The Greatest Show (Willow Son #5/Brothers of Rock #20) (3 page)

(5)

*NOW*

Willow Son walked into the small
bar and it erupted in cheers. They all gave a wave, signed some autographs,
took pictures, and then made it very clear they were there to just hang out
like everyone else.

Yeah, there was a small stage in
the back of the bar.

Yeah, there were several guitars
just sitting there, begging to be played.

Brantley saw the guitars and knew
he would drink first, play guitar second.

Being on the tour bus for as long
as he
’
d been, he learned
how to play guitar from Ryker and Jett. He was nowhere as good as they were,
but he could string together some chords and feelings, making some music. He
was best kept behind a drum kit, his hands busy making noise.

The band sat in a corner booth and
ordered a round for the bar. The owner came to see them and Brantley made it
very clear that nobody else was allowed in the bar and that everyone that was
there drank for free. The band then took a picture with the owner, who insisted
he was going to blow up the picture, frame it, and hang it in his office.

“
You
never really gave us the whole story,
”
Colby said.
“
Not that we
want to poke at you.
”

“
But
we do,
”
Ryker said.
“
I want to know everything. It
’
s not everyday a guy who is
supposed to be your brother confesses he
’
s
got a four year old kid.
”

“
Fuck
off, Ryker,
”
Brantley said.

“
Take
it easy guys,
”
Van said.
“
The situation is touchy.
”

“
No,
it
’
s not,
”
Brantley said.
“
I got her pregnant. I kept it a
secret from you guys. I
’
ve
known since he was a baby that he had a condition. There was an agreement to
keep distance between us and I kept my part of that. The only thing I made sure
of with Harry was that if anything really bad happened, I wanted to know. Why?
I don
’
t know. My father
took off on me when I was four. He left me stranded, man. He bailed on me every
weekend. He missed birthdays, holidays, and would then show up with a card with
the wrong age on it. How could I be a father? That
’
s what I grew up with
…”

“
Christ,
”
Jett said.
“
That
’
s why you
’
re
not in this kid
’
s life?
”

Brantley looked at Jett.
“
Don
’
t question me. You don
’
t know what was said and what was arranged.
”

“
Aside
from that,
”
Colby said.
“
She contacted you, right?
”

“
She
contacted Harry. That was part of things.
”

“
Okay.
She contacted Harry.
”
Colby
grabbed his beer. He tilted the bottle toward Brantley.
“
But she contacted someone. She said something
’
s wrong. You need to figure that
out, bro. Forget the rest of this for a second. That
’
s a kid. That
’
s
your kid.
”

“
I
’
ve been doing what I can,
”
Brantley said.
“
Bad enough I fuck up and get her
pregnant, the kid has to have a problem?
”

“
You
’
re a dick,
”
Ryker said.
“
Self pity bullshit.
”

Brantley punched a bottle of beer
at Ryker, spilling it. Ryker lunged forward and grabbed for Brantley. The two
then started to throw punches until the band broke them up.

“
Fuck
you,
”
Brantley yelled.

“
You
’
re calling for attention,
”
Van said.
“
Both of you.
”

“
I
’
m just saying it like it is,
”
Ryker said.
“
Don
’
t put guilt on anyone else, B. You do whatever you
want to do. But you hide this from us? That
’
s
low, brother. That
’
s really
low.
”

Brantley pushed from the booth. He
made fists and put them on the table.
“
You
don
’
t know everything. That
’
s my fault, I know that. I
’
ll explain as much as I can when
I can. This hurts me. I wanted her to have an easy life without me. I wanted
her to have the baby and just be normal. Who the hell wants to have a guy like
me in their life?
”

“
Was
it just some hookup?
”
Jett
asked.
“
Just some chick in
some city?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Brantley said.
“
But it meant more. It meant a
lot more. I just
…
we broke
big, guys, and she was having a baby. But she was being taken care of by her
father. Me and her talked and we decided together
…”

Brantley turned away from the
table.

“
Ah,
shit,
”
Colby said. He stood
up. He grabbed Brantley.
“
I
’
m sorry.
”

The rest of the guys stood up.

Ryker stepped in front of Brantley
and slapped his face.
“
I
’
ll punch you until you talk,
brother. And each hit is my way of hugging you. I
’
m
sorry for whatever you feel. But if you have a kid and that kid is sick
…
you need to give a second, man.
What if you could do something?
”

“
Like
what?
”
Brantley asked.
“
Show up and look cool? The
rockstar Dad? Come on
…”

“
You
don
’
t know,
”
Ryker said.
“
Hanging around a bar right now
won
’
t fix that.
”

“
I
just want to play music right now,
”
Brantley said.
“
Because if
this shit happens
…
I don
’
t want to screw you guys over.
If I can
’
t be in the
studio. If I can
’
t be on
tour. If I see her again and I feel the way I felt before
…”

“
Jesus,
man,
”
Van said.
“
It
’
s
okay to open your heart. It
’
s
okay to get hurt. It
’
s okay
to love.
”

“
I
don
’
t want any of that,
”
Brantley said.
“
I want the kid to be okay, you
know? I mean, shit, how is that fair
…”

“
It
’
s not,
”
Colby said.
“
But
you could change that. At least you could try to.
”

Brantley knew the guys were right.
From the second Harry said something to him about Emma calling, he knew what he
had to do. He had to call her. He had to help in any way possible. The thing was
though
…
almost five years
ago it all made sense.

“
Let
’
s play some music,
”
Ryker said.
“
Then let
’
s have a few drinks.
”

“
And
then you
’
re going to figure
out this kid thing,
”
Colby
said.
“
Shit, he could end
up being the replacement drummer for you, Brantley. Once we get sick of you, we
can boot you out and bring him in.
”

They all laughed, even Brantley.

As he walked to the small stage,
the entire bar cheered. Brantley heard it only as a muffle. He thought about
right and wrong and the blurred lines in between that. That
’
s where he had nestled himself
for years.

On stage, Brantley looked out to
the people. They were standing, holding up drinks, whistling, taking out their
cell phones. They only knew Brantley as part of Willow Son, which was their job
to do. Nothing else mattered.

Brantley strummed a chord. He took
a deep breath.

It was a simple G chord. To anyone
listening, it meant nothing. To Brantley, it meant everything
…

**

*THEN*

The crowds were getting bigger.
Like dangerously bigger. Harry had his horns locked with two lawyers and a club
owner over a poor decision to let an extra hundred people into a maxed out club
and two people ended up passing out and needing medical assistance. It got some
bad press for the band but they stayed ahead of it, going to the hospital to
check on the injured fans to make sure they were okay.

Tonight was no different.

The bars weren
’
t cutting it anymore. Now it was
small arenas. Selling out seven thousand seat buildings like nothing. The floor
jammed packed with fans all dancing, singing, doing anything Colby said to do.

The old nights of roadies arguing
and fist fighting over guitar cables, duct tape, and nonsense stuff was gone.
They were organized now, paid by the record company, complete with equipment
and the Willow Son name spray painted on it.

“
Okay,
listen up!
”
Colby yelled
into the mic.
“
We
’
re officially at curfew here.
”

The crowd boo
’
ed.

Colby waved a hand.

Brantley stood up. According to his
set list, they weren
’
t done
quite yet.

“
Here
’
s the thing,
”
Colby said.
“
We
’
re
rockstars. What the fuck does a curfew even mean?
”

The crowd erupted.

Brantley hit the bass drum a few
times.

“
Okay,
okay, okay,
”
Colby said.
“
So here
’
s what we have to do. We are supposed to pack it up
right now. Say our goodbyes and go home. But looking out to you crazy fuckers,
you don
’
t want that. Right?
”

The place got even louder.

“
So,
Ryker?
”
Colby asked.

“
What?
”
Ryker asked.

“
Do
we want to play one more?
”

“
Fuck
yes,
”
Ryker said.

“
Jett?
”

“
Yes,
”
Jett yelled.

“
Van?
”

“
I
’
m not taking this bass off yet,
”
Van said.

Colby turned and pointed to
Brantley.
“
What about you,
B? You out of breath yet?
”

Brantley leaned over his drums to a
boom mic that he sang into for backup vocals.
“
No.
I
’
m not done yet.
”

From the side of the stage, Harry
waved his hands. He pointed to watch and then literally started to pull at his
hair.

“
For
every minute we play over curfew,
”
Colby said,
“
we
’
re going to get fined. So this
is going to be the most expensive song we
’
ve
ever fucking played. Are you ready to do this with us?
”

The crowd went wild.

Brantley sat down and the band went
into the final song. A very expensive final song.

It was worth the fine because it
felt good to be wrong. It felt good to spit in the face of anything that
resembled authority. The last few weeks had been too much bullshit with
lawyers, signatures, and other business shit. That night, that show, that song,
that was about music and rock n
’
roll.

After the show, they all took a
verbal beating from Harry. The five of them sat in metal folding chairs,
drinking beer, watching Harry pace back and forth, slapping his hands together,
screaming. It was like they were all kids being punished by their father.

Eventually, Harry disappeared and
the night finally began.

Outside, Brantley stepped onto the
small bus. He grabbed one of Ryker
’
s
guitars and sat down. He had been practicing a little lately. It wasn
’
t much fun trying to drum on
tables when they were on the road. Everyone else knew how to play guitar and
the band had a dream of recording an acoustic only album someday. And being
able to play acoustic songs during their sets.

Brantley put his fingers to the
guitar and strummed a G chord.

As he literally strummed down, the
bus door opened.

Harry appeared.
“
There you are.
”

“
What
’
s wrong? Not done yelling?
”