A Voice to Love (Fallen Tuesday Book One) (A Brothers of Rock Novel) (3 page)

“You look for the best in
everything, don’t you?” Mack asked.

Gray laughed. “Is there
any other way to live?”

“Yeah, in reality,” Mack
said.

A knock hit the window.
It was Luke looking to get into the limo.

“Mack, I don’t know what
he needs,” Gray said. “We’ll keep an eye on him though, okay? This has been
such a whirlwind for all of us, especially him. The tour’s going to end soon
and then we’ll get a chance to step back.”

Luke pounded on the
window. “Guys!”

“For tonight,” Mack said
as he put his finger to the button to unlock the door. “Maybe he just needs a
stiff drink…”

Mack pressed the button
and the doors unlocked. The door opened as Gray leaned over to Mack to add one
more thing.

“And a woman.”

**

Amy couldn’t get the
texts out of her mind. The implications, and more than that, the almost
confession that Denny had been the one that broke into Amy’s car. The police
told her that it looked like someone had been digging around for money. Maybe
someone hungry for a meal, maybe someone looking for their next drug score. Amy
didn’t say anything at the time, but there was a small change console right
next to the steering wheel. Granted, it was just change, but there had to be
maybe ten dollars or more in coins in there. Not to mention the emergency
twenty she kept in the middle console. All that remained in the car, yet the
person who broke in dumped everything from the glovebox, spread her CD’s all
around the car, and did nothing else except the broken window.

Uncle Tom didn’t bring
the situation up again during normal business hours. The evening rush came and the
line to get into Tommy Two’s was out the door. Someone announced that there was
a ninety minute wait and only three people had walked out because of the wait.
People wanted to eat at the restaurant and were willing to wait to do so. It
meant that Amy had to make sure the kitchen was on its game and that she was
the same. She couldn’t think about Denny. She couldn't think about her car. She
couldn’t think about anything. She had to focus on the tickets pouring into the
kitchen, the kitchen staff around her, and the waitresses who were under
duress. These were the moments when the normal restaurant spats would break
out.

Standing right where she
belonged, Amy managed the kitchen with her eyes intent on perfection. It was
the only thing that kept her worry and pain at bay. She felt as though she had
to prove to herself that she could live life on her own, without facing any old
demons that were waiting. She wished Denny would just disappear forever, but
Amy knew that wasn’t possible. Not with what was owed to him.

An hour into the dinner
rush, Amy looked around the kitchen.

“Steve, Craig, and
Madison,” she called out and pointing. “You three, outside, take a five minute
breather. Just five.”

“Sure it’s not two?” Madison
asked and giggled.

Amy smiled. Everyone
loved to pick on Uncle Tom but it was all out of love.

Amy then began a cycle of
making sure everyone got a break in the kitchen. It was a trick that took a
long time to master. Any slip ups in the kitchen could easily multiply and shut
everything down. By sending everyone three by three for five minute breaks it
kept the kitchen moving along and it gave everyone a chance to step away. It
was easy to get annoyed and frustrated, it was a job after all, Amy knew that.
For her, this was her life. She wanted the restaurant to be hers… and in some
ways, she wanted the restaurant to be Uncle Tom’s too. He didn’t know that and
if he did, he wouldn’t understand what that meant.

Everyone had their break
and then Jeff elbowed Amy.

“What?”

“Take your break,” he
said. “We’re slowing now.”

“No, I’m good.”

“You need a break,” Jeff
said. “You look like something’s wrong.”

“My mind is thinking too
much at once,” Amy said.

“Which a break could
help, right?”

Amy looked at Jeff. The
tip of his tongue played with his lip ring as he smiled. He was a good looking
guy, but Amy wasn’t sure about Jeff. The last thing Amy needed was a
relationship, especially one with someone who had an implications of a bad boy.
Tattoos, piercings, the fact that he was her employee. That didn’t work out so
well the first time.

It was no secret that
Jeff had eyes for Amy. Everyone teased Amy about it when Jeff wasn’t around,
but never in front of Uncle Tom. He wouldn’t approve.

“I’ll step out then,” Amy
said.

“I think everyone’s
seated now,” Jeff said. “It’s good. Take ten minutes.”

“Are you trying to get
rid of me?”

“No, I just don’t like
that look on your face.”

Amy smiled and walked
away. She opened the back door and walked out into the cold darkness of the
night. She had a coat in the office but it seemed like too much trouble to go
back in and get it for a break. She didn’t smoke so she didn’t really plan on
being outside that long at all. She hugged herself and looked up to the stars.
She could see her breath as she breathed.

Jeff’s words played in
her mind.

I just don’t like that
look on your face…

Amy closed her eyes.

What look? The look of
worry and fear… the look of a secret debt coming to collect?

“Shit,” Amy whispered.

She would have to call
Denny. And maybe settle everything. Somehow.

(4)

The limo pulled around to
the back of the hotel. It made it barely ten feet into the parking lot when a
crowd of people appeared, cheering and screaming for Fallen Tuesday.

“Holy hell,” Trent said.

“What is this?” Jake
asked.

“This is being famous,”
Mack said.

“There’s a hundred people
out there,” Gray said.

“At least,” Luke said.

“How? How the hell?” Mack
asked.

“Technology,” Luke said.
“How many people saw us on the side of the road? How many people took a picture
and tagged the location? The radio station probably said something by now.
Christ, and Frank sends a limo for us. It’s no secret then, I guess.”

“What do we do?” Trent
asked.

Mack clapped his hands
together. “We get our shit and get to the hotel.”

“How?” Gray asked.

“We’ve wanted this since
we were kids,” Luke said. “We were once these crazy fans, weren’t we? Sneaking
around shows and hotels and buses, desperate for an autograph. Now we’re the
rockstars.”

“Rockstars.” Mack leaned
forward and grabbed a guitar.

Luke opened the door and
stepped out with a guitar. Everyone followed and they took a few steps before
the crowd erupted even more. The fans were fun. They were screaming because the
band was okay. They screamed questions about the accident. Fallen Tuesday stuck
close and walked through the crowd. The fans were blocking the way to the
hotel. It worried Luke for a second, but then he saw the security guards open
the door. Four large men were on their way to help.

“What’s happening?” Luke
called out.

His voice hurt but the
crowd loved it.

Soon there looked like a
million hands shaking right in Luke’s face. There were pictures, posters,
papers, and shirts. Markers and pens. Then came the cell phones. The clicks of
pictures, flashes of cameras, and then people holding their phones out taping
the entire scene.

Luke looked at the band
and nodded.

They all started to sign
autographs.

This was the moment they
all had been waiting for. Their first gig was in their high school auditorium
at a talent show. The audience count had been twelve people, including three
teachers and the principal. Not even a minute into their first song, the
principal pulled the plug because he didn’t like the music. That’s where Fallen
Tuesday had started. The first real gig was at a local college, opening for a
college band. The audience count was seven, five of those being the band
members of the other band. When they first arrived in Los Angeles, every dive
bar and club turned them down twice before giving them a shot to play.

Luke’s wrist hurt and he
had been kissed by two dozen women. Many had proposed to him and more had
offered to join him in the hotel for a little fun. The same women made their
way to the rest of band, offering the same. Luke learned how to field those
offers with laughs and nothing more. Jake and Trent were a little gun shy of it
all still. They were the baby faces in the band, the ones who could probably
get more women than the rest of the band, but they were always in shock of the
sudden fame. As for Gray and Mack, they loved the attention. Gray hugged all
the women he could, took pictures, and wiggled around the questions and offers
of love and one night stands. Mack didn’t care. He never cared. He pushed back
at the women, asking them questions.

What would you do? How
long could you keep up? What about your friends?

He was brutal and Frank
hated it. Frank warned them that someday someone could come forward and start
trouble.

The security guards
started to break up the crowd. Luke hurried to sign more autographs. He hated
the idea of someone going home without a picture, autograph, or even a handshake.
He knew that feeling, but he also knew that when the limo pulled into the
parking lot there was about a hundred people. Now, there was twice that, maybe
more. It wouldn’t be possible to sign all the autographs for the fans waiting.
Fallen Tuesday would be outside all night and even then it wouldn’t stop.
Everyone was already posting the pictures of the band on social networks and
texting their friends, thus creating the buzz for a larger crowd.

“Sorry,” Luke said as put
his hands up.

The rest of the band
followed his lead. They picked up their guitars and huddled together between
all four of the bodyguards and made their way into the hotel. When the door
shut, Luke let out a long sigh.

“That was intense,” Jake
said.

“That was great,” Mack
said. “I want to go back out there and pick a few of them.”

“I’ll second that,” Gray
said.

The bodyguards remained,
waiting to know if that was something they were serious about.

“Call it a night,” Luke
said. “We have to get upstairs and call Frank. We still have to get on the
radio station for the interview.”

“He’s right,” Trent said.

“I’m always right, let’s
go.”

Luke took a step and one
of the bodyguards jumped in front of him. This part, Luke wasn’t used to just
yet. He hated being led around like an animal, but he understood why,
considering the scene outside. The band was escorted up the stairs to an
elevator. The doors opened and it was empty. Everyone climbed inside, including
the bodyguards. They all remained quiet and the bodyguards led the way to the
rooms. The entire floor was theirs.

The band piled into the
last room down the hall.

When the door shut, Luke
felt relieved.

“I hate that feeling,” he
said.

“What feeling?” Gray
asked.

“That feeling like I’m
being babysat,” Luke said. “Can’t stand it.”

“The price of fame,” Gray
said as he wrapped his arm around Luke. “The paycheck is nice though, isn’t
it?”

Luke smiled.

Yeah, the paycheck was
nice. Very nice. Luke’s paycheck had been even nicer thanks to his shows with
Chasing Cross. He hadn’t expected to get a dime for it, but the band made sure
he was paid as though he were the drummer for Chasing Cross. It was a lot of
extra money. It was almost guilt ridden money because Luke never wanted to play
music to become rich and he hated the idea of everything not being equal in
Fallen Tuesday, so the extra money sat in his bank account and he told himself
he’d do something special with it.

The band tore through the
large hotel room, looking for glasses and bottles. There was a liquor cabinet
in the room with full size bottles of booze instead of the mini ones.

“I love Frank,” Mack
called.

He twisted the top off a
bottle and drank.

“Speaking of…,” Luke
said.

He grabbed his phone and
called Frank.

Frank picked up on the
second ring. “You boys settled?”

Luke looked as Mack
handed the bottle of whiskey to Gray. “Yeah, we’re settled. Had a little scene
in the parking lot.”

“Scene? What kind of
scene?”

“Thanks to your limo,”
Luke said, “we have a swarm waiting for us.”

“Lots of fans?”

Luke respected it. Frank
sounded excited. Fans meant money and Frank loved money.

“There were a couple
hundred people,” Luke said.

“Damn, that’s nice. Too
bad we didn’t have that here right now. Could have sold a ton of shirts.”

“Next time,” Luke said.
“Are we set for the interview?”

“Yeah, I think so. It’s
basic stuff. Put the phone on speaker and just let everyone talk. There’s going
to be questions about the accident.”

“Accident?” Luke asked.
“It wasn’t really an accident, Frank. A tire blew on the bus. Tim kept the bus
standing and got us to the side of the road. I think it was more dangerous
waiting on the side of the road than the actual tire blowing out.”

“Well, whatever,” Frank
said. “Accident has a better sound to it.”

Luke rolled his eyes.
Mack caught him doing so and lifted his hands in question. Luke shook his head.
“What else are they asking?”

“The tour,” Frank said.
“Playing with Chasing Cross. Taking over for Chasing Cross. The new album.”

“The new album?” Luke
asked. “You said that so comfortably. As though an album has been recorded.”

“Well… you know… you guys
have been writing some stuff. Right?”

“That’s a thin line
there,” Luke said.

“Listen, give them what
they want here, okay? You’re supposed to be in studio and you’re not.
Everyone’s worried about you guys right now. Tell them you’re fine. Tell them
you’re writing music.”

“You got it,” Luke said.

He walked with the phone
in his hand, away from his ear, as Frank kept talking. Luke didn’t care about
what Frank had to say. He was annoyed, tired, his throat felt off, and every
time he looked at his band he felt like he was letting them down by not
confessing his throat issue.

Luke put the phone on the
counter in the kitchen area and pressed a button to bring Frank’s voice to life
for everyone to hear.

He was still rambling
about numbers and recording.

“Who the hell is he
talking to?” Mack asked.

“He thinks me,” Luke
said.

“Wait, what?” Frank
called out. “Hello? Guys?”

Everyone stood silent for
a few seconds before they all started laughing at once.

“Yeah, that’s funny,”
Frank said. “Real funny.”

"Frank, we're all
here," Luke said.

"Okay. I'm going to
walk to the studio in a second. First, I have to ask a serious question. No dumb
answers."

"Only dumb
questions," Gray said.

Mack lifted the bottle of
whiskey and said, "Here, here!"

"Guys, I'm
serious," Frank said. "Just for my knowledge... two things. First, is
everyone okay?"

"Okay how?"
Luke asked.

"I've got this thing
with my left big toe," Mack said. "It's all crusted..."

"Oh, come on,
man," Trent said.

"What?" Mack
asked.

"I'm talking about
the accident," Frank said.

"It wasn't a damn
accident," Luke said.

"Whatever the hell
you want to call it," Frank said. "Are you guys okay? I mean, you're
on a tour bus. You're not strapped in by seat belts. Something like that
happens and it gets your heart racing, you don't realize you're hurt until
later. I'm asking a serious question."

"I'm fine,"
Luke said. "Guys?"

Everyone else nodded and
agreed. There were no injuries from the blown tire on the tour bus.

"Okay, good. Now,
for my next question. I know you guys like Tim... but I have to know. Was he
drinking or anything?"

"Wait a
second," Mack said. "You think Tim did this?"

"No."

"You do. Frank, it
was a blown out tire. Drunk or not, Tim had nothing to do with it."

"Tim saved our
lives," Luke said. "He kept the damn bus straight and on the road.
You should call and thank him for what he did. Any other driver would have been
swerving and then we would have had some injuries."

"Okay," Frank
said. "I wasn't there, okay? I'm just checking. That's all. I need you
guys safe and in one piece."

"So you can cash in
on us," Jake said.

"So we all can cash
in on this," Frank said.

Luke snarled his lip and
shook his head. He hated when Frank talked like everything was about money and
how to make more. Luke respected that only in the sense that the more Fallen
Tuesday made, the more they got to do. They got to meet more fans, play bigger
shows, and create a huge budget for their next album. Sure, the money was nice,
but Fallen Tuesday would always write their own music, record it how they
wanted it to sound, and they would always make sure their fans were happy with
everything about the band.

Luke touched his neck and
swallowed. How bad could it get? How bad was it? What would the resting and
rehab be like? Worse yet, how long would the fans wait? It was no secret how
fast Fallen Tuesday had broken big and taken over where Chasing Cross left off.
What if some no name band was right there, waiting for their shot?

"Okay," Frank
shouted. "We're all set guys. I'm with John right now. He's the host for
the radio station and the interview."

"Hey guys,"
John said. "Everyone alive out there?"

"We're fine,"
Luke said. "Just a little detour."

"Hell of a detour
guys," John said. "We're on air in ten seconds. Standby."

An intro to the show
sounded and Luke looked at the rest of the band. They didn't seem very excited
or impressed. Luke understood it. He would have rather been there in person. At
least this way, he didn't have to sing.

"Ladies, gentlemen,
rockstars, and ramblers," John said in a professional voice. "This is
John taking you home, bringing the party alive, and right now on the line I've
got five survivors of a tour bus accident... that's right, they were supposed to
be in studio, but instead they're calling from a hotel where they're
recovering. Fallen Tuesday is on the line. Guys, how are you feeling?"

"We're good,"
Luke said. "Really good. I mean..."

"It was harrowing
for a few seconds," Mack cut in. He winked at Luke. Luke didn't like this.
They were playing into something that wasn't true. "We have a hell of a
tour bus driver who kept the bus on the road and got us to safety."

"Wow," John
said. "So they tell me a tire blew out?"

"Yeah," Luke
said. "Unexpected, of course."

"Sure," John
said. "Well, I really wish we had you guys right here in the studio with
us. A ton of fans were waiting. Plenty are still here... hey, can everyone say
hello to Fallen Tuesday?"

An explosion of cheers
tore through the small speakers of Luke's phone. It made Luke smile. Some fans
were just so damn dedicated.

"Listen to
that," John said. "Guys, does it ever get old?"

"Never," Luke
said. "It's almost unreal still."