Buried Notes (Brothers of Rock #4) (7 page)

“Where is home?” Becky asked.

“I really don’t have one,” Chris
admitted. “The bus. The road. Your apartment...” He smiled and caught Becky
blushing. “I have a rental in Los Angeles, but I want to buy something. I’d
like a house. But it’s sort of pointless when you don’t have anything to put
inside it.”

“I’m sure you have plenty of
guitars and stuff.”

Chris laughed. “I meant like people
to put in it. You know. A woman. Family.”

“Considering you’re a rockstar, was
that your way of proposing to me?” Becky asked. She turned into the parking lot
to the arena. She pulled up to the gate and stopped. She looked at Chris.
“Because if you are proposing, then I must be really good in bed.”

Chris touched Becky’s face and
shook his head. “You are by far the coolest woman I’ve ever met, Becky.”

“I hate that name.”

“I know. I’ll propose something to
you... if you can find a way to make it up to Vegas this coming weekend, there
will be tickets waiting for you. We have a show, a day off, and then we’re off
to California. Think about it.”

Becky opened her mouth and Chris
didn’t want her to say anything that could possibly ruin a thing between them.
Even if it ended like this - which Chris knew it probably would - he wanted to
have that little fantasy of something else happening.

He kissed Becky once on her lips,
once on her nose, and then got out of the car.

Before he got to the gate, she
called for him. He turned and saw her point at the guitar case in the backseat.
It occurred to him then that he never got to play guitar for Becky last night.
There was another first... a woman beautiful and captivating enough to take his
mind off music.

Chris smiled and mouthed
It’s yours!
and then
opened the gate.

(9)

There was no
walk of shame
as Chris
opened the door to the tour bus and had to walk the narrow aisle past his
bandmates as they all clapped and cheered for him. Johnnie raised his coffee
mug into the air and nodded his head. Of course Danny and Davey had guitars in
their hands and they started to play random notes, sliding and bending them,
like random notes in a dirty movie. Rick stood, put a foot on one of the
tables, raised an empty bottle of vodka and smiled.

Chris walked right by everyone and
went to his bed. He sat and put his hands to his face for a few seconds. To
catch his breath. To absorb everything. To if the mild sting of missing Becky
would go away.

It didn’t.

Chris had never felt this way
before, except on stage. There had been some shows where the crowd was so
intense and the show was going so well that it pained him for it to end. However,
the buzzing in his ears, the sweat on his face, it just lingered.

He felt the same right then because
of Becky.

His heart still racing. His body
bringing back the sensual memories of Becky the night before. How she acted.
How she moved. The way her back arched. The sounds of her voice. The feel of
her nails. Her breath on his chest as she came, again and again...

“You okay, brother?” Johnnie asked
as he stood a foot away from Chris.

Chris collected himself and stood
up. “Yeah, dude. Tired.”

“No sleep?”

“Come on, what do you think?”

“How the hell did you pull that
off?”

“I’m the bassist from Chasing
Cross,” Chris said. “That’s all it takes sometimes.”

“Bullshit!” Rick called out. “That
big dude was about to pound your face in.”

“Yeah, that too,” Chris said.

“So spill the story,” Danny said.

Chris looked at Danny, the baby of
the band. A younger version of Johnnie with a wild streak in his eyes. He
enjoyed his guitar more than anything else, mostly brought on by the pain of
leaving someone behind in Virginia.

“Why don’t you guys get off the bus
once in a while and have fun?” Chris asked.

“We bring the fun right here,”
Davey said. “When we want it.”

Chris’s nose picked up on the smell
of coffee. He found a mug and poured himself a much needed cup. He sat and
thought about the mornings that weren’t that long ago when they’d wake up and
start drinking again. Hell, those days were at the beginning of the current tour.
But since getting back into the studio and trying to finish the tour, things
had calmed a little.

Only a little though.

Rick twisted the top off a flask
and poured something in Chris’s coffee. The sting of the alcohol raced up
Chris’s nose.

“Thanks, Rick,” Chris said.

“No problem. We’re still rockstars.
Live it up. One day we’ll either be dead... or married...”

“What’s the difference?” another
voice called out.

It was Peter from front of the bus.

Chris sipped his coffee and made a
face. He had momentarily forgotten about Rick’s mind numbing additive. He
licked his lips and took another sip. Then another.

“I take it everyone survived last
night,” Peter said. “Although it seemed pretty quiet.”

“Not for Chris,” Danny said and strummed
a chord on his guitar.

“Well, whatever,” Peter said.
“We’re heading out in about five minutes. Off to Reno and Vegas. I’m not even
going to get into guys about Vegas.”

Peter opened his eyes wide. He
looked at each member of Chasing Cross like an overprotective father and each
member of Chasing Cross smiled back at Peter. Peter cared, but in his own
special way. Financially, that’s what came first. If the band could play, they
could make money. And money made Peter very happy. He’d suffered his own personal
hell trying to get Chasing Cross to break big, including giving up a decent AR
career and a wife. Not that Peter ever seemed very happy when he was married.

“I need everyone to stay alive in
Vegas and make it back to LA. I have some good news.”

“Good news?” Johnnie asked.

“They love the album,” Peter said.

Rick jumped up from his seat and
grabbed Davey by the shoulders. Johnnie clapped and Chris and Danny bumped
fists. They knew the album was going to be huge, and the best part of it was
that Peter disagreed with the new direction of the band and the sound. They
argued over the song choices, the song titles, and even the cover.

“They love it all,” Peter said. “So
I guess I’m here to beg for forgiveness.”

“Holy shit,” Rick said. “Peter is
admitting he was wrong.”

“Not wrong,” Peter said. “Mistaken.
But I always make my mistakes right.”

“Is that so?” Johnnie asked.

Chris drank the rest of his spiked
coffee, feeling the booze work its way through his body. He got up and poured
another cup, this time skipping the extra stuff. He sat back down and looked
out the window.

He thought of Becky.

He closed his eyes.

Shit
,
he thought.

“I hope you guys aren’t looking to
relax too long in LA,” Peter said.

That caught Chris’s attention.

Peter was all smiles as he began to
play with a diamond ring on his right pinkie.

“The tour numbers have been great
guys,” Peter said. “The seats are filled every night. But we’re thinking of
trying something else now.”

“Something else?” Johnnie asked.

As the assumed leader of the band,
Johnnie stood and moved closer to Peter. The rest of the band just waited.
Chris kept thinking about Becky. Wondering where she was. What she was doing.
He hoped she wasn’t going to do something dumb like try to sell his guitar.
There was no proof it was a guitar from Chasing Cross but even still, the
guitar alone was worth a couple thousand dollars.

“You guys get back to LA and relax
for a week or two,” Peter said. “Unwind. If you want to go anywhere, pick it
and I’ll fly you there and back. With security. With eyes so I can watch you.”

“I like this,” Rick said.

“We’re going to launch the album in
LA with a bunch of shows at all the small clubs and venues. A kind of tribute
to where you guys came from.”

Johnnie nodded. His eyes lit up.
Chris smiled. He loved seeing the other guys get so excited about music. That’s
what made the band work and it’s what gave Chris the hope that it would
continue for years.

“Then we’re hitting the road again,
boys,” Peter said. “We’re trading this bus for a bigger one. And we’re trading
the stages for bigger ones too. You guys are going to be headlining your own
national and international arena tour. No more ten thousand seaters... we’re
talking twenty thousand or more, minimum. This album is going to keep you at
the top. We’re going after it this time. The record company is putting serious
money behind this too. That means tons of interviews, photo shoots, the whole
works. Radio interviews. TV interviews. Local markets. National markets.
Autograph sessions. Backstage passes.”

“This is real now,” Johnnie said.

Peter snapped his fingers. “Yes!
It’s real, Johnnie. And Chris. Danny. Davey. Rick. This is real. You guys are
big right now. But after this tour, especially when we go overseas, you guys
are going to be huge. This is your chance to put your stamp on rock n’ roll
forever. Do this tour the right way and you’ll be set for life.”

Johnnie looked back at Chris. Chris
smiled and lifted his mug.

“I love it,” Chris said.

Johnnie nodded. He looked at Danny,
Davey, and Rick. All three basically said the same thing.

They were all in.

Chasing Cross, ready to take the
country and world by storm.

“The only thing,” Peter said,
putting a hand up. “You’re going to need another album within eight months.”

“Eight months?” Rick asked.

“We haven’t really written,”
Johnnie said. “I mean... on the road...”

“The bus will be bigger for this
tour,” Peter said. “You guys can write on the road. Write in hotel rooms -
which by the way will be first class hotels now. Write on the plane. You guys
are flying private now. You’ll have plenty of space and free time to get
something done.”

Chris didn’t like the idea of a
forced album,
but as
long as the band was writing it together without outside input, like Peter
standing over them telling them how bad it sounded and how they should go back
to what they’d done before, he knew they could pull anything off. Plus, writing
on the road sounded kind of fun.

“That’s the news for the day,”
Peter said. “We’ve got to get these wheels spinning to get to Reno on time. You
guys take the stage at ten when we get there. I think we’re stopping somewhere in
Arizona to give Richie a rest for a few hours. Right now for Reno, you’re
officially sold out. A little over ten thousand tickets sold.”

The band celebrated and as Peter
turned, Chris jumped up and hurried to Peter.

“Peter, hold up,” Chris said.

Peter stepped off the bus and
turned. Richie lingered in the parking lot, smoking his one cigarette before
he’d scale the driver’s seat and get Chasing Cross to their next location.

“What’s going on, Chris?” Peter
asked.

“I need a ticket or two,” Chris
said.

“Sold out.”

“I don’t care,” Chris said. “I have
a name, just in case.”

“A name?” Peter smiled.

“Just do me a favor, okay? Tell the
guys to be on the lookout in case someone says something about me. She’ll know
what to say and they’ll know.”

Chris tried to subtly describe
Becky without getting too lost in her beauty, but by the time he was done,
Peter gawked at him.

“How long have you known this
woman?” Peter asked.

“Twelve hours,” Chris said. “Give
or take.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Peter
said. “You think she’d drive from Houston to Reno or Vegas for you?”

Chris smiled but the comment kind
of hurt. It brought a sense of reality to everything. He pointed at Peter but
didn’t say a thing. When he turned to walk down the aisle of the bus again,
Johnnie stood, smiling.

“Fall in love, my man?” Johnnie
whispered.

“Just doing a favor for a friend,”
Chris said. “That’s all. She gave me a bed to sleep in so I offered her to come
to the next couple shows.”

“Sure,” Johnnie said. “Sure.”

He started laughing and Chris gave
him the finger. Richie got on the bus next and a few minutes later, the road
began to take Chasing Cross out of Houston.

And with each passing mile, Chris
felt more lonely.

What
the hell had Becky done to him?

It took about two hours before
everything started to settle for Chris. He played guitar for a little bit,
trying to keep up with Danny and Davey. Apparently the new album writing
session had begun. When Danny and Davey started to get too technical for him -
arguing over scales, arpeggios, and sweep picking techniques - Chris retreated
to his bunk for a little rest.

He was on his back, staring at the
bed above him. He had a small light for his bed, along with some books,
magazines, and a couple notebooks. It was Johnnie who suggested everyone in the
band have a notebook. To jot down thoughts, ideas, lyrics, anything that would
either help the band write more music or would capture the days on the road.
Chris and the rest of the band - with the exception of Johnnie - couldn’t
imagine aging. Couldn’t imagine not touring. But Johnnie had understanding that
went beyond his years. He explained many times - more so when drunk - how it
wouldn’t last forever. How in the blink of an eye they’d all be old men,
sitting around, thinking about the days like these. And how amazing would it be
to read about it?

Chris grabbed his notebook and
flipped through some of the pages. Some of the notes and ideas for songs.
Scribbled notes he couldn’t even read. Cities with stories. From New York City
down to Tampa, Florida, cut up through Tennessee, and then down to Texas. It
all seemed larger than life when Chris looked at it that way.

He began to write, thinking about
Becky. The lines were cheap and cheesy, but they’d work for now. They’d capture
the moment. When he heard Danny and Davey start strumming a slow song, one that
would eventually become one of the biggest Chasing Cross hits of all time,
Chris got out of his bed and went to the front of the bus with the band. He
started - well, tried - to sing along with Danny and Davey.

They’d have the new ballad finished
by the time they got to Reno.

It gave them all a little bit of
high. Creating something new was the hardest thing for the band. The pressure
to keep writing new material was scariest part about being in the band. They
had to keep the old fans happy and try to make new ones. But on a whim they’d
done it on the bus. With Danny and Davey messing around with a few chords and
Chris writing some stuff about the night before.

Nobody said a thing to Chris until
they were off the bus at the small arena in Reno.

“Dude, those were good lines,” Rick
said to Chris.

“They were decent,” Chris said.
“Johnnie made them lyrics.”

That’s how the band generally
wrote. Someone would bring something to the table and it was up to Johnnie to
perfect the lyrics. Just as it was Davey and Danny’s job to perfect the music
of it all. Chris followed with his bass lines, adding fills when needed. Then
it went to Rick, who added that last little bit of Chasing Cross with catchy
drumbeats.

After seeing the small arena and
the stage setup, the band had a quick run through of a few songs for a sound
check. Chris was relaxed as he played, watching the world spin around him. From
there the band had an interview on a local radio station that included playing
one of their songs acoustic. They took pictures in the studio and five lucky
Chasing Cross fans won a contest to meet the band at the radio station. It was
a filled day, a day that showed Chris again and again just what kind of impact
the band had already made. Meeting fans was always fun. They acted as if the
guys in Chasing Cross were something greater then humans.