Page 64 of Behind the Lights

“The police came after you guys left. My mom gave them her name, but the guy she was with, her dealer or pimp or whatever, had a warrant out for his arrest. While they were cuffing him, she punched one of the cops so that got her ass arrested too.” He nervously chuckled, playing with his dog tags.

For some reason, I was clocking his every move like it was the first time I was seeing the real him.

“Great,” my dad said from beside me, snapping me from my dream state.

He took a deep steading breath and released it before filling us in. “Sal took care of making sure the venue managers at all of the stops on our tour had her on the “seek and destroy” list as he liked to call it. For obvious reasons, she’s been permanently banned from the Tacoma Dome.”

A knock came and the voice on the other side announced, “You’re on in fifteen, boys.”

“Well, that’s my cue to leave,” dad stood, hugging me again. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Joey. You’re a good kid, well, not a kid anymore, but my kid just the same. And I’m damn proud of you, son. Now go knock ‘em dead, kiddo.”

After my dad left, Stoli slowly approached me like I was a ticking time bomb. “Dude, are you sure you’re okay?”

I blew out the breath I had been holding, twisting my hair around one finger as I did when a feeling of unease consumed me. “Better than my dad, I think.”

In a surprise move, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tightly against his chest. Without thinking, I kissed him as though it were a usual, natural occurrence for us.

Stoli froze in my arms and in a panicked move I jumped back.

“Ss, sorry man. I’m, shit I’m sorry.”

Without speaking a word, he bolted from the room.

Great, way to fuck up what you were working so hard to rebuild, Joey. Will I ever get this right?

There was no time to consider my action as it was time to earn my keep. I shook off the bad mojo as best I could, ran a brush through my hair and headed out to take my place on stage.

In our usual fashion, all hands were in the pile as Stoli began what had become our pre-performance chant:

“Brothers,” he said.

Diamond’s turn, “Till.”

And Mickey, “The.”

Finishing with me, “End,” as the hands released, we headed up the stairs and out onto the stage.

Epilogue

The lights dimmed, and the crowd goes wild. Their screams are like deafening music to my ears,so loud, I can barely hear myself think. Yet at the same time, I can’t wipe the smile it gives me from my face. To think it’s all for us is beyond fucking awesome.

Taking a deep breath, I try and center myself as the announcer takes the stage:

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen!

(He pauses waiting for the screams die down)

You’ve been waiting a long fucking time for this night, waiting for them to headline their own tour and to kick it off on home turf. So, without further ado, let’s give it up for our local boys – Joey, Stoli, Mickey and Diamond, Social Sinners!”

Stoli strikes the first note, launching into the opening riffs for our Platinum record award winning song,Blood Brothers. Diamond follows suit, tapping the pedal in tune on his bass drum. Lastly, Mickey kicks in, plucking the cords on his bass. Gripping my bullet shaped mic stand, my eyes open as the curtain in front of me disappears and I stare out into the faces of our fans packing the Tacoma Dome for the first sold out show of our eighteen-month tour.

Stale cigarette smoke and the musty odor of an old building full of history hit my senses first, but are quickly replaced by the wafting smell of skunk.Ah, home again where partaking is legal. I breathe in the familiar aroma, deeply, letting it fill my lungs before addressing our hometown crowd. The nostalgia isn’t lost on me, looking down I realize I’m wearing the shirt I got from the first concert I ever went to on opening night for my own band’s first headlining tour.

“How’s everybody doing tonight?” I ask the nameless faces staring back at me as they go ape-shit. The band is still playing the song in the background, while I continue teasing the crowd.

“You’re a bunch of crazy mother fuckers waiting outside in the pouring rain to hear us play.”

Their screams break the decibel levels.

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