Page 5 of In the Shadows

When we got to the dressing rooms, I decided to call my little bro and see how he was feeling. “Hey, Mom, how’s Brando feeling?”

She cringed at my nickname for him. “He’s doing better. He’s right here hold on.” She positioned the phone so I could see him better.

“Hey Brando, how are you feeling?” I asked, noting his little cheeks were still pinked from having a fever.

“Ricky!” he yelled, throwing his arms in the air which made me laugh.

“I miss you, buddy.”

“I sick,” he pouted in his cutest baby voice.

“I know, I’m sorry, but Mom will take good care of you,” I assured him.

“JoJo!” he hollered.

I turned finding Joey leaning over behind me. “I’m here, bud. How are you feeling?” Joey asked him.

“I sick, JoJo.”

His nickname for Joey got me every time. This kid had me wrapped around his little finger and I think he knew it.

“I’m sorry, Brando, I wish I could make you feel better,” Joey pouted back at him.

“JoJo, you and Ricky come play cars with me?” He perked up, opening his eyes wide.

Joey and I had so much fun setting up our race tracks for him to play with before we left. He seemed to enjoy them as much as we did when we were kids.

“I’m sorry, bud, we aren’t home. But we wanted to call and check on you. I miss you,” I told him, attempting my own version of a pouty voice while Joey wrapped his arms around my chest.

“JoJo misses you too,” Joey added.

Someone knocked on the door. “BOD’s taking the stage guys,” they hollered from the other side of it. We’d told them to notify us beforehand, so we could catch their set tonight. The control freak in me needed to see what to expect for the tour.

“We’ve gotta go, Brando. Love you, bud.”

“Love you, Brand,” Joey told him.

“Love you too,” Brandon said while excitedly waving his hand at the phone.

After I hung up, I leaned back with my face up to Joey. “That damn kid owns me I swear.”

“I’m right there with you.” He bent, kissing me.

“Let’s go, lovebirds,” Mickey chided.

The four of us headed out and were pleasantly surprised by what we saw. The guys from BOD may act like giant children off the stage, but on it they rocked the shit.

We did our pre-set chant and headed toward the stage, exchanging hi-fives with the guys from BOD as they exited from behind the curtain.

Mid-set, when it was time to playTime To Move On, Joey took the mic while I grabbed my acoustic and the stool I’d requested earlier to sit on while I played.

Chuckling to himself, Joey spoke to the crowd, “You know, I don’t claim to be a Harvard genius, hell some days I’m lucky I can walk and chew gum at the same time. But until last night, I hadn’t fully understood the meaning behind the lyrics of this next song.”

The crowd clapped, some whistled and Joey laughed again.

“My lifelong friend here beside me, waited patiently for my dumb ass to realize what was going on. All the time I wasted.” He looked down toward the stage floor, shaking his head. “This song should be renamedWake-upCall, since that’s what it was for me.” He glanced my way.

I winked. Much to my surprise, he kissed me and the cat calls that overshadowed the handful of complaints from the crowd mirrored the blissed-out look on my face.

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