Sons of Mayhem 3: The Full Force

by Pink, Nikki

  12

  RockIt Girl’s Blog

  What. A. Thrill!

  It was such an honor to be there at the first ever Full Force show in the USA.

  The guys were oh-my-god-so-much-better live. And if you’ve listened to their album (you have, RIGHT??) you’ll know they rock ass recorded. But live? God I just wanted to climb up on the stage and eat them up. And that’s ONLY because of the music. I definitely don’t have a crush on any of them. Nuh uh.

  The energy! The power! And ohmygod the band. Gorgeous Johnny Tranquil and his angelic voice. Cocky Neal (he can get cocky with me any time he wants, ahem), Sultry Si and the red-haired maniac Rabbie on the drums.

  And the accents! They could just read to me for hours and I’d be content. Hey Full Force, if you’re reading this: Please come to my bedroom tonight and read me stories! Feel free to crash with me in my single bed as well if you get tired… ahem…

  Check back later for a full report, and check back tomorrow to find out the next show’s time and location!

  Remember, RockIt Girl is the ONLY legitimate source for Full Force news. I got the hook up, yo!

  Love and kisses Force Fans.

  xxxRockItGirlxxx

  13

  Lonnie

  I blinked and slowly came to, feeling surprisingly good. I guess I hadn’t drunk much the night before. The question was, why the hell not? I was on tour with a rock band wasn’t I? I went to prop myself up but there was something heavy on my arm.

  Oh yeah. The girl with the slapping hand. I winced as I stretched a little and felt my back burning. The girl with the slapping hand and the scratching nails. Christ, she was a feisty one. I could get used to that. My movement disturbed her and a moment later she too was blinking, looking up at me.

  “Shit, I’ve got to get to the hospital.”

  I nodded. “Yep, you do. She’ll be getting out soon.” I looked down at her bare breasts. “Shame though.”

  She cocked her head at me. “Guess it is.”

  “Probably got an hour or two,” I said, looking down at her body.

  “Probably…”

  One of her hands slid to me, grabbing my morning glory. I let out a slight moan as her hand slid up and down, once, twice, then stopped.

  “But best not to risk it.”

  I let out a moan of disappointment as she released me and hopped out of the bed. A moment later her hot arse was waving goodbye to me with every swing of her hips as she headed through the bathroom door clutching the clothes I’d ripped off her the night before.

  “Bastard!” I called out to her, and all I got in response was amused laughter which disappeared when it was replaced by the sound of rushing water hitting expensive tiles as she turned the shower on full.

  With frustrated difficulty I forced my pants on and after dressing I headed out of the room to see what was going on.

  I was greeted by a scene of devastation.

  How the fuck had I slept through what was going on out here. I glanced back at the door I’d just come through and gave it an idle rap with my knuckles. Damn the soundproofing was good.

  The door opposite mine opened and a familiar face appeared. He winced as he looked down the hall.

  “Looks like they had a good time, huh?” said Jase.

  “Yeah, sure does. Hell we always did, back in the day. Nothing’s changed I guess.”

  The expensive carpet was littered with empty cans and bottles ranging from cheap beer to medium priced whisky and expensive bottles of champagne. There was an overturned room service trolley and a giant silver banqueting soup tureen that was filled with a thin liquid that was not any kind of soup you’d find in a recipe book.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked. The trail of destruction was jarring against the absence of people. They must have been there just moments before.

  “Let’s go find out, brother.”

  “The suites,” I said with a nod of my head toward the fire exit at the other end.

  I kicked a half crushed can of Milwaukee Best in front of me as we walked down, kicking it around an obstacle course made up not just of other drink receptacles but burger wrappers, pizza boxes, and a large watermelon.

  “This should be good,” I said as I pushed open the door of the suite Neal had been in the night before.

  Inside was a scene of quiet, almost meditative, chaos. As well as a heavily littered floor the walls had been drawn on with sharpies, lights had been ripped out, paintings had been removed, tables had been flipped, ashtrays had been filled and countless pints of liquids had been spilled.

  But it wasn’t just garbage everywhere, the place was also littered with people. There must have been twenty people in there, lying on sofas, beds, slumped against walls. Some fully clothed, others partly or fully undressed. There were band members, bikers, roadies, groupies and more.

  “Ho-ly shit,” Jase said.

  “Bloody hell.”

  “Welcome, gentlemen” said Chad Chad Price, his voice slurring, as he stepped from a walk-in-closet. He tossed a bag at me which I snatched out of the air by instinct.

  “What the fuck’s going on?” asked Jase.

  “They’re k-holed,” I said.

  “That’s right. They have entered the glorious place we know as the bubble and are reaching new levels of consciousness and higher planes of existence.”

  “More like new planes of bloody unconsciousness.”

  Chad frowned in confused disappointment, turned on his heel and went back into the closet sliding the door shut behind him.

  “What is this place?” asked a guy I recognized as one of the Rager’s prospects. He was ignored.

  “Want some?” I asked Jase, waving the bag at him.

  He looked around the room with raised eyebrows and gave a laugh. “I told Nicole I was going to get donuts and coffee.”

  “She wouldn’t be very impressed, would she?” I grinned.

  “Not very, brother, not very.”

  “Are they going to be alright?”

  I shrugged. “Probably. Except those dumb fucks have another show tonight.”

  Jase wandered over to the center of the formerly magnificent room and flipped a guy in leather over with his boot.

  “What the fuck man, I ain’t orange,” said our prospect BK as Jase peered down at him.

  We both laughed. A confused look crossed BK’s face and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

  “We’ve got a show too.”

  Jase nodded. “We know where at yet?”

  “Ask the guy in the closet.”

  This gongshow of a tour had been designed to create social buzz. The way it worked was either a work of genius or a work of dangerous stupidity. Since it seemed Chad was the ‘brains’ behind the operation I was leaning towards the latter.

  They were calling this the Secret Tour. The tour itself wasn’t a secret, but the locations of the shows were. The plan was to create massive social media buzz on each day of the tour by ensuring an avalanche of tweets, Facebook posts, and celebrity and music blogs as each day’s location was announced just a few hours before the show. It was to be a rapid-fire series of one night shows, mostly one after the other with almost no days off.

  The initial plan had been to cover the West coast and the Southwest until someone realized that was insanity - too much bloody driving and too risky. So they were doing their shows all in Southern California - though they’d be live on YouTube every day too of course.

  “Fuck it. I’m going to find something to eat. You coming?”

  I shook my head. “I’ll make sure the band’s alright. And try and find out where the fuck we’re going.”

  “Take it easy,” I said as we grasped hands.

  “Take her sleazy. Later brother.”

  “Laters.”

  After Jase had left I slid open the door of the closet Chad had disappeared back into. It was mostly empty except for hotel bathrobes and a couple of unopened suitcases. That and its two occupants. A giggling hu
ge breasted woman who looked to be in her late forties and Chad Chad who looked up from the huge breast he’d been sucking.

  “Holy shit, Chad.”

  “It’s Chad Chad and watch your mouth. There’s a lady present.”

  The woman let out a guffaw. “Lady?” she asked, followed by a screeching haw haw.

  What do you say to that? Not much. So I ignored it. Got back down to business. “We need to know where we’re going, and you really need to sort the band out. Get the fuck out of here and start managing shit. They’re out of their goddamn minds out there and I ain’t here to babysit them.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry. It’s all under control. Remember who you’re taunting to here, buddy.”

  “Taunting to?”

  “You know what I med. Talking to. It’s Chad Chad Price the triple threat. I get things done.”

  “Triple pratt more like. Whatever. I’m out. You’ve got my mobile number, let me know when you get your shit together. We don’t want you accusing us of being late again. Alright?”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

  The woman grabbed Chad by his greasy hair and yanked it back down to her breast. I took that as my cue to leave. Fuck all this shit. I decided to go find some food before our security meeting at 1pm. In theory we’d find out where the hell we were going then - if anyone showed. If the prospects weren’t sorted out by then they’d be in some shit.

  I shook my head. I should have known the Force would be trouble. People don’t change. They just get more and more fucked.

  14

  Ava

  I felt like crap as I hurried into the hospital. What had I been thinking going back to the hotel with the biker last night? I should have been in the hospital with Lily, watching over her through the night. What kind of sister abandons their younger sibling to disappear when they’ve OD’d.

  Inside I found the same young nurse I’d seen the night before. She must have been coming to the end of her shift I thought. Either that, or covering for someone else. Maybe another nurse had a younger sister like mine and was missing work like me.

  “Hi, Hon. She’s awake and she’s doing great,” she said with a kind smile.

  Relief flooded through me and some of the guilt I felt for leaving the night before disappeared.

  “Thanks. Can I go straight in?” I asked as I headed toward the ward I remembered from the night before.

  “Give her a minute? The doctor has just gone in to see her. When he’s done you should be able to take her home. Why don’t you grab a coffee from down the hall and have a seat a minute.”

  I agreed and spent the next few minutes sipping a sweet brown liquid that few people would accuse of being coffee. I didn’t normally take sugar but I added it this time in the vain hope that it would give me energy. In fact it just made the drink taste even more alien than it did already. Coffee my ass.

  When I finally got in to see Lily she was sitting up in the bed looking a little tired but none the worse for wear. Actually, she probably looked better than me I thought with a grimace, stretching an aching shoulder back absentmindedly.

  “I’m sorry, sis. I’m really sorry.”

  I nodded as tears welled in my eyes and I went to her, wrapping my arms around her awkwardly as I half leaned over the bed.

  “I know you are sweetie. I know you are. I was so worried though.”

  She sniffled. “I was an idiot. It won’t happen again. I swear, I promise.”

  “I know, honey. Of course it won’t. I’m never letting you out the house again,” I joked.

  The joke fell flat. I felt her shoulders tense and suddenly the awkward hug became impossible and I stepped back, looking down at her confused. Her expression was fierce.

  “I’m an adult, Ava. You’ve got to realize that. You’ve got let me make my own mistakes now. You can’t stop me growing up.”

  Anger flooded through me. “Look at you! Look at where you are. Look at what happened. Like hell I won’t try and protect you.”

  “Maybe if you didn’t keep mothering me so much I wouldn’t have done it!”

  Self-doubt appeared as it always did for any parent -- or foster parent -- when they’re accused of causing their young charge’s distress. The confidence of carefully considered decisions shattered in an instant of accusation. Was she right, was this actually my fault I wondered.

  “Lily,” I said, my voice wavering, “please, I only want what’s best for you. I’m trying hard, I really am. Since Mom and Dad passed it’s just been us. I’m not that bad am I?”

  She shook her head. “You’re not bad. I’m sorry. But you’ve got to let me grow up, you know? You can’t keep treating me like the thirteen year old I was. That’s not me anymore.”

  “But look at what happened. You’re in hospital for God’s sake!”

  “You’re right, I messed up. But it won’t happen again. I promise.”

  She had a fierce look in her eyes, like a lion cub trying to show off its hunting prowess by angrily jumping on a blowing leaf and clamping it between its claws. No, I thought, looking at her again. Not a cub. Not anymore. A young lioness with her first kill instead.

  “So what the hell happened? What were you thinking?”

  “Si said he was going to have one last night of partying. One last hurrah before he quit the drugs, and the drink, and everything…”

  “Si?”

  “Yeah, Si. The bassist.”

  “And you fell for that shit? He’s a goddamn rockstar who eats groupies like you up for breakfast then spits them out when he’s finished with them.”

  Her eyes flashed with anger and she repeated the line that’s been said by a thousand, a million, a hundred million young girls before her, “He’s different, I’m telling you. We’ve really connected.”

  “Hon, this is exactly it. He isn’t different. You can’t fall for this shit. Please, trust me, this is why I want to mother you so much. You’re naive, Lily. He’s probably shooting smack with two other groupies right now.”

  She hugged a pillow tight against her chest. “You’re wrong Ava. You’re wrong. Si’s not like that.”

  I just shook my head. How could she be so stupid? She got good grades in school, but it looked like I’d raised an idiot in the real world. How could I have fucked up so bad, I wondered. Listening to her defiant talk I suddenly didn’t feel so bad about leaving her here the night before.

  I became aware of the disinfectant smell of the hospital that had been lingering the whole time. I hated it, always had. It was time to get out of there before it made me sick.

  I tried to brighten the mood by giving a smile but it was so tight and false it probably came out more like a sneer or grimace. “Let’s talk about it later hon. Come on. We’ll do your paperwork and then get some breakfast. Denny’s or IHOP? I passed both on the way in…”

  She stared at me hard for a second before her look softened. “IHOP,” she said softly.

  I smiled and held her hand. She knew I didn’t like IHOP, but I’d let her win this round.

  “Let’s go.”

  15

  Lonnie

  “Here you go. That’s the list for the next week of shows. Venues, addresses and times,” Chad said as he passed a neatly printed page on crisp white letter paper.

  I looked at him in some surprise. Just three hours earlier that guy had been completely fucked up. Now he was acting the consummate professional, no hint of his earlier binge visible on his wrinkl-free tanned face.

  “Cheers. Coming to the meeting?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No. I’ve got some promoting to do.” Tickets for tonight’s show go on sale in just a few hours. He held his hands in front of him as if he was conducting an orchestra and began to wave them around. “Got to get the Tweets flowing, Facebook posting, radio speaking, newspaper columnists cursing themselves for being out of date. Gotta’ get that buzz.” He spun around as he said the last word.

  I tilted my head as I looked down at him. “You kno
w what, you’re fuckin’ mental.”

  He stepped in close. “You calling me crazy? Maybe you’re right. But when I’m done this band is going to be bigger than the Rolling Stones.”

  “Uh huh,” I sounded, unconvinced. “Best get to work then, eh.”

  Chad Chad Price nodded and hummed as he hurried away, half skipping as he did so. I headed to the Presidential suite. Or Presidential disaster zone as it now appeared to be.

  Everyone was there. They’d cleared debris away and pushed an assortment of stained sofas and dodgy looking chairs into a rough circle, my near-dozen partners sitting down in different degrees of comfort. The hotel room was rapidly beginning to take on the appearance of an MC clubhouse rather than the luxury suite it had been.

  “What’s the word?” asked Jase after greetings were exchanged.

  “The band are in the other suite trying to sober the hell up. Chad Chad gave me the list of the next few venues. It’s supposed to stay secret. He’s trying to keep people talking by withholding the venues until the very last minute or some shit.”

  “Uh huh. So where we going tonight?”

  I looked at the list of venues for the first time. I recognized a couple of them, and there were another couple I’d never heard of. I shook my head slowly.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Jase.

  “It’s weird. These venues are shit. The ones I know are tiny, I doubt they’d get more than two hundred, maybe two fifty in most of them.”

  Everest the giant shrugged. “Easy money.”

  I nodded absent-mindedly. Something was weird about this whole thing. What the hell was Chad up to with this ‘tour’?

  “Small venues, expensive tickets. It’s good for us. Won’t be much trouble,” said Jase.

  “You know how much the tickets are?” I asked.