Jack
OUR MINI GETAWAY wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for, but it was good to rest, and great being alone with Hadley. I’d hoped we’d be able to talk more about our future over dinner, but our uninvited guest sort of derailed that. After that, I just wanted to keep things light and restful for Hadley. I could tell she had something on her mind, and could only assume she had questions and fears about our future, but I didn’t quite know how to approach things with her just yet. She was still a relative stranger to me in so many ways, which was odd because my heart knew her completely.
There had been no sign of Cathy on the road, and believe me, my head was on a swivel. Hadley spoke with venue security the moment we got here. These days, you can never be too careful, and I was of the opinion that Cathy Meadows was a few tacos short of a fiesta plate.
We walked through the backstage halls of the arena, which is about a twelve hundred seat venue that we’d apparently sold out. In fact, the entire tour had sold out, which was more satisfying than I thought it would be. Maybe it’s because I didn’t expect it or even think about it.
“Well, look who decided to show up! Didn’t you get the notice that you’ve been replaced?” Rex yelled through the throngs of people in the dressing room. Backstage always seemed to get a little more crowded as tours went on, so now that we were just two dates from the end of the tour, it was a bit of a zoo tonight.
Through the masses I spotted Bam sitting on the couch with his bassist, Jimmy.
“At least my replacement is a complete bad ass!” I replied.
The dressing room erupted in applause and Bam smiled wide, and bowed his head in humility. “Thank y’all, you’re too kind. Really, thank you, you can kindly all shut the fuck up now!” Bam joked.
The room was filled with laughter and the party resumed. Bam stood to his feet and we embraced.
“Seriously, Bam, thank you,” I said. “You totally saved my ass, and everyone who saw the show says you killed it. I appreciate you being there for me, and most importantly, for Hadley.”
“I’d do anything for her. Hadley’s my family, and if you’re getting married and havin’ a kid with her, that makes you my family. Not to mention, that was my childhood fantasy, so I should be thanking you. I still can’t believe it happened, and I’m pretty much in shock, and now I’m babbling. I need a beer.” Bam met my eyes. “Oh, shit! Sorry man, I—”
“It’s okay.” I laughed. “I’m happy it worked out for both of us and thank you again. I owe you one.”
“That means something where I’m from,” he said earnestly, his southern drawl pouring out.
“It doesn’t mean shit where I’m from, but it does to me, so ask it and you’ve got it.”
We talked more about the show and how he felt about it. It was interesting to get another drummer’s thoughts on playing in my band, with my bandmates. It was fun talking with Bam. He was a natural storyteller and a straight shooter. He had a very unique perspective about what it was like to hitch up to the animals that are Rex and Robbie, which I got a kick out of hearing.
“It was brutal at first,” Bam laughed. “We couldn’t soundcheck because of the whole festival thing. The Clergy was on right before us, and it was a pretty tight turnaround before we were on.”
“I bet it felt like forever,” I said.
“Exactly the opposite! Before I knew it, Ray was handing me my sticks, I sat down and we were off.”
“First thought?” I asked.
“Loud… as… fuck.”
I laughed.
“You must be deaf,” he said.
“What?”
“Seriously,” he continued. “I’ve never been on stage with guys playing that loud before. I thought my band cranked, but holy shit brother. Even through my in-ears, I could hear Rex and Robbie’s rigs.”
“Robbie still uses wedges,” I said. “We’re from another time man, a very loud time.”
We talked a while longer and I made note of his keen sense of people and what they were thinking. He seemed not only street smart, but wise for his age.
I made a note to pick his brain some time about Hadley, as her closest friend, he likely had a similar vantage point into her as he did with my band. It’s not like I couldn’t talk to her directly, I just figured I’d use any solid help I could get into understanding the woman that was going to be my wife and the mother of my child.
I mingled among the celebrities, press people, and various backstage guests for about another hour and then headed out to find my five-foot-five-inch fix.
It was a bit strange being thrust right back into band chaos after a few days of relative isolation, and as much as I sparked from being back ‘in it,’ while mingling, I was mostly thinking of the next time I’d be alone with Hadley again. I was so preoccupied with her, that had it not been for the roadies running past me in the halls, and the rumble crowd growing louder by the moment, I might have even forgotten I had a show to play tonight.
* * *
Hadley
I was standing in the corner… and I was in the corner because Ray was boxing me in… and all I could think about was getting the hell away from him. He’d piled on a little more cologne than normal (or I just happened to notice because every smell elicited a physical and sometimes violent response from me).
“So, this thing with Jack,” Ray said. “It’s serious?”
“Ah, yeah, very.”
“You sure?”
“She’s fuckin’ sure, Ray, now walk away,” Jack growled as he moved between us.
“Dude!” Ray said, raising his hands. “Just askin’.”
“And now you’re walkin’ away,” Jack reiterated.
Ray walked backwards for a few paces, then turned on his heel and scurried away as fast as he could.
I tried not to laugh (or puke) as I dropped my head to Jack’s chest and breathed in his clean scent, wiping the Ray stench away. I wrapped my arms around him and sighed. “Thank you.”
Jack slid his fingers into my hair, then stroked my back. “Missed you.”
“You too,” I whispered. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah. You gonna watch from the side?”
“Of course I am.”
“I want to see you, baby.”
I met his eyes and smiled. “I’ll be there… well, unless, I’m puking. Then I’ll be worshipping the porcelain god, or the nearest trash can.”
“I thought this was going to be a dry tour. With all of this talk of you puking…”
“Since I’ll probably be dry-heaving, you’re not far off.”
Jack laughed, kissing my temple.
“Oh!” I said. “I almost forgot, Bam asked us to watch their set tonight.”
“Why’s tonight special?”
“I don’t know, but when my bestie asks me to do something easy, I try to accommodate.”
Jack grinned and I slipped my hand in his as we walked to stage right. We stood in the wings, just behind the sightline of the heavy black curtain and watched Bam walk out from behind his kit, to stand center stage.
“We hope y’all are havin’ a great time tonight!” Bam yelled.
The crowd roared back in appreciation.
Bam grinned. “We hear you, Boise, and we feel you, so we’d like to do something special for you tonight, if that’s alright.”
Another swell of applause.
Roses for Anna was on the rise, and as predicted, they were now playing to nearly full houses every night. They had previously headlined their own theater tour, so on the nights when they weren’t opening for RatHound, I had them booked in smaller venues just to work each local market as much as possible. With their work ethic, talent, and the ever-growing reputation of their live shows, I saw no reason why Roses for Anna couldn’t be the biggest rock band in America.
“We’re gonna to do a brand new song for you now, but we need a little help from someone really special to us. Please welcome my father-in-law, Rex Haddon!”
“What’s this?” Jack asked.
I shrugged. “I honestly have no Idea.”
Bam continued, “We needed a fifth man to pull this job off so we called in a real pro. This is kind of different for us, so bear with us. This was written for some people that are very special to us. This is called Circle of Fear.”
All four members of Roses for Ann, and Rex stood in a circle, in the center of the stage, and sang out, without accompaniment, in five-part harmony.
Within moments I was in tears. This was a love song written for me and Jack. I’d come to find out later that Bam and Rex had written the song in secret, and the band worked on it tirelessly until they had it perfect.
Rex broke away and sat down at the piano, and Edward picked up an acoustic guitar. They were joined by two string players during the song’s final chorus, the entire song being led by this angelic five-piece choir of rough and tumble rock stars.
By the time they got to the chorus again, I was a sobbing, heaving wreck. Jack’s t-shirt was soaked in my tears as I clung to him.
“I’m going to kill them. I’m going to murder them both. It’s not fair to play with a pregnant lady’s emotions,” I said through my tears.
The arena was as quiet as a church as they played. Quieter than any rock audience I’ve ever heard, but they erupted the moment the song ended. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
When the song finished, Rex left the stage and came over for a hug.
I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed. “I can’t believe you stupid jerks did that and that you were able to keep it from me. It was so beautiful, Rex. Great, now I’m crying again.”
“It was all Bam’s idea,” he said, holding me tight. “You can blame him.”
“Oh, believe you me, mister, I’ll deal with him when he’s done out there.”
Rex smiled and he and Jack hugged. Rex walked back to Roxie, who practically dry-humped the man in front of everyone, and I slid into Jack’s arms.
“You okay?” Jack asked.
“That was so beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful.”
I wiped my still wet face. “I’m sure I look fabulous at the moment.”
“Red carpet ready,” he replied.
“Maybe as a stand-in for the carpet,” I protested. “Puffy and bright red.”
“Hadley, you don’t get to talk about the mother of my child and my future bride like that.” Jack pulled me in closer.
“You still want me to be your wife? Are you sure?”
“More sure than anything in my entire life.”
“Everything has happened so fast, and life has been so crazy…”
“Life is always crazy. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that life is full of completely unexpected twists. Hadley, you have been the most unexpected twists of them all, and now we’re going to have a baby. I couldn’t be more sure of who you are and how I feel about you. I love you and I cannot imagine my life without you.”
I thought I was crying before, but what was happening now was some next level shit.