Fury

by Tammy Coons

  “I’m leaving the band.”

  “You cannot be serious,” Phillip growled.

  “I'll finish the European tour. Sarah is pregnant again and I want to be able to spend more time with my family.” Scot and Phillip gawked at him, and Scot felt numb with shock. “I can’t stand by and let Ian control every facet of my life. It’s what I need to do.”

  Scot blinked at Phillip and sighed.

  “All I can say is good luck.” Scot’s words tumbled out of his mouth. He shook Bret’s hand.

  “Thanks.” Bret seemed relieved. His gaze shifted to Phillip who heaved an exasperated sigh.

  “Sod off, Bret.” Phillip’s insult was halfhearted, and he bumped fists with Bret.

  “We’ve still got some shows to do. Let’s make the best of them.” Bret smiled. “Thanks for understanding blokes.” He closed the door as he left.

  Phillip and Scot sat in silence. Scot had the sensation that someone had taken his world and upended it.

  “What the hell’s going on?” Phillip exclaimed.

  “Times they are a changing,” Scot replied, then laughed. “God, I sound like my father.”

  “Why all of this now?” Phillip complained. “Things were going great.”

  “Don’t kid yourself, Phillip. It wasn’t that great. I’ve been bored as hell reading books in my hotel room and you’ve been screwing groupies like it’s going out of style. If you’re not careful you’re going to become Nathan. Ian can kiss my arse. I need to see this through with Cheyenne.” Scot’s tirade ended and he waited impatiently for Phillip’s reply.

  “How can you be so wrapped up in someone you’ve only known for a few weeks?”

  “I wasn’t aware there was a time limit.” Scot laughed.

  Phillip shrugged.

  “I'll tell you another thing. It won’t be long before Stephanie leaves too. You need to talk to her—don’t bury your head in the sand.”

  Scot walked to the bar.

  Phillip folded his arms and rested his head on the table.

  “She’s evil,” he mumbled and Scot laughed.

  Scot poured them each a shot. “She’s not evil.”

  “What are you planning to do about Cheyenne?” Phillip raised his head from the table. As Scot downed his drink, Phillip sat up and when Scot shrugged he looked at the floor. “I’m sorry about the wager. It was so dim of me to get sucked into one of Nathan’s schemes.”

  “No doubt. Come on were going to be late for the concert.” Scot slapped Phillip on the back.

  Steph knocked on Cheyenne’s door. She looked around to make sure Kevin hadn’t followed her. She’d gone after Phillip, but he wasn’t answering the door. Cheyenne swung her door open and looked disappointed to see her.

  “You look like hell.” Steph was happy when a small smile crept across Cheyenne’s face.

  “Come in. I couldn’t sleep.”

  “You’ll never guess who’s in my room.” Cheyenne shrugged. “Kevin.”

  “What does that asshole want?” Cheyenne growled. She and Steph sat down. Cheyenne handed her a cigarette.

  “Apparently, my hand in holy matrimony.” Cheyenne’s expression of horror was priceless.

  “What did you say?”

  “No, of course.” Cheyenne laughed triumphantly. Steph felt her insides crumble and began sobbing uncontrollably.

  “You shouldn’t cry. You did the right thing.” Cheyenne was gawking at her.

  “I’m not going to marry that idiot,” Steph blurted between sobs. “I need to tell you something, Cheyenne.”

  “Ok, go on.” Cheyenne leaned closer to Steph.

  “Last night when I was with Phillip…well… the car broke down and his phone didn’t work. We walked to a cottage,” Steph stopped and looked at Cheyenne, “and something happened…”

  Cheyenne’s eyes bugged out.

  “I think I have feelings for him! Why am I so stupid?”

  Cheyenne shook head in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

  “As a heart attack.”

  “But he’s such a dick. Well, I guess that makes him your type.” Steph laughed in spite of her tears and threw a pillow at Cheyenne.

  “He’s not what he seems.” Steph gained her composure. Cheyenne paused thoughtfully.

  “Have you told him?”

  “I haven’t had time between quitting my job, the murder and the meeting. Then he walked in while Kevin was trying to shove his tongue down my throat!” Steph blew her nose.

  “We’ve lost all sense of reality.” Cheyenne’s expression told Steph she was done joking around.

  Steph nodded. “Can I stay in your room? I don’t want to face Kevin.” Taking an exhausted breath, she felt her breathing slowing to normal.

  “I’ll go kick him out,” Cheyenne offered.

  “Don’t bother,” Steph said, lying back on the bed. “I just want some sleep.”

  As she heard Cheyenne typing on her computer, Steph’s lack of sleep began to sneak up on her. She thought of her attempts to advise Cheyenne throughout this assignment. Who was she to give advice when her own life was such a twisted nightmare?

  The next morning Cheyenne packed to leave Ireland. Overcome with ambivalence, she realized the next hotel would be her last and wondered if she’d ever travel for work again. She’d loved Dublin and promised herself she’d come back one day.

  “Steph, wake up.” She shook her.

  “Do I have to be alive today?” Steph mumbled.

  “We need to go to your room and get your stuff packed.”

  “It shouldn’t take long. I barely had a chance to unpack.”

  Minutes later, they entered Steph’s room.

  Roses lay everywhere, and Kevin was nowhere to be seen.

  “It looks like a shrine in here.” Cheyenne looked around. She began gathering the roses and throwing them away.

  “Kevin loves to throw his money around. Careful don’t prick yourself.” Steph picked up the ring box he’d left on the table and tossed it to Cheyenne.

  “It’s probably fake,” Cheyenne murmured, knowing it wasn’t true as she admired the gigantic ring.

  Steph ignored the comment and gathered her stuff. When they were finished they knocked on Goddess’s door, getting no reply.

  “I hope she’s at the airport,” Cheyenne stated. “What are you going to do with the ring? Leave it for the maid as a tip?”

  Steph shook her head.

  “Bring it. We’ll donate it at Cedric’s church when we get to Rome.”

  They continued on to the lobby. Since a limo wasn't waiting for them, they grabbed a taxi and sped off.

  Once at the airport they found Ian. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs yelling at everyone. “Let’s go people, we don’t have all day!”

  “I’m so glad this is almost over,” Cheyenne whispered to Steph.

  “Quit rubbing it in,” Steph grumbled. They boarded and looked for Goddess who was nowhere to be found. Cheyenne walked to Ian’s seat. The flight attendant was pouring his drink.

  “What?” Ian snapped.

  “Where’s Goddess?” She was starting to worry.

  “She had to leave early. Her mother is ill,” Ian stated.

  “That’s nice to know. She has all of the pictures she took with her,” Steph said from behind them.

  “Not my problem,” Ian stated. “Please find a seat.”

  “I hate that man,” Cheyenne muttered under her breath

  Wishing she could tell Steph about Goddess, Cheyenne found a seat and stored her purse. She couldn’t help but notice Scot watching her. Avoiding him, she spotted Phillip and grabbed her tape recorder, heading in his direction. She needed closure, and it was time to put this story to bed.

  Watching Cheyenne join Phillip, Steph felt blue as she made her way toward the restroom.

  “Hi.” Richard stepped in front of her. “Sorry to hear about your friend, Red. You must be terribly upset.”

  “I have no idea what you are talking abo
ut.” Steph’s nerves were suddenly on edge and her cheeks burned. She could sense Duncan’s presence behind her and recognized the scent of his cheap cologne.

  “Just imagine,” Duncan whispered in her ear. “Dropping six stories. Pow!” He clapped his hands together, making Steph jump.

  “What’s going on here?” Ian asked startling all of them.

  Steph hurried to the bathroom.

  Safely inside, she thought she might vomit again. Taking several deep breaths she tried to convince herself that Duncan and Richard were messing with her, but her gut told her this was a lie. She took a couple of moments to pull herself together before exiting the restroom. She made up her mind not to stop for the roadies, regardless of their comments.

  “Stephanie.” Ian’s presence made her jump.

  “Ian. I didn’t see you there.” She held her chest. Though not thrilled to see him, she was happy his presence would keep the roadies away.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you. May I trouble you for a moment?” He motioned to the nearby seats.

  “Of course.” Steph joined him.

  “I was told Sam Ridgley tried to contact you earlier. Apparently he wanted to discuss something with you?”

  Steph’s internal alarm system went off.

  “I met him backstage one night. He seemed nice… nicer than some of the roadies. Cheyenne and I had discussed interviewing him. I gave him my name and number and told him to call me at his convenience. That’s the last time I heard from him.” Steph thought she sounded pretty convincing. She’d told the authorities the important details and the powers that be understood Sam had been pushed.

  “I see.” Steph heard unmistakable relief in his voice. He turned to her and patted her hand. “Thank you for your time.”

  “Sure.” Steph gritted her teeth and wanted to scream. When Goddess had been hurt Duncan had known about it and now his comment about Sam… Steph tried to sort out exactly how they were involved.

  Further to the front of the plane, Cheyenne focused on Phillip intently, attempting to shut out everything else and finish strong.

  “My father runs a bookstore and my mother owns several businesses including that bookstore. She’s the authority in our household. My father was the creative one. He is an avid theater enthusiast. I suppose my creative side comes from him.”

  “When did you start singing?”

  “As a child, in church.” Cheyenne smirked and Phillip covered a grin. “Yes, I was a choir boy. I know, it’s embarrassing. I was fortunate that my parents love popular music and I grew up with great influences.”

  “Such as…”

  “Everyone. The Stones, Bowie, Wilson Pickett, to name a few. You don’t know how hard I tried to make my voice sound like Joe Cocker! Mum and Dad had an incredible record collection. I didn’t realize how unusual this was until I started talking to my peers. It was amazing who my friends hadn’t heard of. Then when I went to University and met real musicians… I dove into the scene head first.”

  “And Fury was born?”

  “Scot was ridiculously talented, but he needed a shove. When he and I decided to form a band, my girlfriend at the time worked with Bret’s wife Sarah. Talk about fate! Then we put an ad in the paper and found David. Nathan came along last—that was a fluke.”

  “Scot said you were in a poetry class.” Phillip smirked and covered his face with his hands.

  “I should have known that would come back to haunt me. Yes, I was. I did learn a lot, though.”

  “So what is your writing process? Where do you lyrics come from?” Cheyenne asked.

  “I don’t follow a pattern when I write. I’m very unorganized. Bret always reins me in…” Phillip trailed off. “I suppose that is coming to a swift end.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Off the record?” Cheyenne nodded.

  “Bret’s leaving after the European tour. He broke the news last night.”

  Cheyenne blinked in surprise. Phillip shrugged.

  “About your lyrics, you were saying…?”

  “I just have a certain method to my madness when I write, I suppose.”

  “And what would that method be?”

  “Sadly I’m afraid that only I have the twisted logic to understand it.”

  “One more question. What made you get on board with the publicity black out? One would think it seems counter intuitive.”

  Phillip paled visibly.

  Cheyenne cocked her head sideways, waiting for his response.

  “Not all attention we’ve had has been positive.” He looked very uneasy.

  “Care to elaborate?”

  “Not on the record.”

  Cheyenne shut off the tape recorder.

  “Thanks, Philip, you gave me a great deal to work with. You have already got an amazing following and your fans hardly know anything about you. My article will deliver the personalities to go with the faces they have on their walls. Colorful personalities, to say the least.” Cheyenne stood.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Phillip also stood. “Cheyenne about this stupid wager with Nathan, I was wrong to be a part of it.”

  “What wager?” Cheyenne asked with a sinking feeling. She tried to keep her tone cool.

  “Cheyenne…I am really sorry.” Phillip’s eyes shifted nervously. “Nathan bet me he would sleep with you and I bet him you wouldn’t. I told him to shove the money up his arse.”

  Cheyenne face burned and her heart pounded wildly. She took a very deep breath to try to calm down and looked in Nathan’s direction. He was laughing at something David was saying to him. His merriment drove her over the edge. She strode to him and slapped him across the face with such force she felt like she’d broken a finger. The look of shock he wore didn’t please her the way she thought it would. She was vaguely aware of someone’s arms around her, dragging her backward and the general sounds of alarm in the voices around her. Her heart was thudding so loud in her ears she couldn’t hear what was being said. Slowly she regained her hearing.

  “Cheyenne, what the hell?” she heard Steph ask from behind her.

  “Ms. Carson, get ahold of yourself or I’ll have you removed.” Ian voice was stern, but alarmed.

  “Leave her alone Ian,” Phillip retorted. Cheyenne realized when he spoke that he was the one who held her back from Nathan.

  “Keep that whore away from me!” Nathan held the right side of his face. David tried to inspect Nathan’s injuries.

  “Let go of her, Phillip!” Steph cried, yanking Cheyenne away from him. Steph’s hands were on her shoulders and she stared her in the eyes. “Cheyenne. What happened?”

  “They made a bet about me…” Cheyenne murmured. Her voice sounded like a small child’s to her own ears. Light dawned in Steph’s eyes. Suddenly Steph was after Nathan, but David was guarding him.

  “You conniving, manipulating, son of a…!” she shouted in his general direction.

  Duncan grabbed Steph, obviously copping a feel in the process.

  “I told you never to touch me again!” Steph shrieked and clawed at him. Duncan laughed at her, restraining her as if she were a child having a temper tantrum. Suddenly Phillip grasped Duncan by the hair and flung him across the cabin. He bent a table as he landed on the floor. Steph fell in the aisle in the process. Shock gave way to fear and as Cheyenne watched the violence, she was light headed and nauseous.

  “Don’t you bloody touch her!” Phillip’s voice sounded deadly as he pointed a menacing finger at the roadie, who seemed dazed.

  “That’s enough!” Ian commanded. He reached out to take Cheyenne’s arm.

  “Bugger off, Ian!” Scot raved. He was at Cheyenne’s side, stepping between them.

  “Duncan, Richard. I suggest you to take these two ladies to the back of the plane for the rest of the flight.” Ian ordered, without acknowledging Scot’s presence. Phillip and Scot both glowered at him.

  “You’re done making suggestions.” Scot’s face was hard. Du
ncan picked himself up off the cabin floor.

  “Duncan…Fucking touch her. I dare you.” Phillip delivered the threat without looking away from Ian.

  “Alright. Everyone take a breath.” Bret insinuated himself into the fray and placed himself between Ian and the others. “Ian, I think it might be wise for you and Nathan to go to the front of the plane with the roadies. David, can you please escort the girls to the back of the plane so we can have a quick meeting here.”

  Bret’s calm presence and Welsh accent somehow broke through the tension. Bret’s level headed tone and strong presence made it easy for Cheyenne to envision him as a dad. She followed Steph and David to the back of the plane and collapsed on the couch style seat.

  “The pilot says everyone needs to calm down, we are headed for some turbulence!” The flight attendant announced at the top of her lungs. She looked pale.

  Steph was suddenly at Cheyenne’s side, kneeling on both knees.

  “Who made the bet with Nathan?”

  “Seatbelt sign, Steph!” Phillip called back to them. Steph glared at him and turned back to Cheyenne. She could tell by Steph’s disappointed expression she already suspected the answer.

  “Phillip. He apologized…”

  Steph looked like she wanted to cry. They sat in silence, and then Steph got up and went into the restroom. Cheyenne closed her eyes. Shocked at her own actions, she felt sick. She’d never struck another human being before.

  “Here you go, Love. Have a drink. It’ll help.” Opening her eyes, she saw Scot standing over her with a bottle of water.

  “That’s not the kind of drink I’m looking for.” The joke sounded hollow even to her ears.

  “Cheyenne…they both feel like assholes about the entire thing. Neither of them knew you at the time, and this kind of garbage is Nathan’s M.O. He liked you and he’s a bored, lonely idiot. It doesn’t excuse it.” He shrugged.

  “It just took me by surprise.” Scot’s deep voice soothed her. Cheyenne felt numb. She wondered if she had a neon sign over her head that said, “Treat me like a piece of ass”.

  “I confronted them both the day you told me about Nathan. It wasn’t pretty.”