Perfection With Some Flaws

Loud screams erupted after Interpol’s final song, after which the boys came running towards me in the wings.

“Damn, those kids were screamers,” Carlos replied, handing his bass to the nearby tech. He then began poking his finger into his ear and shaking it at me.

“Is it bleeding?” he faked a worried voice, thrusting his ear-wax covered digit at me. I swatted his hand away.

“No, it’s not bleeding, but here. Take this anyway,” I shoved a tissue in his hand. He smiled and walked off, cleaning his finger in the process.

Paul stared after Carlos, allowing me to loop my arm through his. We started walking towards the bus, the other three boys following. Even though we were step-siblings, we were still really close. Paul had been an only child when his father married my mother, so we’d definitely become close. I have an older brother who’s closer to Paul’s age, but he went to live with my dad, so they’ve never met.

“I think we should get a burrito….” I heard Carlos murmur behind me. Sam grunted in reply. Daniel, who was ahead of us, turned and rolled his eyes.

“Always with the burritos…”

“Fine, what should we eat, Daniel?”

“Well, we could ha-”

“No fucking vegetarian shit. That stuff is disgusting,” Carlos interrupted, crossing his arms. Daniel shrugged.

“Sam, want to make us some pasta?”

Sam shot them both the evil eye, making it clear that he was exhausted and simply wanted sleep. It wasn’t surprising, considering we’d run around San Diego all day beforehand.

“We’ll just stop at the gas station and pick up some stuff from there. It’s not like anything else is open at this time anyway,” Paul reasoned.

“They have burritos at the gas station…”

When we reached the bus, everyone climbed on and assumed their positions. Well, whatever position they wanted to take. Paul and Daniel collapsed onto the couches in the living room area, meanwhile Carlos started for the Xbox 360. Sam stood in the aisle, looking back and forth between Carlos and the couch, trying to decide what to do. Being as exhausted as he was, Sam trudged to the bunk area and went to bed, just like I did. We were both climbing into our bunks when Daniel burst in.

“You two want something from the gas station?”

“Sleeping… Leave me alone…” Sam mumbled, turning over before shutting the curtain that he hadn’t closed in the first place. Daniel looked over at me. I smiled up at him.

“AM-PM...”

“Hell yes!” I exclaimed, grabbing my sweater and slipping on my flip-flops. Sam mumbled something that sounded mildly obscene as Daniel and I ran off the bus and into the store. I headed over to the Icee machine, meanwhile Daniel went off to get water. It wasn’t hard to find Paul and Carlos scouring the aisles, especially since the place was empty except for us. The cashier had a strange look on his face, one of confused recognition.

“Okay, Dasani or Arrowhead? I can never decide…” Daniel appeared next to me, looking down at the bottles in his hands. I licked the slush that was oozing out of my cup and looked at the labels too.

“Oh my, no alcohol? Is the world about to end?”

Daniel glared at me, “No, Paul is taking care of that.” He pointed over to where Paul was digging through the freezer. I rolled my eyes.

“You’re all addicted.“

“No…”

“Whatever. Get the cheaper one, that way, you can get more.”

“Good idea,” he walked away to do exactly as I said, something that happened almost every time we stopped at a store. Daniel and his water… he wanted to make water the official drink of the band, but, as I always told him, water and Interpol don’t mix full-time.

“Oh my fucking god! How the hell did they make these burritos taste so heavenly?!”

Daniel, who had appeared by my side again with about fifteen bottles in his hands, and I looked over by the food-to-go section, where Carlos was currently munching on a burrito he probably hadn’t paid for. The cashier looked at him, his expression hinting that he wasn’t sure whether to interject with a warning or not. Carlos obliviously kept eating, occasionally taking a sip from the coffee cup near him.

“Crap… these things are getting heavy…”

I turned to see Daniel struggling with the load in his hands. We quickly walked to the register and paid. Paul walked up next to us, holding assorted chips, energy drinks and beer in his hands. He set his stuff down next to Daniel’s, staring at the lone cup in my hands.

“Is that all you’re getting, Raq?”

“No, I thought my awesome big brother would take of that for me,” I flashed him an innocent smile, to which he responded by pointing to the aisles behind us. I rushed over and grabbed some things, some of which I knew the boys probably wouldn’t want to see. When I set my stash down on the counter, Paul groaned.

“What?”

“Next time, warn me when you’re buying your girly things,” he replied, watching as the cashier began ringing up our things. Daniel smirked, looking over at me. I grinned back.

“These are fucking amazing burritos…” Carlos interrupted the silence that had fallen. He hadn’t been shy in stocking up on his new favorite food. Paul moved from the register to let Carlos place his food down. The cashier looked at all the burritos in front of him and gaped up at Carlos, who was currently picking at the gum and mints display.

“Carlos, don’t you think that’s bit much for only a week and a half more of touring?”

“Raq, when you try these, then you can tell me it’s too much. For now just bask in the glory that is…”

He took another bite and smiled, revealing his mouthful of food. Daniel rolled his eyes, meanwhile Paul and I attempted to help Carlos carry everything onto the bus. I organized everything, meanwhile Carlos had convinced Daniel and Paul to stay up playing Rock Band again. When I was done, I turned to look at them, each of their foreheads furrowed in concentration.

“Good night.”

They mumbled in reply as I walked back into the bunk area. Upon opening the door, I was greeted with light snoring from Sam’s bunk. I took off my sweater and threw it onto the empty bunk above mine, falling asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.