Chapter 48:
Opposing Views
Kevin was glad he took Howie’s advice and
kept the bus’ engine running. Tending to his jaw with an ice pack, he missed
the expressions on Brian, Nick, and AJ as the three hopped on, but jumped
quickly to attention as AJ and Nick screamed for him to "take off!"
Hurriedly slamming the door, Kevin floored the gas pedal, narrowly missing a
parked car. Wondering what the hell was happening, he checked the large side
mirrors outside the bus but saw nothing, his view blocked by nightfall. As he
urged the bus for more speed he spared a glance in the rearview mirror to see
Howie catching a Burger King bag that was tossed by Brian. "What’s going
on?" he yelled over his shoulder to Howie. Howie glanced inside the bag
for a moment, before turning his attention to AJ.
"Yeah, what happened?" he
quizzed, noticing AJ wincing slightly as he sat down.
"It was so cool D," explained
Nick, jumping in. "AJ got clobbered by an jealous boyfriend, and Bri
nailed the son-of-a bitch!"
Kevin craned his neck to hear. "AJ
has a jealous boyfriend?"
"No!" yelled Nick and AJ
simultaneously. AJ looked at Nick, exasperation on his face.
"Nick, let me explain."
He turned to face Howie and Kevin. "A fan wanted her autograph signed by
Nick, so she took her shirt off." Howie shook his head, still confused.
"She took her shirt off so you could
sign the shirt?"
"No!" screamed Nick and AJ
again. "Sign her!"
"Right on her chest!" explained
Nick and Kevin and Howie suddenly understood. "They were awesome!"
Nick added and now Kevin and Howie really understood.
"So what’s this about you nailing
someone?" Howie asked, curious. He took a handful of fries and sat down
next to Brian, giving him a nudge.
Brian mumbled, "It was nothing,"
and took another large bite of his sandwich. Slightly shocked at the way Brian
was cramming his food down, Howie glanced at AJ, raising his eyebrows with a what
gives? look. AJ shook his head, just as puzzled.
Nick decided to fill Howie in.
"Nothing, my ass! Brian nearly punched his lights out! You shoulda been
there, D. This guy almost smashed my face in but Brian saved me," he
crowed, reaching over his seat to steal a large handful of AJ’s fries.
"Too bad he did," replied AJ
sourly, trying unsuccessfully to smack Nick's hand away.
A small but genuine sound of laughter
burst from Brian. Surprised, all four turned to stare at him. "He
laughed!" shrieked Nick, pointing dramatically. "Frick is back from
the land of the weird." There was a moment of awkward silence as Nick’s
statement hit home. Embarrassed, Nick coughed, his face reddening slightly.
"Sorry, Bri," he mumbled, wishing he could kick himself. "I
didn’t mean it."
"Yes, you did," said Brian
good-naturedly, a small blush of embarrassment growing. He felt self-conscious
as they all looked at one another, waiting for him to break the ice. He knew
his odd behavior demanded an explanation; somehow he had to convince everyone
that he alone was the one to blame for his eccentric mood swings. It was now or
never. He bowed his head, unable to keep eye contact. "I know I haven’t
been acting normal lately," Brian spoke, almost in a whisper. "I’m
sorry." Brian paused, gathering his thoughts. Nick, Kevin, AJ, and Howie
held their breath, not daring to speak. "As you know, this tour has been
kinda hard on me. I just want y’all to know that none of it is your fault. I’m
to blame. Me and me only." Brian closed his eyes a second, praying
that they would believe him.
"Explain the bruises," prodded
AJ gently.
Brian looked up, his face weary.
"It’s from exercise, like I told you," he lied. "I asked Xavier
to teach me boxing, to learn some fighting skills. The bruises are from when we
spar." He hoped his face was expressionless, because his thoughts were
not. He tried to ignore the unpleasant flashbacks of when Xavier had hit,
punched, or strangled him.
Kevin knew Brian was the most athletic of
the five, but he had a hard time believing his cousin could put himself through
this shit. "And you enjoy doing this?" he asked from the
front, in total disbelief. Brian gave a small snort, looking at Nick and AJ.
"Hell no, I usually hate it, but it
sure saved your ass, didn’t it?"
AJ gave Brian a small smile of
acknowledgement. "Yeah... it did. Okay, what about your weight loss?"
Brian felt like AJ’s eyes were trying to
pierce right through him. "Two things. One, I’m eating better." AJ
frowned as he glanced at Brian’s Burger King bag. "Okay, okay, I’m trying
to. Xavier has me on a better diet. Two, all this exercise has made me lose a
lot."
Three, cause I’m starving to death
because Xavier watches me like a hawk and I never seem to get a chance, Brian thought resentfully.
AJ crunched his bag up, tossing it
one-handed into the trashcan. "Alright, one more question." Brian
inwardly tensed up, a feeling of alarm sweeping over him. He sensed his false
confession had pacified Nick, Howie and Kevin, but AJ was an entirely different
matter.
"Shoot," Brian said calmly,
anything but.
"Look at me straight and tell me
Xavier isn’t causing any problems for you," asked AJ bluntly, his arms
folded across his chest.
Brian knew it was coming, but the question
still hit him like a sledgehammer. He noticed all four watching him with
extreme interest and knew the way he responded could either spell success or
disaster. Brian found himself biting the inside of his mouth hard, hoping the
pain would quell the fear rising in him. Answer! his mind screamed, now
before they begin to suspect! He didn’t come this far to fall short on one
simple question. Sending up a small prayer, Brian showed his most sincere
smile.
"Well, sure he causes problems Bone,
everyone knows he’s a pain-in-the-ass bodyguard! But I want his help, I
asked for it, and he’s trying his best to teach me."
"Teach you what, exactly?" asked
AJ, "how to drive yourself into an early grave?"
"No. How to improve myself; to try
new things."
Howie snorted in reply, got up and also
tossed his garbage away. "You sure are going about this the hard
way," he muttered.
Brian turned his attention away from Howie
to AJ who was shaking his head. "You really haven’t answered my question,
Rok. What I want to know is, is Xavier bullying you, threatening you in any
way?"
A small bead of nervous sweat tricked down
the side of his temple and Brian causally wiped it away, hoping no one noticed.
He tried to read AJ’s expression but he had put on those damn sunglasses again,
making it impossible for Brian to see.
Brian yawned, hoping it masked his
nervousness. "AJ, do you really think I would allow a bodyguard do
that?"
"I don’t know, why don’t you
tell me."
A flush of anger swept through Brian. Damn
him! Why couldn’t AJ just accept his explanation? He rose from his
seat, his eyes narrowing into slits as he came nose to nose with AJ. "What
is it with you, huh? What do you want me to say? That Xavier beats me
senseless, that he threatens my life, that he’s holding me hostage in some
bizarre way?" Brian’s voice raised to a higher pitch. "Well, you’re
outta luck, pal!" He swung his hand around. "You know, I’m getting
tired of all your crap!" Brian pointed his finger at AJ. "Especially
yours! I gave you guys the truth, if you can’t accept it, well tough
shit!"
Nick reached out to lay a concerned arm on
his shoulder, only to have Brian move away. A sudden wave of exhaustion caused
him to sway a little and he rubbed his forehead with his hand. "I’m going
to lay down," he said curtly, turning on his heal and heading towards his
bunk.
For a moment, no one said anything, then
Nick rolled his eyes at AJ. "Went a little overboard, don’t you
think?" he questioned as he headed up front to see Kevin.
AJ gazed at him sourly. "You mean me
or Brian?" he groused, not wanting a reply.
Nick didn’t care to answer. He sat behind
Kevin, watching the oldest Backstreet Boy drive. After a moment Nick heaved a
heavy sigh and tapped Kevin on the shoulder. "Know where you’re
going?"
"Nope."
Nick gave a small snort of disbelief.
"You’re kidding, right?"
Kevin drove on. "Nope."
"Well, damn! Where are we?"
Kevin pursed his lips, thinking. "The
same state, I think."
"Very funny, ha, ha."
Nick paused for a moment. "Kev, what
do you think about Brian?"
Kevin shrugged. "I don’t know...maybe
we should just lay low for awhile, give it a rest. Let Bri rest too. The only
thing I know for sure is that he’s exhausted. And if Brian doesn’t get better,
our tour is in trouble, that’s for sure."
Nick peered into the darkness, running a
hand dejectedly through his blond hair. "Yeah."
He glanced back at AJ and Howie, who were
deep in conversation, then chewed on his lip, upset by the turn of events.
"Shit, this is just great! One, our
bus driver has abandoned us; two, Bri looks like he’s gonna have a nervous
breakdown; and three, we have no idea where the hell we are."
Kevin turned to give Nick a quick look.
"Four, you got to sign a great pair of tits."
Nick stared at Kevin, unsure he heard
right until he saw Kevin give him a wicked grin, trying to ease the tension.
Nick gave a sharp laugh, shaking his head. "Right! Sure. Well I guess that
makes up for everything!"
"Good." Kevin pointed to the
glove compartment. "Now go find the map. Let’s see if you’re smart enough
to read it, or are you just another pretty face?"
Nick hopped into the passenger’s side, rummaging
around the compartment. "I’m both," he smirked.
* * * * *
Howie handed AJ a Coke, the last one
remaining in the small refrigerator. "Here," he said, shoving it in
front of AJ, who was bent over in his chair, lost in thought.
AJ accepted it, popped the ring, and took
a long swig. Howie patiently waited for AJ to finish his drink, sitting
quietly.
"He's lying," AJ stated flatly,
his voice holding no emotion. Howie glanced back at Brian's sleeping
compartment, then gave his friend a quizzical look.
"How do you know?" he asked,
lowering his voice to a whisper.
AJ gave Howie an irritated look. "How
the hell could you not know? Shit Howie, we've been together how many
years?"
"Well excuse me for not being the
all-knowing AJ McLean!" hissed Howie, his brown eyes flashing in anger.
AJ sighed, his irritation fading.
"Sorry, D.," he apologized, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "It's
just that everything is so incredibly fucked up."
Howie nodded in reply, rubbing the palms
of his hands absentmindedly on his jeans. "So, what is Brian lying
about?"
AJ stood up, stretching.
"Everything...something… I'm not sure. I just know he isn't telling us the
truth."
"Well if Brian is so intent on
keeping it a secret..." Howie paused, "...I guess there's nothing we
can do then, right?"
"Wrong. We had goddamn better well do
something."
Howie stood up, worried by the frustrated
tone in his friend's voice. "AJ, what are you saying?"
AJ gave him a hardened look, grabbing
Howie by the arm and pulling him close. "D," he said slowly, his
voice dropping so low that Howie strained to hear it. "I've got a feeling
Brian's secret is going to take us all down." Howie looked at AJ. The same
distressing feeling had been nagging at him for some time now and he nodded
slowly, his belief confirmed by AJ's sobering expression.
"What should we do?"
AJ shook his head, taking off his glasses
to look clearly into Howie's worried face. "I'm not sure. But I'll be
damned if I going to let him do it."
***
