sneaker at the door.
“He’s so grumpy in the morning,” I heard him grumble to whoever was out there with him. “You’d think someone jizzed in his Froot Loops or something.”
“Oi!” Beck hollered. “Do we have Froot Loops?”
Laughing, I fell backward onto my bed.
Fuckin’ idiots.
Within seconds, I shut my eyes and passed the fuck out again. Only to be woken up...
By more debauchery.
“Cash!” Beck yelled through my door. “You’re asleep! You’re asleep, mate! Wake up! You’re still sleeping!”
“For fuck’s sake! Let me sleep!”
“You’ve been sleeping for four hours!”
I had? Why did it feel like I had just closed my eyes?
“Wake up! It’s go time!”
“What time is it?”
“I don’t fuckin’ know. Who do you think I am? The speaking clock?”
“The fuck is that?”
“You Americans don’t know shite! A clock that speaks to you! What the fuck does it sound like?”
“Check your phone, you fuck!”
“So bossy. It’s four.”
“In the mornin’?”
“Open your eyes! It’s light out! Four in the afternoon! Stop sleeping so much! Now get the fuck up! We got problems!”
I groaned, “Give me ten.”
I took a piss.
Washed my face.
Brushed my teeth.
Snorted three lines of cocaine.
In less than five minutes, I was bright eyed and bushy fuckin’ tailed.
“Nice of you to finally honor us with your presence, pretty boy.”
“What’s up, Jude?”
“Bullshit, that’s what’s up.”
“Alright...”
“Liquid Fury is starting problems with the wrong band. It’s like they don’t know who the fuck we are.”
“Everybody knows who we are.”
“No shit. But these cocksuckers don’t know the meaning of the word respect.”
“Over what?”
“Pussy. And not just any pussy. New and fresh pussy. Word around the festival is there’s new blood making their way through the tour buses.”
“Is that right?”
He nodded.
“We haven’t fucked them.”
“Hence, the motherfucking problem.”
“Hence,” Stixx chuckled, mocking Jude. “Do you even know what that means?”
“It means I’m gonna stick my cock in some fresh cunt. That’s what it means.”
We all laughed.
“So what’s the game plan?” Stixx quickly questioned.
Jude replied, smiling like a fool, “I say we go over to their bus and let them know who runs the show.”
“I fucking love that plan!” Beck shouted, lighting up a joint.
“You in?” Jude asked me, and I nodded.
“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”
“And that’s why they call you Cash Motherfuckin’ McGraw,” Stixx reminded, jumping off the couch.
I hit the joint a few times before grabbing a beer outta the fridge. Throwing on my Converse sneakers and a hoodie, I was ready to go. Following my bandmates out the door, I lifted the hood over my head. Trying to go unnoticed as best as I could. It was always my go-to move.
I loved my fans.
It was the press I couldn’t fuckin’ stand.
Right when I stepped off the bus, “Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stone’s was blaring off the speakers at the festival. Instantly almost knocking me on my ass. An adrenaline rush I wasn’t expecting side swiped me at full speed and with no warning. Only heightening the drugs running through my bloodstream.
I fuckin’ love this feeling.
Immediately itching for my guitar. It was when I composed the best music.
The high.
The ride.
The surge of dopamine making itself home in my mind.
Stimulating the creative process to feel one with the music. Where I was at the top of the world, and in reality, I was.
“What the fuck?” Jude scoffed out, taking the words outta my mouth. Halting our descent.
I was wrong. The music wasn’t coming from the festival, it was booming from Liquid Fury’s tour bus. We couldn’t get through ’cuz the motherfuckers had a massive crowd surrounding them outside their bus. People were piled up, screaming, whistling, hooting, and hollering.
Snap.
Snap.
Snap.
By the number of fans who had gathered up, they must have been putting on some kind of a private show. Cameras, phones, GoPros, and whatever else you could use to capture a moment were all aimed in the same direction.
In the middle of the chaos.
Giving us a little time to figure out what all the fuss was about. No one caught wind we had shown up, consumed with whatever was going on in front of them.
“Come on,” Jude stated, parting the crowd to move along so we could walk through.
In six long strides, my whole world turned upside down.
The song changed over to “Sex & Candy” by Marcy Playground as soon as I saw what held everyone’s attention. Liquid Fury was posing for pictures with three girls in front of them. The chicks acting up for the cameras.
My heart dropped.
My eyes widened.
I swear I couldn’t fuckin’ breathe.
Seeing what was playing out before me, I narrowed my eyes, thinking