Feed the Fire

Tre was standing outside on his balcony having a quick smoke while Jill was showering. She hated that he still indulged in a bowl now and again, so here he was; a grown man of almost 34 years, sneaking a smoke like some teenager hiding from his mother. He sighed his frustration as the cool night air rustled the plants that adorned the edges of the balcony. He heard a door slide open and thought he heard a man's voice singing. He walked toward where the voice floated on the wind from the next balcony. Peaking around the plants he saw Sabrina looking like she was passed out with Toby leaning over her. He strained to hear what Toby was singing; with a start he realized the song; 'Whiskey Lullaby'. He watched Toby move a bottle out from her hands and place a blanket over her sleeping form. Tre's heart clenched in his chest at the sight of her passed out.

He watched and listened as Toby finish singing and walk back into the suite. He was just about to turn around himself and go inside of his own suite when he heard a female voice supply the missing lyrics to what Toby had sung a few moments ago.

She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette
She broke his heart he spent his whole life tryin' to forget
We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time
But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind
Until the night

He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away her memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees
We found him with his face down in the pillow
With a note that said I'll love her till I die
And when we buried him beneath the willow
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby

He saw her pull something out from underneath the blanket, something that had been on her lap. An 8 by 10 picture frame was in her hand and when the tears started to flow from her eyes and she completely broke down did he again feel his heart stop; he had caught a glimpse of their wedding day photo.

Less than a week after Las Vegas, the 'fucked up circus' as Sabrina was now calling it; rolled into The Big D. The tour was moving along at a snails pace with various factions sniping at one another. Green Day's road crew was protesting the extra work Sabrina gave them without having a set list. The lighting and sound crew had to be on top of their game during Sabrina's set. Beth on the other hand was in a war with Jill and Tre; making the younger woman's life miserable every chance she got. Meanwhile Mike was walking on eggshells around Beth; while Sabrina was avoiding Tre and Jill like the plague and rarely joining in any reindeer games that the rest of the musicians played.

Except for today; today was different somehow. Tre had commandeered his and Mike's bus which left the bass player to roost elsewhere. He went along with Sabrina and Beth and then the three of them had found their way onto Billie's bus. Beth was excited to be visiting Dallas and it quickly went through the group like wildfire. Everyone seemed to be excited and smiled as Beth broke out in song, "The stars at night, are big and bright....DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS!!!"

As the buses pulled into the arena back area, a plan was hatched; since they didn't have to play until tomorrow night, it was decided that they would go sight see and shop a little. "Just how do you suppose we can see the town without getting recognized?" Mike asked the mastermind behind it all.

Beth grinned, "I propose we wear disguises."

"Disguises?" Billie asked. "Your idea is to wear disguises?"

"Well I don't have to wear one... but you guys will have too," the young woman peered at Adie and Sabrina "I think you two should be fine. With your darker hair, you aren't so easily spotted anymore, Sabrina."

"Just where do you suppose we are going to get the disguises Beth?" Mike asked getting intrigued by the idea.

"You just leave that to me," Beth said with an evil smile.

When the buses finally pulled in and parked, Beth disappeared from the bus on her hunt for disguises. Toby joined Mike, Billie, Adie and Sabrina as they waited for Beth's return.

They weren't waiting long as the young woman returned with some various items from her bus before she then ransacked Billie's bus. They heard her triumphant "HA!" as she must have found what she was looking for. She walked back into the front of the bus where everyone was waiting and shoved items into the hands of the men folk. Billie grimaced at the sight of Tre's blonde wig and Mike's paperboy hat being thrust into his hands. Mike chuckled at the lead singer's look and groan until he glanced at the items held within his own hands. A pair of really nerdy sunglasses and Billie's fedora hat graced his presence. He looked at Beth with a mild look of disgust. "No one will have a clue who you are; unless that is you WANT a bunch of teenies stalking you all day," the woman asked with an eyebrow raised to the man staring at her with a horrified expression on his face.

She grabbed a piece of paper and pencil as scribbled names down and ripped the paper into three parts. She grabbed Mike's hat from Billie and placed the pieces in it and shook it around. "You need to split up in different pairings, in order for this to work; we need to completely be different. But we can all meet up for dinner later at the same place," she heard Billie groan again. "Hey, you want to move around town without security for like the first time in forever?" The man nodded so she continued, "If you went with Adie then no matter what you wore, people would know it was you; BUT you go with a different person than the disguise will work."

The lead singer saw the sense she made and with that thought stuck his hand into the hat and deftly plucked out a paper and unfolded it to reveal Sabrina's name. "You and me kid," he said with a smile to the woman in question.

"You're next Tobe," Beth said as she shook the hat in front of the manager. With a smile he pulled out Adie's name. Beth frowned at the since it meant she was paired with Mike. Billie and Mike donned their disguises and everyone left the bus to get in the van which was going to drive them to their destinations.

The van dropped Billie in his disguise and Sabrina with just a pair of sunglasses on off in the middle of downtown Dallas' shopping district. With a flourish Sabrina pulled out her black Amex card, "Let's put a dent in this sucker, I need some retail therapy," she said as she wrapped her arm around Billie's and started to lead him down the sidewalk.

Billie Joe groaned at her words, "Shopping? We're going shopping? I don't do shopping with my wife for Christ's sake... " he mumbled.

Sabrina punched him in the arm, "Well what would you rather do?" she asked.

"Dunno... Hey how about going to a movie instead?"

"Oh okay you big baby, but no chick flicks okay?"

Billie smiled and led the way to the nearest movie theater. As they waited in line arm in arm looking for the entire world like a loving couple; Sabrina grimaced and pulled out a small bottle of Rolaids. She deftly opened it up and plopped three into her mouth before returning the bottle to her inner pocket.

"What's up with that?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"Stress is playing havoc with my stomach. It started a day before the tour began and with the 'fucked up circus' being how it is, my stomach can't cope anymore. I feel like I should take stock in Rolaids... I go through a bottle every other day it seems."

"That's not good, Sab. Maybe you should take a few days and get checked out?"

"Well I have a video appointment with my shrink in a few days, thank god for modern technology. With what is wrong with me a flesh and bone doctor can't help me with; I need my mind doctor to tell me I'm still messed up," she said with a slight smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"I'm sorry Sab, I didn't know that Tre would be flaunting off the new one and shit... "

"No Bill, its okay... I mean, I'm an adult, I can deal with it. It's not like I think Tre should never be with any one else every again or anything," she shrugged her shoulders. "I mean... the problem with all this is Beth is driving me insane with the war she has waged on Tre and Jill. On one hand, I know she needs to stop; it's not helping the situation. BUT on the OTHER hand, I am secretly wishing for her to stick it to them and cheer her on," the woman leaned into Billie a little bit more. "Does that make me a bad person Billie?"

"Nah," he chuckled giving her hand a squeeze, "It's just makes you human like the rest of us."

The van dropped off Adie and Toby to their desired location and Beth jumped out as well. "I'm gonna go on my own," she said breezily, "Check up with you all later," and with that Beth walked quickly down the sidewalk.

Mike shook his head and gave direction to the driver to drop him off at Fair Park in downtown. It was a mecca for culture and he decided to view some of the many museums located within the park boundaries. Within no time he arrived and exited the vehicle and looked around on where to start.

Beth ended up in some park which was teaming with people and things to do. She explored the area and found much to her delight a more country like setting. There were ponds and trails winding around through wooded areas, so she decided to investigate. She wondered through taking her time, and happened to find herself walking and seeing with delight; some squirrels scampering around collecting various bits of things from the green grass surround the trees. As she got closer the laughter bubbled from within her as the squirrels didn't run away from her but rather came right up to her. One brave little fellow even delicately sniffed her outstretched hand as he looked for a morsel of something from the young woman.

Beth was so involved with the creatures that she didn't notice that Mike was coming from the other direction with a coffee in hand. He stopped and watched her since she seemed to be genuinely happy at that moment in time and not the sullen bitchy woman that has been around since the start of the tour.

Beth straightened up and turned to continue her walk and spied Mike stand there with a smile playing on his thin lips. She gave him a small smile back and walked up to him. "Of all the parks in town... you picked this one?"

"Well I figured it was right here near where we are playing tomorrow and I wanted to see the museums that are nearby..." he began.

"Oh... me too. Great minds think alike," she chuckled at the man.

Beth had made a decision that she was going to be good today since she had been so excited about coming to Dallas that even if she had to hang out with Mike, it wasn't going to bother her. Mike looked surprised when Beth looped her arm around his and turned him around and began propelling him down the path in the direction she had been going. He was relived that she was being so nice and being really fun to be around.

Beth having put her issues on the back burner found herself having fun with the lean man by her side. He was a great conservationist, charming and certainly not bad on the eyes. She found herself, forgetting once again why she ever was angry at him in the first place.

The two enjoyed a surprisingly nice day and when they got to the restaurant for dinner where everyone was meeting up at, she surprised even herself by saying, "This was fun, and we should try this again someday."

They walked into the restaurant and into the back room to find that they were the last to arrive. A large round table was set up and everyone was already seated. Beth sat down in one of the last vacant seats which were next to Sabrina, with Mike lowering himself next to her on her right. Green Day's manager Bill had joined them and sat on Mike's right. Jill and Tre were in the seats across from Sabrina who had Toby on her left. Adie and Billie sat between Toby and Tre which rounded out the group.

The dinner went on as well as possible even though Jill kept making moves on Tre. The drummer's girlfriend knew that it grinded on Beth's last nerve and the fact that it slowly was getting to Sabrina made it an added bonus.

Mike who was sitting next to Beth took up upon himself to make dinner be somewhat enjoyable for Sabrina. So every time he noticed Beth start to say something, he deftly poked her in the arm or the ribs. After one hard poke from Mike, she jabbed him back. "Stop poking me," she said under her breath. The happy mood that was around earlier between them was now disappearing once again.

One time after Jill cooed to Tre, "Here baby, wanna try a piece of my fruit?" Sabrina grimaced again at her stomach and popped a few more Rolaids into her mouth before starting to rise.

Tre looked concerned at Sabrina's actions, "Are you okay?" he asked nicely, a hint of the old Tre coming out.

Before Sab had a chance to reply, Jill spoke up "You don't have to care whether she's okay or not; she is nothing to you now."

The whole table went quiet at the younger woman's words. Mike saw that Beth had visibly bristled her fur and before the female could a squeak word out he took a spilt second to weigh his choices. He decided it was worth the slap that he knew he'd get just so Beth won't say anything out loud. He placed a hand on Beth's thigh and leaned in and kissed her right on the mouth effectively silencing her words of protest about Jill's behavior.

Beth was caught off guard at Mike's movements and let herself enjoy the kiss for a moment before hauling back to smack him across the face. Mike smiled as all eyes went from Jill to him as he nursed his stinging cheek. The kiss served its purpose in distracting Beth from Jill.

"Jesus Michael, was it worth it?" Sabrina asked after shaking her head at the man.

"Actually yes," he grinned back, "Worth it more ways than you know. I took one for the team."

Jill still had fire in her eyes and was gearing up for another comment when Sabrina squelched it with her next sentence, "I'm gonna go, since some people can't act civilly in a public setting," she said as she looked directly at Jill.

"Good... " Jill mumbled.

"Bitch..." Beth mumbled back as she turned toward Mike, "Do you think I could get away with stabbing her in the eyes with a fork while she slept?" The bassist just chuckled and shook his head at Beth's words.

As Sabrina rose to her feet, her cell phone broke through the room with the sound of the call to the races announcing an incoming call from her cousin, Chris. She stood up and moved to the side of the room to take the call. Moments later the sound of a stifled sob was heard and all eyes turned towards Sabrina. "Do you want me to fly back home?" they heard her ask into the phone. "Okay, I'll take care of the stuff on this end, and you take care of the work there. Okay, bye."

Sabrina sighed and winced as her stomach once again twisted in her gut, she quickly swallowed down the bile threatening to come up. After popping a few more Rolaids, she moved back to the table and placed a hand on Toby's shoulder. "I need some help issuing a press release," Toby looked up to his friend to see her eyes once again dark and soulful. "The Hopeful Farm blah, blah, blah; Triple Crown winner Satan passed away peacefully in his favorite paddock about 7pm eastern standard time. Blah, blah, blah," she said without fanfare in a dull voice.

The woman closed her eyes and snorted in disgust. "You know old friend, how much more opposite can my life get?" she asked. Toby was still stunned with the press release news that all he could do was shrug his shoulders at Sabrina. "My professional life is top of the world and my private life is hell. Ha, we should have called this the Heaven and Hell tour," she said with a little laugh.

"Hell because you're here... " Jill mumbled again.

Sabrina threw a glance at the young woman and just shook her head looking more tired then anyone had ever seen her before. "I'm going back to the hotel now. I really don't need to listen to the elementary bullshit of an insecure little girl," the woman moved away from Toby. "I have more important things to worry about then you're pathetic ass Jill," and with those parting words Sabrina left the room.

Jill puffed up to at the words, "Are you going to let her talk about me like that Frank?" she demanded of the man sitting beside her. Tre said nothing but raised his hands up to rub his forehead. "I'm talking to you hunny... " the woman cooed to him trying a different tact.

"She's left so drop it okay Jill," the man finally was able to say.

"Okay baby, I love you," Jill said knowing she had won the fight.

"Love you too Jill."

Beth made puking motions behind Mike's back as those words and rose to her feet herself. "I'm leaving too, because seeing those two coo at each other has thrown my appetite off," she announced and followed Sabrina from the room.