There's a Story at the Bottom of This Bottle

Sometimes it’s too much. Taking care of the boys after tour was a difficult job. But, not seeing them for three months was even more difficult. Sure, all of them called us at least once a day, but it’s just not the same.

Kezia and I finally transported all the boys into the guest room and my bedroom, with Johnny and Jimmy in the guest room, and the rest of them in my room. Johnny is infamous for his sleepwalking problems, though. That would explain why he was in Kezia’s bedroom a half hour later when we checked up on him. It makes sense though; seeing as how he and Kez had been dating for the past year.

“I’m starving,” Kezia whispered above the faint drone of the television.

“Well, where would you like to go, Blondie?” She smiled at my use of her old nickname.

“I dunno…I’m feeling kinda like tacos.”

“Kez, hun, you’re a vegetarian. Vegetarians don’t eat tacos!” I giggled.

“HELLO! Tofu tacos! Or if there’s no tofu, I can always get lettuce wraps or something…either way, I want some kind of Mexican food.”

I sighed, knowing that Mexican food, and being able to get out of the house sounded like a good idea.

“Alright, just let me check on the boys, and we’ll go. If someone’s getting the blunt of their hangover now, we shouldn’t leave them…” I trailed off.

“Okay. I’ll get my shit together and wait here, Nurse Sasha,” she joked.

It doesn’t take much time to get to our rooms, but it seemed to take forever to get there. Something felt out of place. Poking my head into the guest room first, I saw Jimmy sprawled diagonally across the bed, passed out cold. At least he was okay. Next, I poked my head into Kezia’s bedroom to see Johnny curled under the sheets, snoring very lightly.

Smiling to myself, I let Johnny sleep his alcohol off and went into my bedroom. It seemed the same as always. The occasional dirty shirt on the floor, countless socks strewn across the carpet, and two boys in my bed. Zacky was still fully dressed, and Matt was in some shorts with his aviators still on. You could not take those aviators away from that man. But where was Brian?

SMACK. That question was answered very quickly as my nose was instantly filled with the smell of stale Jack Daniel’s, Marlboro cigarettes, and toothpaste. Brian.

“Morning Sunshine,” I smiled, “someone had a first day back home?”

“You know how the first day back’s like. Besides, we owe it to the fine managers at Johnny’s to stop in before we hermit ourselves away for the next two weeks,” Brian sighed.

His eyes were red and he had faint lines framing his mouth and his eyes from sleep deprivation. I hadn’t realized how worn out the boys could get on the road. Brian could never sleep well as it was, let alone with touring.

“Listen, Mrs. Short Shit and I are going down to Lucy’s Diner for some food. You want to come with us?”

His eyes lit up a bit when I mentioned Lucy’s. She had the best Mexican food in all of Huntington.

“Sure, whenever you guys are ready.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Brian’s goofy expression. His eyes were bright and wide, and his mouth was hanging open, with his tongue sticking out over one side of it.

“We were actually going to go now, Bri. I just wanted to make sure none of you had started puking on the new carpet yet. Let’s go,” I stated, putting his hand into my own and leading him to the front door where Kezia was waiting.

“Awe, if it isn’t Mr. and Mrs. Gates. Or Haner now, since you’re off stage,” Kez smiled her cheeky grin, as always, making fun of Brian and I.

“Hm, funny you mention that. Your lover is being a lazy hung-over bum at the moment, soon-to-be Mrs. Seward,” Brian smirked.

Kez blushed at the mention of “Mrs. Seward”. No one except me knew that back in high school, she would doodle “Mrs. Seward” in little hearts all over her homework and notebooks. Plus, the added fact that Johnny found someone SHORTER than him, with him at 5’4”, and Kez barely passing 5’1” made them the official “Mr. and Mrs. Short Shit”.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Kez mumbled. No one could get the last word in after Brian spoke. Not in high school, and not now.

We three stepped out of the house and began the ten minute walk it took to get to Lucy’s. The walk was quiet, with the occasional casual question from Kez about touring, as she tried to keep the silence at bay. I wasn’t in a talking mood. I was too deep in thought about Brian. I didn’t want to be the “over-protective girlfriend”, but Brian’s drinking had been escalating lately, and it was starting to worry me. I don’t even remember how many drunken phone calls I receive from him when he’s on tour.

We stepped through the entry way, to be greeted by the smell of fresh tomatoes and to see that the black and white checkered tile was still as shiny as ever. There was a middle-aged woman with gray hair pinned up who knew our regular orders. We just nodded to her, and she went to go place our orders to the cooks.

Kezia got her lettuce wraps, with imitation meat, Brian got a chicken enchilada, which Kez always made a face at when he ate, and I got my normal salad. Nothing out of the ordinary for us.

“So,” Brian began, “fill me in on what’s been happening with my two favorite girls since
we’ve been gone.”

Something about the way he said that made my shoulders tense up and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It was like he knew something I didn’t, and that scared me. My throat went dry. My hands began clamming up, and it felt like no matter how hard I tried, I could not get enough oxygen into my system.

“Not much, we’re still keeping up the band, still working at Hot Topic. Same old, same old. Right, Sasha?”

OOMPH. That midget kicked me in the shin! The bruise was already forming underneath my skin. I’d get her back for that.

“Yeah, everything’s the same,” I mumbled.

Our waitress came to our table with our plates of food on the fold-out tray she brought with her. Brian’s steaming enchiladas made Kez and mine’s food wilt in comparison.

There was no noise at the table. No clattering of silverware falling on the plates, no chit-chat, nothing. The calm before the storm.

Brian cleared his throat rather loudly, making my heart go into convulsions from the sudden burst of noise. Whoever said “Silence Is Golden” was WRONG.

“I want to know what’s going on. I want to know why my girlfriend is acting like a corpse, and why her best friend is trying to be the ring leader,” Brian snarled.

Never in my life had Brian ever possessed the savage glint in his eye, or the malicious snarl in his voice. Never had Brian lashed out at someone like this. Never had Brian ever SCARED me before. Why would he choose Kezia and me to be his first victims?

His once vibrant brown eyes were glazed over and blood-shot. The smile that made me fall in love with him was now drawn into a scowl, and his ever flawless skin was pale and clammy, like he had a fever. Something wasn’t right.

As he became frustrated with our silence, he shoved himself out of the booth and stomped his way out of the diner. I had no idea where he could be going.

“That was…”Kezia started.

“Unexpected,” I finished.

“Kez, if you don’t mind, I’m going into work. I need to keep myself busy.”

“Of course I don’t mind. Go do whatever you need to do. I’ll be at the house if you need me.”