Page 2 of Opening Strain

I can still picture Dad lying on our hallway floor, pleading with me.“Promise me you’ll always look after Mom.” With tear-filled eyes, I’d responded in the affirmative. No way would I deny a dying man, one whom I loved with my whole heart, his final wish. At that moment, it didn’t matter that the woman in question had chastised me all my life, blamed me for something it was impossible for me to have done, and was mentally unstable. He added, “You’ve always been such a good?—”

He never finished his sentence.

To this day, I want to know what he was going to say.

Have I lived up to my promise to him about Mom? Well, I made sure she was safe and secure. Even if our parting back then?—

No. More. I squeeze my thigh.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

I allow silence to chase itself around the four walls of the conference room.

“So, uhm, when did you name the band?”

A relieved chuckle escapes. Thank God we’re moving on. “I didn’t. You see, Untamed Coaster was the original name. The guys didn’t tell me until I agreed to join, though.”

“Nice.” He grins. Water slides down my throat as I wait for his next question. Which comes quickly. “In the movie, you talk about the famous huddle you do before all your shows. Care to shed some light on it?”

Uncomplicated territory.“Of course.”See. I can be easy-going. “It’s a throwback to our Amazing Amusements days. Before I could start the ride, I had to check in with the guys to confirm that it, and the guests, were all set. When they were satisfied, they raised their fists into the air, which prompted me to shout, ‘Strapped, locked, and loaded, are you ready to roll with Untamed Coaster?’ It sort of stuck. Now we use it to remember where we came from and to get hyped to rock the crowd.”

Smiling, Jeremy flips the page on his notebook. “I’d like to change the subject a bit. I understand one motivation behind the movie is to introduce Tristan Lambert, your new keyboardist, to the general population. How has his transition been?”

UC’s PR team prepared me for this question.I puff up. “Once we decided to offer Tris the position, which was a grueling process, it took some time for him to gel with us, as Quinn shows so well in the movie. But he’s one of the band now, for sure.” All the details about our hunt for a new keyboardist were depicted in minute detail in the film, so no need to go into them now. Although, discussing video applications and live auditions would be preferable to running my mouth off about my mother, my former best friend, and ex-girlfriend.

Jeremy interrupts my thoughts. “What dynamics within UC have changed with Tristan’s introduction?”

I ponder his question—one I haven’t thought about much. “First of all, he’s great on the keys. However, Tris is his own man, without a doubt, and has different traits than Darren had. For example, he’s quieter than Darren was, but still manages to get his point across.” Like when he got UC to agree to some embellishments to Darren’s song, “Crushing Blow.” None of us wanted to change a note in the song, but his ideas were freaking good.What else can I say?“Plus, the ladies sure have welcomed him into the band.” I don a smirk.

Without missing a beat, Jeremy asks, “Speaking of, any woman catch your eye?”

This, again?My palm raises. “Me? No one woman in particular—there’s way too much going on in my life. In case you missed it, we’re preparing for our upcoming tour.” I rest for a second. “When we’re introducing Tris to the world.”

“What a tour it promises to be. You’ll start in America then fly over to Europe, right?”

Score! Diversion succeeded.“Yes. Our first shows are in New York City, and we play venues throughout the United States before we hop across the pond to Europe, then Australia and South America. There’s even talk about hitting the Far East, so stay tuned.”

“We sure will.” Jeremy reviews his notes. “Before I let you go, I need to circle back to Darren’s death. We know he passed away in a Florida hotel room. What more can you share with us?”

Luke warned me to expect a proctologist exam, but why? I hate reliving this shit. The whole world knows Darren was prescribed Oxy following his wrist injury. Overdosed. As much as we are able to determine, that night he took a pill prior to going out. Between the drinks and joking around with everyone, he must’ve forgotten and took probably two, three or more before falling asleep. As a result, a panicked 007 called me to Darren’s room.Get your mind in the game and finish this interview.

I take a deep breath. “It was in the early morning. I was in my own room when I got a frantic call from 007 that Darren was in trouble.” This is accurate. No need to share I had left a redhead’s roomonly a couple of hours before, thank you very much. I do send off another thanks to the universe she didn’t try to cash in on the timing of our tryst.

To stall, I tip up the water bottle. Jeremy stares at me expectantly. “I ran down the hall and met 007 in Darren’s room. We tried everything we could to revive him, but he was gone.” My fingers close around the UC pendant I always wear. “I called the rest of the band, who rushed to his room. As a goodbye, Coop led us in singing ‘Amazing Grace,’ then I reached out to the hotel to take care of the details. I also had the unenviable tasks of calling Mother Hilliard as well as his girlfriend, Jenna Westfield.”

Jenna. She had given all of us UC pendants the Christmas before. I loosen my fingers and drop the necklace. The woman who, Darren informed us in no uncertain terms, was on ourDo Not Fucklist. A list never to be crossed, no matter the fact he’s no longer on this plane.

Despite sitting with a journalist, memories stir. The first time I met Jenna, everything about her entranced me. We were at a club, and she was all alone. I ordered her a glass of wine and gave her the cherry from my Manhattan. When she took it and winked at me, I fell in lust. She quotedThe Godfather, and it was upgraded to love. Although she somehow believed the second movie was better than the original. I shake my head. I will never get over that.

Then, Darren appeared, kissed her, and broke up my stupid white-picket fantasy. Turns out, Jenna had been the physical therapist he’d been raving about for months, who helped rehab his wrist injury. Once the professional relationship ended, their personal one took off.

Jeremy clears his throat.Focus, Bennett.“As you can imagine, they were not easy calls to make. But we got through it, together, and now with Tris in the band, we’re carving out a new identity for UC.”

In a lower voice, Jeremy says, “Thank you for sharing these intimate details. I didn’t realize you were the one who took care of all theitems on the terrible to-do list, including calling his mother and girlfriend.”

“Our manager, Luke Allen, wasn’t at our hotel that night, so the responsibility fell on my shoulders.” We’re all members of the same band, yes, but I don’t do friends. Not since Curtiss...makes my life easier. Besides, following Dad’s death, one thing I’ve learned well is to detach and run on autopilot. Getting shit done is the main reason why I’m thede factolead of UC—it would take the band forever to pick a restaurant, let alone handle any heavy stuff. I lift the bottle of water to my lips.

“Have you kept in touch with either of them?”

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