slash protector if someone tried to start shit at shows, had picked it up for us and drove it there. As sad as I was to see the old bus go, we had worn it out after using it for five years and we were overdue for an upgrade.
“How’ve you been, stubborn ass?” Hal asked, coming up to me. We fist bumped. “Trying to stay out of trouble?”
“Ohhh you know me, Hal. Trouble finds me wherever I go.” Usually when we took breaks off from tour, Hal would go back to his family and keep to himself until we needed him again.
“Well, I got this thing looking mighty nice. Drives like a charm too. Go check it out before we head out for Cleveland,” Hal told all of us.
Bryn reached for my hand and squeezed it. “This bus is pretty sharp.” She smiled, reaching out to press her free hand against the paint. We had our name in red and white spray painted onto the side in big bold letters, our new album cover below it, which featured the Detroit city skyline in all its glory. It looked absolutely sick. I couldn’t wait to see the inside.
“Damn, this was worth every penny.” Luke’s eyes widened through his thick glasses as he high-fived us. “Now we’re going to be driving in rock star style.”
Brand new black leather seating welcomed us in the front of the bus, along with a flat screen television against the wall. I wasn’t surprised when I saw the Xbox and typical ‘guy’ video games they’d be playing in our down time.
The amount of space we had compared to the old bus blew my mind. We even had a full-blown kitchen with a high-tech oven! Now I don’t know when we would ever use it, but it’s still nice to have in case there’s no restaurants around. Knowing how well Tyler could cook breakfast, I’d have to take him up on a few mornings of breakfast in the bunk. For my friends and I. I walked back further, noticing even the bunks we were going to be sleeping in were much roomier then the last ones, but my eyes were drawn to the back room, where there was a king sized bed against a cherry oak headboard. It looked comfortable and I was ready to call dibs on sleeping on it first!
When we got to Cleveland around lunch time we parked the bus near the venue, and decided to go walking downtown before we took our equipment to the club.
“I think we could totally stay down here another day just to check out the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame,” Raptor suggested as we walked into the Subway. “Seriously, I’ve never been there!” Luke pushed Raptor and retorted, “Yeah we have, idiot. Last time we were there you tried to take pictures where we weren’t supposed to and we almost got kicked out.”
“Jeeez, even I remember that!” Vince responded. “We were all hung over from playing that show the night before. Cale, you were the most hammered of all of us, I can’t believe you don’t remember, Rap!” I laughed as they were telling me what happened that night. I wish I would’ve been there to see Cale hammered walking through the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame. I found it hard to believe no one had reported them or kicked them out at the sight of them.
Raptor scratched the top of his blond Mohawk and shrugged. “You know how forgetful I am.”
I glanced over at Bryn and she seemed more interested in the high risers than us talking about being wasted.
“Hey.” I gently squeezed her hand, bringing it up to my lips and kissing it. “Just thinking about how I’m going to be your New Year’s kiss tonight.”
The way her lips curled upward made my insides toss and turn. She really had a genuine smile and wasn’t afraid to show it. “I’m a little nervous,” she admitted.
“Why, babe? You’re experienced now, I mean besides it being a smaller venue and all that, those are the best places to play in sometimes.”
“No it’s not that,” she said. “I’m more nervous about meeting Kallie Cooper.”
For the longest time, Bryn was worried that Kallie was going to try to woo me over on tour
Tanya Thompson
Mike Maden
h p mallory
Aidan Moher
Kathi S. Barton
Peter Turnbull
Jon A. Jackson
Mary Eason
Karina L. Fabian
William Diehl