ODAAT: Volume 2, Chapter 28

 

Fire

It was hard to sleep last night. Frankie's absence was felt throughout the group. A few of the roadies were starting to worry too, although they thought the show was great without him. There was still a looming question of “what happened”. Crystal feels bad that we just left him there. She asked if I was sure he would know to catch up with us. I honestly don't know, but, what else would he have expected? Assuming nothing is wrong with him, he knows we had a show. We have to keep this moving forward. If something had happened to him, Christine would have been able to figure it out by now. After all, she is his manager. She has been pulling every string. The phone book search turned out to be useless. No one even knew who James was, let alone where he might be.

Crystal sighs, kicking her shoe against the side of the bus. I look over at her, raising my eyebrow.

“Hey, the bus didn't do anything to you.” I remind her. She shakes her head, looking around the parking lot. It's a beautiful morning in Cincinnati. It's a shame we have to leave it behind. But, we have to be in Harrisburg in a few hours. We've already compromised the schedule by waiting the extra hour.

“I can't believe this.” She groans, crossing her arms. She lifts off the side of the bus, where she had been leaning. I shrug and she follows me onto the bus. Christopher looks at me, hopeful and I just shake my head. Crystal drops down on the couch beside Charlie. Christopher starts the bus. The jerk of the sudden motion is familiar by now. But, I'm not expecting the second jerk when the bus stops. I stand up, walking to the front. I intend to ask Christopher what is going on, but I don't have to. I notice the two of them standing outside the closed doors with suitcases in their hands. Christopher opens the door and Frankie gets on the bus first. He's out of breath, like he's been running to catch up with the vehicle moving on without him.

“Nice of you to finally join us.” I bark, mostly frustrated by the delay. He nods, looking at Christopher.

“I'm sorry, I know we're on a tight schedule.” He apologizes. The driver shrugs, starting the bus up again. I step aside, letting him move further into the bus. The second man steps up behind him. Frankie takes both suitcases and heads to the back of the bus.

“We're not off to a good start.” The second man observes, holding out his hand. I lightly laugh, shaking it.

“Stealing my singer, disappearing with him for almost two days? Leaving us high and dry with no idea what even happened. Yeah, I'd say that's a pretty rocky start for sure.” I joke, attempting to laugh. But it's a forced laughter, because I'm emotionally exhausted.

“I'm James.” He introduces. I nod again.

“I figured that much.” I motion with an open hand to the rest of the bus. James nods and heads into the lounge. Jared has moved to the other couch, sitting beside Charlie. James sits down on the empty couch, smiling at the rest of the passengers. None of them smile back. Even Charlie seems uncharacteristically aligned. Normally, he would be neutral. Frankie comes back into the lounge, dropping down beside James. I remain standing, mostly to avoid picking a side. It's become clear that alignments have been made and I don't want to get involved if I can help it.

“This is James.” Frankie introduces, looking around the bus. There's a lull of forced greetings and Charlie even fakes a smile. The displeasure of the band is obvious.

“So?” I start, crossing my arms over my chest. Frankie shrugs, looking around the bus.

“Man, I couldn't explain if I tried. It's been a crazy couples of days. But, I'm here now. That's all that matters, right?” He asks, cheerfully. Jared shakes his head, standing up. He heads to the back of the bus. I watch the way his shoulders tighten as he gets further away, disappearing into his bunk and pulling the curtain closed.

“Is he mad at me?” Frankie asks, looking from Jared's bunk to where I'm standing. I raise my eyebrow, unsure if he's asking seriously or not. Then it occurs to me that he doesn't understand the aftermath of his actions. He has no idea. I don't even know what to say to him, but I'm not given the chance to articulate something.

“Of course he's fucking mad. You left us, without a fucking word. We had to leave you in Detroit, not knowing if you were alive or fucking dead. Now you show up like it was no big deal. Life keeps going, right? Why fucking worry? It's all good. Well, fuck you. We're all fucking mad.” Crystal yells, standing up to impress her point. My eyes widen as I look in her direction. I've never heard her swear, because she says swearing is negative. Even if you're using it in a positive way. I've also never seen her angry, if you could use that emotion to describe whatever she's feeling. I think it's something beyond anger, even beyond rage. There is a fire in her eyes, burning bright enough to burn the city to ashes. It's not a flattering look on her. She doesn't give him the chance to reply, either. She flips her hair, then stomps towards her bunk. Charlie looks over at Frankie, shaking his head. Then he stands up and follows behind Crystal. I shake my head. I wasn't expecting that reaction, but, I feel it was deserved.

Maybe Luke was right after all.