Chapter 37:
The Morning After
The back of his head bumped painfully on
the floor and it took a dazed moment or two before Brian could focus on the
grim face of Xavier who had cruelly yanked him out of his warm bed. Tangle up
in his bed sheets, Brian floundered for a minute before being able to free
himself. He staggered up, bringing his hand to cradle his head, glaring at
Xavier before trying to see what time it was. He peered at the green glow of
his clock. It read
He shuffled over to the bathroom, ignoring
Xavier as he reached for the Advil. He knew he would regret it later taking the
pills on an empty stomach, but found an upset stomach over a raging headache
the lesser of two evils. Brian could hear Xavier rummaging around in his room,
but long ceased to care about it. He remembered the sleeping pills incident; he
knew whatever the bodyguard wanted he would eventually find, no matter how
careful he was to hide it.
Brian came out of the bathroom to see
Xavier hand him some clothing; Brian accepted it without a word and began to
dress. Brian could sense the curiosity aroused in Xavier at his quiet obedience
and inwardly acknowledged it with a grim smile. Keep the bastard off-guard. He
tied the last shoe and straightened up, looking directly at the bodyguard.
"Well?" he said sarcastically.
"Time’s wasting."
Xavier handed him a water bottle, his
curious expression now replaced with a much harder one. Silently they both
trotted down the stairway and out the hotel side door. It was cold, too cold
for Brian’s Southern bones, and he shivered as he glanced around. Except for a
few maintenance men, the place was deserted.
"Stretch," Xavier ordered, and
Brian began a series of bending exercises, trying to limber up. It took about
five minutes and then Xavier growled to start and they both took off jogging.
Brian noticed after about a mile that the area changed into a rather slum area
and he threw the hood of his sweat jacket over his head, hoping Xavier wasn’t
leading him somewhere unpleasant. As if I had a choice! he thought glumly,
running faster to keep up with Xavier’s insane pace. The one good thing about
jogging was that in order to ignore the pain in your legs and chest, you had to
concentrate on something else. Mercifully Xavier didn’t speak so Brian could
think.
He relived last night, experiencing the
euphoria as all five excitedly hurried off stage, the screaming and clapping
for an encore deafening. The concert had been perfect, the timing and execution
so incredibly flawless that not only did the group know it, the
audience did too. This knowledge heightened their performance onstage, each
singer relaxed and happy, each feeding off one another’s talents and skills.
Brian was determined to enjoy every last second with the group so he basically
ignored Xavier’s heated glares directed at him during the show.
Nick was beyond excited, he literally
bounced off the walls in delight after the show. Kevin, the most serious of the
bunch, was slapping everyone’s shoulder. Howie and AJ were both screaming for a
celebration and Brian smiled as he ran, recalling how AJ had managed to sneak
all five out to party after the show without Xavier catching them.
It had been fairly late when they got back
to the hotel, Nick and AJ failing miserably to keep it quiet as they stumbled
down the hallway. Nervous about Xavier, Brian had kept his drinking to a
minimum and was glad he did; he could have never survived jogging with a massive
hangover, the little sleep he got would be punishment enough. Brian sneaked a
guarded glance at Xavier as they jogged, wondering how much the bodyguard knew.
Sighing inwardly he wondered what else Xavier had planned for them today. The
two ran past a breakfast diner and Brian’s stomach grumbled as the smell of
bacon filled the air. I’m starving, he thought but Xavier jogged past and
disappointed, Brian followed.
* * * * * *
Brian slumped wearily into his chair,
exhausted and famished. He felt his stomach cramp in pain and grimaced, trying
hard to ignore it. Xavier had outdone himself, driving Brian to the point of
exhaustion with exercise, not letting up for a second. It was then that Brian
knew Xavier was punishing him for last night and determined not to let the
bodyguard see how fatigued he was, Brian pushed on. Now his body screamed for
food and rest, and Brian was too tired to do anything about it. His eye caught
a small flashing light and he struggled over to grab his pager. Throughout
their tours it was required for all five to carry one, management not wanting
the scare it had when Nick had accidentally shown up late for one performance.
With a twinge of guilt, Brian scanned the pager, taking some comfort that
Xavier had not allowed him access to it when they ran. Brian checked each one,
saving some, rejecting others. He gazed uncomprehendingly for a moment at the
last one, his mind weary. It read 55555, their own code for emergency among the
group. Brian dropped the pager as if scalded, he had only seen that code one
other time. His mind raced, trying not to panic and he hurried down the hall in
search of Kevin. He knocked hard on the door, kicking it with his foot for good
measure. No one answered. He then ran down and turned the corner to Nick’s. The
same result. AJ’s! He turned the other way, trying to remember the
number. Now he was in a panic, and he flew down the hall to see a door ajar. He
rushed in, nearly colliding with Kevin. Wild-eyed he glanced about. Nick was
reclining against the bed, his eyes closed. AJ was standing, drinking what
looked to be hard liquor. Kevin glared at his cousin, looking too angry to
speak. But it was Howie that caught Brian’s full attention. He was slumped over
in a chair, his hands covering his face. With the sickest of feelings, Brian
felt his stomach flip-flop and he broke out in a nervous stutter.
"Wha...What happened?" he
pleaded. He looked at Howie again, praying.
AJ came over to him, but not before
handing his drink to Howie and ordering him to down it. "Where the hell
were you, man? Don’t you know what 55555 means? Shit!"
Brian held his hands up in the air.
"I’m sorry. I forgot to carry it." He knew he couldn’t explain why.
He grabbed AJ by the arm. "What’s going on?"
Kevin spoke up, being blunt. "Howie’s
house. It burned down last night."
Almost giddy with relief about not hearing
of someone’s near death, Brian let out an unfortunate shaky laugh. "That’s
it? That’s all?" He immediately regretted his mistake, seeing the
expressions on everyone’s face.
AJ smacked Brian’s arm away, disgusted.
"That’s it? That’s all?" he mimicked. "Well excuse us for
bothering you." He turned away from Brian, going back to sit near Howie.
Nick shook in head in amazement, giving
Kevin a "he’s your cousin" look. Kevin gazed at Brian, at a loss for
words.
Embarrassed, Brian looked straight at
Howie and walked over, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder. "I’m
sorry, D." he said softly. "Really. I know how much that house meant
to you." Brian thought back to the newly completed house, barely finished
before they had to go on tour. Howie had been so excited, asking everyone’s
opinion on the design, taking advice from all, wisely ignoring AJ’s opinion on
decorating style.
Howie nodded, accepting Brian’s sympathy
even if AJ didn’t. AJ snorted in disgust over Brian’s apology and Brian chose
to ignore it. "How did it happen?"
Howie sighed. "I talked to the police
last night...." but Brian interrrupted,
confused.
"Don’t you mean firefighters?"
AJ finished for Howie. "He means
police. It was arson. Someone has it out for D and apparently was not too
subtle about it. His place was soaked with gasoline. Went off like a bomb. He
lost everything."
"Everything?"
Howie, holding his now empty glass, looked
up and nodded at Brian. His liquid brown eyes held so much hurt that Brian had
to turn away, distraught. He hung his head down for a moment, trying to gain
some composure. Without a doubt, he knew Xavier had caused it. Brian felt
suddenly lightheaded, the information too unbearable to contemplate. He glanced
at the four faces before him, all reflecting the sorrow and anger they felt for
their friend’s situation. Brian took a deep breath, a sudden claustrophobic
feeling enclosing around him. He needed to get out. To find Xavier. Right now.
He stumbled towards the door, hearing Nick’s surprised voice call, "Where
are you going?"
"I need to see Xavier," Brian
croaked, his voice barely audible.
"Xavier!" AJ roared. "What
the hell for?"
Brian turned, his hand resting on the
doorknob. "Maybe, Xavier can help," he lied. "He has a lot of
contacts down there. He might be able to find out something."
AJ was incensed. "Forget it! Under no
circumstances do I want that asshole helping us with anything!"
Brian looked at AJ without saying a word.
He turned to go, hearing disbelief in AJ’s voice. "Shit, will you look at
that! He’s running off to find his bodyguard, instead of staying here. Some
friend you are!" he yelled at Brian’s retreating back, not being able to
see the look of anguish on Brian’s face as he walked, then ran down the hall.
***
