan and I glanced at my arm where the wound was indeed still seeping down my arm in slow motion.
“Damn, let’s go get you another bandage before we hunt down Everly.”
“We have rehearsals soon,” Micah called out as Evan pulled me by the hand down the corridor again in the direction we had just come from.
“Doubtful since my kit did this to her arm,” Evan pointed out as he continued to walk. Micah caught up to us quickly, and I don’t know what happened to the blond, but she did not follow along. That was probably for the best.
“What do you mean your kit did that?”
“Idiots on the road crew tried hazing her and sent her to set up my kit alone. Some shit fell over and knocked a crash cymbal down on her.” Micah winced.
“What the fuck was she doing with the crew that she was being hazed to begin with?” Micah looked me over once again, his distaste evident.
“Road crew,” I stated without hesitation.
“There aren’t any chicks on the crew,” Micah argued.
“Wrong. There was one, me, even though I was pretending to be one of the guys.”
“Why isn’t security here to escort her out?”
Evan stopped then and turned on his band mate. “She’s fine. She was a paid member of the crew. The people who needed to know she wasn’t a dude knew the truth. They just hid it from the crew so there wouldn’t be any issues. Her brother is on the crew too. He was supposed to be with our original opening band playing bass for them until they OD’d crashed that car.”
“Damn, that sucks. From opening act to road crew,” Micah muttered.
“It does suck for him,” I agreed in a snotty tone because I didn’t like the way Micah said that.
“Whoa there, Samurai Jack, no need to get hostile. I’m not a dreaded crash cymbal. I was just stating a fact. That sucks for your brother, especially because now that I look at you it has to be David we’re talking about. That guy was solid. He’s one of the only reasons I gave them my vote. Figured he could hold shit together for them long enough to get through a tour. Sorry to see that didn’t happen.”
I wanted to cry, once again, for my brother’s bad luck. We were cursed with it almost our whole lives. Instead, I held that emotion in, bit my lip to channel that pain to something physical, and then I just nodded my head at the man. Evan squeezed my hand reassuringly and then he guided me back on our way to the room with the first aid stuff.
“I think I see what the problem was,” he said, peeling back the bandage, slightly wincing with disgust and trying hard to hide it. “I got this whole area too goopy with ointment or something.”
I laughed out loud. The man who proclaimed he could handle my first aid treatment had no clue what he was doing. Still, it was sweet that he tried. Micah scooted him out of the way and Evan moved reluctantly. I shook my head vehemently causing Micah to scowl my way. “What? You don’t want me touching you, but you let that moron work on you? All he knows how to do is beat on drums. These fingers,” he stated while producing all ten and wiggling them in front of my face. “These here beauties were made for precision.”
I offered up a dubious look as I pointed to the sink across the room. “You need to wash your precise little fingers off with a shit-ton of soap, because I saw you just a minute ago in the hallway and there’s no way you’re coming near me without me seeing some suds on those hands. Also, there are gloves over there too when you’re done washing. Evan had turned with is back facing us, but I could see his shoulders shaking from the effort to suppress his laughter.
“Damn, that’s harsh,” Micah pouted. “Fair enough though.” He turned from me, kicked Evan in the leg, and made his way to wash his hands just as I’d asked. When Micah got back to me he was all business, no jokes, and no weirdness. He set about fixing up my arm and even added some bandages that helped pull the skin together. “Now that I have a better look, I agree that you don’t need stitches. Still,” he stated as he worked on pulling my skintight and bandaging it together. “I’m using the bandages to kind of form like a butterfly thingy and hold the skin closer together so it heals with less of a scar.” He grinned up at me. “Hopefully,” he added then went back to work adding a bandage over top of the smaller ones he used to hold everything together. Then he wrapped it with what looked like an Ace Wrap to make sure everything stayed in place this time. “You’ll probably want to take that off in a couple of hours, clean it up again, and reapply the bandages. I don’t think you’ll need the strips to hold it together at that point though.
“I should have done the Ace Wrap thing. That was genius,” Evan lamented.
I chuckled. “You did just fine earlier. I think the sp
eed walk we took through the hallways out there would have done even the best wrap job in.”
My teasing only caused Evan’s brows to furrow even further. “Yeah, sorry about that too. I shouldn’t have been dragging you through there so quickly. I’m just used to always being in a rush to get everywhere backstage. Usually, because that asshole made us late.”
Micah just grinned at his band mate. “Well, if Dr. Micah’s expertise is no longer needed, I should really go hunt down our assistant and see if he knows what the fuck is up with rehearsals.” Micah didn’t wait for a response. Instead, he called back over his shoulder. “I’ll text you what’s up, Ev. Later, Chelle.”
“Thanks, Micah,” I called out as he disappeared through the door. Then I turned to Evan. “He’s strangely likable.”
Evan just laughed and picked me up off the countertop he’d set me down on so that Micah could work on my arm. Once on my feet he looked me over, and satisfied that my legs were at least in working order he tipped his head toward the door. “Come on, let’s go find Everly, and get you a better job.”
It actually didn’t take long to find Everly this time, especially since we didn’t run into Micah – or anyone else for that matter – getting a blowjob in the hallway. “Hey, Evan, what can I do for you?” The woman asked as she stood there next to Jay, the guitarist for The Infinite Everything.
“Jay, man, what’s up?” Evan asked, eyeing his friend in an odd way. The man in question simply shrugged and continued to look through his phone. Evan took his silence for whatever it was and turned to Everly. “Everly, this is Chelle. She was working on the road crew, but I think you could use her more, and she’d have the bonus of being able to dress like a woman instead of trying to blend with the guys on the crew.”
“I could use her?” Everly questioned while giving me a once over. It wasn’t done with any judgment. She was just interested in what she could do for me.
The Infinite Beat (T.I.E. Book 2) Page 3