Jack
THE BAND WAS on fire tonight. Rex, Robbie and I had never sounded or played better than we had on this tour. In fact, I’d happily pit our current selves against our younger selves in a rock-and-roll cage match. We’d chew those snotty punks up and spit ’em out. Unlike in the past, it felt to me like were now playing for bigger reasons than just to inflate our own egos or legend. We were no longer playing like kids with nothing to lose, but instead, like men that had everything to lose.
Each song in tonight’s set seamlessly blended into the next, and we pushed ourselves and each other harder and harder with each one. The crowd was so worked up, the room felt like it was going to burst by the time we neared the end of the show. Unfortunately, right about then, I became aware of something else about to burst.
The pain of playing drums with a blister is threefold. First there’s the initial pain of the blister itself, not to mention having to alter your grip in order to accommodate it. Then there’s the exciting jolt when it finally rips open mid-set, but neither of these compare to the final level of blister hell; the moment the stinging sweat of your hand finds its way to the raw, newly exposed flesh.
“Motherfucker!!!” I yelled out in pain as I came crashing down on my cymbals for the final note of the song. The stage lights darkened and Roger, my tech ran over with a flash light.
“What’s up boss?”
“Fuckin’ blister popped!” I hissed.
“I’ll get you a bandage. Sit tight,” he responded.
I knew I had a few minutes before my next cue and, as promised, Hadley had been at the side of the stage all night. I’m sure she was the reason I was playing with such intensity.
“Ask Hadley to grab the bottle of New Skin from my dressing case. She knows exactly where it is, and the code for the lock.”
Roger did as he was asked and I waited as Rex began Song for Steven. This was one of our biggest hits, and to keep it from getting stale, we’d always changed it up a bit over the years. On this tour, Rex played and extended the piano intro while talking about the songs origins. Rex had lost his younger brother to suicide, but rarely talked about it in the past. These days it seemed like we were all opening up a lot more than we had back in the day.
My cue to enter was coming up, but there was no sign of Roger or Hadley. I grabbed some gaffer’s tape from my stick bag and field dressed my wound just as I would have back in our club days. The stage lights came up as Robbie and I began to play, and I could now see the sides of the stage clearly. There was no sign of Hadley, but I could see Roger hustling toward the stage.
He reached the monitoring desk and I heard his voice through my in-ears.
“Sorry boss, I couldn’t find Hadley. I’ve got some bandages for ya whenever you’re ready.”
I gave him a nod and started scanning the stage again for Hadley.
She must have Anna business to tend to.
We finished our set, and as we took our bows, the crowd’s energy swamped me, and I could really feel just how much we’d given tonight. Some nights on the road, you knew you’d given it your all, and this was one of those special nights.
“That’s definitely the second most amount a fun a person is allowed to have!” Robbie yelled as we exited the stage.
“If you’re looking for arguments, you’ll fine none from me brother,” Rex replied. “You were pounding the shit outta those things, Jack. You were almost louder than Robbie on stage.”
“What can I say, I’m… inspired,” I said.
“Fucking possessed is more like it,” Robbie said, smiling.
I was smiling on the outside, but starting to feel uneasy.
Where the fuck is Hadley?
I scanned our entourage as we walked through the arena halls, toward our dressing room. No Hadley, but I saw Ray walking alongside Bam, so at least I knew that little cheese dick didn’t have her pinned in some dark corner somewhere.
“Has anyone seen Hadley?” I asked to our group, but got nothing in return.
As we approached the dressing room, I quickened my pace. I passed the others, then security and swung the door to our suite open.
No sign of her.
“Hadley!” I called out.
Rex and Roxie were right behind me, followed by our ever-increasing train of people.
“What’s wrong, Jack? I’m sure she’s just tied up with business somewhere,” Rex said.
“No. Something’s wrong. She was supposed to have her eyes locked on mine all night. She promised. Hadley doesn’t break promises.”
Bam pushed through the crowd and yelled out “Hadley!”
The dressing suite had three smaller rooms off the large main area we were currently standing in. Bam stood closest to the far-left dressing room door, and swung it wide open to reveal an empty room. I opened the door to the far right and my blood ran cold.
“Don’t move or I’ll cut her.”
Cathy Meadows was on the floor with her back against the far wall of the dressing room. Her legs were spread wide and she had Hadley in front of her, with a butcher knife to her throat. There was blood smeared on the wall behind them, and blood all over both Cathy and Hadley.
I held my hand out. “Cathy, I—”
“Don’t say a word and don’t come any closer or I swear I will make you a widower a second time.” Cathy’s voice was flat and soulless. “I know she’s not your wife yet, which I guess would make this even more tragic.”
I saw Hadley tremble and her eyes widen. Cathy’s left hand was covering her mouth, securing her head tightly in place. She held the knife tightly to Hadley’s throat, and she was significantly larger than Hadley, giving her complete control.
I stood perfectly still.
“Oh, good. You do have the ability to stay still and listen to someone,” Cathy said. “Don’t worry. We won’t be interrupted by any emergency phone calls this time.”
I raised my hands and bowed my head slightly in an effort to show contrition. Cathy held the knife closer, causing Hadley to bleed. I wanted to lunge at Cathy and kill her with my bare hands, but couldn’t risk pushing her over the edge any further.
“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry,” Cathy continued. “Thanks for that little charade by the way. That little phone call ended up being hotel security, who detained me, packed up my belongings, and escorted me into a taxi. Now, why would they do that I wonder? Maybe it’s because some stuck-up bitch newcomer that doesn’t know her place in this band, called security on me and made up a bunch of lies about me because she’s jealous!”
Cathy peered past me, craning her neck to see the crowd behind me.
“Who’s out there?” she asked. “Move out of the way so I can see. Slowly!”
I did as she asked, my eyes locked on Hadley’s.
“Is Rex Haddon out there?” Cathy called out.
“I’m here,” Rex replied calmly.
“You come in here, Rex, it’s okay,” she said, her tone of her voice showing the first sign of humanity, then sharply added, “and if anyone calls security, this bitch is dead before they reach the door.”
“No one is calling security,” I said.
“I thought I told you to shut your fucking mouth, Jack.”
The way she said my name let me know exactly how detached from reality this woman was. I still couldn’t tell where all the blood was coming from, but Hadley’s shirt was soaked.
“Hi, Rex.” Cathy broke into a creepy smile the moment Rex entered the room, but her body remained tightly would around Hadley.
“Hello,” Rex said, cautiously avoiding eye contact.
“It’s okay, silly, it’s me… Cathy. Come in so we can talk.”
Rex’s eyes met mine and I could tell he was in the fucking dark.
“Okay, let’s talk… Cathy is it?”
“Come on, Rex, don’t act like you don’t recognize me,” she said. “It’s only been a couple of years since the last time we met face-to-face… plus all the emails, most of which have gone unanswered lately.”
“I’m sorry, Cathy, I meet a lot of people, so sometimes my memory isn’t so great, but I do think I remember meeting you—”
Cathy stopped smiling.
“You think you remember me? I’m the whole reason you’re even here tonight Rex. It’s bad enough you didn’t even bother to send me free tickets. I thought maybe you were waiting to surprise me with backstage passes to the last show of the tour or something, but you didn’t even do that. Then rock star Jack Henry big times me, and I’m the whole reason he’s back in the band.”
“I’m sorry, Cathy, I’m not sure I follow. Maybe I’m just not thinking straight because of the knife on my very good friend there.”
“Your friend? You mean this whore that does your dirty work? This bitch right here that has your most loyal fans thrown out of hotel rooms? Like the fan that gave you the idea to get Jack Henry and Robbie back together to re-form RatHound?”
Cathy was panting, squeezing Hadley tighter, and my stomach roiled worse and worse with each second.
“You’re right,” Rex said carefully. “I remember now that it was you that said we should get the band back together, and I apologize for not returning your emails. All email goes through our PR firm, but it looks like there was a mistake, because I must have not gotten yours. I will rectify that immediately so we make sure you get the credit you deserve.”
I saw Cathy’s eyes start to soften.
“It’s just a little confusing to me as to why you’d let Jack treat me this way, when you told me yourself how vitally important I am to this band.” Cathy started to tear up.
“You are important Cathy,” Rex said.
“I know, because when we first met at your solo show in Tampa in 2010, and I was wearing my favorite RatHound shirt, and you told me that I was vitally important to the band’s legacy, and that’s when I knew you understood me, and that I understand your message even when no one else heard it.” Her rambling was become more and more intense.
“That’s right,” Rex said reassuringly. “And I know that Jack and Hadley didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. That’s my fault, Cathy. I didn’t tell them who you are, and I should have, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I’d hate for Hadley to get hurt because of my stupid mistake.”
“If I’d have known how important you were…” I said, and cringed when Hadley whimpered as Cathy shifted the knife. “What if you and I start over from scratch? We could spend some time talking in the dressing room, just the two of us, alone.”
“You think I’m gonna believe a word that comes out of your mouth. You broke up this band once before over a woman, and now you’re letting this whore chase off the people that are vitally important to this band.” Cathy rose to her feet, Hadley still at the mercy of her blade. “Vitally important, Jack. I’m the lifeblood of RatHound. I understand the message that Rex is trying to send to his true listeners and that you and Robbie are his instruments. You’ve strayed, and allowed this whore—”
Hadley gave one powerful thrust to Cathy’s solar plexus and then dropped to her knees.
A loud boom echoed in the room, and Cathy’s head snapped back before her body hit the floor. Before she could recover, I rushed in between them, divesting Cathy of the knife and sliding it across the room.
Sully called out, “All clear!” and I turned to see him armed with a shotgun.
“Is she dead?” I asked.
“Just knocked out. She took a bean bag round to the forehead.”
I helped Hadley to her feet and she immediately began kicking Cathy’s still unconscious body.
“That’s right, bitch! Call me a whore one more time!”
I could now see the blood everywhere was definitely not Cathy’s.
“Where the fuck’s all that blood coming from?” I snapped.
“My hand,” Hadley rasped.
“Did she cut you anywhere else?” I asked.
Hadley shook her head. “Just my hand, when I was trying to fight her off.”
“My guys are taking care of the woman,” Sully said. “I’ll drive you to the hospital. It’ll be faster than calling an ambulance.”
I nodded and scooped Hadley into my arms as gently as I could.
“Honey, my legs aren’t broken.”
“Not takin’ any chances in you passin’ out,” I said, maybe a little curter than I should have, but I was trying not to completely lose my shit.
We followed Sully out to the car and I set her inside, then I climbed in beside her and secured her seatbelt.
Sully started the car and took off and I focused on Hadley and her breathing. I’d never driven with Lucy’s bodyguard, but he drove a car like he was one with it, delivering us to the hospital in less than five minutes. I helped Hadley out of the car and wrapped an arm firmly around her waist as we rushed inside. “I need help!” I bellowed.
“How can I help?” the receptionist asked.
“My wife, she’s losing blood.”
“Right, sir, we just need you to fill out—”
“Fuck the paperwork! Get someone out here to take care of her.”
Sully stepped between me and the desk, leaning over to speak quietly to the woman. Within seconds, a nurse arrived with a wheelchair and I lifted Hadley into it. Her color did not look good, and I was concerned she might pass out.
“She’s pregnant,” I said.
“We’ll take care of her,” the nurse assured me, and we headed into the back.
In the end, it took twelve stitches to close the wound on her hand. Hadley had fought for the knife and obviously held on a little longer than she should have, because Cathy had a better grip and ripped it away, slicing Hadley’s palm in the process.
The baby was fine, and other than the cut and a few bruises, Hadley was too. She was allowed to leave a few hours after we arrived, so Sully drove us back to the hotel. I helped her get rid of her bloody clothes and shower, then settled her into bed with an order to stay there until the following afternoon.
“I’m fine, honey,” she argued.
“I’m aware.” I smiled. “But, regardless, you’re stayin’ in this bed ’til I feel better.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Bossy—”
“Yeah, I’m aware.” I leaned down to kiss her. “Ain’t gonna change anything.”
She flopped back on the pillows. “Killjoy.”
I sat on the edge of the mattress. “How’s your pain level?”
“It’s fine.”
I stroked her cheek. “You bein’ a hero?”
She smiled… fuckin’ finally. “No. I’m good, honey. Promise.”
“You wanna talk about it?”
She shook her head, her hair falling in front of her face. “Not yet.”
“I’m here.”
It took a minute, but she met my eyes. “I know.”
“Love you, baby.”
“Love you too.” She kissed me gently. “Can I curl up on the sofa and watch a movie? If I promise not to move from there. We can snuggle. I don’t want to be in this bed all night.”
I sighed. “I’ll allow it.”
She chuckled. “Thank you, oh benevolent one.”
I helped her to the sofa and grabbed the comforter from the bed laying it over her. As I snagged a pillow to set behind her, a knock at the door came. I opened it to find Sully. “Hey, man.”
“Mr. Henry.” He nodded. “I just wanted to check on Hadley.”
“Come in.” I stepped back and Sully made his way to Hadley.
“It’s the Sullynator,” she joked.
He chuckled. “You doing okay, Miss Simon?”
“I’m doing great. You, Jack and Rex are my heroes,” she said. “What happened with the crazy lady?”
“She’s with the authorities. I’ve reached out to some contacts and she won’t be a problem again.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“I’m going to let you rest now, but I’ll be driving you and Mr. Henry home tomorrow.”
“What about Lucy?”
“She requested I stay with you.”
Hadley met my eyes and I nodded. I’d approved Sully’s guard for the next couple of days, but I liked that she wanted to make sure I was okay with it.
“Thanks, Sully,” she said.
“My pleasure, Miss Simon.” He grinned. “I’ll be back.”
Hadley giggled, and fuck me, I loved that sound.
Sully left the room and I settled in for a quiet night with my girl… even if we did have to watch the Notebook.