The Memory of Your Face

This is the sequel to the story The Stale Taste of Recycled Air:

It had been two years, and a lot had happened. Adele and I had moved back to London, our grandmother had died and left everything to us, G wasn't exactly happy that her mother only left her some jewellery but my Grandmother never really approved of her daughter's attitude so I and Adele got lucky in a sense. We didn't mourn for her that much as we both barely knew her but we decided to return home and set up an alternative club in London called Paint it Black after the Rolling Stones song, one of my Grandmother's favorites. We were surprised at how popular it had become, many bands wanted to play there and it was packed every night, we were making quite a bit of money. Adele was going out with a guy in an upcoming band that had played in the club last year. His name was Matt, a nice enough guy that he was he spent most of his time touring and Adele didn't see that much of him. I hadn't spoken or seen Billie since that day in the Bay Area where I watched him drive off on that black tour bus, it still hurt to think about him.
I hadn't had any sort of relationship since Billie Joe, I still ached for him everyday, every mention of the band, his name, or a song playing on the radio station made my heart plummet to my feet. Every night I half heartedly hoped he'd come waltzing through those doors of Paint it Black and settle himself in the VIP section. I had practically given up all hope, the only thing I had left was the fantastic picture drawn by the fan from Minnesota. I kept it in the drawer next to my bed; no one knew about it, not even Adele, it was a constant reminder that I had once been so happy and in love.

One Friday night we were understaffed and I was working behind the bar, it was quite late, around half 2 and people were mostly dancing around. A guy came over to the bar and leaned across it.
"A bud please." He smiled as I popped open the beer.
"£2.00" I smiled at him.
"Thanks." He sipped his beer and I felt him looking at me. "So, Paint it Black eh? Weird name for a club."
I smiled at him warily, "It was my Grandmother's favourite Stones' song."
He grinned wider, "You're the owner?"
I nodded taking in his dark eyes that seemed so familiar.
"Wow, nice, it's strange because my Grandmother's favourite song by the Stones was Paint it Black."
I froze at his words and I studied his image, his eyes, they were my eyes, his face...
"Dave?" I asked my mouth dropping.
"Hey Erin." He smiled cheekily at me.
"How the hell? What are you doing here? Where have you been?" I asked, questions and shock spinning in my brain about my long lost brother. He smiled at me and sighed.
"Well, when I left, things didn't go to plan and... "
"Have you spoken to mum and dad?" I asked sharply, he nodded at me jadedly.
"Yeah, only G would speak to me though, P still won't talk to me."
"I'm not surprised you did steal ten grand from him." I snapped as he sipped his beer, I couldn't believe this it was so typical of him to just turn up and expect everyone to act like nothing has changed.
"Erin I didn't steal it and... "
"Dave you did, then you just disappeared; I mean what happened to you?" I remember how he had spiraled downwards before he left, he'd drink heavily; spend most of his money on pot. I hated him for a while, the way he had treated everyone, especially P.
He shifted his shoulders uncomfortably, "My business venture didn't work out, yours has though I must say, best alternate club in London."
I grinned at him, "Dave, what are you doing here? I haven't seen you in years and years and all of a sudden you show up?" He hadn't changed, he was as cheeky and cocky as I remember.
He smiled back. "I've been coming here for the last couple of weeks ever since I saw the owner's name in the local paper. This is the first time that I plucked up the courage to come over."
I served a guy standing next to him before turning around, "Dave seriously what do you want?"
"To see my sister again, whom I've heard off G has had an eventful few months."
"And?"
"And... well, I was wondering, think you can hook me up with a job?"
I grinned at him raising my eyebrows, "I knew you had a selfish intention."
"Its not selfish wanting to work for my baby sister."
"Dave you haven't even asked me how I've been, where Adele is or what I've been up to? For all you know you could be an uncle."
He snapped up from my words, "I'm not am I?"
"No you're not." I chuckled at his reaction.
He looked slightly relieved, "Okay then, how's Adele?"
"Great, she's living with me in Hampstead." He nodded thinking about another question.
"How have you been?"
"Good, since I dropped out of my course in the Bay."
"Good, you have too many qualifications anyway I never understood why you went out to the states to study MORE... so... "
I sighed at him, "Look Dave, you're an arse for not speaking to me for years; you're an arse for robbing P blind then running off, you're a complete arse for not going to your grandmother's funeral. But... " I sighed, "You are my brother and I love you, no matter how much of a tit you are, so, I'll give you a trial week okay?"
Dave grinned widely and latched onto my neck, "Thanks Erin, I won't let you down, you're a fucking angel."
"Yeah well I can be a prick, so make sure you don't fuck up." I patted him on the back, realizing how much I'd missed my older brother, we had a lot of catching up to do.

"Dave mind the fucking glass!"
"Sorry Adele, it is heavy though... " It was afternoon and Dave had just nearly broken the window with a box of tequila. Dave and Adele had always gotten on, he saw her as another little sister and she was ecstatic to learn he had returned from out of the blue.
"So Phil the DJ is trying a new set list tonight." I sighed putting down my phone on the bar.
"Really? Does it contain a lot of Green Day?" Dave grinned heaving himself up onto a nearby table.
"You're not funny you twat." I snapped, becoming agitated at Adele spilling what had happened in the past two years to him one drunken night at the bar. I did get truly angry every time he tried to take the piss, it hurt, I don't think he realized how much it did. Adele snarled at him,
"You can't take the fucking piss Dave, it's not funny."
"Come on," Dave grinned, "It is a bit, its Green Day, I mean you know, they wear eyeliner and play pop-punk at like the age of 30- something."
Adele's draw dropped, she knew he was winding her up but she still tackled him to the floor.
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"
"Guys, shut up seriously." I sighed filling a shot of vodka for myself and downing it, shaking at the burning sensation running down my throat. "No more talk of them, seriously shut up."
They both looked at each other and scrambled from the floor, I sighed again,
"I'm going out for a walk." I grabbed my coat and left.
I knew that to them I was being ridiculous, it had been two years and I couldn't let it go, I never knew what happened to Billie, did he stay with Adrienne or did he divorce her? I hadn't thought about it in such a way before. I looked up at the shops surrounding me and all the bustling people. HMV was down the road, a huge poster of Billie Joe, Tre and Mike hung in the top window. A small sad smile crept upon my face, that guy, who was worshiped by millions, who was looked upon as a God, I didn't love him. I loved the man who would wake up in the morning and stretch out like a cat, who would cuddle me close and kiss me, the man who loved his children so much he would do anything for them. I loved him, I really did. And standing here in Covent Garden, will thousands of people brushing around me I realized one thing, I would probably never see him ever again.

"ADELE GET THE PHONE!"
"YOU GET IT THIS GUY WANTS 20 SHOTS!"
I sighed and left the busy bar to go and answer the ringing in the office, I sat on the edge of the desk and picked it up.
"Hello Paint it Black?"
"Hello, may I speak to Miss Kenyon please?" I sighed sharply.
"This is she."
"Oh." The voice wavered down the phone, "Hello, My name is Brian Travis and I work for Mean Fiddler events... "
"If you want to book a band to play here then I'm afraid I have to tell you that we are fully booked till next October." I snapped wondering what the hell this is about.
"No, I don't Miss Kenyon." The voice shot back, clearly getting irritated with my tone.
"Mean Fiddler organize the Reading and Leeds Festivals and I am ringing to ask you, considering you're overwhelming success, would you consider having a tent at the festival this year?"
I froze at his words, at this major opportunity for our club.
"Seriously? Like what tent are we talking here?"
"Well, are you familiar with the festival?"
"Yeah, yeah, I used to go to Leeds as kid."
The guy chuckled down the phone, "Well, you are aware of the dance tents then?"
"Very aware." I chuckled back, now warming to this man.
"Well, we wanted to put a Paint it Black dance tent up, we figure it will offer a more heavier alternative from, say, the Trance tents."
"I'd say." I smiled.
"Yes, well, are you free tomorrow for a meeting?"
"Yes, yes, were should I meet you?" The guy was quiet for a while.
" If its okay with you, I'd like to pop down to Paint it Black, I've heard that it's a bit breathtaking."
I chuckled down the phone, "Okay, that's fine."
"I'll be over say about 2."
We said our goodbyes and I put the phone down, utterly astounded at what this guy had just said.

"This has worked out so perfect, I'm at Reading where Matt is playing and your at Leeds, its so awesome." Adele smiled as we left our apartment.
"Yeah, but I thought Matt was doing Leeds to?" I asked as we got into a cab.
"Yeah, but he's only doing Friday morning then coming straight up to Reading for Friday night, Saturday and Sunday with me." She cooed.
"How sweet." I spat prodding her as she snarled at me.
"So what's going on again?" She asked for the 50th time. I sighed running through the verse in my head that I'd spun off twenty times already this morning.
"You get the train to Reading then there will be a car waiting for you to take you to the campsite, they've put you in a trailer in the VIP bit with all the other tent owners and bands and stuff. Likewise for me." I smiled shifting in my seat.
"I'm just scared about leaving Dave." Adele groaned.
"Me too, but I said if he fuck's up he is sacked."
"He's gutted, he wanted to go to Leeds too."
"I know" I cackled, "But I love Leeds, so many good memories when I was a teenager, getting wasted, blowing tents up, not pooing for four days."
Adele laughed with me, "Look at you now, all sensible and shit."
"I know." My eyebrow arched as we pulled up outside King's Cross station, saying our goodbyes and getting on our separate trains.

Mr. Travis was meeting me at Leeds central station. A guy about my height and black emo looking glasses was holding a sign with my name strewn across in block capitals.
"Hey Mr. Travis." I smiled shaking his hand as he threw the card aside.
"Hey, call me Brian." He joked.
"Hey Brian, I'm Erin." I grinned as he smiled back at me. Brian was nice, he joked about and wasn't the serious business suite man I expected when he came to the club a few months ago. He teased about holding a sign in the station for me; I never actually believed he would do it. He was a nice guy, he gave off that aura that Mike Dirnt did when I first met him. He helped me carry my bags into the car that was waiting for us. He settled down next to me as the driver turned out of the Station car park.
"I am looking forward to this; I haven't been to Leeds for years." I smiled glancing out the window and seeing some girls with huge backpacks and a map pointing towards the bus station.
"Neither have I. I used to go to Leeds too, but the company stuck me with Reading for years, it's not the same, Leeds is more... well... " He fidgeted trying to think of the words.
"Punk" I stated as he nodded in agreement.
"Very Punk. Oh. Here's your pass, it gets you everywhere so you can go to your trailer at night at stuff."
He handed me the piece of plastic tied to a neck string and I popped it over my head.
"And here's a programme, anyone you want to see?" He asked handing me another little flipbook with the information on.
I sat there realizing I didn't even know who was playing; I'd been so busy I hadn't even looked.
"I haven't even checked who's playing at all, I feel awful now." I sighed fingering the book and looking at him. He smiled, his kind eyes gleaming.
"What about 3rd Hero? Doesn't your cousin's boyfriend play guitar for them, if I can remember correctly?"
I nodded, "I had better go and watch them I'll never hear the end of it otherwise." I snorted reading the bands playing on Friday; no one really caught my eye.
"Nothing?" he smiled understanding my face.
"Nah, to be honest, I'm a dinosaur who only likes the golden oldies, you know, Sabbath, Iggy Pop, Blondie, The Clash..." I drifted from my words as he grinned.
"Stuck in the past?" he chuckled, the words hitting me more than he'll ever know.
I scanned through Saturday, not much there either, Sunday; my finger ran along the long list of bands. The last name made me freeze. I felt sick rise in my throat, my stomach felt as though it had dropped through the car floor and was left four miles back down the motorway.
"Green Day fan eh? That makes too of us." Brian chuckled, "Personally I cannot wait for those guys to climax the weekend."
I made a choking noise in my throat. Was this really happening? I could feel Brian looking at me funny, hear him asking me if I was alright but I didn't respond I sat staring at those black letters.
Main Stage 21:00 Green Day
I coughed and looked up at Brian finally, his confused look making me even more worried. My brain was comatose; I searched his face like he had the answers, like he was some sort of God and would know why this was happening.
"Erin, are you okay?" He asked again reaching out and taking my frozen arm where my finger was still stuck underneath those words. At that precise moment my phone rang, Adele.
"Hello?" I answered my voice shaky from the shock.
"Erin... " Adele began.
"I know... " I stammered back, looking at Brian who frowned at me in confusion.
"They are playing here tonight; I've just, just seen Mike... "
"Adele what did you?"
"I didn't say that you where in Leeds, I didn't say anything I hid quickly but I know I'm going to run into them again what do I do?"
"Thanks Adele, just, don't say anything, I'll try and avoid them or go home all together on Sunday... "
"ERIN!" Adele yelled down the phone making me jump back.
"Stop being a fucking prick, it's been two years, I know you still love him... "
"Adele," I snapped into the mouthpiece angry at her saying the truth, "Stay out of it, if I want to go home I will."
She sighed down the phone at me, "Erin, don't you think its weird that after all this time, that fate has brought you two together in the same fucking place?"
I made a noise of disapproval but she shot across me.
"All I'm saying is think before you act on impulse." And that was it, she put the phone down.
I turned to Brian, my eyes huge, the colour drained from my cheeks.
"Er... Should I even ask?" he grinned uneasily, I shook my head.
"It's a long story."
"Well, errs... Erin... maybe you can tell me tonight...you know... in the Paint in Black tent over drinks?" I looked up at him, a new wave of shock running through my neck. Was he asking me out?
"Brian I..."
"No, no, not like a date or anything." He lied, I could tell, he rubbed his nose.
"Just as business partners."
I smiled sleepily, "Okay as Business partners."
The feeling of sickness overwhelming me so much that I thought I would hurl right out of the window.