“Great, Davey. You’re a natural. You’re very relaxed in front of the camera. We can release these shorts like every hour or so tomorrow, after the concert.”
Lisa patted in the pancake makeup. She always started with David’s eyes, then worked her way out using what his husband liked to call her bag of Drag Queen tricks.
“I’ll go find Muse and interview him while you get done….”
“David, can I talk to you a moment?” Larry Wong poked his head into the lead singer’s dressing room. He grinned at Scott who stared at him in disbelief.
“Sure, give me a minute.” David rolled his eyes at Scott’s glare, “Before you say anything, Scott, let me explain.”
Scott huffed and crossed his arms, leaning back against the counter and mirror across from David’s chair waiting.
“The other guy Trevor recommended did a great job, but he had a family emergency and had to fly to New York. Larry knows what to do. This is the last concert. It was last minute. He was available. He says he’s been in Gambler’s Anonymous and that he doesn’t do that anymore. We all talked about it and as a group, we decided to contract him for one…, David, one concert. Okay?”
“Does he know it’s for one job only? You know he’ll try to talk all of you into going back out on the road and we agreed, Davey. This was it. After you had pneumonia. You and the guys need to rest.” Scott crossed his arms, lips pressed thin.
“He knows. Me and the boys are unanimous in this. Time to rest. Spend time with family. All of it and even if we did go out in a few years, Larry won’t be a part of it. We can’t trust him.”
Scott pushed away from the counter, leaned down and kissed David’s lips. “If you don’t take at least a year off, I will divorce you.” David started to laugh, but then he saw the seriousness in his husband’s eyes.
He raised his left hand and crossed his heart with his right, “I swear, baby, I’m not going back out on the road.” Giving Scott a kiss to seal the deal, he stood. Before he turned, he tapped Scott’s shoulder. I love you more than anything else in this world, Scotty. He signed. You and me, we’ve got a date with 2001: A space odyssey and 2010 tomorrow night. Naked on the couch, eating popcorn. “It’s full of stars, Scotty.”
Scott laughed and watched the man he loved more than life itself walk out of the dressing room. As Scott looked back on that day, he had no way of knowing that this was their last real conversation before disaster struck.
*****
The behind-the-scenes video bits each band member and crew filmed were invaluable. Muse was standing in the wings when he decided to record an interview with Christian at the same time Christian was doing it to him. Muse wasn’t the best cinematographer, but he did a passable recording.
Muse: So, dude, who are you dating now? Enquiring minds want to know. Your fans want to know, man.
Christian shook his head and laughed while trying to keep his own cell phone steady to film his bandmate.
Christian: I am dating….
He turned his camera to show his new love in profile.
Trevor Wingart, our former manager before he decided to go off and direct one of the best movies ever. Hi, Babe!!
He yelled, causing Trevor to turn. The younger man’s smile told everyone that would watch this video exactly how he felt about Christian. Trevor waved and blew his lover a kiss.)
Muse: So, is he the one, Christian? You, two, going to get married? You are the only member of the band still single, dude and you’re like what, forty?
Christian: What? Forty? Fuck you, man, I’m thirty-nine.
Muse: You’re the oldest, man. I’m thirty-seven, hell, David’s…, oops, Dorian is thirty-five. You’re old as dirt. Time you settled down, dude. Had kids. All that shit.
Christian: We’re talking about it.
Christian’s eyes softened as he looked past Muse at Trevor, then he focused on Muse and whispered.
I’ve got the ring and I’m thinking about asking him tonight when we play the last encore. Kind of drag him out and do it on stage.
Muse: Aw, dude. The grand gesture. Risky, but if he says yes, dude! Best memory ever.
Christian could see Muse squint and frown, but neither man quit filming. The argument behind Christian got louder and they both focused their cell cameras on the man on the other side of the stage.
Muse: Whoa, Davey’s mad.
“What the fuck do you mean you let our pyro guys go? Who the hell are these guys?” David towered over Larry Wong, who took a step back from the angry man in front of him.
“It’s nothing, Davey. Really. They said they could get more money with Kiss, so I told them to go. Dumb fuckers!”
“We were paying them more than industry standards, Larry. They’ve been with us the entire tour and never complained. Why now? What did you do?”
“You were paying them too much. I knew you needed me. They were ripping you off, so I told them this gig would be ten grand less.”
David stepped forward, fists clenched. “You had no right to do that. You’re here for one show, Larry and you’re fucking this up. This is our last show. We stop touring after this. Now go get those guys back!”
“I can’t!” Larry put himself inches from David, shouting just as loudly, “They took the Kiss gig. So you’re just going to have to make do. And as for no more touring, I’ve talked to the guys. They want to hit the Asian market in the Spring. I’ve already got venues lined up.”
Muse: That lying sack of shit!
“No, no way. I am staying here, in LA with Scotty. If the guys want to tour, it’ll be without me.”
“You know,” Larry sneered, “he’s fucking that twink, Trevor.” He poked David’s chest forcing him back. “I caught him sucking Scott’s cock in the men’s room. Your wonderful husband is cheating on you with that kid.”
Christian turned, running straight into Trevor. He tried to keep the pain from his eyes, but he couldn’t.
Trevor shook his head. He took his lover’s arm, “You know he’s lying. I’d never…. You know that. Please, Chris….” But before he could say anything else, the argument took a new turn.
“That’s it!” David’s voice carried to the onlookers, but it was low and filled with malice. “I tried to give you a chance. One last gig for old time’s sake, but you’re back to your old tricks. You’re fired!”
“You can’t do that!”
“Oh, yeah? Look at your contract, Larry. I can do that.”
David turned and walked over to two security guards, “Get him out of here. Make sure he doesn’t come back.”
“Yes, Mister Gray.”
The two behemoths grabbed Larry by the arms and started to drag him off the stage, “I swear to God, David. You’ll regret this!”
Muse stopped recording and looked at his bandmate, “Dude. Now what do we do? It’s like hours before the last show.”
David turned to the group standing in the wings. “Trevor?” He called out, “Can you handle this shit? Please, man, I’m begging you.”
Trevor looked up at his lover. “Can I? Or do you believe what Larry said? If you do, I can leave.”
Christian eyes began to tear as he shook his head, “I’m sorry, Trev. I just…, for a moment…, you know what a jealous piece of shit I am. Please, baby, forgive me. I just love you so much. Still can’t figure out why you care about a guy like me.”
Trevor raised his hand, cupping Christian’s face. “Once we’re married, you’re going to have to work on your self-esteem issues, lover.” Then he kissed him and turned to walk toward David.
Christian stood there, a tear escaping the corner of his eye. A small grin turned slowly into a wide smile as he turned to watch Trevor cross the stage.
“Dude! That fucker just asked you to marry him. Talk about blocked! Fuck! He asked first!” Muse started laughing so hard, Christian had to play pound his bandmate with his fist to get him to stop.
*****
Stitch grabbed David as he was getting dressed t
o do a quick video interview. Absinthe’s drummer had a dry wit that kept David laughing, instead of answering questions. They were only about fifteen minutes away from starting their soundcheck. It was the band’s habit to have everyone do a dress rehearsal with full costumes, makeup, dancers and crew. Trevor had stepped in and organized the chaos in about thirty minutes.
Stitch looked at their lead singer and could see that after his run-in with Larry, he was more relaxed. Instead of being stressed, he was smiling and laughing. The two men had been friends from the start. This would be the last gig on their last tour. They’d gotten together at the beginning of the tour and everyone had agreed on this, but leaving the road for good was going to be hard. He knew the minute Larry appeared that he’d try to talk them into more, but that wasn’t going to happen without David and David was adamant he was going to stay home.
“I’m going to be his fucking husband, Stitch. I’m going to learn to cook, clean…, well maybe hire someone to do that, but if he goes on location, I’m going with him. No more long-distance relationships. This is it for me. We almost broke up last month and I’m not going to lose him. I love him, man. This is it.”
Stitch knew how he felt. He loved his wife and kids, but touring eight to ten months out of the year was killing their relationship. His youngest didn’t recognize him when he came back from his last tour, so he was completely on board with the plan.
“Well, we’ve been trying this plan A shit for a while, man.” Stitch laughed, “Guess we better move on to plan B before we get too old.”
David grinned, “Yeah, plan B sounds pretty good. I want a dog, man.”
“What about kids?”
“Yeah,” his face softened as he looked away from the camera. “yeah, kids. We haven’t talked about it seriously, but if I’m staying home we could do that.” Then he tilted his head and smiled at his bandmate. “Hell, Gilly will be old enough to babysit by then, Stitch. Scotty and I could have an adult night from time to time.”
“She’ll charge you twice the going rate because you’ll end up spoiling them and you’re rich.”
“Hey, she should give me the friends and family discount, dude. I am her godfather after all.”
Stitch turned the camera to himself, “Alright everyone, this is it. Soundcheck. Dinner then you all will start showing up. We’ve had a great run and a wonderful life entertaining all of you. Stitch out.” He blew a big kiss at the camera and stopped recording.
Stitch reached up and pulled David into a bear hug. “I don’t know if I’ve ever said this to you, but I really love you, man. This has been a wild ride for all of us.”
David hugged him back just as hard. They stood there, rocking side to side, both unwilling to be the first to let go. Finally, David did the honors. “All you guys have been my family for so long.” David looked away as he started to tear up. “You always will be. I’ll always be here for you, you know?”
For the first time in thirteen years, David leaned down and kissed Stitch. The straight drummer smiled into the kiss but didn’t pull back, instead he deepened it as he held on.
A not so discrete cough broke them apart. Trevor stood in the doorway, clipboard in hand and an amused grin on his face, “Ready?”
The two men disentangled themselves, but David still held onto Stitch’s arm. “Are we ready?”
Stitch nodded as they left David’s dressing room arm in arm.
*****
Scott stood back about ten feet as he filmed the band preparing to go on stage. Stitch, Muse and Christian stood together, but David paced to the side. His nervous energy taking control. He called it getting his head into the game and that was what it was. He checked the positioning of his remote headset and at the last moment, he popped his noise-canceling earplugs into his ears. He’d joked the night before how useless all that was because he was losing the hearing in his right ear anyway. Scott had reminded him it was his own fault since he always flipped it out so he could hear the band off and on during the performance.
Trevor stepped up to them, his own headset in place as he communicated with the guys running the soundboard and the pyrotechnic guys. He’d cleared their credentials with the last band they’d worked with and assured David that they knew what they were doing. In the minutes before the lights went down, a dozen people scurried across the stage checking last-minute lighting, props, and pyrotechnics. He must have gotten the all-clear from the other members of the crew because he went over and tapped Scott on the arm to get his attention.
Go out into the first couple of rows and tell me if everything sounds okay. He signed.
Scott remembered he nodded and headed out to where the audience would sit. Suddenly, the house and stage lights went down. A moment later, the strum of Christian’s bass and the bang-bang of Stitch’s drums introduced the opening notes of the band’s newest hit. David’s voice rang out clear and loud breaking the darkness as the first words of Nevermore filled the theater.
Suddenly, the lights came on, blinding the scattered people sitting in the audience. David strutted to the right. His voice sounded better than it had in years. Scott kept filming as his lover zigzagged through the dancers until he came up behind Christian. The two of them played together, hips thrust forward and smiling as they reached the midpoint of this song. David took off his guitar and their back up lead guitarist took over playing the melody as the singer danced provocatively with his androgynous stage mates. Christian stepped to the center of the stage to do his solo riff and as he finished it, as planned, David pulled Christian’s head back and kissed him deeply, rubbing the bass guitarist’s thigh and cock, making the other man obviously hard in his skin-tight leather pants.
On cue, Christian moaned and pressed himself into David’s hand over and over as he played the last bars of the riff. With one last kiss, Christian pretended he was coming as David released him. Christian stumbled back, still playing, but flushed. Two dancers grabbed David and humped each long leg, tongues licking his leather trousers as they slowly dropped to the floor. Chest out, head high, he radiated arrogance as he took command of the stage. David was the epitome of a Dom.
The song was coming to its conclusion as David made his way to the X on the floor stage left. Thinking back, he remembered he saw David frown slightly, then glance to his right as he raised his arms. He held the note, but suddenly his eyes seemed to widen with shock. Scott started to stand as a terrible thought flashed through Scott’s mind. Something’s wrong.
The explosion took everyone by surprise. Light blinded Scott for an instant. He didn’t realize he’d automatically shoved his phone in his back pocket as he turned to run down the aisle. There was only one thing going through his mind, as he struggled to get to his husband, please God, let David be okay.
Bounding up the stairs to the stage, he rounded the corner and ran into one of the dancers wearing a long black leather coat. One glance in David’s direction told him his husband was on fire.
“Give me your fucking coat!” He shouted, grabbing the man’s arm. The dancer shook himself and promptly stripped his coat off. Scott ran full out, throwing himself and the coat onto David. At that moment, sprinklers and alarms began to go off. He pounded out the last of the flames and finally took a look at his husband. He was obviously unconscious, but to his horror, he noticed one other thing. David wasn’t breathing. Scott felt for a pulse and found a weak one. He was afraid to tilt David’s head back for fear of a neck injury, so opening his mouth, he started breathing for the man he loved. Time slowed to a virtual standstill until suddenly two paramedics appeared on the scene and took over. David still hadn’t shown any signs of waking. Scott turned and viewed the devastation to the side of the stage. Firemen were making quick work of the lingering flames 25 feet away.
Scott felt two arms wrap around him and try to pull him back, but he fought the man beside him. “Come on.” Trevor and Christian grabbed his arms, bodily lifting him to get him out of the way. “They need space. Let the pros do their
jobs.”
“What the fuck happened?” Stitch joined the growing crowd.
Scott shook his head, “I was filming David. He knew something was wrong just before the explosion. The look in his eyes. Fuck, man, he saw it coming and couldn’t move fast enough.”
Muse stepped in. “Cops are here.”
The paramedics were in communication with the hospital and got orders to intubate David. Scott felt himself go weak, but again, Christian and Trevor held him up. Please, Davey, please wake up.
They cut off David’s costume, then with the help of two other paramedics, they got him into a neck brace and onto a backboard. One of the men broke away. “Can someone give me personal information?”
“Yeah, I’m David’s husband.” Scott stepped forward. “How is he?”
The paramedic frowned, “Not good. He’s got burns to the right side of his body. He’s unconscious and not breathing on his own. We’re taking him to UCLA trauma when we’re done here. You should follow in your own car.”
“Can’t I ride with you? I don’t want to leave him.”
“Sorry, no. I know the victim’s stage name is Dorian Gray but is that his legal name?”
Scott couldn’t take his eyes off his husband, “Legal name is David…, David Niewitski. He’s 35 years old.”
“How close was he to the blast?”
Scott stood there numb as they placed David onto the transport gurney. “Uh, he was about 3 maybe 4 feet away.”
“Did you all move him or is that where he landed?”
Scott’s voice was so soft the paramedic almost didn’t hear him, “That’s where he landed.”
The paramedic grimaced and shook his head, “Not good, really, not good. Okay. I can get more from you in the Emergency Room. You’d better head out. I’ll let the investigating officer know where you are. The rest of you should stay and talk to the police.”
Trevor nodded and with Christian backing him up, they started to round up everyone on or near the stage at the time of the explosion. Scott headed for the stage exit door and his car.
*****
“Mr. Niewitski?” A plain-clothed cop stepped into David’s ER cubicle.
Songs of Love : Books 1-3 Page 16
