Rock 'n' Roll Baby
“He has a point,” I agree. “None of us would be here without the other.” In the days after I got Cherry’s message, the break-up one, I was a mess. Nick and Benjy carried me through those days, making sure I didn’t drink myself into an early death, seeing that I ate food and even showered from time to time. Funnily enough, being a drunk fool didn’t deter any of the label people. No one watching us seemed to mind that I always had a bottle on stage with me either. I played my guitar, sang every sad tune with so much feeling that I made the audience cry every night, and even wrote a ton more songs—more than we’d need for at least three more albums.
Someone, I don’t remember who because he was fired after I punched him in the mouth, said that I should get dumped more often. It was good for my music. I don’t think so. The best music I made I’m playing right now and that’s in the album we made while I still believed Cherry loved me.
“Keep reading,” Hal insists.
“The band’s bassist, Benjy, typifies the play hard/work hard mantra. At the beach, he was collecting phone numbers and Instagram handles like they were pennies in a wishing well.” Benjy contemplates this for a minute before deciding he’s not offended. “I don’t mind this,” he admits.
“We’re going to be a year older before you finish this article,” Nick whines.
“Not my fault you have a birthday tomorrow.”
“Here.” Hal hands out two more copies. He’s spent almost ten months with us. I guess he knows us by now. I pick up where Benjy left off.
He doesn’t call any of them, though. For a rock band, Local Hero is curiously scandal free. There are no drugs around them. They don’t drink much. Their entourage is very small and, but for a former stripper who goes by the name of Miss D, there are no women. Miss D isn’t there to serve their physical needs, but rather their emotional ones. “I’m their tour mom,” she explains. “These boys are hardworking musicians whose greatest love is their music. A lot of people want a piece of them and I’m here to make sure that they aren’t taken advantage of.” After you get past the pound of makeup and the hot pink Lycra jumpsuit, you realize that there probably isn’t anyone that understands the male psyche better than a former stripper. The men of Local Hero, only nineteen and twenty, treat her like a mom, too. The only sexual tension that exists is between Miss D and the band’s manager, Hal, although the band themselves seem to be oblivious to it.
All three of us pin Hal with surprised looks. He coughs and turns around, adjusting his shirt and pretending he’s busy with something on his phone. Miss D and Hal? I guess I could see it.
“Let us know if you need an assist, old man,” chortles Benjy.
Hal flips us off.
There is an anxiousness to the band, though, and no one gives me a reason why. They aren’t planning to release new music. The twenty-city tour has been wildly successful, growing with each stop. They’ve moved from opening acts to their own theaters to booking arenas all in less than ten months. Is it the success that is making them nervous? Or something else? It’s not until day three that I get an answer.
It’s been a year since they pushed their first single out into the world and four months since the album has been released. Their Metacritic score is the highest of any album out there for the last four years. They’ve played in front of crowds of over one hundred thousand people, but their harshest critics are yet to come. The boys are about to go home.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cherry
“I hope she never loses this new baby smell.” I run my nose along the top of Bailey’s blond curls. She passed out on my chest after eating her second round of lunch. My half-eaten burger sits on the table. It’s cold now, which happens a lot lately. Things sure are different these days but I wouldn’t change any of it.
That’s a lie that I like to tell myself these days. It helps me sometimes. The thought of Linc not being here can get overwhelming at times. I take a deep calming breath and try to contain my thoughts. I need to get out of the house so I can go up to the diner for lunch. I’m hoping the place isn’t busy so there’s a chance that Brian could get off early.
“I didn’t know babies had a smell. They should make it into a candle or something.” I snort a laugh. My baby girl is the only thing that’s kept me going some days. She helps fill up the hole that Linc left in my heart. The pregnancy wasn’t so bad. I’d get emotional at times, but other than that I did really well. Minnie and Brian had been a huge source of help and support for me. I couldn’t have done any of this without them.