Fast Lane - Kristen Ashley Page 0,56

about her romance and relationship with McCade, her style, as she was swiftly becoming an icon, and frankly, with her resolute refusal to rise to any bait and her stalwart support of McCade and the band, her substance.

I hear you.

But do that to another woman, she would have been chewed up.

I’m not gonna thank Josh for bein’ an asshole and I’m not gonna thank the press for raking a twenty-year-old woman over the coals for no reason whatsoever. That’s not news and the size of the jeans she wears is nobody’s fuckin’ business and anyone’s opinion on it isn’t worth dick.

I’m down with the idea that the band formed a reputation of looking after its own.

Because, we did.

The rest of them still can go fuck themselves.

Night Lies enjoyed good sales and good reviews. Like a Desperation and its sold-out tour established a strong foothold. But would you agree that Audie and Lynie Live On, especially its overwhelming critical acclaim, put you on the musical map in the sense that you were a force to be reckoned with and nothing was going to take that away?

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

Those two years of recording, promoting and touring for Like a Desperation then digging into Audie and Lynie were rife, sister.

Audie was getting sicker and sicker.

Lynie’d had her stroke. Then she had her next one.

Lyla had graduated, but Julia was still in school.

Preacher was mostly on the road, and when he wasn’t, his work was in LA.

They were flying all over every-fuckin’-where to have time together and deal with all the shit that was piling on them.

In the mix, my sister Penny gets married to her first husband, and he’s an asshole. I’m worried. Mom’s worried. Tim’s worried. Preach is worried. Lyla’s worried.

And jacking that up further, this is when Nick Pileggi rears up again, a very unwelcome blast from the past, and we gotta deal with his shit in the press, handle Penny, the assholes who come forward, convinced they can get somethin’ outta the band ’cause they say they’ve adopted Penny’s kid and Nick’s bullshit lawsuits.

So obviously, that goin’ on, Lyla’s the one who’s torn ’cause she’s worried about Penny and Mom with all this shit, but also Preacher and me.

And now that Lyla’s out of school, what’s next?

Does she leave all that’s going down in Indiana and find a teaching job in LA, living in a town her man is rarely in, and when he is, he’s got people pulling him every which way?

Or does she stick by her family? And, to be honest, Penny, who she’s also now looking after, not to mention my mom.

But if she does that, her chances to be with Preacher are practically nil.

Preacher wants to build a studio on Audie and Lynie’s property.

I’m down with that so I can keep an eye on my sister.

But before we can even think about it, the label wants a follow up and they’re talking about another tour, and since our reach is growing, they want it starting in Asia, then Europe, then back in America.

We’re nominated and a couple want us to present so Lyla’s flying to LA to go to awards shows.

And when she does, she’s got mics in her face because everyone wants to know who’s dressing her and who did her hair and she’s saying shit like, “I got this at a vintage store.” And “Me.”

[Off tape]

Isn’t it during this period when McCade had his first altercation with the paparazzi?

[Sighs]

Yes, and it is rare I’ll call that man stupid, but that was not smart.

In his defense, those incidents were close to the beginning, Lyla was getting shit on in the press, and he was protective.

But Shawn sat him down, had a word with him and explained what Preach had already figured out.

The minute he got up in their shit, it got worse.

So, after the first, the next two happened because the photographer touched her.

Preacher learned to block them with his body in a way that wasn’t aggressive and we all learned a variety of tricks to deal with that shit.

And they ended.

Audie and Lynie Live On is still our most raw, emotional album.

Audie was gone by then, Lynie would die when we were on tour for that album, and it was good and bad we did that.

Good because two people who would have gone quietly into that goodnight without anyone outside those closest to them knowing what solid, decent, good people they were would have sucked.

Bad because we had to perform those songs at every gig