Chapter 24:
The Scoop at Teen Beat
The day of Brian’s second funeral also
dawned cool and rainy. AJ was still in
the hospital making his miraculous recovery, but Nick, Kevin, Howie, and PANTS
were all there to sing “One Sweet Day” again as they bid their friend another
final farewell. (Well, maybe not a final farewell… but a farewell
nevertheless.) Nick made another
tearful speech about his dear friend Frick, and this time, Praline didn’t get
kicked out for dressing like a hooker.
After the funeral, they all tossed
roses on Brian’s Wildcat blue silk-lined casket and then gathered around his
tombstone to say a few words.
“Man, talk about déjŕ vu,” Nick
sniffled as they all read the familiar inscription. Hadn’t they just done this very same thing about
a year ago?
Yep, they had. And who knows, they might be doing it again
before the end of this story.
If only they knew what was to come…
***
Meanwhile, at Orlando General Hospital…
“What are you watching?” asked Nurse
Tricia Tibbles, as she came up to the nurses station to find all of her
co-workers standing in a pack, their eyes glued to one of the small TVs mounted
overhead. It was tuned to CNN.
“They’re showing some coverage of
Brian Littrell’s funeral… you know, that Backstreet Boy that drank the bottle
of bleach and offed himself here the other day?” The nurse who had spoken shook her head
sadly. “Such a tragedy. He seemed like such a sweet young man. But at least he saved his dying friend in the
process with a liver transplant.”
Tricia forced an expression of
sympathy onto her face. “I know,” she
murmured. “It’s sooo sad.”
“Of course, the news reports aren’t
giving out all the details,” the nurse went on matter-of-factly. “I don’t think they even know. They were trying to cover up what really
happened at the press conference – what would the young fans think if they knew
one of the Backstreet Boys had nearly drank himself to death with alcohol, and
the other literally drank himself to death… with bleach?!”
Tricia fought hard to keep from
smirking. “I don’t blame them for trying
to cover it up,” she agreed. “The media
would have a heyday with that story. Any
details would be paid for in gold…”
The other nurse nodded vaguely,
turning her attention back to the TV. It
was just the opportunity Tricia needed to slink away, out of sight. “Mwahaha!” she cackled to herself as she
looked around for a payphone in a quiet spot.
“I’m sure I’ll have no trouble finding a tabloid to run this exclusive story… but for a price. A
very high price…”
Dollar signs gleamed in her glazed
eyes as she picked up the phone receiver and pulled a crumpled piece of paper
out of the pocket of her scrubs.
If only she knew what was to come…
***
Nine minutes and thirty-eight seconds later
At the main office of Teen Beat magazine, Lionel Rodriguez
smirked down at the notepad in front of him, which was filled with his
hastily-scrawled notes. He read over
them again, his eyes wide, his pulse racing with excitement. He couldn’t believe his luck! He wanted to pinch himself, because surely
this had to be a dream.
Lionel had been after the Backstreet
Boys for months, desperate to dig up the dirt on them and take them down. They had spurned him one too many times, with
their “No comments!” and “Get away, or I’ll call the cops!” and that time Nick
Carter had sicced his Rottweiler on him.
He wanted revenge. And with the
information the woman on the phone had just given him, he would get it.
When this story came out in the next
edition of Teen Beat, it would ruin
their careers. Not only were they
without one of their members, but now they’d be without their fans. All the teenies would abandon them when they
found out one of their members was an alcoholic who was responsible for his
bandmate’s death… and those that didn’t would be forced to by their
overprotective parents, who would surely view the Backstreet Boys as a “bad
influence.”
And best of all, he, Lionel, would be
rewarded beyond measure for writing the article that broke the exclusive story,
the real story. None of the news media had it right; only Teen Beat knew the truth. Once it came out, the Boys wouldn’t be able
to deny it, and the media would have Lionel Rodriguez to thank for giving them
the scoop they’d been waiting for all along.
He would be promoted, most definitely.
Maybe he’d finally be able to leave this crappy little bopper magazine
behind forever and move on to real
journalism. Geraldo Rivera would be
calling any day…
“Har har har!” Lionel laughed his evil
laugh, as he set the computer to print a check made out to a Miss Patricia
Tibbles.
If only he knew what was to come…
***
In Heaven, Brian knelt on a cloud and
frowned down at the scene unfolding before his eyes on Earth. He couldn’t believe it! One of the nurses at Orlando General had
broken her confidentiality agreement and fed every bit of Backstreet dirt she
knew – which was quite a bit – to a reporter from Teen Beat magazine, the same reporter who had been harassing the
guys ever since the last time he had died.
But this time, Lionel Rodriguez had gone too far. He was sending the nurse a check for an
outrageous sum of money just for her information, and Brian knew it was only a
matter of time before he published it all in an exclusive article. And once that hit the stands, the Backstreet
Boys would be in trouble. The whole
world would know the truth they’d tried to cover up, and their fans would never
trust them again.
They need to know, he thought. The
guys need to know what’s going on… and the fans need to hear the truth from us,
before it’s too late!
But how could he let them know?
Perplexed, he thought about going to
plead with God, to ask if maybe he could be sent back to Earth again to deliver
the message. But he and God weren’t on
the best of terms at the moment; the Lord wasn’t such a big fan of suicide,
even for the sake of saving a friend.
Nevertheless, Brian had been allowed through Heaven’s gates for a second
time because, come on, he’s Brian Littrell, and he’s a perfect angel
already. Still, Brian knew better than
to test his limits just yet. It had only
been a few days. He would need more time
to get back on God’s good graces. But
perhaps helping his friends and stopping two greedy, devious, wicked bad people
would help.
But how? he thought
again. Then he remembered. The heart monitor! He’d been able to communicate with Nick
through AJ’s heart monitor because his liver was now inside AJ’s body. How, he was not sure, but it didn’t matter –
in a story where he could die and go to Heaven, then come back to life, and
then die again, anything was possible.
He knew his liver must be the key to contacting the guys!
If only he knew what was to come…
***
