Fast Lane - Kristen Ashley Page 0,4
better.
Though, down from Preacher on those lists, just sayin’.
[Off tape]
You’re on “Best of” lists too.
[Long pause]
Yeah, I know.
The shit hit the fan when Ricky stopped coming to band practice and Nicky was being weird when he did.
Preacher had been with us for a few weeks by then. But I figure he’d sussed shit right out, doin’ this maybe the first time he jammed with us.
He worked during the day, no clue at what. He had his own apartment, but he hadn’t asked us around. Had his own car. Beat-up POS, but he had his own car and we all thought that was cool seeing as we were in our parents’ rides if we were in anything.
Tim still rode his fuckin’ bike everywhere. [Laughs] Guitar strapped to his back. [Laughs more]
People at home, they still talk about seein’ ol’ Timmy Townes peddling around on his bike with his guitar on his back.
When Rick bailed, Tim’d play rhythm while Nicky hit the drums. Or Tim’d hit the drums while Nick played rhythm. Tim’d play a lot of rhythm in the end, so this was good practice.
Didn’t feel that way then. Never feels good when someone bails, and Nick would not say dick about why Ricky was gone, which felt worse.
And man, this is where the story gets famous. Nick blabbing his fuckin’ mouth after, you know, the band became the band and people would listen to what he had to say.
Kicked out of the band and made money off us anyway.
But whatever, man. He told no lies, mostly, so I guess, [pause] whatever.
[Off tape]
So it happened that day like he said?
[Nods]
Yup, he left some shit out, but yeah.
Those dudes rolled up, walked up my fuckin’ parents’ driveway into my fuckin’ parents’ garage, and…
[Pause]
Shit.
You know, there are times in your life that are etched into your brain.
My life, there are a lot of those times.
But I had help remembering things.
My dad, maybe he wanted me to live his dream. I don’t know. He was into rock ’n’ roll too. He played the bass too. He was in a band when he was a kid too.
He’s the one who got me into it. He bought me my first bass when I was ten. He’d listen to his music a lot. The Allman Brothers Band. Lynyrd Skynyrd. The Outlaws. He’d listen to it loud when Mom was out of the house.
But when we started rollin’. When Preach came to the band. Dad gave me this little notebook.
He said, “Write everything down, kid. Every gig. Every practice. Every song. Every girl. Every city. Every stretch of road. Write it down, ’cause there’ll come a time, you won’t want to forget.”
And you know, Dad got sick. And then Dad died.
And what did I do?
I went to every fuckin’ Kmart I could find, and I bought up every notebook they had that was the same size and brand and color of the one my dad gave me.
Still got ’em all.
Every one.
Natalie counted them once. I don’t remember how many of them she said there were.
Over fifty.
[Off tape]
I’d like to read them.
Wouldn’t everyone?
So, these guys roll up, yeah?
These fuckin’ guys.
And I’m not ashamed to say, I near-on pissed my jeans.
Tim’s behind the kit so that means Nicky’s standin’ there and this is what he didn’t fuckin’ say all the times he told this story.
He had to hose down our garage floor after, yeah?
And he went home in a pair of my jeans, gym shoes and shorts and it wasn’t just piss he tied up tight in that trash bag and put in our bin, you know?
Pissed himself, shit his pants.
And Nicky is not my favorite person in the world, all these years, his big, fat mouth, you know why, and that shit is not ever gonna change.
But like I said, I nearly lost it too, these scary motherfuckers walkin’ right up to my friend in my own goddamned garage.
“Where’s Ricky?” they said.
And that was when it happened.
We were all so freaked by these motherfuckers showing up, we didn’t pay any attention to Preacher.
“Get gone.”
That was what he said.
Didn’t leave his place behind his mic. Didn’t take his guitar off his shoulder.
Just stood there, looking at them, and told them to, “Get gone.”
“We want Ricky,” they said to him.
“Don’t give a fuck what you want,” he said back. “He ain’t here. Get gone.”
They didn’t get gone, as you know.
They tightened up on Nicky, one of them lifting his hand to point a finger in Nick’s face, and I figure this