About a Girl
Long Drives
"So you like Bodom?" Erik asked dangerously close to my ear.
I jumped a little before giving him a confused look. "Huh?'' He pointed at my shirt. I looked down to realize he was talking about the band on my shirt. "Uh, yeah."
"You heard the girl Trid, crank it up," Erik screamed while Astrid turned up the radio.
I was now in a very crappy and smelly van with six strangers on our way to Austin. "If only my mother knew where I was," I thought jokingly. Alex and Astrid were occupying the first two passenger seats, I was squeezed in the middle between Erick and Emil, and Bo and Flip were sitting in the back. I've managed to learn that Bo and Flip were married for a year now and Astrid and Alex have been dating for almost six months. That left two very horny twins, one of whom had his arm around me.
"So tell us about yourself," Erik said, breaking the awkward silence that fell over the van.
"Uh, nothing much to tell," I spoke, trying to nudge his arm of me. He was relentless.
"Erik," Flip scolded, "Stop scaring her."
"What! I'm only trying to make conversation" he said while looking back at Flip. Then he turned his attention back on me. "I'm I scaring you?"
"Uhh.."
"See, I'm not scaring her," he cut me off. Flip just flicked him on the back of the head before returning her attention back to Bo.
Within the few hours I've spent with the band I was able to sort of identify their roles, per say. I don't mean what they play, but what they bring to the band and how they fit in this "family" unit.
From first notice I saw that Bo and Flip were like the parents to the others. Whenever one of the others started going a bit too far, especially Erik, Bo and Flip were there to "sort" them out. Bo was a very tall guy with big muscles. He reminded me of a bear with his big beard and brown shoulder length hair. Flip reminded me of a 50s pin-up girl with her curvy body, pale skin, and jet black curls. She was beautiful to say the least.
The twins were like the comedians of the band, the jokers. They both had a beer in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and a snarky remark ready to be said. It was also extremely hard to tell the difference between them. Both had a Nikki Sixx hairdo, matching tattoos, and matching facial piercings. The only way you could tell the difference between them without their guitars was the moles on their cheeks. Erik had a mole on his left cheekbone while Emil had a mole on his right cheekbone.
Alex was of course the singer, so he picked up the older brother role of the band, the leader. Just as bad as the twins, but with a little more responsibility. He was the one who took control of the others and would look out for them whenever he could. Alex reminded of Peter Steele with his black pin-straight hair and deep voice, it made perfect sense why Astrid was so attracted to him. Astrid was also very maternal like Flip, but definitely had a wild side to her. She had green and pink hair with tattoos covering her arm in sleeves.
That's another thing I noticed. How awfully plain I looked compared to all of them. With my mousey blue streaked hair and ratty clothes compared to their colorful appearance, I looked like a goddamn prude. I've always been extremely self-conscious and had really low self-esteem. So by comparing myself to them was really making me feel like shit. I was soaking in my own self-pity before I heard someone calling my name in a quiet voice. I looked up to see Alex staring at me through the rear view mirror.
"You okay," he half whispered.
I looked around me to see that everyone had fallen asleep. We were the only two awake. "Yeah," I said confused. "Why?"
"You've been sighing for the past five minutes."
"Just thinking."
"Penny for your thoughts." He kept averting his eyes from the road to mirror and back to the road. It was really scaring me.
I thought for a moment. I really didn't want to tell him how inadequate I felt compared to his band mates, so the first thing to pop up in my head was about the band. "What's it like being in a band?"
He gave me a look before saying, "It's really fucking fun, but tiring. As you can tell how are living conditions are right now, we're not exactly at where we want to be yet."
I nodded my head in understanding. No one wants to live in a van driving from state to state hoping one day they make it big. But, they had to start somewhere. "You in a band?"
"No. I-I mean..I've played on stage, but always as a fill-in, never an actual member."
"What do you play?"
Erik was still the only one who knew what I played. "Bass." "B-but I can play s-some piano too," I added.
"Fuck, I'm stuttering again. I need a fucking pill or something to calm my nerves," I screamed in my head. "I'm making a fool out of myself."
"That's cool." I was snapped out my thoughts by Alex again. I need to get a grip of myself.
"So, uh, what happened to your old bassist." I noticed that when they were loading their gear their was a bass case shoved in the corner.
Alex's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "He was an ass. Never cared about the band. Not even in the start," he sneered. "Right when we got offered this little tour gig, he quit on us. Can you believe that? Quitting right when we landed in the states. The fucker saw it as a free ride to New York." His accent thickened when he got angry. Noticing he was getting louder, he said in a quieter voice, "But, you know, good riddance. He was an asshole to begin with."
I felt kind of bad for them. Asshole or not, losing a band member sucked. Especially when they are about to go on tour. Deciding to change the subject, I asked, "So, are y'all signed or anything."
"To some indie record label. We got an E.P. out, but what were heading for is Nuclear Blast. Heard of them?"
"Yeah, all the big metal bands from Europe are on there, right."
"Yeah. We sent them are E.P. and never got a reply back," he laughed sourly.
"Give it time. Children of Bodom waited years to be signed, now look at where they're at now. Traveling the fucking world. You guys are fucking awesome. They'd be crazy not to give y'all a chance." Everything I said I meant.
"Thanks," he said smiling. "You should get some sleep, you look like you haven't slept in weeks."
I didn't notice how tired I was getting. "What about you?" I yawned.
"Don't worry," he laughed, "I've driven worse."
I smiled at him before nodding my head. I rested my head against the seat and closed my eyes. Preparing myself for what ever tomorrow may bring.
I jumped a little before giving him a confused look. "Huh?'' He pointed at my shirt. I looked down to realize he was talking about the band on my shirt. "Uh, yeah."
"You heard the girl Trid, crank it up," Erik screamed while Astrid turned up the radio.
I was now in a very crappy and smelly van with six strangers on our way to Austin. "If only my mother knew where I was," I thought jokingly. Alex and Astrid were occupying the first two passenger seats, I was squeezed in the middle between Erick and Emil, and Bo and Flip were sitting in the back. I've managed to learn that Bo and Flip were married for a year now and Astrid and Alex have been dating for almost six months. That left two very horny twins, one of whom had his arm around me.
"So tell us about yourself," Erik said, breaking the awkward silence that fell over the van.
"Uh, nothing much to tell," I spoke, trying to nudge his arm of me. He was relentless.
"Erik," Flip scolded, "Stop scaring her."
"What! I'm only trying to make conversation" he said while looking back at Flip. Then he turned his attention back on me. "I'm I scaring you?"
"Uhh.."
"See, I'm not scaring her," he cut me off. Flip just flicked him on the back of the head before returning her attention back to Bo.
Within the few hours I've spent with the band I was able to sort of identify their roles, per say. I don't mean what they play, but what they bring to the band and how they fit in this "family" unit.
From first notice I saw that Bo and Flip were like the parents to the others. Whenever one of the others started going a bit too far, especially Erik, Bo and Flip were there to "sort" them out. Bo was a very tall guy with big muscles. He reminded me of a bear with his big beard and brown shoulder length hair. Flip reminded me of a 50s pin-up girl with her curvy body, pale skin, and jet black curls. She was beautiful to say the least.
The twins were like the comedians of the band, the jokers. They both had a beer in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and a snarky remark ready to be said. It was also extremely hard to tell the difference between them. Both had a Nikki Sixx hairdo, matching tattoos, and matching facial piercings. The only way you could tell the difference between them without their guitars was the moles on their cheeks. Erik had a mole on his left cheekbone while Emil had a mole on his right cheekbone.
Alex was of course the singer, so he picked up the older brother role of the band, the leader. Just as bad as the twins, but with a little more responsibility. He was the one who took control of the others and would look out for them whenever he could. Alex reminded of Peter Steele with his black pin-straight hair and deep voice, it made perfect sense why Astrid was so attracted to him. Astrid was also very maternal like Flip, but definitely had a wild side to her. She had green and pink hair with tattoos covering her arm in sleeves.
That's another thing I noticed. How awfully plain I looked compared to all of them. With my mousey blue streaked hair and ratty clothes compared to their colorful appearance, I looked like a goddamn prude. I've always been extremely self-conscious and had really low self-esteem. So by comparing myself to them was really making me feel like shit. I was soaking in my own self-pity before I heard someone calling my name in a quiet voice. I looked up to see Alex staring at me through the rear view mirror.
"You okay," he half whispered.
I looked around me to see that everyone had fallen asleep. We were the only two awake. "Yeah," I said confused. "Why?"
"You've been sighing for the past five minutes."
"Just thinking."
"Penny for your thoughts." He kept averting his eyes from the road to mirror and back to the road. It was really scaring me.
I thought for a moment. I really didn't want to tell him how inadequate I felt compared to his band mates, so the first thing to pop up in my head was about the band. "What's it like being in a band?"
He gave me a look before saying, "It's really fucking fun, but tiring. As you can tell how are living conditions are right now, we're not exactly at where we want to be yet."
I nodded my head in understanding. No one wants to live in a van driving from state to state hoping one day they make it big. But, they had to start somewhere. "You in a band?"
"No. I-I mean..I've played on stage, but always as a fill-in, never an actual member."
"What do you play?"
Erik was still the only one who knew what I played. "Bass." "B-but I can play s-some piano too," I added.
"Fuck, I'm stuttering again. I need a fucking pill or something to calm my nerves," I screamed in my head. "I'm making a fool out of myself."
"That's cool." I was snapped out my thoughts by Alex again. I need to get a grip of myself.
"So, uh, what happened to your old bassist." I noticed that when they were loading their gear their was a bass case shoved in the corner.
Alex's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "He was an ass. Never cared about the band. Not even in the start," he sneered. "Right when we got offered this little tour gig, he quit on us. Can you believe that? Quitting right when we landed in the states. The fucker saw it as a free ride to New York." His accent thickened when he got angry. Noticing he was getting louder, he said in a quieter voice, "But, you know, good riddance. He was an asshole to begin with."
I felt kind of bad for them. Asshole or not, losing a band member sucked. Especially when they are about to go on tour. Deciding to change the subject, I asked, "So, are y'all signed or anything."
"To some indie record label. We got an E.P. out, but what were heading for is Nuclear Blast. Heard of them?"
"Yeah, all the big metal bands from Europe are on there, right."
"Yeah. We sent them are E.P. and never got a reply back," he laughed sourly.
"Give it time. Children of Bodom waited years to be signed, now look at where they're at now. Traveling the fucking world. You guys are fucking awesome. They'd be crazy not to give y'all a chance." Everything I said I meant.
"Thanks," he said smiling. "You should get some sleep, you look like you haven't slept in weeks."
I didn't notice how tired I was getting. "What about you?" I yawned.
"Don't worry," he laughed, "I've driven worse."
I smiled at him before nodding my head. I rested my head against the seat and closed my eyes. Preparing myself for what ever tomorrow may bring.