The Loneliest Tour (7 page)

“
That
gives you plenty of time!
”
Colby yelled.

“
Twenty
minutes?
”
Van asked.
“
What are the two chicks going to
do with the other eighteen minutes?
”

Jett laughed and clapped his hands
together. He then patted Ryker on the back.
“
All
yours, brother. I
’
m going
to watch the band.
”

“
They
suck!
”
Ryker yelled.

“
Easy,
”
Brantley said, still holding
the black marker.
“
We have
to tour with them.
”

“
No,
”
Jett said.
“
They
’
re touring with us. We don
’
t need them. They need us.
”

Jett walked to the railing. He
folded his hands and leaned over.

The dancers were in the background
now, still dancing away. It was almost awkward to watch. Like Crutch Fail
wanted to bring some kind of strip club feel to their stage presence. Which for
rock n
’
roll definitely
worked, but it just didn
’
t
feel right.

Jett locked his eyes to Masie. He
watched her charge to the side of the stage as the song ended.

“
Thank
you,
”
Colin said.
“
How is everyone tonight?
”

The crowd cheered.

Ask again, man. Get them fired
up.

Colin didn
’
t.

“
Okay.
Cool. Hey, how about a little yell for Willow Son.
”

The entire place lit up, screaming.

“
Nice,
”
Colin said.
“
Hey, check them out up there!
Give them a wave!
”

A light was plastered across Jett
’
s face.

It almost blinded him.

He gave a smile and a wave.

The people were going wild and were
definitely not focused nor caring about Crutch Fail anymore.

Jett remained at the rail and
watched as Colin counted to four and the next song started. Colin turned and
jumped, jamming on guitar with another generic song. The four dancers strutted
on stage. Jett watched as Masie touched her hair, face, hand slithering down
her body to her hips. She cut them left to right, bending her knees a little.
She stepped back, turned, the girl next to her turning the other way so their
backs were facing each other. Masie then bumped backs with the girl and they
slowly wiggled their way down the ground. They sat, spreading their legs.

They waited there as Colin walked
toward them. He then stood there, playing guitar, nodding, a shit grin on his
face like he was totally cool.

Jett pushed away from the railing.
He went and got another beer and then worked his way from the VIP area to the
backstage corridor. It was close enough to time to start getting ready for the
show. He had seen enough of Masie like that.

She was beautiful though. Really
beautiful.

He couldn't get her out of his
mind. The way she moved, the shapes of her curves, especially when she had been
dancing in the shadows with the curtain up.

There seemed to be a lot of people
everywhere. Normally for a Willow Son show there was an entire crew that had to
work the concert. Everyone from guitar technicians, who strung up the guitars
and tuned them, to guys who took care of lighting and sound boards, to the crew
who packed up the stage and put it on a truck to take it to the next city.

But here, it was completely
different. It had more of a party atmosphere, with people lingering around,
drinks in their hands, talking and laughing, all looking for a chance to talk
to someone famous.

Jett was famous.

He was stopped two times by people
who were looking for answers to a couple quick questions. Of course the
questions revolved around his arrest and what the future of his addiction would
be. With a smile on his face, a forced smile at that, Jett declined to answer
any questions about his personal life.

It felt like walking through a maze
just to get to somewhere private. When he finally did, he grabbed a beer from a
small fridge and stood at a large mirror, staring at himself. In the background
he could still hear the droning sound as Crutch Fail worked through their set.

The five minutes of quiet were
definitely needed. Jett sat with a guitar and strummed through a few songs,
desperate to clear his mind. It seemed the second he was able to actually clear
his mind, the door exploded open and in walked the rest of the band.

"What the hell you doing here
alone?
”
Ryker asked.

“
Just
needed a minute,
”
Jett said.

“
They're
not very good, are they?" Colby asked.

"I don't think it really
matters," Jett said. "We have to thank those guys out on the road
with us."

"Personally, I don't give a
shit,
”
Van said. "As
long as we
’
re on
the damn road I'm happy. I just want to play music."

There was a knock at the door and
then it opened.

It was Harry.

He approached the room with
caution, as though he knew he was going to get ganged up on. He put his hands
out, asking for peace.

“
Relax,
”
Brantley said.
“
We know they suck. We
’
re going on tour with them.
”

“
Like
we have a choice,
”
Colby
said.

“
It
’
s not all bad,
”
Harry said.
“
Portis is the one putting the
money up for it all. Not you. Not me. Just roll with it. You know how these
things work. It plays its course. The more important thing is the new music.
You guys have to get some things together.
”

“
We
’
re working,
”
Jett said.
“
No worries. Hey, what was with
the interview ambush?
”

“
Yeah,
that was crap,
”
Harry said.
"I'm really sorry that it happened the way it did.
”

“
I
’
m not,
”
Jett said.
“
I
said what I had to say though. No bullshit. No cookie cutter answers. I just
let it out there. Portis watched me do it. So he didn
’
t seem to mind.
”

“
Good,
”
Harry said.
“
This is all going to pass over
soon enough. I promise. As long as the fire dies out on its own and stays out.
”

“
You
mean, as I long as I don
’
t
have an actual addiction?
”

“
I
never said that,
”
Harry
said. He opened the door.
“
Crutch
Fail is playing their last song. You have about twenty minutes until showtime.
Get out there and destroy the place, guys. Make Willow Son what it deserves to
be. The fans are behind you. I
’
m
behind you. Goddammit, even Portis is behind you, even if he
’
s covering his own ass. He can
’
t do anything without you guys.
But don
’
t get cocky.
”

“
You
have nothing to worry about,
”
Jett said.

The door shut.

“
He
better not,
”
Ryker said.

Jett looked at Ryker and made a
fist.
“
Want me to match the
other side of your face?
”

“
Okay
then,
”
Van said.
“
No more fighting. Let
’
s get out there and get some
buzz going. Grab a drink, gear up. I just want to play a fucking show.
”

“
Agreed,
”
Jett said.

The band opened the door and
started to linger around. People asked for autographs and pictures. The guitar
techs were quick to ask for a set list to get the guitars in order. Sound guys
met with Colby to talk about acoustics and vocals. Since this was a smaller
venue there wasn
’
t a
traditional soundcheck where the band would set up earlier in the day and play
some songs. They kind of had to go by the seat of their pants right now.

It made it raw. It made it
dangerous.

The noise that called themselves
Crutch Fail was done playing. The house music was playing some local radio
station.

The band appeared in the hallway,
sweating and cheering themselves for a good show. It was one thing to be
confident in your sound and stage presence. It was another to be a complete
asshole about it.

As Colin walked along the hall, he
touched everyone, nodding, smiling, actually asking to sign autographs.

Jett stood with his arms crossed,
watching it all unfold.

Colin, Carson, Jack, and Stan all
moved down the hall right toward the end table, definitely going for drinks.
They
’
d be drunk in an hour
and puking by two in the morning. The young life of rockstars. Except you
needed talent to back it all up.

“
Hey,
man,
”
Colin said, patting
Jett on the shoulder.
“
You
ready to play?
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
Tough
crowd out there. I think they
’
re
used to Portis
’
style, you
know? That fancy, corporate laid back shit. They don
’
t get the sound.
”

“
It
happens,
”
Jett said.
“
You live and move on.
”

“
Good
advice.
”

“
Shit,
this is wild,
”
Jack said.
“
Standing with the guitarists
from Willow freaking Son. It
’
s
wild. Wild. So wild.
”

Jett raised an eyebrow. Ryker then
asked,
“
Hey, is it wild?
”

“
What
the fuck?
”
Jack asked.

“
Take
it easy,
”
Jett said.

“
No,
fuck you, man.
”

“
Fuck
him?
”
Ryker asked. He
grabbed Jack by the shirt.
“
Fuck
him?
”

As expected, thanks to technology
and social media, there were a dozen cell phones out and capturing the scene.

“
Bro,
”
Jett said as he grabbed Ryker
’
s arm.
“
Not worth it. We have to tour with them. It
’
s all good.
”

“
It
’
s all good,
”
Ryker said. He let Jack go.
“
Why don
’
t you and the gals grab a drink and watch a real
band play?
”

“
Fucking
assholes,
”
Colin said.
“
Watch your backs.
”

Crutch Fail walked the rest of the
hall.

Jett punched Ryker in the arm.
“
You can
’
t do that shit. You know how it is with us right
now, man. Shit.
”

“
They
’
re assholes.
”

“
Of
course they are. We were too when we were a young band.
”

“
We
were talented.
”

“
Granted,
but still, take it easy. Let time
…”

Jett
’
s
eyes were no longer on Ryker. He watched as the dancers appeared. One, two,
three
…
and Masie.

“
What
the hell are you counting for?
”
Ryker asked.

“
Nobody,
”
Jett said.
“
I mean, uh, nothing. Just get
ready, Ryker. Dammit. No fights.
”

Jett pushed away from Ryker and
charged down the hall. One of the guitar techs tried asking Jett something and
he did a quick spin like a football player dodging a tackle. Jett walked
backwards a few steps and yelled out,
“
Just
go with your gut. I don
’
t
give a damn what guitar I play as long as it has six strings!
”

Jett then turned and kept going. At
the end of the hall there was a stairwell. He kicked the door open and charged
down. He made it to the first landing and then put on the brakes. Masie stood
at the top of the landing with her cell in her hand. Jett almost damn tackled
her.

She saw him and screamed, dropping
her phone.

It landed
smack
on the
landing, luckily not going down the steps.

“
Holy
hell, sorry,
”
Jett said.
“
I, uh, just wanted to see you.
”

“
See
me? Why?
”

Jett bent and grabbed the phone. It
had a picture of Masie on the stage, after the show, smiling big. Sweat beads
on her forehead, her hair messy, but that damn smile so cute and pretty.