by Rob Jones
Zoe’s eyebrows rose a notch and her heart raced. She couldn’t believe that Ethan had told her.
“No, Ethan didn’t tell me, nor did any other human. I had a dream that you bought a fish.” She grinned and slowly nodded her head. Zoe understood.
“Thank you, Mrs. Thorn. I will take those words to heart.” She got up and hugged her.
Chapter Thirty
Ethan
“Who was the genius who got the Uber driver drunk?” Allen Downs’ voice projected through the speaker phone. “Not only was he drunk but he was influenced by cocaine that led to a car chase involving the cops!” The agitation in his voice was getting more than apparent. “And to make matters worse, I had to hear that you guys were publicly intoxicated and Ligon was threatening and trying to fight the cops, which led to your guys’ arrest. First of all you get an Uber to avoid getting arrested, not get the driver drunk. That defeats the whole purpose!”
Ligon snickered, Dan and Bella glared at him.
“So now the money that we had to use to bail you slack-jawed imbeciles out with will be coming out of your per diem and future compensation until you pay it all back, and if I hear of any more of your rock star cliché degenerate acts, you guys will be put on the shelf, indefinitely. Don’t get it twisted. You are here to make me money, not cost me money. Be elite, men!”
“Crap, that was about as comfortable as a prostate exam,” Ethan joked.
“You guys better take this seriously and get your act together,” Bella said. Dan stood up in the bus, cleared his throat, and placed his hand on his hip.
“In spite of all the negativity this morning, I have something that will hopefully correct your behavior and allow you to see what a privileged and coveted position you guys are in.” Dan bent down and took a box from under the seat. He handed Bella a box cutter.
“Bella, would you like to do the honors and open it?” She opened the box, smiled, and passed out the Metal Mayhem magazines to the band. When she gave one to Dan, his eyes widened. His face indicated that things might get ugly. Ethan saw it but didn’t say anything.
Owen, Ligon, and Wes laid their eyes on the front cover. There was a decent-size photo of the band and a towering photo of Ethan by himself with the words The New Face of Nu-Metal.
“What is this?” As Owen leafed through the pages, he grimaced and contorted his face. The silence had a stranglehold on them all while they read the article, an article for which only Ethan was interviewed. The sound of turning pages and sighs co-existed with the silence.
“I did not say that about the band exactly. I said that as the leader of the band, I have a lot more responsibilities than you guys do. I didn’t say that our success depended on me to carry the band. She twisted my words.” Ethan chuckled. “Oh well, at least I look like a legitimate rock star. That Jasmine sure is a savage.” Ethan saw the heat from the looks in their eyes burning with anger toward him, but it didn’t faze him much.
“I’m going to take this magazine in the bathroom, defecate, and then tear these pages of betrayal and wipe my unimportant butt with them. This is as wrong as the day is long.” Ligon got up and went to the back of the bus.
“Ligon is right, it’s all about Ethan. He was the only one who had solo pics and got an interview that none of us even knew about,” Owen protested.
“I just assumed that we all had individual interviews.” Ethan talked with his hands. “But you got to admit, I just embody coolness on this page. But you guys look fierce also.”
“Ethan, tame that ego please. You’re not helping matters,” Dan intervened. “Let Bella explain the P.R. situation so that you all can have an understanding of what’s going on before you have a conniption and derail this successful train.”
“Listen, studies have shown that fans, especially female fans, gravitate toward the lead singer, that’s just the way it is.”
“I can vouch for that.”
“Shut up, Ethan!” Dan and Bella said together.
“Okay, jeez.” He offered a smirk.
Bella took a deep, frustrated breath. “Anyway, you guys are the next hot band on the scene, and Ethan is like bait that the fans can latch onto. He checks all the boxes of our target demographic, so Meltdown Records is showcasing him, letting people get an inside glimpse of who he is so the fans can feel like they know him and become emotionally invested in him. This will help elevate your brand and status.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Ethan, shut up!” Dan, Bella, and the rest of the band yelled. Ethan raised his arms, turned his head, and frowned like he was facing a strong wind.
“Whatever, we are supposed to be a band. You guys need to invest in all of our personal stories as well.” Owen crossed his arms.
“Please trust our marketing team. They are the best in the business, they know what they are doing.” Dan tried to massage their egos.
The members of the Gutter Dollz stepped on the bus, coming from a radio interview, and saw the frustrated faces.
“Oh, I know that look. That’s a look of a dysfunctional family. Is something unpleasant in Pleasantville?” Manix opened one of the mini fridges that was on the bus and grabbed a water. He saw the magazines. “What the…? He picked it up. “Oh, I see, says the blind man. Golden boy here is stealing all of the limelight and leaving the rest of you in the shade.” He rifled through the pages. “Well, you better get used to this, fellas.”
“Not now, Manix, please.” Dan’s face was soaked in frustration.
“I don’t recall anyone soliciting your infantile advice, Dr. Drew.” Owen directed the comment at Manix.
“You better clamp that mousetrap you got underneath your nose before I clamp it for you,” Manix said convincingly.
“I’d like to see you try, lad,” Owen said, taking a verbal jab at Manix.
Manix threw water from his water bottle in Owen’s face and the altercation began. Owen bounced up from his seat, grabbed Manix, and put him in a headlock. Dan and Ethan managed to break them up before it got out of hand. From that moment on tension mounted between everyone on the bus.
“You guys can blame me,” Dan said. “I have definitely miscalculated some things, like your maturity. You men better develop some tough skin if you want to be in this world called rock-n-roll. It’s a different kind of beast, and it will devour you and eat you alive.” His face hardened. “This business ain’t your friend and it doesn’t care about your feelings, so you better have a talk with your egos and get them in check, because you won’t last five minutes if you don’t.” He threw the magazine down, walked to the back of the bus, sat down, and laid his head back on the headrest.
***
“Are you guys ready to open for one of the biggest outdoor music festivals in the nation?” Bella gave an enthusiastic fist pump in the stillness of the lifeless room. Wes gave a disgruntled response. “You guys are making too much of this magazine thing. Get over it already.” She looked at them, huffed, shook her head, then stormed out. They all were at each other’s throats all day, giving each other dirty looks. Arguments dissipated into the silent treatment. Every moment fostered bitterness, hurt, and anger between them. There were no pleasant verbal communications between them during their sound check, only what was necessary to get through it.
Ligon sluggishly walked out of the bathroom, eyes glazed and pale. “Man, I feel like a cloud is walking on me.” His words came out slowly like he was speaking to a person who could not understand English. “Are we playing tonight?”
“Lig, what is up with you, man? You can’t be getting this high before we play.” Ligon’s eyes rolled back to where you could only see the whites of his eyes. “Are you shooting up now? Oh no, this is bad. Ethan, don’t just stand there, Owen, come quickly!” Wes said in a panic as Ligon collapsed on the cold floor.
“What’s up?” Owen walked over to him. “Wait a minute, are you drunk?”
“Never mind me, it’s Ligon. I think he OD’d.” Owen rushed over to him.
“I’m good, Ethan, just give it a minute. Man, your skin has gotten darker, bro.”
“It’s me, Owen, not Ethan. You got to get it together, man. We can’t afford another slip-up.”
“That’s it. Zoe and I are officially over. She doesn’t want to take my calls or answer my texts. Well, I’m tired of fighting alone for our relationship, she can go straight to—”
“Ethan, why are you just standing there? Lig is in bad shape.”
“I’m good, I’m good. I told you to give it a minute. My playing is going to be so good tonight even Jimi Hendrix is going to bow to me.” Ligon raised himself up steadily, then he collapsed again.
“He’s good, no need to worry.” Ethan took the top off a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and downed it like it was a soda.
“Are you kidding me? You guys are derailing and coming unhinged. Am I the only one who was taking the threats of Allen Downs seriously? You guys are blowing it, and if you don’t get your heads in the game, I’m going to explore other options!” Owen stormed out.
“Go ahead, Dora the Explorer, see how far you will get without me. My back hurts anyway from carrying this band.” Spit flew from Ethan’s mouth. “Hey, that’s not a bad idea. I’m going to explore other options myself. I’m going to hit up Jasmine on her cell and explore all of her options.” He was angry, hurt, and drunk. He was emotionally wrecked and he just didn’t care. “Now where is that card she gave me?” He went through his pockets and wallet with urgency. “Eureka!” He pulled out her card and called her, but there was no answer. “Come on, Jasmine, answer your freaking phone.” He called her again only to receive the same results. “Well, baby, your loss.” He flicked her card on the ground and took a man-size drink from his bottle of Jack Daniel’s.
Thirty minutes passed before Ligon finally had some sort of composure. Dan walked in the room, red-faced and narrowed-eyed.
“They have announced you guys several times already. Get out there now before I cancel your set!” he finished angrily.
Owen was the first to come out on stage and was met with a thunderous applause. Wes came out next, then Ligon. He stumbled and waved to the crowd. They started playing, Owen mouthed to Ligon that he was not in tune, but Ligon just shrugged his shoulders. Ethan came out, stumbling with the bottle of Jack still in his hand. Wes was drumming hard and fierce. He stomped on the double-kick pedal several times, then all of a sudden it disassembled. He kicked it out of the way and continued to play. Ethan grabbed the mic and tried to pull it from the mic stand. It had some kind of glue on it. He then vigorously tried to ply it away from his hand. He raised both the mic and mic stand up and down, trying to detach it from his hand, but the effort was futile.
Ligon attempted to tune his guitar on the fly, but broke a string. Then he lost his balance and fell back against the amps and speakers. The vibrations from the loud music caused the detached backdrop to fall and cover Wes and his drums. There was a confluence of laughter and boos cascading from the crowd. Then they began chanting, you suck, you suck, you suck while throwing water bottles, cans, and food. Ethan got hit with balloons filled with urine. With his free hand he threw the bottle of Jack into the crowd, flipped them off and left the stage, still with his other hand glued to the mic.
Owen unplugged his bass and walked off, Wes crawled from under the backdrop and ran off stage. Only Ligon was left, passed out on the stage.
“Well, that was an interesting and fun show you pretenders put on, especially you, sticky fingers,” Manix said referring to Ethan, who still had his hand glued to the mic. “The new face of nu-metal…ha, what a joke.” Syd, Smoke, Phantom, and Manix dapped one another with smiles.
Ethan walked past them. Then he stopped, turned around, smiled, and went after Manix. He hit him in the throat with the mic, then head butted him. Syd and Smokes grabbed him. Two men from security swept in. One of them got hit by Smokes with a punch that what was meant for Ethan. The buff security guard snatched him.
“Sorry, man, that was a total accident. I didn’t mean to hit you,” Smokes said with an apologetic tone.
“Get out of here right now!” The security guard shoved him with rage lurking in his eyes.
“I know that you guys had something to do with what happened out there! Ethan said. “You won’t get away with this, dirt bags. I’m going to make sure of it.”
“You won’t get a chance because after that disaster of a performance, you guys will be lucky to play for the elderly at a nursing home.” Manix gave a sinister laugh. Ethan spat at him but missed.
“You’re pathetic,” Manix said as they all walked away proudly.
Chapter
Thirty-One
Ethan
“So this is the so-called rock-n-roll charmed life everyone is clawing for?” Ethan said while he sat on the bathroom floor leaning on the stall door drinking a bottle of Jack next to a longhaired man who was passed out with a needle stuck in his arm.
A toilet flushed a couple of stalls from him. The door opened.
“Boy, how the mighty have fallen.” Ethan turned toward the raspy, grimy voice that sounded like it swallowed Clint Eastwood and washed him down with a glass of nails.
“Gavin, just when I thought my life couldn’t get any worse.” Gavin’s dark hair was receding from his fake tanned forehead, and his scruffy beard was peppered with black and gray.
Ethan tossed down another swig of Jack Daniels. “How’s that eye of yours?” Ethan was referring to Gavin’s menacing twitch that he had in his left eye from when Ethan beat him up for stealing money from them. In that fight Ethan detached Gavin’s retina.
“It’s doing well, thank you, it causes me a little trouble now and then,” Gavin replied. “Speaking of trouble, a little birdy told me that you’ve been having some trouble with that hot little number of yours. Now what is her name?” He stalled. “Zoe, right?”
“Ethan rose up, along with his anger.” Do we need to have a repeat performance of me beating you down and detaching your other retina?” Ethan slurred his words.
“Oh no, I’m not the one you need to direct your anger at, oh no. You need to be more careful who you welcome into your home and your life.” Gavin washed his hands, and looked in the mirror with a menacing smile.
“What, what are you getting at, Gavin?”
“Normally, I’m not the one who gets into someone’s personal life, but since you are, or were, a friend of mine, I think it’s only right that I should.” He got some paper towels to dry his hands off. “Your boy Ligon has been very busy, and very much invested in Zoe’s and your relationship, so I’m told.” He took out a little bottle, twisted off the cap, and dashed a little white powder on the back of his hand and inhaled it. “You want a little bump, buddy?”
“Gavin, stop playing games and tell me what you mean!” He got into Gavin’s face. Gavin nonchalantly reached in his pocket, and without breaking eye contact, pulled out his brass knuckles, grinned, and hit Ethan so hard that it knocked him down on the floor. He kicked him several times, and then he stooped down.
“Woo! Man that felt good! I’m going to enjoy wrecking that pretty face of yours.” He head butted him. “This is payback, brother. How does it feels to get the crap kicked out of you, and to know your best friend has been the one destroying your relationship?” He gave a quick grin. “Yeah, that’s right. Ligon has been toying with you and Zoe. Man, I couldn’t wait to tell you this. Oh yeah, did you know that he was carrying a torch for her as well?” He gave a slow, lazy shake of his head and laughed. “He was so jealous of you two.”
Ethan spat the blood from his mouth in Gavin’s face. Gavin gave a dirty grin, then wiped his face. “Here comes the pain!” He drew his fist back, then suddenly the bathroom door opened.
“Hey, what’s going on in here?” Frank, the owner of The Black Dive, rushed over to pull Gavin off Ethan. “Get out of here, Gavin, before I call the police.” Gavi
n looked back at Ethan. “I’ll be seeing you around, and tell Ligon if he doesn’t give me the rest of my money he’s next.”
“Get out!” Frank yelled as Gavin walked out of the bathroom laughing.
Frank carefully helped Ethan up to his feet. “You all right?”
“Yeah, nothing that another bottle of Jack can’t fix.” He grimaced and looked in the mirror at the gash above his eye.
“That is the last thing you need right now. What was that all about, anyway?”
“Just a couple of old friends reminiscing.” He dabbed his face with wet paper towels.
“You need to get that looked at.”
“I will be fine. Thanks, Frank.”
“Could one of you help me tie this a little tighter?” The long-haired man with the needle in his arm crawled from the stall with his pants wet and vomit on his bottom lip. Blood was coagulating around a loose latex tourniquet on his arm. Frank looked at him and scratched his head.
“I’m getting to old for this nightlife freak show,” Frank said, then shook his head.
***
“Open up! I know that you’re in there, open up!” Ethan was banging and yelling at Ligon’s door like he was in an episode of Law and Order. “I’ll just wait in the car until he gets here.” He walked back to his car. Every minute and every hour that went by fueled Ethan’s fury.
He couldn’t believe that Ligon would betray him like this. Could he have been the one who let Khloe into his house that night? Ligon was the only one who knew where he kept his spare key. It was him that let her in, he was sure of it. No, he wouldn’t have done that, he vacillated.
Ligon was like the brother he never had. He would have trusted him with his life. That special, unbreakable bond that they shared was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Their friendship rivaled David and Jonathan of the Bible, Captain Kirk and Spock, or Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. A friendship that was closer than any brothers could have been. He couldn’t for the life of him understand how Ligon could have betrayed him in such a nefarious manner. Was their friendship nothing more than a sham, a farce? All that he knew was that now it was wrecked beyond recognition. Perhaps Gavin wasn’t being forthright, maybe he was lying, just to cause a rift between him and Ligon. Gavin was quite cunning and slimy. But how could Gavin have known about the troubles that he and Zoe were having? It would all come out in the wash. He would confront Ligon and get to the truth of the matter.