Chapter 47:
Going From Bad to Worse
"Fuck!" breathed Nick, staggered
by the silent form of his friend. He glanced nervously at Kevin, who was as
equally stunned. "Quick, do something!" he pleaded with AJ, his voice
cracking with emotion.
"Set him down!" commanded AJ,
lowering Brian carefully to the ground. He bent over to listen to his heart,
fearful that Brian had some sort of heart attack. The reassuring beat and slow
breathing of his unconscious friend made him sigh in relief. "He’s okay, I
think. Just passed out."
Kevin ran his fingers nervously through
his hair, rocking back and forth. "Shit! What do we do now?" He
looked at the other three, waiting for their advice.
"Take his shirt off," Howie said
calmly, remembering what they originally wanted. He ignored the glare from
Nick, who hovered over his best friend. "Listen, we all just saw how
violent Brian was. Take off the damn shirt, let's see what he didn’t want us to
see."
AJ nodded. "He’s right. Kevin, help
me with this."
Kevin knelt down, holding Brian’s slumped
form upright in his arms while AJ and Nick carefully slipped the shirt over
Brian’s head.
"Oh God!" moaned Howie and Nick
together, not believing what they saw. Red, purple, and yellowish-green bruises
were dotted over his chest and back, some perfectly formed, no more than the
size of a quarter, others mottled and palm-sized.
"Check his hips, his legs,"
advised Kevin, grimacing at the sight of Brian’s injured chest. Nick tugged off
Brian’s jeans, carefully scanning. "Look," he pointed, "there’s
a few on his hip, one on the side of his right knee."
AJ shook his head, trying to make sense of
it. "Well, it’s definitely not AIDS. I don’t know what the hell Katie was
thinking." He pointed to Brian’s torso. "Jesus! Look at him! He’s so
skinny! And he’s covered with bruises, but not one on his face, neck or arms!
What gives? What kind of exercise could do that? Why is Brian so afraid to say
anything?"
"Let’s find out," Howie said
somberly. "He’s coming to." They watched as Brian moaned, his hands
coming up to cover his eyes. Brian finally pulled away, turning to crouch on
his hands and knees to help clear his head. He noticed he was clad only in his
boxers and grimaced, ashamed and infuriated at the position he found himself
in.
He felt AJ trying to help him up and he
furiously slapped the offered hand away, rising on his own power. He pointed a
finger at him, the color beginning to rise in his ashen face. "Stay the
hell away from me!" he screamed, his voice shaking from rage. He glanced
at the rest of the guys. "All of you!" He ripped his clothing away
from Nick’s hands, struggling to put them on.
"Jesus, Bri, what’s going on? Why
won’t you tell us? Dude, I thought we were tight!" said Nick, visibly
upset. The group watched as Brian bent over, angrily lacing up his shoes. He
spoke indirectly, as if talking to himself.
"Couldn’t leave me alone, could you?
Couldn’t respect my privacy, take my word that everything’s fine. No, you had
to butt in! Ya’ll happy now?"
Kevin grabbed Brian’s shoulder,
disregarding the glare from his cousin. "Everything is not fine,
Brian. It’s hard to miss those bruises. My God, you just passed out on us! It
would take an idiot not to realize that something is wrong!"
Brian firmly shoved Kevin’s hand off his
shoulder, his blue eyes narrowing into slits. "Look here, idiot,"
he spat, "Nothing is wrong, like I’ve been telling you all along!" He
threw a warning look to all four, his tone dangerous. "Just leave me
alone!"
AJ shook his head. "No can do, Bri.
We’re not gonna stop until you come clean."
Brian watched as Nick, Howie, and Kevin
nodded in agreement. He was stunned, the conviction in their words, the
magnitude of the problem beginning to hit home. He thought he could hide this,
keep everything a secret. With all four hounding him, especially AJ, he knew it
would be next to impossible to keep Xavier from discovering their intent. That
thought, plus his failure to control the situation, pushed him over the edge.
"No!" he cried, a horrible wave
of panic engulfing him. He shoved blindly past Howie and Kevin, both who
shouted at him to calm down. He couldn’t. Chest pounding, his breath coming in
short, shallow gasps, he ran to the front, screaming at Harry to stop the bus.
Harry, fed up with the outrageous behavior
of the five, had already exited the freeway and was cruising down a side
street. Looking for a safe place to pull off in order to determine what they
hell was going on back there, he turned to see Brian yelling, his eyes wild
with fear.
"I’m just about sick and tired of
your shenanigans," he began, when Brian grabbed his arm, trying to force
him to open the door. "Hey!" he spluttered in surprise, hitting the
brakes hard, the immense bus screeching and smoking its tires in protest. The
bus shuddered to a stop and all five Backstreet Boys scrambled back to their
feet, having been thrown off balance.
AJ, the quickest to recover, ran over to
Brian to keep him from escaping. Brian lashed out hard, trying to untangle
himself from AJ’s grasp. "Open the damn door!" Brian screamed again,
struggling to free himself so he could grab the lever himself. With a mightly wrench, he pulled free from AJ’s grip and lunged
for the handle, slamming the bi-fold door open and jumped, taking off at a dead
run.
All four watched with disbelief as the
fleeting form of their friend became smaller in size. Harry rose from his seat,
slamming his fist in disgust. "That’s it!" he yelled, what little amount
of gray hair he possessed, standing on end. "I quit! School kids are
easier than you five!" He marched outside the bus, bending over to open
the side compartment to fish out his bag. Tossing the keys to an astonished
Kevin, he slammed the side door down with a resounding crash. "I’m out of
here." He turned and starting walking away, signaling his goodbye with a
quick flick of his hand.
"Wait!" screamed Nick.
"Whose gonna drive the bus?"
"Nick! Forget him!" Kevin pulled
the lever to the door, closing it with a hard thump. He hopped into the
driver’s seat, turned on the ignition and floored the pedal. The bus lurched
then began to pick up speed quickly.
"Whoa, man, be careful!" advised
Howie. He had wisely kept his eye on what direction Brian had taken, tapping
Kevin on the shoulder to point. Within a few moments they had caught up to the
jogging form of their bandmate and they slowed the bus to a crawl, watching
with alarming fascination as Brian continued to run, oblivious to their
appearance.
"Damn!" swore AJ. "What do
we do?"
"Let him run," advised Howie,
and they all turned to listen to his sound advice. "I mean, how far can he
go? Kev, just cruise slowly; keep pace. When he tires, and God knows he will
soon enough, we’ll be able to catch him."
* * * * *
Brian kept his head down, occasionally
wiping his brow with the hem of his shirt. He was dimly aware of the large bus
creeping along side of him but he ignored it, too overwhelmed to concentrate on
anything but putting one foot in front of the other. The panic attack had not
lessened and Brian fought back the urge to scream. He ran on, hoping to find
some relief, praying that he could exhaust himself and be rid of this horrible,
suffocating fear.
Nick yelled something out the window to
him, the noise of the traffic and wind muffling his words, and Brian continued,
turning onto another side street. Frustrated, Nick turned to give Howie a
pissed-off look. "Let him run," he mimicked, "how far can he go?
Shit! He’s still going!" Nick came up to Kevin, who was trying his best to
keep even with his cousin and watch out for impatient motorists who honked and
sped around the slow-moving vehicle. "How far has he gone?"
Kevin spared a quick glance at the
mileage. "Around four miles." Nick rolled his eyes, coming back to
shake his head at AJ and Howie.
"He’s gonna kill himself before he
stops," he declared to the two, his voice gloomy. Howie sighed, peering
through the window. Twilight was beginning and he wondered how long they could
keep sight of Brian before night fell.
* * * * *
Brian wished he had a small towel, the
sweat pouring into his eyes was irritating his vision. He had hit his second
wind, making it easier to focus on the situation at hand, the panic attack
considerably lessened. He took more notice of the bus and its occupants inside,
occasionally glancing in their direction. How he was going to explain this
bizarre behavior, he had no idea. Brian desperately wished he could have
handled things better, had the insight and knowledge to know what to do. He
understood that under no circumstances could Xavier learn about this incident,
that in order to pull this off he must come up with a satisfactory explanation
that would put all the blame on his shoulders and garner no suspicion towards
Xavier.
Brian’s stomach growled, a painful stitch
hitting him. A wave of almost indescribable nausea staggered him and he
stumbled. He caught himself before he fell and he jogged on, now bent on
finding the nearest convenience or fast food place.
"Damn, did you see that?"
questioned Nick anxiously. "Shouldn’t we grab him now?"
AJ bit his lip, his worry for Brian rising
to the point of alarm. Brian’s physical stamina was astonishing, something he
wouldn’t have believed if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes. The abuse Brian
was doling out to his body was incredible. AJ was about to agree with Nick when
Kevin gave the bus a sudden right turn, causing everyone to frantically clutch
for balance.
"What the hell?" Howie shouted
in surprise.
Kevin pointed out the window, motioning
for the group to notice what was happening. "Brian went in there."
AJ peered at the fast food joint and
groaned. "Burger King?" The company was their tie-in to the
tour and even though the promo was months old, having Brian show up in the state
he was in could spell a PR nightmare. "Let me off!" he barked to
Kevin, motioning for Nick to follow him. They jumped off the bus, watching as
Kevin and Howie wisely pulled out of the parking lot to park discreetly across
the street.
Nick grabbed AJ’s arm, trying to slow him
down. "Hey, do you think it’s such a good idea for both of us to go in
together?" he questioned, eyeing the car-filled lot. It was Friday night,
not a good time for being inconspicuous.
AJ waved off Nick’s concern, quickening
his step. "Come on. It’s not like we’re going to eat there. We need to get
Brian out as soon as possible, before he causes a scene."
"Like we won’t?" grumbled Nick,
hurrying to follow AJ.
* * * * *
Brian was glad to see no one standing in
line; he was dying of thirst. He walked up to the nearest helper, a young,
red-headed boy whose head was bent down, intent on cracking open a roll of
quarters. Brian waited a moment, then realized the boy was more interested in
opening the roll than in serving the next customer. He coughed, then coughed
once again, more forcefully. The server still kept his head down, successfully
dumping the broken roll of quarters into his register.
"Yeah," he drawled, "can I
help you?"
"First of all, I need water, two big
glasses of it, okay?"
The young cashier finally raised his head
and eyed Brian guardedly, taking in the disheveled and sweaty man before him.
"Hey, we don’t serve transients here, get lost."
Amazed that he hadn’t been recognized,
Brian dug into his wallet, throwing a $100 dollar bill onto the counter.
"Will this help?’" he smirked.
The helper smirked right back, picking up
the hundred as if it was fake. "We don’t accept anything larger than a
twenty, pal."
Brian was losing his cool, fast. He pulled
out a debit card, handing it over. "I know you take debit."
The young boy took the card, suspicion
written all over his face. With a nod of "just a second" he sauntered
over to his supervisor, handing the card and pointing in Brian’s direction.
Brian watched as the older supervisor, who
was barely out of his teens, look at the card, glance at Brian, then look at
the card again. Brian sighed, wondering when he would be recognized. It didn’t
take long. A small scream of surprise emitted from a co-worker just as she was
handing a take-out order over the counter. "Oh my God!" she shrieked,
her hand coming up to her mouth. She pointed a shaky red fingernail at him.
"It’s you!" She started jumping up and down, oblivious to the
customer who was holding his hand out to grab his order. The irate customer
leaned over to snatch his bag, giving Brian a who-the-hell-are-you-look before
leaving. Brian gave her a weak smile, his thirst at an all time high.
"Can I have a drink of water
miss?"
She nodded happily in reply, nervously
spilling most of the contents as she handed him the small courtesy cup. Brian
downed the water in one gulp, holding the cup up for her to see. "How
about your largest cup this time, okay sweetheart?"
She swooned at the nickname, just as Brian
thought, and he smiled thinly as she anxiously stumbled over herself again to
hand him the water. He thanked her and drank heavily, ignoring the stitch
growing in his side.
"Yo, Bri, let’s go, man!"
He heard AJ yell his name loudly and he
turned, including everyone in the restaurant. Brian held up his hand for AJ to
hold on, turning back to face the astonished manager and his rude helper.
"Can I order, or is something wrong with my card?" he asked, pointing
to it.
"I , I," stammered the
supervisor. "Management never told me you guys were coming!" he
whined, his eyes wide as glanced at Brian, then at AJ and Nick who had now
appeared at his side.
"Management doesn’t know,"
whispered Brian, as if it were a big secret. He turned to give the two a
questioning look. "Want something? I’m starved."
AJ shifted nervously, noticing the growing
attention they were receiving. "Rok, let’s go," he hissed.
"Order me a number 6," said
Nick, pausing to wink at the cute Burger King girl before noticing AJ’s heated
stare. "What? So sue me. I’m hungry too."
The red-headed boy shook his head as the
two began arguing over whether they should order for Kevin and Howie. Brian
looked at the helper, confused by the young kid’s expression. "What?"
he asked, now annoyed.
"Well," began the boy, his face
in disbelief, "you guys make millions, right?" AJ and Nick stopped
arguing to listen to him.
"Yeah, so?"
"What the hell are you doing here,
eating this shit?"
"Good question," replied AJ
sourly, wishing Brian had chosen McDonalds.
Brian looked at AJ. "Have it your
way…" he sang, punching AJ lightly on the shoulder. The slightest ghost of
a smile crossed Brian's lips and AJ heaved a large sigh, glad to see some of
the old Brian returning.
"Hell," he grumbled, "give
me a number six too. Make that the same for Kev and D. And hurry it up!"
he groaned to Brian, groaning with resignation as four giggling teenager girls
came up, pens in hand.
Brian sent Nick over to pick up some
condiments and was signing the receipt when he felt a tug on his arm. He straightened
up, handing the pen back and noticed a dark-haired teenage girl literally
clinging to his arm. She batted her eyelashes at him in her most inexperienced
seductive way.
"Hi!" She nodded at his order
that was being prepared. "Are you having it your way?" she
cooed.
Brian looked her once over, pausing at the
tone in her voice. "Uh, yeah."
She smiled, coming in closer. "My
name’s
Brian almost choked. "I’ll bet,"
he muttered under his breath. She was small, barely five feet tall, her size
was overwhelmed by an outrageously grown-up figure. Brian politely pried her
hand off his arm. "Call me when your legal," he whispered with a
smirk and a wink. She frowned at him, then gave him a cold stare before setting
her sights on Nick. Brian had to shake his head as he watched her circle like a
hawk near Nick, who, now with AJ, was trying desperately to fulfill autograph
requests.
"Here you go, sir"
sneered the red-head, handing two bags and a drink holder to Brian. The singer
ignored the sarcasm, glad to leave, almost faint from the tantalizing aroma of
hot food. He turned to locate Nick and AJ, feeling slightly sorry at the ambush
they were receiving. His mouth nearly dropped open when he noticed the
dark-haired girl leaning over the table where Nick was seated, her blouse
completely off. Bending over seductively in her tight pink bra, she pointed to
a red-faced Nick where to sign his name on her chest.
A large, well-built young man, in his late
teens, grabbed the near naked girl in anger. "Amy!" he yelled,
irritated. "Put your shirt back on. You’re acting like a whore!"
Amy shoved her boyfriend hard, glaring at
him. "Shut up Zach! You’re not my dad."
A large muscled arm reached in and grabbed
Amy, ripping her away from Nick who was trying to finish signing his name.
"Hey!" said Nick, looking up from where he sat, startled.
Zach elbowed his way in, shoving the small
crowd apart. "Fucking Backstreet Boys!" he sneered, leaning in close,
turning his anger onto Nick and AJ. "Thinking you can have any and every
girl! Making them act like sluts for your enjoyment!"
Nick nervously glanced at AJ, noticing
that the room had become deathly quiet. Tossing his pen aside, AJ stood up and
held his hands up in peace. "Listen dude, we’re outta here." He
motioned for Nick to follow him and Nick got up only to be shoved roughly down
in his seat. Nick’s blue eyes glared up at Zach’s angry ones.
"Better let me go," he advised
Zach, his voice threatening.
Zach caught Nick’s warning tone, his anger
rising to a pitch. "Prick!" he jeered as he pointed a finger, an
impulsive sense of superiority filling him. "I should kick your ass!"
Alarmed, AJ shoved his way towards Zach,
his mind bent on one thing: getting to Nick.
Worried, Nick had the same idea, getting
to AJ and getting the hell out. Nick jumped up hurriedly from his seat, AJ
coming from behind, effectively boxing Zach in between the two. Feeling
threatened, Zach slammed an elbow into AJ’s chest, sending him reeling
backwards. He crashed against a large metal railing, slumping to the floor,
dazed. Wide-eyed, Nick stared in disbelief at his friend lying on the ground,
then turned to look at Zach, too late to protect himself from the vicious blow
aimed at his face. A powerful hand enclosed around Zach’s fist, stopping the
punch just inches from Nick’s jaw. Zach turned awkwardly to see Brian twisting
his hand, forcing Zach painfully backwards. Brian kept up the pressure,
crushing his hand, his blue eyes dark with anger.
"You want to fight?" Brian
taunted. "Okay, how about me?"
Nick rushed over to AJ, helping him up.
They watched in morbid fascination as their bandmate overpowered Zach,
skillfully bringing him to his knees. Both heard the gasp of pain from Zach as
Brian continued to squeeze, the muscles in his right arm bulging from the
effort. Brian bent over, his face inches from the sweating one of Zach’s.
"Now are you going to be a good boy
if I let you go?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Zach nodded
his reply, his words lost in a haze of pain. "Good." Brian slowly
released his grip. He turned to glance at Nick and AJ, his face tight, and with
a shock AJ realized that Brian sounded just like Xavier.
With the power and agility of youth, Zach
sprang up instantly, a murderous glint in his eyes. He swung wildly, hoping to
connect with any part of Brian’s anatomy. Brian dodged the throw easily, coming
back with a one-two punch that quickly sent the angry boyfriend to the hard
floor. Stunned, Zach gingerly touched his jaw and mouth, pulling his hand away
to gaze stupidly at the bright red blood that covered his fingers. He turned
his face towards his worried girlfriend to listened uncomprehendingly to her
reassuring words of comfort.
Brian grabbed the bags of the now-cooling
food from the bystander he had shoved them at, nodding his thanks to the
opened-mouth spectator. He turned to Nick and AJ, his face changed from one of
anger to concern. "You guys alright?" he asked calmly. AJ nodded his
head, rubbing his midsection. "Let’s go before the food is completely
cold." Brian hurried outside, handing the drink holder for Nick to carry.
He took off at a jog, Nick and AJ following close behind.
"Damn!" swore Nick, his voice
filled with awe. "Remind me never to get into a fight with you! Can you
teach me those tricks?"
Brian turned his head to find Nick
smiling.
"Sure, anytime, Frack."
Nick looked back at AJ who was doing his
best to keep up with a sore stomach. "Here that Bone? Bri’s gonna teach
me, how about you?"
AJ grimaced as he ran to catch up, not
answering. Never in a million years.
***
