Another Lost Highway

Saturday, 4th September, 1994
Reprise Records, Burbank, California

~Tre's P.O.V~

'What the hell do you mean we have a deadline?'

Pat's face screwed up as I yelled out at him. He gave me an annoyed look, which just pissed me off even more. He treating us like we were in school again, blamed for something like smoking behind buildings and skipping out on classes. But this time, we weren't just going to get detention or a suspension. This was all hanging on Green Day.

We were sitting in our manager's office at Reprise Records, having just been told that we had to get our album done by the end of the month or we wouldn't get another shot at it. And as I sat there in the tiny office, I felt like kicking the walls down.

'Pat, look, you have to give us some more time on this.' Billie argued, throwing his arms down on Pat's desk. 'We still have to get songs written down, and need to fucking record it all!'

'There's no need to argue Billie Joe.' Pat said, his face slowly turning red. I couldn't help but smile at his rising anger. It just entertained me to see other people blow a fuse once in a while.

'And why's that?' Mike put in, folding his arms. 'You think just a month will be enough to get a record ready?'

'I've had other bands get it done faster than you three.' Pat growled, giving us a death stare. He calmed down and sat back in his chair, sighing.

'Okay look, I can't bend the rules on this one guys. You have the rest of September to get this album done, and it has to be in stores by early October. Your not gonna get another chance.'

I opened my mouth to insult him at the least, but Mike kicked my ankle under the table and shook his head slightly at me. I groaned and slumped in my seat. How the fuck does Pat expect us to produce an album from nowhere?

'Alright - we'll - we'll work on it.' Billie sighed, running a hand through his ink black hair. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for BJ right then. I mean, he only got hitched and had a baby with Adie a couple months back. He was happy and all, but looked like he was going to explode at any second.

'Good.' Pat said, standing up. 'Now, I want you to come back next week, having made some progress!'

We said our goodbyes and made our way out of the humid building. We threw on our coats before heading outside. It was only the very beginning of fall, but an icy chill had set over. But my anger was heating me up more than the coat.

I moodily kicked over a bin, which sent the garbage flying across the ground. Billie and Mike just ignored me. They were used to my antics.

‘We’re completely screwed, you know that guys?’ I said as we walked back over to Billie’s car. Billie looked up at me, pulling on his familiar confident face.

‘Just chillax Tre, we can get this done.’ He said, pulling his car keys out of his pocket.

‘What makes you so sure?’ I said, leaning against the busted old car. ‘We had plenty of time on the last two albums, no pressure. And now thanks to Patty, we have to bring this album out to him gift wrapped for him!'

‘Hey, who said being in a band was easy?’ Mike put in, stuffing his hands in his pockets. ‘It’s not as bad as Woodstock. I had my teeth fucking knocked out, and I haven’t quit.’

‘Well, that’s different.’ I said, kicking the car tires. 'And you have family BJ. You only just got started on that.'

‘Well, the point is that we had two fucking great albums, and we can do it again.’ Billie said. ‘And don’t worry about me. They support us a hundred percent alright?’

I nodded while Billie gave me a smile. He was right, I had to cool it. We would get this done, and nothing would get in our way.

Well, that's what i thought at the time. That was before Juliet Jinx