Tangled in the Great Escape

Goodbyes were never easy. Even when you’re off travelling the world doing what you love, leaving behind your loved ones are always shitty. You always wish that you could take them with you, give them the same experience that you’ll get but I know that that’s not how life works and now we’re here, in front of Mama Fuentes’ house, saying goodbye to everyone.

“Promise me you’ll be safe, be smart” Ma was cupping my face, making me look her straight in the eye as I kneel down to her level.

“Yes Ma, I promise,” I said a bit mumbled.

“Don’t drink too much and don’t be an idiot!” She said again.

I laughed, pulled her hands off my face and squeezed them. “I promise Ma, I love you and I’ll miss you. I promise I’ll talk to you everyday, okay?”

She nodded and continued sulking. Its funny, the band goes on tour literally 70% of the year but this happens literally every time I go. I stood up and walked over to Lauren, who was also there seeing us off.

“She’s right, don’t be an idiot. Talk to me if you’re in a jam, I’ll make you a sandwich” She grinned.

I laughed out loud. “That was so bad, it didn’t even make any sense” I gave her a hug.

“Take care of mi Madre, don’t let her do anything stupid”

“Don’t tell me how to do my job, Perry. Just do yours, entertain a bunch of kids” She playfully slapped me in the arm.

I stuck out my tongue in reply.

I looked over at the guys; Mike was consoling a tearful Frenchi who was holding a very agitated Axel. We agreed that we’d give Mike and Frenchi at least a month before going on tour, but even so, leaving that soon must’ve been extremely hard for the both of them. Jaime and Avela were sucking faces, as if they’d never see each other again and Vic was saying goodbye to Mama and Papa Fuentes.

Matt, our tour manager had to remind us of the time schedule because we literally take forever to say goodbye. After saying our final goodbye, we boarded the bus and took off to our first leg of the tour, Pomona.

Once we were settled in the bus, I decided to chill in the front lounge with my shoes off. I leaned back and sighed, it feels amazing to be touring again, the excitement and the anticipation of being on stage brought back the life that was I lost along the way. On the other hand, I wasn’t happy about the band’s decision to take the offer of doing a European tour, mainly (and selfishly) because of Cassie.

I know, I know. Stop it.

I hate the fact that it doesn’t matter whether she’s here or halfway around the world, she’s controlling my life! It’s not that I’m afraid of seeing her, it’s that I don’t want to. I feel nothing other than hatred and hostility towards the woman that I used to love. But I know it’s incredibly selfish and childish of me to not give the kids a chance to see us live because of my shitty love life. So I decided if we ever go to wherever Cassie was, I’m just going to not see her.

I was actually embarrassed with my reaction a few weeks back at the meeting. I stormed out like a total drama queen and had Vic chase after me, only to ask me what was wrong. I ended up telling him everything that happened at the hospital and that I wasn’t ready to see her. Then Vic kind of talked me into it and made my problem seemed entirely small that I shouldn’t even be thinking about it. So, here I am, not thinking about it.

“Guys! Listen!” Jaime shouted from the bunk area and walked out to the front lounge, holding his phone.

“What’s wrong?” Mike looked up from the couch.

“Just listen” He held up his phone and suddenly a familiar voice sounded off of his phone speaker.

Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t get your call earlier; work has been killing me. Tell the guys I said good luck on the tour! I can’t wait to hear all the crazy stories! Stay safe and have fun! Love you guys, mwah!

Oh come on! What the fuck is wrong with the universe.

“Was that Cassie?” Mike’s face lit up.

“Yeah, I called her this morning but she didn’t pick up so I left a message. God, I miss her” Jaime shook his head, smiling.

I groaned, deeply annoyed by her ‘lovely’ gesture, stood up and walk to the bunk area. If this continues, this is going to be the worst tour ever.

“You okay man?” Jaime called out from behind.

I mumbled a reply and slid myself into my bunk, shoved my earphones into my ear and drown the world with AFI blasting on the speaker.

-

“New Orleans, you have been amazing tonight, thank you guys for coming out! We’ll see you real soon!” Vic shouted into the microphone and I swear I could feel the ground shook as the kids screamed back.

I threw a couple of my guitar picks and waved to some familiar faces, before hopping off the stage. “Dude, we need to talk” Mike pulled me aside once we were out of sight.

I wiped the back of my neck with a towel as we both walked back to the dressing room. The tour is now in its second week and I begin to hate myself even more as the tour progresses on. Getting over somebody is easier said than done, especially when you’re the only one who feels the need to get over said person. While I was busy trying not to think about Cassie, everybody else seemed to be gushing over the fact that we’d be seeing her soon.

“Sit down, we need to talk” Mike pointed to the couch in the dressing room with a serious look on his face.

“Can we not do this right now? I’m exhausted” I sighed and threw myself onto the couch.

“No, it’s important. So sit tight”

He sat down and took a deep breath. “I don’t know if the guys said anything yet, but I gotta say this bro, and I’m only doing this because I love you. You suck”

“What?” I was not expecting that.

“The way you’ve been playing? You suck major balls, I don’t know if this is because of Cassie or something else but you need to get your shit together”

I groaned and pull the towel to over my face.

“I know you feel like shit, but it’s not fair for the kids. You’ve been acting really distant towards the fans, your stage presence is super sucky and overall, you play like you don’t know how to be Tony Perry”

“Alright, alright, I get it. Geez, have people been talking about this?”

“Yeah, the guys and I. We figured we’d give you time to sort it out yourself but it’s already 2 weeks into the tour and you seem to be getting worse”

“Fuck, I don’t know. I mean, I’m just pissed you know” I threw the towel across the room.

“You know what you should do? You need to loosen up” He stood up and looked at me with a smirk plastered on his face.

“Yeah, right” I chuckled and stood up as well.

“I’m serious, you need to get laid. She did,” He said as he walked out of the dressing room.

Ouch!

But he was right though, I’m a grown ass man, I know what it means when a man answers a woman’s phone, I just never thought about it. Now that I’m so far down this road, I think I’m going to do what I do best. Drink.

-

“Are you coming or what?” Vic peeked his head inside my curtain.

I groaned in protest. “I’m sleeping, go away”

He laughed and shut the curtain close before walking off the bus with the rest of the guys, including the crew. Today we were supposed to go stroll the famous Bourbon Street, in the French Quarter but after the amount of drink I had last night, it will be amazing I can still function as a human being.

I stayed in for a couple of more hours until I couldn’t hold in the pee anymore. I jumped off the bunk and immediately regretting it when the wave of extreme pain hits me in the head, making me stumble forward. It always amazes me how much I’m not used to hangovers, even though I’ve practically been having them almost every day now.

After taking a piss, I looked all over the bus and apparently everybody was still out. I thought about chilling in the back lounge, playing the xbox while Jaime’s not here but then I chose to take a shower and find the nearest watering hole in walking distance.

Dressed in plain black shirt and black jeans, I walked to The Metropolitan, the nearest club I could find. I’m not much a of a club guy but I felt like I needed a new scene to refresh myself. Upon entering, I could almost feel the regret slowly creeping in as I hear the bass thumping in my ear, but the second I saw girls dancing, a smirk was painted on my face.

“Beer, please” I shouted to the pretty bartender wearing a sequined black bikini top.

“Here you go sweetie” She winked and walked to other customers.

I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t drink too much, since I was here alone I was afraid that if I blacked out, no one will know where I was. So I thought, a couple of beers and shots should do the trick.

But boy, I was wrong.

An hour later, I was slurring my order to the bikini-clad bartender and leaning against the bar, unable to stand without support. I was no longer enjoying the view, but rather hunting for prey. I dragged my feet onto the dance floor with a beer in hand, waiting for the first girl to come up and dance with. Within minutes, I’ve got 2 brunettes grinding against me and literally throwing themselves at me. The one with the green eyes was on my left, sporting an incredibly knockout rack, was dancing and grinding up and down while to my right, the brunette with the insane ass that was covered in, what I thought, was a latex mini skirt was practically giving me an upright lap dance.

“You’re gorgeous!” I shouted over the music, presenting my ever-charming (super drunk, nonetheless) smile to Green Eyes.

“You’re not so bad yourself!” She pushed up closer to me and I put my arm slight above her ass.

“This is my friend” I looked over at Insane Ass and put my other hand behind her, they were both pressed up against me and I was basically grinning from ear to ear.

“You guys want to get out of here?” I shouted and much to my surprise, they were actually dragging me out of the club and into the cab.

Guess I made the right call to ditch Bourbon Street.



God must’ve hated me for whatever depraved and immoral act I did last night because what I thought was the worst hangover was nothing compared what I feel right now. I couldn’t open my eyes without feeling like the world is ending and my throat feels like I’ve been dry-swallowing cacti all night.

“Make. That. Stop” The very naked brunette, only covered in a thin white bed sheet was groaning when I faintly heard a buzzing sound.

I forced my eyes to open; despite it felt like someone pocking me in the eye with hot metal sticks, and search for my phone. I found it in my jeans, under a pile of pink and red thongs, and with every ounce of strength I manage to get it out of my pocket and answer the call before it goes to voicemail.

“Hm” I sat down on the floor and closed my eyes.

“Where the fuck are you?! We’ve been looking for you like crazy, I thought you died!” A very angry voice I recognize as Jaime, yelled over the speaker and nearly shattered my eardrums.

“God can you not. My head is killing me, be quiet” I groaned and rubbed the sleep off my eyes, only to be met with a pretty disturbing scene.

Two girls were sprawled on the bed, both extremely naked and out of it. I can feel my mouth curling into a smile as I faintly remember what happen last night, I did things I’d never thought of doing and with two very insanely hot girls, I might add.

“Where the fuck are you?” Jaime’s angry voice ruined my flashback and I was frowning again.

“I don’t know; I’ll walk to the bus. Wait up, don’t leave” I mumbled and hang up the phone.

I sat still for a second before standing up and tiptoed myself around what I can assume a motel room. God, I was so out of it last night I don’t even remember where I am and how I got here. I put on my clothes swiftly and quietly before walking out the door, not bothering to leave a note or saying anything to the girls. Is it bad that without their clothes, I can’t even tell them apart? Or even know what they look like? Ha! This must be what Cassie was feeling after hooking up with that guy, it feels amazing!

I Google Mapped my way back to the arena parking lot and was greeted with a very pissed Matt, Vic and Jaime. I was in no mood for a lecture so I walked past them straight to the back lounge. Mike was messing around with his laptop when I threw myself onto the couch and looked at me.

“Where were you?”

“I don’t know, don’t remember” I sighed and leaned back; I could feel the bus moving.

“You smell awful” He chuckled.

“It was worth it” I chuckled back.

“You hooked up with someone?” He sat up and closed his laptop.

I put up two fingers and smiled in victory.

“Damn, dude I didn’t mean it literally” He shook his head, still smiling nevertheless.

“Doesn’t matter, you’ve unleashed the beast” I said it victoriously.

I almost wish Cassie were here, only to see me beat her in her own game.